Mritunjay Kumar

NSDL vs CDSL – Same Job, Different Game! Both power India’s stock market backend — from demat to e-KYC — but their business models? Totally different! 🔹 CDSL = Retail King Earns from lakhs of small investors via brokers & fintech apps. 🔹 NSDL = Institutional Giant Backs mutual funds, FIIs, insurers & pension funds. 📊 Scale & Reach 💰 Assets: NSDL ₹510L Cr 🆚 CDSL ₹79L Cr 👥 Accounts: CDSL 15.86 Cr 🆚 NSDL 4.05 Cr 👉 Big money sits with NSDL, but volume is with CDSL. 💵 Profits & Margins (FY25 est.): CDSL: ₹526 Cr profit on ₹1,082 Cr revenue (🟢 44% margin) NSDL: ₹343 Cr profit on ₹1,535 Cr revenue (🟡 22% margin) ✅ CDSL is leaner, more profitable per ₹ earned! 📈 Valuations & Growth 📌 EPS: CDSL ₹25.2 🆚 NSDL ₹17.1 📌 P/E: CDSL ~67x 🆚 NSDL IPO ~44x 📌 Growth (FY23–25): NSDL leads in revenue & profit CAGR 🏦 Network CDSL = 581 Members, fintech-first NSDL = 296 Members, deeper govt & institutional ties 📝 NSDL IPO Highlights * Pure OFS – no new capital * Promoters trimming stake (SEBI 15% rule) * Not for funding growth – more of a regulatory clean-up 💡 Investor Takeaway: 🔹 CDSL = Retail boom + higher profit margins 🔹 NSDL = Institutional trust + deeper integration Both are core to India’s financial infrastructure. 💼📊 no stock reco

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🚀 Behind the Scenes of UPI: How It Handles ₹18.41 Trillion Transactions! India's UPI has revolutionised digital payments—an interoperable, public infrastructure enabling private innovation. It's simple, fast, and widely adopted. 🔹 How UPI Works UPI links virtual payment addresses (VPAs) like rahul@hdfc directly to bank accounts, eliminating the need for IFSC codes. But what happens behind the scenes when you send money? Let’s break it down: 1️⃣ Rahul (Sender) uses PhonePe to send ₹100 to Amit (Receiver). 2️⃣ He enters Amit’s UPI ID. 3️⃣ PhonePe encrypts the request and forwards it to its acquiring bank (SBI). 4️⃣ SBI sends it to NPCI, which validates Rahul’s account and fetches Amit’s bank details. 5️⃣ NPCI routes the request to Amit’s bank (ICICI) for validation. 6️⃣ ICICI confirms the details, and NPCI authorizes Rahul’s bank (HDFC) to debit ₹100. 7️⃣ HDFC checks balances, debits the amount, and confirms back to NPCI. 8️⃣ NPCI instructs ICICI to credit ₹100 to Amit’s account. 9️⃣ ICICI completes the credit and notifies NPCI. 🔟 NPCI ensures settlements between banks via RBI, completing the transaction. All of this happens in seconds! 💡 Why UPI Works So Well ✅ Banks: Hold funds & process transactions ✅ Payment Apps: Link bank accounts & facilitate transactions ✅ NPCI: The trusted switch ensuring seamless routing & security This blend of innovation and security has made UPI the backbone of India’s digital economy. 🌍 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈 — 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲 — 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭. https://lnkd.in/gAzNN6E3 What’s your take on UPI’s future? 🚀💰

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NRIs’ remittances to India have grown at 10.3% CAGR in US-dollar terms since 2001. Only one other item, software services exports, has outpaced this, at ~15% CAGR over the same period. How big are remittances? They were about $125 bn in FY25, larger than India’s biggest merchandise export category, engineering goods (~$117 bn). In effect, India’s largest “export” is its people: they earn dollars abroad and remit them home. Growth in remittances from the Gulf has softened; oil-linked wages aren’t compounding at 10%+. That implies roughly one-third of the remittance basket is unlikely to sustain 10% growth. To keep overall remittances growing at historical rates, flows from services-driven hubs (the US, UK, Singapore, etc.) would have to rise at 12%+ in USD terms, a tall ask requiring comparable NRI income growth. Therefore, one of the largest and most supportive components of India’s balance of payments (BoP), remittances, may have reached a cyclical peak. If this coincides with a softening in services exports, the adjustment would likely require either a sharp import compression or a new export engine, neither of which is yet clearly in sight.

