Generali readies capital infusion plans for India JV
Generali Group plans to inject capital into its Indian venture to expand operations, anticipating the increase in foreign direct investment in the insurance sector to 100%. While the specifics of the infusion are pending shareholder agreement finalization, Generali intends to maintain a 74% equity stake and collaborate with Central Bank, its new partner after the Future Group's insolvency proceedings.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Popular in Banking/Finance
1.
Generali readies capital infusion plans for India JV
Milan: Italy's Generali Group has drawn up plans for capital infusion in its Indian venture to scale up its business in the country. India is set to raise foreign direct investment in the insurance sector to 100% from 74%, which would allow this capital infusion."We do expect that there will likely be a need for capital injection but we will have a better idea on that once the shareholder agreements are concluded, which are still in process," Rob Leonardi, Regional Officer, Generali Asia, told ET on the sidelines of the 58th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank here.He declined to give details about the quantum or time frame of the capital infusionGenerali forayed into India's insurance sector in 2007 with a tie-up with the Future Group. Central Bank has acquired shares from the Future Group as part of the insolvency process including 24.91% shareholding in Future Generali India Insurance and 25.18% shareholding in Future Generali India Life Insurance.Leonardi said the group will continue with 74% equity even as the option to raise it 100 % is expected (with the increase in FDI cap). "We are very much looking forward to developing our partnership with Central Bank and working with them," he said.The Indian government is expected to introduce the Insurance amendment bill to raise the foreign investment limit to 100% in the upcoming monsoon session.India is the second largest market for the group in Asia, he noted.(The reporter is in Milan at the invitation of ADB)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
17 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Q-comm firms add fees to cart; Curefoods joins IPO queue
Happy Monday! Quick commerce players are introducing new charges to offset rising losses. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch. Also in the letter: ■ Mid-market GCC jobs outlook ■ Fresh yolk for Eggoz■ IndiaAI's LLM focus Quick commerce apps stack up extra fees to curb losses India's quick commerce players — Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto among them — are quietly layering on new charges, such as handling, small-cart, rain, and surge fees, to shore up their fragile unit economics, executives and analysts tracking the sector told us. Driving the news: These add-on fees, charged over and above standard delivery rates, typically range from Rs 6 to Rs 30 per order, depending on city and demand. Crucially, they allow platforms to increase their take rates without adjusting base delivery fees, which remain subsidised to keep users engaged. Apps have also raised the minimum cart value, nudging users towards bigger baskets. However, this fee stacking has triggered a wave of user complaints about hidden charges. The government, too, has taken note — it recently flagged these as 'dark patterns' and asked these platforms to conduct self-audits. Also Read: Quick commerce industry's hygiene headache explained Why it matters: The top platforms control more than 80% of the market and are battling swelling losses. Blinkit posted a Rs 178 crore loss in Q4 FY25, while Instamart's losses touched Rs 840 crore in the same period. With aggressive discounting and high delivery subsidies weighing on margins, these charges aim to plug widening gaps in the business model. Zoom out: India's quick commerce market is projected to touch $31 billion by FY28. For now, though, growth is coming at the cost of profitability, even as regulators and customers push back against the tactics being used to fund it. Also Read: Quick commerce firms face delivery partner crunch amid rising demand Curefoods files for public listing amid IPO market resurgence Ankit Nagori, founder, Curefoods Cloud kitchen operator Curefoods filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for an initial public offering (IPO), joining a wave of Indian tech firms tapping into renewed interest in the IPO market. Key details: The offer will include a fresh issue worth Rs 800 crore, alongside an offer for sale (OFS) of 48.5 million shares. Early backers Accel, Chiratae Ventures and Iron Pillar PCC would offload part of their stake in the OFS. JM Financial, IIFL Capital and Nuvama are advising on the IPO. Use of proceeds: Curefoods will use Rs 152 crore from the IPO to expand cloud kitchens, restaurants and kiosks, mainly for Krispy Kreme. Another Rs 127 crore will go towards debt repayment, with some funds allocated to boost stakes in subsidiaries. India-Ratings downgrades IPO-bound on debt repayment worries Aaditya Sharda and Souvik Sengupta, cofounders, India Ratings, part of the Fitch Group, has downgraded long-term debt rating to 'BBB+ with Negative Outlook' from 'A- with Negative Outlook', citing worries around debt refinancing, weak liquidity and negative cash flows from operations in FY25. On the flipside: In response, told investors and lenders in a note last month that the downgrade fails to reflect its improving financials, recent equity infusion, and upcoming liquidity