A host of macroeconomic data announcements, the last batch of September quarter earnings, global trends, and trading activity of foreign investors will be the major driving factors for the equity market this week, according to analysts. Equity markets would remain closed on Friday for Guru Nanak Jayanti. "India is set to release CPI and IIP data on November 12, with WPI data expected on November 14.
Experts say data localisation and sharing is probably the single-biggest detriment that the draft policy talks about, the rest have no or minor repercussions on the players
India and Qatar on Tuesday agreed to elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership and double bilateral trade to USD 28 billion over the next five years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani signed agreements and MoUs to strengthen economic cooperation, including a revised double taxation avoidance agreement. The strategic partnership will cover the "entire spectrum" of the bilateral relationship, including trade, energy security, and regional and international cooperation. Both leaders also discussed ways to further strengthen and broaden the energy partnership, including "exploring mutual investments." The Amir's visit provided an "excellent opportunity" for the top leadership of the two countries to discuss and "cement a strategic partnership for enhanced future cooperation."
In a significant move, the United States on Wednesday removed restrictions on three Indian nuclear entities, over a week after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that Washington was finalising steps to 'remove' hurdles for civil nuclear partnership between Indian and American firms.
'We may see even more restrictive policies during 2.0.'
'The race is now on for Indian IT firms to develop their AI prowess and focus on a software-first approach to services as the people element becomes more complicated with Trump's expected new regulations.'
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
Chinese ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, on Wednesday expressed hope that the recently completed Indo-China border disengagement in Eastern Ladakh would smoothen relations and pave the way for a better understanding between the two neighbours in the days ahead.
In a big push to the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, the government has nearly doubled (increase of 81 per cent) the allocation in five key industry segments from Rs 8,405 crore in the Revised Estimate of FY24 to Rs 15,198 crore in the Interim Budget for FY25. The segments cover over eight PLI schemes, including mobile phones, IT hardware, pharma (PLIs for medical devices, intermediates and pharmaceuticals), food processing, telecom hardware and, auto and auto components. In FY24, DPIIT officials, however, said that the disbursements would be much higher at around Rs 11,000 crore than what has been budgeted for the year.
The finance minister, in her Budget speech, should focus more on what she is directly responsible for, rather than on programmes where her role is largely supportive, notes Nitin Desai.
Private consumption is back driven by festive spending, and the medium-term economic outlook remains bullish as the innate strength of the macro-fundamentals reasserts itself, the Reserve Bank Bulletin said on Wednesday. Global economic activity remained resilient during Q4:2024 amidst fragile confidence and rising protectionism, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in the November Bulletin.
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 US is strongly placed to expand its crude supplies to India.'
This Women's Day Week, we pay tribute to the extraordinary courage, resilience, and leadership of three iconic Indian queens -- Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Rani Chennamma of Kittur, and Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar of Malwa.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India have crossed the $1 trillion milestone in the April 2000-September 2024 period, firmly establishing the country's reputation as a safe and key investment destination globally. According to data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the cumulative amount of FDI, including equity, reinvested earnings and other capital, stood at $1,033.40 billion during the said period.
Many industry executives have said the draft e-commerce policy is being perceived as nationalistic but not overly protectionist and it is providing preference to Indian players against foreign companies. This might have an impact on investment by large players such as Walmart and Amazon in the country, said the executives. They said e-commerce was a very small portion of the retail industry and at a nascent stage and did not require heavy hammer regulations. Though the policy talks about being equally applicable to foreign and domestic players, it mentions that foreign direct investment (FDI) takes precedence over the e-commerce policy in any area of overlap.
When Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was conceived last December, the idea was to reduce the dominance of e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart. It was also to bring in a level-playing field for small merchants in India's fragmented but fast-growing $1-trillion retail market. However, those goals have changed now as large e-commerce players such as Flipkart, Amazon and Ecom Express are in various levels of talks with the ONDC team. They want to form partnerships like integrating with the network as well as providing their expertise to build it, according to the industry sources.
An online company would show a particular price to the customer and then quickly increase the cost after analysing consumer behaviour or detecting any kind of desperation.
The need of the hour is to support e-commerce companies through benign policies and not to treat them as mere cash cows.
'All competitors are sourcing within the country, so we'll be at the same level of competition.'
At a time when Flipkart has entered the quick-commerce race with a service called "Minutes", executives at rival players said they are in a wait-and-watch mode. They said they would be concerned only once the e-commerce firm is able to succeed in this space. The Walmart-owned firm's quick-commerce service has gone live in some parts of Bengaluru, putting it in competition with firms such as Zepto, Swiggy's Instamart, and Zomato's Blinkit.
