Business
Manufacturing Push, AI Ministry Top Economists’ Budget Wish List
NEW DELHI: The government should urgently push a manufacturing policy aimed at addressing employment, technology upgradation, and reduced import dependence for a self-reliant India, an economist who attended the meeting with Sitharaman said. Leading economists on Monday suggested that a comprehensive manufacturing policy be implemented as the cornerstone for...
TRAI Proposes To Undertake Comprehensive Review Of Interconnection Charges
NEW DELHI: India’s telecom regulator will begin a comprehensive review of interconnection charges across various services offered by telecom service providers, including interconnects between existing telecom networks and satellite communication networks. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) sought stakeholder comments through a consultation paper issued on Monday, covering...
SBI, PNB Draft Joint Playbook To Tap Country’s Rs 1.2 Lakh-Crore M&A Market
NEW DELHI: State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank (PNB) are among government lenders preparing a unified strategy to tap the country’s lucrative Rs 1.2 lakh crore mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market, executives said. The lenders, through the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), will also push for relaxations in...
PE-VC Exits Decline 13% By Value And 23% In Number Of Deals In The First Nine Months Of 2025
CHENNAI: While the booming IPO activity has helped more PE-VC exits this year, it is still muted compared to the record highs notched in 2024. PE-VC exits have declined 23 per cent in the number of deals and 13 per cent in value between January and September 2025 compared...
Unemployment Rate Dips Marginally To 5.2% In Q2, But Inches Up In Urban Areas
NEW DELHI: India’s overall unemployment rate among the persons aged 15 years and above declined marginally in the second quarter of 2025-26 even though there was a slight uptick in joblessness in the urban areas and among the people in the 15-to-29-year age group, according to the quarterly Periodic...
RBI’s M&A Funding Move Aimed At Boosting Real Economy: Governor Sanjay Malhotra
MUMBAI: The regulatory move to allow banks to fund mergers and acquisitions is aimed at supporting the real economy, Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said. Last month, the RBI announced a raft of measures and intentions, including allowing banks to fund domestic acquisitions, permitting foreign borrowings for the...
India Needs More Financial Reforms To Hit $30 Trillion Goal, Says World Bank
NEW DELHI: India needs to give further impetus to financial sector reforms and boost private capital mobilisation to become a USD 30-trillion economy by 2047, according to a World Bank report. The World Bank’s Financial Sector Assessment (FSA) report has acknowledged that India’s ‘world class’ digital public infrastructure and...
India’s FY26 Growth To Be Above 6.8% Driven By GST, Tax Relief: CEA
NEW DELHI: Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Friday exuded confidence that economic growth would be upwards of 6.8 per cent in the current financial year driven by consumption boost provided by GST rate cut and income tax relief. The Economic Survey tabled in parliament in January...
India, EU Narrow Gaps On Free Trade Agreement Terms
NEW DELHI: India and the European Union (EU) on Friday wrapped up their latest round of meetings to narrow the differences in the negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and complete it by the end of this year. “The deliberations covered a wide range of chapters including goods,...
India-US BTA To Receive A Positive Update By November End: NITI CEO
NEW DELHI: NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam on Friday expressed confidence that some positive news on India’s proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the US will come out by the end of November. Speaking at ‘CNBC-TV18’s Global Leadership Summit 2025- 2nd Edition’, Subrahmanyam also said by the end of...
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...
