Since April, India has seen multiple strains of the coronanavirus sweep the nation, upending life and businesses alike. Out-of-home retail and discretionary categories such as durables, auto, fashion, lifestyle, hospitality, food services, travel, and tourism have been the worst-hit as Covid cases remain high, leaving state governments with no option but to curtail mobility and economic activity.
According to research firm IDC, a slowdown in smartphone shipments began showing up as early as late February, though companies insist that the March quarter was fine, albeit on a low base.
'I remain optimistic that 2021 will be better than 2020 because we have visibility of vaccinations this year.'
Though the mandate is seen largely an outcome of Banerjee's welfare schemes, she has promised to industrialise at a faster pace, or so read the manifesto.
Some companies argue that the culture of staying, working and learning at home will persist for a while, altering lifestyle habits of consumers.
'The last three phases, the Trinamool gained more than expected due to Covid mismanagement by the Centre.'
UP Rs 50 billion, followed by Maharashtra, Bihar, and West Bengal which may need close to Rs 25 billion for the massive task.
Over the weekend, many companies stepped in to ease the bottleneck in supply and transportation of oxygen, as demand ran high with the surge in cases.
Durable goods companies and retailers say online sales won't compensate for the fall in offline sales.
Maharashtra, which contributes between 12 and 15 per cent of appliances sales, announced lockdown-like curbs, meaning there will be no business for the second half of the month as well from the state.
'Post-Covid world will be different from the pre-Covid world.'
According to the order, all factories producing essential goods and services will remain operational at full capacity.
India Ratings expects long products demand growth to be sharp, supported by a demand push from the government-led infrastructure investments in affordable housing, railways, rural electrification and road networks.
Metal prices from copper to aluminum and tin have shot up by about 7-32 per cent in the past three months.
Whatever the outcome from the assembly elections, what's evident is that West Bengal has entered an era of identity politics, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Nandigram, 126 km south of Kolkata, is Suvendu Adhikari's bastion, where he has vowed to defeat Mamata Banerjee by 50,000 votes or quit politics.
Within two days, the business school had 108 recruiters making 370 domestic and international offers, including 23 new final recruiters with an average salary of Rs 25.08 lakh.
Employees of some top Indian companies were in for a pleasant surprise when they received a mail from their HR team announcing a hike in salaries and bonuses. Led by IT firms and start-ups, HR managers say that while some have offered cash and stock options, others are in a wait-and-watch mode and add the trend will pick up in other sectors. For example, IT giant Cognizant - which had an attrition rate of 19 per cent in the December quarter - has established a $30-million employee retention fund in order to bring down the high attrition rate.
Positive cues from China - which accounts for 56.5 per cent of global crude steel production - are likely to keep demand-supply in balance and provide support to prices. All eyes have been on China, which opened after New Year holidays, as it was widely expected that prices would recover post-holidays after the weakness in January. Jayanta Roy, senior vice president, ICRA pointed out, barring last year when Covid-related restrictions affected China's steel demand in February 2020, historical trends show a typical upward movement in steel prices post-new year festivities. China's opening post-holidays was keenly awaited, especially in the wake of the sluggishness in the market in January.
Tata Steel delivered one of its best financial performances ever in the third quarter of the current financial year, and surpassed its deleveraging target of $1 billion. In an interview, Koushik Chatterjee, executive director and chief financial officer, Tata Steel, tells Ishita Ayan Dutt that the company will continue to focus on deleveraging but profitable and value-added growth will be equally important.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances