DayStarter

Market snapshot

Equities: Monday close

The Nifty opened 23 points lower at 24,343. Global markets remained uncertain, oil prices were rising, and weakness from the previous week continued to weigh on Indian equities.

The index fell below 24,300 during the first half-hour and touched an intraday low of around 24,230 near 11:20 am.

It recovered above 24,300 around 12:30 pm and later moved towards an intraday high of around 24,360 after 1:30 pm. A sharp move near the close erased much of this recovery, and the Nifty ended at 24,287.65, down 0.32%.

The Sensex closed 0.36% lower at 77,728.16. Mid-cap, small-cap and micro-cap indices ended slightly higher.

Sector performance

Realty was the strongest sector, rising 1.46%. Metal gained 1.26%, while Media rose 0.36%.

IT was the weakest sector, falling 1.75%. FMCG declined 1.05%.

F&O winners and losers

INOX Wind was the strongest F&O stock, rising 6.05%. Motilal Oswal Financial Services gained 5.68%, while Oberoi Realty rose 4.60%.

Voltas was the biggest loser, falling 4.05%. BSE declined 3.34%, while Vodafone Idea fell 2.83%.

Commodities

Most MCX commodities ended higher.

Copper and aluminium both rose 1.23%. Silver gained 0.75%, crude oil rose 0.62%, and gold increased 0.47%.

Natural gas was the only commodity in the table to fall sharply, declining 3.22%.

Currency and bond yields

USDINR rose 0.18% to 95.62.

India’s 10-year government bond yield increased to 6.82 from 6.76.

The US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.69 from 4.65.

Institutional flows

Foreign institutional investors sold Indian equities worth a net ₹2,535 crore on 17 August.

Domestic institutional investors bought a net ₹5,101 crore.

Across the five sessions ending 17 August, FIIs were net sellers of ₹3,282 crore, while DIIs were net buyers of ₹15,677 crore.

Macro view

Labour market

India’s unemployment rate fell to 5.1% in July from 5.5% in June.

The urban unemployment rate for people aged 15 and above moved in the opposite direction, rising to 6.7% from 6.6%. The increase came mainly from higher unemployment among women.

Rural unemployment improved to 4.5% from 5%.

Within rural areas:

• Male unemployment fell to 4.6% from 4.9%.
• Female unemployment fell to 4.3% from 5%.

Compared with July 2025, urban unemployment fell from 7.2% to 6.7%. Rural unemployment rose slightly from 4.4% to 4.5%.

GDP growth estimate

Icra expects India’s GDP to grow 7% in the April to June quarter.

This would be the slowest growth in four quarters and below the 7.8% recorded a year earlier.

For the full FY27 year, Icra expects GDP growth of 6.7%, compared with 7.7% in FY26.

Icra chief economist Aditi Nayar said the 7% Q1 estimate is in line with the Monetary Policy Committee’s forecast for the quarter.

Retail inflation

India’s retail inflation rose to 4.45% in July from 4.38% in June.

This moved inflation further above the RBI’s 4% midpoint target.

Food inflation increased to 5.52%.

Rupee outlook

BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, expects the rupee to weaken to ₹97 per US dollar by the end of FY27.

It expects the currency to weaken further to ₹99 per dollar by the end of FY28.

The current level cited in the report was ₹95.4.

BMI linked the expected depreciation to:

• High energy prices.
• Global risk aversion.
• Less favourable interest-rate differences.

Government measures designed to attract foreign capital are expected to help limit the pace of depreciation.

FCNR(B) swap window

The RBI will close its special USD-INR forex swap facility for FCNR(B) deposits on 31 August 2026.

The scheme has attracted $56.85 billion.

Banking reforms committee

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will soon announce a high-powered committee on banking reforms for Viksit Bharat.

She spoke on the first day of PSB Confluence 2026.

The conclusions from the two-day gathering are expected to provide inputs to the committee.

The Department of Financial Services organised the event.

