Top Headlines: Fuel rate cut to ease inflation, report on EV fire, and more

The recent EV scooter fires were caused by defects in their batteries, including in the designs of the battery packs and modules, a DRDO report said. Read more in our top headlines.

The central government's move to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel will likely ease the retail inflation rate by up to 25 basis points. Meanwhile, the electric scooter fires that made news in recent weeks were caused by defects in their batteries, a DRDO report said. Read more on these in our top headlines.

Fuel duty cuts likely to help ease retail inflation by up to 25 bps

The Union government’s move to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 8 and Rs 6 a litre, respectively, is likely to ease the retail inflation rate by up to 25 basis points (bps) from June onwards. If the move’s indirect impact on other items, including food prices, is also considered, the average inflation rate may reduce by 40 basis points during the current fiscal year. Read more

Battery defects, insufficient testing caused EV fires: DRDO report

The electric scooter fires that made news in recent weeks were caused by defects in their batteries, including in the designs of the battery packs and modules, says a report by the Defence Research & Development Organisation. A person who has seen the report told Business Standard the defects may have crept in because electric two-wheeler companies intentionally used lower-grade materials to cut costs. Read more

Digital solution providers looking to enter India's 5G spectrum play

Digital solution providers to enterprises are evaluating whether to bid for 5G spectrum, a move which could bring in more players to add to the only three mobile telecom providers in the game: Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea. At least one of them, Tata Communications, has been a strong votary of allowing ISPs to be allowed to bid for 5G spectrum so that they can offer 5G broadband services to their enterprise customers and compete with telcos. Read more

Quad Summit 2022: India likely to take a cautious stance on IPEF

India may take a cautious stance on the proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), details of which will be unveiled by US President Joe Biden at the Quad leaders’ summit in Tokyo on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday left to attend the second in-person Quad summit, along with his counterparts from the US, Japan and Australia. Read more
 

Tax revenue boost or expenditure cuts can help meet fiscal deficit target

With not even the first two months of FY23 over, it is becoming increasingly clear that unless there is a massive boost in tax revenue or major cuts in expenditure, the fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of the GDP is unlikely to be met. The impact of Saturday’s excise duty cuts will be Rs 1 trillion for a year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said. Read more