The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, a measure of factory production, stood at 51.3 in April, unchanged from 51.3 in March, amid moderate expansion of incoming new business orders.
GDP growth of 7.7 per cent in the first half of this fiscal has "left sceptics gasping and woefully behind the curve", an RBI article said on Wednesday. It also stressed the buildup in the growth momentum is likely to be sustained. The article on the state of the economy published in the Reserve Bank's December Bulletin on Wednesday also said CPI-based retail inflation is expected to ease to 4.6 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024-25 from 5.6 per cent in November.
India's manufacturing sector activity contracted for the second consecutive month in September as both output and new orders witnessed a decline, an HSBC survey said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US is expected to see discussion on India's possible entry into a US-led global alliance on critical minerals, officials told Business Standard. In June last year, the US, the European Union, and other G7 partners launched the Minerals Security Partnership to ensure that China did not further strengthen its grip on supplies of critical minerals the world over. Various ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, have communicated to the Ministry of External Affairs to explore the possibility of India joining the partnership, officials said.
The economy clocked a robust 7.9 per cent growth in the second quarter, catapulted by a stimulus packages-powered strong industrial growth. And, manufacturing grew by 9.2 per cent against 5.1 per cent in the year-ago quarter.
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.
An allocation to ESG theme funds can bring down the overall risk of an equity portfolio. Investors with long-term financial goals, such as retirement, should not ignore sustainable investing.
The Delhi high court on Friday sought the Enforcement Directorate's stand on a plea by Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh against his arrest in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion secretary Ajay Shankar told PTI, "India is emerging as a globally competitive manufacturing hub for small fuel efficient cars." Shankar, who was in London to interact with the UK-India Business Council and the India Business Forum, said, though, export-oriented small and medium enterprises have been severely hit, 'fortunately the auto-sector in India has revived.'
A reading above 50 denotes expansion while one below means contraction.
Based on discussions with stakeholders, the ministry is proposing to allocate Rs 26,400 crore for FAME-III subsidy alone with electric two wheelers getting around Rs 8,158 crore, electric buses Rs 9,600 crore and electric three-wheelers Rs 4,100 crore, according to sources in the know. Along with some other components like setting up an innovation fund and money for testing , the total allocation could cross Rs 33,000 crore, estimates suggest.
Industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry said successive hikes in interest rates have had a dampening impact on industrial growth.
India will never provide company or enterprise-specific incentives in the electric vehicle sector, a top government official said on Friday, amid a push from American electric carmaker Tesla for special sops to set up its factory in the country. If the government has to consider providing incentives then it will only be for all EV makers and entrants who want to come to India, the official said. The official added that inter-ministerial discussions have happened on the customs duty concession demand of the US-based electric car maker Tesla, but "we never" came to any conclusion on those.
Regulators must learn from past mistakes and act swiftly to prevent Big Tech from monopolising the AI ecosystem, argue Payal Malik and Nikita Jain.
Seen as a major initiative, the 'strategic partnership model' aims to create a vibrant defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country through involvement of both the major Indian corporates as well as the MSME sector.
India will have to wait till the third quarter of this fiscal to witness the rebound in manufacturing, triggered by low-end consumer durables growth in semi-urban areas, says research firm Deloitte.
The government's target of hitting $52 billion to $58 billion in mobile phone exports in FY26 has been faltering; an Indian corporate group with financial muscle will help.
To boost the 'Make in India' initiative, the Union home ministry has liberalised the Arms Rules to encourage investment in the manufacturing of arms, ammunition and weapon systems in the country.
PMI went up from 51.2 points in May to 53.1 in June. Owing to the June figure, PMI for manufacturing stood at 51.9 points in the first quarter of 2018-19 against 51.8 points in the fourth quarter of 2017-18.
Honda Cars India approached the Gujarat government with a proposal to set up a car manufacturing plant in the state.
Consumer goods firms and auto companies are witnessing an upturn in rural demand, which had been lagging for most of FY24. Expectations of a bumper rabi crop harvest have helped turn the tide. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Monetary Policy Committee kept the repo rate unchanged last week, noting that as rural demand catches up, consumption is expected to support economic growth in 2024-25.
The Chinese economy is headed for troubled waters, with its manufacturing sector shrinking in November for the first time in nearly three years, in a fresh sign of a further economic slowdown that may prompt it to loosen its monetary policy.
Expressing deep concerns over India's policy of preferring domestically manufactured information and communication technology goods, the apex body of US telecom industry has told lawmakers that this will have negative impact on exports and economic competitiveness.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said a strong domestic manufacturing base in electronics and telecommunications will mitigate burden of growing imports for the sector.
The Delhi high court on Friday refused to interfere with the 'malicious' arrest of Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped excise policy of the Delhi government, saying it cannot impute political motive to a 'premier' investigating agency in the absence of material on record. It also said Singh's was not a 'prima facie case of no evidence at all'.
Passenger vehicle wholesales in India increased by 1.87 per cent year-on-year to 361,717 units last month, industry body SIAM said on Monday. The passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers stood at 3,55,043 units in September 2022. Similarly, two-wheeler sales increased to 17,49,794 units last month from 17,35,199 units in the year-ago period, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said.
The bilateral trade between India and China stood at $65.85 billion in 2013-14.
Make in India needs policy support for access to markets.
Global trends, trading activity of foreign investors, outcome of state elections and RBI's interest rate decision are the major factors that will drive the movement in the domestic equity markets this week, analysts said. "Global markets are currently in a fabulous mood. The US 10-year bond yield and the dollar index are also cooling off, which gives strength to the market. These factors will be closely monitored, as they have the potential to influence market sentiment," said Pravesh Gour, senior technical analyst, Swastika Investmart Ltd. On the political front, the results of assembly elections in five states are eagerly anticipated, Gour said.
The push given to rooftop solar installation in the Interim Budget ties in with its high rate of adoption in Tier-II and -III cities of India. If original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automobile industry, government, and the solar sector are to be believed, in cities of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Kerala, 45-50 per cent of electric-vehicle (EV) users are employing rooftop power to charge their vehicles. This is compared to the national average of 25 per cent, say industry sources.
India's manufacturing sector witnessed a modest growth in May, but going ahead "weak demand conditions" may persist.
While the tax holiday for the factory coming to an end might be a factor, many say the business model of Microsoft (which acquired Nokia's handset division last year), as well as freebies offered by the Vietnamese government, might also have played a role.
During March, the rate of inflation slowed to the weakest in four months and was below the long-run survey average
Putin made these remarks on Thursday at a forum in Moscow organised by Russia's Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI).
Although the BJP has never been ballistic about the BJD and Narendra Modi has avoided being critical of Naveen Patnaik, the BJP is optimistic that the party can improve its electoral fortunes in Odisha on its own, notes Rup Narayan Das.
US proposal to raise the global corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% might face resistance from countries unwilling to give up their edge and compete with America on its terms.
The Wall Street major Morgan Stanley has upgraded India to "standout overweight" citing that the relative economic and earnings growth is improving and the macro-stability setup looks sufficient to withstand the higher real rate environment. "India remains standout overweight. "We increase our overweight stance on Indian equities and as our most-preferred emerging market," the brokerage said in a note on Friday.
The headline HSBC India Purchasing Managers' Index -- a composite gauge designed to give a single-figure snapshot of manufacturing business conditions -- stood at 54.5 in December, up from 53.3 in the prior month.
Clearly, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu and his team are looking to raise their game in India.
The government said it had been evaluating the implementation of the decentralised model of vaccination since its launch on May 1 and that the decision to centralise it again was taken after detailed deliberations and following requests by some states, amid claims by the Opposition that the policy change was due to the Supreme Court's intervention.