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Budget 2026
Vedanta's iron ore mining arm, Sesa Goa, has urged the government to provide incentives for low-grade iron ore beneficiation, emphasising that targeted policy support and infrastructure investment are critical to make the processing economically viable and to expand the sector. The low-grade iron ore beneficiation process enhances the iron content of low-quality ores by removing impurities like silica, alumina, and phosphorus, thereby making them suitable for steel production. With India's steel demand projected to reach 300 million tonnes by 2030, unlocking low-grade reserves through beneficiation could boost domestic supply security, create jobs, and add billions to government revenues via expanded mining and exports. Currently, higher-grade ore meets domestic needs, but low-grade stockpiles offer untapped potential, provided policy hurdles like duties and regulatory delays are eased. "India sits on massive low-grade iron ore inventory estimated at over 300 million tonnes at min
Stock market is gearing up for an eventful week ahead where key triggers such as quarterly earnings from corporates, the US Fed interest rate decision and the upcoming Union Budget for 2026-27 would grab the limelight, analysts said. Equity markets would be closed on Monday for Republic Day. Moreover, trading activity of foreign investors, rupee-dollar trend and global trade related developments would also influence trading in the markets, experts said. The Union Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. The NSE and BSE will conduct live trading on Sunday, February 1, when the Budget is presented. "This week is packed with important domestic and global triggers. On the domestic front, markets will track industrial production data, government budget-related fiscal indicators, and weekly foreign exchange reserves. "The earnings season will also gain momentum, with key results from heavyweights such as Axis Bank, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, NTPC, and
The precious metal refining sector expects the government to address duty disparities that put domestic refiners at a disadvantage compared to imports through free trade agreements, MMTC-PAMP Managing Director and CEO Sami Guha said on Friday. "One of the expectations we've had as not just MMTC-PAMP, but as the whole precious metal refining sector has seen this disparity, which is there in duty, especially through the SEPA route between what we get as Dore versus what refined bullion is imported at," Guha said. The duty gap puts refiners at a significant disadvantage, though the government appears to be aware of the issue, he said. FTAs signed after the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) have excluded bullion, and the industry hopes future trade agreements follow the same approach by not including gold and silver in lower duty structures. To boost India's global standing in refining and increase the number of London Bullion Market Association-accredited refiners, the government needs
Realtors' body NAREDCO on Thursday demanded that the government in the upcoming budget should enhance the deduction limit for interest on home loans to Rs 5 lakh from the current Rs 2 lakh, as well as provide industry status to further fuel the growth of the real estate sector. The association also sought change in the definition of affordable housing and suggested that the homes costing up to Rs 75-80 lakh should be treated as affordable as against the price limit of Rs 45 lakh.. In a press conference held here, NAREDCO Chairman Niranjan Hiranandani said the Centre has undertaken various measures to support the real estate sector but there is a need to do more for affordable housing segment. "We need to ensure Housing For All. Housing should get equal importance like any other infrastructure sector," he added. Hiranandani suggested the government should utilise it own land for development of affordable and mid-income housing. NAREDCO President Parveen Jain said the limit for ...
Industry body Nasscom hopes that the Union Budget will extend Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) tax deferment to more startups and bring suitable clarifications to address concerns around the tax treatment of foreign cloud use of Indian data centres. The association - whose members include IT companies and tech players across-the-spectrum, of varying size and scale - wants the Budget to clarify that procuring hosting or co-location services from an Indian data centre operator would not create a business connection or permanent establishment for the foreign cloud service provider, as the arm's length payments to the Indian player fully cover India-based functions. ESOP tax deferral for more start-ups is another proposal highlighted by Nasscom in its Budget push, as is the extension of the carry-forward and set-off of accumulated losses and unabsorbed depreciation benefits in case of amalgamation or merger to all companies (irrespective of their business nature). Other suggestions ...