Marico shares rise 1.6% as Sensex slides

Discretionary spending by consumers on big-ticket items such as cars, smartphones, televisions, two-wheelers and household appliances is off to a flying start this festive season. Several brands and categories have overtaken last year’s total festive period sales or are close to matching them in the first phase, which runs from Navratri to Dussehra, several industry executives said.

Sterlite Power Transmission (SPTL), a privately held Vedanta Group company, is joining hands with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, to create a $1-billion joint venture platform to tap the growing demand for power evacuation networks in the country on the back of the renewable energy boom, multiple people aware of the plans told ET.

Brisk digital transformation and a rapidly growing middle class are expected to drive India’s growth, lifting its economy to the third place by 2030, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. This will put it behind only the US and China, overtaking Germany and Japan.