The death toll from the explosion at the Sigachi Industries' pharma plant in Pashamylaram has risen to 35, police said on Tuesday.
To those who ask, "Is all this really worth it? Why can't domestic demand fill the gap?", it is important to remind them that only 13 economies since the Second World War have grown at 7 per cent or more for 25 years -- like India needs to. They all had one thing in common: Strong export growth underpinned by strong global engagement, explains Sajjid Z Chinoy.
Agriculture, pharma, electronics, and engineering goods together accounted for over 50 per cent of India's merchandise exports in 2024-25, according to government data, highlighting the country's growing strength in diverse sectors amid efforts to boost manufacturing and value-added exports.
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.
Industry insiders in India warn that any such move in the pharmaceutical sector could be counterproductive for the US as it may face increased drug shortages if tariffs are imposed on such imports.
For India, the challenge is to strike a balance between tactical necessity and economic priorities, point out Pravin Krishna and Monil Sharma.
Indian pharmaceutical companies may have units abroad as part of "distributed manufacturing" across various locations, according to industry veterans. This may come about over the next five to 10 years.
India's largest drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical on Thursday posted a decline of 19 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) for its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2025 (Q4FY25) at Rs 2,149.8 crore. Meanwhile, its revenue from operations rose by 8 per cent at Rs 12,958.8 crore.
Merchandise exports to the US jumped 23.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to $8.3 billion in June, even as India's overall outbound shipments witnessed contraction during the month, according to the data released by the commerce department on Tuesday. The increase in outbound shipments to the US was largely driven by the rush among exporters to utilise America's pause on its plans to impose country-specific reciprocal tariffs.
Any industrial policy is only as good as how it is applied and the other reforms that support it. This was as true 40 years ago as it is now, points out Debashis Basu.
Global energy giant Shell has acquired Mumbai-based Raj Petro Specialities to deepen its foothold in the world's third biggest lubricants market in the world, a top company official said. Shell, which has already invested over $5 billion in India across the energy value chain -- from LNG import terminals and fuel stations to renewable energy and technology centres -- has acquired 100 per cent equity interest in Raj Petro Specialities Pvt Ltd from Germany's Brenntag Group.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of bilateral meetings with his global counterparts on the margins of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, with discussions focusing on a range of issues such as trade, investment, counter-terrorism and global challenges.
'When you have the best market at your doorstep, international diversification is a distraction.'
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.
'It's important for India to think about areas where it wants the US to move.' 'We can be far more innovative in what we ask the US.' 'Given that there's a package deal, why not do it?'
The fraud is alleged to have caused a Rs 65 crore loss to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
'We are looking at what kind of products, diagnostics or other solutions we can offer to become a well-rounded player in a particular disease area globally.'
US accounts for a large part of revenue for top Indian pharma companies like Gland Pharma (54 percent), Dr Reddy's (53 per cent), and Aurobindo Pharma (48 per cent).
Goods from sectors, including agriculture, precious stones, chemicals, pharma, medical devices, electricals, and machinery may get impacted if the US will go ahead with imposing reciprocal tariffs on Indian products, according to experts. They said that these sectors could face additional customs duties from the Trump administration because of the high tariff differential or gap, which is the difference between the import duties imposed by the US and India on a product.
India has not accepted the demand of the UK for inclusion of a 'data exclusivity' provision in the free trade agreement, announced on May 6, in a bid to protect the interests of the domestic generic drugs industry, an official said. During the negotiations, the UK had asked to include this provision in the trade pact.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries stock ended 2.15 per cent higher on Friday after zooming by almost 5 per cent in the morning trade on the back of an announcement that a court ruling has cleared the deck for the India's largest pharmaceutical company to launch its alopecia drug Leqselvi in the United States.
Foreign brokerages remain cautious on the road ahead for the Indian equity markets. Though analysts at Nomura have revised their March 2026 Nifty target to 26,140 levels from the earlier 24,970, but the upside from the current levels is a modest 6 per cent. BofA Securities, on the other hand, has not made any change to its year-end Nifty target.
Stock markets will be mainly driven by quarterly earnings by corporates, foreign fund flows and global trends this week, analysts said.
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The government on Wednesday asked e-commerce platforms to conduct annual internal audits to make sure that they are not resorting to manipulative tactics to mislead consumers and prevent them from making right choices -- a technique commonly referred to as dark pattern -- and submit reports to the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA). It comes just a week after Uber was issued a notice by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) over its "advance tip" feature.
The USTR report, released just ahead of the US' April 2 deadline for implementing reciprocal tariffs, has also cited high tariffs and price caps, which have not increased in line with inflation, as key obstacles for US businesses.
India's exports rose 9.03 per cent to $38.49 billion in April, the highest in six months, driven by healthy growth in sectors such as electronics and engineering goods, while the trade deficit widened to a five-month high of $26.42 billion. According to the commerce ministry data released on Thursday, imports increased by 19.12 per cent year-on-year to $64.91 billion in April due to a rise in shipments of crude oil and fertiliser.
The US on Tuesday again placed India on its 'priority watch list' stating that New Delhi remains one of the world's most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights.
The sweeping tariffs proposed across sectors by US President Donald Trump are scheduled to be imposed starting April 2, with most analysts worried about their impact on companies, and in turn the financial markets. Recently, the US administration signaled that it will impose sectoral tariffs on energy, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, agriculture, copper, and lumber.
Essential and strategic items such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, copper, and energy products like oil, gas, coal and LNG are exempted from the 27 per cent import duty announced by the US on Wednesday, according to think tank GTRI.
India's healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors raised Rs 14,811 crore through initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2024, the largest since 2019, driven by strong domestic demand amid expanding global opportunities. According to data, key contributors to the record fundraising included Sai Life Sciences (Rs 3,043 crore), IKS Health (Rs 2,498 crore), and Sagility India (Rs 2,107 crore).
Investors should tilt their portfolios towards domestic-facing defensive sectors, which should help provide stability and shield them from geopolitical and tariff risks.
In his media statement following talks with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic, Modi said both leaders agree that "terrorism is an enemy of humanity" and is inimical to forces that believe in democracy.
Despite a healthy performance in the fourth quarter of 2024-25 (Q4FY25), the stock of India's largest listed pharma company, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma), was under pressure on Friday due to a muted guidance. The company has guided for a high single-digit revenue growth for FY26, which is below what the Street was working with.
After falling 17 per cent since the start of the year to its March lows, the stock of the country's largest pharmaceutical (pharma) company, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, has clawed back nearly half of those losses. Recent acquisitions, a favourable court ruling in the case of the hair loss drug Leqselvi, an edge over peers owing to its specialty portfolio, and a diversified global presence have supported the recovery.
Drug shortages in the US are at an all-time high, and price erosion has stabilised, which could benefit Indian pharmaceutical (pharma) companies with a US focus, according to analysts. Nuvama Research analysts said that US price erosion seems to have normalised to its old levels of 6-8 per cent and volumes are picking up with easing of inventory. Similarly, an ICICIdirect analyst noted: "Price erosion intensity has now moderated to a single digit and is expected to tone down a
Dr Ganesh Natarajan, a special guest on rediffGURUS, has been addressing questions from Rediff readers, about how to grow professionally, how women can achieve leadership roles in Indian companies, and what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Enhertu currently costs around Rs 1.6 lakh per 100-milligram injection.
'Right now, silver -- and especially platinum -- are very cheap compared to gold. If I were buying today, I would choose platinum.'
'We have to be prepared for the larger disruption that is likely to take place.'
