The valuation reassessment comes at a time when Reliance is expected to undertake initial public offerings for both Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail.
In 2020, Jio Platforms raised over $20 billion from a series of investments by companies like Meta, Google, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners and others.
Reliance Retail, which raised about $7 billion in 2020, recently raised about $1.85 billion at $100 billion valuation.
The investment bank also expects the Indian telecom industry to hike tariff in the second half of the year, it said.
“On enterprise business we see three areas where Jio Platforms could capitalize on: government contracts, SMEs and corporates (by offering VAS),” BofA added.
Uber confirmed that the flexible pricing service has expanded.
However, many InDrive drivers in the country have complained about passengers offering them too low prices for their rides.
Moreover, while Uber’s flex pricing model is available for various modes, the raid-hailing giant is not applying it to all modes in one city.
TechCrunch learned that the company was also looking to test the new service model soon in metro cities in India, including Delhi and Mumbai.
In addition to Uber Flex, the San Francisco-headquartered company is testing different services in India to cater to the local demand.
Financial Intelligence Unit, an Indian government agency which scrutinizes financial transactions, said Thursday nine global crypto exchanges — including Binance, Kraken, Kucoin and Mexc — are operating “illegally” in the country without complying with the local anti-money laundering act and asked the IT Ministry to block their websites.
Global crypto exchanges are required to comply with India’s anti-money laundering rules and cannot evade the guidelines just because they don’t have physical presence in the country, the government agency said.
Cryptocurrencies were brought into the ambit of anti-money laundering / counter financing of terrorism framework in India in March this year.
India began taxing virtual currencies last year, levying a 30% tax on the gains and a 1% deduction on each crypto transaction.
“Most Indian crypto exchanges are FIU registered entities and adhere with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Apple’s warnings in late October that Indian journalists and opposition figures may have been targeted by state-sponsored attacks prompted a forceful counterattack from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Behind closed doors, senior officials from Modi’s administration went further, demanding Apple soften the political impact of the warnings, Washington Post reports.
Senior officials summoned Apple representatives to insist they provide alternative explanations, even flying in an Apple security expert to meet with ministry leaders, the report adds.
For Apple, maintaining its commitment to user security took priority over risks to its growing India business.
Apple, which opened two official stores in India this year, plans to move 25% of iPhone production to India by 2025, according to JP Morgan analysts.
The bill also mandates biometric verification for subscribers and restricts the number of SIM cards each subscriber uses to limit fraud.
The legacy of the old scammers in the telecom sector will be left behind, and arrangements will be made through this bill to make the telecom sector a sunrise sector,” Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Indian telecom minister, said while introducing the bill in the parliament.
Interestingly, the telecom bill excludes the term “OTT,” available in its initial draft last year, indicating regulations for over-the-top (OTT) messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.
“The bill is regressive as it enhances the government’s colonial-era powers to intercept communications and shut down the internet.
It undermines end-to-end encryption, which is crucial for privacy,” said Namrata Maheshwari, Asia Pacific Policy Counsel at Access Now, in a prepared statement.
The trading volume at top Indian crypto exchange WazirX fell to $1 billion in 2023 as the platform faced intensifying regulatory pressure in its home market alongside a broader slump for digital asset prices — and equities — globally.
WazirX, which has had a dispute with Binance over the Indian firm’s ownership, put a positive gloss on the latest figures, touting the $1 billion trading tally in a public statement Tuesday.
The 97% plunge in trading volume comes as WazirX faces mounting regulatory pressures from Indian authorities that have left the country’s once-burgeoning crypto sector fighting for survival.
India began taxing virtual currencies last year, levying a 30% tax on the gains and a 1% deduction on each crypto transaction.
India’s intensifying regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies has cast a chill over local investors once eager to back the country’s crypto startups.
The investment arm of the UK retail bank M&G has led a funding of $340 million into Udaan, a business-to-business e-commerce startup, in one of the largest financing rounds secured by an Indian startup in 2023.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, which helps merchants in smaller Indian cities and towns secure inventories from major brands as well as gain access to working capital, said the new funds include some convertible debt.
Existing backers Lightspeed Venture Partners and DST Global have also participated in the new round, which awaits regulatory nod.
Udaan competes with a number of players, including Mukesh Ambani’s $100 billion Reliance Retail, the largest retail chain in India.
Udaan didn’t share how M&G and other investors valued the startup in the new round.
Zyod believes that its proposition of providing clothing sourcing and manufacturing services to fashion brands globally is unique and appealing, and that it can help improve the quality and consistency…
The recent layoffs at Unacademy shows that the startup is still struggling to find its feet. With such a large number of cuts just over four months ago, it seems…
Lifelong Group’s acquisition of GoMechanic is significant as it brings in a fresh approach to managing the business. The firm has experience in developing automated systems and is likely to…
