The Union government is likely to come out with a liberalised foreign direct investment policy in a bid to make foreign investment an engine of growth and create large-scale employment.
The deal shifts the US posture towards India from hostile to neutral, and that matters for growth, points out T T Ram Mohan.
Leading non-banking financial company (NBFC) Shriram Finance on Friday said Japan-based MUFG Bank would invest Rs 39,618 crore, or $4.4 billion, to acquire a 20 per cent stake on a fully diluted basis through a preferential issue of equity shares.
The finance minister said that consolidation of state-owned banks could proceed at any time without waiting for the recommendations of the proposed high-level committee on banking.
'Uncertainty level A in the morning, uncertainty level B in the afternoon. If I answer about tariff rates now, I'll be outdated by the evening.'
Sharma proposes to pass on the 'handover note' to his successor, which as per the poll projections is likely to be from Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
'Given that India underperformed emerging markets by 28 per cent in 2025, the worst performance in over 30 years, the timing of the sharp STT hike could have been better.'
India has been on an FTA-signing spree of late. Since 2021, it has signed eight trade agreements, three of which -- with the UK, Oman and New Zealand -- were finalised in 2025 alone.
The recent policies that have been announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will allow banks to fully use its capital, funding profile to keep business at an equilibrium level, which otherwise was getting skewed towards retail, said K V Kamath, chairman, Jio Financial Services.
Ministerial consultations on, with recognition of the potential, and the need to not classify it under the same rules as for pharmaceuticals.
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.
The Centre is regularly holding consultations with stakeholders to streamline foreign direct investments (FDIs) and foreign institutional investments (FIIs) related processes to enable faster and more efficient investment flows into the country, said Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, adding one such meeting with stakeholders was held on Tuesday.
Sustaining 8 per cent-plus growth rates is necessary if we are to reach high-income status by 2047, points out Amitabh Kant.
India continues to remain an attractive investment destination and rise in repatriation of funds is a sign of a mature market where foreign investors can enter and exit smoothly, Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday. Gross foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows remained strong, rising by around 14 per cent to $81 billion in 2024-25, from $71.3 billion a year ago.
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After a high-level meeting held on Friday chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it has been decided that the Commerce and Industry would soon start a consultation process to address 'dangers inherent' in the current model of FDI in brownfield pharma units.
After defence, the Commerce and Industry ministry has started the exercise to relax foreign investment norms in the railways sector by permitting 100 per cent FDI in high-speed train systems and dedicated freight lines.
With inflation comfortably below the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) 4 per cent median target and likely to undershoot its 3.7 per cent projection for 2025-26 (FY26), there is room for the monetary policy easing cycle to be sustained, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. The comments, featured in the ministry's Monthly Economic Review for June 2025, assume significance ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) scheduled to begin from August 5.
Senior cabinet minister Kamal Nath on Monday said 'new things would be thrown up' as the government fine-tunes the foreign direct investment policy. India attracted about $25 billion for April-February 2008-09. The government had announced changes in the FDI policy in February which led to confusion among investors.
Cleaner balance sheets, regulatory support and strong growth prospects helped Indian private banks attract over $6 billion in foreign capital, with more deals expected in 2026.
As many as 2.17 lakh pieces of fake notes of various denominations were detected during 2024-25 compared to 2.23 lakh such notes in the previous year, Parliament was informed on Monday. Of this, highest -- 117,722 pieces -- counterfeit notes of 500 [MG (New) Series] were detected in FY25, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
In a major relaxation of foreign investment rules in the pharma sector, a special group set up under the finance ministry has suggested it could consider permitting up to 49 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) in the automatic route for brownfield investments in case the company's control remained in Indian hands.
Opposition members created an uproar in both Houses of Parliament on Monday over issues like allowing 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail, demand for Telangana state and threat to people of Kerala due to Mullaperiyar dam.
The exemption of individual life and health insurance premiums from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) enables the insurance industry to make products affordable and attractive, said Ajay Seth, chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025.
With EU, it is part of the FTA that we will need to negotiate.
'Other sectors that manage the savings pools of Indians are giving tough competition to life insurance companies.'
The rupee breached 90-levels against the greenback for the first time on Wednesday, falling 6 paise to 90.02 in early trade, as banks kept buying US dollars at higher levels and FII outflows continued.
The Indian government has expressed its disagreement with the IMF staff's 'baseline' assumption that the 50 per cent US tariffs on its goods exports 'would remain in place indefinitely', based on which the staff pegged the country's GDP growth at 6.6 per cent this year, and pared its 2026-27 projection by 20 basis points to 6.2 per cent.
Investment made by a domestic company in which foreign firms might hold a small stake but the majority 51 per cent shareholding and managing control is with Indians, will not be treated as foreign direct investment for the purpose to calculating the sectoral cap.
India's largest traders' association CAIT on Tuesday said few multinational e-commerce giants with a heavy arsenal of funding are attempting to flout foreign investment guidelines for the sector and demanded strict enforcement action. Releasing a whitepaper on the e-commerce policy, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said e-commerce entities have "structured their relationship as marketplace with sellers in a such a way that they are in a position to control either seller on their platform or the inventory and also escape the scrutiny of the enforcement agencies." "Under the guise of such control or ownership over sellers, the issue also permeates from being a mere FDI policy violation to also being an anti-competitive conduct," it said.
'The government is putting insurance in the same category as food, which is essential for life.' 'Now this is an opportunity for the sector to focus on the consumer.'
The world's largest retailer Walmart on Wednesday said its investments in India will grow manifold if foreign direct investment regulations on multi-brand retail are relaxed in the country.
The ministry of finance does not want a single entity to own more than five per cent in a CIB. This view is backed by the Reserve Bank of India.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India has increased by 16 per cent year-on-year to $27.1 billion during April-August this year, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said on Tuesday. During April-August last year, India had received FDI worth $23.35 billion. The ministry said that the total FDI, which includes reinvested earnings, grew by 13 per cent to $35.73 billion.
'An asset must generate income. Equities yield dividends, bonds pay coupons, deposits give interest, and real estate earns rent.' 'Gold, silver, and even Bitcoin produce no income, they merely store value. So, they should not be compared to productive assets.'
The government has amended rules of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), paving the way for up to 20 per cent foreign direct investment in the insurance behemoth LIC. The government is planning to dilute its stake in LIC through the the Initial Public Offering (IPO). LIC in February had filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) before the markets regulator Sebi for the IPO.
The note recommends allowing FDI in domestic firms through the issue of partly-paid up shares and convertible warrants, but with certain riders.
The government has imposed a service tax of 10.3 per cent on the gross value of tickets of all classes on the domestic flights and economy class on international routes.
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