Latest news with #Kedia
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Gold-Silver ratio crashes nearly 20% from recent high. Will silver price outshine MCX gold rate this year?
The Gold-Silver Ratio (GSR), a key indicator used to measure the relative strength of silver to gold, has plunged nearly 20% in recent months — from a peak of 107 to around 88 currently — signalling a sharp outperformance of silver compared to gold. The drop in the ratio is driven by a contrasting trend in prices of the two precious metals. While MCX gold prices have declined nearly 2% in the past one month, silver prices have surged more than 7% over the same period. MCX silver price recently hit a record high of over ₹ 1,15,000 per kg. 'A steep fall in the Gold/Silver Ratio shows silver's significant outperformance, which usually hints at a broader shift in momentum toward risk-on behaviour in metals,' said Ajay Kedia, Director at Kedia Advisory. 'With abating uncertainties around US tariffs and geopolitical tensions easing, and with a favourable demand-supply outlook, silver is likely to continue outperforming gold this year.' According to Kedia, the GSR has broken down from its consolidation range of 90–91 on the charts, indicating further downside. He expects the ratio to drop towards 82.74 in the coming months. 'This implies that silver will continue to outperform gold in the near to medium term,' he said. Technically, resistance for the GSR is now seen at 90.42 and further up at 98.06, while the downside support lies at 82.74. Echoing a similar sentiment, Jigar Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said the nearly 20% crash in the GSR is a strong signal of silver's catch-up move after a period of undervaluation. 'Silver is both a monetary and industrial metal. Its long-term prospects are boosted by the global green energy push, inflation narratives, and a shifting stance by central banks,' he said. On price outlook, Kedia said that silver faces resistance around the $40 per ounce level, but a breach above could lead it to $42 – $43 levels. For MCX silver, he has set a target of ₹ 1,30,000 per kg for 2025, provided prices sustain above ₹ 1,15,000. In the short term, however, silver prices could see a dip towards ₹ 1,06,000 – ₹ 1,02,000 — levels which he believes offer a good buying opportunity. Gold prices, on the other hand, may continue to remain under pressure. Kedia expects MCX gold rate to trend lower, ending the year around ₹ 91,000 – 92,000 per 10 grams. Jigar Trivedi expects silver prices to trade in the range of $38 – $44 per ounce over the next four to six months. On MCX, his near-term forecast pegs silver prices in the ₹ 1,20,000 – ₹ 1,25,000 range, with a bullish long-term outlook. As industrial demand for silver strengthens — particularly from sectors like solar, EVs, and electronics — the white metal appears well-placed to continue its rally, outperforming its yellow counterpart in the months ahead. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
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Business Standard
13-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
IBA pitches for ₹10,000 per unit subsidy for household biogas plants
Indian Biogas Association has pitched for a scheme to provide ₹10,000 per unit subsidy for reviving 5 million biogas units, which are ready with basic infrastructure, saying it can spur mass adoption of the cleaner fuel, especially in rural India. Indian Biogas Association (IBA) Chairman Gaurav Kedia told PTI that the overall government spend on the scheme would be ₹5,000 crore, which could be recovered in two years. He stated that IBA has called for the government to lead a bold, forward-looking attempt to support 5 million biogas units across the country. Infrastructure for these units is already in place and incentives are needed to spur mass adoption in rural India, he noted. "A focused, mission-driven approach like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan can deliver meaningful results in this direction. Most of these systems are underutilized or idle because of insufficient funding, maintenance, and long-term incentives. It is high time we move from potential to performance and convert biogas into a real household fuel of the future. IBA calls for a policy revolution to make biogas systems not only accessible but rewarding," he said. As under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), where the Government of India provides a subsidy of ₹12,000 to eligible rural households for constructing individual household toilets (IHHL), a similar model could be considered for reviving small biogas plants, assuming a revival cost of approximately ₹10,000 per unit, he suggested. He informed that the IBA will propose to the government a one-time grant of ₹10,000 per plant to restore non-operative units to bring dead assets to life, increase clean energy production and enhance the return on public and private sector investments. Given that rural Biogas plants can substitute the subsidized LPG cylinde₹being provided to rural households (12 cylinders per year at ₹603 per cylinder under the Ujjawala Yojana), Biogas can replace free LPG cylinders each year and could help save around ₹3,618 crore per year -if all these 5 million biogas plants become functional, he pointed out. This provides the assurance of continuous cooking fuel, enhances user confidence, and promotes large-scale acceptance by minimising the perceived risk of using biogas alone, he noted. Kedia suggested that the quarterly maintenance check-ups should be implemented by the government on biogas units to provide them with long-term viability and smooth operation. As most breakdowns occur due to minor, avoidable faults, regular check-ups will make plants operate at peak efficiency and enhance user satisfaction, he