'That journey across India has changed me forever.'
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
Under the defence partnership, India and the UAE are eyeing defence industrial collaboration and cooperation in advanced technologies, cyberspace training, special operations, interoperability of their militaries and counter terrorism.
A trade deal makes sense only if it is fair and reciprocal. If the cost is strategic dependence or loss of policy space, waiting is the wiser option, asserts Ajay Srivastava.
As the rupee has been on a downward slide and crossed 90 a dollar, consumer electronics firms are looking to raise prices of products ranging from air conditioners (ACs) to television panels up to 10 per cent.
Indian private sector and State-run refiners continued to receive crude oil from Russian suppliers even after November 21 -- the winding-down date for US sanctions on supplies from leading Russian oil producers imposed in October -- as new intermediaries sprung up in West Asia to sell the oil, according to senior refining sources and ship tracking data.
'In the long run, India's strong growth story and reforms to make assets globally attractive will determine the rupee's resilience.'
Usually, in the western view, corporate success is attributed to efficiency, organisational structure, and scale. R Gopalakrishnan and Harish Bhat argue that philosophy, culture, and the transmission of values are more important for sustaining growth and profitability of an enterprise over a period of time.
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.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) plans to invest Rs 75,000 crore ($9 billion) each into its new energy business and petrochemical expansion, according to a company presentation. In its FY25 result statement, Ambani said the company has laid a strong foundation for its projects in renewable energy and battery operations. "In the coming quarters, we will see the transition of this business from incubation to operationalisation.
India should simultaneously prioritise domestic exploration and production of more oil and gas in the country, and ensure we retain diversified suppliers for imports, points out former foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai.
Adani Enterprises' subsidiary Kutch Copper (KCL) and Australian Securities Exchange-listed Caravel Minerals on Thursday signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) for collaboration on the Caravel Copper Project in Western Australia's Murchison region, for an undisclosed amount, according to a joint statement.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
There is positive sentiment for Tata Steel on the basis of strong domestic demand, a turnaround of European operations and moderate valuations. A combination of capacity expansion, efficiency gains, higher asset utilisation, and improved operating leverage may lead to margin expansions.
'Indian refiners can operate without Russian crude from a technical standpoint, but the shift would involve major economic and strategic trade-offs'
'I don't see how a company like OpenAI can honestly expect to generate revenue significant enough to maintain its spending habits via John and Jane Q. Public,' points out Sree Sreenivasan.
'We are expecting investment, public and private, of around Rs 40 trillion by 2029.'
Sreenivasan could so willingly be 'our little man' because in his heart of hearts he never felt trivial or inconsequential. And to the very end he stayed that way, the shrimp who knew he was a giant. Sreehari Nair doffs his hat to the late legend.
The automobile industry has sought government support in expediting approvals from the Chinese government for importing rare earth magnets used in various applications, including passenger cars. As per the industry sources, various domestic suppliers have already sought approval from the Chinese government through their local vendors in China.
The government is developing ports across the country as centres for green hydrogen production and export, Sarbananda Sonowal, minister of ports, shipping and waterways (MoPSW) said on Tuesday. "Across the country, over 12 million tonnes of green hydrogen-based e-fuel capacity has been announced.
Chinese import tariffs have unwittingly come to India's assistance to help boost imports of US liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at rates cheaper than what it pays for supplies from West Asia, according to industry sources and shipping data.
India's purchase of US crude oil has picked up in 2025 and could easily double their previous levels, government officials said on Wednesday. The surge comes in the wake of the then-incoming Donald Trump administration's announcement that it would consider hiking tariffs on a reciprocal basis, and pushed some countries, especially those with large trade surpluses with the US, to buy more of its energy.
S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday upped India's GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.5 per cent, citing lower crude prices, monetary easing and normal monsoon, and said the ongoing geopolitical tensions are unlikely to put a "significant pressure" on the rupee or inflation.
'The steel industry has a multiplier effect on direct and indirect employment, national security on the supply chain, technology access etc.'
'America is adopting the typical 'my way or the highway'/'Either you are with us or against us' stance.' 'This is a policy India is not going to accept.'
India, the world's third largest oil importing and consuming nation, is likely to save as much as Rs 1.8 lakh crore on import of crude oil and LNG if the trend of softening international energy rates continues, Icra said Wednesday. India, which meets over 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports, spent $242.4 billion on buying crude from overseas in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025.
The government plans to establish a fully indigenous manufacturing ecosystem with an annual production capacity of up to 6,000 tonnes. The scheme is expected to run for seven years, according to official documents.
Initially, the lure of a big paycheck may feel rewarding. But, over time, professionals find themselves drifting away from family, friends and personal joys, observes Pradeep Pramanik.
The move offers flexibility in compliance but also places penalties squarely on the designated manager of such a pool.
India has strongly criticized the US and EU for their 'unjustified and unreasonable' targeting of New Delhi for its procurement of Russian crude oil, pointing out their own continued trade relations with Russia.
Cooking oil is often discarded after being used for frying at home or in restaurants. However, a refinery of IndianOil has now won a certification to use the same oil to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the company chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney said.
The weaker rupee will push the country's import bill due to higher payments for crude oil, coal, vegetable oil, gold, diamonds, electronics, machinery, plastics, and chemicals, economic think tank GTRI said on Friday. Citing an example, it said the depreciating domestic currency will increase India's gold import bill, especially as global gold prices have jumped 31.25 per cent, rising from $65,877 per kg in January 2024 to $86,464 per kg in January 2025.
Reliance Industries' refining earnings will remain steady, supported by its position as India's largest importer of Russian crude and favourable global supplies, according to analysts at JM Financial and Goldman Sachs. Reliance imported more Russian barrels than any other Indian refiner in the past eight months, according to data from Bloomberg/Kpler.
The bilateral trade between India and China has been growing at a healthy rate, but the trade gap remains sharply tilted in Beijing's favour. India has time and again flagged its concern over the ballooning trade deficit and the non-trade barriers faced by Indian goods in the Chinese market.
The era where nations thrived through rigid alignments is giving way to an age where the connective State defines power. For India, that era has arrived, points out Dr Nishakant Ojha.
With general government debt now approaching three-quarters of GDP, and only incremental reform efforts visible, Pakistan risks prolonging its economic stagnation unless fundamental governance, regulatory, and industrial overhauls are undertaken.
In trade negotiations, as in chess, sometimes you need to accept a temporary disadvantage to secure a better long-term position, points out Sonal Varma, chief economist (India and Asia ex-Japan) at Nomura.
'When global politics has some intervention on the core software one uses, and if you are cut off from your own data in critical workflows, sovereignty is no longer optional. It becomes a necessity.'
'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.'
'In diabetes remission, you go below a 6.5 HbA1c without medication.' 'And this happens only when you lose 10 to 15 per cent of your body weight with a good amount of lifestyle and dietary changes, exercise and sometimes medication.' 'You have to be able to sustain your HBA1C below 6.5 for at least a year without medication to say that the patient is in remission.'
