Industry News

Private transport firms using unfair competition to stop Bharat Taxi: Shah

Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday alleged some private transport service companies are engaging in unfair competition by operating at a loss and slashing fares to drive out the cooperative mobility platform, Bharat Taxi. He declared that Bharat Taxi will reach more than 500 cities across India within two years. Speaking at the official launch of Bharat Taxi in Gujarat at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Shah said reports claiming Bharat Taxi's fares are higher were misleading. He launched Bharat Taxi service in 14 major cities of the state, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Dwarka, Vadodara, Rajkot, Somnath, Valsad, Anand, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Nadiad, Junagadh, Mehsana and Amreli. Bharat Taxi was soft-launched in Gujarat in December 2025. "Today, I received some phone calls, and some newspapers have reported that Bharat Taxi's fares are higher. I want to tell customers across the country that wherever Bharat Taxi is entering, competing companies are slashing their fares, re

Mini-economy: Little shoppers become Indian apparel's biggest growth story

Country's youngest consumers are reshaping wardrobes as brands expand kidswear offerings to capture rising demand

India plans to value its coal reserves in rupees: What does it mean?

MoSPI has proposed a framework to assign a monetary value to India's coal reserves. Here's what natural capital accounting means and why it differs from pricing coal

El Nino is a global crisis, keeping close watch on situation: Piyush Goyal

Goyal said the government is prepared and focused on safeguarding farmers' interests. "If a water crisis arises, all necessary steps to tackle it will be taken," he assured

India-UK trade pact: What changes for autos, whisky, textiles, steel

Here are the key takeaways from the India-UK trade deal, from lower tariffs on cars and Scotch whisky to duty-free textile access, social security relief for professionals and steel export safeguards

India may ease emergency fuel curbs once global tensions ease: Official

Measures on LPG monitoring, gas allocation and fuel hoarding were imposed to protect domestic supply after disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz

India sees 30% rise in transactional risk insurance claims: Marsh report

Private equity-backed transactions accounted for 92% of claim notifications, with tax-related issues emerging as the most common trigger

No order to suspend lateral entry, consultations underway: Jitendra Singh

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said that the lateral entry has not been suspended and consultation was going on with all stakeholders. The lateral entry is referred to as the appointment of specialists, including those from the private sector, in the government departments. "There is no such order suspending the process," Singh told a press conference, when asked about the status of lateral entry. The minister was addressing the presser on the "12 Years' Achievements of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions". The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had in August 2024 cancelled its advertisement to fill key posts in government departments through lateral entry, amid a political row over the lack of a reservation provision for those positions. Singh, the minister of state for personnel, said that the consultation was going on "not with the stakeholder ministries alone, in fact with everybody" (concerned). Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT

India Inc seeks AI talent to deploy and scale business workflows: Report

Employers in India are now seeking deployment of artificial intelligence in governance and scaling up workflow, reflecting a shift in the hiring trend of AI talent from experimentation to execution, a report said. Hiring demand has shifted decisively from AI experimentation to implementation, with employers increasingly seeking professionals who can deploy, manage, integrate and scale AI solutions across core business operations, according to staffing and workforce solutions company Quess Corp's 'India AI Workforce Analysis 2026' report. The report, based on secondary data and 3.5 lakh job postings, found that India has around 9,20,000 AI professionals. Of them, 2,57,000 are in core AI roles and 6,63,000 in AI-embedded roles. The report found differences in job descriptions. Global capability centres (GCCs) are hiring for reusable internal AI platforms, enterprise integration and governance, while IT services firms are recruiting to deliver AI across client programmes. Enterprises

Centre awaits IMD's June-end El Nino projection to shape kharif strategy

Agriculture Secretary Atish Chandra on Wednesday said the ministry is awaiting the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) forecast by the end of this month to get a clearer picture on the El Nino timeline before deciding on concrete steps to mitigate the likely impact on kharif crops. "The prediction on when El Nino will set in is still to come. By the end of this month, IMD will come out with the forecast, and then the picture will be clearer. We will then be in the thick of the kharif sowing season and will know how it is going to pan out," Chandra told PTI in an interview. While there have been broad forecasts of El Nino setting in around November, IMD is seeking greater certainty before firming up its assessment. A key variable being tracked is the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) a climate pattern characterised by irregular sea surface temperature oscillations in the Indian Ocean. After remaining positive in May, the IOD has turned neutral in June. "Whether it will remain neutral

Noida International Airport starts cargo operations with first cargo flight

The Noida International Airport (NIA) began freight operations with the arrival of the first cargo plane on Wednesday, two days after starting commercial passenger flights on June 15. The first cargo flight, a Boeing 737-800F operated by Afcom Holdings between Chennai and Noida, was welcomed with a water cannon salute at the airport's cargo hub. AISATS Multi Modal Cargo Hub (MMCH) at NIA handled the domestic freighter flight at its integrated cargo terminal, with the aircraft carrying nearly 20 tonnes of mixed cargo, including perishables, consolidation shipments, auto components and mobile devices. This marked a major step towards establishing NIA as a logistics gateway for northern India by integrating air cargo handling, warehousing and multimodal connectivity, officials said. AISATS Chief Executive Officer Ramanathan Rajamani said the handling of the first freighter flight marked "the beginning of a new chapter in India's cargo and logistics journey". "As supply chains become