suggested. With this preventive measure, plant life will be extended, performance enhanced, rural employment created, and misuse of subsidies prevented, he stated. The proposed initiative is aimed at realising the potential of Biogas in India through the means of small-scale biogas plants scattered throughout the country. It is more about changing rural lives, managing solid waste, utilising the digestate as organic manure, and enabling a sustainable future at the grassroot level," Kedia said. One biogas plant can save almost 6 tonnes of CO2 annually and lower firewood use by 5 tonnes, curbing indoor air pollution and felling of trees. States, on the economic front, could save more than ₹50,000 crore jointly through improved waste management, healthcare cost savings, and import substitution. With the appropriate nudge, India can minimise reliance on LPG imports while building a circular, renewable energy economy. IBA will be presenting the proposal to the government soon, he pointed out. "If we get our investments right, India can become the world benchmark," said Kedia, adding that the IBA also urged harmonious integration of this proposed initiative with flagship programs such as GOBARdhan and SATAT, to facilitate easier implementation and impact. The IBA is the largest and professional biogas association for biogas industry stakeholders, including technology providers, project developers, plant operators and planners of biogas plants. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
IBA seeks Rs 10,000 per unit subsidy for household biogas plants
Indian Biogas Association has pitched for a scheme to provide Rs 10,000 per unit subsidy for reviving 50 lakh biogas units, which are ready with basic infrastructure, saying it can spur mass adoption of the cleaner fuel, especially in rural India. Indian Biogas Association (IBA) Chairman Gaurav Kedia told PTI that the overall government spend on the scheme would be Rs 5,000 crore, which could be recovered in two years. He stated that IBA has called for the government to lead a bold, forward-looking attempt to support 50 lakh biogas units across the country. Infrastructure for these units is already in place and incentives are needed to spur mass adoption in rural India, he noted. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cardiologist Reveals: The Simple Morning Habit for a Flatter Belly After 50! Lulutox Undo "A focused, mission-driven approach like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan can deliver meaningful results in this direction. Most of these systems are underutilized or idle because of insufficient funding, maintenance, and long-term incentives. "It is high time we move from potential to performance and convert biogas into a real household fuel of the future. IBA calls for a policy revolution to make biogas systems not only accessible but rewarding," he said. Live Events As under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), where the Government of India provides a subsidy of Rs 12,000 to eligible rural households for constructing individual household toilets (IHHL), a similar model could be considered for reviving small biogas plants, assuming a revival cost of approximately Rs 10,000 per unit, he suggested. He informed that the IBA will propose to the government a one-time grant of Rs 10,000 per plant to restore non-operative units to bring dead assets to life, increase clean energy production and enhance the return on public and private sector investments. Given that rural Biogas plants can substitute the subsidized LPG cylinders being provided to rural households (12 cylinders per year at Rs 603 per cylinder under the Ujjawala Yojana), Biogas can replace free LPG cylinders each year and could help save around Rs 3,618 crore per year -if all these 50 lakhs biogas plants become functional, he pointed out. This provides the assurance of continuous cooking fuel, enhances user confidence, and promotes large-scale acceptance by minimising the perceived risk of using biogas alone, he noted. Kedia suggested that the quarterly maintenance check-ups should be implemented by the government on biogas units to provide them with long-term viability and smooth operation. As most breakdowns occur due to minor, avoidable faults, regular check-ups will make plants operate at peak efficiency and enhance user satisfaction, he suggested. With this preventive measure, plant life will be extended, performance enhanced, rural employment created, and misuse of subsidies prevented, he stated. "The proposed initiative is aimed at realising the potential of Biogas in India through the means of small-scale biogas plants scattered throughout the country. It is more about changing rural lives, managing solid waste, utilising the digestate as organic manure, and enabling a sustainable future at the grassroot level," Kedia said. One biogas plant can save almost 6 tonnes of CO₂ annually and lower firewood use by 5 tonnes, curbing indoor air pollution and felling of trees. States, on the economic front, could save more than Rs 50,000 crore jointly through improved waste management, healthcare cost savings, and import substitution. With the appropriate nudge, India can minimise reliance on LPG imports while building a circular, renewable energy economy. IBA will be presenting the proposal to the government soon, he pointed out. "If we get our investments right, India can become the world benchmark," said Kedia, adding that the IBA also urged harmonious integration of this proposed initiative with flagship programs such as GOBARdhan and SATAT, to facilitate easier implementation and impact. The IBA is the largest and professional biogas association for biogas industry stakeholders, including technology providers, project developers, plant operators and planners of biogas plants.
