BPCL, Trafigura sign crude oil supply agreement

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2026 | Business

State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has signed a crude oil supply agreement with Trafigura to supply Iraqi Basrah and Oman crude oil to the oil marketing company (OMC) on term basis.

Under the agreement, which was signed at the India Energy Week 2026 in Goa, the delivery for the cargoes will commence in April this year, Trafigura said.

This marks the first agreement of its kind for BPCL for imports of Basrah crude, representing a strategic milestone in the company’s procurement approach and strengthening India’s energy security framework.

Sachin Gupta, CEO of Trafigura India, said: “We are delighted to be supplying BPCL in this new agreement. Trafigura’s expertise, global reach and extensive supply chain capabilities allow us to source the crude oil BPCL needs for its refining requirements and growing consumer base in India. The agreement supports Trafigura’s growing role in supplying natural resources to India to support ongoing economic growth and increasing energy demand.”

Manoj Heda, Executive Director International Trade at BPCL, said: “This competitively priced term contract strengthens our crude oil procurement strategy and enhances India’s energy security. By leveraging market opportunities, we ensure a reliable and cost-effective supply of crude oil for our refining system, which is crucial to meeting the nation’s growing energy demands.”

Trafigura is a leading commodities group, owned by its employees and founded over 30 years ago. It deploys infrastructure, market expertise and our worldwide logistics network to move oil and petroleum products, metals and minerals, gas and power from where they are produced to where they are needed.

The Group comprises industrial assets and operating businesses, including multi-metals producer Nyrstar, fuel storage and distribution company Puma Energy, the Impala Terminals joint venture and Green energy, supplier and distributor of transportation fuels and biofuels. It employs around 14,500 people, of which over 1,400 are shareholders, and operate in over 150 countries.

Published on January 30, 2026

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Canara Bank leans on higher-yield retail, agri and MSME loans to cushion rate-cut impact

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2026 | Business

MD, CEO, and Executive Director Hardeep Singh Ahluwalia

Canara Bank is recalibrating its loan mix to shield profitability from faster repricing triggered by rate cuts, leaning harder on high-margin retail, agriculture, and MSME loans, even as corporate credit remains selective.

With nearly half its loan book linked to the repo rate, MD, CEO, and Executive Director Hardeep Singh Ahluwalia says sharper RAM growth, tighter pricing discipline, and improved asset quality are central to defending margins in a softer rate cycle.

The bank posted a 25.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) jump in net profit at ₹5,155 crore for the third quarter of FY26. The bank’s net interest income (NII) rose marginally by 1.1 per cent to ₹9,252 crore, while net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter stood at 2.50 per cent.

The management indicated that margins are expected to stabilise in the 2.45-2.50 per cent range going forward.

The slippages during the quarter were contained at 0.64 per cent, with total fresh slippages of ₹1,857 crore, largely from the agriculture and MSME segments.

During the quarter, the bank accelerated growth in retail, agriculture and MSME credit, which offer structurally higher spreads. RAM credit grew 18.7 per cent y-o-y to ₹7,04,041 crore during the quarter, and now accounts for 59 per cent of total advances, up from 57 per cent a year earlier. The sharper mix tilt is aimed at cushioning net interest margins at a time when asset-side repricing is faster than adjustments on the liability side.

Selective on corporate credit

While RAM lending has emerged as the primary growth engine, the bank stressed that this does not signal a pull-back from corporate credit. Around ₹20,000 crore of corporate loans have already been sanctioned and are awaiting disbursement, with corporate advances continuing to grow at a measured pace. However, the bank is being selective on pricing and returns, prioritising profitability over volume growth in large-ticket lending.

Canara Bank has also managed to hold its ground on deposits despite intense competition across the banking system. The CASA ratio stood at around 30 per cent during the quarter at ₹4,12,359 crore, with savings deposits growing 8.51 per cent y-o-y and individual savings deposits rising over 10 per cent. Retail term deposits grew close to 10 per cent, largely driven by granular customers, helping strengthen the stability of the funding profile.

Ahluwalia said the strength of the balance sheet and improving asset quality provide room to recalibrate growth as the rate cycle turns. With provision coverage above 94 per cent and a sharper focus on mix and pricing, the bank expects to absorb near-term margin pressure while sustaining profitable growth.

