'I expect a demand stimulus in the Budget. 'There has been such a shock to the economy that such a stimulus would be needed.'
The challenges before the coming Budget are more daunting than those in 2021, reveals A K Bhattacharya.
Fitch Solutions on Thursday said the new climate targets announced at the COP26 summit by Prime minister Narendra Modi pose an upside risk to its outlook for renewable growth in the country. With the new targets, it expected to see attempts to alleviate the issues regarding supply chains, manufacturing and project development that have long plagued renewable proliferation.
"India's middle class, small traders and farmers are the lifelines of its economic growth. By catering to these ambitions #Budget2019 infuses hopes for millions of dreams."
Rajnath Singh outlined the major measures and initiatives taken by the Modi government to provide basic needs to people of India, including providing homes, building toilets to end open defecation, electricity, cooking gas and focusing on infrastructure development.
'Under Doval, foreign powers traditionally suspicious of India were wooed.' 'Enemies were embraced.'
With the Covid-19 pandemic showing signs of ebbing and economic activity picking up, factory owners in Jalandhar had hoped that the worst was over. However, the heat wave in April and extensive power cuts that came with it, have crushed their hopes. The city's large number of micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) are now gearing up for yet another struggle, this time to survive with the shortage of power that is severely impacting their operations.
The petroleum ministry has told ONGC to give away 60%stake plus operating control in India's largest oil and gas producing fields of Mumbai High and Bassein to foreign companies, according to an October 28 letter to the state-owned company. Amar Nath, additional secretary (exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, wrote a 3-page letter to ONGC chairman and managing director Subhash Kumar, saying productivity of the Mumbai High and Bassein & Satellite (B&S) offshore assets under state-owned firm was low and international partners should be invited and given 60 per cent participating interest (PI) and operatorship. This is the second time since April that Nath, who is part of the ONGC management as the longest-serving government nominee director on its board and often considered a potential candidate to replace Kumar next year, has written an official letter, painting a poor picture of the company's performance.
Recently, world headlines buzzed with Elon Musk's announcement that he was shelving his audacious bid for social media platform Twitter. Away from the media spotlight, questions are being asked about the maverick billionaire's plans in India, too. A few days ago, a Reuters report said Musk's flagship Tesla had put on hold its plan to launch electric cars in India.
Moody's said fiscal measures undertaken by the government -- such as corporate tax rate cuts, bank recapitalisation, infrastructure spending plans, support for the auto sector and others -- do not directly address widespread weakness in consumption demand, which has been the chief driver of the economy. In addition, interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India are not being adequately transmitted to lending rates because of the credit squeeze caused by disruption in the non-bank financial sector, it said.
'While there has been an impact on economic activity, it is not as profound as the lockdown last year.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, which is aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and exports, is expected to increase the country's production by $520 billion in the next five years. Addressing a webinar on PLI scheme, organised by Department of Industry and International Trade (DPIIT) and NITI Aayog, through video conference, Modi said the government is continuously carrying out reforms to boost domestic manufacturing. In this year's Budget, about Rs 2 lakh crore was earmarked for the PLI scheme for the next five years and "there is an expectation that the scheme would result in increasing the production by about $520 billion in the next five years", he said. He added that there is also an expectation that the current workforce in the sectors, which will avail the benefits of the PLI scheme, will be doubled and job creation will also increase.
Import duty on PVC, at 7.5%, is far lower than that prevailing in comparable economies.
Modi's unexpected announcement of achieving net zero by 2070 may have neatly deflected the pressures on India to sign up to an ambitious pledge but it does nothing to dispel the ecological emergency that threatens all life on the planet, , points out former forerign secretary Shyam Saran, the prime minister's special envoy and chief negotiator on climate change 2007-2010.
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian on Tuesday exuded confidence that India would achieve double-digit growth in the current financial year on the back of policy initiatives and continuing reforms. He also said the country is well poised to meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent of GDP. "At this stage, I can say confidently that we should be able to achieve that fiscal deficit number. "Any shortfalls that might happen on the disinvestment side will also be accompanied by positive surprises that have happened on tax revenue," he told reporters.
