Business: Sitharaman reaches Italy to attend ADB meeting; Iyer will represent India on the IMF board

New Delhi| This week is going to be very important for the Indian stock market. Quarterly results, US central bank meetings, trends of foreign investors and global economic data will decide the market movement. This week, results of companies like Indian Hotels, M&M, Bank of Baroda, Coal India, Dabur, Titan and Dr Reddy’s will be released. On May 7, the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the Americas, is scheduled to meet. If any decision is taken in this meeting regarding interest rates, its direct impact can be seen on the stock market. This week, more impact of global factors may be seen in the market. This will affect the sentiment of investors. The reason for the rise in the stock market is the positive update regarding the India-US trade agreement. It is believed that India may be the first country to make a trade deal with America. The reduction in tension between America and China has had a positive impact on the market. This was the third consecutive week when the stock market closed with a rise. Nifty has consistently remained above 24,000.

Capital of top-7 companies increased by Rs 2.31 lakh crore
New Delhi. The capital of the top-7 companies listed in the stock market rose by Rs 2.31 lakh crore last week. Reliance Industries was at the forefront in this. During this period, BSE Sensex had closed with a jump of 1,289.46 points or 1.62 percent. Among the top-10, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Consultancy Services lost capital. According to the data, the market valuation of Reliance Industries increased by Rs 1.65 lakh crore to Rs 19.24 lakh crore. Airtel’s valuation increased by 20,755 crore to 10.56 lakh crore, ICICI Bank’s valuation increased by 19,381 crore to Rs 10.20 lakh crore. HDFC Bank’s capital increased by 11,515 crore to 14.73 lakh crore and Infosys C by 10,902 crore to 6.26 lakh crore.

Diesel demand increased by four percent to 8.2 million tones in April due to increased heat
Diesel consumption rose by four percent in April to 8.2 million tones, driven by a rise in temperatures. Prior to this, there had been low or negative growth in demand for several months. The fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, grew by just two percent, compared to no increase in the fiscal year before. During this period, petrol consumption increased by 4.6 percent to 3.4 million tones. According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, consumption in April was 5.3 percent higher than in April, 2023, and 10.45 percent higher than in Corona-2019. With the onset of summer and irrigation in rural areas, the demand for air conditioning increases in urban areas. Diesel growth had slowed in the last few months, industry officials said. However, it will continue to increase for the next several years. However, the use of petrol, CNG and electricity in passenger vehicles has increased. Yet diesel accounts for about 38 per cent of all petroleum products consumed in the country. LPG consumption increased by 6.7 per cent to 2.6 lakh tones thanks to Ujjwala connections.

SM Ramanathan becomes director of BHEL
SM Ramanathan has taken charge as the Director of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). He is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras. Also M. in Stress and Vibration Analysis. Tech and ICWA (Cost Accounts) degrees. He is also a fellow member of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. He started his career at BHEL as Engineer Trainee at the company’s High Pressure Boiler Plant (HPBP), Tiruchirappalli in 1988 and was awarded the Best Engineer Trainee Award in 1989. Ramanathan has 37 years of diverse and extensive experience working in many of the company’s key work areas, including various areas of operations such as engineering, design, R & D, strategic management and commercial, materials management, maintenance, production, field engineering service, etc He has made valuable contributions in various important areas of finance to BHEL’s manufacturing units at Ranipet, Tiruchirappalli and Bhopal.

Sameer Chandra Saxena takes over as Chairman of Grid-India
Sameer Chandra Saxena has assumed the charge of Chairman and Managing Director of Grid Controller of India Limited (GRID-India) from May 1. Prior to his promotion as CMD, he has served as Director (Market Operations) on the board of Grid-India. Sameer Chandra Saxena holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, MBA from IIT Delhi and a certificate course in Power Sector Regulation from Comillas Pontifical University, Italy. He has extensive experience of nearly three decades in diverse domains including Power Market Operation, Power System Operation, Power Exchange Operation, Electricity Market Design, Regulatory Affairs, Renewable Energy Integration, REC Market Design and Operation and SCADA-IT Systems.

IRFC records profit of Rs 6,502 crore in fourth quarter
Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC) has released its audited stand alone financial results for FY 2024-25 and Q4 (January – March 2025). IRFC reported after-tax profit (net profit) of 6,502.00 crore during the financial year ended 31 March 2025. This is the highest annual profit ever in the company’s history. In the same period last year, the company’s net profit was 6,412.11 crore. The company’s total annual income grew by 1.88 per cent to Rs 27,156.41 crore from 26,655.92 crore the previous year. This is also the highest revenue receipt of IRFC for any financial year so far. On an annual basis, the total income of the fourth quarter registered a growth of 3.79 per cent and stood at Rs 6,723.80 crore, compared to Rs 6,477.99 crore in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year.

REC Limited successfully raised Rs 5,000 crore by issuing bonds
Maharatna CPSEs and major NBFCs under Vidtut Mantralaya REC Limited have successfully raised Rs 5,000 crore by issuing bonds. The offering includes Rs 3,000 crore through five-year bonds at a coupon of 6.87 per cent and Rs 2,000 crore through 10-year bonds at a coupon of 6.86 per cent. The bond issuance witnessed a tremendous response from market participants, reflecting the firm financial position of the company and the strong confidence of investors in growth prospects. The bonds are rated AAA by major credit rating agencies – CARE Ratings, ICRA, and India Ratings and Research Pvt Ltd (IRRPL). This reflects the highest level of security in relation to the timely service of financial obligations.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reached Italy, will participate in ADB meeting
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reached Milan city of Italy. In Milan, the Finance Minister will attend the 58th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This meeting will run from 4 May to 7 May. The Indian delegation also includes officials from the Department of Economic Affairs. On reaching Milan, Indian Ambassador Vani Rao and Consul General Lavanya Kumar welcomed the Finance Minister.

World Bank Executive Director Parameswaran Iyer will represent India on the IMF board
According to media reports, World Bank Executive Director Parameswaran Iyer has been given the responsibility of India’s designated director on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of the important meeting to be held on May 9. The vacancy has arisen due to the resignation of KV Subramanian, Executive Director at the IMF, to which Parameswaran Iyer has been nominated. This step by the government is important because the IMF Executive Board will meet on May 9, at which a decision will be taken on the loan program to combat climate change. Also, the ongoing USD 7 billion bailout package for Pakistan will be first reviewed. After the Pahalgam attack, India is trying to corner Pakistan on the global stage. The IMF consists of 25 directors, elected by member states. Along with India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan elect a single director.