Metal prices from copper to aluminum and tin have shot up by about 7-32 per cent in the past three months.
Maruti Suzuki India, country's largest car maker, on Wednesday said it will increase the prices of its entire range of models by up to Rs 10,000 from October first week, mainly due to depreciation of rupee.
Trade union leaders in the pre-Budget consultation with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday demanded reigning in prices of essential items and increasing exemption limit on income tax to Rs 2 lakh (Rs 200,000).
Petrol and diesel prices were on Wednesday hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last nine days to Rs 5.60 per litre. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 101.01 per litre as against Rs 100.21 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 91.47 per litre to Rs 92.27 according to a price notification of state fuel retailers. Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending upon the incidence of local taxation.
International oil prices continue to be extremely volatile, falling on one day and rising thereafter, a top oil ministry official said explaining the reason behind no reduction in petrol and diesel prices despite softening in input cost, but could not say if the rates will be cut before Maharashtra elections. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell below $70 per barrel last week -- the first time since December 2021 -- but gained thereafter. Brent was trading at $74.58 per barrel on Thursday while West Texas Intermediate advanced to trade at $71.71.
Aviation regulator DGCA plans to implement measures to control excessive air ticket price increases, following concerns raised during a parliamentary panel meeting. The meeting also addressed air safety issues in light of the Ahmedabad plane crash.
Among the 30-share Sensex blue-chip pack, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies, and Power Grid, were the biggest gainers. Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel and Bajaj Finserv were the laggards.
Prices across all models starting from Eon to Santa Fe has been hiked in the range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 127,000
Faced with opposition from within the ruling coalition, the government has put-off till at least next week a decision on raising fuel prices that have been necessitated due to crude nearing $100 a barrel globally. The petroleum ministry has planned to take to the Cabinet this week a proposal to either marginally raise petrol and diesel prices or cut duties to offset the impact of raising international oil prices but the proposal is not being pursued this week.
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) reported a 2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in consolidated revenue to Rs 3,670 crore. Organic revenue growth in constant currency was up 14 per cent Y-o-Y. Consolidated operating profit was up 5 per cent to Rs 760 crore, profit before tax grew 10 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 710 crore, and adjusted net profit grew 12 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 490 crore.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday lowered India's growth forecast for FY26 to 6.5 per cent from 6.7 per cent on account of trade uncertainty and higher US tariffs that are expected to impact exports and investment. Despite the downward revision from the April 2025 Asian Development Outlook (ADO), India remains one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world.
Oil marketing companies (OMCs), paint manufacturers, tyre producers, and aviation stocks witnessed significant gains as Brent crude oil prices slipped below $70 per barrel. The price drop came after a double blow: The US imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, including energy imports, and OPEC+ - the group of major oil-producing nations including Russia - announced an output increase of 138,000 barrels per day, the first such hike since 2022.
State oil firms on Wednesday raised jet fuel (aviation turbine fuel) price by 5 per cent in line with the spike in international oil prices, which have touched a record $71 US a barrel.
Concerns have been raised over Marico's exposure to Bangladesh in the wake of turmoil in that country. However, the management reiterated expectations of growing domestic business at double digits and maintaining international growth. Marico scaled up its food business by 4 times between FY20-24 and aims to double it again in the next three financial years.
The main risk to the fiscal deficit arises from subsidies, which are threatening to far exceed the provision made for them in the Budget.
Smaller players manufacturing electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) are unlikely to raise prices of their models initially in 2024 in order to ensure volumes do not drop. The prices of E2Ws range from Rs 90,000 to Rs 1 lakh, the players being Lohia Auto, Godawari Electric, Emobi, etc. As India's E2W sector gears up to go past one million in 2024, manufacturers are likely to maintain price stability, underpinned by strategic independence from subsidies under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles II (FAME II), localisation efforts, sustainability initiatives, and a focus on affordability.
