Autotech platform Cars24 said on Monday that it promoted Himanshu Ratnoo to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Used Cars India.

As the CEO, Ratnoo will oversee C2B and retail operations, driving growth and innovation through franchise models, lead monetisation, and a revamped luxury car strategy. He has also expanded value-added services to enhance customer experiences, aligning with CARS24’s vision of simplifying car ownership, the company said in a statement.

Vikram Chopra, Founder and CEO of CARS24, announced the appointment in an internal email to the team.

Ratnoo joined CARS24 in 2020 as Vice President and led the wholesale business.

Founded in 2015, CARS24 facilitates the sale, purchase, and financing of pre-owned cars across India, Australia, and the UAE. It has integrated buying, selling, loans, insurance, driver-on-demand, FASTag, challans, and vehicle scrapping solutions into a single platform.

CARS24 leverages a smart AI pricing engine and 140 quality checks to ensure a seamless, transparent experience for customers.

Through its NBFC arm, CARS24 Financial Services, registered with the Reserve Bank of India, it also provides customer-focused vehicle lending products and value-added services.

Recently, the autotech platform reported a 25% year-on-year growth in FY24. However, the company posted a net loss of Rs 498.4 crore, with an adjusted EBITDA of Rs 318.8 crore. Gross revenue for CARS24 India increased to Rs 6,917 crore in FY24, up from Rs 5,530 crore in FY23.

Earlier in July, it secured Rs 250 crore in funding from its Singapore-based parent company, Global Car Group Ltd, through the approval of the board’s allotment of 2.18 lakh equity shares for the total amount.

Representatives from industry bodies sought reduction in personal income tax rates to ensure higher disposable income in the hands of the middle class, reduction in excise duty on fuel, and measures to provide impetus to employment-intensive sectors in their customary pre-Budget meeting with the Finance Minister on Monday.

Industry bodies also raised the issue of dumping of excess stock by China globally, including in India, and challenges posed to food security and inflation due to the “climate emergency”, during the fifth pre-Budget consultation meeting.

The 2025-26 Union Budget will be presented on February 1.

Apart from the finance minister, the meeting was attended by the finance secretary, secretary of DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management), Secretaries of the Department of Economic Affairs and the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, among others.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, CII President Sanjiv Puri said while the Indian economy is doing very well, globally there are a lot of challenges.

“We are seeing dumping of a lot of products (by China) into various parts of the world, including India. We also have the issue of climate emergency, which, besides other things, also impacts food and nutrition, (food) security and inflation. In this context, we have made several suggestions and ideas”.

He said the CII has sought measures to provide impetus to areas that have large employment potential like garments, footwear, tourism, furniture, among others, apart from making suggestions for MSMEs and integrating India into global value chains.

“From a perspective of boosting consumption, we have suggested that there be some relief provided to income tax up to a Rs 20 lakh on the marginal income tax rate so that it boosts consumption, there is more disposable income and in turn also leads to buoyancy in revenues.

“We have also suggested that excise on petroleum be reduced a little, that will also provide higher disposable income and contribute to a virtuous cycle in the hands of the consumers,” Puri said.

FICCI Vice President Vijay Sankar, who was also present in the meeting, said, “Finance Minister and her colleagues gave a very patient hearing to the industry today. There were about 13 people from different industry chambers. There was some commonality of themes across some of the representations, basically the temporary slowdown faced due to dumping products especially by some our neighbours like China due to the slowdown in their economy“.

PHDCCI President Hemant Jain said, “The suggestion we made to the government was reduction in personal income tax so that there can be more money in the hands of people and that can spur the demand and reduce inflation. We have also asked for GST simplification.”

Assocham President Sanjay Nayar said, “We emphasised on what the MSMEs need because they are the backbone of the supply chain… whether it is credit flow, complex registrations, multiplicity of TDS… We focused on simplification of procedures and rationalisation of things like TDS”.

The Indian economy is exhibiting resilience and stability, and the gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow at 6.6% in 2024-25, aided by a revival in rural consumption, a pickup in government consumption and investment, and strong services exports, a RBI report said on Monday.

The Reserve Bank has released the December 2024 issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR), which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on the resilience of the Indian financial system and risks to financial stability.

“The soundness of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) has been bolstered by strong profitability, declining non-performing assets and adequate capital and liquidity buffers. Return on assets (RoA) and return on equity (RoE) are at decadal highs, while the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio has fallen to a multi-year low,” the report said.

It also said that macro stress tests demonstrate that most SCBs have adequate capital buffers relative to the regulatory minimum threshold even under adverse stress scenarios. Stress tests also validate the resilience of mutual funds and clearing corporations.

On the economy, FSR said during the first half of 2024-25, real GDP growth (y-o-y) moderated to 6% from 8.2% and 8.1% growth recorded during H1 and H2 of 2023-24, respectively.

“Despite this recent deceleration, structural growth drivers remain intact. Real GDP growth is expected to recover in Q3 and Q4 of 2024-25 supported by pick up in domestic drivers, mainly public consumption and investment, strong service exports and easy financial conditions,” the RBI said.

On inflation, the report said that going forward, the disinflationary effect of a bumper kharif harvest and the rabi crop prospects are expected to soften prices of foodgrains.

On the flipside, the rising frequency of extreme weather events continues to pose risks for food inflation dynamics.

Persisting geopolitical conflicts and geo-economic fragmentation can also impose upside pressures on global supply chain and commodity prices.