FINANCEOUTLOOKINDIA9JULY, 2026Nomura believes that negotiations between the United States and India are progressing steadily and that a trade agreement could be finalised in the near future. According to the brokerage, both countries appear close to aligning on tariff adjustments, which are expected to settle around the 20% range. While discussions have advanced meaningfully, the deal has not yet been formally concluded, but Nomura expects a breakthrough soon.The firm also assessed India's current macroeconomic environment, noting that the economy is benefiting from easing inflation, supportive GOVT MULLS SUB-0.5% MDR ON UPI PAYMENTS ABOVE RS 2,000SBI FUNDS MANAGEMENT IPO SUBSCRIBED 41.66 TIMES ON FINAL DAYRBI'S FINANCIAL INCLUSION INDEX RISES TO 70 IN FY26INDIA'S FINTECH FUNDING H1 2026 HITS $2 BILLION, UP 42% YOYIndia's fintech funding H1 2026 to-talled $2 billion across 106 rounds, a 42% rise from the $1.4 billion raised across 186 rounds in H1 2025, accord-ing to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn. In a sequential com-parison, the investment in fintech in-creased significantly with almost dou-bling from $1.1 billion in 120 rounds in H2 2025, indicating a significant up-tick in the investment momentum in fintech for 2026.The largest cap-to-date transaction was in H1 2026 when Cred raised $900 million in a Series H financing round, followed by Weaver's $156 million Series D financing and KreditBee's $220 million Series E financing round. The government is considering introducing a merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI payments made to large merchants. The fee may be set below 0.5% and apply to transactions above Rs 2,000. MDR is a fee charged by banks for processing real-time digital transactions. "This is the proposal being considered by the government right now, and a decision on the same is expected within two weeks," a senior government source said, adding that the MDR will be levied only on large merchants and businesses.The Financial Inclusion (FI) Index of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stood at 70 for the financial year ended March 2026, up from 67 in March 2025, mainly on account of an uptick in usage. The index also recorded growth across all sub-indices.The FI Index was introduced in 2021 to capture the extent of financial inclusion across the country through three broad parameters -Access (35%), Usage (45%), and Quality (20%) - each comprising various dimensions computed from a number of underlying indicators. It is a comprehensive index incorporating details of the banking, investment, insurance, postal, and pension sectors, developed in consultation with the government and respective sectoral regulators. The Rs 9,813 crore initial pub-lic offering (IPO) of SBI Funds Management, India's largest asset management company, was subscribed 41.66 times on the fi-nal day of bidding, driven by over-whelming demand from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Accord-ing to exchange data, the IPO re-ceived bids for 518.93 crore equity shares worth Rs 2.98 lakh crore against 12.45 crore shares on offer, attracting 63.76 lakh applications across investor categories. The QIB portion emerged as the biggest driver of demand, garnering 140.11 times subscription. The non-institutional investor (NII) category was subscribed 22.51 times, while the retail individual investor (RII) portion was booked 3.59 times. The employee quota received 4.65 times subscription, while the shareholder reservation portion was subscribed 9.52 times. The proposal does not involve charging consumers for using UPI. "The MDR is not about charging consumers for UPI transactions. The discussion is around merchant-side economics and sustainability of the payments ecosystem," the source said. According to officials, UPI has expanded rapidly, but the cost incurred by banks and other payment ecosystem participants in maintaining the underlying infrastructure is also rising. There is a view that the model has to be commercially sustainable over time. The rise in GCC activity came even as developers moderated fresh supply. Net Grade A office absorption increased 2% year-on-year to 27.44 million sq. ft., while new office completions fell 10% to 22.15 million sq. ft. This favourable demand-supply balance helped reduce vacancy levels to 15% from 16.3% a year earlier and pushed average office rentals up 9% to Rs 96 per sq. ft. from Rs 88 per sq. ft., underscoring the resilience of India's commercial real estate market.
< Page 8 | Page 10 >