Day one covered four themes:

• Deposit mobilisation.
• Banking for young people.
• Helping the investment cycle.
• Global capability centres.

Day two will cover:

• Agriculture and horticulture value-chain infrastructure.
• Priority-sector lending.
• Reimagining the credit-card business.

Banking for younger customers

Sitharaman noted that 29% of India’s population is between 15 and 29 years old.

The Mera Yuva Bharat platform has more than 26 million registered users.

Mutual fund registration

SEBI changed the registration process for mutual funds.

Prospective sponsors will now use a consolidated application framework.

They must provide detailed information covering:

• Financial strength.
• Ownership.
• Governance.
• Regulatory track record.

MSME performance bank guarantees

The Centre is considering removing performance bank guarantees for MSMEs working on government contracts.

Existing credit-guarantee schemes could be used instead.

MSMEs accounted for 50% of the central government’s ₹2.30 trillion procurement of goods and services in FY26.

Under the General Financial Rules, 2017, an MSME with a government contract above ₹10 lakh must provide a performance bank guarantee equal to 3% to 10% of the project value.

A November 2025 report by axiTrust estimated that nearly 4.5% of India’s GDP, or around ₹15 trillion, is locked in bank guarantees.

India has more than 74 million MSMEs.

They account for:

• More than 30% of GDP.
• 35.4% of manufacturing output.
• Nearly 45% of exports.
• More than 320 million jobs.

Electronics component manufacturing

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology approved nearly 31 applications involving ₹7,877 crore of investment under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme.

Total committed investment under the scheme has reached ₹69,548 crore across 106 approved projects.

The Centre’s original investment expectation was ₹59,000 crore.

Around 38 projects have already started manufacturing.

Another 16 are under active construction.

The programme has generated:

• 74,628 direct jobs.
• Nearly 250,000 jobs including indirect employment.

Nutraceuticals policy

The government is preparing a new incentive framework for India’s nutraceuticals industry.

The Food Processing Ministry has started discussions with industry and has asked the Health Ministry and FSSAI for inputs.

CareEdge Ratings expects India’s nutraceuticals market to grow from around $37 billion to $38 billion in 2026 to $55 billion to $57 billion by 2030.

The ₹10,900 crore production-linked incentive scheme for food processing is scheduled to end on 31 March 2027.

Companies have invested ₹9,207 crore across 22 states under the programme.

This is above their committed investment of ₹7,722 crore.

Bihar joins pulse procurement network

Bihar joined the Centre’s pulse procurement network for the first time.

The change allows central agencies to buy masoor directly from farmers.

Around 3,000 tonnes had been purchased from Bihar by the first week of August.

The target is 32,000 tonnes.

Around 750 farmers received approximately ₹21 crore at the minimum support price of ₹7,000 per quintal.

Bihar produces nearly 400,000 tonnes of pulses each year.

Around 448,000 hectares in the state are used for pulse cultivation.

Bihar abolished its agricultural produce market committee system in 2006.

The National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation has purchased around 1,200 tonnes.

Nafed has purchased around 1,850 tonnes.

Soyoil imports

India’s soyoil imports could rise to 620,000 tonnes in August.

This would be nearly 46% above the average monthly import level of 424,549 tonnes so far in the current marketing year.

Competitive prices are encouraging refiners to increase purchases ahead of festive demand.

The Russia-Ukraine war is also disrupting sunflower-oil shipments.

Festive hiring

Temporary staffing demand during the festive season is expected to create 250,000 to 270,000 jobs.

Hiring is expected to be led by:

• E-commerce.
• Logistics.
• Quick commerce.
• Organised retail.
• BFSI.

Adecco India expects temporary and gig hiring during the 2026 festive season to increase 15% to 20% year-on-year.

Niti Aayog leadership

Anurag Jain took charge as chief executive of Niti Aayog on Monday.

He previously served as secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and as chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh.

Jain is a 1989-batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre.

