Why RBI barred Paytm Payments Bank

Show notes:

India's crypto woes persist despite Bitcoin surge 

Paytm’s bank is in a state of suspended animation. So, what’s next?

Foodhall is shut, but Biyani sisters are not done with gourmet food yet

Why ‘regular pay’ is better for life insurance premiums 

Is the ice melting? Some startups defy funding slump with successive rounds

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Friday, March 15, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:

After a disastrous Wednesday, the Indian stock market recovered on Thursday. Both Nifty and Sensex increased by just about half a percent, making some progress to undo the damage done by the mass selling in smallcap stocks. Real estate companies HUDCO and IRB both hit upper circuit, while Adani Green Energy and Ease My Trip were the other big gainers of the day. On the other hand, Tata Investment and Prestige Estates lost nearly 5 percent each.

Bitcoin, the most well-known cryptocurrency, hit another record high — a single bitcoin now costs ₹60 lakh, or more than $73,000. But Indians aren't profiting along with the rest of the world. Scepticism remains high among Indian investors, while those in the West are cashing in on this bull run. Shouvik Das, Mint's tech correspondent, takes a deep dive into this fascinating world of cryptocurrency, and why the craze isn't rampant in India.

Paytm has had a rough few months. After a sudden decision by the Reserve Bank of India, its payments arm was effectively dead. As a result, the company's stock price has also fallen by more than 45% so far this year. But outside of vague statements on the lack of regulatory compliances, we don't really know why this happened. That is, until now. Mint's banking editor Shayan Ghosh writes a detailed and incisive story on Paytm and its battle with the RBI, which had begun even before the bank officially opened in 2016. If you want to know the inside story of this eight-year long tussle, read this story.

You may not have heard of the Future Group, but you're surely familiar with its logo: an orange bird fluttering in the corner of some stores. You definitely would have seen this logo, which was present at stores like Big Bazaar, Brand Factory, and Central malls. Future Group, founded by Kishore Biyani, has been riddled with debt. Future had decided to sell its Retail arm to Reliance, but the deal was called out. However, the Biyanis aren't done with this segment just yet. Kishore's daughters Avni and Ashni have big plans. The sisters launched a gourmet food platform named Food Stories, aimed at the premium segment, writes Mint's consumer goods reporter Suneera Tandon. The duo believes there's a demand in the market for specialised food and wellness products. But can it sustain better than the Biyani's previous attempts in retail?

How often do you pay your insurance premium? Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or annually? While having to make that decision, you also need to decide whether the payments will be regular or limited in nature. If you take the latter option, insurers allow you to limit your payments to the first few years, in the case of very long cover periods — say 30 or 40 years. Mint Money's Aprajita Sharma does a side-by-side comparison on these two models, and concludes that the regular pay option works out better financially for a policyholder.

Last year, there was a lot of talk about a funding winter. Startups were in a rut, and unable to raise funds from VC and PE firms. But it's a new year, and a new season: those days may finally be behind us. Mint's startups correspondent Priyamvada C writes about how mid-sized startups are finally in the process of raising funds this year at higher valuations. There were a host of reasons why companies were unable to raise money last year — some of these concerns have now eased, executives across investing told Priyamvada. This might not result in a flurry of high-value deals like we saw in 2021, but the funding winter has definitely thawed a bit.

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That’s all for today. Thank you for listening.

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