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NEW DELHI: After a near standstill in business, carpet exporters are now seeing some signs of activity.The punishing 50% US tariffs, including 25% penalty for Russian oil buys, had resulted in buyers putting orders on hold, which resulted in operations in Bhadohi and parts of J&K, the two carpet-making hubs, slowing down considerably.“There are 24-25 processes involved in carpet making. The entire chain had stopped, affecting us and the workers,” said Aslam Mahboob of Alam Rugs.With India being a dominant player in the handmade segment, where it competes with Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan, carpet makers are hoping to regain business they had lost to neighbouring countries. Some business had also moved to Turkiye, which faced 15% tariff, although it is a big player in the machine-made segment.Indian carpets and rugs saw export slipping nearly 9% to $735 million between April and Nov. The US accounted for more than half the exports from the country. In Sept, the decline was to the tune of 32%.“There were some special orders, otherwise orders dried up,” said Mahavir Pratap Sharma of Oscar Expo Design, a Jaipur-based company with units in Bhadohi (Uttar Pradesh).There are now early signs of revival.American buyers are now back on calls, checking inventories and asking for photos of what’s there in the stocks. “The US executive order (for 18% tariff) has to be signed but we are giving finishing touches to some of the products we have. The buyers are very excited, and they are planning to come for an industry show in April,” said Sharma.Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad of Ferozson Exports said that carpet players in Jammu & Kashmir have a large European market, but they were also impacted. He is awaiting clarity on whether the zero reciprocal tariff benefit available to silk will also be offered for carpets, some of which are 100% silk.

MUMBAI: State Bank of India has raised its credit growth target for the year after broad-based momentum lifted profitability in the Dec quarter, chairman CS Setty said at a briefing. “On the credit growth advice we had given 12 to 14% credit guidance earlier. We are revising that upwards to 13 to 15% based on the trend which we have seen in the current quarter so far,” Setty said, adding that growth has been “secular” and that double-digit corporate credit growth should continue into Q4. SBI posted a standalone net profit of Rs 21,028 crore for Q3FY26, up 24.5% year-on-year and its highest-ever quarterly profit. Setty attributed the jump to multiple levers. “Profitability in Q3 has come from many levers,” he said, flagging fee income from cross-sell/upsell, govt business, letters of credit, processing charges, recoveries from written-off accounts and broad-based credit growth. Net interest income rose 9% year-on-year, driven by loan growth and lower funding costs. A one-off also helped. “One item which is a dividend, special dividend we have received around Rs 2,200 crore from SBI Mutual Fund. Even when you net off this one-off, I think we have done fairly well,” Setty said, adding that modest credit costs and tighter overhead control supported profits. Growth stayed broad-based. “All the components of RAM – retail, agriculture and SME – have witnessed robust growth. Corporate credit has seen a rebound and has grown by 13.4%,” Setty said, noting the higher guidance is “coming from all the segments.” He highlighted new-economy pockets too. “We are active in data centre financing… wherever data centre capacities are being created, we are part of that journey,” he said, adding that renewables remain core. “Our green portfolio has reached one lakh crore,” he added.

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NEW DELHI: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is examining a proposal to introduce ‘performance-linked incentives’ for its fund managers, which will see it allocate more funds to those who give better returns. This is part of the new benchmark methodology being developed for debt investments, officials told TOI. It is also assessing benchmarks for the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), as the latter has a substantially longer investment horizon. “In the earlier benchmark, the portfolio yield of a fund manager was a tenor-weighted yield. In the new benchmark, the tenor has been separated from the portfolio yield. Also, a clause has been added that the allocation of the portfolio will vary according to their performance,” an official said. The Investment Committee (IC) of the EPFO, which manages assets worth Rs 30 lakh crore, is expected to deliberate and examine the available options at an upcoming meeting on Feb 10, weeks before it is slated to announce the annual interest rate for its nearly 30 crore members for the financial year ending March 31. Besides, in previous committee meetings, consultant Crisil was asked to assess the feasibility of investing in emerging, sunrise sectors such as rare earths, railways and defence, along with examining yields of sectoral, factor and style-based indices. Some of the sectoral indices evaluated by Crisil include those tracking banking and financial services, IT, global indices, and FMCG. It also assessed indices that track momentum stocks, value stocks, low volatility stocks, and ranked some of them on the basis of their risk-adjusted returns. These proposals are part of a wider consultation process underway in the retirement fund body as it is also looking to diversify its equity investments beyond exchange traded funds tracking the benchmark NSE Nifty and BSE sensex indices, in a bid to earn greater income as it is announcing higher annual returns than prevailing yields on govt bonds in recent years.

NEW DELHI: Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities’ new plant in Indore had just started production for some American buyers when the US announced 50% tariffs on Indian imports. With the trade deal likely to be implemented soon, the company is now hoping that things will slowly fall into place. “Under development business had come to a standstill, but the project will now start immediately,” said Anoop Bector, the company’s MD, adding that he now intends to work on a distribution network in the US and also open warehouses. “We are hoping to treble our exports to the US in two years,” he said. Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities, the makers of Cremica and English Oven brands of biscuits, exports biscuits and cookies worth around Rs 100 crore to American retailers and had to take a hit of around 5-7% by offering discount to offset the impact of tariffs. While the US is going to offer duty-free access to some Indian bakery products, Bector is waiting for the list.

