With India's EV penetration at just 2.5 per cent, the market presents an opportunity -- provided Tesla gets its pricing right.
Annual plan of 65 ministries and depts hiked 27%.
Amid a debate over 70-90-hour work week, the pre-Budget Economic Survey on Friday cited studies to state that spending over 60 hours a week on work could have adverse health effects. The survey noted that spending long hours at one's desk is detrimental to mental well-being and individuals who spend 12 or more hours (per day) at a desk have distressed or struggling levels of mental well-being.
Even as Chinese troops continue squatting on territory that we claim as our own -- this was the lowest allocation for defence in percentage terms since the 1950s, reveals Ajai Shukla.
The FMCG industry hopes for a revival in consumption growth in 2025 with some 'green shoots' already visible, after having a challenging year amid escalating input costs and a double-digit rise in food inflation, which ultimately slowed down the pace of the urban market growth in the second half of 2024. Soaring prices of commodities such as palm oil, coffee, cocoa and wheat forced FMCG players to go for a hike of 3 to 5 per cent or resort to shrinkflation by reducing pack sizes and grammage to retain attractive price points, fearing a volume loss.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will have to do a tight-rope walk between staying fiscally prudent and general public expectations of lower taxes and a wider social security net, while at the same time firing the engines of the economy before general elections. Sitharaman will on Wednesday present her fifth straight Budget at a time when the economy is slowing due to global headwinds and specific sectors need attention. In the run-up to the Budget presentation, expectations are rife that she may tweak income-tax slabs to provide relief to the middle class and increase spending on the poor through programmes such as the rural job scheme while ramping up financial incentives for local manufacturing.
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
Could it have been more reformist? Of course, but this is an election year Budget, observes Akash Prakash.
The government on Wednesday approved 12 new industrial cities in 10 states on the lines of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Dholera in Gujarat to boost domestic manufacturing with an estimated investment of Rs 28,602 crore. These industrial areas will be in Khurpia in Uttarakhand, Rajpura-Patiala in Punjab, Dighi in Maharashtra, Palakkad in Kerala, Agra and Prayagraj in UP, Gaya in Bihar, Zaheerabad in Telangana, Orvakal and Kopparthy in AP, and Jodhpur-Pali in Rajasthan, and one in Haryana. A decision in this regard was taken in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the upcoming Budget for 2021-22 will sustain the momentum of public spending on infrastructure and have a "vibrancy" to ensure the economic revival continues. She also said the pace of divestment, which has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, will pick up in the coming months. "We shall definitely sustain the momentum of public spending in infrastructure. Because that is the one way we assure that the multipliers will work and the economy's revival will be sustainable.... "I am conscious that the forthcoming Budget will have a vibrancy that is so required for the economy's revival, sustainable revival," she said at the Assocham Foundation Week. The Budget for the 2021-22 fiscal is expected to be tabled in Parliament on February 1.
India's economy grew 7.6 per cent in the September quarter of this fiscal and remained the fastest-growing large economy, mainly due to better performance by manufacturing, mining and services sectors, the government data showed on Thursday. The gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 6.2 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2022-23. India remained the fastest-growing major economy, as China posted a 4.9 per cent growth in July-September 2023.
The take by the Economic Survey 2024-25 on work hour week had come weeks after Larsen & Toubro Ltd Chairman and Managing Director SN Subrahmanyan sparked off a raging debate on social media when he said employees should work 90-hour a week, including on Sundays rather than sit at home.
Siddharth Roy Kapur's RKF aims to raise around $50 million by offering up to a 50 per cent stake in the company.
The government's subsidies on food, fertilisers, LPG and kerosene are pegged at Rs 5.96 lakh crore in the current fiscal, over 2.5-fold jump from the initial budget estimates as the Centre distributed additional foodgrains free of cost to help poor mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020 Budget, presented in the pre-COVID scare, the government had estimated the subsidy bill at Rs 227,794 crore. However, all the budget estimates, have undergone major revisions as the country imposed strict lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19.
The defence budget was increased to Rs 5.94 lakh crore for 2023-24, up from last year's allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore.
'The nominal GDP growth assumption for FY25 may be revised upwards on higher growth expectations.'
Why has the shift from ICE to electric slowed down despite initial enthusiasm?
'The critical event signalling a new era for India was Dr Singh's 1991 Budget in which he quoted Victor Hugo to say that no power on earth could stop an idea whose time has come,' recalls T N Ninan.
To threaten China and Pakistan, and then to sharply cut back on military funding, bespeaks a remarkable trust in Beijing and Islamabad that is not borne out by anything they say or do, notes Ajai Shukla.
