Dr Manmohan Singh first embossed himself on the national consciousness when as India's finance minister he flagged off economic reforms which changed this nation forever.
India needs to recognise and address challenges posed by its dependence on China for critical minerals and examine the implications of phasing down coal on bank balance sheets as it accelerates its green transition, the government's Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday said. As part of its national plan to contribute to meeting the global goal of limiting the average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, India has committed to reducing emissions by 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, achieving 50 per cent cumulative electric installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources, and creating a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover.
India's economic growth during 2011-12 slipped to nine-year low of 6.5 per cent and during the first quarter of the current fiscal it was 5.5 per cent.
Last month, the agriculture ministry had projected 10 per cent fall in kharif foodgrains production at 117.18 million tonnes in view of poor rains and drought in more than 360 taluks in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
A large number of states, including Congress-ruled Kerala, are opposing the decision on concerns that the entry of foreign retailers like Walmart would lead to displacement of the neighbourhood kirana stores.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said the new version of the low-cost Aakash tablet PC is expected to be available to students on November 11.
The government on Monday said it will kickstart its ambitious Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) divestment programme with stake sale in RINL this month.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said he was confident of the DTC being recommended by the standing committee in the coming (winter) Parliament session.
Asked whether growth was responsible for rising prices, Ahluwalia replied, "I don't agree that whenever you have (high economic) growth then you have inflation."
According to a background note prepared for the Economic Editors conference, the Telecom Ministry has made a provision of adding 1,200 million new telephone connections by 2017.
In the first sign of dissent within the ruling UPA government, Agriculture & Food Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday indicated that covering two-thirds of the population under the proposed Food Security Bill was not feasible.
At Economic Editors' Conference in New Delhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he has suggested to the Andhra Pradesh Government to address some stringent provisions of its recently promulgated ordinance to rein in MFIs.
The emphasis would be on curbing subsidies and promoting private sector investment by continuing stimulus measures.
For India, the ideal inflation rate would be 4-5 per cent although it may be difficult to attain, the minister said while inaugurating the Economic Editors' Conference in New Delhi.
The government had, on June 25, freed petrol price from its control resulting in a hike of Rs 3.50 per litre.
The government also informed that it has been decided to entrust IBPS the responsibility to conduct the common recruitment examination for PSBs.
The industry ministry and the finance ministry are holding consultations on whether to bring the banking sector under the purview of new FDI (foreign direct investment) rules, which will categorise some Indian banks -- like ICICI Bank -- as foreign banks.
Ahluwalia's assessment of economic growth is marginally higher than 6.3 per cent projected by the Commission earlier.
The government on Tuesday said inflation is not an immediate concern and will continue with the fiscal stimulus measures till the economy recovers fully.
The expectations of our people and that of our global collaborators and the foreign investors from us are high and rising. In the best of times these expectations would rest heavily on our shoulders.
Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG D-6 field's gas production will double to around 90 million standard cubic meters per day by next fiscal, government's background material for the Economic Editor's Conference said.
The government is looking at steps to cut subsidy on fertiliser and oil sale with an aim to cutting non-plan expenditure and contain fiscal deficit.
Hoping that the worst is over on inflation, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said India must banish the thought of recession even though the overall outlook for the economy continues to be of "cautious optimism" in the face of global turbulence.
India's Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar says the government is taking a series of measures to liberalise futures trading in commodities.
Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said a revision in fuel prices was under consideration and a decision will be taken in due course. "Revision does not necessarily mean a cut in prices. We will have to wait and see on which products a reduction will be effected, by how much and when. The government will have to take a comprehensive view... What government will decide we cannot anticipate today."
The Reserve Bank has given an in-principle nod to invest $5 billion of foreign exchange reserves annually in infrastructure projects through two subsidiaries of India Infrastructure Finance Company.India's forex reserves stood at $266.52 billion as on November 2 and experts believe that they should be utilised at least for financing infrastructure projects.
Pawar said the decision to float a fresh wheat import tender on government account this week was also correct.
The Employees Provident Fund Board may examine the option of investing five per cent EPF corpus money in stock markets, Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said on Tuesday. Ahead of the meeting of EPF Central Board of Trustees to finalise the interest rate for 2007-08, Fernandes said that the option to make investment in the capital market was "still open".
The government has no plans to raise fuel prices in the immediate future and will take a decision in this regard at an "appropriate time", Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday. "An appropriate decision on fuel price will be taken at an appropriate time," Deora said at the Economic Editors' Conference in New Delhi.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday refused to sing the requiem for industrial growth, which was poor in September, and said that industry and services sectors would actually grow close to 10 per cent this fiscal.Chidambaram said during April-September there was only a slight deceleration in IIP growth. The index grew by 9.2 per cent in the six month period compared to 11.1 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
An eminent economist told me he reviewed as many as 40 papers on international flights, before meals!s
Jaipal Reddy made it clear that there were no efforts in this direction at present
'We have identified profit-making non-Navratna companies for divestment of minority stakes. We will begin discussions (with Left parties) soon,' said Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Indian economy would continue to grow at more than 8 per cent in the next few years.
Prices of petrol and diesel will not be reduced immediately as oil companies continue to make losses even after the recent fall in international oil prices, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Wednesday.
Currency notes of lower denomination of Rs 100 and Rs 50 will continue to be the legal tender
The Department of Telecom has sought information from private telecom operators about the employees who joined them from the PSUs - BSNL and MTNL - on whether they took permission from the concerned authorities.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances