Page 8 - India

India to become petrochemicals powerhouse with $37 bn capex push: S&P

India is poised to become the next major player in the global petrochemicals industry, backed by a planned capital expenditure of USD 37 billion aimed at boosting self-sufficiency, S&P Global Ratings said in a new report. The report, 'First China, Now India: Self-Sufficiency Goals Will Add To Petrochemicals Supply', warns that India's aggressive capacity expansion - following similar moves by China - will intensify oversupply pressures in Asia's petrochemical sector. India, the world's third-largest petrochemical consumer after China and the US, has historically relied on imports to meet domestic demand. But a shift toward self-sufficiency is underway, and S&P expects India to account for a third of global capacity additions by 2030. S&P Global Ratings, in the report, anticipates that India will stick with major investment plans to reduce import dependency on chemicals used in everyday goods, from plastic bags to auto parts. Overcapacity in Asia-Pacific petrochemicals ...

Centre plans ₹20,000 cr risk guarantee fund to boost infrastructure growth

The government is considering a proposal for creation of a Rs 20,000 crore risk guarantee fund for the infrastructure sector to push investment by the private sector. The establishment of a risk guarantee fund for the infrastructure sector is expected to attract private sector investment by sharing project risks, thereby reducing the burden on project developers, sources said. The fund with initial corpus of Rs 20,000 crore may be managed by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC), sources said, adding, the fund would underwrite development risk of a new project. Besides, there should be additional safeguards by way of a minimum stake by the developer and risk-based premiums may be charged. The fund would cover losses arising from policy uncertainty and other non-commercial risks, thereby encouraging lenders to extend larger loans to big projects, sources added. For the fund to be successful, sources said, the fund's guarantee must be bankable and there must be .

Turbulent times offer India chance for tech self-reliance: Anand Mahindra

Turbulent times offer India a chance to pursue technological self-reliance and achieve global leadership in manufacturing, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said on Thursday, commemorating the conglomerate's 80th anniversary. Founded in 1945, the Mahindra Group is one of the largest and most admired multinational federations of companies with over 3,24,000 employees in over 100 countries. Eighty years ago, the Mahindra Group was born with a crystal-clear purpose to help build our nascent nation," the chairman said. The company's founders pledged to develop industry, create livelihoods, and enable communities to rise from the violent throes of the struggle for independence into a brighter future, he noted. "Today, we once again are in turbulent times, and we have the opportunity to renew that pledge to strive together to propel India towards technological self-reliance and global respect," Mahindra said on the 80th Founders Day. The current geopolitical and economic landscape

President Murmu extends greetings to citizens on eve of Vijayadashami

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday greeted citizens on the eve of Vijayadashami and wished that the festival inspires us to build a society where all people move ahead together, inspired by the ideas of justice, equality and harmony. The festival of Vijayadashami, symbolising the victory of "dharma over adharma", inspires us to follow the path of truth and justice, she said in a message. Celebrated in various parts of the country as "Ravana Dahan" and Durga Puja, this festival reflects our national values, Murmu said. This festival also teaches us to renounce negative tendencies like anger and ego, and embrace positive ones like courage and determination, the president said. "May this festival inspire us to build a society and country where all people move ahead together, inspired by the ideas of justice, equality and harmony," she said. The president extended warm greetings and best wishes to all fellow citizens on the auspicious occasion of Vijayadashami, to be celebrated on

Coal India output falls 3.9% in September to 48.97 MT amid monsoon impact

State-owned CIL on Wednesday reported a 3.9 per cent decline in production to 48.97 million tonnes (MT) in September. The drop in production comes in spite of the government making efforts to increase coal output to bring down the import of dry fuel. The company's output was 50.94 MT in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal year, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a filing to the BSE. However, no reasons were given by the company for the decline. CIL subsidiaries, which registered a drop in production in September, are Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL). There was decline in production in North Eastern Coalfields (NEC), a unit of Coal India. According to industry experts, heavy rains and waterlogging during monsoon create operational difficulties in mining, leading to a drop in coal production. Coal production during the April-September period also dropped to 329.14 MT, over 341.35 MT in

India's power consumption rises 3.2% to 145.91 bn units in September

Power consumption in the country grew 3.21 per cent to 145.91 billion units (BUs) in September as widespread rainfall kept temperatures in check in most parts of the country. The peak power demand met during the month was 229.15 GW, which was significantly shorter than government projections. Power consumption was recorded at 141.36 BUs in September 2024, according to official data. The tepid increase in power consumption was attributed to widespread rainfall during the month in most parts of the country, which kept temperatures in check, experts said. Various government sources had said the country will see the peak demand of 277 GW level by September. However, the highest supply in a day (peak power demand met) in September remained at 229.15 GW, marginally down from 230.60 GW in September 2024. Speaking to PTI in August, Ghanshyam Prasad, the Chairperson of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), said the peak power demand is unlikely to touch the projected 277 GW this summer as

Accel, Anthropic to host India's first Developer Day on Oct 11 in Bengaluru

Venture capital firm Accel and AI company Anthropic, which runs Claude, a family of large language models (LLMs), will co-host Anthropic's first Developer Day in India here on October 11. The event comes at a time India's AI adoption is accelerating across enterprises, according to a statement. India is already one of Claude's strongest international markets, contributing about 7.2 per cent of global usage. This is an invite-only programme for top CTOs, product leaders and technical founders focused on practical build-with-Claude workflows and scaling via Application Programming Interface (APIs). The Developer Day will include a deep dive on Claude Sonnet 4.5, Anthropic's latest reasoning and coding model, alongside hands-on sessions using Claude Code and the Claude API for production-grade deployments, the statement said. In the run up to the event, Accel and Anthropic have opened Developer Day Community Demos for India's builders. The top three submissions will present live at th