Mint
08-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Banking's Newest CEO Plots a Comeback for Most Unloved Stock
Gunjan Kedia wondered why her interviewer was asking for her feelings about penguins. She'd just arrived from New Delhi to Pittsburgh for business school and hadn't yet learned the name of her new city's beloved ice hockey team. It didn't take long for her to get the lay of the land and begin rising through the finance industry. Decades later, she's at the top of it. The new head of U.S. Bancorp, parent of U.S. Bank, has a chance to reinvigorate the country's fifth biggest commercial lender after it disappointed investors and analysts with lackluster returns. The bank didn't keep pace in Wall Street's all-important race to digitize banking and was on the back foot during a bout of industry turmoil as it sorted out a big deal it struck when the market had boomed. That left its stock at the bottom of a much-used industry index over the past decade. Now, with its assets approaching a threshold inviting stricter regulation, onlookers and rivals wonder if it should vault over it with a major merger. The way she sees it, the bank is ready to thrive after its years of investments put it on stronger footing. 'We've been telling that story over and over again,' Kedia, 54, said in an interview. 'People don't believe us very much, because you have to show the results.' Change and even strife are woven into U.S. Bank's history. Its predecessor opened in 1863 as Civil War cannons fired nearby, according to the firm, and an early branch fell victim to outlaw Butch Cassidy's first bank robbery. More than a century later, an acquisition spree built the lender into one of the country's biggest, and when the industry was threatened by the 2008 financial crisis it was seen as soundly managed. Air Fresheners Kedia traces the beginnings of her career to a pair of jeans she wanted in the ninth grade. To pay for them, with encouragement from her mom, she went door-to-door in New Delhi to sell air fresheners. After Kedia attended an all-girls school, she staged what she's described as her own kind of rebellion to enroll in what was then the Delhi College of Engineering, where there weren't many women. They welded, forged, blacksmithed and cut sheet metal, helping her get 'very comfortable being the only one to be something,' she said in a career talk a few years ago. She joined McKinsey in 1996, helping efforts to modernize technology for finance firms and making partner by 30. One longtime client, Mellon Financial Corp. boss Martin McGuinn, told her to call him first if she decided to leave. She did, and started at Mellon in 2004. It was a time of national consolidation, and Mellon soon merged with the Bank of New York to form what's now called BNY. 'When you're doing integration, it's intense work,' she said. It entails competition and a fraught decision to pick 'whose product survives.' After a few years, she accepted a job offer from State Street Corp., one of the country's biggest banks. Then, two weeks later, Lehman Brothers failed, changing her focus instantly. 'Overnight, the job became about risk management,' Kedia said. In 2016, she joined U.S. Bank to oversee its wealth management and securities services business. In the crisis years earlier, the company's tight risk management, limited exposure to subprime mortgages and high capital levels had given it an upper hand. But as the industry adjusted to new rules put in place to make it safer, the bank was late making investments in technology, which made it expensive to catch up. Andy Cecere, her quiet and numbers-savvy predecessor, was promoted to CEO in 2017. As rivals got bigger — two merged in a mega-deal to form Truist Financial Corp. — he eyed a bigger presence on the West Coast. In September 2021, U.S. Bank announced it would acquire MUFG Union Bank's core regional banking business from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. But regulatory reviews took longer than expected, right as aggressive rate hikes caught much of the industry off guard, eroding the value of bonds in bank portfolios. MUFG Union Bank saw $2.1 billion of unrealized losses just before the deal closed in December 2022, which stung U.S. Bank. Within months, those rate hikes helped engulf regional banks in crisis. When regulators invited lenders including U.S. Bank to bid on beleaguered First Republic, capital was one reason it demurred. And as those government officials responded to the turmoil with talk of stricter capital rules, short sellers were circling. U.S. Bank helped drive some of them away by strengthening its balance sheet, including by selling underwater bonds and other assets. Last year, when she was promoted to president, she and her husband celebrated with a private jet ride from Minneapolis to the Kentucky Derby, according to a post on his blog. The family has accumulated other markers of wealth, according to that blog, including a Ferrari. Kedia became chief executive this April, making her the second woman to run one of the biggest US banks. Her most pressing goals — which include managing expenses, boosting results in the payments business and growing the bank without mergers or acquisitions — are more about improvement than disruption. Back when she joined U.S. Bank, the businesses she oversaw accounted for about 10% of total revenues, Cecere has said, and five years later that portion was twice as high. Now she has to repeat that success on a wider stage. Part of the bank's payments business, which processes money as it moves around behind the scenes, was seen for years as a drag on its resources. Kedia, who said past investments have positioned it to drive profits, hopes to make the bank into a stronger version of itself by the time it hits $700 billion of assets, the threshold that triggers stiffer regulation. She's less interested, for the time being, in buying a rival. 'I've been very clear: It's not on the table,' Kedia said. 