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A $2.8B industry, wiped off overnight. That’s what the Online Gaming Bill, 2025 just did in India. From now on, any game where money is staked for financial return, whether skill or chance, is banned. For years, gamers called it “entertainment.” Startups called it “innovation.” Investors called it “the next big economy.” But families? They called it what it really was: addiction and loss. India today has 488 million gamers, making it the second-largest gaming population in the world. Fantasy sports alone saw revenues of ₹6,800 crore in FY22 with over 180 million users. At the same time, reports showed Indians lost nearly ₹1.6 lakh crore on real-money gaming in just one year. The cracks were too big to ignore. The government finally drew the line, keeping esports and casual games, but pulling the plug on money-based platforms. Yes, this is big news, an entire industry wiped off the map. But maybe it was the kind of tough call India needed, where protecting people mattered more than protecting profits Dream11 Rummy Circle #onlinegaming

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Fintech major PhonePe has reported a 40% year-on-year revenue growth, reaching ₹7,115 crore in FY25, driven by its expansion beyond payments into financial services, sources said. The Walmart-backed platform also turned free cash flow positive, generating ₹1,202 crore from operations, highlighting strong cash generation even as it continues investing in growth. PhonePe’s adjusted EBITDA (excluding ESOP costs) more than doubled to ₹1,477 crore, while adjusted profit after tax surged 220% to ₹630 crore. The company also posted its first-ever positive adjusted EBIT (excluding ESOP costs) of ₹117 crore. The performance reflects PhonePe’s strategy of diversifying into loans, stock broking, and merchant services, alongside its core payments business. These strong financials come ahead of PhonePe’s anticipated IPO, with the fintech expected to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) later this year. #PhonePe #Revenue #Growth #Profitability #FY25 #IPO #Fintech #StartupUpdates #Startupro

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Weaver Services raises $170 million from Lightspeed, Premji Invest and Gaja Capital Housing finance platform Weaver Services has raised $170 million (around Rs 1,450 crore) in a round led by Lightspeed and Premji Invest with participation from Gaja Capital, as it looks to tap into the growing demand for the affordable housing segment with a focus on self-employed individuals. Moneycontrol was first to report about Lightspeed and Premji Invest leading Weaver Services' large-ticket fundraise, exceeding $140 million, on July 28. The investment will accelerate Weaver's asset acquisition, fund technology development, and expand reach across tier-2 and tier-3 cities where the affordable housing gap, as per the company, is the most acute. The company, which has already acquired Capital India Housing Finance for Rs 267 crore, will acquire more companies as it looks to scale its loan book and capture a larger share of the market. “We aim to make housing finance more accessible to the people of India by leveraging technology and placing customers at the centre of our focus thereby bringing in a new paradigm in the space,” said Satrajit Bhattacharya, Founder and Vice Chairman of Weaver Services.Satrajit Bhattacharya Bhattacharya is an industry veteran with three decades of experience at HDFC Ltd. As part of his relationship with the bank, its former chief Keki Mistry also has invested some money in the company, Moneycontrol had reported earlier. by Tushar Goenka https://lnkd.in/g-X4d644