Share prices of Nestle India, Asian Paints, Bandhan Bank, Tata Technologies, AU Small Finance Bank and Avenue Supermarts, all a part of the BSE 500 index, have hit their respective 52-week lows on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade after a sharp correction in the equity markets.
'Spending by the middle class is limited with a focus on savings. However, there is buoyancy at the top-end.'
The wholesale price inflation rose to 1.84 per cent in September as food items, especially vegetables, turned costlier, as per the government data released on Monday. The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation was 1.31 per cent in August. It was (-)0.07 per cent in September last year.
Wholesale price inflation rose to a 4-month high of 2.36 per cent in October as prices of food items, especially vegetables, and manufactured goods turned dearer, as per the government data released on Thursday. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation was 1.84 per cent in September 2024. It was (-) 0.26 per cent in October, last year.
As the Union government explores ways to restrict import of laptops and other electronic devices starting with a 5 per cent reduction from the current level, it is working to ensure that there's no supply disruption in India even if an import cap is introduced, it is learnt. The caveat assumes significance in the context of the government's announcement of its plan in August 2023 to issue licences for import of select IT hardware products to reduce the country's dependence on China.
Flipkart's Sachin and Binny Bansal may have become the poster boys of the Indian e-commerce industry, but there are a host of others who are emerging from the shadows.
E-commerce firm Amazon India has announced the creation of over 110,000 seasonal job opportunities across its operations network as it prepares to serve millions of customers throughout India during the upcoming festival season. These positions include both direct and indirect roles in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Chennai, among others. Notably, Amazon has hired thousands of women and nearly 1,900 individuals with disabilities into its existing network.
The government will set up a special purpose vehicle to push ahead with plans to start manufacturing commercial aircraft in India, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Wednesday as he highlighted the potential of the country's fast-growing aviation sector. The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill 2024, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in August, includes provisions to regulate the design and manufacturing of aircraft, supporting the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative for self-reliance.
Union minister Chirag Paswan on Monday said his Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas wants to fight the assembly election in Jharkhand and a final decision will be taken soon on whether it would contest under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or alone.
Jitesh Antapurkar, who won a bypoll in 2021 on a Congress ticket and is considered close to former chief minister Ashok Chavan, has been nominated from Deglur.
India's merchandise exports in October rose by 17.25 per cent to $39.2 billion against $33.43 billion a year ago, according to government data released on Thursday. Imports increased by 3.9 per cent to $66.34 billion in October compared to $63.86 billion in the year-ago period.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday questioned Amazon's announcement of $1 billion investment in India, saying the US retailer was not doing any great service to the Indian economy but filling up for the losses it had suffered in the country. He said that their huge losses in India "smells of predatory pricing", which is not good for the country as it impacts crores of small retailers.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 27 per cent jump in its September quarter net profit as earnings from the oil and gas business rebounded, and a pick-up in fashion and grocery helped boost retail revenues. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit of Rs 17,394 crore, or Rs 25.71 per share, in July-September - the second quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal - was 27.3 per cent higher than Rs 13,656 crore, or Rs 19.92 a share, earning a year back, the company said in a statement. The net profit was also higher quarter-on-quarter compared to Rs 16,011 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended June 30.
'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.
The government is expediting visa-related issues to bring technicians to India from any country, not just China, as and when required, to ensure the smooth implementation of the flagship production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing. "If those under the PLI scheme need to get their equipment installed, we try to expedite the ability to get technicians into India from any country, whichever it may be," Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Business Standard in an interview.
Nitin Desai, who has known Dr Singh from 1971, extends his 'deepest condolences to his wife Gurcharan Kaur and to his three talented daughters Upinder, the historian; Daman, the writer; and Amrit, the human rights activist.'
Gold imports more than doubled in August to a record high of $10.06 billion, mainly on account of a drastic cut in customs duty and ongoing festive demand, according to the Commerce Ministry data. Gold imports stood at $4.93 billion in August 2023. On record high imports, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the tariff rates on gold have been reduced drastically so that smuggling and other activities can come down.
The gig economy market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 per cent to reach a gross volume of $455 billion by the end of 2024, according to a white paper by The Forum for Progressive Gig Workers. Estimates suggest the gig economy has the potential to create 90 million jobs and add 1.25 per cent to India's GDP (gross domestic product) over time.
Dr Dipankar Dutta will answer your questions related to preparing for a career in engineering or technology.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances