Namaste! Aaj ka news roundup, Newswala style!

MARKETS

Markets: Indian stock markets soared nearly 4% on May 12, 2025, with the Nifty 50 closing above 24,900 and the Sensex surging almost 3,000 points, marking their best day in over four years. The rally was fueled by a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan and positive global cues, including easing US-China trade tensions.

TOP STORIES

Delhi’s Beer Now Comes with a Passport

What Happened

Delhi is running low on your favourite beers, and no, it’s not because of summer parties. Popular brands are disappearing from shelves, bars, and chillers. Instead, beers from Bhutan and Nepal are pouring in.  

Beer sales in Delhi fell by 37% in FY 2023–24, while the rest of India enjoyed a 10% rise. Basically, Delhi is the only place where beer seems to be on a diet.

Why It Matters

The real buzzkill? Policy problems and profit margins. Since Bhutanese and Nepalese beers come without import taxes, shopkeepers earn more and promote them harder. 

They even offer rewards to staff for keeping these beers front and centre. Across India, big beer brands own 85% of the market. But in Delhi, their share has dropped to just 36%. The rest is split between local and Himalayan brews.  

Zoom Out

While the government tries to figure out what went wrong, drinkers are either switching to spirits or going on beer road trips. So next time you see a fridge full of labels you can’t pronounce, thank tax loopholes and thirsty wholesalers.  

TOP STORIES

Alibaba Group’s Goodbye to Paytm 

What Happened

Antfin, a part of Alibaba Group, is offloading a 4% stake in Paytm via a block deal worth ₹2,066 crore on May 13. That’s around 25.5 million shares priced at ₹809.75 apiece, a 6.5% markdown from Paytm’s last closing price of ₹866.05 on the NSE. 

Big names—Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are managing the sale. It’s a secondary transaction, so no fresh funds are entering Paytm’s bank account.

Why It Matters

This move comes just weeks after Paytm’s stock rallied 29%, climbing from ₹651 to ₹840 in under a month. Despite a Q4 loss of ₹539.8 crore, CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma is now predicting profitability this quarter. 

So why’s Antfin tapping out when the going seems good? Possibly to rebalance, or just cash in on the recent rally. 

Plus, founder Sharma giving up ₹1,800 crore worth of ESOPs after a SEBI red flag shows Paytm’s cleaning house.

Zoom Out

Investors are watching closely: institutional ownership hit 69% in Q4 FY25. Domestic mutual funds led the charge, increasing their stake to 13.1%, even as foreign investors pulled back a bit.

Antfin’s exit might look like a red flag, but with Paytm’s stock on a recovery path, domestic investors stepping up, and promises of profitability ahead, this might be less of a panic sell and more of a portfolio reshuffle.  

TOP STORIES

Canara Bank’s ₹50,000 Crore Loan Splash

What Happened

Canara Bank is opening the vault—and it’s not kidding around. The state-run bank is all set to hand out ₹50,000 to ₹55,000 crore in corporate loans over the next few months. 

The goal? To beef up its corporate lending portfolio by 10%. 

• Right now, that portfolio stands at ₹4.63 lakh crore, almost 43% of all its loans. 

• Half the amount is already sanctioned, and the rest is in the pipeline.  

Why It Matters

The bank wants 10-11% overall credit growth this year, and corporate lending is its biggest engine. 

So, Canara is also chasing ₹600-750 crore in recurring deposits by month-end to ensure a steady flow of funds. 

However, it’s walking a tightrope keeping bulk deposits under 25%, while also nudging its CASA (Current and Savings Accounts) target to a modest 32% for FY26 (lower than Indian Bank’s 40.17% and Bank of Maharashtra’s 53.28%).

Zoom Out

Canara Bank’s ₹50,000–₹55,000 crore corporate loan push signals a bold bet on India’s growth sectors—manufacturing, infrastructure, real estate, and green energy.

Aligned with expected 9–10% corporate credit growth, the move shows public banks stepping up, even as Canara carefully balances liquidity, risk, and competition in a fast-moving lending landscape.

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PAISON KA KHEL

ReNew Power Returns with a ₹ 22,000 Crore ⚡

After a 5-year “power nap,” ReNew Power is back in Andhra Pradesh. This time with a thunderous ₹22,000 crore investment!

They’re building India’s largest renewable energy complex in Anantapur, featuring a 1,800 MW solar plant, a 1,000 MW wind project, and a 2 GWh battery.

The state had earlier scared investors away by reviewing old power deals in 2019.  

Vedanta Puts $1.5 Billion Into Aluminium  

Vedanta is pouring $1.5 billion into its aluminium business to boost smelter capacity and add more fancy aluminium products. The company also runs Hindustan Zinc, which just launched a new plant in Rajasthan that can produce 30,000 tonnes of zinc alloys a year.

Vedanta is planning to split into six separate companies (yes, six!) to better manage everything from aluminium to oil and hopefully trim down its whopping $11 billion debt. Investors liked the move: the stock jumped 6.4% on May 12.

DID YOU KNOW

💸 Candy Crush Revenue: Candy Crush generates about $633,000 in revenue every day.

GLOBAL NAZARA

Siri, Who’s the New Search King?

Back in 2022, Google paid Apple $20 billion just to stay the default search engine on iPhones. But now, that deal could be shut down by a U.S. court after Google lost an antitrust case for being too powerful in search.

Apple’s trying to keep the money flowing and isn’t shy about turning on Google. In court, it said people are using new tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity instead of Google. It even suggested Google should share its search data with AI companies.

Tariffs Take a Timeout, Wall Street Throws a Party

Wall Street has popped the champagne. The S&P 500 jumped 2.53% to a two-month high after the U.S. and China finally agreed to cool down their tariff tantrum. 

Washington slashed import duties from 145% to 30%, and Beijing followed suit, dropping theirs from 125% to 10%. The deal, valid for 90 days, sent the Dow up 2.51% and the Nasdaq soaring 3.34%.

Tech stocks went full rocket mode: Nvidia rose 4%, Tesla 4.7%, and Apple, possibly planning pricier iPhones, surged 6.2%.

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