The reduction in GST rates has put sales of cars, bikes and various other consumer goods in the fast lane. The biggest impact of the consumer opening their wallets to splurge is seen in the automobile segment.
India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki is estimated to have delivered two lakh units during the nine-day period of Navratri. That is more than double last year’s figure.
Mahindra, the maker of popular SUVs such as the Scorpio and XUV, also saw a 60 per cent jump in Navratri sales compared to 2024.
Others like Tata Motors and Hyundai also reported a sharp jump in sales, with final figures still awaited. The GST cheer also spread to the consumer electronics segment. According to The Economic Times, appliances maker Haier saw its sales nearly double this year.
In fact, the company has already almost sold out its Diwali stock of 85-inch and 100-inch televisions priced over ₹2.5 lakh.
Bumper demand for ECMS
The Indian government’s Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme has received investment commitments worth ₹1.15 lakh crore, almost double the target.
This also means that estimated production under the scheme in the next six years will be over ₹10 lakh crore, again more than double the target of ₹4.5 lakh crore.
The scheme aims to incentivise production of components such as enclosures for mobile handsets, IT hardware, different types of PCBs, and display modules among others.
It is expected to bring India to the forefront of electronics component manufacturing and create 1,42,000 direct jobs.
RBI policy decisions
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key interest rate unchanged at 5.5%, which means not much is going to change for you in terms of loan rates and EMIs. However, it eased certain rules that will make it easier for Indian businesses to get loans. Let me quickly recap those.
One, the RBI will provide a framework allowing banks to give businesses loans to acquire other businesses. It has also done away with the loan cap of ₹10,000 crore for a company.
For individuals, it has increased the cap on loans against shares to ₹1 crore and for IPO financing to ₹25 lakh. These decisions have been taken to make it easier for both corporates and individuals to borrow from banks.
Musk's $500 billion net worth
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become the first person on earth to have a net worth of $500 billion. Musk’s fortune surged past the $500 billion mark on October 1, driven by a rally in Tesla shares.
Musk, who is the world’s richest person, has hit this new milestone just a year after his net worth soared to $400 billion.
It also comes just days after Tesla announced a trillion-dollar pay package for him. According to some estimates, Musk, who also runs companies like xAI and SpaceX, is projected to become the first trillionaire in the world.
OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation
While Elon Musk saw his personal net worth soar to $500 billion, another company co-founded by him also saw its valuation rise to the same level. I am talking about Sam Altman-led OpenAI, the company behind the popular AI platform ChatGPT.
Reuters reported, quoting sources, that the company reached the new valuation in a share sale in which current and former employees sold roughly $6.6 billion worth of shares.
As part of the deal, OpenAI employees sold shares to a consortium of investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi's MGX and T. Rowe Price.
Dalal Street: Marginal uptick
Indian equities saw a minor uptick during the week, largely driven by the rally in banking stocks due to new measures announced by the RBI. So, the Sensex inched closer to 81,000 and the Nifty too ended the week around 25,000.
This week we also saw two changes in the Nifty 50, with IndusInd Bank and Hero Moto moving out. They were replaced by Max Healthcare and Indigo-parent InterGlobe Aviation as part of the semi-annual rebalancing of the index.
