Winning Bizness Economic Desk
Indian Real Estate Sector Witnesses Huge Sales in Premium Homes
The country’s realty segment has exhibited admirable resilience in the third-quarter (Q3) of 2025 with 87,603 units sold across the top eight cities, said real estate consultancy Knight Frank India.
This is up one per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) and was propelled by a surging demand for premium homes. This premium segment now comprises 52 per cent of total sales, according to Knight Frank India.
While new launches slid two per cent YoY to 88,655 units, the point to note here is that prices moved northward across markets—NCR up 19 per cent, Bangalore up 15 per cent and Hyderabad up 13 per cent.
The coastal city and Maharashtra’s capital Mumbai continued to lead with 24,706 units sold (2 per cent up YoY), accounting for 28 per cent of overall sales.
Chennai clocked the strongest growth at 12 per cent YoY with 4,617 units, the highlight here being that this is its highest sales since the Covid 19 pandemic.
Other major markets like the NCR (12,955 units) and Bangalore (14,538 units) remained steady while Pune was the only laggard with sales sliding by eight per cent on a YoY basis.
India’s Forex Reserves Decline by USD 2.3-bn to USD 700-bn
India’s foreign exchange reserves slid southward by USD 2.334-billion to settle at USD 700.236-billion for the week ending September 26, 2025, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s data.
This decline comes on the back of a prior fall of USD 396-million in the previous reporting week.
This had brought the total kitty down to USD 702.57-billion, the data showed.
A significant factor in the overall decline was the Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), a major component of the reserves.
The Foreign Currency Assets registered a southward movement by USD 4.393-billion to USD 581.757-billion during the reporting week, according to the Reserve Bank’s data.
These assets, when expressed in US dollar terms, are affected by the appreciation or depreciation of non-US units such as the Euro, the Pound and Yen that are held in the forex reserves.
In contrast to the slide in FCAs, the country’s gold reserves registered a northward climb. The gold reserves expanded by USD 2.238-billion, reaching a total value of USD 95.017-billion for the week ended September 26, the Reserve Bank said.
Country’s Healthcare Sector to Surpass USD 1.5-trn by 2030
India’s healthcare sector is poised to breach the USD 1.5-trillion mark by the end of this decade (2030), according to a report by Rubix Data Sciences.
The sector is presently valued at around USD 638-billion.
The industry is expanding at a very encouraging 19 per cent annually, driven by rising incomes, wider insurance penetration, robust private investment and digital innovation.
While the picture is indeed rosy for the healthcare industry, the report does flag some structural challenges.
In the rural areas of the country, the population has access to only about 30 per cent of the country’s hospital beds.
What needs highlighting here is that bed density presently remains at 1.6 per 1,000 people which is below the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s recommended minimum of two.
The nurse density is also low at just 1.9 per cent per 1,000 people as against the WHO’s benchmark of three.
An important point to note here is that the country will need an additional 6,50,000 nurses and 1,60,000 doctors by the end of this decade to meet demand.
Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension are increasing rapidly in the country—the former presently affects nearly 90-million people while hypertension affects nearly one-third of the country’s adults. What should be alarming is that diabetes is likely to increase to 156.7-million by 2050.
However, despite these headwinds, what works to the country’s advantage is its cost advantage which is its biggest asset.
Surgical procedures are priced far below Western standards making the country a major attraction for medical tourism.
For example, a heart by-pass in India costs between USD 4,000-to-6,000 as compared to USD 80,000-to-1,20,000 in the US, USD 25,000-to-40,000 in the United Kingdom (UK) and USD 30,000-to-45,000 in Australia.
Hip and knee replacements and even complex surgeries like spinal fusion cost a meagre 1/10th to 1/15th of what they do in developed markets.
This affordability is no doubt a major draw but there are additional factors as well such as NABH-accredited hospitals, shorter wait terms and English-speaking medical staff which make India an attractive destination for medical tourism.
World Bank Ups India’s GDP Growth Estimate for FY 26
The World Bank (WB) has upped its India growth projection by 20 basis points (bps) to 6.5 per cent for the current fiscal (FY 26) on the back of a better-than-expected performance in Q1.
The globally-renowned institution has, however, trimmed its projection for the next fiscal to 6.3 per cent on the back of the steep US tariffs on Indian products.
In its South Asia Development Update, the Bank said that growth in the region was on track to exceed earlier expectations and reach 6.6 per cent in 2025.
The growth, however, is expected slide to 5.8 per cent in 2026, partly as a result of the tariff action by the US on Indian products. However, India is still expected to remain the world’s fastest-growing major economy, underpinned by continued strength in consumption growth, it said.
Domestic conditions, particularly agriculture output and rural wage growth have been better-than-expected, the report stated.
The country’s real GDP growth exceeded expectations in the April-to-June quarter of this year, climbing up northward to 7.8 per cent.
“The forecast for FY 26 and FY 27 has been downgraded however, as a result of the imposition of a 50 per cent tariff on about 3/4th of India’s goods exports to the US,” the World Bank said.
Growth in India was supported by strong private consumption and investment and also bolstered by lower-than-expected prices.
“Investment growth remains robust, supported by public infrastructure projects, strong credit growth and loosening monetary policy. Strong rural wage growth has offset slowdowns in urban consumption, as seen in weakness in car sales and personal credit,” it said.
Apple’s iPhone Exports Hit Record USD 10-bn in H1 FY 26
Apple exported USD 10-billion (Rs 88,700-crore) worth of iPhones from India in the first-half of FY 26. This is a northward climb of a significant 75 per cent from last year, a leading news publication reported.
In September alone, Apple shipped USD 1.25-billion worth of devices—a 155 per cent increase Year-on-Year (YoY) despite a strong domestic demand for the new iPhone 17 series.
The vault comes in the wake of the launch of two new factories, bringing Apple India’s factories to five. The two new factories are located in Hosur in Tamil Nadu and Bangalore.
Together, they produced USD 22-billion worth of iPhones in FY 25, of which 80 per cent were exported.
India now ships all iPhone models, including Pro and Pro Max at launch, marking a first for Apple’s global roll-out strategy.
Smartphone exports overall breached the Rs 1-lakh-crore mark in the first five months of FY 26, driven by Apple’s expansion under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
Apple exported USD 10-billion worth of iPhones from India in April to-September FY 26—up 75 per cent YoY—led by new factories, PLI incentives and record US demand.