'With new projects and recently awarded projects kicking in, capital expenditure should only increase going forward.'
Equity benchmarks climbed in early trade on Wednesday amid an overall positive trend in the global markets and ahead of the presentation of Union Budget 2023-24. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 516.97 points to 60,066.87. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 153.15 points to 17,815.30.
India's merchandise exports dipped by about one per cent to $38.01 billion in December 2024 against $38.39 billion a year ago, according to government data released on Wednesday. Imports increased by 4.8 per cent to $59.95 billion in December 2024 compared to $57.15 billion in the year-ago month.
The government has revised gold import data, bringing down numbers for November by $5 billion to $9.84 billion, possibly to rectify double accounting of inbound shipments. According to revised data of the commerce ministry arm Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), gold import numbers have been slashed since April 2024, revealing excess imports of about $11.7 billion during the first eight months of 2024-25.
'For free supply of drugs and medicines itself, almost Rs 20,000 crores would be required.'
The central government's fiscal deficit touched 32.6 per cent of the annual target in the current financial year till August as against 31.1 per cent recorded a year ago, according to official data released on Friday. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit -- the difference between expenditure and revenue --- was Rs 5,41,601 crore during the April-August period of this financial year. Fiscal deficit is an indicator of the government's borrowings from the market.
The total allocation to the defence sector is 12.9 per cent of the total budget of the government of India for the financial year 2024-25.
The net direct tax collection for the fiscal ended March 31 stood at Rs 9.45 lakh crore, an increase of 5 per cent over the revised estimates in the Union Budget. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P C Mody on Friday said the income tax department has exceeded the revised estimates despite issuing substantial refunds in the 2020-21 fiscal. During the fiscal, the net corporate tax collection stood at Rs 4.57 lakh crore, while net personal income tax was Rs 4.71 lakh crore. Another Rs 16,927 crore came from securities transaction tax (STT).
Fiscal deficit is a reflection of government borrowings, which is used to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure.
As per practice a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in the election year and a full-fledged budget presented by the new government.
According to the third batch of supplementary demands for grants tabled in the Lok Sabha, approval is being sought for gross additional expenditure of over Rs 1.58 lakh crore.
'Inflation is not good for industry. Nor for the economy as a whole.'
Novelis' Q3FY25 volume stood at 904,000 tonnes (down 1 per cent Y-o-Y, down 4 per cent Q-o-Q), due to lower VAP and automotive shipments. Revenue stood at $4.1 billion (+4 per cent Y-o-Y, down 5 per cent Q-o-Q).
The Centre could better its fiscal deficit at 6.6 per cent of GDP in this financial year on stronger-than-expected revenue buoyancy, even if the budgeted disinvestment target is not met, Fitch Ratings has said. The international rating agency had last week kept the sovereign rating unchanged at 'BBB-' with a negative outlook, and said that the risks to India's medium-term growth outlook are narrowing with rapid economic recovery from the pandemic and easing financial sector pressures. In an email interview with PTI, Fitch Ratings Director (Asia-Pacific Sovereigns) Jeremy Zook said the two key positive triggers that could lead to a revision of the outlook to stable are implementation of a credible medium-term fiscal strategy to lower debt burden and higher medium-term investment and growth rates without the creation of macroeconomic imbalances, such as from successful structural reform implementation and a healthier financial sector.
Reminiscent of the past two years, the market has made positive strides ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24 (FY24). The benchmark National Stock Exchange Nifty has gained 1.8 per cent in the last month. Typically, markets tend to gain ahead of the Budget as investors build in optimism.
Buying or selling securities based on rumours about expected changes in tax rates or sectoral sops can backfire, advises Sarbajeet K Sen.
Mumbai, which adds 37 per cent to the total direct tax mop-up, has reported tax collection of Rs 4.93 trillion so far, against the full-year target of Rs 5.35 trillion.
Given the high priority accorded to the manufacturing sector, several policy initiatives around the theme of Atmanirbhar Bharat have been set in motion to address its competitiveness and growth. Some notable examples include the PLI scheme and the employment-linked incentive scheme announced in the recent Union Budget. The Budget also announced the setting up of 12 industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP).
While no specific state-oriented sops were rolled out, a strong thread of political wellness ran through the Budget.
While Andhra Pradesh is expected to receive Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore, Bihar is likely to get Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore in FY25.
Unlike the Advance Estimates which missed the impact of demonetisation, CEA's survey is likely to have a better take on Indian economy.
