Retail inflation eased to an 11-month low of 4.83 per cent in April as prices of some kitchen items declined though overall food basket firmed up marginally, according to a government data released on Monday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 4.85 per cent in March. It was 4.7 per cent in April 2023.
Retail inflation declined to a five-month low of 4.85 per cent in March mainly due to cooling food prices, inching towards the Reserve Bank's target of 4 per cent, according to official data released on Friday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was 5.09 per cent in February and 5.66 per cent in March 2023. Previously, CPI-based inflation was the lowest at 4.87 per cent in October 2023.
This shortfall could continue to hurt loan growth in 2016-17.
The oil industry experienced three upheavals between 1973 and 1991, which seem to be etched in the memory of the industry's decision makers. Naturally, at the sign of a new crisis, the decision makers like to dip into those tumultuous decades to find ways to deal with the new shock, in addition, of course, to expert reports and forecasts. So, the industry bigwigs turned the pages of history to get a peek into the future of oil price movements after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Israel attacked Gaza in 2023, Iran-linked Houthi rebels pounded tankers crossing the Red Sea in support of Palestine the same year, and Iran rained missiles on Israel in 2024.
Investments worth more than Rs 80 trillion are expected in roads, railways and urban infrastructure between now and FY30 and the supply chains helping to build this core infrastructure are also readying to cash in on the growth. In the first half of the current financial year, orders worth more than Rs 2.6 trillion were tendered in the roads and railways segment alone, according to data sourced from ICRA Ratings and Research. "India's transportation infrastructure sector is in high gear, and we enjoy a sizable share of it," said S V Desai, whole time director and senior executive vice president (Civil Infrastructure) for Larsen & Toubro.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is unlikely to cut the benchmark interest rate at its upcoming monetary policy review meeting, taking place soon after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election results, amid inflation challenges, said experts. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may also refrain from rate cut as economic growth is picking up, notwithstanding the elevated interest rate of 6.5 per cent (repo) prevailing since February 2023. The meeting of the Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das headed MPC is scheduled for June 5 to 7.
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed to a 14-month low of 3.8 per cent in December 2023, on account of poor performance of sectors like crude oil, electricity, steel and cement, according to the official data released on Wednesday. The core sector (coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity) growth in November was 7.9 per cent. It was 8.3 per cent in December 2022.
Credit rating agency ICRA on Monday revised upwards its economic growth projection to 6.5-6.7 per cent following Budget announcements that are likely to boost investment in agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
Banks' gross non-performing assets (NPAs) and net NPAs are expected to rise to 10.1-10.6 per cent and 3.1-3.2 per cent, respectively by March 2021, Icra said on Monday. The agency also expects net NPA to decline to 2.4-2.6 per cent by March 2022. "As moratorium on loan repayments is over and though we await the Honourable Supreme Court directive on asset classification, the GNPAs and NNPAs for banks are likely to rise in near term to 10.1-10.6 per cent and 3.1-3.2 per cent, respectively by March 2021 from 7.9 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively as of September 2020," the rating agency said in a report.
It can be noted that according to official estimates, GDP growth in FY14 is expected to come in at 4.9 per cent, up from 4.5 per cent in FY13, Icra said.
The LIC and some PSU general insurers are expected to maintain dominant position in the coming years even in the liberalised scenario, ICRA said in a research report.
The government on Thursday ruled out giving another extension to various states for unbundling their electricity boards as part of measures to encourage non-government entities in the power sector.
Regulator wants to change NPA classification and hike capital requirement.
Tata Motors will soon submit a detailed report on the upcoming manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu's Ranipet district and a decision, on whether the facility will churn out passenger or commercial vehicles, will be taken by the company on the basis of market trends, state's industries minister TRB Rajaa said on Thursday. "They are keeping the options open, and market trends will determine it (the type of vehicles the plant will make). "They will quickly come up with a detailed report on that," Rajaa said.
Retail inflation rose at the fastest pace in four months in December 2023 at 5.69 per cent, on account of an increase in prices of vegetables, pulses, and spices, according to government data released on Friday. The annual inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at 5.55 per cent in November and 5.72 per cent in the year-ago month. As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the rate of price rise in the food basket, which constitutes nearly half of the CPI, increased to 9.53 per cent in December 2023, as against 8.7 per cent in the preceding month, and 4.19 per cent in December 2022.
Retail inflation declined to a three-month low of 5.1 per cent in January, mainly due to subdued prices of vegetables, fruits and other food items, according to government data released on Monday. The fall indicates that retail inflation is inching towards the Reserve Bank's comfort level of 4 per cent. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was on the rise for two straight months after touching a trough of 4.9 per cent in October 2023. In December, it stood at 5.69 per cent.
The liquidity in the banking system moved into surplus almost after three months as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) absorbed over Rs 40,000 crore from the market on Monday, predominantly on the back of increased government spending. However, this situation may be short-lived given the higher demand for funds to pay taxes and year-end targets, treasury executives said. Meanwhile, two variable reverse repo rate (VRRR) auctions held on Tuesday received weak response.
Economy is poised to grow by 6.5 to 6.9 per cent in this fiscal following a good monsoon and an expected robust 9.0 per cent growth in agriculture, ICRA said on Monday.
The forthcoming public issue by rating agency ICRA Ltd will see State Bank of India diluting its stake in the company by a nominal 0.21 per cent, but the meagre divestment has larger implications on both the entities.
Rating agency ICRA has picked up a 33 per cent stake in Online IndiaCapital.com, a Mumbai-based promoter of MutualFundsIndia.com, even as it is planning a special purpose vehicle for setting up a business process outsourcing unit.\n\n\n\n
India's industrial production growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in December 2023, mainly due to poor performance of mining and power generation segments, according to official data released on Monday. The factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was at 5.1 per cent in December 2022. In November last year, IIP growth stood at 2.4 per cent.
ICRA's GDP forecast is higher than the 6.0 per cent projection made by the Reserve Bank of India and Asian Development Bank for this fiscal.\n\n\n\n
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent in May 2023 due to a decline in the production of crude oil, natural gas and electricity, according to the data released by the government on Friday. The core sector growth was 19.3 per cent in May 2022, while in April 2023, the key infra sectors recorded a growth rate of 4.3 per cent. During April-May this fiscal, the output growth of these eight sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent against 14.3 per cent in the year-ago period, the data showed.
In recent months, several pharma multinational corporations (MNCs) are increasingly turning to Indian companies to expand market reach in the country's pharmaceuticals sector. Sanofi's partnerships with Dr Reddy's, Cipla, and Emcure, AstraZeneca and Mankind Pharma - teaming up for asthma medication distribution - are a few instances of this trend. This strategy allows MNCs to leverage established Indian networks and reach a wider audience. Indian companies also benefit from global brands and expertise, say analysts.
Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao will, however, not touch the policy rate or the repo, rate at which RBI lends to banks, on October 30 when he unveils the half-yearly monetary policy because headline inflation continues to be elevated at 7-7.5 per cent, the agency said.
Strong demand in the domestic market, coupled with an increase in raw material prices, is pushing up steel prices. According to SteelMint, a market intelligence and price reporting firm, the list price of flat steel has seen an increase of Rs 750-2,000 per tonne for October deliveries. The long steel price witnessed an increase of Rs 1,500 per tonne towards the end of September.
Listing out priorities for the Finance Ministry under Arun Jaitley and the Narendra Modi government as a whole, it said the growth rate can pick up to 6 per cent with the extent and pace of reform measures.
Warning banks on interest rates risks, high transaction costs and NPAs, ICRA said Indian banks are yet to attain global standard in profitability and productivity despite posting over 40% growth in net profit in the first half of this fiscal.
At a time when Internet subscriber growth is almost flat and about 200 ISP licences have been surrendered, setting up local Internet exchanges will lead to reduction in costs and "propel" spread of the Net into rural areas, an ICRA report said.
'Every hospital now tracks length of stay closely.' 'More efficiency is brought into the system now.'
Trouble started brewing after Cognizant announced that Ravi Kumar, former Infosys president, would take over as the Nasdaq-listed company's CEO.
ICRA said on Monday that domestic car sales is likely to grow by eight per cent annually over the next three years to 838,000 units in 2006-07, which will be driven largely by the compact and mid-size segments.
Corporate India is starting to step up its capital expenditure plans amid government incentives and signs of rising demand, company executives and analysts have indicated. This coincides with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently citing a double-digit growth in private capital expenditure. Healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates, along with increasing capacity utilisation and improving business sentiment, are contributing to a favourable environment for sustained growth in private sector investments, the RBI said in its policy last week.
The economy is slated to grow by 6.9 per cent in this fiscal backed by a robust 9.0 per cent growth in farm output, credit rating agency ICRA said on Monday.
Credit rating agency ICRA disputed the official forecast of a lower 4.4 per cent growth in GDP, and said all indications in reality are that the economy was slated to grow by 5.4-5.5 per cent this fiscal.
Analysts and economists have hailed the fiscal projections in the interim Budget, saying the lower fiscal deficit forecast shows that the government, even in an election year, is serious about fiscal consolidation and that the numbers look achievable. According to Devendra Kumar Pant, the chief economist at India Ratings, the two broad themes of the interim Budget are fiscal consolidation and stepping up focus on agriculture/rural to course correct, to some extent, the differential benefits of the ongoing economic growth that's tilted in favour of upper-income bracket/urban households. The projected fiscal deficit numbers for FY24 and FY25 suggest that the government is serious about achieving the fiscal consolidation path of 4.5 per cent fiscal deficit by FY26, and given the nominal GDP growth assumption and revenue buoyancy, the target appears plausible, Pant said in a note.
24x7 power supply to farmers emerges as a political lightning rod in the state.
The Interim Budget for 2024-25 (FY25) to be presented on February 1 is likely to assume 10-10.5 per cent nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth against 8.9 per cent estimated for FY24 by the National Statistical Office (NSO). "We were waiting for the First Advance Estimates GDP numbers for FY24. "We will finalise the nominal GDP growth assumption for FY25 Interim Budget in a couple of days.
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