Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's biggest challenge will be to find a new growth driver, particularly against the backdrop of a global economy ravaged by heightened uncertainty and fragmentation, financial markets on a precipice, and global commodity prices on a continued uptrend.
Budget 2026 is an intentional and ambitious one - From manufacturing growth to services supremacy, from technology consumption to AI-powered transformation. This is the blueprint for a $7 trillion economy built on intelligence, not just scale.
Restoring weighted tax deductions and adopting a petty patents regime can foster firm-level innovative activity critical for competitiveness, points out Nagesh Kumar.
China's post COVID-19 pandemic economic rebound showed signs of slowdown as the economy grew at 7.9 per cent in the second quarter compared to a record 18.3 per cent in Q1, while the GDP expanded 12.7 per cent year on year in the first half amid the continued global spread of the coronavirus and unbalanced domestic recovery. In the second quarter, the GDP of the second largest economy in the world grew 7.9 per cent year on year, the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS) on Thursday showed. On a quarterly basis, the economy expanded 1.3 per cent in Q2.
After years of rapid expansion, the Centre's capital spending growth eases as private investment shows early signs of revival, points out A K Bhattacharya.
India's economic growth rate decelerated to 6.2 per cent in the October-December quarter this fiscal, mainly due to poor performance by mining, manufacturing and all other sectors, with the exception of agriculture. However, on a sequential basis, the economic growth rate in the third quarter showed improvement over 5.6 per cent recorded in the second quarter.
'My concern is that, although everything is expressed in monetary terms, you are effectively combining values that have been adjusted using different price measures.'
New Delhi will substantially reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods while continuing to protect sensitive sectors. Tariffs on some agricultural products that are not traditionally considered sensitive will be brought down to zero, while in the case of relatively sensitive items, duties will be reduced in a graded manner and quotas will be imposed.
From the Sensex firms, Tata Steel tanked the most by 4.57 per cent. ICICI Bank, Power Grid, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Kotak Mahindra Bank were also among the laggards. Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, ITC and Bharat Electronics were among the gainers.
BJP MP C Sadanandan Master addressed the Rajya Sabha, appealing for unity and highlighting the government's achievements while raising concerns about migration in Kerala.
The fiscal tilt towards capex benefits companies in investment-related sectors like capital goods, defence equipment, engineering & construction and metal & mining. The planned cut in revenue expenditure will weigh on companies in consumption sectors like FMCG, consumer durables and retail.
Two dedicated freight corridors -- Eastern and Western -- are in operation covering several states and districts.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption has led firms to moderate hiring, primarily at the entry-level, according to a report.
The Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2025-26, up from 6.5 per cent in the previous fiscal, mainly on account of better performance of manufacturing and services sectors, as per the government data released on Wednesday.
Wisner said during a discussion organised by Asia Society here yesterday on the Indian elections.
A 500 per cent tariff would effectively shut out India's goods and services exports to the US.
Indian car buyers care more about affordability than technology, keeping ICE vehicles dominant while hybrids emerge as the preferred transition option and EVs struggle in the mass market.
Investing in gold trumped most other asset classes in terms of compounded annualised returns over the long term, suggests a report by FundsIndia.
Seeking foreign loan had forced Pakistan to 'bow' its head and make compromises at the 'cost of self-respect', Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said in a candid admission about the humiliation involved in approaching 'friendly countries' for financial aid.
Mumbai recorded its strongest housing market performance in 14 years in 2025, with property registrations rising to 150,254, amid a sustained end-user demand and supportive supply-side ecosystem, according to Knight Frank India.
In the year since UPA went out, the GDP has grown a mere 0.5 per cent, but this government claims a healthy GDP growth of 7.4 per cent allowing it to ecstatically claim outpacing China, says Mohan Guruswamy.
'The bigger unknown remains global geopolitics, which is inherently unpredictable, including developments in our neighbourhood.' 'Another concern is the increasing tilt of government finances towards welfare subsidies, especially at the state level.' 'This could constrain capital expenditure, which is critical for long-term growth.'
Asia takes the lead, boasting four Indian cities on the list, according to the 2024 Savills Growth Hubs Index.
The wholesale price index inflation is projected at 6.4 per cent for 2017-18.
India's services sector growth moderated in December, as the rates of expansion in incoming new work and output eased to the slowest in 11 months, and companies refrained from recruiting additional staff, a monthly survey said on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 59.8 in November to 58.0 in December, indicating the slowest rate of expansion since January.
Economic growth was revised from 4.7 per cent in FY14.
The country's exports rose 1.87 per cent to $38.5 billion in December 2025 despite global economic uncertainties, though an increase in imports led to a marginal widening of the trade deficit to $25 billion.
The Survey is authored by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran and his team.
Cybersecurity breaches have emerged as the top risk shaping organisational performance, with 61 per cent of respondents identifying it as the primary risk, said a Ficci and EY report.
The latest move removes one of the key friction points for visitors, temporary liquor permits, while allowing licensed hotels and restaurants operational flexibility.
'This Budget has a one-year agenda, which you can call the sprint, and the marathon is towards Viksit Bharat.'
Eighteen new-age technology firms went public during the year, a near triple increase from the five firms that debuted in 2023 and 38 per cent more than 2024's tally of 13.
Surging oil prices, deficient monsoon and the Tsunami disaster last year notwithstanding, business confidence has inched its way up to its highest level since December 1995, economic think tank NCAER said on Monday.
After a subdued first quarter of 2025-26 (Q1FY26), banks are now betting big on the festive season, rolling out attractive loan offers to boost credit growth in the second half of the current financial year (H2FY26) - a trend likely to be further accentuated by the second-order effects of the good services tax (GST) cuts.
The Indian stock markets may turn bearish after the US Fed decides to raise interest rates.
India's manufacturing sector activity witnessed the weakest improvement in the sector in two years in December on account of softer expansions in new orders, prompting firms to limit input purchases and job creation, a monthly survey said on Friday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) -- an indicator of sector performance -- fell from 56.6 in November to 55 in December.
The "huge mountain of debt" in developed economies and the risk of a possible unravelling is a matter of concern for India, Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday, pointing to the recent spike in Japanese bond yields.
You can't be the second-most expensive market in the world and deliver just 10 per cent EPS growth, points out Akash Prakash.