Industry leaders should engage with research institutes: Jitendra Singh

There is a need for deeper collaboration among research institutions, industry and startups to accelerate the translation of scientific knowledge into market-ready solutions and national development outcomes, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday. He said industry leaders should actively engage with research institutions and participate in shaping the country's scientific agenda. "The objective is not merely to generate knowledge but to create technologies, enterprises and solutions that contribute to employment generation, industrial competitiveness and improved quality of life," Singh said. He made these comments while addressing an industry-interaction session on the sidelines of the RISE Conclave 2026 in Bengaluru. Singh emphasised the importance of shared scientific infrastructure in reducing entry barriers for startups and small enterprises. The minister added that sophisticated facilities developed through public investment should increasingly function as common ..

Sebi pushes back merchant banker SBU and net worth norms deadlines

Markets regulator Sebi on Thursday extended the timelines for merchant bankers to comply with certain provisions related to separate business units (SBUs), net worth and liquid net worth requirements, citing operational challenges faced by the industry. Under the revised timelines, merchant bankers will now have until December 31 to transfer activities to separate business units in accordance with Sebi (Merchant Bankers) Regulations. Earlier, the deadline was July 3, according to a circular issued by the markets regulator. Further, the Phase I compliance deadline for enhanced net worth requirements has been extended to March 31, 2027, from January 2, 2027. The Phase II deadline has been shifted to March 31, 2028, from January 2, 2028. Similarly, compliance timelines for Phase I and Phase II liquid net worth requirements have been extended to March 31, 2027, and March 31, 2028, respectively. The deadline for merchant bankers to intimate Sebi regarding their categorisation as Categor

Centre may revise FY27 fertiliser subsidy maths after urea price drop

A sharp decline in global urea prices in the latest NFL import tender could prompt the government to reassess fertiliser subsidy estimates for FY27, officials said

Fertiliser stocks adequate, subsidy outgo may be reassessed: Govt

The government on Thursday asserted that the fertilisers stocks in the country is comfortable to meet the demand for the ongoing kharif season and said the subsidy estimates for the current fiscal could be reassessed considering the softening of urea prices in the global markets. At an inter-ministerial briefing on recent developments in West Asia, Aparna S Sharma, additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, said, "The stock position of fertilisers in the country is comfortable. India's fertilizer security remains as strong as ever." Asked whether the Rs 3.4 lakh crore fertiliser subsidy estimates for 2026-27 would be revised downward due to a fall in global prices, she said the preliminary subsidy estimate was based on the presumption that the trend remains the same. "But, as a result of the recent tender that has been done on behalf of the government by our one of our entities will definitely have cause to reassess the subsidy figures, and we will have

Oil India signs pact with Canada's PTRC on clean energy research

Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Canada's Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) have signed a collaboration framework to jointly explore carbon capture, geothermal energy and other clean energy technologies, the companies said. The agreement aims to deepen energy cooperation between India and Canada as both countries pursue energy transition and sustainability goals. The framework was signed on June 10 in Calgary between PTRC, a Saskatchewan-based not-for-profit energy research organisation, and OIL, a Maharatna public sector enterprise under India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the Indian firm said in a statement. The collaboration will focus on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), geothermal energy, subsurface energy technologies, and innovation-led research, including engagement with mc2+, India's startup platform backed by the petroleum ministry. Areas of cooperation include utilisation and permanent storage of captured carbon dioxide through geological ...

Air India AI171 crash anniversary: What happened since the tragedy

Almost a year after Air India AI171 crashed in Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, families of the victims await closure as the AAIB final probe report remains pending

Salary hikes may moderate in FY27. These sectors will still pay more

While overall pay hikes are set to cool in FY27, demand for specialised skills is expected to keep salary growth strong in EVs, fintech and healthcare

Three foreign universities get Centre's nod to set up Indian campuses

Two universities from the UK and one from Australia were granted Letters of Approval (LoAs) to establish campuses in India, the Ministry of Education announced on Tuesday. The move is aimed at strengthening the country's bid to becoming a global education hub under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, it said. The varsities granted letters were the University of Bristol and the University of York from the United Kingdom, both of which will set up campuses in Mumbai, and the University of New South Wales from Australia, which will establish its campus in Bengaluru. The LoAs were handed over by Higher Education Secretary and University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Vineet Joshi in the presence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. In a statement, the ministry said the LoAs were received in person by Executive Dean and Director, University of Bristol, Michelle Jones; Vice-Chancellor, University of York, Professor Charlie Jeffery and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education

Cotton price relief from duty cut may prove short-lived, traders warn

While cotton and yarn prices have eased after the import duty cut, traders caution that global price risks, El Nino concerns and the October import window could limit the benefits