BANK OF BARODA has turned into the India’s second biggest public sector lender after it merged with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, in what is believed to be the first three way merger of Indian banks.
The combined lender will have more than 9,500 branches, with over 13,400 ATMs and 85,000 staff members and serving 120 million customers.
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said earlier that the branches of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank will operate as Bank of Baroda branches after the merger today (1).
“All branches of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will function as branches of Bank of Baroda from April 1, 2019. Customers, including depositors of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will be treated as customers of Bank of Baroda with effect from April 1, 2019,” the RBI said in a statement.
Bank of Baroda has allotted £5.77 million worth of shares to the shareholders of Vijaya Bank and £2.74m worth shares to those of Dena Bank as the merger came into effect on Monday (1).
In a stock exchange filing, Bank of Baroda said: "The bank is in the process of filing listing applications with the Stock Exchanges and the aforesaid equity shares will either be credited to the Demat Accounts or Share Certificates will be dispatched to the eligible Shareholders of Vijay Bank and Dena Bank."
"Further, in terms of the aforesaid Scheme, bank accounts of eligible shareholders of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank as registered with the depositories / bank will be either credited or fractional cash warrants will be issued with amount arising out of fractional Entitlements," the lender added.
With the merger, Bank of Baroda has become the country’s second largest public sector lender after State Bank of India (SBI).
Now, the BoB is also the third largest bank in the country after the SBI and HDFC Bank, based on the asset size.
The Indian cabinet approved the merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with BoB in January this year.
The staff members of the two merging lenders questioned the merger before country’s top court; however the Supreme Court on March 28 rejected the petition paving the way for the merger.
THE UK economy contracted unexpectedly in May, marking the second consecutive monthly decline, according to official data released on Friday. The figures present a challenge for the Labour government as it attempts to revive economic growth.
Gross domestic product fell by 0.1 per cent in May, following a 0.3 per cent contraction in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
Economists had forecast a 0.1 per cent increase in GDP.
The data comes at a time when prime minister Keir Starmer's government is dealing with global challenges, including US tariffs and persistent inflation.
The Labour government’s fiscal strategy relies heavily on economic growth, particularly after recent reversals on welfare cuts and winter fuel payments for pensioners.
Finance minister Rachel Reeves described the figures as "disappointing" and said there was "more to do."
Labour has announced plans to reduce red tape and has unveiled a multi-billion pound investment programme aimed at the National Health Service and infrastructure to boost growth.
In separate data published by the ONS on Friday, UK exports to the United States increased by £0.3 billion in May. This followed a record fall in April when President Donald Trump's tariffs took effect.
"Growth is becoming incredibly difficult to achieve for the government," said Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter.
"The plans put in place so far are unlikely to move the needle in the absence of improving business and consumer sentiment in an environment of ongoing cost pressures," she added.
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said there were "notable falls in production and construction" which affected GDP in May.
She said the decline in production was led by "oil and gas extraction, car manufacturing and the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry."
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Starlink will next need to acquire spectrum from the government, build ground infrastructure, and carry out testing and trials to meet the agreed security requirements. (Photo: Reuters)
INDIA’s space regulator on Wednesday granted Starlink a licence to begin commercial operations in the country, removing the final regulatory barrier for the satellite internet provider.
The company, led by Elon Musk, has been waiting since 2022 for licences to start operations in India. It received an initial approval last month from India’s telecom ministry and was waiting for clearance from the space regulator.
The licence, issued by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), is valid for five years.
Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing sources, that Starlink had secured the licence from IN-SPACe.
Starlink is now the third company to receive approval to enter the Indian satellite communications market. India has previously cleared applications from Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio.
The company will next need to acquire spectrum from the government, build ground infrastructure, and carry out testing and trials to meet the agreed security requirements.
Musk and Reliance Jio’s Mukesh Ambani had disagreed for several months over how spectrum should be allocated for satellite services. The Indian government later supported Musk’s position that spectrum should be assigned, not auctioned.