He succeeds B.V.R. Subrahmanyam.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved a two-year term from the date he assumes office.

BJP treasurer

The Bharatiya Janata Party appointed Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal as national treasurer.

Goyal previously held the role from March 2010 to May 2014.

The new organisational team also includes:

• 13 national vice-presidents.
• Eight national general secretaries.
• 16 national secretaries.

Airfare rules

The Centre told the Supreme Court that rules under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, have been fast-tracked.

The government expects the rules to be finalised within three weeks.

Mint; PTI via Mint; Periodic Labour Force Survey; Icra; BMI; axiTrust; CareEdge Ratings; Adecco India; Zerodha AfterMarket Report; Reuters via Mint

Corporate action and earnings

Darwinbox

KKR-backed HR and payroll company Darwinbox has received buyout interest.

Existing investors Salesforce and Microsoft, along with US-based ADP, have approached the founders and board about buying out other shareholders.

Darwinbox was valued at around $1 billion when it raised $140 million from KKR and Partners Group in March last year.

The company has raised $290 million across all funding rounds.

It could now be valued at around $1.8 billion to $2 billion.

A Darwinbox spokesperson denied that stake-sale discussions were taking place and said the company plans to pursue an IPO in the medium term.

Operating revenue increased 50% to ₹533.9 crore in FY25 from ₹334 crore in FY24.

Cloudnine Hospitals

Private-equity firm Permira may become the leading bidder for a stake worth $150 million to $200 million in Cloudnine Hospitals.

The deal would be a secondary transaction.

Existing investor True North is looking to sell its stake, which it has held for more than a decade.

The proposed transaction was reduced in size after Cloudnine decided not to proceed with an acquisition in West Asia.

Apollo owns a 9.9% stake worth ₹785 crore following a transaction in May.

That deal valued Cloudnine at around ₹7,930 crore.

Operating revenue increased to ₹1,485.6 crore in FY25 from ₹1,187.7 crore in FY24.

Its loss widened to ₹46.4 crore from ₹27.9 crore.

Paytm block deal

Resilient Asset Management B.V., which is wholly owned by Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, plans to sell One 97 Communications shares worth up to ₹4,895 crore, or $513 million.

The block transactions are scheduled for Tuesday.

The base offer includes up to 19.2 million shares.

This equals 3% of total outstanding equity and is worth around ₹2,949 crore.

An upsize option covers another 12.7 million shares, or 1.98%, worth ₹1,946 crore.

One 97 Communications’ June-quarter revenue from operations rose:

• 28% year-on-year.
• 8% from the previous quarter.

Revenue reached ₹2,448 crore.

Payments-services revenue increased 33% to ₹1,384 crore.

Net profit rose 79% to ₹220 crore from ₹123 crore.

Excluding the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund incentive, profit rose 207% to ₹212 crore from ₹69 crore.

Tenet Diagnostics

Tata Capital Healthcare Fund and Blue Earth Capital AG announced a $30 million investment in Tenet Diagnostics.

The equity stake was not disclosed.

Tenet was founded in 2018.

It operates more than 35 diagnostic centres across 14 states.

Tata Capital Healthcare Fund manages around $400 million across Fund I and Fund II.

Embassy REIT

Bain Capital sold a 5.64% stake in Embassy Office Parks REIT for ₹2,325 crore through open-market trades.

It sold 5,34,51,142 units at between ₹435.01 and ₹435.05 each.

Embassy Office Parks REIT units fell nearly 3% and closed at ₹440.26 on the NSE.

Nelco

Tata Group satellite communications company Nelco announced a partnership and a $20 million investment in US-based Lunar Holdco, which operates as Elveo Mobile.

The investment is worth approximately ₹191.2 crore.

Nelco will subscribe to compulsorily convertible debentures carrying a 7% annual compounded return.

The investment does not give Nelco control over Lunar Holdco.

Alibaba and Lingxi Games

Alibaba Group could receive more than $2 billion from the sale of gaming company Lingxi Games to private-equity firm Trustar Capital.

