Business
US Can Go Beyond Rates To Coerce India Under Reciprocal Tariff Plan
NEW DELHI: While the world awaits clarity on what the reciprocal tariff plan would look like, the US has kept sufficient leeway to impose punitive taxes on imports in the guise of addressing non-tariff barriers if the levelling of levies do not produce results it wants, according to a...
Five State-Run Firms Identified For Listing: Govt Explores Ways To Privatise Indebted Discoms
NEW DELHI: The government has identified five state-owned power generation and transmission companies for listing on the stock exchanges to enable them to meet the investment requirements for augmenting capacity. Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation and Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation are among the five companies that are in the...
Services Sector Growth Pushes India’s Private Sector Output To 6-Month High
NEW DELHI: Private sector output in India increased at the fastest pace in six months during February, amid a quicker expansion in services activity, according to the HSBC flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey released on Friday. The index compiled by S&P Global rose to 60.6 in February from...
Government’s Extra Outgo Due To UPS Likely Around Rs 8,500 Crore In FY26
NEW DELHI: The Centre has made an upfront provision of Rs 7,000 crore in the Budget for the next financial year and may top it up with another Rs 1,500 crore after an assessment of the contribution required for assured 50% of the pay as pension for its staff...
RBI Proposes Zero Foreclosure Fee On Business Loans Taken By Individuals/MSEs
MUMBAI: The RBI on Friday proposed to do away with foreclosure charges or pre-payment penalties charged by banks and other lenders on all floating rate loans, including for business purposes, availed by individuals as well as micro and small enterprises (MSEs). In terms of the extant norms, certain categories...
Rate Cut Appropriate Monetary Policy Response: RBI Governor
MUMBAI: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra opined that rate reduction was an appropriate monetary policy response at this juncture citing movement of inflation towards the central bank’s 4 per cent target, said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting minutes released on Friday. Malhotra, along with five...
CEPA With UAE Fastest Agreed FTA: Piyush Goyal
KOCHI: The proposed bilateral trade pact between India and the US will be the “mother of all deals” that will provide huge opportunities for Indians and Americans to work together, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. Addressing the Invest Kerala Global Summit (IKGS) here, the commerce and industry...
Adani Foundation Unveils ‘Butterfly Effect’ Framework For Women Empowerment
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the upcoming International Women’s Day next month, the Adani Foundation hosted the first national-level roundtable consultation on February 19, 2025, in New Delhi. The event brought together key stakeholders to discuss strategies and chalk out pathways to accelerate women’s empowerment across India. The national-level event...
Government Classifies Barytes, Felspar, Mica, Quartz As Major Minerals
NEW DELHI: The government on Friday said that it has changed the classification of barytes, felspar, mica and quartz into the category of major minerals. This move would pave the way for an increased exploration and scientific mining of such resources that are primary source of many critical minerals....
Rupee Falls Seven Paise Against US Dollar
MUMBAI: The rupee pared initial gains and settled 7 paise lower at 86.71 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by sustained foreign fund outflows and a recovery in the American currency index. Forex traders said the Indian rupee declined on Friday on weak domestic markets and...
GDP Growth Likely Improved To 6.3 Per Cent In December Quarter
NEW DELHI: India’s economy likely grew at 6.3% in October-December, up from 5.4% in July-September, mainly due to a broad-based pick-up in economic activity, the median of 16 estimates by economists showed. If the Q3FY25 growth comes in at 6.3%, GDP will have to grow by 7-7.3% in Q4...
Ministries To Be Sensitised To US Tariffs And Trade Deal
NEW DELHI: The commerce ministry will hold meetings with three-to-four ministries next week to sensitise them to various aspects of the proposed trade agreement with the US and President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcements, officials said on Thursday. Negotiations on the nature of the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA),...
Bank Credit Growth To NBFCs Slows To Four-Year Low In 2024
MUMBAI: Bank lending to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) grew at its slowest pace in four years, rising 6.7% in 2024 to Rs 16.22 lakh crore as of December, compared with a 15% growth in 2023. The sharp slowdown was driven by higher funding costs after the Reserve Bank of...
Net ECB Borrowings Up Threefold To $15.6 Billion In April-December 2024
MUMBAI: Net external commercial borrowing (ECB) by Indian entities, including non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), grew nearly three times to $15.6 billion during April-December 2024, as against the inflows recorded in the same period in 2023, showing gains from soft global interest rates and risk premium. According to Reserve Bank...
Automotive Component Industry Likely To Grow 8-10% In Fy26, Says ICRA
MUMBAI: Amid speculation about a possible 25 per cent tariff imposition on imports by the US, the Indian automotive component industry is expected to maintain a steady growth trajectory and expand by 8-10 per cent in FY26. The sector, which saw a 14 per cent growth in FY24, is...
Boult Expands Mustang Partnership With New Audio Lineup
NEW DELHI: Boult audio continues its collaboration with Ford Mustang, introducing a new range of high-performance audio products. This latest launch builds on the success of their previous partnership, reinforcing Boult’s position in India’s fast-growing smart audio market and its commitment to bringing cutting-edge technology to consumers. Boult’s collaboration...
Uttar Pradesh Unveils Rs 8.08 Lakh Crore Budget
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna on Thursday presented the state budget for the financial year 2025-26, totaling Rs 8,08,736 Crore, with a strong push toward research, technology, and infrastructure development. The budget, which marks a 9.8 per cent increase over the previous year’s outlay, allocates significant...
States Urged To Fast-Track Smart Metering And Enhance Cybersecurity In Power Sector
NEW DELHI: Union minister of power and housing & urban affairs Manohar Lal urged states to accelerate smart metering projects and enhance cybersecurity frameworks in the power sector to improve operational efficiency and ensure grid security. Addressing the regional meeting of the power sector in New Delhi, he emphasized...