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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported a 10.7 per cent drop in sales for the April–June quarter, as a temporary pause in shipments to the United States and the phase-out of Jaguar’s legacy models weighed on volumes.
The company, owned by India’s Tata Motors, sold 87,286 units to dealers worldwide during the quarter, compared to 97,755 units in the same period last year.
Retail sales dropped 15.1 per cent in the three months to the end of June, JLR said in a statement on Monday. The company cited a halt in exports to the US in April as one of the main reasons behind the decline. The pause followed the imposition of a 25 per cent duty by President Donald Trump on all foreign-made vehicles sold in the US, one of JLR's key markets.
JLR does not manufacture cars in the US. Its Range Rover lineup is produced in Britain, subject to a 10 per cent levy, while its top-selling Defender SUVs are built in Slovakia, which falls under the higher 25 per cent tariff.
North America, which accounts for around one-third of JLR’s global sales, saw a 12.2 per cent drop in volumes in the first quarter. Jaguar’s luxury sedans, SUVs and sports cars saw a 72 per cent decline in sales, falling to 2,339 units, as part of a planned wind-down of legacy models. Jaguar is set to become a fully electric brand by 2026.
Excluding Jaguar’s performance, JLR’s overall sales declined by 5.1 per cent.
In the UK, Jaguar’s sales were also affected by the phase-out of older models in preparation for its electric vehicle line-up. According to automotive trade body SMMT, British car exports to the US dropped by over 50 per cent in May. However, a new trade agreement between the UK and US is expected to support future sales. The agreement reduces tariffs on UK car exports to 10 per cent from 27.5 per cent, up to an annual limit of 100,000 vehicles.
JLR is among the top car exporters from Britain and contributes about two-thirds of Tata Motors' revenue. Both JLR and Tata Motors are expected to announce their first-quarter earnings in August.
In June, JLR revised its forecast for earnings margin before interest and taxes for the fiscal year 2026 to 5–7 per cent, down from the earlier target of 10 per cent, citing global uncertainty triggered by US tariffs.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.
Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.
"We have finalised a draft reciprocal trade agreement," Mahbubur Rahman said on Wednesday (3), adding the government was "hopeful of reaching a win-win agreement".
Rahman said a meeting between officials from both countries was slated for July 8, with the US representing 20 per cent of Bangladesh's ready-made garments exports.
Textile and garment production accounts for about 80 per cent of exports in Bangladesh and the industry has been rebuilding after it was hit hard in a student-led revolution that toppled the government last year.
Trump hit Bangladesh with 37 per cent tariffs in his April 2 announcement, which is more than double the 16 per cent already placed on cotton products.
He suspended the tolls' introduction until July 9, as he did with other global trading partners, though a baseline 10 per cent levy was kept in place.
Bangladesh exported $8.36 billion worth of goods to the US in 2024, while imports from there amounted to $2.21bn, according to the Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue.
"As part of the initiative to reduce the trade gap, the government already decided to import a large volume of wheat, purchasing 14 aircraft from US manufacturer Boeing, buying cotton and more oil and gas from the US farms," Rahman said.
He did not give further details on the exact timing or extent of the proposed deals, but said the government had held around 28 meetings and document exchanges in a bid to reach an agreement.
Interim leader Muhammed Yunus spoke to US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Monday (30) and told him Dhaka was "working with your officials to finalise a package of measures to effectively respond to president Trump's trade agenda".
Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the national platform of the garment makers, expressed concerns about any deal.
"The already enacted additional 10 per cent tariff is hitting our exporters, and if it goes further, we might lose US buyers," he warned.
But Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said he was optimistic.
"We are hopeful of a positive outcome on the US tariff before July 9," he said.
"There will be a temporary problem if the US administration does not revise the tariff. But it will largely and ultimately hit the US buyers, as they would have to buy goods at higher prices."