Published on January 30, 2026

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Non-food bank credit growth robust at 14.4% in Dec 2025

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2026 | Business

Credit to personal loans segment recorded a 14.4 per cent yoy growth, as compared with 12.0 per cent a year ago.
| Photo Credit:
iStockphoto

Non-food bank credit grew at a robust clip of 14.4 per cent year-on-year (yoy) as of December 31, 2025, on the back of increased demand for loans from industry, services and personal loans segments, per RBI’s data on sectoral deployment of bank credit for the month of December 2025. Non-food bank credit grew at 11.1 per cent as of December 27, 2024.

Scheduled commercial banks’ (SCBs) credit to industry recorded a 13.3 per cent yoy growth, compared with 7.5 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of last year.

“While credit to ‘Micro and Small’ showed sharp acceleration in growth, ‘Medium’ industries continued to exhibit robust expansion. Credit to large industries also picked up, per RBI’s statement.

Positive sign

Referring to the pick up in credit to large industries, Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda, said this could be indicative of pick up in private investment in the segment.

Among major industries, outstanding credit to ‘infrastructure’, ‘all engineering’, ‘basic metal and metal products’, ‘chemical and chemical products, ‘textiles’ and ‘petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels’ registered resilient yoy growth.

Credit to services sector registered a growth rate of 15.3 per cent yoy (11.5 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year), supported by higher. growth in segments such as ‘non-banking financial companies’ (NBFCs), ‘trade’ and ‘commercial real estate’.

Credit to personal loans segment recorded a 14.4 per cent yoy growth, as compared with 12.0 per cent a year ago.

The RBI said while segments such as ‘vehicle loans’ and ‘loans against gold jewellery’ sustained robust credit growth, ‘housing’ witnessed steady growth while ‘credit card outstanding’ growth decreased.

Sabnavis said that vehicle loans growth has virtually doubled, thus contributing to overall demand for the personal loans segment.

Unsecured loans growth has also been higher than last year indicating that there has been higher borrowing for consumption with the GST cut also contributing to the same.

Sabnavis assessed that growth loans against jewellery have been very high due to two reasons — “As RBI states, there is a classification of some agricultural loans under this head by one bank which skews the picture. Further, with high price of gold, the value of jewellery has gone up which offers more scope for borrowing by households.”

NBFC credit has been higher this year which can be attributed to the reversal of the higher capital norms that were imposed in 2024.

Published on January 30, 2026

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BoB’s Q3FY26 net up 4.5% at ₹5,055 crore

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2026 | Business

Net interest income was almost unchanged at ₹11,800 crore
| Photo Credit:
AMAN RAJ

Bank of Baroda (BoB) reported a modest 4.50 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in third quarter standalone net profit at ₹5,055 crore, with the bottom line being supported by non-interest income and write-back in provisions for non-performing assets (NPA) & bad debts written-off.

The public sector bank profit growth came amid decent growth in total deposits (10.3 per cent y-o-y) and global gross advances (14.7 per cent). It logged a net profit of ₹4,837 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The bank’s Board on Friday approved raising of long term bonds for financing of infrastructure and affordable housing/ long term green infrastructure up to ₹10,000 crore. This is in addition to ₹5,000 crore remaining from previous approval, taking the total issue size up to ₹15,000 crore in single or multiple tranches during the FY26 and beyond if found feasible.

Net interest income (difference between interest earned and interest expended) was almost unchanged at ₹11,800 crore (₹11,786 crore in Q3FY25).

Other income, comprising fee-based income, treasury income and other non-interest income, was up 6 per cent y-o-y at ₹3,600 crore (₹3,400 crore).

Debadatta Chand,MD & CEO, said Q3FY26 was one of the strongest quarters for the Bank in terms of business (credit and deposit growth). He emphasised that the quarter was a normalised one, with no one-off income.

NIM dips

Net interest margin (NIM) declined to 2.79 per cent from 3.04 per cent a year ago. Chand said the Bank will end FY26 with a NIM of 2.85-.3.00 per cent.

