Top headlines: RCEP deal, Chidambaram custody, palm oil imports, and more

India's last-minute demands for concessions might jeopardise RCEP deal

India keeps making last-minute requests after it agreed to terms for the world’s largest regional trade agreement, potentially preventing Asian leaders from announcing a breakthrough on the 16-nation pact during a summit in Bangkok next week, people familiar with the situation said. In recent days, India angered other negotiators by making additional requests on the China-backed pact covering half the world’s population. Chief negotiators are still confident they can reach a broad agreement on the RCEP deal.

India eyes more levies on refined palm oil imports to push local processing

India, the world’s biggest buyer of palm oil, is considering a proposal to further increase import taxes on the refined variety to boost local processing and cut dependence on overseas purchases, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The government is discussing a proposal to impose a new levy in addition to the existing import duty and raise the goods and services tax on the processed tropical oil.

Consumer credit market slowdown drags in Q2CY19; NBFCs under stress

Growth in India’s consumer credit market continued to decelerate in the second quarter ended June 2019. The loans disbursed by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) remained under stress, with a recent portfolio shift to higher-risk unsecured credit, according to TransUnion CIBIL Industry Insights Report (IIR). Consumer credit balances across all major credit products grew 17.1% year-on-year (YoY) in Q2 2019, compared to 23.5% YoY in Q2 2018.

INX Media case: Court reserves order on ED plea for P Chidambaram custody

A Delhi court on Wednesday sent former finance minister P Chidambaram to judicial custody till November 13 in the INX Media money-laundering case. Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar dismissed the plea of the Enforcement Directorate for one-day custodial interrogation of Chidambaram. The court also directed Tihar authorities to provide Chidambaram, who had sought an interim bail on health growth, with medicines, western toilet, security and separate cell.