Page 21 - India Economy

India in a sweet spot as rift between West, China grows: Economist

India is in a sweet spot globally given the growing rift between Western nations and China, eminent economist Kaushik Basu has said and expressed hope that the country will hold out on three pillars -- democracy, free media and secularism -- which made India special. Basu, currently a professor of economics at Cornell University, said that these three pillars are particularly needed now with all the post-Covid economic and social uncertainties that the world is going through. "Given the growing rift between Western nations and China, India is in a sweet spot, globally," Cornell University said in a statement quoting Basu. According to Basu, among the many nations that became independent in the last century, India stood out for its democracy, free media and secularism. "They provide foundations for economic growth. One hopes that the nation will have the wisdom to hold on to these political pillars which made India special," he said. A major conference on the Indian economy will be

Govt to scale back on investment as it curbs budget deficit: Goldman Sachs

This move will give the private sector scope to pick up the slack in the coming years

Urban unemployment rate dips to 6.6% during April-June 2023: Govt survey

The unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above in urban areas declined to 6.6 per cent during April-June 2023 from 7.6 per cent a year ago, the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data showed. Joblessness or unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labour force. Joblessness was high in April-June 2022 mainly due to the staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions in the country. The unemployment rate (UR) for persons aged 15 years and above in April-June 2022 was 7.6 per cent in urban areas, the 19th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed. In January-March 2023, the unemployment rate was 6.8 per cent. It was 7.2 per cent in July-September 2022 as well as October-December 2022. It also showed that the unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban areas declined to 9.1 per cent in April-June 2023 from 9.5 per cent in the same quarter a year ago. It was 9.2 per cent in January-March 2023, 9.6 per cent ...

GST Council 'cedes right' to states on taxing neutral alcohols: FM

Strap: GST Council has slashed rates on molasses, millet mix, cleared air on corporate guarantee

Weekend Bites: RBI kills one bird with one stone, future of 50-over cricket

In which we munch over the week's platter of news and views

India's forex reserves declines by $3.79 billion to $586.91 billion

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had declined by USD 2.335 billion to USD 590.702 billion as of September 22

Household savings rate plummeted to five-decade low in 2022-23: RBI

The household savings rate plummeted to a five-decade low in 2022-23 as people started spending after the restrictions on movement ended after the pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. Deputy Governor Michael Patra said the dip in net financial savings of households to 5.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in FY23 also includes an increase in liabilities, much of which are home loans that will show as investments in the next year. When asked if the decline in savings to a 47-year-low is indicative of over-leverage among the households, Patra reminded that historically, the average household savings rate was about 7.5 per cent but during the pandemic, it had gone up due to a variety of factors, including inability to spend due to the restrictions and also because of precaution savings. "as these movement restrictions were removed, people went out to spend and started to draw down those precaution savings. That is some of the phenomenon that we're seeing now,"

India poised to become new growth engine of world, says RBI Governor

India is poised to become the new growth engine of the world, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday as the central bank retained the country's GDP growth forecast at 6.5 per cent for 2023-24, notwithstanding the slowing global economy. Invoking Kautilya's Arthashastra, Das said macroeconomic stability and inclusive growth are the fundamental principles underlying a country's progress. "The policy mix that we have pursued during the recent years of multiple and unparalleled shocks has fostered macroeconomic and financial stability," he said, while unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policy review. He said the external sector also remains eminently manageable. Das further said the twin balance sheet stress that was encountered a decade ago has now been replaced by a twin balance sheet advantage with healthier balance sheets of both banks and the corporate. "India is poised to become the new growth engine of the world," he said, observing the global economy is ..

Citi India sees $22 billion in equity capital deals in 2023, says CEO

"Initial public offerings have come back and you have seen a flurry of block deal activity given where markets are. Now we are starting to see institutional share sales as well," said Ashu Khullar

Softening of tomato prices brings down cost of veg, non-veg thalis in Sept

The tomato prices shrunk 62% in September to Rs 39 per kilogram (kg) as compared to Rs 102 per kg in August

Domestic demand for non-ferrous metals to grow 9% over two fiscals: ICRA

The domestic demand growth rate for non-ferrous metals is expected to remain healthy at 9 per cent in the next two financial years, according to Icra. The ratings agency also informed that the non-ferrous metal industry's profit margins to remain under pressure amid weak global environment. Aluminium, copper and zinc are some of the non ferrous metals. "The domestic demand growth rate is expected to remain healthy at 9 per cent in the next two fiscals and would sharply outpace the expected rate of global demand growth. Thus, Icra has maintained stable outlook on the sector," the agency said. Jayanta Roy, Senior Vice-President and Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, Icra, said the global consumption of non-ferrous metals decelerated during the current calendar year due to sluggish demand conditions, primarily in the developed nations. He further said that while there has been a partial recovery in demand from China compared to the lacklustre performance in the previous calendar y

Airbnb contributed over $920 million to India's economy in FY23: Research

A report based on research by Oxford Economics has claimed that Airbnb contributed over USD 920 million to India's GDP and supported over 85,000 jobs in the country between April 2022 and March 2023. The report compares the findings for FY23 in terms of GDP contribution and jobs supported in India during the period between April 2019 and March 2020. The findings were not released for two fiscal years. According to the report, Airbnb guests spent a total of USD 815 million in India during FY23, more than double of the FY20 levels. In India, Airbnb's presence was the highest in Goa, where Airbnb guests spending amounted to almost USD 190 million. This was followed by Bengaluru and Delhi, Mumbai and Manali, it stated. James Lambert, Director for Economic Consulting in Asia for Oxford Economics, said: "Domestic travellers have been crucial to the tourism sector's resilience over the past three years as Indian guests saw opportunities in domestic travel as a substitute for international

