Business Standard - March 06, 2025

In this issue

March 06, 2025

Govt to expand competitive bidding for defence buys

In a move that could level the playing field for private defence firms, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will expand the use of competitive bidding in procuring weapons and systems for the armed forces.

3 mins

Defensive sector weight in Nifty lowest in 15 years

Underperforms in falling market for first time in over 20 years

2 mins

RBI to inject ₹1.9 trn in banking system

Anticipating tight liquidity conditions by the end of the current financial year (FY25) amid tax outflows and banks rushing to meet targets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday announced fresh measures that would infuse close to ₹1.9 trillion of liquidity in the banking system.

2 mins

Trump signals no reciprocal tariff reprieve for India

Analysts say possible measures by US could cost India $7 bn a yr

2 mins

Singapore's GIC bullish on India demand, to double bets in 5 yrs

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, which began investing in India over 30 years ago, plans to double its investments in the country, anticipating a rise in consumer spending.

1 min

Guj eyes social infra around semicon units

With four out of the five semiconductor plants being set up in India being constructed at Dholera in Gujarat, the state will now focus on building social infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, cafeteria, food courts, and other such buildings around industrial areas, Chief Minister Bhupen Patel said on Wednesday.

1 min

All PC models will be made in India in 3 years: Lenovo

Global technology major Lenovo on Wednesday said the company will be manufacturing all of its personal computer (PC) models from India over the next three years.

1 min

MCA Looks to Simplify M&A Rules

Seeking inputs from other ministries regarding process

1 min

Expect India to keep doing well irrespective of geopolitics

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, which started investing in India over 30 years ago, marks 15 years of its on-ground presence in the country. LIM CHOW KIAT, chief executive officer (CEO), and PANKAJ SOOD, head of direct investments, India & Africa, private equity and head of India office, discuss their investment approach, sectoral bets, and why they see India as a long-term growth market despite the current market meltdown. In an interaction with Jaden Mathew Paul and Dev Chatterjee in Mumbai, Lim and Sood say they are bullish on infrastructure, consumer, technology, and healthcare sectors, and see opportunities in India despite global uncertainties. Edited excerpts:

3 mins

PSMC 'working' to bring fab firms from Taiwan to India

Tata Group-PSMC JV is building the chip unit in Dholera for roughly $11 billion

1 min

Telcos hit out at DoT, Trai on service norms

Say concerns on OTT communication services, satcom have not been addressed

1 min

Kamath Named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024

Nithin Kamath, founder and chief executive officer of Zerodha, was declared the EY Entrepreneur of the year 2024 on Wednesday.

1 min

Kandhari open to buying more HCCB bottling units

Coke selling bottling ops in north Gujarat to Kandhari for ₹2K crore

2 mins

FMCG distributors file petition with CCI against qcom players

Petition filed against Zepto, Instamart, Blinkit

2 mins

Services sector expands faster in February on strong demand

Growth in India's dominant services sector got a boost in February from improving domestic and international demand, as new orders placed with Indian companies rose at a faster rate, showed a private business survey released on Wednesday.

1 min

US Pushes India To Cut Auto Tariffs In Trade Deal Talks

The United States wants India to eliminate tariffs on car imports under a proposed trade deal between the two nations, but New Delhi is reluctant to immediately bring down such duties to zero even as it considers further cuts, sources told Reuters.

1 min

EU firms urge India to ease trade barriers

Call for simpler norms under proposed FTA

2 mins

ISPRL evaluating bids for 2nd phase of strategic oil reserve at Padur

₹5,500 cr Budget provision could be used to ramp up facility in Karnataka

3 mins

Eliminate import duty on US drugs: Pharma exporters

Amid concerns that the US may impose reciprocal tariffs on pharmaceutical products from India, the local industry has urged the government to consider eliminating duties on drug imports from the US.

3 mins

Budget paves the way for a strong workforce: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India's urban population is set to reach around 900 million by 2047 and urged private firms, particularly in the real estate and industrial sectors, to prioritise planned urbanisation.

1 min

Pvt investments may drop below 11% of GDP in FY25

India's private sector investments had slipped to a three-year low in 2023-24 (FY24), and are expected to fall further in the current financial year (FY25), India Ratings said on Wednesday.

1 min

More than a language debate: NEP needs to focus on funds, quality

Politicians have locked horns over the three-language formula in the New Education Policy, 2020 (NEP).

1 min

Defensive Sectors' Loss Is BFSI's Gain

The decline has been led by the FMCG sector, whose weighting has fallen by 160 basis points (bps) since March 2024 to 9.5 per cent, followed by the pharma sector, which has seen a 70 bp decline to 3.1 per cent.

1 min

MoD Taking Steps To Enhance Ease Of Doing Business

\"The MoD is focusing on a more expeditious industrial licensing process in defence and taking additional steps to enhance ease of doing business.

