Innholdsfortegnelse for 20 July 2025 i Business Today

As Hyundai Motor steps on the gas to reclaim lost ground in an increasingly competitive Indian automobile landscape, its journey mirrors the broader evolution of India Inc. in the post-pandemic era. Once firmly India’s second-largest carmaker, Hyundai is now playing catch-up with agile rivals like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. Sliding market share and soft sales of key models such as the Venue and Verna have triggered the need for a reset. Since its October 2024 listing, Hyundai Motor India’s stock has rebounded from a weak debut to a July 2025 peak, briefly rising more than 15% above its IPO price of ₹1,960. Yet, with industry-wide momentum softening, Hyundai faces fresh pressure. In the latest April–June quarter, its passenger vehicle sales dropped by 12%, a sharper fall than sector…

RISING TRADE BAR-RIERS, slowing global growth and shifting economic dynamics, the World Economic Forum’s 2025 outlook is packed with several red flags. But amidst all that uncertainty, India stands out as a bright spot. Børge Brende, President and CEO of the World Economic Forum, talks to Siddharth Zarabi, Editor of Business Today, and Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting Editor of India Today TV, about the current economic climate. Edited excerpts: SZ: What is your reading of the world economy at this point? Global growth is more sluggish than it was in the past few decades. But despite the current geopolitical backdrop, the global economy is more resilient than expected. There are some drivers of growth, and India is the bright spot among the largest economies. If it continues like this, India will…

IN AN INTERACTION with Business Today, Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda, talks about the factors behind India Inc’s perfromance and why forex volatility is a persistent concern for Indian companies, especiallysince Donald Trump became the US President. Edited excerpts: How do you assess the overall financial health of India Inc? The financial health of India Inc has improved significantly in recent years. One of the key indicators of this is the interest coverage ratio, which has remained steady at six-seven times. That’s a strong signal that corporates are comfortably meeting their interest obligations, despite operating in a high-interest rate environment, especially with the repo rate being at elevated levels over the last couple of years. While corporate profitability hasn’t been uniformly strong—owing to sector-specific demand challenges—the overall improvement in…

MID-AND SMALL-CAP indices have bounced back from a 20%-rout since Septemberend till February, when several key companies experienced sizeable declines in share price and market value. In last few years, mid- and small-cap stocks had risen sharply, leading to valuations perceived as excessive compared to earnings growth. Now, with valuations appearing more appealing next to large-caps, an earnings recovery, enhanced sentiment in both global and domestic markets, and steady inflows from foreign and domestic investors have sparked the rebound, says Vipul Bhowar, Senior Director and Head of Equities, Waterfield Advisors. The divergence underscores a growing investor shift toward high-growth opportunities in the broader market, despite global headwinds. If you look at mutual fund inflows into mid- and small-caps, there has been an uptick there too. Nifty midcap 150 gained 24%…

WITH THE DEMERGER and separate listing of Raymond Lifestyle in 2024 and Raymond Realty on July 1, 2025, Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Hari Singhania is scripting a growth story anchored in focused verticals. In an exclusive conversation with Business Today, he shares his vision for building long-term shareholder value through distinct plays in lifestyle, engineering, and real estate, while staying true to the brand’s core pillars of trust, quality, and speed. Edited excerpts: The Raymond group has completed 100 years. What lies ahead for the group, and what is your vision? Nobody has a free run all through life. In personal and business life, you always have ups and downs, but it’s only the tough that survive. I'm very proud that Raymond is one of the few companies that have…

WHEN THE Reserve Bank of India (RBI) removed YES Bank founder, MD & CEO Rana Kapoor, Ravneet Gill took over as the CEO in March 2019. Unaware of the depth of the problem, Gill, a former Deutsche Bank executive, completely underestimated the stressed portfolio, with non-performing assets (NPAs) exceeding estimates quarter after quarter. He failed to raise the much-needed capital. Within a year, the RBI superseded the board and roped in State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, and some private banks to pump in additional capital. But six years later, this mid-sized private bank is yet to regain pre-crisis returns, with full recovery still years away. Another old private sector bank, RBL Bank, faced a similar crisis in 2021 as CEO Vishwavir Ahuja, a Bank of America professional…

LIKE THE REST of the world, India, too, has been riding the Artificial Intelligence (AI) wave since OpenAI’s generative AI (GenAI) model ChatGPT rocked the tech world three years ago. From boardrooms to policymakers everyone is discussing this disruptive technology. Not to be left behind, India has also sought to play catch-up in the AI race with the government selecting local firm Sarvam.AI under the IndiaAI Mission to build the country’s first foundational model. This comes six months after Chinese firm DeepSeek released its AI model, built on a more modest budget than OpenAI’s, showing the world that frugal innovations are possible even here. Indian firms are also racing to build foundational models because of the enthusiasm among domestic users. Consider this: India has the largest user base for ChatGPT,…

To my way of thinking, there may be miracles in religion but not in politics or economics. We succeeded because our people devoted their enterprising spirits. Conviction created indomitable efforts. This is the key to miracles” The enterprising spirits and conviction that Chung Ju Yung—who founded the Hyundai Group and turned it into one of the world’s largest industrial conglomerates in a classic rags-to-riches story—talked about decades ago are exactly what Hyundai Motor India needs as it battles the toughest challenge it has faced in its 29 years in the country. In FY25, Hyundai Motor India’s market share fell to 14%, the lowest since FY13. It slipped to the 4th spot in February and March 2025, behind Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. The company got back to…

IN SPITE OF GEOPOLITICAL tensions, inflationary pressures, global tariff war ignited by US President Donald Trump and tepid urban demand, corporate India is in a good shape on the most important parameters—balance sheets, profitability and credit quality. Companies listed on the domestic bourses reported a record net profit of nearly ₹17 lakh crore in the previous financial year on highest-ever gross sales of almost ₹180 lakh crore compared to consolidated profit and gross sales of ₹15.2 lakh crore and ₹165 lakh crore, respectively, in FY24. However, the profits were driven by cost control and lower capacity utilisation. Capital expenditure (capex) was primarily driven by the government, while private capex remained subdued, five years after the government reduced the corporate tax rate from 30% to 22% if the company does not…

WHEN PAVITRA SHANKAR took charge as Managing Director of Brigade Enterprises in 2022, the real estate company was confined mainly to Bengaluru, the information technology capital of India where her father M.R. Jaishankar had built it into a household name in its nearly 40 years of existence. Pavitra Shankar, who has an MBA in real estate and finance from Columbia University, and her younger sister Nirupa Shankar, who studied management in hospitality at Cornell University, were tasked with powering Brigade Enterprises’s next phase of growth. Nirupa was named joint MD the same year her sister became MD. The sisters ascended to the top management at a particularly sensitive time. Real estate was picking up the pieces after the Covid-19 pandemic, which had scarred the industry like many others. When the worst…

Ikea is a Sweden-based company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture and household goods What was the problem you were facing? One of the most important roles as a leader is being an enabler. Early in my career, I often found myself stuck at a crossroads when it came to decisions related to new roles and responsibilities, and helping myself and the teams make the right decisions. Whom did you approach for advice? To help me handle problems daily and turn them into opportunities, I have ensured access to a good coach. Throughout my 28-year journey at IKEA across 10 roles, I have been fortunate to have found good coaches. It’s invaluable because they objectively listen to you without giving answers. They make you see the options, while holding the…