New Delhi: Even though expectations are high that there will be a shift in the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy under the new governor, Sanjay Malhotra, the rupee has fallen 2 paises to a new all-time low of 84.87 against the US dollar today.
Multiple reports have it that foreign exchange traders expect Malhotra to adopt a more flexible approach to policies that will be directly relevant to the dollar-rupee exchange rate. Many are hoping for a potential rate cut by the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee in February 2025.
Some fear that the rupee is soon to reach the 85 paise mark – described as a “psychologically crucial” one.
‘Rs 138 lakh crore from 2019 to 2024’
Meanwhile a study by Motilal Oswal has said that the top 100 wealth creators of India Inc generated Rs 138 lakh crore from 2019 to 2024.
Motilal Oswal’s Annual Wealth Creation Study for 2024 said the pace of wealth creation stood at 26% compound annual growth rate. The BSE Sensex return is at 14%, for comparison.
Reliance Industries is the largest wealth creator for the sixth time in a row and has amassed Rs 11,17,800 crore. “This takes Reliance’s overall No. 1 tally to 11 in the last 17 five-year study periods,” The Hindu Businessline remarked.
Adani Green is the fastest wealth creator during the period from 2019 to 2024. Its compound annual growth rate is 118%.
The company is at the heart of the criminal proceedings initiated by the US Department of Justice and the civil case filed by its Securities Exchange Commission, accusing the Adani Group, its chairman Gautam Adani and top officials of involvement in a massive bribery deal of $265 million. The Adani Group has denied the charges.
Adani Enterprises was named the best all-round wealth creator on the summation of ranks in the ‘biggest’, ‘fastest’ and ‘consistent’ categories.
Loans written off
In roughly the same time frame – 2019-20 and 2024-25 (till September) – 12 public sector banks wrote off around Rs 7 lakh crore in loans.
The Union government gave these figures in the Rajya Sabha, claiming also that public sector banks also recovered over Rs 5 lakh crore of their non-performing assets in this time.
Vehicle sales slump
Retail sales of passenger vehicles have dropped, Mint has reported citing data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations. The decline is possibly because of the tapering off of the festival season, during which several consumers like to buy vehicles.
Passenger vehicle registrations fell to 3,21,943 units in November, compared to 4,83,159 units in October, reflecting a sharp 33% month-on-month decline. The year-on-year decline in November is 13.72%, the report said.
The report noted that despite this, total retail vehicle sales across all categories saw a growth by over 11% year-on-year, reaching 32,08,719 units in November compared to 28,85,317 units during the same period last year.
This growth was driven by a nearly 16% increase in two-wheeler sales according to FADA.
The wedding season is likely to improve fortunes.
“Inventory levels have reduced by around 10 days since October but remain uncomfortably high at 65 to 68 days,” said FADA president C.S. Vigneshwar noted in the report.
