India and the US have decided to hold sector-specific talks in the coming weeks to finalise the structure of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA), the government said on Saturday. The engagement between the two countries came in the backdrop of the USA's threat to impose reciprocal tariffs on its key trading partners, including India, on April 2.
"We do not have it anywhere else other than the Jharia coal fields in Jharkhand. The quality is also not very good for steel-making. So the Indian steel industry will continue to depend on imported coal," says Arun Kumar Jagatramka, MD, Gujarat NRE Coke.
The American, who moved from US Navy to the corporate world, is considered best suited for this role because of her understanding of both production and distribution. Arnab Dutta & Viveat Susan Pinto report.
Amid the ongoing global tariff war, Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday said he is more worried about its impact on growth than inflation. Speaking to the media after presentation of the first bi-monthly monetary policy for the current financial year, Malhotra said, RBI has reduced the growth forecast for 2025-26 by 20 basis points to 6.5 per cent.
India and the United States will finalize the contours, schedule of negotiations, and terms of reference for a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during a three-day meeting beginning Tuesday. The agreement is expected to be finalized in two tranches, with the first phase focusing on goods trade. The US team, led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, will be in India from March 25-29 to discuss the agreement. Both countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall 2025.
Growth in demand for diesel, India's most consumed petroleum product, fell to its lowest since the pandemic in the financial year ended March 31 as the economy expands at a slower pace and consumption shifts to cleaner fuels. Diesel consumption rose 2 per cent to 91.4 million tonnes in 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025) fiscal, according to provisional data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Oil Ministry.
India's exports grew marginally by 0.7 per cent to $41.97 billion in March, while the trade deficit stood at $21.54 billion in the month, the latest government data showed on Tuesday.
With 90% of the inventories sold out, JioStar expects to ring in more than a 58% increase over last year's IPL, when it clocked Rs 3,900 crore.
After several years of consolidation and price weakness, the cement industry may be moving towards a more stable phase. Pan-Indian, average cement prices have risen through the past three months consecutively.
'He has been one of the clearest thinkers in the history of business.'
Here is a list of Q & As to explain these issues and implications of the US move.
And possibly in all of Asia, going by his reported fee of Rs 275 crore for Thalapathy 69, his coming movie.
Of Trump's reciprocal tariffs and trade deals
The good news for PepsiCo is that the foods segment has normalised much faster to pre-pandemic levels than beverages.
The trade war between the US and China is expected to benefit Indian exporters in increasing their shipments to the American market, sources said. They said the country was the fourth-largest gainer when the US imposed higher duties on Chinese goods during US President Donald Trump's first tenure.
Domestic steel prices have seen an increase over the past couple of months in anticipation of a safeguard duty, but a looming global trade war is likely to weigh as threat of import rises and prospect of export flounders. Data from BigMint showed that in March 2025, hot rolled coil (HRC) prices ex-Mumbai increased by Rs 600 per tonne month-on-month (M-o-M), rising from Rs 48,400 per tonne in February to Rs 49,000 per tonne.
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.
Steel maker JSW Steel's Q3 results, announced on January 24, 2025, after market hours, failed to meet Street expectations. The company reported a consolidated net profit attributable to the owners of Rs 717 crore in Q3FY25, reflecting a 70.3 per cent decline Y-o-Y, compared to Rs 2,415 crore in Q3FY24.
During the quarter, Coke rolled out its fruit juice brand Minute Maid in select locations such as Mumbai. It also introduced variants of Schweppes tonic in the city. The brands will be rolled out in other metros shortly.
"The doctrinal error in the Krishna Iyer approach was, postulating a rigid economic theory, which advocates for greater State control over private resources, as the exclusive basis for constitutional governance," the CJI wrote in the 193-page judgment.
The Q2FY25 revenue for Coal India (CIL) was reported at Rs 30,700 crore (down 6 per cent year-on-year or Y-o-Y and 16 per cent sequentially). The blended average selling price was Rs 1,622/tonne (down 6 per cent Y-o-Y and 3 per cent quarter-on-quarter or Q-o-Q). Adjusted operating profit stood at Rs 7,200 crore (down 20 per cent Y-o-Y and 38 per cent Q-o-Q) due to lower-than-expected e-auction volumes and higher costs.
Justice BV Nagarathna also partially agreed with the majority verdict but criticised the CJI's views on Justice Iyer's judicial approach in dealing with "material resources" and state's power over them.
India and Russia on Tuesday set a target of $100 billion in annual trade volume by 2030 and vowed to develop a robust bilateral payment settlement mechanism using national currencies. The two sides also inked a total of nine agreements to further broadbase cooperation in a range of areas including in the economic domain following summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court by a majority of 7:2 on Tuesday held all private properties cannot form part of "material resources of the community" empowering states to take them over for distribution to serve "common good" under the Constitution.
Diljit's songs, such as Patiala Pegg and Panchatara, were specifically mentioned in the complaint.
'It has changed the political character of India by ejecting socialism as an ideology from the Constitution of India.'
The introduction of the two new products is an indication of the importance of India as a market.
Coal India's (CIL's) revenue for the first quarter of 2024-25 (Q1FY25) came in at Rs 36,500 crore, up 1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and down 3 per cent sequentially, which was in line with consensus. The blended average selling price was Rs 1,687/tonne, down 5 per cent Y-o-Y and down 1 per cent Q-o-Q, which was below estimates. The adjusted operating profit (excluding overburden removal or OBR costs) stood at Rs 11,500 crore up 3 per cent Y-o-Y and up 17 per cent Q-o-Q, which beat the street. This was due to lower operating expenses.
Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under its trade pact with the EFTA bloc on these goods over a period of time. India and the four-European nation bloc EFTA signed a trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) on Sunday to boost trade and investments between the two regions. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
'If people want to work 90 hours, we should let them work.' 'If people want to work 30 hours, you should let them work 30 hours.' 'But they should not expect the same level of success and attention.'
Analysts are advising a cautious stance on the steel sector due to a combination of factors. The major one is that China has maintained momentum on steel exports in CY24 and there could also be domestic over-supply in the medium-term. Trade data for Jan-Feb'24 shows that China's finished steel exports rose 31 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 15.9 MT.
Clean air needs action all year round; and that it will work only if we act jointly and at scale, asserts Sunita Narain.
Coca-Cola pledged on Tuesday to conserve seven of the world's most critical river basins under a $20 million plan but skipped India, where it faces protests for allegedly depleting ground water.
'The Budget will be positive, continuing on the path of growth taken so far.'
The nearly Rs 15,000-crore India unit of Coca-Cola derives the bulk of its revenue from its core business of selling cola drinks
Coca-Cola India on Wednesday launched Vanilla Coke in India. The company said that the new drink offers the 'same true taste of Coca-Cola with a hint of vanilla flavour.'
Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under its trade pact with the EFTA bloc on these goods over a period of time. India and the four-European nation bloc EFTA signed a trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) on Sunday to boost trade and investments between the two regions. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Coca Cola is planning more investments in India on top of its Rs 1000 crore budget for this market. The incremental investment will be made in the next three years. This is with the view of making India amongst Coke's top five markets. Coke regards India as a 'profitable' venture that is adding to the balance sheet of the global giant. India is currently at number 17 in the list of countries where Coke is present and had emerged among the best markets for Coke during 2007.
With Maaza, which already has the biggest share in mango beverages in the Indian market, Coke is betting on a winning horse, say experts.
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