Bloomberg News had earlier reported that the transaction would be worth at least $1.5 billion.

Greaves Cotton

Greaves Cotton acquired the remaining 20% of Excel Controlinkage.

Its ownership increased to 100% from 13 August.

The acquisition completes a multi-stage process that began in April 2023.

Ice Make Refrigeration

Japan’s Galilei Holdings will invest ₹180 crore in Ice Make Refrigeration through a preferential share issue.

The money will be used for capacity expansion and modernisation.

Ice Make will raise another ₹10 crore from other investors.

LG Electronics India

LG Electronics India’s Q1FY27 consolidated revenue rose 15.5% year-on-year to ₹7,233 crore.

EBITDA increased 26.2% to ₹904 crore.

The EBITDA margin expanded by 106 basis points.

Home entertainment was the strongest business.

Revenue rose 22% to ₹1,656 crore and EBIT increased almost 50% to ₹316 crore.

Home appliances and air solutions revenue rose 13.6% to ₹5,576 crore.

Its EBIT margin increased 10 basis points to 11.6%.

LG currently sources 55% of its requirements locally.

The company wants to increase localisation to 65% within three to four years.

Its ₹5,000 crore Sri City investment is expected to be funded entirely from internal accruals.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services values LG Electronics India at 45 times estimated FY28 earnings.

It raised its target price from ₹1,800 to ₹2,000 per share.

Ashok Leyland

Ashok Leyland’s Q1FY27 standalone revenue rose 10.4% year-on-year to ₹9,634 crore.

Volumes increased 10% to 48,763 vehicles.

Light commercial vehicle sales rose 20% to 19,339 units.

Medium and heavy commercial vehicle volumes increased 4.8% to 29,424 units.

Domestic M&HCV market share fell to 28.6% from 30.2% a year earlier.

EBITDA margin declined to a multi-quarter low of 10.1%.

It was:

• 14.6% in Q4FY26.
• 11.1% in Q1FY26.

Higher raw-material and employee costs affected margins.

Nuvama Research expects FY27 revenue to increase 12% to ₹49,165.5 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 12.5%.

Axis Max Life

Axis Max Life’s value of new business increased 33% in the June quarter.

VNB margin increased to 23.2% from 20.1% a year earlier.

Individual new-business sum assured rose 32% to ₹1.17 trillion during Q1.

The three-year compound annual growth rate was 30%.

Nearly 75% of customer contributions now come from tier-II and tier-III towns.

GIC Re

International business accounted for 14% of GIC Re’s gross premium in the June quarter.

This was down from 25% in FY26.

The combined ratio improved to 104.88% from 106.94% a year earlier.

Profit after tax was ₹1,922 crore.

Gross premium was ₹13,475 crore.

Ather Energy

Ather Energy’s June-quarter revenue from operations nearly doubled to ₹1,217 crore.

Non-vehicle revenue was ₹170 crore.

This represented around 14% of total revenue and increased 103% year-on-year.

Ather became the first new-age electric two-wheeler manufacturer to break even at the operating-profit level before depreciation and amortisation.

The technology-pack attachment rate rose from 89% to 94%.

Ather’s EV sales increased 83% in 2025-26 to 239,178 units.

Hero MotoCorp’s EV sales increased 196% to 144,330 units.

Hero MotoCorp owns 29.2% of Ather.

Hero said in its latest analyst call that it plans to monetise technology features more aggressively.

Welspun Corp

Welspun Corp’s profit after tax increased 2.9 times year-on-year to ₹1,046 crore.

Revenue from operations rose 19% to ₹4,081 crore.

The company has a global order book of ₹24,750 crore.

Its shares have risen 133% so far this year.

Telecom tariffs

Reliance Jio kept its ₹299 entry-level plan after Bharti Airtel removed its similarly priced 28-day base plan.

Airtel customers who want daily data must now move to the ₹349 plan.

This represents a ₹50, or 16.7%, increase.

