For MSMEs the transition could mean higher wage bills and tougher compliance -- unless strong handholding follows reports Auhona Mukherjee.
The European Union's (EU's) offer to slash tariffs on 97.5 per cent of Indian chemical exports to zero is set to give India's pharmaceutical and medical device firms preferential access to the European markets.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a strong attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, accusing them of compromising India's interests on the world stage and selling out farmers and the poor during their time in power.
Customs regimes can lead to labyrinthine legal disputes. Budget 2026 must recognise that an excessively defensive Customs posture can itself become a trade barrier, point out Mukesh Butani and Shankey Agrawal.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
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.
Total pending Customs arrears, including amounts under litigation, court stays and cases where the appeal period has not expired, stood at about Rs 1.36 trillion at the end of December 2024.
'The tools of warfare are changing. The MoD must deepen its engagement with technology thinkers that can present compelling visions of where warfare may be heading.'
The central government has provided armed security to West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer following potential threats related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved Rs 11,718 crore for conducting the Census of India, 2027, which would include the caste enumeration for the first time.
India's merchandise exports grew in the first three weeks of November compared with the same period last year, according to preliminary government data, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. The uptick comes despite globa
This was perhaps a missed opportunity for India to spotlight a core domestic challenge: The scale of workforce preparation required for a young, populous, rapidly growing country seeking to reach net zero, points out Radha Roy Biswas.
Lieutenant Colonel C Dwarakesh is the only completely blind officer to continue in the Indian Army after losing his eyesight while in service. In his remarkable journey after disability, he enhanced his education qualification, scaled the Siachen Glacier and found purpose in sport.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has launched an integrated audit across 32 states and Union Territories to assess the ease of doing business for the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.
The government is finalising a major GST overhaul with automated refunds, pre-filled returns, and analytics-based scrutiny to simplify compliance and boost liquidity for MSMEs.
The idea is to establish a robust and forward-looking legal framework that addresses the financial stress of power distribution companies, which are facing losses of over 6.9 trillion, while curbing high industrial tariffs that, according to the government, have affected competitiveness, constrained economic growth, and slowed the transition to clean energy.
Once a quiet riverside ritual, Dev Deepawali has evolved into UP's largest soft-power spectacle -- merging faith, art, enterprise into a global cultural brand that reflects state's growing confidence.
Opening up the corner office is fine, but will the government be able to attract talent without giving a market-rate salary?, asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) board has approved liberalised part withdrawals for subscribers, allowing up to 100 per cent EPF withdrawal, and rolled out the 'Vishwas Scheme' to reduce litigation through rationalised penal damages.
Defence Procurement Manual 2025 lays down the guiding principles for revenue procurements in the defence ministry worth around 1 trillion in a financial year.
'The dakiyas will be our partners, receiving credit proposals from micro-enterprises at the grassroots level.'
For kids in the United States, the tariff imposed by the Donald Trump administration on countries like China may no longer be a child's play, as toy prices are predicted to touch record highs this Christmas season. However, for India's toy export industry, which was ready to take giant strides in the sector by bagging heavy orders from the US retail giants like Walmart, Amazon, and Target Corporation, gaining from the China-Plus-One policy, the US tariffs came as a heavy jolt.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 1,600-crore assistance package for flood-hit Punjab after reviewing the damage. He also announced ex gratia for the deceased and injured. The state is battling its worst deluge since 1988.
India's goods exports rebounded in July after two months of contraction, with outbound shipments rising 7.3 per cent to $37.24 billion, led by a surge in exports to the United States before the country's reciprocal tariff kicked in and bolstered by a recovery in exports to other key markets.
The orders issued this month have selected ministries ranging from home affairs under Amit Shah to rural development, headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, to move to Building 3 -- currently named CCS-03 -- on Kartavya Path. The scale of the shift will be even larger than when most of Lutyens' Delhi's present crop of government buildings came up in the early 1930s.
Simplifying GST rates, removing exemptions, easing disputes, and speeding up refunds can boost investment in India and offer the best reply to Trump's tariffs, observes V S Krishnan, former member, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
We propose an expert group be set up to form a national strategy on digital fraud. This group would bring together skills in financial regulation, security economics, cyber defence, and public communications, and an understanding of the Indian financial and security systems. It should lay the foundations of a coordinated approach by the Indian State in fighting digital fraud, suggest Ajay Shah and Nandkumar Saravade.
Despite facing financial constraints, Kerala has been able to invest in welfare schemes and targeted programmes.
'The Railways is today running train services with 30% less number of loco pilots.'
UPI has catapulted India into the forefront on the global digital payments landscape. Working hand in hand, the AePS payments system is making life easy for rural folks, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'The government is actively engaging with EU to ensure that concerns of Indian companies and hard-to-abate sectors are adequately addressed under CBAM'
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has received "positive" feedback from industry regarding the 45-day payments cycle for MSMEs, according to a senior official familiar with the matter. The comment assumes significance amid concerns raised by some MSMEs that big companies may stop buying from small and medium suppliers and instead choose to make purchases from unregistered enterprises.
More than one million cybersecurity incidents were flagged within 10 days.
"More than 85,000 domiciles have been issued to non-locals, creating a pathway for demographic change in Jammu & Kashmir. These non-locals arrive posing as tourists, obtain domiciles, and then begin to act as if they own the land. Consequently, violence will be directed toward those attempting to settle illegally," TRF said in a statement which could not be independently verified by Rediff.
Citing evolving needs and aspirations of the citizens, he said that the civil service must adapt to contemporary challenges to remain relevant.
The value of contracts awarded by the MoD in 2024-2025 is the highest ever and double the previous record set in 2023-2024.
The Budget assumes significance as it comes on the back of lower-than-expected growth numbers during the second quarter and geopolitical uncertainty.
In a significant policy shift aimed at boosting agri-productivity and rural prosperity, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new agricultural schemes while increasing the subsidised Kisan Credit Card loan limit to Rs 5 lakh from the existing Rs 3 lakh, benefiting 7.7 crore farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers.
The finance minister, in her Budget speech, should focus more on what she is directly responsible for, rather than on programmes where her role is largely supportive, notes Nitin Desai.
The need for a manufacturing policy, reining in food inflation and raising investment in the country were among key suggestions given by economists who met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior ministry officials in the first round of pre-Budget consultations on Friday.
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