'We take our medium-term goals very seriously, and M&A does not fit that promise to restore our valuation, to restore investor confidence.' According to Art Collins, the bank's former lead board director, she'll have to think at some point about expanding consumer banking on the East Coast and in the South. 'It's highly likely that she would do that through an acquisition as opposed to trying to build it organically.' Irish Whiskey Even as the bank looks ahead, its executives have dealt with loss. Terry Dolan, a veteran colleague, died in a plane crash in March. 'When something positive happened, like when we closed an acquisition, Terry would come around the corner of my door, lean in, with his big grin and a bottle of Irish whiskey,' Cecere said in a memorial speech. 'And he'd swirl it around and he'd say, 'we did it.'' When Kedia was working for State Street, she endeared herself to Jay Hooley, who was then its CEO. Now that she's one too, he said, she'll benefit from the kind of 'straight talk about what's going on' that she used to give him. 'She'll need that.' With assistance from Sridhar Natarajan. ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hindustan Times
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
‘Overreacted': What Maha investor said in apology over ‘won't learn Marathi' remark after office vandalised
Maharashtra businessman Sushil Kedia, whose office in Worli was vandalised by workers of Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), said he was withdrawing from his 'overreaction', the comments he made on the party chief amid reports of common citizens of the state getting targeted over a lack of proficiency in the Marathi language. Mumbai Police deployed security outside Sushil Kedia's Worli office after MNS party workers attacked the premises in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, July 5. (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) Five workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) were arrested on Saturday in connection with the vandalism at Sushil Kedia's office in Worli. A case was registered against them under Sections 223, 189(2), 189(3), 190, 191(2), 191(3), and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. What happened Office of Sushil Kedia, a prominent investor, was vandalised by MNS workers a day after he had challenged Raj Thackeray in a post on social media platform X and said that he will not learn Marathi as a protest against 'gross misconduct' of the MNS chief. 'I don't know Marathi properly even after living for 30 years in Mumbai & with your gross misconduct I have made it a resolve that until such people as you are allowed to pretend to be taking care of Marathi Manus I take pratigya I won't learn Marathi. Kya karna hai bol?' Kedia had posted on X. MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande responded, advising Kedia to focus on his business. 'Do business if you're a businessman; don't try to act like our father. If you insult Marathi in Maharashtra, you'll get a slap on the ear, otherwise, stay in your lane, Mehta or whoever. That's all for now.' Deshpande posted on X. After Deshpande's post, Kedia approached police, claiming he was getting threats for his social media post. 'We contacted Kedia after he tagged Mumbai Police in his post,' a police official said. On Friday, Kedia posted another message on X. 'Shri @RajThackeray threatening me by 100s of your workers is not going to make me a fluent Marathi speaker. If I am not confident of the quality of Marathi I can speak, with so much threatening around even more fear happens that if I miss speaking any word(s) improperly more violence will happen. Get the point. Love, not threat makes people get assimilated together,' his post read. 'Please note @CPMumbaiPolice @Dev_Fadnavis open threats of violence are being issued by @RajThackeray workers. Provide me safety. Is an Indian having any rights to dignity & safety in Maharashtra today is a question even our @HMOIndia @AmitShah ji might ponder on as well,' Kedia said on X. Kedia's post came after a sweet mart owner was assaulted by seven MNS workers in Mira Road near Mumbai recently for not speaking in Marathi. Kedia withdraws comments on Raj Thackeray On Saturday, Kedia stated that he made these comments in haste and has now realised his mistake. Stressing that his comments have been taken out of context by some sections, Kedia said, 'My tweet [X post] happened in a wrong state of mind under stress. And further, now it is getting manipulated and misinterpreted to suit the interests of people who want to gain from any controversy.' Kedia said that he made those comments after common citizens of Maharashtra were getting targeted over a lack of proficiency in Marathi. "Having come under pressure mentally from the violence inflicted on those who do not know Marathi, I ended up overreacting. I realised I must take back my overreactions and withdraw," he said. Praising MNS chief Raj Thackeray for raising "strong issues" that matter to the Hindus, Thackeray said, "Whether it was the Hanuman Chalisa campaign in recent memories or always, the championing of Hindutva and Rashtravad that he has done, he has always been a hero. But this time, when our own have been loggerheads with each other, my mind went haywire under stress." Sushil Kedia added that citizens here in Maharashtra will be inclined to learn the Marathi language if encouraged in the right manner. "I have realised my mistake, and I wish to correct it unequivocally. The concerned people may also hopefully consider someday soon that instead of frightening people if you provide us encouragement, it will help us overcome our hesitations in achieving fluency in the Marathi language more rapidly, as we will be fearlessly using it more and more. Of course, the tweet that I made out of haste, out of the stress," Kedia said while admitting that he clearly "overreacted" in his previous post. (With ANI inputs)
