Bussiness

Following Donald Trump’s election victory, markets have rallied, driven by expectations that his second term will be supportive of the crypto industry and business-friendly policies. Bitcoin soared to a new all-time high, surpassing $82,500, while the U.S. dollar strengthened to a four-month high. Tesla shares jumped 8.4%, pushing its market capitalization past $1 trillion. Investors are betting on lighter regulation and pro-growth policies under a Trump administration, with cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and brokers such as Robinhood also seeing significant gains. The Mexican peso, however, declined 1.3% against the dollar, reflecting concerns over potential shifts in U.S.-Mexico trade relations.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) for GST rate rationalization has announced a reduction in the GST on 20-litre packaged drinking water bottles, bicycles, and exercise notebooks from 18% to 5%. This change aims to make essential goods more affordable. Conversely, taxes on luxury items such as high-end wristwatches over ₹25,000 and shoes over ₹15,000 will increase from 18% to 28%. The adjustments are projected to generate an additional revenue of ₹22,000 crore. The GoM, formed to address specific GST issues, includes key state finance ministers and is responding to a decline in the average GST rate below the revenue-neutral threshold of 15.3%.

India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections for September reached ₹1.73 lakh crore, a 6.5% year-on-year increase. This marks an increase from ₹1.63 lakh crore collected in September 2022. After refunds, the net GST revenue rose about 4% to ₹1.53 lakh crore. Domestic revenue increased by 5.9% to approximately ₹1.27 lakh crore, while revenue from imports grew by 8%, totaling ₹45,390 crore. Refunds amounted to ₹20,458 crore, a 31% rise from the previous year. So far in 2024, total GST collections have hit ₹9.13 lakh crore, reflecting a 10.1% increase compared to the same period in 2023. The GST Council has also proposed reductions in rates for life and health insurance and cancer medications.

Swiggy has officially applied for its IPO, submitting draft papers to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on September 26. The online food delivery platform plans to issue fresh equity shares worth ₹3,750 crore, while existing shareholders will sell around 18.52 crore equity shares through the Offer for Sale (OFS). This move positions Swiggy as the second company to be listed in the food delivery sector, following Zomato. Major investors in Swiggy include Prosus, SoftBank, and Accel, with notable participants in the share sale such as Excel, Alpha Wave, Elevation Capital, Norwest, and Tencent.