Trailblazing Women Entrepreneurs Shine: Falguni Nayar Leads IDFC FIRST Private & Hurun India’s Top 200 Self-Made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2024

Women entrepreneurs in India are setting benchmarks with their remarkable contributions to the country's business landscape. Nineteen dynamic women have secured a spot in the prestigious IDFC FIRST Private & Hurun India’s Top 200 Self-Made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2024, reflecting their ingenuity and leadership.

At the top of the list is Falguni Nayar, 61, founder of Nykaa, valued at ?56,600 crore, witnessing a 30% growth. Neha Bansal of Lenskart and Ruchi Kalra of OfBusiness closely follow with valuations of ?41,800 crore and ?41,600 crore, respectively. Ghazal Alagh, the youngest entrepreneur on the list, has propelled Mamaearth to a valuation of ?15,500 crore, marking an impressive 55% increase.

Entrepreneurs from diverse industries such as fintech, e-commerce, media, and insurance make the list, showcasing a spectrum of innovation. Bengaluru emerges as a hub, housing five of the top ten women-led ventures.

This recognition underscores the significant strides women are making in shaping the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem, setting an inspiring precedent for the next generation of business leaders.

Click here to access the full list.

Spike in UK borrowing costs raises specter of public spending cuts

The march higher in U.K. government bond yields since the launch of the Labour government’s debut budget plan in October sparked widespread concern last week, as borrowing costs rose to breach numerous decade highs.

The prospect of public spending cuts or further tax rises came into focus last week, as 30-year gilt yields hit their highest level since 1998. Despite initially falling after Labour’s election victory in July, 2-year gilt yields have also climbed back above 4.5%, while the 10-year yield reached levels not seen since 2008.

Waning investor confidence in the U.K. was particularly highlighted by a concurrent fall in sterling, which on Friday hit its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since November 2023.

Borrowing costs are also rising in the euro area and the U.S., and economists point out that?the U.K. is being weighed on by external factors including the return of Donald Trump to the White House and expectations for broadly higher interest rates than previously expected this year.

But the surge in U.K. yields is nonetheless a major headache for the U.K. government, which has pledged to reboot economic growth while ensuring debt declines as a share of the economy within five years. U.K. public sector net debt currently stands at nearly 100% of GDP.

“The rise in gilt yields has a self-reinforcing feedback loop through the U.K.’s debt sustainability, by increasing borrowing costs used for budgeting purposes,” ING Senior European Rates Strategist Michiel Tukker said in a Friday note.

Tukker cited analysis by the independent Office of Budget Responsibility which indicates that the recent rise in yields — if sustained — would wipe out the government’s estimated headroom of ￡9.9 billion ($12.1 billion) for meeting its?self-declared fiscal rules. Those regulations commit Labour to covering day-to-day government spending with revenues, as well as a goal of moving toward a decline in the U.K.’s debt to GDP ratio on a longer timeframe.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said Friday there is a “knife edge,” chance of the U.K. achieving the former fiscal rule, but that Finance Minister Rachel Reeves could “get lucky.”

She otherwise faces an “unenviable set of options,” said IFS Associate Director Ben Zaranko, including bringing forward upcoming?changes to how debt is calculated?to free up more headroom, paring back current spending plans and announcing more tax rises, which could be conditional on changes within the coming years. The minister could also opt to do nothing and break her rule.

Economists Ruth Gregory and Hubert de Barochez at research group Capital Economics also said U.K. gilts may be trapped in a “vicious circle,” in which “the rise in U.K. yields puts a strain on public finances, therefore calling for an even bigger tightening of fiscal policy, but in turn putting additional strain on the economy.”

China’s imports post surprise growth in December; exports beat expectations as higher tariffs loom

China’s trade data in December beat expectations by a large margin, with exporters continuing to frontload shipments as worries over additional tariffs mount, while the country’s stimulus measures appear to be supporting demand in the industrial sector.

