India’s JioCinema in pricing fight with Netflix and Disney Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s streaming platform JioCinema announced premium pricing of INR999 ($12) a year, its first step to move away from a free content model to fight global rivals such as Netflix and Disney in the country. The move comes weeks after Reliance’s Viacom18 struck a content deal with Warner Bros, that will make […] May 14, 2023
Markets MSCI removes two Adani companies from indexes Index provider MSCI said two Adani-group companies will not be eligible for its global indexes, while 86 securities will be added to and 39 deleted from its widely followed MSCI ACWI stock index, as part of its quarterly index review. MSCI said earlier this week it would apply a “special treatment” to Egyptian securities listed […] May 12, 2023
Banking & Finance India’s Adani starts $130m buyback of debt securities India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, a group company of the beleaguered Adani Group, has started a buyback programme of certain debt securities to partly prepay near-term loans due in 2024. Adani Ports said in an exchange filing that it has floated a tender of up to $130 million in outstanding debt, as it […] April 24, 2023
Banking & Finance No comment from Emirates NBD on bid for Indian bank Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, declined to comment to AGBI on Thursday following reports that it is one of at least five potential bidders for a majority stake in India’s state-owned IDBI Bank. Emirates NBD and its rival First Abu Dhabi are on the lookout for foreign acquisitions as the Gulf state’s domestic banking sector […] April 13, 2023
Tourism Tourists beginning to catch on to more than the wonder of Petra Given the Hashemite kingdom’s surfeit of historical sites – from the Nabataean city Petra through the natural beauty of Wadi Rum to the Roman towns of Jerash and Gadariyya – Jordan could be forgiven for being blasé about the need to market its tourism attractions more aggressively. But the authorities in capital Amman are determined […] March 23, 2023
Tech India’s TCS chief to exit amid slowing global tech spending Tata Consultancy Services CEO Rajesh Gopinathan is resigning in an unexpected move to pursue other interests, adding to worries for India’s largest IT services provider amid slowing tech spending and challenges in its key markets. The company named its president and head of global financial services business K Krithivasan as the CEO-designate, effective March 16, […] March 17, 2023
Economy G20 finance chiefs to discuss debt, crypto and inflation G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will discuss debt troubles in developing economies, cryptocurrencies and global inflationary pressures at a meeting later this week, Indian officials said on Tuesday. The February 22-25 meeting in the Nandi Hills summer retreat near Bengaluru is the first major event of India’s G20 presidency. The meeting straddles the […] February 22, 2023
Opinion Esports should be in your investment portfolio The global mobile gaming market is expected to grow to $209.12bn in 2026 February 16, 2023
Tourism How secret London talks led to Air India’s gigantic plane order Air India’s record aircraft deal has put the Tata Group-owned airline in the league of aspiring global carriers. On Tuesday it provisionally agreed to acquire almost 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing to take on domestic and international rivals. Striking the largest ever deal by one airline took months of secret talks carried out a […] February 15, 2023
Manufacturing Gulf fragrance market strikes the right note Some of the Middle East’s biggest perfume makers, including Chalhoub Group and Ajmal Perfumes, are ramping up global growth plans as traditional Arabic scents gain in popularity abroad. Luxury brands franchisee and distributor Chalhoub is close to striking deals to export its own fragrance brand, Ghawali, to countries including the UK and France. The first […] February 14, 2023
Markets MSCI to change free float status of some Adani securities Index provider MSCI said on Thursday it had determined that some Adani securities should no longer be designated as free float after market participants raised concerns about the eligibility of the Indian conglomerate’s companies for some of its indexes. Changes for Adani securities associated with its MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes are due to be […] February 9, 2023
Economy Investcorp reveals massive expansion plans in India Bahrain-based Investcorp has vowed to grow the size of its business in India five-fold in the next five years. The alternative investments firm, which managed $50 billion in assets as of December 2022, only entered India in the first quarter of 2019, but has since completed 15 investments worth $1 billion. Speaking from the company’s […] February 2, 2023
Retail Indians buy homemade jewellery for less in Dubai Indians are travelling to Dubai to purchase jewellery made in their home country as it costs less in the emirates. Import duties, previously at 5 percent, were waived for jewellery exported from India to the UAE under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) signed between the two nations last year. “The prices are better,” said […] January 26, 2023
Analysis Tech and startups will drive future UAE and India trade growth Growing opportunities in manufacturing, agtech, food processing, healthtech and fintech will support future growth in bilateral trade between the UAE and India. While petroleum products and jewellery remain the most exported goods from India to Dubai as trade is set to touch $88 billion for the current fiscal year, the relationship is changing, with officials […] January 25, 2023
Opinion Economy Maharashtra looks to Mena for investment and partnerships The Indian state is pledging to become a $1 trillion economy – and strengthening relationships with the Middle East is at the forefront of these plans January 12, 2023
Opinion Indian Web3 startups migrate to the UAE The co-founder of one of MENA’s top tech policy firms explains why Indian crypto and Web3 companies are being drawn to Dubai June 1, 2022
Analysis Banking & Finance New deal gives India and UAE plenty to smile about As the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates comes into force, AGBI looks at a highly lucrative co-regional relationship Of the many alliances that have sprouted out of the Middle East, the one between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stands out – seemingly weathering all global political and […] May 12, 2022
