Wild swings in equity markets and a sharp decline in key benchmark indices this year have weighed heavily on the mutual fund industry, with most asset management companies reporting only low single-digit growth in the March quarter.

Of the top 20 fund houses, as many as 11 recorded a quarter-on-quarter decline in assets under management (AUM) in March, reflecting the broader market downturn.

For instance, market leader SBI MF’s assets were almost unchanged at ₹12.48 lakh crore while that of HDFC MF was up marginally at ₹9.27 lakh crore (₹9.24 lakh crore).

DP Singh, Deputy Managing Director and Joint CEO, SBI Mutual Funds said the AUM was largely flat due to mark-to-market loss in both active and passive funds during the March quarter.

“Being the market leader in active and passive equity funds the impact was more visible. The benchmark indices have fallen almost 10 per cent during the quarter. Further, the normal year-end redemption phenomenon has also played its role across the industry,” he said.

Among other large fund houses that reported a marginal drop in AUM in the March quarter include Aditya Birla Sun Life MF, UTI MF, Axis MF, Mirae Asset MF, Bandhan MF, Motilal Oswal MF, Franklin Templeton MF, Canara Robeco MF and Quant MF.

The MF industry AUM was flat at Rs 81.53 lakh crore in March quarter against Rs 81 lakh crore in December quarter.

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty has fallen 15 per cent each in the March quarter directly impacting both the active and passively managed schemes as the West Asia war disrupted India’s economic growth.

PPFAS MF registered the highest growth of 4 per cent among top 20 fund houses with assets growth to Rs 1.52 lakh crore in March quarter against Rs 1.45 lakh crore in December quarter, according the Association of Mutual Funds in India data.

It was followed by Nippon MF and ICICI MF with 3 per cent asset growth at Rs 7.24 lakh crore (Rs 7 lakh crore) and Rs 11.03 lakh crore (Rs 10.76 lakh crore).

The drop in AUM would have been much sharper if not for the steady inflows through SIP and equity inflows. Unlike in previous instances, investors have been pumping in more money whenever markets plunged in a bid to average their cost.

The inflows in actively managed equity schemes increased nine per cent in March quarter to Rs 90,457 crore against Rs 82,655 crore in December quarter.

Similarly, inflows in passive funds jumped 44 per cent to Rs 84,602 crore against Rs 58,777 crore in the December quarter.

Akshat Garg, Head – Research & Product at Choice Wealth said despite sharp volatility and correction in equities, the industry saw strong retail participation with positive equity inflows for the 61st consecutive month and SIP contributions hitting a record high almost every month. This indicates that domestic investors are increasingly acting counter-cyclical rather than reacting to short-term market movements, he said.

Though there may be some moderation or volatility in flows depending on market returns, he added the rising SIP penetration and growing investor awareness will support inflows in long-run, he added.

Published on April 26, 2026

Reunions have been the trend for many decades. Especially college reunions. Even 70+ batchmates turn up in good numbers for their golden reunion, as enthusiastically as they did for the silver jubilee meet. The only difference is that given their advancing age and health, spouses accompany them. No longer with the intention of keeping them out of mischief but to ensure they do not trip and fall and take their medicines on time.

The years simply fall off them and the goofiness of college days returns. They may be meeting hostel-mates after 50 years, but can immediately invoke proprietary rudeness and backslap them, as though they had met every day these past years. But these college reunions are not the story I am going after. What I turn my attention to is the more recently popular reunions of ex-colleagues from organisations where they had worked together.

Given how busy people are with their careers and family responsibilities, these kind of physical gatherings are extremely difficult for working professionals. WhatsApp very admirably –and with the video conferencing facility – fills this need. However, for folks who have retired from active professional careers, these reunions are a wonderful way to reconnect and relive old memories. Quite different from the times of our fathers. My father retired on 28 February 1981 and seamlessly and comfortably moved from a suit to a dhoti–banian next morning. He would occasionally write and receive postcards from a handful of colleagues who had become close friends.

Anyway, these days, retired professionals seem to have discovered a taste for old organisational reunions. There is no periodicity; it can be two meetings in three months and never again; some are better organised and even do out-of-town meetings occasionally. Some groups I know are suddenly meeting up almost 20 years after they went their own way after working together.

And here kicks in the difference between college reunions and the reunions of colleagues who worked together. College batchmates have a unique bond – of brotherhood, shared classrooms, fun, exams, mischief, and hostel revelry. Office reunions are not always a meeting of equals. When peer groups meet (say managers, sales teams, or service teams) they land together in a similar socio-economic plateau. The competitiveness has faded; they are comfortable in their own skins and have made peace with the way their careers unfolded and only memories of good times at work remain. So, peer reunions are filled with good cheer and the occasional banter targeted at the boss. Moreover, the costs of such get togethers are what each of them can afford, so no worries there.

But when an ‘all members’ reunion is organised, the situation can be quite different. This was driven home to me by a recent set of meetings organised in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi by ex-members of an organisation where we had spent many years. Though I could not attend these meetings, I received nice reports from colleagues.

These ‘all-members’ meetings raised a fundamental issue, a troubling issue of principle. The reunion of the Bengaluru colleagues was the classic idli-dosa-vada-coffee meeting at ₹400 per head, in a nice open-air restaurant that provides a pleasing ambience for relaxed gatherings. However, both at Mumbai and Delhi, the reunions were elaborate ‘dinner plus drinks’ affairs. Nothing strange or wrong, but the venue and the choice of liquor, meant that each person forked out around ₹3,000 in Mumbai and over ₹4,000 in Delhi. When I heard the costs of the Mumbai and Delhi meetings, my old fashioned, stuck-in-the 1990s heart was troubled. I felt there would have been some colleagues not so well off;some may have pressing financial responsibilities; maybe they have not built a retirement nest egg like the others. Were such colleagues able to afford this?

Decades ago in that same organisation, when some colleague’s (or sibling’s) wedding would come up, our office accountant would send a register across to every member for contribution to buy a gift. Conventionally, it would begin with the chief who in the ‘thakur khush hua’ style, gave an expansive contribution. That would trigger among the others, the very human response of ‘I must also give something in the same range.’ Being a smallish office where everyone participated in everything, it was a torture to see some of our colleagues with smaller salaries struggle to write a number that in their minds did not hurt self-esteem. After two such events, I decided to turn the thing upside down. From then on, I made sure the register first came to me (I was the second-in-command there) and I would write a small contribution. I explained to some key colleagues the reason I did that. Everyone followed suit and I could see the relief in the eyes of my less salaried colleagues.

After these recent reunions, I voiced my concerns with some ex-colleagues who were also close friends: Can not the undeniable joy of reunions of colleagues where each one renews friendships, relives happy memories, and enjoys an evening of gaiety be achieved with a more affordable programme for all members and without ostentation? The responses I received were swift. One chided me for being a stick-in-the-mud. A kinder soul tried to assuage by saying that one person at one of these meetings – he was also a former regional boss – offered to pay the bill for the entire group. Probably, a well-meaning gesture to ensure less affluent colleagues need not fork out a steep amount but I wondered if such a move diluted the spirit of a meeting of equals and brought an unnecessary sense of obligation. One friend, brutally silenced me, saying the attendance at Mumbai and Delhi was much higher than Bengaluru, throwing my cost argument out of the window.

Thankfully, I am at an age where I can be at ease with unresolved questions and the best way forward is to let my hair down when my BITS batchmates meet in a few weeks. Anyway, it will be an evening that will cost a fraction of the Mumbai and Delhi meetings.

S Giridhar is one of the earliest members of Azim Premji Foundation

Published on April 27, 2026

Pirojsha Godrej
| Photo Credit:
bl-online Administrator

The financial capital needs to focus on protecting mangroves, industrialist Pirojsha Godrej has said, vowing to never develop the patch of the greens by the creek under the family’s control in suburban Vikhroli.

In comments that come amid a move to chop 45,000 mangrove trees in Versova for a sealink, the chairman-designate of the Godrej Industries Group said that we need to “balance” competing narratives when it comes to major infrastructure projects.

“I think the city does need to put a lot of focus on protecting them,” Godrej told PTI in an interview at his office overlooking a huge patch of mangroves along the creek.

Calling the mangroves a sense of pride for the over a century-old industrial house, Godrej said that the mangroves under its control are over five times the size of London’s Hyde Park and vowed to protect them.

The 45-year-old scion, who is set to lead a part of the family’s business from August, said he is “very confident” the patch will never be developed.

Godrej, who has been overseeing the realty business for the last few years, however, seemed to suggest that taking any side in the debate between development and environmental protection is very difficult.

“I think the problem is on both sides. I think sometimes development is done in a very haphazard, chaotic, environmentally destructive way. But equally, sometimes the case for conservation is done in an unnecessarily anti-development way,” he said.

It is essential to development, otherwise a city will lose its relevance, Godrej said, prescribing a higher floor space index, public transport, and having parks in neighbourhoods as the right approach.

The environmentalists get it “totally wrong” when they press to limit FSI, Godrej said, reasoning that leads to an encouragement to haphazard and illegal development.

Godrej also welcomed the work being done by the government through initiatives like having parks along the coastal road and the Mahalaxmi racecourse development plan.

He hoped that more wealth and better perspectives in cities would help change the approach to urban development for the better.

Published on April 26, 2026

Stating that it is “cautiously optimistic” on the overall wheat production outlook, the government on Sunday said that the output in 2025–26 remains stable and resilient, supported by increased acreage, improved agronomic practices, and enhanced varietal adoption, despite ‘localised’ weather-related impacts.

“In response to certain media reports regarding the wheat production scenario for 2025–26, it is clarified that the current wheat season may be characterized as mixed but resilient, shaped by both climatic adversities as well as strong adaptive measures undertaken by farmers,” the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

According to the government’s second advance estimate, wheat output in 2025-26 is pegged at 120.21 million tonnes (mt) as against 117.95 mt in 2024-25. As the estimate was arrived at before the unseasonal rains and hailstorms in March-April damaged the crop, the next update by the government is keenly awaited by the stakeholders amid lower procurement in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The Roller Flour Millers Federation of India (RFMFI) on April 24 released its third “Annual Wheat Survey Report 2026”, prepared by private agency Agriwatch which has pegged the production at 110.65 mt, up from 109.63 mt in 2024-25. Agriwatch’s Nalin Rawal said that the production could have reached 115.7 mt, but due to the crop damage there was a drop of over 5 mt from the initial assessment.

The agriculture ministry said that the crop was sown on an estimated area of 33.46 million hectares (mh), up from 32.80 mh and there was no incidence of insect pests and diseases during the season. Early and timely sowing of wheat in the country, had led to an increase in area over the last year, it said.

“The additional 0.6 million hectares area planted during 2025-26, is expected to partially offset localized losses,” it added. This is viewed as an admission of higher losses due to crop damage compared to the gains expected from more area.

The government has admitted that unusually high temperatures in February exposed the crop to heat stress, reducing grain filling duration and yield. “Further, untimely rainfall and hailstorms at maturity in a few areas have likely caused localised damage to grain quality and yield,” it said adding “the overall production outlook remains cautiously optimistic owing to several compensatory factors”.

The ministry said that the infestation of weeds was low during the crop growth stages and there was a significant rise in early/timely sowing, which enabled the crop to escape terminal heat during grain filling. Additionally, the enhanced varietal replacement rate (VRR) has accelerated the adoption of high-yielding, climate-resilient, and disease-resistant varieties, which are better equipped to withstand heat and biotic stresses, it said.

On the other hand, the RFMFI President Navneet Chitlangia in a statement has said that the industry seeks not protection, but policy stability and dialogue for fair farmer prices, viability, and affordable consumer food.

He has demanded the government to share periodic cumulative national wheat stock data to aid informed decisions and curb distortions. He has also requested the government to provide clear OMSS pricing, quantities, and schedules via stakeholder consultations to avoid ad-hoc releases that distort markets. “Extend open export licenses without port or buyer restrictions to all wheat products, including bran. Prioritize freight support and incentives for value-added wheat products over raw wheat to boost employment, capacity utilization, and diaspora supply,” he said.

Meanwhile, the wheat procurement was lower 164.32 (lakh tonnes (lt) as of April 23, as against 183.49 lt year-ago and arrivals 19 per cent lower at 203.13 lt. The purchase in Punjab was 75.73 lt against 59.20 lt, in Haryana 65.16 lt against 56.64 lt, in Madhya Pradesh 13.19 lt against 54.09 lt, in Uttar Pradesh 4.08 lt against 5.51 lt, in Rajasthan 5.7 lt against 7.84 lt and in Bihar 17,281 tonne against 9,991 tonne.

Against the minimum support price of Rs 2,585/quintal during 2025-26 crop year (July-June), the all India average mandi (agriculture market yard) price of wheat on April 24 was Rs 2,572/quintal, which included consuming states as well, according to Agmarknet portal. But the average farmgate prices in wheat producing states on April 22 were – Rs 2,498/quintal in Uttar Pradesh, Rs 2,402/quintal in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 2,421/quintal in Gujarat and Rs 2,484/quintal in Rajasthan. But in Haryana and Punjab, farmers are able to receive MSP for their wheat due to public procurement through a strong mandi infrastructure.

Published on April 26, 2026