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.
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.
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.
'We have to retain some fiscal headroom without compromising on the promised fiscal consolidation roadmap.'
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.
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.
Whether it's Carrefour, Ford, or other foreign majors, they are ready to adjust their strategies and design their plans in a way that would address the Indian consumption story.
Industry leaders on Thursday mourned the death of Ratan Tata saying with his demise India has lost a visionary who shaped its industrial and philanthropic landscape. Tata was a truly remarkable business leader who placed the country before business interests, and whose vision was truly transformational for a country and its people, TVS Motor Co Chairman Emeritus Venu Srinivasan said in a statement. "Mr Tata was a truly remarkable business leader, the likes of whom nations get only once in a century," he added.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has called for speedy implementation of key railway projects, such as the Dedicated Freight Corridor, high-speed rail corridors, rolling stock and other capacity enhancement works.
The halt in the RBI's monetary tightening drive comes after 13 hikes since March, 2010.
'This has become a necessity now to kick start the investment cycle'
Expressing dissatisfaction over the RBI decision to keep interest rates unchanged, India Inc today said rate cuts were needed to make the industry invest more and drive economic growth.
Olympic Gold Quest, an initiative to support talented Indian sportspersons in their quest for Olympic medals, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Confederation of Indian Industry, on Friday, to promote sports at the grassroots level through the involvement of corporates.
Demanding bold actions from the government and the Reserve Bank of India exclusively aimed at salvaging the economy, the chamber expressed hope the political leadership, across party lines, would converge and their actions would be 'swift and decisive'.
Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII said: "This move will bestow the benefits of information technology to the common man and will also help establish citizenship, thus enhancing security at various levels. This would further bring transparency in different delivery channels, help in mapping diverse requirements of the nation and, in turn, assure better planning and strategisation for the country."
Federation of Indian Export Organisations president A Sakthivel said the quotations from the Chinese suppliers do not reflect the real value of the dollar, hurting the Indian interests.
High interest rates have been discouraging fresh investments and dragged industrial production down for nearly two years now.
Cash reserve ratio is the amount of funds banks need to park with the apex bank in cash.
CII opines that a global discussion on the crisis might help building stronger information netwrorks on consumption and production so that corrective measures can be taken across the globe to avert such a crisis. It also advised to develop global food management system under Food and Agricultural Organisation.
Encouraged by softening inflation, the RBI on Thursday decided to cut the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 per cent to 7.75 per cent with a view to boost growth.
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CII hopes that the RBI would not wait for the next quarterly review but intervene sooner if the economic condition warrants a mid-course correction.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday said it believes that India-US bilateral economic ties would be a high priority for President Joe Biden-led administration in America. "The Indian industry feels that with President Biden and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi at the helm, the two countries would play a strong role in re-shaping the global economic agenda together," CII president Uday Kotak said. Congratulating Biden on assuming charge as the 46th President of the US, Kotak said, "President Biden's experience in re-building the US economy during the Great Recession would help strengthen the US and global economic recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic."
Recovery from the second wave of the pandemic in April-May is expected to be swifter as compared to the first wave in 2020, according to the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) chief executive officers (CEOs) poll of 119 top corporate. During the second wave, the lockdowns were largely designed to limit social gatherings and impact on economic activities was restricted. This helped arrest the impact of the second wave on economic growth, according to a survey conducted by the industry lobby group Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). About 59 per cent of the CEOs polled expect the recovery in sales to be better than in the first wave for their companies, while 46 per cent of them expressed a similar trend for their respective industry sectors.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme will help eradicate poverty and curb corruption at the grassroot level, industry said.
The summit would be held from November 4-6.
The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to provide Rs 30,600 crore government guarantee for security receipts issued by the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) as part of resolution of bad loans, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. The proposed bad bank or NARCL will pay up to 15 per cent of the agreed value for the loans in cash and the remaining 85 per cent would be government-guaranteed security receipts. The government guarantee would be invoked if there is loss against the threshold value.
Swiss entities keen to invest in India, says envoy .
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India Inc raised various issues to increase trade flows in sectors like pharmaceuticals, banking, energy and infrastructure
India Inc on Friday said the hike in railway passenger and freight fares will help in resource mobilisation, hoping that the higher fares will lead to better quality and safety of services offered by the Indian Railways, while asking the government to allow FDI in Railways.
The government's move to set up a regulator for the coal sector would help bring in transparency, encourage exploration and enhance quality of the dry fuel, India Inc said on Friday.
India has emerged as one of the top three choices for investments in the next 2-3 years, with more than two-thirds of respondents in a survey of multinational companies (MNCs) citing the country as their number one choice for future investments. According to the FDI survey released on Tuesday by CII in association with EY, about half of the respondents see India amongst the top three economies or leading manufacturing destinations of the world by 2025.
Industry had sought this 3-month extension, specifically for players struggling to collate the information that are required to be disclosed in the GST forms.
India's economy is likely to grow in the range of 4.5 to 5 per cent during the second half of the current fiscal, a CII survey said.
The RBI had lowered policy rates by 0.50 per cent between January-March to prop up economic growth.
Reversing a six month declining trend, WPI inflation moved up marginally to 0.11 per cent in December mainly because of increase in prices of food items.
The launch of e-RUPI, a person- and purpose-specific digital payment solution, by the government is expected to completely negate any pilferage and will ensure full benefit to intended beneficiaries, India Inc said on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched e-RUPI, which is aimed at improving transparency and targeted delivery of benefits. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Sanjay Aggarwal said that the move is a significant step to enhance the digitisation process of the country.
Cheering the rebound in India's economy which grew 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter, highest in the past two-and-a-half years, India Inc on Friday said it expects the GDP to pick up further on the back of conducive investment policies and execution of reforms by government.
France has now over-taken the UK as India's most visited European nation
Welcoming the launch of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank, India Inc on Wednesday said the initiative will propel women's financial inclusion, encourage female entrepreneurs and empower women in the country.
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