Business
India, New Zealand Set Tight Deadline For Free Trade Agreement
NEW DELHI: India and New Zealand have set a deadline of 60 days to wrap up discussions on their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and a goal to grow bilateral trade 10-fold in the next 10 years. “I look forward to, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, signing that agreement...
Domestic Steel Prices Rise But Looming Global Trade War Sparks Concerns
KOLKATA: Domestic steel prices have seen an increase over the past couple of months in anticipation of a safeguard duty, but a looming global trade war is likely to weigh as threat of import rises and prospect of export flounders. Data from BigMint showed that in March 2025, hot...
India’s Coddled Billionaires Feel The Pain Of US Tariffs
There’s still two weeks to go before US President Donald Trump’s April 2 deadline for imposing reciprocal taxes on imports. But New Delhi already seems to have gone into damage-control mode, anticipating the worst. Over 24 hours last week, two of India’s largest wireless carriers, whose billionaire owners were...
Bank Lending To Large Companies Rose 6.4 Per Cent In January
MUMBAI: Bank lending to large companies is climbing finally after a protracted post-Covid slump, although the majority of the funds so garnered are being used as working capital – not for private-sector capital-asset financing. Lending to large corporations climbed 6.4% in January this year, compared with 5.7% in the...
India, New Zealand Explore Digital Payments, Trade, And Investment Ties
NEW DELHI: India and New Zealand have agreed for talks to boost cooperation in digital payments and greater two-way trade and investment during the ongoing visit of New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. A day after both nations revived talks on a proposed free-trade agreement (FTA) after a hiatus...
Exports Shrink 10.9% In February, The Worst Show In 20 Months
NEW DELHI: India’s merchandise trade deficit plummeted to a three-and-a-half-year low of $14.05 billion in February, as exports and imports saw a sharp contraction due to softening global petroleum prices and rising economic uncertainty amid restrictive trade practices by the United States. The trade deficit — the gap between...
Wholesale Inflation Increases Slightly To 2.38% In February
NEW DELHI: India’s wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rose slightly to 2.38 per cent in February from 2.31 per cent in January. This came as prices of manufactured products saw an increase and the deflation in fuel prices narrowed during the month. Meanwhile, food prices cooled further, government data...
Contours Of Trade Pact With US To Be Finalised In 2-3 Weeks
NEW DELHI: India has not brought up the issue of reciprocal tariffs in its discussions with the US, and talks are concentrating on the scope of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and the ways to increase the bilateral trade to $ 500 billion by 2030. “It is not known...
Public Sector Banks Must Focus On Capital Strength, Cost Efficiency: Govt
NEW DELHI: Public sector banks must plan for appropriate and timely capital raising and strive to reduce intermediation costs to make banking products and services, particularly credit-related, affordable to the public, said M Nagaraju, secretary of the department of financial services on Monday. He was addressing bankers at the...
Artificial Intelligence Driving Force In Modern Markets, Says CCI Chief
NEW DELHI: Artificial intelligence is a driving force in modern markets that also has the potential to enable collusion, including algorithmic discrimination under the garb of dynamic pricing, Competition Commission of India (CCI) chief Ravneet Kaur said on Sunday. She also emphasised the need to adopt a forward-looking approach...
Bombay HC Discharges Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani In Case Of Market Regulations ‘Violation’
MUMBAI: The High Court on Monday discharged Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and Managing Director Rajesh Adani from a case of alleged violations of market regulations involving nearly Rs 388 crore. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in 2012 initiated the case against the Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) and...
Direct Tax Rises 13 Per Cent To Rs 21.26 Lakh Crore
NEW DELHI: Net direct tax collection grew 13.13 per cent to over Rs 21.26 Lakh Crore so far this fiscal aided by by higher advance tax mop up, government data showed on Monday. During the year, the government collected Rs 10.44 Lakh Crore from four instalments of advance tax...
Debt Funds See Net Outflow
NEW DELHI: Debt-oriented mutual funds witnessed an outflow of `6,525 Crore in February, a sharp reversal from the strong inflow of `1.28 Lakh Crore in the preceding month, chiefly due to redemptions in short-duration funds. Notably, 10 of 16 debt mutual fund categories reported net outflow during the month,...
Sensex Bounces Back After Five Days On Gains In Banking Shares, Global Rally
MUMBAI: Benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded by 341 points on Monday, snapping its five-day losing streak following buying in banking stocks and a sharp rally in global shares. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 341.04 points or 0.46 per cent to settle at 74,169.95 as 19 of its constituents ended in...
TRAI May Restrict Starlink To Mobile Dark Regions
NEW DELHI: With Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio forming strategic partnerships with Starlink, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is now expected to expedite its recommendations on satellite spectrum pricing. Sources said that the regulator will likely recommend that satellite companies initially focus on providing services in mobile...
Insurance Bill To Allow 100% FDI May Be Deferred To Monsoon Session
NEW DELHI: The much-awaited Insurance (Amendment) Bill to allow 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector and usher in composite licensing will likely be taken up in the monsoon session of Parliament instead of the ongoing budget session, sources told FE. “Consultation process is not yet complete. So,...
House Panel Raps Ministries For Non-Payment Of Dues To FCI
NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel has raised concerns about the substantial unpaid dues of various government departments to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to run assorted social welfare schemes. According to the standing committee on consumer affairs, ministries including rural development and external affairs had dues payable to...
India, China Outperform Global Trade In 2024, Trade Resilience Stressed In 2025: UNCTAD
NEW DELHI: China and India outperformed global trade averages in 2024, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in its Global Trade Update Friday. It said that trends like the widening deficits of the US and EU with China along with India’s rising deficit with Russia amid shifting energy trade...