Even as the World Bank has revised India's growth figures by 0.4 percentage points as compared to its January forecast, India remains the fastest growing major economy in the world, the World Bank officials said.
Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, the Centre provides an annual financial benefit of Rs 6,000 to eligible beneficiary farmers in three equal four-monthly installments of Rs 2,000 each.
To maintain smooth flight operations and avert a staff crisis, India's airlines will require an additional 2,000 pilots. Unfortunately, the number of additional commanders being recruited is slowing down.
Will request Bedi to withdraw his demand of removing his name from a stand: DDCA Prez
Primary steel producers in the domestic market have raised product prices by 2.5 to 3 per cent for December to address margin compression and in anticipation of a demand pick-up.
Moody's has a 'positive' outlook on its 'Baa3' rating on India.
Tyre companies are stepping up on exports to offset declining volumes from domestic OEMs.
Reflective of the conglomerate's ambition to turn into a consumer-driven business, most of the 33 acquisitions in the last financial year were for its digital, retail, or related verticals.
The government has taken a number of steps to stem the depreciation of rupee including moderation in demand of non-essential imports and enhancing supply of capital flows, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.
With the government looking to divest loss-making steel assets, significant interest from secondary players is most likely this time apart from the anticipated list of large integrated primary steel producers, said industry experts. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL), NMDC Integrated Steel Plant (NISP)-Nagarnar, Ferro Scrap Nigam Ltd and three units of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) - Alloy Steels Plant, Durgapur; Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant, Bhadravati; and Salem Steel Plant, Salem - constitute the divestment list. All the three units of SAIL have been loss-making for more than five years.
Eighteen months after the economy was battered by the Covid-induced lockdown, employment has not recovered to its pre-pandemic levels, points out Mahesh Vyas.
There could be a paucity of isolation and ICU beds, and ventilators, according to a study.
The US hopes India will "reconsider" its decision to ban wheat exports, with Washington "encouraging" countries not to restrict exports as that will exacerbate food shortages, amidst Russia's invasion of Ukraine. India, the world's second-biggest wheat producer, has banned wheat exports in a bid to check high domestic prices amid concerns of wheat output being hit by scorching heat waves. The decision would help control retail prices of wheat and wheat flour, which have risen by an average 14-20 per cent in the last one year, besides meeting the foodgrain requirement of neighbouring and vulnerable countries.
The market price action seems to point in this direction. Let's hope we finally break out. It is about time! asserts Akash Prakash.
LIC, EPFO and PSBs are likely to be asked to subscribe to bonds.
Of the 59 IPOs for which the data is available, 36 IPOs received mega responses of more than 10x (of which, six IPOs more than 100x), while eight IPOs were oversubscribed more than 3x.
India, he said, has opened up its markets and stepped up public investment including in the infrastructure space and is concentrating a lot on boosting expenditure to improve the quality of rural life
It is rare for Cabinet ministers to tick off state-owned companies publicly, yet that was what then petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan did for ONGC. Speaking at an event on June 29, Pradhan said he has asked India's premier exploration company to find fresh oil acreages fast. "Do it yourself through some joint venture (or) through a new business model. But the government cannot permit you to hold resources for an indefinite time." The reason for this stricture is India's rising dependence on imported oil and gas. Or, to put it another way, falling domestic production (see chart: "Crude truth"), especially from ONGC, which faces a simple problem.
The actual expenditure will only be marginally higher and hence, the multiplier effect will be muted.
Nearly $1.2 trillion (Rs 53.1 lakh crore) is the capital expenditure needed to fund construction of infrastructure for water, sewage, transport and affordable housing among others, with 40 per cent of the estimated 1.47 trillion Indians living in urban areas by 2030.
Almost all infrastructure ministries continued spending on capex throughout the lockdown, even as the Centre tried to maintain some semblance of economic normalcy.
The iron and steel industry in India consists of integrated steel plants based on Blast Furnace, Basic Oxygen Furnace route, main producers based on Cores, Finex or PCI Technology, mini steel plants and standalone finished steel producers
'COVID-19 will not stop the expansion of China's 'infrastructure power'.'
India has demanded resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under GSP, and greater market access for its products from sectors like agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering. On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, data localisation, and import duties cut on some ICT products.