events, including its planned IPO. Meesho gets shareholder nod to go public Vidit Aatrey, CEO, Meesho Ecommerce platform Meesho has secured shareholders' approval to go public, the last step before filing its DRHP with Sebi. What's on offer: The company recently redomiciled to India in preparation for the listing. The IPO will feature a fresh issue of Rs 4,250 crore, along with an offer for sale. Zoom out: Meesho could become the first digital-only one-stop shop to list in India. Its larger rival, Flipkart, owned by Walmart, is also exploring a public listing. Also Read: IPO watch: Which Indian startups are next to hit the stock market? Mid-market GCCs likely to add 40,000 jobs by 2026 end Mid-market global capability centres (GCCs) are poised to add 40,000 jobs in India by the end of 2026, pushing their total workforce past 260,000, according to data from ANSR Global, which helps set up these captive units. Tell me more: Over 120 new mid-sized GCCs are expected to come up by the end of next year. Most of them will support functions across software, banking, finance, accounting, insurance, and retail. Hiring will remain concentrated in key tech hubs, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, and Gurugram. The hottest skills on the radar include AI/ML engineering, data analytics, cloud engineering, cybersecurity, full-stack development, product management, and solution architecture. Bird's eye view: Mid-market GCCs are punching above their weight when it comes to deep tech. They account for around 1.5 times more talent in areas such as AI/ML, cybersecurity, cloud, and data science, according to a Nasscom-Zinnov report. While leaner by design, these centres are doubling down on niche and high-value skills rather than chasing scale. Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Eggoz eyes to bolster presence with fresh funds: Agritech startup Eggoz secured $20 million in new funding, with mid-market private equity firm Gaja Capital leading the round, to expand its presence in existing markets. IndiaAI Mission emphasises building LLMs: Out of the 506 proposals received by the IndiaAI Mission for developing foundational AI models, 43 are specifically dedicated to creating large language models (LLMs). Global Picks We Are Reading ■ Inside the British lab growing a biological computer (FT) ■ Why tech billionaires want bots to be your BFF (WSJ) ■ Facebook is starting to feed its AI with private, unpublished photos (The Verge) Updated On Jun 30, 2025, 07:50 AM IST
Hans India
22 minutes ago
- Hans India
Transforming Indian agriculture through innovation
Bangalore: AgriplastTech India Pvt Ltd and Agriplast Protected Cultivation Pvt Ltd proudly announce the third edition of Technology Vision 2030, India's premier agritech conference scheduled for 24 September 2025 in Bengaluru. With the theme 'Empowering Indian Agriculture: Innovation, Sustainability, and Growth,' this one-day event will gather over 300 industry leaders, policymakers, innovators, researchers, and visionary entrepreneurs committed to shaping the future of Indian agriculture. The conference includes expert pTransforming Indian agriculture through innovation
Indian Express
29 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Nirmala Sitharaman: ‘Economic buoyancy can't be overstated; else, we wouldn't have been where we are'
From welcoming the idea of the India-US trade deal to a raft of 'second-generation reforms' to be unleashed soon, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a free-wheeling interview with The Financial Express . Excerpts: How difficult is it for a sovereign country like India to put up with President Donald Trump's unilateral statement that the US will 'open up' our economy, when the trade talks are just underway? In fact, I would like to see it also from the Indian side. The US is one of our leading trade partners, topmost, if anything. At the junction we are in, and given our growth goals and ambition to reach Viksit Bharat by 2047, the sooner we have such agreements with strong economies, the better they will serve us. So, I'd rather put my own statement on (Trump's): 'Yes, I'd love to have an agreement, a big, good, beautiful one; why not?' But, what are the red lines India has drawn? The negotiating team ensured that industry's concerns were all taken on board before they sat at the table for talks. Agriculture and dairy have been among the very big red lines, where a high degree of caution has been exercised. There are some areas where one can always look at, seek greater market access for us, and also open up. Even in agriculture, there're areas with little or no domestic vulnerabilities… Possibly. But that (opening them up) is only with the consent of the department agriculture. There's no way we could do anything that which would weaken our agriculture, our farmers' positions. You had reiterated recently that, 'tariff king' tag doesn't befit us. Our applied tariffs are mostly low… We have only eight duties, inclusive of zero tariff. There have been drastic cuts of tariffs in the July (main) and February (interim) budgets. The effective tariff rates are (lower than the limits) announced in the gazette with Parliament approval, which is itself far below the WTO boundary. So, for India to be called a tariff king and so on is absolutely unjustified. Yet, there's scope for further lowering of tariffs, without causing any harm to domestic industry… Those are the points on which the negotiators will have to work with the country concerned. So, (our) tariff being a consideration is being