Negotiations for bilateral free trade agreements with several countries are "well on track" and India is also looking at some multilateral pacts that are fair and equitable for all the member countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. India has recently implemented a free trade agreement (FTA) with the UAE in May [...]

After proving its poweress in the field of software, India should strive to become a hub for software products, President Droupadi Murmu said on Saturday. While speaking at the 7th edition of Digital India Awards, Murmu said that there should focus on democratising government data to help technology enthusiasts in the country develop localised digital [...]

The Indian economy is estimated to grow at 7 per cent in the 2022-23 fiscal, down from 8.7 per cent a year ago, mainly due poor performance of mining and manufacturing sectors. As per the first advance estimates of national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday, the manufacturing sector output is [...]

Farm reforms in India are pending even today since 1991, while neighbouring China implemented them way back in 1978, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council's (PMEAC) Chairman Bibek Debroy said on Friday. The reforms undertaken in India in 1991 were pertaining to external factors and industrial liberalisation, and were not related to agriculture, he said. Currently, [...]

New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) Taming inflation is the top priority for South Asian countries like India as an unchecked price rise may pose risk to growth and investment outlook, Reserve Bank (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday. Speaking at an event organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said rising levels of [...]

Equity benchmarks pared initial gains to end lower on Friday, recording their third day of decline, amid weak trend in IT counters. The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 452.90 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 59,900.37. During the day, it tanked 683.36 points or 1.13 per cent to 59,669.91. The broader NSE Nifty went [...]

Islamabad, Jan 6 (PTI) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made a telephonic call to International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva to break the deadlock over the release of the next tranche of assistance for cash-strapped Pakistan, according to a media report on Friday. The contact was made four days before an expected face-to-face meeting between [...]

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said the government and the central bank are in discussion with South Asian countries to have cross-border trade in rupee. He also said the central bank digital currency (CBDC) is in trial phase and the RBI is moving very carefully and cautiously on digital rupee launch. After the successful [...]

Pakistan central bank's foreign exchange reserves plummeted to an eight-year low of over USD 5.5 billion amidst fear of default, according to a media report on Friday. The forex reserves have dwindled despite efforts by the government to shore up its economy. According to a report by the Dawn newspaper, the State Bank of Pakistan's [...]

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Thursday extended the timeline till January-end for entering the details of existing outstanding non-convertible securities in the security and covenant monitoring system hosted by depositories. Earlier, this was to be complied by October 31, 2022. This is the second time Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has extended the [...]

The National Statistical Office will release the first advance estimates of economic growth for 2022-23 on Friday evening, three weeks ahead of presentation of General Budget in Lok Sabha on February 1. The first advance estimates of national income for 2022-23 is significant because the data is used for preparing the Budget of the central [...]

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday appealed to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to clear projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the state. He also requested him to undertake projects related to ring roads in Raichur, Gadag, Koppal and Shivamogga as well. "We mainly discussed the works of the [...]

The Indian FMCG sector witnessed improvement in margins and slow growth in the December 2022 quarter but the rural markets continued to drag as retail inflation stayed at elevated levels, according to industry players. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) and Marico reported that although there is softness in demand, there has been an improvement partly [...]

Pitching Uttar Pradesh as a safe investment destination, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday assured industrialists of a strong law and order situation devoid of fear and free of land mafia. "You must have seen that before 2017, there used to be riots every other day, now the law and situation in the state is [...]

IIFCL Managing Director PR Jaishankar on Thursday made a case for having a dedicated infrastructure law for protecting the interest of all stakeholders and giving a push to this important sector in realising the dream of making India a USD 5 trillion economy. "Infrastructure projects are very long term and generational in nature. A holistic [...]

The government is planning to come out with a comprehensive policy for mandatory adoption of Indian Standard Time (IST) nationwide, a senior consumer affairs ministry official said. The purpose is to ensure synchronization of all networks and computers to IST and adoption of IST by Telecom Service Providers, Internet Service Providers, power grids, banks, stock [...]

Six entities, including HSBC and Creditwatch, have been allowed to test their fintech products to prevent and mitigate financial fraud as part of the fourth cohort under the RBI's regulatory sandbox scheme. Regulatory sandbox refers to the live testing of new products or services in a controlled/test regulatory environment for which the regulators may permit [...]

Indian companies have overtaken American firms in gross leasing of office space for the first time, with almost a 50 per cent share in the total demand, according to CBRE India. In its report released on Thursday, CBRE said that the gross leasing of office space rose 40 per cent in 2022 to 56.6 million [...]

Equity benchmarks ended lower for the second straight session on Thursday, dragged down by banking and finance counters and continuous foreign fund outflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 304.18 points or 0.50 per cent lower at 60,353.27 after it failed to hold on to initial gains. During the day, it fell 607.61 points or 1 [...]

