The Indian banking sector is projected to experience a steady 9-13 per cent industrial credit growth in the first half of 2026, driven by capital expenditure, infrastructure development, and sectoral demand recovery, according to a Ficci-IBA survey.
However, these are understood to be exploratory talks, with an agreement unlikely to be formalised during the current visit.
The Centre is regularly holding consultations with stakeholders to streamline foreign direct investments (FDIs) and foreign institutional investments (FIIs) related processes to enable faster and more efficient investment flows into the country, said Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, adding one such meeting with stakeholders was held on Tuesday.
Retirement fund body EPFO has extended the deadline for filing EPF return or ECR (electronic challan-cum-return) by one week for the wage month of September till October 22, 2025. The employers are mandated to file the ECR by the 15th of every month.
With the Union Budget three months away, major industry chambers have submitted to the government proposals on common taxes, seeking simpler compliance and a quicker resolution of tax disputes.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) has sought urgent steps to clear the huge backlog of income-tax appeals, simplify tax deducted at source (TDS) compliance, and ensure tax neutrality for fast-track demergers, during its consultation with Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi for a two-day visit focused on strengthening ties with India, including defense cooperation and trade, amidst a changing geopolitical landscape.
Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) members on Monday to discuss opportunities in his country, especially in the mining sector. The Taliban, who now control Afghanistan, is seeking to repair its ties with New Delhi, and is hopeful of Indian public and private sectors increasing investments in the mining and power sector, and greater trade and commerce.
Mint Road's proposals on banks' M&A funding are cautious even as entrants root for more elbow room, and weigh business models.
India Inc, which is sitting on cash balances of 13.5 trillion, is using the funds to meet capital expenditure as well as brownfield expansion, resulting in 'anaemic' demand for bank loans, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman CS Setty said at an event on Monday. He added that a slowdown in corporate credit is mainly due to lack of demand.
Last fortnight, State Bank of India Chairman C S Setty lifted the veil on a subject long spoken of in corporate corridors: Why can't our banks finance mergers and acquisitions (M&As)? Change is in the air: Indian Banks' Association (of which Setty is the chairman) is to "make a formal request" to Mint Road to make way for it. Thus far the exclusive turf of foreign banks even though its funding remains offshore - as in, it's not on these entities rupee-book (and a few select shadow banks) - a most lucrative segment in the investment banking suite, M&As, will be homeward-bound.
Many states are realising that hosting mega events puts the spotlight on them and raises their profile.
Eying benefits from digital banking, lenders are now looking at building Unified Recovery Interface (URI) for enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and getting good prices for properties of defaulters. This would be managed by PSB Alliance Ltd, a company set up by all public sector banks in the country. M V Rao, chairman, Indian Banks' Association (IBA), said: "Till now we had Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a product developed by National Payments Corporation Ltd (NPCI).
'Inflation is not good for industry. Nor for the economy as a whole.'
Proliferation of home chargers of around 7 KWh and above, which take six to seven hours to fully charge a car depending on the model, bring running costs down by a third or so. That, coupled with the increasing range of modern electric cars, can lead to a massive increase in sales.
With concern on food inflation ebbing with the monsoon progressing well, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is warming up to the idea of a change in stance to "neutral" from "withdrawal of accommodation", according to economists. In his speech on Thursday during the annual event of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry-Indian Banks' Association, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said: "The balance between inflation and growth is well-poised."
It has been a slow year for the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) business. After two years of double-digit growth, it grew at just about 8 per cent in 2023 over 2022. It now stands at Rs 2.33 trillion in advertising and pay revenues.
'We are also conducting ongoing training and grooming at the branch level to pre-empt such cyberattacks.'
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
'You have to explain to them about Indian investments in the US creating jobs this reverse outsourcing'
The central government is expected to complete the auction of the 5.9-million tonne (mt) lithium reserves discovered in the Reasi district of the northern Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) by the end of this calendar year, Union Mines Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj said on the sidelines of the launch of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) report on 'New-Age Energy Minerals' on Tuesday. "Auction will be over by the end of this year," said Bharadwaj, adding, "We have already recommended a transaction advisor to the J&K government for the auction of lithium reserves." However, the exact timeline for an auction will be decided by J&K authorities, Union mines minister Pralhad Joshi said in Parliament last month.
'Unless she joins one of the coalitions, she has a bleak future.' 'The NDA option is suicidal, but INDIA could help her.'
'We will see a lot of investments from the private sector.' 'As long as we are not impacted by some global events, I think we will be in a strong place.'
The rumour verification process would now be triggered by changes in price or 'material price movements', as the paper defines it. What this means is that companies would need to verify rumours only if the share price moves significantly.
India is among the top three emerging markets in the wellness economy.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani might have made news for purchasing the most expensive beach-side villa in Dubai recently, but he is not the only Indian eyeing the city for investment. Since Dubai allowed foreign investors full ownership in specific sectors in June 2021, a horde of Indian companies have moved or expanded into the desert city. The list even includes a kindergarten, an elementary and middle school, and a hotel that has sought 100 per cent ownership.
The challenge for the RBI in 2024 is likely to be less about containing elevated inflation and more about curbing excessive financial market exuberance and a 'problem of plenty', notes Sajjid Chinoy, Chief India Economist JP Morgan.
Improved sentiment because of a stable government to push demand, says Knight Frank.
At the Ficci meet, the Gujarat chief minister says 'tax terrorism' in the country is inherently venal; calls for discussion on economic reforms.
Among the sectors seen as most vulnerable to corruption are the government and the public sector, infrastructure, real estate, metals, mining, aerospace, defence, power and utilities.
Norms for e-commerce likely, arm's-length pricing set for change.
A six-member delegation of Indian parliamentarians will visit Sri Lanka from April 8 to 12. The multi-party delegation visiting Colombo and Jaffna will not, however, include MPs from Tamil Nadu.
Sharma, who has been regularly reviewing the situation with senior officials, has expressed concern over the drop in industrial performance in the recent months, the statement said.
India and the 27-nation European Union are negotiating Broad based Trade and Investment Agreement since June 2007, but a breakthrough has not yet been achieved due to strong differences on several of the issues.
Afghanistan is ripe and ready for more investments from India and offers a lot of opportunities.
Government has proposed to make bribery in private sector a criminal offence.
FICCI said India is losing billions of dollars in taxable revenue (an estimated Rs 12-20,000 crore annually) through black marketing operations in sports betting.
In order to deal with the issue of accumulation of wealth, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said the time has come for a debate on imposition of inheritance tax.
While Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry extended an all-out support to the government, Confederation of Indian Industry recommended 'a calibrated approach for introducing FDI in the retail sector in terms of the percentage and minimum capitalisation requirements'.
Development issues of vital interest to India are expected to receive focused attention at the G20 Summit beginning in Cannes on Wednesday, a Ficci Paper on the B20 Working Group on Development said.
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