11th Auto Expo kicks off

11th Auto Expo kicks off

Visitors and news photographers take pictures of Maruti Suzuki's new compact SUV XA Alpha car after its unveiling at Auto Expo in New Delhi

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's biggest carmaker, will increase car prices next week, a senior official said on Thursday, but declined to say by how much.

The company expects sales in January to be higher from the same month a year ago, its head of marketing and sales, Mayank Pareek, told reporters at an industry event.

Aircraft takes off at Haneda international airport in Tokyo

The aviation regulator is meeting executives from cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines and Air India Express, the budget arm of state carrier Air India on Thursday, seeking an explanation on safety concerns highlighted by the regulator's internal report.

"We are careful that financial stringency should not impinge on safety. So on that basis, we had done this (internal report) and there are several steps which have to be taken by the airlines," said Bharat Bhushan, director general of civil aviation.

A vendor arranges watermelons for sale along the side of a road in Kolkata

Food inflation turned negative in the year to December 24, at -3.36%, while fuel inflation accelerated to 14.6%, government data on Thursday showed.

In the previous week, annual food and fuel inflation stood at 0.42% and 14.37%, respectively.

A boy plays on a swing suspended from a tree in front of a residential estate under construction in Kolkata

For all the sudden pessimism about India's economy, Kaushik Basu sleeps soundly at night - and if something was going to keep him awake it wouldn't be the risk of a balance of payments crisis.

Out of tune with a chorus of gloom, India's chief economic adviser believes the tide has turned in a long battle against inflation and the economy is set to rebound to its "full-steam" growth rate of around 9% within two years.