Growth in the third quarter (October-December) is expected to be the weakest in years, with spending hit due to unavailability of enough replacement currency.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the Budget for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha that is expected to provide relief to the pandemic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours, As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth Budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
The banking sector in India is reeling under Rs 8 lakh crore of non performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans, of which PSU banks alone account for over Rs 6 lakh crore.
The services sector, which plays the biggest role in shaping the economy, is facing loads of issues currently. The largest segments, financial and real estate, are struggling to cope with bad debts and low demand for houses.
India has the potential to achieve 9 per cent growth rate and become a $10 trillion economy by 2034 on the back of concerted efforts by the corporate sector and a constructive role played by the government, a PwC report said on Monday.
'India has an advantage because we produce more cotton and we have more workforce.'
RBI said inflation in the second half of the current fiscal is projected at 2.7-3.2%. It retained its GDP forecast for the current fiscal at 7.4%
Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at Congress for 'chai-wala' barbs, saying the ruling party was mocking at the poor whom it has used only as a vote-bank without doining anything for them.
'Till now, we were under tremendous stress. The economy was not recovering, the financial cycle was not moving and the banks were not supporting.' 'With the government pumping in money to the banks and asking the NBFCs to give priority to the MSME sector, there will be a revival.'
With an aim of boosting manufacturing and exports amid sharp fall in the rupee, the government has decided to take a slew of steps, including enhancing steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes and raising textile exports by 30 per cent this year.
Seeking a peaceful and secure neighbourhood amidst threat of terrorism and extremism, India and Kyrgyzstan on Sunday signed four agreements including one on bolstering defence cooperation and holding annual joint military exercises.
'Our first great challenge is to create 12 million new jobs each year, to make the demographic dividend an economic dividend.' 'We are nowhere near that,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
Gujarat took the lead when it came to empowering farmers in dairying.
India's rapid economic progress over the past two decades masks its abysmal performance on social indicators.
Modi strongly pitched for enhanced cooperation in key areas of maritime security and counter-terrorism.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said falling oil prices act as a cushion for CAD, adding it is time India does away with restrictions on gold imports
Shreekant Sambrani is confident that today's adversity will make the country emerge even stronger
Tired of weekend parties, discotheques and pubs? Have aimless visits to the mall and the latest movies lost their charm? Are you looking for something more meaningful? Something fun and challenging as well? Then this weekend, join Harish Srinivasan and his friends for a weekend at a farm near Chennai.
He added that the risks can increase if the Chinese slowdown gathers more speed.
'We are at $2.7 trillion and 2024 is not far away.' 'The country will need to grow by 9% every year for 5 years continuously and raise the aggregate investment rate to 38% of GDP to achieve the government's target of turning India into a $5 trillion economy.' 'Given the fact that we are only growing at about 5% and our investment rates are only about 30%, it may take a number of years before we can reach that targeted level.'
Camel milk is an excellent source of iron and protein when compared to cow milk. It also has high Vitamin B3 and good probiotics. With the variety of nutrients camel milk has, experts feel it should be labelled a superfood.
Budget in the medium term aims to kick-start the investment cycle.
During the UPA government's second term in office, rural India's consumption expenditure grew at a faster pace than urban India's - for the first time since 1991.
The broader markets, however, outperformed their larger peers.
Outlining seven principles of engagement for closer cooperation between India and China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the two countries should show sensitivity to each other's interests and sovereignty and move quickly to resolve the boundary issue.
Boosted by handsome royalty from oil facilities at Barmer, the Rajasthan government has spent nearly Rs 30,000 crore on various social welfare schemes in the last four-and-a-half years. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tells Business Standard's Mayank Mishra that the state's better performance on various socio-economic indices is a result of that. The excerpts:
Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist, HSBC, speaks about a range of issues ranging from inflation, to how Goods and Services Tax and land acquisition bills can help India hit double digit growth, and her impressions about economic growth in the last one year after Narendra Modi took over as India's Prime Minister.
This is the lowest investment grade rating.
Make in India has few advantages and some disadvatnages too.
High fiscal deficits raise inflation which hits the lowest income and salaried classes.
Modi government is pushing GM food crops without adequate safety assessment and transparency, claim activists.
Brands such as Gap, Primark and C&A which source some of their garments from Tamil Nadu say they do regular audits to ensure their suppliers comply with their codes of conduct.
Senior science journalist, Dinesh C Sharma told rediff.com that the way ahead would require higher public awareness and discourse on these factors and building advocacy for reversing such government policies
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget.
'Why should the people of Odisha divert water from the Mahanadhi when 13 out of 32 districts are chronically drought prone?' 'Water is a state subject. Can you really nationalise rivers for which you need drastic amendments in the Constitution?'
Transcript of the Ganesh Natarajan chat on rediff on Friday.
Following is the full text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the Central Party School in Beijing on Thursday:
Let's take a look at the doomsday scenarios:
Moving ahead with their new mantra -- Chalein Saath Saath: Forward Together We Go -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday vowed to deepen cooperation in every sector for the benefit of global stability and people's livelihoods over the next ten years.