Tea growers too are celebrating duty-free access, more so because of the tariff advantage compared to competitors from Sri Lanka, Kenya and China. Sri Lanka was hit due to their ‘tea-for-oil’ barter deal with Iran, resulting in a 25% tariff penalty. Kenya, which enjoyed duty-free access under AGOA, now has to contend with 10% baseline reciprocal tariff. “The ‘Golden Letter’ exemption restores the price competitiveness of Indian Orthodox and specialty teas against rivals like Kenya and Sri Lanka. By securing zero-duty access, while Sri Lanka is trapped at 25% and Kenya at 10%, India has effectively become the lowest-cost premium producer for the North American market. Furthermore, with Chinese tea facing even steeper tariffs of 33-35%, India has a historic window. While we currently produce lower volumes of green and oolong teas, this tariff advantage provides the perfect incentive for Indian estates to diversify and become the lead specialty supplier to the US,” said Ajay Jalan, MD of Mokalbari Kanoi Tea Estate. A lot of exporters will get clarity when American buyers return to offices on Monday, especially those which were offering steep discounts and have goods in transit. Texport Industries CMD Narendra Goenka wants to know the fate of discounts on goods in transit or ones that are ready to be dispatched. Most players in the textiles business were offering 15-18% discount to retain buyers. “With tension in Iran rising, some of the buyers were getting even more anxious but we somehow managed to hold on to most of them, although we did lose some order, which we will have to work on,” said Goenka. Most textiles players have taken a hit on their bottom lines due to the hefty discount so that they could retain buyers and did not have to retrench too many workers. “This will be the first time in several years that the balance sheet will show a loss. We were doing minimum business, but now volumes will come in a big way,” says Puran Dawar, an Agra-based leather footwear exporter. In Tiruppur, K M Knitwear CMD KM Subramanian is seeing enquiries from buyers and is hoping to reach last year’s level of exports after losing nearly half the US orders in the last few months due to tariffs. But he is unsure if the buyers are going to adjust the orders. “It is a buyer’s market, we may seek compensation in the new orders through 3-4% price increase,” he said over the phone. With the joint statement signed over the weekend, companies have much greater clarity in talking to their buyers in the US. The reduction in additional tariffs from 50% to 18% is expected to ensure that many factory jobs, which would have been lost as buyers moved orders out of India, are now safe.

Bengaluru: India’s Dhakshineswar Suresh (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

Dhakshineswar Suresh announced himself as India’s newest Davis Cup match-winner on Sunday, sealing a stirring 3-2 victory over the Netherlands by clinching the decisive fifth rubber and guiding the hosts into Qualifiers Round 2. In just his second Davis Cup appearance, the 25-year-old delivered a performance that will be remembered for years. Dhakshineswar won both his singles matches and partnered Yuki Bhambri to victory in the doubles, completing a rare three-win haul in a single tie for India. The feat inevitably drew comparisons with Leander Paes’ legendary heroics against Japan in 2004, when Paes single-handedly won two singles and the doubles to carry India through. More than 20 years later, Dhakshineswar produced a similarly defining moment. Ranked as low as 465, he held his nerve under immense pressure in the final rubber against Guy de Ouden, winning 6-4, 7-6 (4). As his final forehand winner landed in, Dhakshineswar collapsed onto his back before being engulfed by teammates and lifted onto their shoulders, the celebrations marking another memorable European scalp for India. India had begun the tie as underdogs but found an opening when the Netherlands arrived without their top two singles players, world number 29 Tallon Griekspoor and world number 67 Botic van de Zandschulp. The absence gave India, ranked 33 in the Davis Cup standings, a genuine opportunity and they seized it, defeating the world number six team. The win also carried historic significance. It marked the first time India have reached the second round of the Qualifiers since the revamped Davis Cup format was introduced in 2019, moving them a step closer to the elite eight-team Finals. Korea are expected to be their next opponents. The tie was delicately poised at 1-1 at the start of Sunday’s play. Dhakshineswar and Bhambri then edged a gripping doubles contest, outlasting David Pel and Sander Arends 7-6 (0), 3-6, 7-6 (1) to give India a 2-1 lead. The match lasted nearly three hours and swung repeatedly before the home pair held their nerve in both tie-breaks. Sumit Nagal had a chance to close out the tie in the first reverse singles but could not capitalise. After taking the opening set, he went down 7-5, 1-6, 4-6 to world number 88 Jesper de Jong in a physically draining contest that stretched close to three hours. It was Nagal’s second loss of the tie, having also fallen in the opening singles. That left the responsibility squarely on Dhakshineswar, whom captain Rohit Rajpal had described as his “trump card”. Despite having already spent close to three hours on court earlier in the day in the doubles, Dhakshineswar showed no signs of fatigue as he walked out for the deciding rubber. His serve once again proved decisive. Dhakshineswar struck 15 aces and consistently dictated play behind his delivery. He earned the crucial break in the opening set in the seventh game when De Ouden committed back-to-back backhand errors. Although Dhakshineswar missed a set point in the ninth game, he regrouped immediately and sealed the set with an ace on his second chance. The second set was tighter. De Ouden fought hard to stay alive, saving a break point in the fifth game with a running forehand winner. Dhakshineswar broke again at 4-4 but then faced pressure while serving out the match, only to hold firm and force a tie-break. There, his composure and power stood out as he pulled away to close out the contest and complete a memorable win for the hosts. Earlier in the day, the doubles match had set the tone for India’s success. Rajpal’s bold decision to field Dhakshineswar in place of N Sriram Balaji for the high-stakes rubber proved inspired. The opening set was a test of patience. Bhambri’s serve came under sustained pressure, particularly in a long seventh game that featured multiple break points. Despite double faults and missed chances, the Indian pair survived, aided by Dhakshineswar’s sharp work at the net. Neither side could force a breakthrough, and the set went to a tie-break. There, the Indians suddenly surged ahead, racing to a 4-0 lead and closing it out without conceding a point, highlighted by a sharply angled passing winner from Dhakshineswar and a clean return winner from Bhambri. Momentum shifted in the second set as the Netherlands tightened up. Bhambri’s first-serve struggles returned, and the visitors secured a crucial break to level the match. The deciding set became a battle of endurance. India created several early opportunities, including a 0-40 opening on Pel’s serve, but failed to convert. Dhakshineswar then saved a break point in the next game, keeping India alive. More chances came and went before a turning point arrived when Arends took a medical timeout to receive treatment on his left hand. From that moment, his serve dipped, and the Indians finally seized control, closing out the match in the tie-break to put India within one win of victory. Dhakshineswar ensured there was no delay after that, delivering under pressure to script one of India’s most memorable Davis Cup wins in recent years.

MUMBAI: With the US-India trade deal taking another major step towards closure, Dalal Street investors are expecting a positive opening for the leading indices on Monday. Gift Nifty, used by traders for short term market direction, closed 0.7% up on Saturday, which is providing confidence to investors about a higher opening for the week. On Friday, after a soft opening and then sliding in to the red zone, sensex closed 266 points up at 83,580 points. The late recovery was on the back of expectations of constructive developments relating to the India-US trade agreement.

Early on Saturday, the two countries jointly came out with a statement about agreeing on some areas of bilateral trades. In addition to lower tariffs, India could also gain from higher exports to the US and more employment because of expanded exports, analysts said. This also has the potential for more foreign flows, market players said. According to VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Investments, during the past week, the Budget and the news about the India-EU trade deal, and the much-awaited India-US trade deal had a major impact on the market. “The market reacted negatively to the hike in STT on F&O trades but smartly recovered on news of the US-India trade deal.” Early signs show a marked change in foreign fund flows during the current month. During the first week of the month, net buying by foreign funds was Rs 8,129 crore, data from NSDL showed. In the previous month they had withdrawn close to Rs 36,000 crore from the market. An important factor that changed the market sentiment was the appreciation in rupee from a record low of 91.72 to the dollar to 90.30, Vijayakumar said. Even though rupee weakened again to close the week at 90.70, the currency is expected to stabilise and gradually appreciate to below 90 to the dollar by end March 2026, he said. “This has the potential to trigger more (foreign) inflows into India. However, a lot will depend on how the AI trade pans out.“

A 15-year-old youth allegedly linked to a banned neo-Nazi organisation went on a stabbing spree at a university dormitory in Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic on Saturday, injuring at least six people, including four Indian students. The attacker reportedly shouted nationalist slogans about the Holocaust and drew a Nazi symbol using the victims’ blood.According to preliminary reports, the teenager armed with a knife entered a dormitory of the State Medical University in Ufa and attacked students living there. Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic and chaos inside the hostel. “There was blood all around,” Ren TV reported, showing footage of the injured being rushed to hospitals in ambulance vans.The Baza channel claimed the attacker was linked to extremist ideology. “He belonged to the banned NS/WP neoNazi organisation. During the frenzy of attack, he was shouting nationalist slogans about (the) Holocaust,” it said, sharing a photo of a Nazi symbol drawn on a wall with the blood of the victims.

The attacker continued to resist even after police intervened. “The attacker resisted arrest, during which two police officers were stabbed. Furthermore, the suspect also inflicted bodily harm on himself,” interior ministry spokesperson Maj General Irina Volk was quoted as saying by RTVI.com webportal, as cited by PTI.In a release, the Russian Federal Health Ministry said one of the four injured is in serious condition, while three others are in moderate condition. The attacker, identified as a 15-year-old youth, has also been admitted to a local children’s hospital in serious condition, according to the Baza telegram channel.The Indian Embassy termed it an “unfortunate incident” and confirmed that “several persons including four Indian students have been injured.” It said it is in touch with Russian authorities and that officials from the Indian Consulate in Kazan are travelling to Ufa to provide assistance to the injured students.Authorities in Ufa, the capital of the Bashkortostan Republic located about 1,200 km east of Moscow, have launched a high-level probe into the incident.