2 mins

Trump: Reciprocity to apply to non-monetary tariffs as well

Trump's latest salvo comes at a time when Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is currently in Washington to seek clarity on the shift in the US government's trade policy.

1 min

Snags may hit 60 Gw RE projects

A mismatch between the development of power transmission infrastructure and the commissioning of renewable energy (RE) projects is expected to impact nearly 60 gigawatts (GW) of RE capacity.

2 mins

RBI Announces More Liquidity Infusion Measures

\"Mid-March outflows and then GST (goods and services tax) outflows need to be dealt with before the end of March.

2 mins

Covered key issues: EAM on talks with UK counterpart

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said the dialogue with his UK counterpart, David Lammy, covered the entire gamut of bilateral ties, including the relaunched Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, strategic coordination, and political cooperation.

1 min

IRFC to now venture into metro projects: CMD & CEO

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), the financing arm of Indian Railways which was recently upgraded to Navratna status, will now look at financing metro projects across the country, Manoj Kumar Dubey (pictured), chairman, managing director and chief executive officer (CMD and CEO) said.

1 min

Cabinet Approves Two Ropeway Projects Worth ₹6.8 K Cr in Uttarakhand

Livestock disease control programme with ₹3,880 cr outlay also gets nod

1 min

Return of winter chill may benefit wheat crop

Market prices ruling above MSP

2 mins

'America is back': Trump in first speech to Congress

Sets record for longest address by a US president

3 mins

German parties agree on debt brake reform, €500bn infra fund

The parties hoping to form Germany's next government agreed to create a €500 billion infrastructure fund and overhaul borrowing rules, a tectonic spending shift that jolted markets on Wednesday on hopes of reviving Europe's largest economy.

1 min

'Tech Nobel' goes to adaptive machine learning researchers

Teaching machines in the way that animal trainers mould the behaviour of dogs or horses has been an important method for developing artificial intelligence and one that was recognised Wednesday with the top computer science award.

2 mins

China Ramps Up Stimulus To Guard Economy, Sets 5% Growth Target

China's parliament on Wednesday opened its annual session with the government setting a 5 per cent growth target for its economy, struggling with slowdown amid escalating trade war with the US and stagnant domestic consumption.

2 mins

The great dismantling under Trump

As the US President disrupts the world order, his pro-Putin stance may help India, but trade wars and weakened global institutions will not

4 mins

Making BIT 2.0 work for Viksit Bharat

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke of making India an attractive place for foreign direct investment (FDI) with the objective of achieving Viksit Bharat 2047.

3 mins

Growth ambitions

World Bank has provided a road map

2 mins

Trump's tariff war cry

US President signals escalating trade wars

2 mins

Inaccurate poll prediction and psephology

In India, the experience with Lok Sabha electoral poll forecasts has been frustrating in recent years.

4 mins

Nifty Metal posts biggest jump in nine months

Proving Mettle

1 min

Nifty snaps record 10-day losing streak

Hopes of thaw in trade tensions, value buying drive gains

1 min

Cautious optimism for cement players

After several years of consolidation and price weakness, the cement industry may be moving towards a more stable phase.

2 mins

FPIs pay 20% capital gains tax in some emerging markets

Debate rages over if capital gains tax in India contributed to foreign outflows

2 mins

Rupee records best day in three weeks

The rupee posted its highest single-day gain since February 11 on Wednesday because of the weakening dollar, and dollar sales by the state-owned banks on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, said dealers.

1 min

Coforge shares rise 8.4% on Sabre deal

Shares of Coforge rose as much as 11.1 per cent in intraday trading on the BSE on Wednesday, helped by its record $1.56 billion deal with US travel and technology company Sabre.

1 min

INCOME-TAX NOTICES High-value expenses must sync with bank withdrawals

The Income-Tax (I-T) Department recently issued notices to high-income individuals whose bank accounts reflect unusually low withdrawals.

2 mins

Surging prices may add lustre to gold financiers

Trend favourable for loan growth of firms like Manappuram, Muthoot: Analysts

2 mins

Plug Points

Beyond the hype around Tesla entering India, is a challenging market, and concerns around policy tweaks

3 mins

Full market potential of digital space a long way to harness: Report

Despite the telecom revolution, India's full market potential of the digital ecosystem is still a long way to harness, with the geographical divide between urban and rural India being far sharper than the gender divide between male and female, according to the State of India's Digital Economy report released by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

2 mins

India Must Aim to Lift Female Workforce Participation Rate to 70% by 2047: Dawra

Achieving a 70 per cent labour force participation rate for women by 2047 is crucial to make India a developed nation, and the government is working to turn it into a reality, Union Labour Secretary Sumita Dawra (pictured) said on Wednesday.

1 min

Quantum tech has risks of strategic blind spots: NITI

Advancements in quantum technology could potentially expose India to increased risk of technological surprise and strategic blind spots, warned a NITI Aayog research paper released on Wednesday.

1 min

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