'Given that India underperformed emerging markets by 28 per cent in 2025, the worst performance in over 30 years, the timing of the sharp STT hike could have been better.'
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded sharply by nearly 1 per cent on Monday, driven by strong buying in power, banking, and financial stocks.
The key question is how much of the latest growth record represents recovery from the 2020-2021 downturn, and what is the sustainable growth rate now, asks T N Ninan.
New investors or those with lower-than-planned exposure should add US-oriented funds through SIPs.
Under the defence partnership, India and the UAE are eyeing defence industrial collaboration and cooperation in advanced technologies, cyberspace training, special operations, interoperability of their militaries and counter terrorism.
This would imply a 29 per cent year-on-year rise, significantly lower than growth rates seen in recent years.
Budget 2026 is an intentional and ambitious one - From manufacturing growth to services supremacy, from technology consumption to AI-powered transformation. This is the blueprint for a $7 trillion economy built on intelligence, not just scale.
The Budget emerges as a measured, credible and forward-looking policy document that reinforces India's commitment to remaining a stable, reform-oriented economy amid an increasingly fragmented global landscape, says A Balasubramanian.
Benchmark Sensex tumbled 1,236 points or 1.5 per cent while Nifty closed near 25,450 on Thursday following an across-the-board sell-off amid escalating geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran.
India needs to increase the investment rate to 34-35 per cent from 31-32 per cent currently to achieve a growth rate of 7 per cent and above, said S Mahendra Dev, chairman, economic advisory council (EAC) to the Prime Minister, on Wednesday.
'They are a poor fit for anyone with near-term goals, low volatility tolerance, or a need for steady income or liquidity.' 'First-time investors should typically avoid them.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Israel for two days to discuss bilateral and regional issues, marking his second visit to the Jewish state and highlighting the growing strategic partnership between India and Israel.
The Budget reflects a clear focus on strengthening India's long-term prospects by leaning on nation-building sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, and technology while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
The Union Budget on Sunday proposed a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies that provide cloud services to customers globally using data centres located in India, signalling the government's push to make the country a major hub for AI and digital infrastructure.
Taxpayers should consider ITR-U if they omitted income, wrongly claimed deductions or exemptions, or made reporting errors that led to a shortfall in tax payment.
The Union Budget on Sunday proposed a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies that provide cloud services to customers globally using data centres located in India, signalling the government's push to make the country a major hub for AI and digital infrastructure.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has imposed a Rs 184-crore penalty on NewsClick and its founder, Prabir Purkayastha, for alleged FEMA violations related to foreign funding and misrepresentation of business activities.
'When a technology is this fundamental, a country should have its own version of it, rather than relying on whether someone else chooses to build it for you.'
India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has projected the aggregate fiscal deficit of states to rise to 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026-27 (FY27), from an estimated 2.8 per cent in 2025-26 (FY26), citing higher revenue expenditure amid election-related pressures and scheme cost-sharing requirements.
The "huge mountain of debt" in developed economies and the risk of a possible unravelling is a matter of concern for India, Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday, pointing to the recent spike in Japanese bond yields.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says India and the EU are close to a 'historic trade agreement' that could create a market of two billion people and account for almost a quarter of the global GDP.
India is a global leader in software development services, IT enabled services, knowledge process outsourcing services and contract R&D services relating to software development, Sitharaman said noting these business segments are quite inter-connected with each other.
Trade deals ease risks for Indian equities, but weak demand and stretched valuations raise questions over whether optimism -- especially in smallcaps -- can turn into a sustained bull run, points out Debashis Basu.
A Jefferies report warns that the IT services sector is set for a structural shift due to AI, requiring talent and operating model overhauls and increasing cyclicality.
'Women in crime can turn on and off emotions like a tap.' 'Something that comes in the way of their goals can be eliminated without a second thought.'
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled more than 1 per cent on Friday due to across-the-board selloff, especially in metal, IT and commodity stocks, tracking sluggish global markets.
Capex, infrastructure development, and prudent fiscal management are the key focus areas in the Budget, says Nilesh Shah.
'Given that the population is almost evenly split, the Indian economy cannot grow without women participating in the workforce.' 'While women's participation has increased, it is still well below 40 per cent,' says Kartik Narayan, CEO of the professional networking and jobs platform, Apna.
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed on a flat note in a choppy session on Wednesday as gains in PSU banks and auto shares were offset by losses in IT stocks.
'The trade deficit in some sectors is huge and that is an area of opportunity to localise.'
Flexicap fund performance depends heavily on the fund manager's decisions.
The platform has seen a growth of 70% in watch time for South content, which is more than the national average.The South has outperformed the rest of India in subscription depth, retention and connected TV adoption.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
Trump said the prime minister of Pakistan, who visited him in Washington last year, said that "'President Trump saved 10 million people, and maybe much more than that'. They're both nuclear countries."
Stock markets closed higher for the second straight session on Tuesday, driven by gains in bank, IT and capital goods shares.
Among its 27 recommendations for the Union Budget is this: It has suggested that equity investments held for more than one year and up to three years should be taxed at 12.5 per cent on gains exceeding 2 lakh in a financial year.
The country's largest IT services company TCS on Thursday announced a tie-up with private equity major TPG for its upcoming data centre business, in which both the partners aim to invest Rs 18,000 crore. TPG will invest $1 billion or around Rs 8,870 crore in the AI data centre business christened as 'Hypervault', and hold a stake between 27.5-49 per cent in the venture.
The finance minister said that consolidation of state-owned banks could proceed at any time without waiting for the recommendations of the proposed high-level committee on banking.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'Today, we are at a stage where we have launched a voice-to-voice model that supports 14 Indian languages.'
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