Sigh of Relief for HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank has received a mega relief with the RBI lifting its ban on sourcing new credit cards and the launch of digital services.

The HDFC Bank was facing repeated incidents of outages on its online platforms. Following that, the RBI had directed the bank to solve its glitches and restricted its digital activities until further notice.

HDFC Bank's CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan has described this entire issue as the bank being a victim of its own success. The bank had built up the 4x-5x capacity based on volume estimation. However, the volumes spurt up beyond that, creating capacity issues. It is expected to take around 12 to 15 months to complete the technology transformation.

Sugar Exports: Is the Government Withdrawing Subsidy?

The calendar year 2021 was a good time to be a sugar exporter. Indian sugar has seen increased demand at a higher price as production in Brazil is expected to decline due to drought.

In the current crop year, India is set to export a record 7.1 million tonnes of sugar. Demand is expected to stay strong next year as well with the export of 6 million tonnes of sugar in the next season. India's sugar export has seen a constant rise in recent years. A part of the credit goes to the Indian government who provides subsidies to incentivise sugar export.

The subsidy was necessary considering that the industry was facing the issues of excess stock of sugar and rising arrears of farmers. However, drought in Brazil has spiked up the export and taken away most of the problems. Hence, the government is considering withdrawing the subsidy and diverting these funds to sectors that need it the most.

Mumbai's First EV Charging Station

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has set up Mumbai's first EV charging station at a public parking lot in Dadar. BMC claimed that the station has the capacity to charge seven EVs at a time.

Four out of the seven chargers are fast ones that can fully charge an EV in 1 to 1.5 hours. The other three chargers can charge a vehicle in six hours. BMC will collect Rs 15 per unit for charging vehicles.

It is a new beginning, but the sustainability of operations is going to be the key. It is often seen that municipality projects lose their way after opening with much of a funfair. If the project succeeds, it could pave the way for other municipalities to set up similar kinds of facilities in their jurisdiction.