Pakistan and India conflict was 'very big', I settled that: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday again claimed that he settled the "very big" conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. "I have settled so many wars since we're here. We're here almost nine months, and I've settled seven. And yesterday we might have settled the biggest of them all, although I don't know, Pakistan (and) India was very big, both nuclear powers, I settled that, Trump said in his remarks to military leaders in Quantico. Referring to his plan to end the Gaza conflict, announced on Monday, Trump said, We got it, I think settled. We'll see. Hamas has to agree, and if they don't, it's going to be very tough on them, but it is what it is. But all of the Arab nations, Muslim nations, have agreed." Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a "full and immediate" ceasefire after a "long night" of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim nearly 50 times that he helped settle the tensions between India and

India's blue- and grey-collar salaries rise 23% over two years: Report

The salaries of India's blue- and grey-collar workforce have increased by 23 per cent over the past two years, reflecting the growing demand and opportunities for the skilled workforce, a report said on Tuesday. The overall salaries have grown by 23 per cent in just two years, reflecting the rising demand and opportunities for India's blue and grey-collar workforce, WorkIndia's Salary Report 2025 stated. The WorkIndia Salary Report 2025 is based on an analysis of 1.93 lakh job seekers' data from 2023 to August 2025. However, the report revealed that male workers witnessed a faster pace of salary growth at 9 per cent, compared to women workers at 6 per cent, highlighting the persistence of gender pay inequality. Meanwhile, non-metro cities have emerged as growth engines, recording an average 14 per cent increase in salaries, outpacing metro cities where salaries rose by 10 per cent, it said. Full-time employment continued to see steady salary increases of 10-15 per cent each year,

Israel invites India to help rebuild regions, hails its role in West Asia

President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza will allow countries like India to carry out reconstruction activities in the region as New Delhi has been playing a positive role for peace in the Middle-East, Israeli ambassador Reuven Azar said on Tuesday. The envoy also welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reaction to the 20-point peace plan and said India can contribute significantly to the region. The plan, unveiled after talks between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposes an immediate end to the war in Gaza and release of all the hostages held by Hamas within 72 hours. Hamas has not yet accepted the peace plan. In a post on X, Modi welcomed Trump's announcement of a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict. "It provides a viable pathway to long term and sustainable peace, security and development for the Palestinian and Israeli people, as also for the larger West Asian region," the prime minister said. "We hope that all concerned will come together

India-Bhutan rail link: All about the project & why it matters | Kokrajhar–Gelephu | Banarhat–Samtse

India and Bhutan will soon be connected by rail for the very first time. The move is set to strengthen trade, tourism, and people-to-people ties between the two countries.

US tells India that Russian oil curbs are key to trade deal progress

While trade negotiations are on a positive track, a US official said, more work is needed to ensure India addresses US concerns over market access, the trade deficit and purchases of Russian oil

US prosecutors allege India agent also plotted murder in Pakistan or Nepal

The Department of Justice last year accused Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, of attempting to assassinate a US citizen of Sikh faith in New York

India urges Russia to release 27 more Indians recruited into Russian army

India has called upon Russia to release 27 more Indian nationals who were recently recruited into the Russian military. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday said New Delhi has come to know that more Indians are working with the Russian military, with new inputs coming from their families. "As per our information, 27 Indian nationals are presently serving in the Russian army. We are also in close touch with their family members in the matter," Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing. "We once again strongly urge all Indian nationals to stay away from the offers being made to serve in the Russian army as they are fraught with danger and risk to life," he added. Jaiswal said India has strongly taken up the matter with Russian authorities. "We have strongly raised this matter with Russian authorities in Moscow and with the Russian embassy in New Delhi, and asked for them to be freed as soon as possible," he said. "We are trying to get them out,"

Trump’s 100% tariff shock on pharma: What it means for India, pharma stocks?

US President Donald Trump has once again rattled markets with his tariff announcement, this time targeting the pharmaceutical sector.

India's logistics cost pegged at 7.97% of GDP, says DPIIT report

The country's logistics cost is estimated at 7.97 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023-24, according to a Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) report. It was prepared by NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research) for the department. The report said estimates derived for the previous five years show that the pace of growth in the logistics cost is gradually slowing down. This may be attributed to several initiatives such as PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan; dedicated freight corridors; Sagarmala project; integrated check posts; and development of the unified logistics interface platform, it said. "As per the current assessment prepared by NCAER for DPIIT, logistics costs in India are estimated at about 7.97 per cent of total GDP," the report added. A report on Assessment of Logistics Cost in India was launched last week by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. With this, the country has now a comprehensive and ...

Diljit Dosanjh bags Best Actor nomination for Chamkila in 2025 Intl Emmys

The Indian actor-singer has been picked for his role of Punjabi singer-musician Amar Singh Chamkila in the eponymous biopic 'Chamkila'

PM Modi invites global investors to tap India's food processing sector

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday invited global investment in India's food processing sector, saying the country has the triple strength of diversity, demand and scale. He also asked the industry to invest in innovations in biodegradable packaging and shift to environmentally friendly packaging materials. Addressing the 4th edition of the World Food India here, Modi said India kept its doors open for investments and collaborations in the food processing sector. "This is the right time to invest in India...We are open to investors engaged in the food (processing) chain. We are ready for collaboration. I urge everyone to invest in India as there are huge opportunities," he noted. He told the gathering that India is the world's third-largest start-up ecosystem, and a large number of the entities are working in the food and agriculture sectors. The Prime Minister said India is continuously contributing to ensuring global food security. The government is promoting the food ...

India's traditional handicrafts forge a festive comeback as Diwali gifts

Increasingly, heritage products from India's regional artisans are making a wave as handpicked festival gifts, especially for people who want their presents to tell a story