Business confidence in India Inc rose to a five-quarter high in December quarter of FY26, amid further reform expectations and steady domestic demand, a survey by industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) showed. The CII Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose for the third consecutive quarter to 66.5 in the December quarter from 66 in the preceding September quarter.
Bihar's economy is expected to grow to $1.1 trillion by 2046-47, considering the state's huge underlying potential, a report by industry body CII said on Tuesday.
Renewables sector stole the show as Andhra Pradesh bagged investments to the tune of around Rs 13.25 trillion during the three-day CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam. The sector accounted for the bulk of Rs 5.33 trillion out of the memorandum of understanding (MoUs) signed during the summit.
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.
India's economy is expected to grow 6.4-6.7 per cent during the current financial year driven by strong domestic demand, even as geopolitical uncertainty poses downside risks, the newly appointed CII president Rajiv Memani said on Thursday.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
After getting retained by UP Warriorz for Rs 3.2 crore (Rs 32 million) ahead of the upcoming Women's Premier League, star Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma said there is no pressure of the price tag on her and, if anything, it motivates her to do well in the fourth edition of the tournament.
'If we don't become part of this, if we don't embrace this particular technology, millionaire brands might go down, which we cannot allow.'
While the move may give a competitive edge over rivals like Bangladesh in the global market, several industry bodies raised concerns that many state governments may not implement it on the ground.
Adani Group said on Friday it will invest around Rs 1 trillion in various sectors of Andhra Pradesh over the next ten years, deepening its commitment in the state where it will partner with Google for an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam.
Digital Connexion, a joint venture between Brookfield, Reliance Industries and Digital Realty, on Wednesday announced an investment of $11 billion till 2030 for building 1 gigawatt (Gw) state-of-the-art AI-native, purpose-built data centres in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
After a year of muted single-digit growth, hiring intent has returned to double digits at 11 per cent, up from 9.75 per cent last year, supported by formalisation and regional expansion, says a report. According to the India Decoding Jobs 2026 Report, launched by digital recruitment platform Taggd in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), sectors such as BFSI, manufacturing, and infrastructure are set to drive hiring momentum.
It will enable real-time intel sharing among banks and other financial sector participants to strengthen customer protection against digital fraud.
The "Sky Factory" will be one of the world's largest for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), a manufacturing and assembly process to make electric aircraft that can take off, hover, and land vertically. It will put India on the "map of next-generation aviation" and marks one of the most ambitious eVTOL initiatives in the world, said a state government statement.
India's equity markets may have expanded rapidly, but initial public offerings (IPOs) are increasingly becoming exit vehicles for early investors rather than as engines for raising long-term capital, a shift that undermines the spirit of public markets, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran warned on Monday at a CII event.
'We are expecting investment, public and private, of around Rs 40 trillion by 2029.'
Noting that recent uncertainties created by global tariffs have not impacted the Indian economy severely, Anuradha Thakur, secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, said the central government is hopeful that the recent goods and services tax (GST) rationalisation will ignite the much needed animal spirits in the financial sector.
60 per cent of hospitals are directing investments towards IT capability building, 50 per cent towards business intelligence tools and data lakes, and a significant share into AI-led use cases such as clinical documentation (72 per cent), decision support systems (64 per cent) and imaging (60 per cent).
Colliers reports that GCC leasing has jumped from 4.6 million square feet in 2021 and is expected to hit 10.6 million square feet by 2025 -- a clear sign that multinationals see Bengaluru as a long-term base.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin, as both nations look to strengthen ties amid global trade tensions.
The ban is aimed at curbing the easy availability of pornographic material, particularly to minors, and ensuring that digital content remains within the bounds of decency and the law, they said.
The US's recent 50 per cent tariff on Indian exports will have a trickledown effect on India's affordable housing, potentially derailing demand as well as supply in this segment, according to experts. Pointing to worker incomes and jobs in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that typically make up majority of the customer base of affordable housing, would take a hit in the near terms due to the tariff change, further crippling India's affordable housing sector, already reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The CII Business Summit 2025's inaugural session witnessed a rousing standing ovation and a felicitation ceremony for the defence top brass sending a strong message about India's rising military industrial complex and hghlghting that security is a top-of-the-mind issue for India Inc.
Singh said New Delhi has "redesigned and redefined" its strategy and response to terrorism and that possible dialogue with Islamabad will be only on terrorism and PoK.
'It is not rigidity.' 'I am just sticking to what I believe very strongly in, particularly if you have been given an opportunity to serve the country....'
Industry body CII on Thursday made a case for pushing reforms in sectors like land, labour, and agriculture by the Modi 3.0 government to accelerate economic growth, which is estimated to be around 8 per cent in the current financial year. CII president Sanjiv Puri said a lot of policy interventions in the past have put the economy on "a much stronger wicket". "The growth rate is poised to touch 8 per cent during the current year, marking the fourth consecutive year of above 7 per cent + growth.
'We believe that in the new world order FTAs or bilateral trade agreements (BTAs) are the way forward.' 'They are enablers for our participation in global value chains. Today, around 70 per cent of global trade is tied to these chains.'
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Sunday urged Indian startups to keep their valuation "realistic" and distinguish between the goals of the organisation and its founder. "Startups may strive for long-term value creation rather than short-term valuations. "The valuations of businesses should be kept as realistic as possible," CII said in its Corporate Governance Charter for Startups.
India fully utilised its military modernisation budget in 2024-2025 -- the first time in five years -- and signed a record Rs 2 trillion defence contracts.
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
'Make-in-India played a key role in India's effective action against terrorism during Operation Sindoor.'
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on Thursday flagged serious concerns over inordinate delays in various defence acquisition projects and failure to stick to delivery schedules for supply of key platforms even as he hailed Operation Sindoor as a 'national victory'.
'I think that kind of change is coming. We should stay prepared for that change, whichever industry or sector we are in, we must be prepared.'
'We are getting to understand the mind of this generation.' 'Minor tweaks are being made to ease the process as we go along.'
Following the lacklustre growth numbers in the second quarter (Q2FY25), economists believe the upcoming Union Budget for 2025-26 should focus on reforms that will stimulate consumption, manufacturing and spur employment. India's growth unexpectedly slowed to 5.4 per cent in the second quarter, due to low capital formation, weak consumption, besides adverse weather impact.
'We have to retain some fiscal headroom without compromising on the promised fiscal consolidation roadmap.'
Industry body CII has pitched for a reduction in personal income tax rates, decriminalisation of the goods and services tax and a relook at the capital gains tax rates as part of its agenda presented to the government for the forthcoming Budget. Arguing that the GST law already contains adequate penal provisions for deterrence against evasion of taxes, CII has suggested decriminalisation of GST law. Also, the applicability of prosecution provisions should not be based on the absolute amount of tax evasion but should be based on real intent to evade the taxes and a certain percentage of the tax payable, it stated.
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi are emerging as major hubs for employable talent.
Tata Sons will likely choose Singapore as a "key partner" for its semiconductor plans, a senior minister from the city-state said on Friday. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran earlier in the day, Singapore's minister for home affairs and law K Shanmugam said semiconductors was a "big discussion" point during the meeting. "If they (Tatas) want to, they can do business with anybody in the world.
Around Rs 1 trillion, or a fifth of the investments made by alternative investment funds (AIFs) are questionable in terms of the intent behind the investments and are under the scanner for circumvention of regulations, said Ananth Narayan, whole-time member of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). AIFs are pooled investment vehicles that invest in a variety of assets including real estate, startups, unlisted companies, and derivative strategies in the listed space.
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