Business
Critical Minerals Central To Free Trade Agreements With Chile, Peru
NEW DELHI: In the latest round of negotiations for free trade agreements (FTAs) with Peru and Chile, New Delhi made substantial progress, with discussions on critical minerals supplies figuring prominently. A team of negotiators from India visited Lima from November 3-5, for the 9th round of discussions on the...
India Needs World-Class Banks, In Talks With RBI & Lenders: FM
MUMBAI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the country needs big and world-class banks, and discussions are on with the Reserve Bank and lenders in this regard. Addressing the 12th SBI Banking and Economics Conclave 2025, Sitharaman asked lenders to deepen and widen credit flow to the industry,...
Weak Demand Continues To Play In Government Securities Market
MUMBAI: The weak demand-supply dynamics continue to weigh on the government securities market, keeping yields still elevated. The weak demand from banks, insurance companies and pension funds cannot match the constant supply, said market participants. This has led participants to bid at higher yields in the previous auction, followed...
October Services PMI At 58.9; Growth Eases To Five-Month Low
NEW DELHI: India’s services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 58.9 in October as data still showed substantial, expansions in services output and new business, the data showed on Thursday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index was comfortably above both the neutral mark of 50.0...
India’s Housing Market To See 5-10% Annual Price Rise, Says Report
NEW DELHI: Housing prices are likely to appreciate 5 to 10 per cent annually over the next few years on the back of strong demand driven by a growing working-age population and rapid urbanisation, according to a joint report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Colliers. Supported...
Non-NFSA Rice Costs May Be Excluded From Food Subsidy
NEW DELHI: Amid concerns about the rising food subsidy bill, the finance ministry has called a meeting with the food ministry officials on Thursday to discuss the later’ proposal to hike food subsidy budget for FY26 by 10% to 15% from the budget estimate (BE) for Rs 2.03 lakh...
Road, Rail And Defence Lead FY26 Capex Surge; Overall Spend At 52%
NEW DELHI: The ministries of Road Transport & Highways and Railways have exceeded the national average capital expenditure (capex) by spending 63 per cent and 57 per cent of Budget estimates (BE), respectively, in the first half of 2025-26 (FY26). The total capital expenditure for April-September of FY26 stood...
RBI Flags Concern Over Elevated Bond Yields; OMO Unlikely In November
MUMBAI: With the spread between 10-year government bond and the comparable US treasury widening close to 250 basis points (bps), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seems to have conveyed its discomfort with elevated yields to the market. The central bank is holding a series of discussions with market...
MSME Exporters May Get 2-3.5 Per Cent Interest Relief
NEW DELHI: The government may offer 2-3.5% interest subvention to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) exporters in a targetted manner, under a revamped interest subvention scheme in the works. The support levels will vary across sectors, depending on the needs of each being assessed. After the 50% additional...
Next NHAI InvIT By Month-End, To Target Rs 8,000-Crore Mop-Up
NEW DELHI: The bidding process for the fifth round of monetisation through infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) route by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will start by the end of this month. The process may yield Rs 7,000-8,000 crore to the NHAI. Following the completion of this round,...
FY26 Growth May Be Near -7 Per Cent: CEA
NEW DELHI: The recent policy measures, including the income tax relief and the goods and services tax (GST) rate rationalization, have improved the economic growth prospect to near-7% for the current financial year, despite global headwinds, chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Wednesday. The Economic Survey tabled...
Early-Stage Funding Rebounds As Investors Regain Conviction
BENGALURU: India’s early-stage venture funding market is showing clear signs of revival after a prolonged funding winter. According to data from Venture Intelligence, pre-seed investment activity surged in 2025, with deal volumes rising 52 per cent year-on-year to 67 and total investment value jumping 74 per cent to $68.5...
GoM Proposes Discom Overhaul With State Debt Takeover, Private Management
NEW DELHI: Flagging the heavy debt burden of Discoms, a Group of Ministers (GoM) has suggested restructuring the outstanding debt, with States absorbing the unsustainable debt, while the management control of the utility will be taken over by a strategic partner. The GoM on the viability of Discoms, which...
India, EU Yet To Work Out Issues Related To Steel, Auto, CBAM: Commerce Ministry
NEW DELHI: India and the EU are yet to settle issues related to steel duties, market access for automobiles and the bloc’s carbon tax legislation and other regulations under the the proposed India-EU free trade agreement (FTA), said the Commerce Ministry. However, substantial progress had been made in the...
RBI Issues Draft Guidelines To Aid Faster Cross-Border Inward Payments
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday introduced draft guidelines for improving the speed of cross-border payments, asking banks to inform their customer of the receipt of cross-border inward transactions immediately on receipt of inward message, among other measures. The RBI said messages received after close of...
Boost Manufacturing To 25% Of GDP For Economic Growth, Says NITI Aayog
NEW DELHI: A robust, globally competitive, and technologically advanced manufacturing sector is required to push up its contribution to the GDP to 25 per cent and generate over 100 million jobs, NITI Aayog said on Wednesday. At present, the manufacturing sector contributes 15-17 per cent to the country’s gross...
India Says Diversifying Oil Sources To Protect National Interests
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday asserted that its energy import decisions are driven solely by national interest and the need to secure affordable supplies, hours after US President Donald Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him of halting Russian crude oil purchases. Responding to Trump’s remarks,...
India, Brazil Look To Broaden PTA, Eye $20 Billion Bilateral Trade By 2030
NEW DELHI: India and Brazil are looking to broaden the preferential trade agreement (PTA) and are eyeing a bilateral trade target of $20 billion by 2030, up from $12 billion in 2024. India and Brazil have a limited trade agreement, as a part of a part of the PTA...