Jio is offering one year of protection from any tariff increase through its Jio Prime membership.

The membership costs ₹300 once.

At the end of June:

• Jio had 533 million subscribers, including 285 million 5G users.
• Airtel had 492 million India users, including 376.5 million mobile subscribers.
• Vodafone Idea had 193.1 million subscribers.

SpiceJet insolvency

The National Company Law Tribunal criticised SpiceJet after the airline disclosed on judgment day that it had paid $500,000 to one of eight lessors.

The tribunal asked SpiceJet to settle dues with the other creditors within two days.

The bench included Justice Mahendra Khandelwal and technical member Anu Jagmohan.

The tribunal is expected to issue its order on Wednesday.

SpiceJet reported a net loss of ₹1,138.15 crore during the first nine months ending 31 December.

The loss was ₹266.8 crore a year earlier.

Revenue from operations fell 14% year-on-year to ₹3,271.5 crore.

Its market share fell to 1.9% in June from 3.9% at the beginning of the year.

Its shares have fallen 61% year-to-date.

The Nifty 50 was down 7.22% over the same period.

Coal India

Coal India plans to bid for more iron ore mines if the projects are financially viable.

The company wants to secure raw material for a planned pelletisation plant.

Coal India recently became the top bidder for the Gadadharpur iron ore block in Odisha.

It will pay the Odisha government a premium equal to 114.05% of the value of minerals dispatched from the block.

The block covers 265.05 hectares in Keonjhar district.

Estimated iron ore resources are around 258.04 million tonnes.

India’s National Steel Policy targets annual steel production of 300 million tonnes by 2030.

It estimates iron ore demand will reach around 437 million tonnes, compared with current annual demand of around 255 million to 260 million tonnes.

Air India pilot screening

Air India has started testing its entire pilot workforce for psychoactive substances.

Initial tests produced non-negative results for two of around 300 pilots tested so far.

A non-negative initial result does not establish that a pilot used a prohibited substance. A second set of tests is required for confirmation.

Mandatory testing began on 13 August.

Around 5,000 pilots across Air India and Air India Express are covered.

JioBlackRock

JioBlackRock Asset Management will begin offering regular plans for eligible mutual fund schemes.

This will allow investors to buy schemes through registered distributors.

The fund house had previously offered only direct plans.

Colgate-Palmolive India and Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive India has given Bombay Shaving Company end-to-end responsibility for consumer-facing advertising and customer relationships for Palmolive.

The arrangement covers:

• E-commerce.
• Direct-to-consumer channels.

Modern trade and traditional retail remain with Colgate-Palmolive India.

Diageo

Diageo has agreed to reformulate some whisky and rum products sold in India.

The food regulator is expected to withdraw its ban based on this agreement.

Diageo agreed to stop adding whisky flavour to whisky and rum flavour to rum.

MCX

Multi Commodity Exchange of India plans to invest up to ₹200 crore in new coal and minerals trading platforms.

SEBI has approved investment of around ₹100 crore in each business.

The platforms also require approvals from:

• Coal Controller Organisation.
• Indian Bureau of Mines.

Sembcorp Green Infra

Sembcorp Industries is preparing an IPO for its Indian unit, Sembcorp Green Infra.

The issue could raise as much as $500 million.

Draft documents may be filed as early as August.

Yes Bank

Yes Bank is preparing to return to the bond market for the first time since writing off a risky domestic note in 2020.

The bank has appointed arrangers for a dollar-denominated issue.

It plans to issue a benchmark-sized three-year US dollar bond.

Indian art market

Modern-art sales rose 43.7% year-on-year to ₹1,548 crore during the six months ending June.

Modern art accounted for nearly three-fourths of the overall market.

Average price per sold lot increased 39.23% to ₹74.07 lakh from ₹53.20 lakh in H1CY25.

The number of lots sold increased only 3.21%.

E-commerce Independence Day sales

India’s e-commerce order volumes rose 31% year-on-year during the 2026 Independence Day sale period.

