The Tobacco Institute of India calls on the government to reconsider the steep excise and GST hike on tobacco, warning of hardships for farmers, MSMEs, retailers and a surge in illicit trade

Representative image of cigarette smoking. (Pixabay/Alexas_Fotos)

cigarette smoking

Business Standard

Draft rules under India's four Labour Codes clarify wages and gratuity calculations, extend social security, but smaller firms still face implementation concerns

labour Law, Labour Ministry, Contract labour laws, new labour codes

From February 2026, India replaces GST compensation cess with excise and health cess on tobacco and pan masala, introducing capacity-based duties and higher cigarette taxes

GST revenues November 2025, India GST collection slowdown, GST compensation cess dip, GST rate rationalisation impact, indirect tax revenues India, festive demand GST, imports GST growth, GST refunds decline, ICRA Aditi Nayar GST outlook, consumption

Cost overruns in centrally funded infrastructure projects widened to 22.2% in November, pushing revised project costs to ₹29.55 trillion, Mospi data showed

Infrastructure, railways, tracks, disinvestment, privatisation

Regulator's study is based on a scenario where 10% of diesel vehicle owners opt for LNG

oil, crude oil, oil pipeline,

Coal India on Thursday reported a 4.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in production and a 5.2 per cent fall in offtake in December.
The miner, along with its eight subsidiaries, produced 75.7 million tonnes (MT) of coal in December 2025, higher than 72.4 MT in the same month in 2024.
However, the offtake was at 64.9 MT in the month under review, lower than 68.5 MT in December 2024.
Coal India's cumulative production fell by 2.6 per cent to 529.2 MT in April-December FY26 from 543.4 MT in the nine-month period of the preceding FY25.
Offtake during the period also slipped 2.2 per cent to 544.7 MT from 557 MT in April-December 2024-25.
Coal India, under the Ministry of Coal, is India's largest coal mining company.

Coal India

Coal India on Thursday reported a 4.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in production and a 5.2 per cent fall in offtake in December.

Press Trust of India

In 2023, Delhi accounted for the highest share of evictions at 53 per cent, followed by Gujarat at 30 per cent and Assam at 4 per cent

Data, house razing

For calendar year 2025, domestic PV wholesales stood at 4.55 million units, marking a 5.7 per cent YoY increase

Passenger Vehicles, GST, Auto industry, Car sales

Based on VAHAN numbers for December, TVS has taken a substantial lead over its rival Bajaj Auto by grabbing more than a fourth of the total e2W market

scooters

Maruti Suzuki India will soon take a call on whether to revise upwards prices of its small cars, for which it reduced rates last year over and above the GST benefit of 8.5 per cent, a senior company official said on Thursday.
Last year in September, after GST 2.0 kicked in, the company had cut prices of entry-level model S Presso by up to Rs 1,29,600; Alto K10 by up to Rs 1,07,600; Celerio by Rs 94,100 and Wagon-R by up to Rs 79,600, among others.
"In the small cars, our purpose of going for the strategic pricing was to increase the motorisation...," Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Partho Banerjee, told reporters in an interaction.
He was responding to a query on whether the company is also considering a price hike like other carmakers, including rival Hyundai Motor India, which has announced its plans.
"Very soon, we are going to take a call...Are we going to revert back to our GST prices (on the reduced GST rates only) or are we going to continue

Front View of Maruti Suzuki Nexa showroom at viman Nagar Pune with selective focus

Maruti, Maruti Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki showroom

The year also marked the commencement of export of Suzuki's first Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), the e VITARA from its Hansalpur facility

New FASTags issued to cars will no longer require Know Your Vehicle checks from February 1, 2026, as NHAI aims to ease compliance and end post-activation inconvenience for users

Fastag, Paytm

TNC Rajagopalan answers SME queries related to GST, export and import matters

export

Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy unveiled third round of speciality steel PLI scheme with relaxed thresholds, updated pricing benchmarks, and wider MSME participation to boost steel manufacturing

H D Kumaraswamy (Photo: X/@hd_kumaraswamy)

Base year revised, thresholds relaxed to reflect current market trends

Trade expert cites FTP Para 1.08 and CBIC circulars requiring that export consignments not be detained beyond three days, and clarifies documentation norms under the Advance Authorisation scheme

trade

UK fintech Tide will invest 500 million euros (₹6,000 crore) in India over five years from 2026, creating 800 jobs as it deepens its commitment to the country's fast-growing SME sector

investment

RBI repo rate cuts fail to ease yields across tenors

MSME credit target FY26, MSME loans public sector banks, PSB MSME lending growth, Finance Ministry MSME focus, India MSME sector credit, SBI MSME loan target 2025, PNB MSME lending growth, MSME credit outstanding FY25, MSME loan YTD growth 2025, GNPA

RBI data show public sector banks added staff in FY25 for the first time in five years, while private banks' headcount fell, led by a sharp drop at ICICI Bank

Bandhan Bank said it has sold stressed loan portfolios worth over Rs 6,800 crore to ARCIL and Phoenix ARC to reduce NPAs and refocus on core lending

Bandhan Bank

RBI said banks remain resilient with low bad loans and strong capital, but credit growth outpacing deposits will keep resource mobilisation competitive, requiring strong governance and risk management

Illustration: Ajaya Mohanty

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