Honda Cars India Ltd is looking to hike prices of its entire product range in the country from the first week of January as it aims to partially offset the effects of adverse exchange rate and inflation.
The government's stake in Vodafone Idea will more than double to 48.99 per cent as it is set to acquire shares worth Rs 36,950 crore in lieu of outstanding spectrum auction dues, the company said in a regulatory filing on Sunday.
In New Delhi, state Congress president Anil Kumar and party workers were detained by police at a petrol pump near Parmanand hospital.
When asked if it would not be good for farmers as they would be rid of an anti-farmer government, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said that the farmers would continue to die as there would be nobody to save them.
This would be due to early monsoon onset, abundant precipitation in the soil and the government's higher minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, the USDA said in its assessment.
India's pharmaceuticals and medical devices industries are still hopeful that trade negotiations with the US could cut a fairer deal for both sides, after President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff rate on India on a social networking platform without divulging the finer details.
Against the backdrop of the Trinamool Congress' threat to pull out of United Progressive Alliance over the petrol price rise, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday backed the government on the issue.
Besides the four Left parties, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Telugu Desam Party, Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal-Secular and Indian National Lok Dal "have decided to call for a country-wide hartal on July five", a joint statement by top leaders of CPI-M, CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc said in New Delhi.
The soaring prices of metals like lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are the primary constituents of the cell, as well as supply chain bottlenecks, are also pushing up the cost of batteries
Attacking the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for its "utter failure" to check rising prices, the CPI(M) on Friday said the Centre's "faulty approach" in blaming states, without taking effective steps to tackle the real issues, would not solve the problem.
Two-wheeler prices are likely to rise by 10-25 per cent on account of higher premiums on insurance and commodity prices, mandatory safety regulations and BS-VI emissions that kick in from April 1, 2020.
Marico may buck the industry trend with the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major reporting strong growth and favourable commentary in a weak quarter for the industry. The company reported consolidated revenue growth of 8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q2FY25. Domestic revenue growth was 8 per cent Y-o-Y with 5 per cent volume growth (4 per cent in Q1FY25).
Oil firms had last revised petrol prices on December 1.
The state-run oil firms will raise jet fuel price by Rs 1,338 per kl effective midnight tonight, an Indian Oil official said on Thursday.
The duty hike on cigarettes by 16 per cent announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 would have a nominal impact of around 7-12 paise per stick across cigarette categories, according to experts. This upward revision in National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) would have negligible impact on smokers and the companies could easily absorb the shock as it may not also have any resultant impact on margins, they said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama in the Union Budget for 2023-24 on Wednesday proposed to revise and increase the duty on cigarettes to about 16 per cent.
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.
'$125 million for the hull and the remaining of over $350 million for liability.'
The FMCG industry in India achieved a 10.6% growth in value terms in the December quarter of 2024, driven largely by rural markets, which have surpassed the large urban markets in growth for the fourth consecutive quarter. Festive demand and consumption-driven growth played a key role, with overall volume up 7.1% despite inflationary pressures. However, the industry also saw a "preference shift of consumers towards smaller packs" due to high food inflation. Local manufacturers continue to outperform larger FMCG companies, fueled by consistent volume growth.
'In the luxury car segment, the adoption of EVs is almost double compared to the mass market.'
After some enforced slowdown in offtake during April-May 2024 due to elections, the cement sector is looking at a possible demand rebound which may help it to push up prices. The April'24 offtake was muted while May'24 saw some improvement with a likely 5-6 per cent rise in demand month-on-month (MoM). In June, some price hikes seem to have been taken, which suggests more sustained improvement in demand.
Brokerages expect a further slowdown in Indian firms' revenue and earnings growth in Q4FY25, following low single-digit growth in the preceding three quarters, as factors like weak consumer demand and credit growth linger on.
The aftershocks of the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan will be felt in industries in other parts of Asia and Europe.
An empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which decides on revising rates of the sensitive products, has not met since June last year even though crude oil prices have spiralled upward by about 50 per cent.