The data covers 6 to 14 August.

Gross merchandise value rose 30% year-on-year.

Electric car exports

India’s electric-car exports increased more than 16 times year-on-year during Q1FY27.

Export value rose to $369 million from $22.2 million.

Export volume increased to 10,802 vehicles from 1,309.

Demand from European markets drove the increase, particularly Spain and the UK.

ONGC in Venezuela

ONGC can resume full operations in Venezuela.

Its overseas subsidiary, ONGC Videsh, received a licence from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

This reduces restrictions created by US sanctions.

Mint; PTI via Mint; Reuters via Mint; Bloomberg via Mint; Entrackr; Icra; Motilal Oswal Financial Services; Nuvama Research; FADA; Asign.art; Unicommerce; Zerodha AfterMarket Report

Upcoming events

Economic calendar

Company and market diary

Several company and policy events are scheduled:

• 18 August: Tata Sons’ annual general meeting is scheduled for 2:30 pm by video conference. It is likely to be adjourned because Sir Ratan Tata Trust cannot nominate a representative.
• 18 August: Resilient Asset Management’s block sale of up to ₹4,895 crore of One 97 Communications shares is scheduled.
• 18 August: The US state attorneys general trial against Meta over child safety is scheduled to begin in federal court in Oakland, California.
• 18 August: Day two of PSB Confluence 2026 covers agriculture and horticulture value-chain infrastructure, priority-sector lending and the credit-card business.
• 19 August: The National Company Law Tribunal is scheduled to issue its order in the SpiceJet insolvency petitions.

Mint; PTI; AP

Global pulse

Global markets

Global markets were mixed.

The Shanghai Composite gained 1.41%, while the Hang Seng rose 1.34%. The Nikkei 225 increased 0.74%.

US markets were softer. The S&P 500 fell 0.17%, while the Dow Jones declined 0.20%. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.48%.

Crude oil and West Asia

Brent crude moved above $89 per barrel.

Renewed tension in the Middle East increased concern about possible supply disruption.

Fighting in Lebanon, attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and stalled negotiations between Iran and the US reduced hopes of a quick settlement.

US-Iran negotiations

US President Donald Trump said the US naval blockade of Iranian ports is putting pressure on Iran.

He said there is no timetable for resolving the conflict.

Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that was supposed to create a 60-day period for reaching a lasting peace agreement.

That period expired on Monday.

Both sides now say the agreement is no longer valid.

Lebanon

Israel’s military said it killed senior Hezbollah commander Abu Hassan Alaa in southern Lebanon over the weekend.

Eleven people were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were retaliation for an attack by Hezbollah.

Iran’s military posture

Arab intelligence officials have found evidence of a strategic shift inside Iran’s hard-line leadership.

Iranian forces are being prepared for a possible widening of the war and for raising the cost of the conflict for the US.

Ahmad Vahidi was formally appointed commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guard.

The decree appointing him tasked him with major offensive operations against the enemy.

China activity

China’s industrial-output growth slowed to 4.5% year-on-year in July from 5.3% in June.

The reading was below expectations of 4.8%.

Weak domestic demand and extreme weather affected activity.

Retail-sales growth slowed to 0.6%.

Fixed-asset investment fell 6.7% year-on-year during the first seven months of the year, after falling 5.7% during the first half.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate increased to 5.2% from 5% in June.

Real-estate investment fell 19.2% year-on-year during the first seven months, a new record low.

Passenger-vehicle purchases fell 21% in July.

Jacqueline Rong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas, said the July data suggest GDP growth may have slowed to around 4.1%.

She said Beijing needs around 4.3% growth to reach its annual target.

Japan

Japan’s annualised GDP growth slowed to 1.1% in the second quarter from a revised 1.9%.

Markets had expected growth of 2%.

Household and business spending weakened.

Long-term Japanese bond yields still rose to their highest level in three decades.