Banks and financial institutions need to design products in sync with requirements of infra projects in view of the whopping Rs 111 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi said on Thursday. Observing that the infrastructure sector has strong backward and forward linkages with the robust multiplier effect across the sectors, [...]

Continued pricing pressures in the US and European markets coupled with regulatory overhang and cost inflation will affect profit margins of major Indian pharmaceutical firms, ratings agency ICRA said on Thursday. The revenues for a sample set of 16 Indian pharmaceutical firms, including the likes of Wockhardt, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Abbott India, Cipla, Lupin, Sun [...]

The increased price of coal continue to be a drag on the margin of domestic base metal players with no immediate relief in sight, rating agency ICRA said on Thursday. In a recent note on the primary base metal industry, ICRA said that the earnings of the industry would continue to remain under pressure in [...]

Corporate India is indicating cautious hiring in the March quarter of 2023 as concerns rise over possible recession and steady inflation, a survey said on Thursday. According to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, based on interviews with nearly 3,030 public and private employers, hiring intentions will decrease in the quarter both on year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter [...]

The Biden administration has proposed a massive hike in immigration fees, including the much sought-after H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers which is very popular among Indian tech professionals. Under the proposed rule, published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday, the application for the H-1B visa increases from USD 460 to [...]

India’s GDP will be close to USD 20 trillion by 2047 and per capita income may reach USD 10,000 (at current value of USD), Bibek Debroy, chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said on Wednesday. Virtually addressing the inaugural session at the 57th Annual Conference of the Indian Econometric Society (TIES) held at [...]

New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) Retail sales of overall vehicles in India grew by 15.28 per cent to 2,11,20,441 units in 2022 led by record sales of passenger vehicles and tractors, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said on Thursday. In 2021, total retail sales of vehicles in India were at 1,83,21,760 units, FADA said [...]

Employees of three state-owned power companies in Maharashtra called off their strike on Wednesday evening, hours after they stopped work as part of a three-day agitation launched in support of their demands, following an assurance from the government that the utilities will not be privatized, fulfilling a key demand. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, [...]

Issues related to ATM/debit cards and mobile/electronic banking were the top grounds of complaints received at the Office of Banking Ombudsman (OBO) during April 1 to November 11, 2021, an RBI report said on Wednesday. The volume of complaints received under the Ombudsman Schemes/Consumer Education and Protection Cells during 2021-22 increased by 9.39 per cent [...]

The government on Wednesday approved Rs 2,614.51 crore investment for the 382 MW Sunni Dam Hydro Electric Project by state-owned SJVN Ltd in Himachal Pradesh. "The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the investment for 382 MW Sunni Dam Hydro Electric Project in Himachal Pradesh by SJVN Ltd, [...]

Market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty tumbled 1 per cent on Wednesday amid continuous foreign fund outflows and a weak trend in index majors Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank. The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 636.75 points or 1.04 per cent to settle at 60,657.45. During the day, it declined 700.64 points or 1.14 per cent to [...]

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore with an aim to make India a global hub for manufacturing of this clean source of energy. "The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved National Green Hydrogen Mission," Union Minister Anurag Thakur said [...]

Power regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has decided to fully compensate the power producers running imported coal-based plants for higher running costs required for supplying electricity under forced circumstances. The CERC order will come as a relief for imported coal-based power plants which ran to full capacity under the directions of the Ministry of [...]

Ahead of the Global Investors Summit, the Uttar Pradesh government has signed initial pacts worth Rs 19,265 crore with firms in the US and Canada. A the team under the leadership of Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana and Animal Husbandry Minister Dharampal Singh showcased the state before investors in the US and Canada and held about [...]

The Indian services sector growth touched a six-month high in December, supported by a robust intake of new work and favourable market conditions, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from 56.4 in November to 58.5 in December, highlighting the strongest rate of expansion [...]

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said the government is considering a new scheme to support domestic manufacturing of machinery and accessories used in the leather industry. He also expressed hope that the country's exports during the current fiscal would register a high growth rate in both goods and services compared to 2021-22. [...]

India will take over the leadership of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) from this month, an official release said on Tuesday. Following the successful elections held during the 13th APPU Congress held in Bangkok during August-September 2022, Vinaya Prakash Singh, erstwhile Member (Personnel), Postal Services Board, will take over the charge of Secretary General [...]

Digitisation initiatives in India and the work with digital public goods have been extraordinary, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said on Tuesday, as he highlighted cloud and artificial intelligence among imperatives driving technology-based economic growth in India. By 2025, most applications will be built on cloud-native infrastructure, and nearly 90 per cent [...]