BUSINESS
India’s service activity declines to 26-month low of 56.5 in January
December marks the first time in four months that the HSBC India Services Business Activity Index slipped below the 58 mark
BUSINESS
Customs duty cuts to cost Rs 1,900 crore: CBIC Chairman
The government is expected to collect Rs 2,35,000 crore from customs in FY25, which is expected to rise to Rs 2,40,000 crore in FY26
BUSINESS
GST rate rationalisation challenging due to socio-economic, revenue considerations: CBIC Chairman
'The GoM is examining all issues comprehensively and will submit a report. They will have to arrive at some consensus,' Sanjay Agarwal said.
BUSINESS
States, science, and defence get a lion’s share of increased capex funding
The capital outlay for science and technology increased 273-fold. The government budgeted Rs 20,095 crore for the department, compared with Rs 73.4 crore spent in the previous fiscal year
BUSINESS
Over a fifth of USAID’s $2.9 billion assistance to India since 2001 came in last four years
A freeze on USAID assistance is expected to have the greatest impact on healthcare projects in India, which received two-thirds of the organisation's allocation for the country, during the last four years.
BUSINESS
Tax cut to shield India from global headwinds, boost private investment, says CEA
V Anantha Nageswaran said that data shows that private sector has been investing, but maybe not at the pace one would like to see
BUSINESS
Govt hopeful of ratings upgrade as Budget draws debt-reduction roadmap
S&P Ratings was the only agency to have recently revised India’s outlook to positive from stable earlier this year
BUSINESS
After Budget rejig, India’s entry level tax rates lower than other major economies: MC Analysis
In her eighth budget, the finance minister raised the tax exemption limit to Rs 12 lakh a year from Rs 7 lakh and also rationalised rates across tax slabs
BUSINESS
Factory activity rises to six-month high of 57.7 in January
Manufacturing PMI had declined to a 12-month low of 56.4 in the previous month
BUSINESS
GST rate rationalisation process underway, say sources
The government had set up a ministerial panel, the Group of Ministers (GoM), to examine GST rate rationalisation.
BUSINESS
Budget nominal GDP growth estimate of 10.1% realistic; real GDP to be around 6.5% in FY26, say economists
The government’s estimate for growth was marginally lower than an MC poll of economists conducted a fortnight before the Budget, which had pegged the median at 10.4 percent
BUSINESS
GST collection rises to nine-month high of Rs 1.96 lakh crore, up 12.3% in January
Tax collections remained above Rs 1.7 lakh crore mark for the eleventh consecutive month
BUDGET
Roads, rail, defence share in capex at 62.8% in FY26, lowest in four years
The only category to record a rise was defence capex, which increased nearly 13 percent to Rs 1.8 lakh crore in FY26 compared with Rs 1.6 lakh crore spent the previous year.
BUSINESS
Employment, skill development get another spending boost in FY26
Last year, a Moneycontrol analysis showed that the labour and skill development ministries of the government will over the next five years spend nearly double of what they disbursed in the previous decade
TECHNOLOGY
Govt gives an AI push with Rs 2,200 crore allocation
The increase also comes when China has shown its mettle with DeepSeek, an open-source AI model, upending the US dominance in the Large Language Model domain
BUSINESS
Markets are not kind to budgets; despite tax relief, the Sensex ends flat
February 1 witnessed the BSE Sensex close 5.4 points higher.
BUSINESS
FM provides a tax bonanza, but keeps to the fiscal consolidation path
The highlight of the first full Budget of the National Democratic Alliance government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the rationalisation of tax rates
BUSINESS
Defence spending gets a boost with Rs 6.8 lakh crore allocation, as defence capex up 12.9%
Data shows that India has seen a steady rise in defence allocation since 2019, with capex creation 50 percent higher than the pre-pandemic period
BUSINESS
Govt budgets another bonanza dividend at Rs 2.56 lakh crore from RBI and state-run banks in FY26
This financial year the RBI dividend has helped keep the fiscal deficit in check despite a decline in nominal growth and a faster pick-up in revenue expenditure
BUSINESS
Nominal growth target set higher at 10.1%, income tax steals the show in FY26 Budget
The Indian economy performed below expectations in FY25. While the Budget had set a target if 10.5 percent growth for the fiscal, data released on January 7 showed that growth likely slipped to 9.7 percent for the year
BUSINESS
Capex target set at Rs 11.2 lakh crore for FY26, as income tax relief takes centre stage
The spending is in line with the median forecast of Rs 11.2 lakh crore of a Moneycontrol poll of 15 economists
BUSINESS
Finance Minister stays on fiscal consolidation path, pegs fiscal deficit at 4.4% of the GDP for FY26
The fiscal deficit number is in line with the MC poll of 15 economists which pegged it at 4.5 percent of the GDP
BUSINESS
What found mention and what didn’t in Economic Survey 2025 and cues for Budget 2025
Fiscal consolidation, which was a prominent theme in last year’s survey, only had a single mention in this survey, a detailed discussion on tariffs was also conspicuously absent
BUSINESS
India's April-December fiscal deficit at Rs 9.14 lakh crore or 56.7% of FY25 target
India’s fiscal deficit at Rs 8.5 lakh crore had crossed the half way mark in the first eight months of the year
