NEW DELHI: Countering the Opposition’s criticism, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said reductions in goods and services tax (GST) rates had supported economic activity. She cited a sharp rise in demand for automobiles, along with higher cement output. The GST rate rationalisation, implemented in September 2025, reduced...
MUMBAI: Despite every other economist revising down their growth forecasts for the country by 50-110 bps to a low of 5.9% next fiscal due to the many shocks from the Iran war, the largest rating agency S&P Global has raised its forecast by 20 bps to 7.1%. It cited...
NEW DELHI: To boost air connectivity to remote and underserved parts of India, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the next phase of the regional air connectivity scheme, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), with a total outlay of ₹28,840 crore over a 10-year period starting 2026-27. The allocation...
NEW DELHI: India is supportive of initiatives aimed at facilitating and easing investment flows to developing and poor countries, a senior government official said on Wednesday. However, he maintained that the World Trade Organization (WTO), as a trade body, is not the appropriate forum for such matters. The Investment...
MUMBAI: With credit growth at 14.5% outpacing deposit growth at 11.9% as of Feb 28, banks have stepped up reliance on certificates of deposit, with their share rising to 2.6% of total deposits, the highest in a decade, reflecting a widening structural gap between asset creation and liability mobilisation....
NEW DELHI: India’s private sector in March is expected to have grown at its slowest pace in more than three years as market disruptions and energy shocks due to the Iran war dampened domestic demand and pushed up costs, a private survey said on Tuesday. HSBC’s flash India Composite...
MUMBAI: India’s digital media has emerged as the single largest segment of the media and entertainment (M&E) industry in 2025 and crossed the Rs 1 trillion mark for the first time, according to FICCI-EY’s report on India’s M&E sector titled Stories, Scale and Impact. Digital advertising witnessed a 26...
MUMBAI: If the Iran war continues for another month, the rupee, which has lost nearly 9% so far this fiscal including over 4.5% since the war began nearly a month back, may breach another sensitive barrier of 96 to a dollar, State Bank of India economists have warned. However,...
NEW DELHI: If the China-led Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) agreement is approved at the World Trade Organization, it could enable China and other supporting members to bring investment-related issues formally under the WTO’s purview. Experts warn that, if adopted, the proposal may be incorporated under Annex 4, allowing...
NEW DELHI: Employment grew 6.18 per cent to 12.80 crore in the unincorporated enterprises sector in 2025, adding more than 74.52 lakh new jobs during the period, according to a government survey. The Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) for 2025, released on Tuesday, showed that the number...
NEW DELHI: India Inc’s capital expenditure (capex) plans show moderation in 2026-27 (FY27), with aggregate intentions falling 16.5 per cent to ₹9.55 trillion from the provisional ₹11.44 trillion estimated for 2025-26 (FY26). This is according to the National Statistics Office’s (NSO’s) second forward-looking survey on private corporate sector capex...
NEW DELHI: India’s recent economic growth has not translated into meaningful job creation, said Jayati Ghosh, professor of economics at University of Massachusetts Amherst. She said that the country’s development pattern has produced an unusual combination of high growth with weak employment generation. “If you are growing at six...
NEW DELHI: The government has proposed to increase the minimum net profit threshold for mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending by companies to Rs 10 crore. This move aims to ease the burden on companies with nominal profits, allowing them to focus on growth rather than CSR contributions. In...
MUMBAI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday approved easing ‘fit and proper’ person criteria for market intermediaries. The regulator said that a criminal complaint, first information report (FIR), or a chargesheet alone should not be the ground for automatic disqualification of such intermediaries, which is...
NEW DELHI: Fewer than 20 per cent of higher education institutions in India manage to place more than 75 per cent of their students within six months of graduation, despite employability emerging as a key focus under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, according to a report released on...
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has emerged as the largest contributor to India’s mining economy, accounting for around 14 per cent of the country’s mining gross value added (GVA) in FY2025, according to a report released during the India Mines and Minerals Conclave 2026 in Bhubaneswar. The report, jointly prepared by Assocham...
NEW DELHI: The Government has classified energy data as a matter of national security, mandating all entities across the oil and gas value chain to furnish detailed operational information. The Oil Ministry’s Petroleum and Natural Gas (Furnishing of Information) Order, 2026 requires refiners, LNG importers, pipeline operators, city gas...
NEW DELHI: To position India as a global manufacturing hub for sports equipment, NITI Aayog has recommended fiscal support of Rs 7,500 crore over five years (2027-31). The proposed funding will focus on developing cluster infrastructure, bridging competitiveness gaps, and supporting certifications, market access, and branding initiatives. Such support...