Investors focused on inflation risks and the possibility of a Bank of Japan rate increase next month.

German investment in the US

German companies reduced direct investment in the US by almost two-thirds year-on-year during the first half of 2026.

Investment fell to €4.3 billion, or $5 billion.

This was the lowest level in three years.

The decline came during a period of increased policy and trade uncertainty in the US.

Euro

The euro strengthened to around $1.160.

This was its highest level in two months.

Markets have reduced expectations of another US Federal Reserve rate increase.

At the same time, investors are pricing in around an 84% probability of a 25-basis-point European Central Bank rate increase in September.

Off-balance-sheet AI commitments

Nine major technology companies had around $3 trillion of off-balance-sheet commitments, mostly related to artificial intelligence.

These obligations are increasing faster than traditional capital expenditure.

The nine companies reported around $600 billion of capital expenditure during their latest reported year.

Their off-balance-sheet commitments were around three times their outstanding leases and long-term borrowings.

Payments promised under leases that have not yet started reached $1.2 trillion.

This was around four times the amount disclosed a year earlier.

Purchase obligations at the companies totalled $1.9 trillion.

Alphabet’s purchase commitments and contractual obligations reached $811 billion as of 30 June.

Three months earlier, the figure was $332 billion.

Meta’s initial lease commitment for its Hyperion data-centre project is around $12.3 billion.

Meta disclosed $347 billion of total obligations for leases that had not started as of June.

Nvidia committed to make $27 billion of equity investments between 26 April and the end of its financial year in January 2027.

Meta child-safety trial

US states are seeking financial damages from Meta that could theoretically reach $1.4 trillion.

They are also seeking changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate.

A trial involving California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in federal court in Oakland.

Another 25 states are expected to have trials later.

Meta disputes the allegations.

The company said the evidence will show its commitment to helping young people.

Meta also said the possible penalty is not connected to the scale of any claimed violation.

The company reported a rare decline in profit last month, partly because of $2.4 billion of legal costs.

ArcelorMittal Ukraine

ArcelorMittal is working on plans to restore operations at its steel plant in Ukraine after a missile strike.

Two people were killed.

Another 13 workers and contractors were injured.

The strike damaged major energy and blast-furnace production facilities.

Some production processes were stopped.

Zerodha AfterMarket Report; Bloomberg via Mint; The Wall Street Journal via Mint; AP via Mint; PTI via Mint; German Economic Institute

Management commentary

Zerodha AfterMarket Report; Mint

Feature: UPI at ten

UPI began with 21 banks in 2016

The Unified Payments Interface was launched on 11 April 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India under RBI oversight.

Twenty-one banks were live when the system launched.

UPI processed 373 transactions during its first month.

The International Monetary Fund has since recognised UPI as the world’s largest real-time payment system by transaction volume.

The public launch

The public launch was delayed by around one month from NPCI’s original deadline of 31 July 2016 because some banks were not ready.

NPCI required banks to meet three conditions before going live:

• At least 1,000 pilot customers.
• At least 5,000 transactions.
• A success rate of at least 90%.

Twenty-nine banks had initially partnered with NPCI.

Only 21 met the requirements.

UPI was built on the existing Immediate Payment Service.

It works across different banks.

Customers can transfer money using a virtual address, mobile number or Aadhaar number without either side sharing bank-account details.

Ten years of growth

Annual UPI transaction volume increased from 2 crore transactions in FY2016-17 to 24,161.69 crore in FY2025-26.

The government describes this as an increase of almost 12,000 times.

Annual transaction value increased from ₹0.07 lakh crore to around ₹314 lakh crore.

This was an increase of more than 4,000 times.

The number of banks on UPI increased from 44 in FY2016-17 to 703 by FY2025-26.

The network now includes:

• Public-sector banks.
• Private banks.
• Small finance banks.
• Payments banks.
• Co-operative banks.

July 2026 set another monthly record

UPI processed a record 23.66 billion transactions in July 2026.