Operating profit was down 3.7 per cent y-o-y at ₹7,377 crore (₹7,664 crore). The BoB chief said the bank has a consistent and stable operating model, clocking an operating profit of over Rs 7,000 crore over the last nine quarter and a net profit of over ₹4,000 crore over the last 10 quarters.

Fresh slippages were higher at ₹2,676 crore (₹2,503 crore). However, reduction in NPAs too was higher at ₹3,183 crore (₹2,995 crore).

Gross NPA position improved to 2.04 per cent of gross advances as at December-end 2025 from 2.43 per cent as at December-end 2024. Net NPA position too improved a shade to 0.57 per cent of net advances from 0.59 per cent.

Provisions for for NPA & bad debts written-off declined 40 per cent to ₹559 crore (₹871 crore). However, provision for standard advances was up 46.5 per cent to ₹183 (₹125 crore).

Global advances increased 14.7 per cent y-o-y to stand at ₹13,44,904 crore as at December-end 2025. Within this domestic gross advances and international advance were up 13.6 per cent and 19.3 per cent yoy to stand at ₹10,96,557 crore and ₹2,48,348 crore, respectively.

Agriculture advances clocked the highest growth of 19 per cent within domestic advances, followed by retail (17.4 per cent), MSME (16.4 per cent) and corporate 8.1 per cent.

Chand said while BoB continues with the 11-13 per cent credit growth target for FY26, there could be an upside. The bank has built up a corporate loan sanctions pipeline of ₹75,000 crore, including about ₹45,000 crore sanctioned loans yet to be disbursed and about ₹30,000 crore worth of loan proposals under process.

Total deposits rose about 10.3 per cent y-o-y and stood at ₹15,46,749 crore as at December-end 2025. Within this, domestic deposits were up 11.1 per cent y-o-y and stood at ₹13,07,189 crore.

Low-cost current account, savings account (CASA) deposits declined to 38.45 per cent of domestic deposits (39.33 per cent a year ago).

BoB shares closed at ₹299.35 apiece, down 1.04 per cent over the previous close on BSE.

Published on January 30, 2026

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SEBI clears IPOs of HD Fire Protect, Xtranet Tech, and five companies

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2026 | Business

Parijat Industries India, Rotomag Enertec, CSM Technologies, Eldeco Infrastructure and Properties and AITMC Ventures gear up for public listing

The capital markets regulator SEBI has cleared the initial public offering (IPO) of seven companies on Friday.

The issues cleared were that of HD Fire Protect, Xtranet Technologies, Parijat Industries India, Rotomag Enertec, CSM Technologies, Eldeco Infrastructure and Properties and AITMC Ventures. Associated Power Structures withdrew its IPO offer.

IPO structure

Eldeco Infrastructure and Properties plans to raise ₹1,000 crore through fresh equity issuance and offer for sale (OFS). The issue consists of a fresh issue of shares worth ₹800 crore and an OFS of ₹200 crore by promoters. The proceeds will be used for debt repayment, specifically for their subsidiary Eldeco Infracon Realtors, and general corporate purposes.

AITMC Ventures, an agri-drone start-up, will raise ₹200 crore via IPO to fund its expansion plans. The issue consists of a fresh issue of equity shares, aimed at funding business expansion, working capital and investments in subsidiaries.

The promoters and existing investors of HD Fire Protect plan to offload 2.63 crore shares. Incorporated in 1997, the company specialises in designing, manufacturing and supplying fire protection equipment and systems for industrial, commercial and institutional safety requirements.

Xtranet Technologies will raise about ₹190 crore through fresh share issuance. The funds raised will go to investors who are offloading shares in the IPO. The company is an integrated IT solutions provider offering end-to-end services such as enterprise applications, digital transformation, managed services, proprietary platforms, and strategic technology partnerships.

The agro chemical company Parijat Industries will raise ₹160 crore and an offer for sale of upto 2.04 crore equity shares. Its product portfolio includes plant protection products (insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, herbicides, and combinations), plant nutrition products such as specialty fertilisers, biostimulants, and plant growth regulators and technicals used in agrochemical formulations.

