📰 India Business Brief: Top Headlines for September 16, 2026

Business Standard

• RBI Files Caveat in Bombay High Court on Tata Sons IPO: The Reserve Bank of India has filed a caveat in the Bombay High Court to prevent any ex-parte orders or legal maneuvers aimed at stalling the anticipated Tata Sons public listing.
• 0.4% MDR on UPI Transactions Above ₹2,000 Starting October 15: Preparations are underway for the implementation of a 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions exceeding ₹2,000. Recent surveys indicate that only 17% of surveyed merchants are willing to bear the fee directly.
• Apple Absorbs Margins on iPhone 17 in India: In a push to protect and expand its local market share, Apple is absorbing margin pressure on its new iPhone 17 lineup to maintain competitive pricing in India.
• Unemployment Falls to 5% in August; CEA Reassures on Food Inflation: India's unemployment rate dropped to 5.0% in August, driven by a revival in rural economic activity. Meanwhile, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran stated that current food inflation pressures are transitory and unlikely to persist through the end of the year.
• SEBI Fast-Tracks Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) Onboarding: Market regulator SEBI is advancing new operational frameworks designed to simplify and significantly accelerate the onboarding pipeline for foreign institutional investors.

The Economic Times

• Nifty IT Rebounds 2.19% as AI Disruption Fears Ease: Technology stocks rallied strongly, with the Nifty IT index outperforming the broader market. Major gains in HCL Tech (+4%), Infosys (+3.7%), and TCS (+2.2%) followed remarks by market experts showing that enterprise AI spending is transitioning to scalable deployments and consulting rather than replacing core IT services.
• BHEL Pushes for Non-Thermal Diversification After Maharatna Review: Following scrutiny from the Centre over profitability thresholds tied to its Maharatna status, state-run BHEL is accelerating its shift toward coal gasification, coal-to-chemicals, and pumped hydro storage to bolster long-term revenues.
• Crude Oil Pressures Persist Ahead of US Fed Decision: Brent crude hovered near the $109-per-barrel mark amid Middle Eastern supply disruptions, keeping domestic bond markets cautious and gold prices near record territory.
• SEBI Proposes Tighter Disaster Recovery and Backup Norms: Market infrastructure institutions and exchanges face stricter business continuity guidelines, as SEBI released draft proposals mandating shorter disaster recovery drill intervals and reinforced data failover mechanisms.

Mint

• Fed Monetary Policy and Dot Plot Take Center Stage: Global and Indian markets are on high alert for Wednesday's US Federal Reserve policy outcome and refreshed Dot Plot projections. Heightened energy prices and geopolitical conflicts have reignited discussions over interest rate trajectories across major central banks.
• Spillover Impact on Rupee, Equities, and Gold: Analysts noted that while risk assets remain under near-term pressure from elevated US bond yields and firm energy costs, domestic institutional inflows and stable corporate balance sheets continue to buffer Indian equities.
• Cross-Border Digital Currency Linkages in Focus: Post-BRICS summit momentum continues around proposals exploring cross-border settlements via interoperable central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), highlighting India's push for faster, lower-cost international trade settlement frameworks.

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