States' borrowing cost jumps 10 bps to reach 23-week high of 7.56%

States' borrowing cost jumped 10 basis points to 7.56 per cent at the first weekly debt auction of the third quarter on Tuesday and is the highest in the the past 23 weeks. Fourteen states raised Rs 22,500 crore through the issuance of state government securities in line with the indicated amount for this weekly auction for the third quarter calendar. According to Aditi Nayar, the chief economist at Icra Ratings, the auctions saw a steep increase in the cut-offs across tenors leading to the weighted average cost jumping to a 23-week high of 7.56 per cent. It stood at 7.46 percent last week. The higher pricing of the borrowing is despite a steep decline in the weighted average tenor to 13 years from 17 years, Nayar said. Moreover, she said the spread between the cut-off of 10-year state bonds and the new 10-year G-Secs (7.18 GS 2033) yield rose mildly to 33 bps from 32 bps last week. On an annualised basis to the week, the states have drawn down 15.4 per cent more than what they

Coal output increases 15.81% to 67.21 million tonnes in September

The country's coal output increased 15.81 per cent to 67.21 million tonnes in September as against 58.04 million tonnes in the year-ago period, an official statement said on Tuesday. The cumulative coal production up to September increased to 428.25 MT in the ongoing fiscal, over 382.16 MT in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 12.06 per cent, the coal ministry statement said. The output of state-owned Coal India Ltd, which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output, increased to 51.44 MT in September as against 45.67 MT a year ago. Additionally, coal dispatch increased to 70.33 MT over 61.10 MT in September last fiscal. The coal sector witnessed an unprecedented upswing, with production, dispatch and stock levels soaring to remarkable heights, the ministry said. "This exceptional growth is attributed to the unwavering dedication of coal PSUs, which has played a pivotal role in driving this extraordinary progress," the statement said. The coal ministry added t

India to clock GDP growth of 6.5% in FY24: NITI Aayog Ex-VC Rajiv Kumar

On the domestic side, Kumar said inflation is beginning to come down to the target levels and the government tax revenues have shown a good 16 per cent increase over last year

Power consumption grows 10.7% due to increase in use of cooling appliances

The country's power consumption grew 10.7 per cent to 140.49 billion units in September mainly due to increased use of cooling appliances amid unusually humid weather conditions. In the year-ago period, power consumption stood at 126.91 Billion Units (BU), higher than 112.43 billion units in September 2021, according to government data. The peak power demand met -- the highest supply in a day -- rose to 239.97 GW in September. The peak power supply stood at 199.50 GW in September 2022 and 180.73 GW in September 2021. The power ministry had estimated the country's electricity demand to touch 229 GW during summer. The demand did not reach the projected level in April-July due to unseasonal rain. The peak supply, however, touched a new high of 224.1 GW in June and before dropping to 209.03 GW in July. Peak demand touched 238.19 GW in August. Spokesperson of the Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd, which supplies electricity to 70 lakh people in Delhi, told PTI that the demand has remai

Delhi govt issues notification asking to renew excise licences by October 5

The Delhi government issued a notification on Friday, asking the licensees to renew their existing excise licences by October 5. The city government has decided to extend its existing excise policy by six months due to the time needed for coming up with a new liquor trade regime. The policy has been extended till March 31, 2024 following the requisite approvals from the Delhi government and the lieutenant governor, a senior officer had said on Thursday. "All the licensees of L15/L-15F and L-16/L-16F are hereby directed to submit their applications for renewal of the licences online by accessing their accounts in ESCIMS portal through their ID and passwords, along with the applicable licence renewal fee for the period w.e.f. 01.10.2023 to 31.03.2024 by providing requisite information and payment of renewal licence fee on or before 05.10.2023," the notification read. A proposal of the excise department to extend the policy, implemented on September 1 last year, was sent for the LG's

Trai seeks views on policy framework for economic development driven by 5G

Telecom regulator Trai on Friday invited views to develop a policy framework for faster adoption of new technologies for economic development driven by the 5G ecosystem. In the consultation paper on "Digital Transformation Through 5G Ecosystem", the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has identified emerging technologies like drones, the internet of things, and metaverse, among others, that can boost 5G utilisation and later on 6G. "The authority has come out with consultation paper on suo-moto basis to identify the policy challenges and suggest the right policy framework for faster adoption and effective utilisation of new technologies for the holistic and sustainable development of economy driven by 5G ecosystem," the regulator said. In the paper, Trai has identified security and privacy threats in the case of technologies like IoT and Metaverse and sought views on measures that should be adopted for the responsible development of these technologies. Trai's paper said th

Indian economy poised to grow at average 6.5% per annum over 2023-30: CEA

The Indian economy is poised to grow at an average of 6.5 per cent annually between 2023 and 2030, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Friday. Speaking at the BCC&I Indo-Pacific Economic Conclave, Nageswaran said the global economy is going to witness a period of uncertainty, and India has to plug into the global supply chain and make itself attractive for the China-plus one strategy. "We have had 9.1 per cent growth in FY22 and 7.2 per cent in FY23. We are poised to grow 6.5 per cent per annum on average for this year and the remainder of the decade. Why I am talking about 6.5 per cent and not 7.5-8 per cent? It is because we are not experiencing the kind of global growth that we experienced between 2003 and 2008," the CEA said. India has made progress in the last eight years as it has now become the fifth largest economy from the 10th rank globally in 2014, and within the end of this decade, it will become the third largest economy in the world, he ...

Key infra sector growth rises to 14-month high of 12.1% in August

The expansion in August is the highest since June 2022, when it was 13.2 per cent