Business
PPP Gets A Leg Up, Rs 86,000-Crore Projects Approved Since January
NEW DELHI: Public private partnership (PPP) projects are making a strong comeback as the government looks to rope in private investors to sustain the investment momentum in the economy. So far in 2025, the Centre has approved PPP projects worth Rs 86,000 crore across a wide spectrum of sectors,...
More Renewable Energy Projects Cross PPA Hurdle
NEW DELHI: The backlog of renewable energy (RE) projects that lack power purchase agreements (PPA) has declined sharply to 30 giga watt (GW) now, compared with around 40 GW in April, official sources said. A number of RE projects have signed the PPAs over the last few weeks, under...
India Ramps Up Oil Imports From Russia, US In June
India has ramped up purchases of Russian oil in June, importing more than the combined volumes from Middle Eastern suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq, amid market volatility triggered by Israel’s dramatic attack on Iran. The US military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, directly joining Israel...
RBI-Led Initiative To Curb Digital Frauds Gains Momentum, Banks Roped In To Set Up DPIP
NEW DELHI: In a bid to rein in the increasing incidence of digital payment frauds, major public and private sector banks have been roped to develop Digital Payment Intelligence Platform (DPIP) as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) under the supervision and guidance of the RBI. The proposed platform seeks...
IFFCO To Set Up First Overseas Nano Fertiliser Plant In Brazil
NEW DELHI: Four years after the launch of nano urea in the country, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative IFFCO is setting up its first plant abroad for manufacturing nano-soil nutrients in Brazil. The plant will be set up under a 7:3 joint venture between IFFCO subsidiary IFFCO Nanoventions, and Brazilian...
RBI Governor Expects Rate Cut Front-Loading To Support Growth
MUMBAI: RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said front-loading of monetary policy rate action would give a clear signal and some certainty to the economic agents that the central bank is supportive of growth amid global tensions, MPC meeting minutes released on Friday said. On June 6, the RBI governor-headed six-member...
Exporters Avails Benefits Of Free Trade Pacts With Australia, UAE
NEW DELHI: Issuance of preferential certificates of origin — a document enabling exporters to claim tariff benefits under free trade pacts — has risen significantly for Australia and the UAE in 2024-25, indicating increased advantage of such agreements for domestic exporters. The number of preferential certificates of origin issued...
Freight Corridors Bet Big On Rising Traffic Volumes
NEW DELHI: With the dedicated freight corridor project nearing completion, managing director of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) Praveen Kumar said that the focus has now shifted from construction of the corridor to its maintenance. “This is a moment of transition where we go from building tracks...
Core Sector Growth Drops To A Nine-Month Low Of 0.7 Per Cent In May
NEW DELHI: India’s combined index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 0.7 per cent (provisional) in May 2025 as compared to the Index in May, 2024, data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry showed on Friday. This marks the slowest growth in nine months, following a...
Direct Tax Collections Rise 4.9%; Advance Tax Up 3.9% In FY26 So Far
NEW DELHI: India’s gross direct tax collection for the financial year 2025-26 rose by 4.86% to Rs 5.45 lakh crore as of June 19, according to the latest figures released by the government. However, net collections saw a marginal decline due to a sharp spike in refunds. The total...
Reserve Bank Issues Norms For Banks, NBFCs On Project Finance Provisioning
MUMBAI: In a significant relief to the banking sector, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the provisioning requirement for project finance in construction phase to 1% from the earlier proposal of 5%. In its final guidelines issued on Thursday, the banking regulator has increased the provisioning requirement...
India, UK Review FTA Progress, Pact May Be Signed By September
NEW DELHI: India and the UK on Thursday reviewed the progress made in the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, with a view to charting out a clear, time-bound roadmap for its finalisation and implementation. “(Both sides) reiterated our shared goal of implementing the comprehensive and mutually beneficial FTA...
FDI Inflows: India Up At 15th Spot In UNCTAD Ranking
NEW DELHI: India climbed one spot to rank 15th among the world’s top destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2024, despite a slight 1.9% year-on-year decline in inflows to $27.6 billion, according to the World Investment Report 2025 released by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Thursday. In...
Indian Money In Swiss Banks More Than Tripled To Rs 37,600 Crore In 2024
NEW DELHI/ZURICH: Indian money parked in Swiss banks more than tripled in 2024 to 3.5 billion Swiss francs (nearly Rs 37,600 crore) on the back of a huge jump in funds held through local branches and other financial institutions, annual data released by Switzerland’s central bank showed on Thursday....
Telecom Industry AGR Shows Modest 1.7 Per Cent Rise In Q4 FY25
NEW DELHI: The telecom industry recorded a 1.7% sequential growth in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in the last quarter of FY25, with the impact of last year’s tariff increases waning. Vodafone Idea and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) saw sequential declines in their mobile service revenues. Telecom Regulatory Authority...
SEBI Board Bats For More Reforms
MUMBAI: The Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) announced a slew of measures on Wednesday to drive more investment into government securities, encourage promoters to have more skin in the game and eased regulations for market participants. In a major fillip to start-up promoters, the board has allowed...
India Slips To 71st Place On Energy Transition Index; Efficiency, Investment Capacity Up
NEW DELHI: Helped by significant improvement in energy efficiency and investment capacity, India has been ranked 71st on a global Energy Transition Index released on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum. Sweden topped the list of 118 countries, followed by Finland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland in the top five....
India, Canada To Resume FTA Talks After 21-Months Pause
NEW DELHI: India and Canada have agreed to resume negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) that were suspended in September 2023, just before New Delhi was to host the G-20 Summit. In the first meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the...
