India's GDP expanded 13.5 per cent in the April-June quarter, the quickest pace in a year, to retain the world's fastest growing economy tag but rising interest costs and the looming threat of a recession in major world economies could slow the momentum in the coming quarters.
Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday climbed to fresh highs in the country as rates were hiked by the most in recent times, even as fuel retailers said the government can cut taxes to ease consumer burden. Petrol and diesel price was hiked by 35 paise per litre each after a gap of a week, according to price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase took petrol prices to a fresh high of Rs 86.65 a litre in Delhi and to Rs 93.20 in Mumbai.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Indian airlines had suffered major losses in the past two years over the unprecedented rise in prices of aviation turbine fuel.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday took a critical view of some of the key decisions made by the Jawaharlal Nehru government, and said one needs to get out of this "cult worship" that the period from 1946 onwards was "great years" and the country did "splendidly".
The government has readied a big legislative agenda for the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning Monday even as the Opposition is raring to corner the ruling dispensation over a host of issues, including handling of the second wave of COVID-19, rise in fuel prices and farmers' stir.
While okra was being sold for Rs 100-120 a kg and cauliflower for Rs 120-140 a kg in Mumbai and its suburbs, all other vegetable prices have increased by almost 100 per cent since July 20.
A day after the Trinamool Congress said it was withdrawing support to the UPA government, in protest against the reform measures announced by the government, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry held a press conference to buttress its views on the importance of sustained reform process.
India Inc on Friday said major announcements made by government, including operationalisation of 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail, are huge "mood lifters", besides dispelling the impression of any policy paralysis in the government.
It is nearly impossible to effectively control inflation when it is not properly measured.
With rising petrol and diesel prices driving up demand for its CNG vehicles, the country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India plans to widen its CNG portfolio by offering the fuel option in four more models 'very shortly', according to a senior company official. The company, which plans to launch an electric vehicle (EV) in the Indian market by 2025, is also currently keeping a close watch on the country's EV ecosystem "to find out what is the best way of evolution" to be able to offer affordable EVs with hassle free charging infrastructure in order to clock high volumes for a sustainable business.
Normal life was hit in National Democratic Alliance and Left-ruled states on Monday as rail, air and bus services were disrupted during a bandh called against fuel price hike
Pakistan was ready to buy petroleum products from India if these were offered at "right prices", the country's minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Asim Hussain said.
Petrol and diesel prices on Tuesday touched fresh highs as rupee dipped to a record low of 71.54 against US dollar, making imports costlier
India's climate change goals are turning combustible. On the one hand, a protracted dispute between the government and manufacturers over subsidies threatens to slow the pace of electric vehicle (EV) sales. On the other hand, repeated assertions by different arms of the government over banning sales of new fossil fuel-fired vehicles have queered the pitch for energy investments. Before we address the issue of the recommended diesel vehicle ban in the recent report on energy transition, issued months before the next round of global climate talks begin in Dubai in November, let's look at what's at stake.
The Air India pilots strike was called off on Tuesday night after the Delhi High Court asked them to join duty within 48 hours and the management to sympathetically consider their grievances.
Uber on Thursday said it is now showing trip destination to drivers before they decide to accept a ride to enable them to make informed choices as the ride-hailing app announced a host of new measures promising to improve platform experience for drivers as well as riders. Upfront destination feature is already live across 20 cities and will be expanded to all others, Uber said in a statement. The move assumes significance as the government recently warned cab aggregators, including Ola and Uber, of strict action unless they improve their systems and redress mounting consumer complaints.
India's import of discounted crude oil from the Russian Federation hit an all-time high in May, with state-run refiner IOC becoming the biggest importer of Russian oil, relegating Reliance Industries to the second place, trade and shipping data show. Indian imports of Russian oil, accounting for over 46 per cent of its total crude oil imports in May, have grown after strong backing by New Delhi, with state-run refiners powering imports of discounted crude. Discounts on Russian oil average around $10 a barrel, said an official from a state-run refiner. IOC's May purchases rose by 64 per cent on the month, and accounted for half of its total crude imports last month, ship tracking data show.
The rise was due to a sharp fall in prices, which spurred demand.
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
While consumers feel that petrol pinches directly, diesel hurts indirectly, as it is an input in almost all the goods and services we use.
For now, the upside appears to offset damage done to exports by weaker global demand.
The government has cut the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country while the levy on exports of diesel and ATF has been hiked, an official notification said. The tax, levied in the form of special additional excise duty or SAED, on domestically produced crude oil was reduced to Rs 6,700 per tonne from Rs 7,100 a tonne. SAED on the export of diesel was increased to Rs 6 per litre from Rs 5.50 a litre and on jet fuel or ATF to Rs 4 per litre from Rs 2, the notification said.
'Rhetoric and chest-thumping are running high on India's recent growth record.'
'But will the giant waves developing elsewhere allow us to sail smoothly into fair winds?' asks Debashis Basu.
Sukanya Verma gives you some great options to choose from.
Amid news of a fuel shortage in some parts of the country and wider unrest over fuel issues in the neighbourhood, an analysis of the data from international tracker globalpetrolprices.com shows that the per litre price of petrol is higher in India than in seven out of its nine neighbours.
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
Every 10 per cent rise in crude oil price will shave off around 0.2 percentage point (pp) from India's GDP growth and widen the current account by 0.3 per cent, says Nomura.
New Delhi's timing couldn't have been worse, both for India's fledgling electric vehicle (EV) sector and prospective electric bike buyers. It was hard to miss the perfect storm brewing for India's EV industry since early 2022. On one hand, you had several accidents involving battery fires that unnerved consumers; on the other, uncertainty had crept in over subsidies.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) plans to drive in CNG trims across its product range as it remains bullish over long-term prospects of the segment amid increase in fuel prices and drop in diesel car sales, according to a senior company official. The company, which sold around 1.62 lakh CNG cars last fiscal year, is also counting on the rapid expansion of CNG dispensing outlets across the country to bring in more CNG products. Bullish on the expansion of the sales network, the automaker expects its CNG car sales to almost double this fiscal year over 2020-21.
Inflation has reappeared as a global issue in both advanced and emerging economies and India needs to be wary of "imported inflation", especially due to high oil prices, according to the Economic Survey 2021-22 released on Monday. "Inflation has reappeared as a global issue in both advanced and emerging economies. "India's Consumer Price Index inflation stood at 5.6 per cent YoY in December 2021 which is within the targeted tolerance band," the survey report presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman noted.
Market leader IndiGo on Friday followed its rivals and raised fares by 25 per cent to offset the impact of rupee fall and spike in international crude prices.
Indian automakers dispatched nearly 2.92 lakh passenger vehicles, the highest ever for February so far, driven by strong demand for cars and utility vehicles, industry body SIAM said on Friday. The total passenger vehicle dispatches from companies to dealers last month increased 11 per cent to 2,91,928 units from 2,62,984 units in February 2022. Passenger car sales rose to 1,42,201 units in February against 1,33,572 units in the year-ago period.
Volkswagen Passenger Cars is targeting a volume sales growth of about 15 per cent in the country in 2024, even as it expects the Indian passenger vehicle (PV) industry to grow by 5-7 per cent in the current year, its India brand director, Ashish Gupta, said on Thursday. This means the company is expecting to grow 2-3 times faster than the Indian PV industry in 2024. But globally, the German automaker is expecting just 3 per cent rise in sales this year, down from 12 per cent last year.
Currency depreciation also hits earnings of all domestic carriers
India must be prepared to deal with climate disasters, geopolitical confrontations, and social strife linked to global events, asserts Jayant Sinha, chairman of Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance.
This is a good opportunity for long-term investors to pick quality small and midcap stocks at reasonable valuations.
S&P Global Ratings on Monday retained India's GDP growth forecast at 6 per cent saying it will be the fastest growing economy among Asia Pacific nations. The GDP growth forecast for the current and the next fiscal has been kept unchanged from the forecast made in March partly on account of domestic resilience. "We see the fastest growth at about 6 per cent in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines, S&P Global Ratings said in its quarterly economic update for Asia-Pacific.
Domestic passenger car sales declined by 23.77 per cent to 1,38,521 units in October, 2011, from 1,81,704 units in the same month last year.
The automobile sector has started seeing volume growth, the crucial economy segment included. Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) could be a big beneficiary as the country's largest passenger vehicle (PV) maker has seen several favourable developments including volume recovery. Demand for its new sports utility vehicles (SUVs) appears to be good, and the company has 4 lakh outstanding orders by April 2023, (up from 3.6 lakhs in January 2023). Siam (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) estimates that passenger vehicle demand would grow by 5-7 per cent in the 2023-24 financial year (FY24) and MSIL is likely to beat the market growth.
Usually, a fall in oil prices is followed with a cut in retail prices of auto fuels and the government passes on the benefit to consumers. However, Morgan Stanley believes gains this time around will remain capped.