Exports in December jumped 10.7% in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, data from China’s customs authority showed Monday, beating expectations of a 7.3% growth in a Reuters poll. That compares with a 6.7% growth in November and a spike of 12.7% in October.

Customs data showed imports rose 1.0% last month from a year earlier, reversing from the contraction in the preceding two months. Analysts had forecast imports to fall 1.5% on year. That compares with a bigger drop of 3.9% in November and 2.3% in October.

Last year, China’s yuan-denominated total exports jumped 7.1% from the previous year, accelerating from a modest growth of 0.6% in 2023, customs officials said at a press conference on Monday.

China’s imports last year rose 2.3%, picking up from a fall of 0.3% in 2023.

“Outbound shipments are likely to stay resilient in the near-term, supported by further gains in the global market share,” Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics, said in a note, thanks to a weak yuan.

The outlook for exports for the full year, however, appears less optimistic, as “potential tariff hikes could dampen momentum,” said Bruce Pang, distinguished senior research fellow at the National Institution for Finance and Development.

“In the short term, import volumes are also expected to rebound further, driven by stronger demand for industrial commodities, with accelerated fiscal spending,” Pang added.

China’s domestic demand has been hit due to a prolonged real estate crisis, leaving the country more reliant on exports to power its growth.

Economists expect exports to have significantly supported China’s economic growth last year. The country’s full-year GDP data is due later this week.

Rupee drops to 86.58, biggest slide in two years on dollar's surge, limited RBI presence

The Indian rupee slumped to a fresh all time-low and logged its biggest single-day decline in nearly two years on Monday, bogged down by a surging U.S. dollar, likely outflows from local equities and limited intervention from the central bank.The rupee declined to 86.5825 before ending the session at 86.5750, down 0.7% on the day. The last time it fell this much was in February 2023.

The local currency has declined over 2% since December on worries over India's slowing growth and expectations that central bank may cut rates as soon as February."The rupee's slide can continue for some time as negative factors have stacked up quite a bit unless the central bank announces some measures," said Anshul Chandak, head of treasury at RBL Bank.

Foreign investors withdraw over Rs 22,100 crore from Indian equities this month

Foreign investors pulled out Rs 22,194 crore from Indian equities until January 10 this month, majorly due to anticipated weak earnings, strengthening US dollar, and worries about tariff policies during Donald Trump's tenure. This follows a previous investment of Rs 15,446 crore in December, as per depository data.

"This exodus of foreign money from the Indian markets could be attributed to multitude of factors, such as expectation of yet another weak earning season, concerns over the tariff war under Trump's presidency, slowdown in GDP growth, still high inflation numbers and uncertainty over the commencement of the interest cut in India," Himanshu Srivastava, associate director, manager research, Morningstar Investment Research India, said.

Additionally, the rupee's weak performance, increased US bond yields, and high Indian market valuations have contributed to making Indian equities less appealing to international investors. "The single major reason for the relentless selling by the FPIs is the steady rise in the dollar index which is above 109 now. The surge in the 10-year bond yield to above 4.6 per cent is ensuring capital flows from emerging markets like India," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial.

Fintech firm Scapia in talks to raise Rs 340 crore in fresh funding from Peak XV Partners, others

Scapia, the travel credit-card startup, is in talks to raise Rs 290-340 crore ($35-40 million) in a fresh round led by Peak XV Partners, as the company looks to double down on offerings like personal loans and travel insurance to grow its customer base, sources in the know told.

Existing investors such as Elevation Capital, Binny Bansal’s fund 3State Ventures and Z47 (formerly known as Matrix Partners India) are also likely to participate in the round, the sources added.

“Scapia is commanding a valuation of around Rs 1,250-1,500 crore, or about $150-180 million, during the current round, slightly higher than Rs 800-850 crore ($100 million) previously,” one of the persons cited above told Moneycontrol.

To be sure, negotiations between Scapia and Peak XV Partners are still on and the deal contours may change slightly as talks progress.

Scapia and Peak XV Partners did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.

The talks of a new fundraise come a year after Scapia raised $23 million (around Rs 195 crore) from Singapore-based Tanglin Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, Z47 and Binny Bansal’s fund 3State Ventures in November 2023.

During that time, Scapia founder Anil Goteti, who was previously the former senior vice president (SVP) at Flipkart, had said the company will look to expand its suite of offerings, onboard more banking partners apart from Federal Bank, and also increase its customer base.

Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

Artificial intelligence will be unleashed across the UK to deliver a decade of national renewal, under a new plan announced today (13 January 2025).

In a marked move from the previous government’s approach, the Prime Minister is throwing the full weight of Whitehall behind this industry by agreeing to take forward all 50 recommendations set out by Matt Clifford in his game-changing AI Opportunities Action Plan.

AI is already being used across the UK. It is being used in hospitals up and down the country to deliver better, faster, and smarter care: spotting pain levels for people who can’t speak, diagnosing breast cancer quicker, and getting people discharged quicker. This is already helping deliver the government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future.

Unveiling details of the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan today, the Prime Minister will say AI can transform the lives of working people – it has the potential to speed up planning consultations to get Britain building, help drive down admin for teachers so they can get on with teaching our children, and feed AI through cameras to spot potholes and help improve roads.?

Backing AI to the hilt can also lead to more money in the pockets of working people. The IMF estimates that – if AI is fully embraced – it can boost productivity by as much as 1.5 percentage points a year. If fully realised, these gains could be worth up to an average ￡47 billion to the UK each year over a decade.

Today’s plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation – revolutionising our public services and putting more money in people’s back pockets. Because for too long we have allowed blockers to control the public discourse and get in the way of growth in this sector.

The plan puts an end to that by introducing new measures that will create dedicated AI Growth Zones that speed up planning permission and give them the energy connections they need to power up AI.

The UK occupies a unique place in the world. We can learn from the US’s and EU’s approach - delivering the dynamism, flexibility and long-term stability that we know businesses want.?

The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said:?

It comes as three major tech companies – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl – have committed to ￡14 billion investment in the UK to build the AI infrastructure the UK needs to harness the potential of this technology and deliver 13,250 jobs across the UK. That’s on top of the ￡25 billion in AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit.

Vantage Data Centres – which is working to build one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Wales – plans to invest over ￡12 billion in data centres across the UK – creating over 11,500 jobs in the process.

Kyndryl – the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider and a leading IT consultancy – announces plans to create up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years. This new tech hub will share the government’s ambition to roll AI out across the country to help grow the economy and foster the next generation of talent.

Nscale – one of the UK’s leading AI companies – has announced a $2.5 billion investment to support the UK’s data centre infrastructure over the next three years. They have also signed a contract to build the largest UK sovereign AI data centre in Loughton, Essex by 2026.

The plan includes initiatives that will help make the UK the number one place for AI firms to invest, which is vital if Britain is to be at the forefront of this industry and be a changemaker rather than a change-taker. The key changes include:

• forging new AI Growth Zones to speed up planning proposals and build more AI infrastructure. The first of these will be in Culham, Oxfordshire
• increasing the public compute capacity by twentyfold to give us the processing power we need to fully embrace this new technology - this starts immediately with work starting on a brand new supercomputer
• a new team will be set up to seize the opportunities of AI and build the UK’s sovereign capabilities
• creating a new National Data Library to safely and securely unlock the value of public data and support AI development
• a dedicated AI Energy Council chaired by the Science and Energy Secretaries will also be established, working with energy companies to understand the energy demands and challenges which will fuel the technology’s development - this will directly support the government’s mission to become a clean energy superpower by tapping into technologies like small modular reactors.

Taken together, the 50 measures will make the UK irresistible to AI firms looking to start, scale, or grow their business. It builds on recent progress in AI that saw ￡25 billion of new investment in data centres announced since the government took office last July.

This Action Plan is also at the heart of the government’s Industrial Strategy and the first plank of the upcoming Digital and Technology Sector Plan, to be published in the coming months.

Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle said:????