addressed. Sector-specific considerations on agriculture, dairy etc. are being addressed too. Other concerns of the industry — automobile units, etc. — are also being addressed with deep consultations. I will credit the Commerce Minister (Piyush Goyal) for having had consultation prior to, during, and after the completion of the negotiations. The US tariffs are already very low. Do you see any further reduction for us? For reducing duties, the US President has to go to the Congress, a time-consuming process. So they may pitch in for it (duty cut), but it has to be done after the agreement. Could it be part of the broader deal, if not the interim one? Yes, it can be. Could India offer any major relaxations to the US on the non-tariff front — IPR, data localisation, government procurement and such? Our approach has always been that the trade negotiations should not get initiated by non- tariff concerns. Issues such as environment, gender, sustainability, carbon tax, government procurement, industrial relations, haven't been strictly part of trade negotiations. But it's now become a part and parcel of the whole thing, and we therefore take well-considered discrete positions. We just can't walk into it, because India is an emerging market, with our own market requirements. On government procurement, a lot of carve-outs have to made, to ensure purchases from MSMEs, start-ups etc. Our domestic procurement itself is very considerate towards those sections that need hand-holding. We can't open it up for someone without these concerns addressed. Manufacturing has ceded some share in GDP It's clear from the policy we announced that labor-intensive units will be given support. We have been specific that handicrafts, handmade goods etc. will get succour. So there is no way in which we are choosing between one (labour) and the other (capital/tech). Manufacturing, whether it is employment-intensive, or requires automation, policy support will be given. But these lines are becoming thin. Textiles & apparels, for instance, has conventionally been a labour- intensive sector, but it is being rapidly automated. A large knitwear unit in Tirupur, which used to employ, say, over 30,000 people, has now brought in AI to aid the production process, leading to increased productivity. A third of its workforce may now not be required to do what they were doing earlier. You cannot grudge that. But such units aren't retrenching people; rather they try to upskill them for gainful employment. A complete recast is happening even in labor-intensive industries, to the extent that traditional labels don't hold. Of course, despite this, there are some sectors where automation doesn't come in so quickly; even among a section of manufacturing units and MSMEs, automation may not be an alternative they would want at this juncture. We have to have a policy for them, to facilitate credit access to them. So the long and short of it is there is no longer the old watertight areas, the old silos are now opening up horizontally. Everybody has to be updating on their skills, and everywhere. There is fluidity in the labour market; some are becoming movable, fungible, and others, going upwards. The RBI monetary policy has gone in for not just a sharp cut in policy repo rate, but a CRR cut also. This has taken many sections by surprise, because the liquidity was already there. Some would say this showed that the RBI had a sense of foreboding, and was in a desperate move to stave off a slowdown. Now, the RBI's front-loading in the interest of growth cannot be imputed for a knee-jerk reaction. Nor is it correct to say that the RBI is doing this, as it probably sees something which we are not. Institutions such as the RBI, which have a record of good documentation don't do things that way. RBI doesn't simply undertake interest rate reduction or increase, but explains its moves in the minutes of (monetary policy meeting) in detail, and these are put out in their entirety. Investment-driven growth is inordinately delayed. Gross fixed capital formation fell to a 3-year low of 30 per cent of the GDP in FY25, whereas the aspired rate is 35 per cent-plus. How feasible is a broad-based investment cycle, which includes the MSMEs and other segments, rather than just the big corporates? There is a buoyancy in the economy, which cannot be overstated. Had it been absent, you wouldn't have remained where you are (in terms of growth), with institutions periodically updating their forecasts (S&P has recently revised India's FY26 growth estimate upward to 6.5per cent). Or you would not have generated (consistently high) GST revenues. In fact, today, people are using the GST to indicate how strongly the economy is moving forward. (GST receipts at over 7 per cent of GDP seem to have crossed VAT/excise-era levels). In GST, the data is very clearly, openly laid. You see the states and sectors where it is getting collected from. So the economy in its multifarious indicators is showing vibrancy. Of course, we would like to have higher growth, even 10 per cent, and we are only at 6.4 per cent (gross value added in FY25). But it's still 6.4 per cent and not 2-2.5 per cent, which is where Europe, and even some of the Southeast Asian countries are. So I'm not gloating at this number, but to repeatedly lamenting it is (uncharitable) given the global scenario. If Indians are working and moving the needle despite heavy odds, we should recognise it. Countries which are known for exports are no longer able to grow with such strategy. At this time, Indian exports are doing well.—FE