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Pine Labs IPO: $6B Ambition, $1B Raise – Can the Numbers Justify It? Pine Labs has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for one of India’s largest fintech IPOs, aiming to raise $1 billion at a $6 billion valuation. The company plans to use the proceeds for debt repayment, subsidiary investments, technology development (cloud, AI/ML), device procurement for market expansion, strategic acquisitions, and general corporate purposes. The Company & Its Evolution Founded in 1998 by three IIT graduates in a Noida garage, Pine Labs started as a payment terminal provider. Over the years, it has transformed into a full-stack merchant payments platform operating in India, Southeast Asia, and the UAE. Key milestones: 2015: EMI & affordability solutions launched 2018: Merchant analytics platform introduced 2019: Southeast Asia expansion Acquisitions: Setu ($70–75M), QwikCilver, Saluto Wellness Business Model Pine Labs earns from: Transaction fees (avg. 1.5% merchant service fees) Subscription revenue from devices Interest income from BNPL & EMI products Processing fees from card and digital payments FY24 scale: 570,000+ merchants, $30B annual processing, 3.44B transactions. The Financial Reality Revenue CAGR: 12.4% (FY19–FY24) despite COVID FY24 revenue: ₹1,384 Cr (+4.2% YoY) Loss-making every year: ₹369 Cr cumulative losses in 5 years FY24 net margin: -13.5% (worst in history) Heavy reliance on external financing: ₹5,044 Cr raised over 5 years Asset turnover decline: 0.25x → 0.17x (The ratio compares the rupee amount of revenues to the company's total assets to measure the efficiency of the company's operations) Valuation Analysis Ask: $6B (~₹49,800 Cr) = 30.7x FY24 revenue Industry norm: 2–6x revenue multiples For perspective, Paytm—10x Pine Labs’ revenue, profitable at the EBITDA level, and with 96M consumer users—trades at just 3.3x revenue in public markets. The contrast raises questions about whether Pine Labs’ premium is warranted. Key Risks from DRHP Customer concentration: 31–35% revenue from top 10 clients Auditor-flagged IT control weaknesses Intense competition (254 players in India alone) Pricing pressure and regulatory compliance challenges No clear roadmap to profitability Unanswered Questions When will Pine Labs achieve sustainable profitability? Can it reduce dependence on top customers? Can it scale internationally without heavy capex and further dilution? Will emerging payment technologies (CBDCs, new rails) disrupt its core model? Pine Labs has undeniable scale, strong partnerships, and a diversified payments ecosystem. But at $6B, the valuation demands either a rapid path to profitability or outsized revenue growth—neither of which is certain today. The IPO will test whether public markets still reward scale over sustainable earnings in India’s fintech sector. Side-note - It is available in private markets at ~4.5 Bn valuation.

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𝐓𝐡𝐞 $𝟏𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐇-𝟏𝐁 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐅𝐞𝐞 – 𝐀 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐨𝐦𝐛 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚) Right before the weekend, Trump signed an order that shook the tech industry: a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas — the program created in 1990 to address America’s labor shortages. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫? 70% of all H-1B approvals go to India. Holders earn a median wage of ~$118K and contribute $86B annually to the U.S. economy + $35B in taxes. Critics argue U.S. workers lose out as tech giants rely heavily on H-1Bs. YC Garry Tan's 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞: A $100K fee won’t bother Big Tech, but it kneecaps startups who can’t absorb that tax. It entrenches incumbents while throttling early-stage innovation. The outcome? A massive gift to overseas tech hubs. Cities like Toronto, Waterloo, Calgary, Montreal, and Vancouver stand to benefit as global builders look elsewhere. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚: In the middle of an AI arms race, America risks telling founders: don’t build here. That’s a win for Canada if we can capture this talent and investment — but a potential long-term loss for U.S. competitiveness. 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: how do we position our ecosystems to ensure we’re the ones scaling the next generation of AI and tech companies?

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𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀: 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 Last week, a banker told me: “𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧’𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥.” The irony? By the time a loan is in trouble, the early stress signals were already visible — just not acted upon. 💡 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁 Most Loan Management Systems (LMS) are rule-based. They wake up when an EMI is missed. They don’t notice the quiet shifts that happen before: sales dipping, GST filings delayed, card swipes slowing down. And by the time a human collections call happens… the SME is already drowning. ✨ 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜 Think of it as a virtual loan officer embedded in your LMS/LOS/CRM. Not just predicting risk — 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. • It monitors payment rhythms. • It cross-checks POS, GST, ERP, even logistics feeds. • It spots unusual behavior: sudden cash spikes, or a steady revenue dip. • And it acts. 𝙄𝙛 𝙉𝙋𝘼 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣, 𝘼𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝘼𝙄 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬 — 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 “𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻” 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲: • Auto-reminder nudges. • Grace-period suggestions. • A restructured repayment plan surfaced to both SME & RM. • Even compliance alerts if red flags escalate. 📊 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 • Lower NPA. • Higher SME survival. • Faster time-to-resolution. It moves servicing from 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 → 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲. And when you add this into the Risk KPIs 2.0 dashboard (NIM, NPA, PaR, CaR, TTC)… you’re no longer waiting for risk to scream. You’re listening when it whispers. 🌱 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Every loan carries two timelines — the official repayment schedule, and the invisible stress curve. Agentic AI aligns them before it’s too late. ❓ 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂: Would you trust an AI agent to renegotiate your loans — before a human even calls? #TechTuesday #FinTech #SMELending #ArtificialIntelligence #AgenticAI #LoanServicing

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