Non-Plan expenditure for April-May stood at Rs 2.01 lakh crore.
India's fiscal deficit touched Rs 4.57 lakh crore or 84.4 per cent of budget estimates in the first seven months of the current fiscal, reflecting signs of stress in government finances.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's biggest challenge will be to find a new growth driver, particularly against the backdrop of a global economy ravaged by heightened uncertainty and fragmentation, financial markets on a precipice, and global commodity prices on a continued uptrend.
The scheme, called 'Suhana Safar', targeted customers who aspire to own a car but were hesitant because of concerns around arranging the down payment or managing future EMI obligations.
India's fertiliser subsidy bill for the current financial year (FY27) is projected to increase by approximately 20% due to surging global prices, primarily driven by the West Asia crisis, a senior official confirmed. Despite this, retail prices for urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) will remain unchanged, ensuring adequate supply for the kharif season.
Of the Rs 31,820.80 crore allocated to central sector schemes and projects, only Rs 11,868.05 crore was utilised, according to the revised estimates.
The Union Budget 2025-26 had allocated Rs 2,33,210.68 crore (BE) to the ministry helmed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
A devastating fire at a bed and breakfast hotel in Malviya Nagar, South Delhi, has claimed 21 lives, including foreign nationals. The incident has brought intense scrutiny to the densely packed area, a popular hub for patients seeking affordable accommodation near Max Hospital, raising serious concerns about fire safety compliance and building norms in such establishments.
Compared with a year ago, the effective cost of studying abroad for Indian students has increased by roughly 10%-12% due to currency depreciation and rising living costs.
The fiscal tilt towards capex benefits companies in investment-related sectors like capital goods, defence equipment, engineering & construction and metal & mining. The planned cut in revenue expenditure will weigh on companies in consumption sectors like FMCG, consumer durables and retail.
India's state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) are projected to incur under-recoveries of approximately Rs 80,000 crore on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales in FY27 if current loss levels persist, according to rating agency Icra.
The fiscal deficit in the first three months of current fiscal stood at Rs 2.86 lakh crore or 51.6 per cent of Budget estimates for 2015-16.
The government on Sunday gave a strong push to upgradation and expansion of healthcare infrastructure, medical education and pharma sector with the Union Budget 2026-27 announcing a slew of steps, including those aimed at making India a global hub for allied healthcare professionals and biopharma manufacturing.
India's fiscal deficit is projected to reach 4.5 per cent of GDP for the current fiscal year, exceeding the budgeted target, as the government's policy responses to the West Asia conflict are expected to strain public finances, according to research firm BMI.
The Union Budget backs skilling across animation, gaming and comics. But creators and studios confront a hard question: who owns what comes next?
The Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2025-26, up from 6.5 per cent in the previous fiscal, mainly on account of better performance of manufacturing and services sectors, as per the government data released on Wednesday.
The total expenditure on the MGNREGA programme, as per the revised estimates from 2025-26, was Rs 88,000 crore, while initially, a sum of Rs 86,000 crore was allocated.
Estimates (BE), slightly better than 74.4 per cent in the same period a year ago, according to Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data released on Friday.
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.
India's defence expenditure surged to $92.1 billion in 2025, making it the world's fifth-largest military spender, according to SIPRI data. This 8.9 per cent year-on-year rise was primarily driven by operational and procurement needs following heightened regional tensions with Pakistan in May 2025.
The government's Budget announcements providing tax holiday for data centres, setting up of city economic regions (CERs) and funding to improve infrastructure in Tier-II and -III cities may give an indirect boost to India's realty sector, said industry executives.
Manufacturers are planning a hike of over 15 per cent in the second quarter of calendar year 2026, as memory prices shoot through the roof.
If TVK MLAs and ministers are perceived as clean, or demonstrably cleaner than their predecessors, the credibility dividend will be enormous. The voter will feel rewarded, points out Ramesh Menon.
Revenue collection next financial year may be affected, and, along with this, subsidies on food and fertilisers can go up if the war in West Asia drags for long, according to experts.
It is learnt that India was mulling various options relating to the project after Trump administration threatened a 25 per cent additional tariff on countries doing business with Tehran.
While India's interplanetary ambitions remain significant, the current pace of financial and technical progress raises questions about whether the 2027-2028 timelines can be met.
Riteish Deshmukh's Raja Shivaji has become the highest-grossing Marathi opener ever, while Aamir Khan's Ek Din faced a disastrous opening at the box office.
Indian oil marketing companies are incurring significant losses, selling petrol at a Rs 14 per litre loss and diesel at Rs 18 per litre, as elevated global crude oil prices, exacerbated by the West Asia crisis, outpace capped retail fuel rates, according to rating agency Icra.
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.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected a 6.9 per cent GDP growth for the current financial year, citing concerns over commodity prices and supply chain disruptions stemming from the West Asia crisis.
In absolute terms, fiscal deficit, or the gap between overall expenditure and receipts, stood at Rs 74,611 crore (Rs 746.11 billion) in the first month of the current fiscal, against Rs 53,993 crore (Rs 539.93 billion) in the same period last financial year (2010-11).
The best course for the government at this time would be to tighten the seat belt a little more, without compromising on its investments in creating better infrastructure and giving a push to privatisation, points out A K Bhattacharya.
The Union Budget for 2026-27 is expected to sketch out a road map for trebling the cooperative sector's contribution to the Indian economy over the next decade, with the aim of bringing 500 million people within its ambit, in line with the objectives of the National Cooperative Policy, 2025.
Net tax receipts in the first half of the fiscal stood at Rs 3.23 lakh crore (Rs 3.23 trillion), or 33.1 per cent of BE, the data released by the Controller General of Accounts today showed.
The fiscal deficit in the first five months of the current fiscal ended August stood at Rs 3.69 lakh crore, or 66.5 per cent, of Budget estimates for 2015-16.
Even if there is an early agreement on a cessation of hostilities in West Asia, the price shock will not go away easily, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Under the TMC, Bengal has seen expansion of welfare, but not big-ticket private investment.
With D Gukesh and R Vaishali set to play world title matches, experts urge India to bid for hosting rights, calling it a major boost for the sport.
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