This Budget positions India's taxation ideology as not merely a revenue source but as a strategic catalyst for growth, inclusion and long-term confidence.
'I will not be surprised if there is a 7 per cent handle in front of the decimal place for the full financial year.'
Officials from both India and the US in the recent past have indicated that a "fair deal" will be concluded soon, with Indian officials holding that more formal rounds of talks are not needed.
Nirmala Sitharaman moved into her Kartavya Bhavan office on October 2, in time to get the work on the Budget 2026-2027 going.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday asked fintech startups to come out with solutions to deal with the rising incidence of digital arrests, cheating by fly-by-night operators, and other kinds of cyber frauds. Speaking at the Digital Payments Awards 2025 ceremony here, the minister credited fintechs with helping speed up financial inclusion and taking the payment system to even the far-flung areas of the country.
It is a marketplace of attention, where legacy publishers, global franchises, and consumer brands meet to make the most of India's expanding fandom economy.
'India is a big market for StanC, and it is also fastest growing economy in the world.'
Amazon will invest more than Rs 2,000 crore (about $233 million) in India in 2025 as it strengthens its logistics and safety standards, said the ecommerce company on Thursday.
India's $280-billion IT industry heads into 2026, balancing visa-related headwinds and global trade uncertainty against its biggest-ever push into artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of global capability centres (GCCs). Heightened scrutiny of the US H-1B visa programme - including a proposed $100,000 fee for new visas and concerns over a potential 25 per cent outsourcing tax - has complicated cross-border delivery for Indian firms, even as companies accelerate efforts to reduce reliance on onsite staffing.
'Other sectors that manage the savings pools of Indians are giving tough competition to life insurance companies.'
Showcasing India as an attractive investment destination, Modi said the country has political and economic stability as well as transparency and predictability in policy decisions.
Growth in corporate profits needs to be commensurate with wages to boost the economy, Economic Survey 2024-25 said, noting that sharp disparities between the two pose risk to the economy by curbing demand. The document tabled in Parliament on Friday noted that while the labour share of GVA (gross value added) shows a slight uptick, the disproportionate rise in corporate profitsredominantly among large firmsaises concerns about income inequality.
India's Venture Capital (VC) ecosystem exhibited robust growth in 2024, with funding surging 43 per cent year-on-year to $13.7 billion, according to a report. This recovery was fuelled by a 45 per cent rise in deal activity, with 1,270 transactions recorded, reinforcing India's position as the second largest market for venture capital and growth funding in the Asia-Pacific region, the report by Bain & Company and IVCA said.
'Don't look at Russia only as a place to earn quickly and then leave.' 'Try to build experience in serious companies, skills and certifications that will serve you anywhere in the world.'
India remains the largest growing economy in the world, a senior official from the International Monetary Fund said, observing that the country's macroeconomic fundamentals are good. "India is said to remain the largest growing economy in the world. We project growth at seven per cent in FY24-25, supported by recovery in rural consumption, as there have been favourable harvests.
'Illegal gambling operators are systematically exploiting India's advertising and payment infrastructure, siphoning off crores of rupees from outside the country.'
Naval assets take years to build, and therefore, not only is futuristic force planning essential, but indigenous projects must also be put into the pipeline, technologies developed and contracts for assets signed regularly so that the Indian Navy always remains a future-focussed force, asserts Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
India needs to grow at an annual rate of 9-10 per cent for around three decades and constant innovations to become a $35 trillion economy by 2047, India's G-20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Sunday. "We are the fifth largest economy in the world and by 2027 we will surpass Japan and Germany to become the third largest economy in the world. "And our aim is that by the time we turn 100 in 2047, India should be a $35 trillion economy," Kant said while addressing a session at Mumbai Tech Week (MTW) hosted by Tech Entrepreneurs Association Mumbai (TEAM).
Competition Commission of India (CCI) has notified the regulations for determining the cost of production, a move that will help the watchdog to more effectively assess alleged predatory pricing and deep discounting practices especially in the quick commerce and e-commerce segments. As part of efforts to update the framework for assessing predatory pricing, the watchdog came out with the draft rules in February.
'Trading without strict position sizing, stop-loss discipline, or a clear exit plan almost guarantees losses.' 'Chasing tips, reacting to intraday noise, or assuming frequent trading improves outcomes are equally damaging habits.'
President Droupadi Murmu addressed the nation on the eve of Independence Day, praising the response to terrorism, highlighting achievements in defense self-reliance, and emphasizing unity and progress.
India maintains "high" import duties on a wide range of American goods such as agricultural items, drug formulations, and alcoholic beverages, besides imposing non-tariif barriers, a US report has said. A day before announcing reciprocal tariffs, the US Trade Representative (USTR) released the 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on March 31.
The Indian AI market is expected to grow to over $17 billion by 2027, more than tripling its current size, driven by increased investments in enterprise technology, a flourishing digital ecosystem, and a strong pool of skilled professionals, according to BCG.
'The digital economy will generate 60 to 65 million jobs by 2025, 20 million more than the 40 to 45 million existing jobs that are in danger of disappearing or getting automated,' points out T N Ninan.
US-based retail giant Walmart will connect one lakh more MSMEs in the next three years to its supplier development programme in India, a company official said here on Thursday. The programme, Walmart Vriddhi, has partnered with Ideas to Impact Foundation (i2i), which will enable more MSMEs to expand their access to both national and international markets, helped by the combined strengths of Walmart's global supply chain and Flipkart's e-commerce capabilities.
As a volunteer you'll need to meet people and educate them about the benefits of going cashless by going digital.
Tata Motors' commercial vehicle (CV) business debuted on the BSE on Wednesday, completing the automaker's long-planned demerger into separate listed entities for its passenger and CV operations.
To turn disruption into opportunity, NITI Aayog has recommended the launch of a National AI Talent Mission to make India the AI workforce capital of the world.
Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Budget 2025 lays down a transformational roadmap for India's digital and economic future, focusing on AI-driven enterprise modernisation, workforce skilling, and sustainable innovation. With bold investments in AI, digital infrastructure, and ease of doing business, the government has set the stage for businesses to scale, innovate and compete on a global level.
India's Internet economy has two choices: An immediate $30 billion Sale-and-Leaseback or a $3 trillion value harvesting over decades, observes Vibhu Arya.
'The larger and more opaque this shadow economy becomes, especially online, the greater the risk to India's national security.'
Adani Group said on Friday it will invest around Rs 1 trillion in various sectors of Andhra Pradesh over the next ten years, deepening its commitment in the state where it will partner with Google for an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam.
'...not merely in managing fiscal mathematics, but in demonstrating conservatism and prudence within that framework.' 'Looking forward, we believe sufficient growth drivers exist -- ranging from government reforms to revival in consumption to favourable monsoons. Numerous factors support the Indian economy.'
The ratio of MF assets under management to total bank deposits has more than doubled in 10 years.
With the Union Budget three months away, major industry chambers have submitted to the government proposals on common taxes, seeking simpler compliance and a quicker resolution of tax disputes.
Citing various macroeconomic parameters that are doing pretty well, India's G20 Sherpa and former CEO of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant projected that the country is all set to overtake Japan as 4th largest economy in the world by 2025. The size of India's GDP is currently ranked 5th, after the US, China, Germany, and Japan. It overtook the UK in 2022.
The MiG-21 episode demonstrates that procurement is always strategic.
Choices about what aircraft to acquire, who builds them, who supplies the spares, who trains the pilots and technicians are decisions with political consequences lasting for decades.
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.