CSM Technologies will raise about ₹150 crore through fresh equity issuances. The company will issue 1.29 crore equity shares with no offer-for-sale component. Proceeds will be used to fund growth initiatives, strengthen technological infrastructure and pay off debt.

Published on January 30, 2026

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Average ticket size of policies increased 13% in Q3FY26, backed by GST exemption, says Niva Bupa Executive Director

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2026 | Business

Niva Bupa Health Insurance’s average ticket size of policies increased by around 13 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter this fiscal, backed by GST exemption on individual health insurance premiums, says its Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer Vishwanath M. In an interaction with businessline, Vishwanath says the insurer has passed on the impact of GST input credit loss to its distributors uniformly across the board. Excerpts:

Niva Bupa Health Insurance’s gross written premium grew 55 per cent year-n-year to ₹2231 crore in the third quarter this fiscal. What drove this growth?

The reported 55 per cent growth needs to be read with context. From October 1, 2024, there was a change in accounting for multi-year policies. Earlier, for example for a two-year policy, the full premium used to get recognised upfront. Post the change, only half is recognised in the year of sale and the rest is deferred for next year. Because of this, the reported Q3 numbers include premium spill-over from last year, while earlier periods had spill-over going out. To give clarity, we have disclosed like-to-like numbers as well. On a like-to-like basis, total business grew 31 per cent, and retail business grew 43 per cent in Q3.

Retail growth accelerated sharply to 43 per cent in the third quarter from 28 per cent in the first half (H1) of this fiscal. Was it because of the GST exemption on individual health insurance premiums?

Yes, the biggest driver has been the GST reduction on retail health insurance. Demand picked up sharply across all channels. We saw growth both in the number of lives covered and average ticket size. The GST benefit clearly translated into stronger affordability, higher conversions, and more renewals. This acceleration is visible across agency, bancassurance, brokers, and digital channels. Consumers are using the savings to upgrade coverage rather than just buying cheaper policies. For example, customers who earlier bought ₹10 lakh cover are now opting for ₹15 lakh or more. Also, we are witnessing higher adoption of comprehensive coverage and richer benefits. Overall, average ticket size increased by around 13 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter. Normally, 7–8 per cent comes from inflation, so the incremental uplift is directly attributable to GST relief. This trend has continued into January, suggesting it is sustainable.

How much of this retail growth came from new customers versus existing customers upgrading?

Broadly, 40 per cent of retail business is new business, while 60 percent comes from renewals and upgrades. If I highlight one clear data point — on our own direct digital channel, new business grew 65–70 per cent y-o-y in Q3, reflecting higher traffic and better conversion driven by the GST relief.

Despite strong growth, the company reported an operating loss of ₹135.53 crore in Q3FY26 versus an operating profit in the same period of FY25. Why?

This again is an accounting timing issue. Because of the multi-year policy accounting change, gross written premium reflects growth immediately, but net earned premium lags. Claims, however, continue as usual. This optically depresses operating profit under Indian GAAP in the short term. To give a clearer picture, we have also published audited IFRS (Ind AS) numbers, which smoothen these timing differences. IFRS numbers showed that for the third quarter this fiscal the company registered a net profit of ₹77 crore compared to ₹60 crore for the corresponding period last fiscal. This includes a one-time ₹20 crore impact due to the new labour codes (gratuity and leave encashment). Even after this, profitability improved for the quarter.

The company’s Expenses of Management (EoM) ratio improved significantly. What were the factors that contributed to it?

There were two factors. Firstly, economies of scale — expenses are growing around 12–13 per cent, while business is growing around 30 per cent. The second factor is a realignment of distribution commission, including GST input credit adjustments. Our EoM ratio stands at 36.3 per cent for 9MFY26, versus a regulatory allowance of 35.9 per cent (including permitted add-ons). We are confident of being fully compliant for FY26.

Have your interactions with distributors to realign commission structure concluded, as insurance companies are now not able to claim input tax credit on commissions and brokerages?

Yes, we passed on the GST impact transparently. Commission percentages remain unchanged, but GST is now embedded. Despite this, distributor income has not declined because of higher volumes. For example 43 per cent retail growth in the third quarter is a testament to this. Absolute earnings for distributors continue to rise due to business growth.

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