The transactions were worth ₹29.88 trillion.

Compared with June:

• Transaction volume rose 4.1%.
• Transaction value rose 3.3%.

Compared with July 2025:

• Volume rose 22%.
• Value rose 19%.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha on 10 August that July alone saw 2,366 crore transactions worth ₹29.9 lakh crore.

Person-to-merchant and person-to-person payments

Person-to-merchant, or P2M, transactions account for 63% of total UPI transaction volume.

Person-to-person, or P2P, transactions account for 71% of transaction value.

Small payments make up a large part of usage:

• 86% of P2M transactions are below ₹500.
• 59% of P2P transactions are below ₹500.
• 41% of P2P transactions are above ₹500.

Reeju Datta, co-founder of Cashfree Payments, said July had no major festival or quarter-end boost.

He said the growth therefore reflected everyday transaction behaviour rather than a seasonal or structural event.

He also said an important shift is taking place outside large cities, across tier-II, tier-III and rural markets.

UPI and cash demand

An RBI study found that higher UPI use is associated with lower demand for cash at both national and state levels.

UPI transaction volumes were negatively correlated with cash demand.

The broader trend also showed currency growth slowing from pandemic-era levels while UPI usage continued to increase and average transaction sizes became smaller.

The study found:

• Income had a positive relationship with cash demand.
• UPI use had a negative relationship with cash demand.
• Interest rates had a negative relationship with cash demand.

In 2024-25, UPI processed more than 17 billion transactions each month.

It accounted for:

• 84% of total digital-payment volume.
• 9% of total digital-payment value.

UPI users increased from 30 million in 2017 to 420 million in 2024.

At the state level, income and ATM density were positively related to cash demand.

Higher workforce formalisation and educational attainment were associated with lower reliance on cash.

Concentration in the UPI market

In 2021, NPCI announced a 30% limit on the total transaction volume that any one third-party application provider could process on UPI.

A Bank for International Settlements paper describes the cap as a response to concerns around competition and financial stability.

Early international expansion

The BIS paper records two early steps in UPI’s expansion outside India.

In 2021, BHIM UPI partnered with Bhutan’s Royal Monetary Authority to enable QR-based payments.

In August 2022, UPI and RuPay signed a memorandum of understanding with PayXpert to expand acceptance in the UK, starting with UPI QR-code payments.

UPI abroad

As of April 2026, UPI was accepted in eight countries:

• UAE
• Singapore
• France
• Bhutan
• Nepal
• Sri Lanka
• Mauritius
• Qatar

The Singapore connection links UPI with PayNow for cross-border money transfers.

UPI is accepted across Nepal.

Cross-border UPI transactions increased more than 20 times to more than 755,000 in FY25 from 37,060 in FY24.

Another 601,000 transactions were recorded during the first four months of FY26.

More than 1.5 million merchants outside India have been enabled to accept UPI.

Future merchant charges

Parliament completed passage of the Taxation and Other Laws Amendment Bill, 2026, on 10 August.

The Bill changes Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

The amendment enables future changes but does not itself impose a tax or transaction charge on UPI users.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said UPI payments will remain free for consumers.

Any future merchant discount rate would apply only to certain categories of merchant transactions.

Ordinary low-value merchant payments would continue to remain free.

Any future MDR would apply only to a limited group of merchant transactions above a prescribed threshold.

Sitharaman also said UPI’s growth has been helped by transactions made by SVANidhi merchants and street vendors.

Press Information Bureau, NPCI, Business Standard, RBI Bulletin and BIS

Closing note

DayStarter by Devraj, 18 August 2026. Market data is from the Zerodha AfterMarket Report for the 17 August 2026 close. Macro, corporate and global sections are based on Mint, Mumbai edition, 18 August 2026 and the Zerodha AfterMarket Report. The feature section uses the Press Information Bureau, NPCI data via Business Standard, the RBI Bulletin, the Bank for International Settlements and PTI. For information only. Not investment advice.