Carlsberg $700M IPO, Airtel spectrum relief, bond index

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey announced that the regulator and the RBI are finalising guidelines to introduce derivatives on corporate bond indices. The move aims to deepen India’s debt market by improving liquidity, price discovery and offering investors hedging tools, complementing broader reforms such as bond ETFs and foreign investor access.

Danish brewer Carlsberg A/S is set to file draft prospectus this month for a secondary‑share IPO of its India business, potentially raising up to $700 million. The listing, being prepared with Kotak Mahindra Capital and US banks, could launch later in the year as the company seeks to unlock value in the fast‑growing Indian alcohol market.

India’s Bombay High Court set aside the government’s one‑time spectrum charge notices for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, clearing more than ₹24,000 crore in pending liabilities. Airtel faces roughly ₹16,500 crore and Vodafone Idea about ₹7,600 crore, while the wider OTSC litigation continues in the Supreme Court.

Lendingkart’s rapid Covid‑era expansion saw its valuation plummet from $700 million to under $100 million, depleting cash reserves. Fullerton Financial Holdings, a Temasek unit, boosted its stake to 77%, ousted founder Harshvardhan Lunia and rescued the firm. Lunia has now petitioned the NCLT, accusing Fullerton of oppressive actions and demanding an independent probe.

Haleon, maker of Sensodyne, will invest ₹2,000 crore ($175 m) to build its first oral‑health manufacturing plant in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, shifting from contract production to in‑house. The plant aims to boost supply‑chain resilience and tap India’s fast‑growing oral‑care market, now its second‑largest globally.

Hero MotoCorp unveiled Splendor+ and HF Deluxe flex‑fuel bikes, Maruti Suzuki introduced WagonR Flex Fuel, and the government opened E85 pumps at IndianOil stations, aiming for 500 outlets by Dec 2026. E85 is 20 rupees cheaper than petrol and cuts CO2 emissions by ~60%.

The RBI has opened two dollar‑rupee swap windows – one for fresh FCNR(B) deposits and another for eligible ECBs/OFCBs – allowing banks to swap dollars at par or at a 1.5% cost. Open until Oct 2026 (FCNR) and Dec 2026 (ECBs), the measures aim to draw $40‑$50 bn of inflows and bolster the rupee.

India recorded a current‑account surplus of 0.7% of GDP in the March quarter of FY26, reversing a $13.2 billion deficit from the prior quarter. The surplus was driven by higher services exports and remittances, while foreign portfolio outflows persisted.

India met its FY26 fiscal‑deficit goal of 4.4% of GDP even as the fertilizer subsidy bill rose to 2.1 trillion rupees, the highest since the Ukraine war. The shortfall was offset by sharp cuts in capital spending and ministry budgets and higher dividend transfers, especially from the RBI.

India’s solar developers face a 20% cost increase as copper, aluminium and key petrochemical prices surge 30‑35% amid the West Asia conflict. The higher input costs squeeze project returns and force developers to renegotiate financing, threatening the country’s 500 GW clean‑energy target.