BUSINESS
AERA to take a call on Delhi Airport tariff plan after consultation by March-end
Last month Saurabh Chawla, Executive Director, Finance and Strategy, GMR Airports, told analysts during a post-earnings call that he expects the final tariff order to be notified by the regulator in the first quarter of 2025-26.
TRAVEL
Relief for pilgrims after Maha Kumbh airfares drop by 50%, average ticket price down to Rs 10,000
Airfares to the holy city of Prayagraj were around 98-210 percent higher in the first week of February, compared to the year-ago period
BUSINESS
RBI's first rate cut in five years may give domestic tourism a demand boost
Lower interest rates on personal loans as well as credit cards may encourage spending, says experts
BUSINESS
India may gain nothing from the US-China trade war, say experts
A few Indian goods, such as electronics and pharmaceuticals, may gain due to the US-China tariff war, but this would also increase India’s reliance on Chinese imports and leave room for more dumping of components into the South Asian nation.
BUSINESS
Noida airport plans to start international flights to Dubai, Zurich, Singapore from April 2025
Over 80 percent of the work at the NIAL terminal had been completed as of end-January 2025, and the rest is on track for the April launch.
TRAVEL
MC Exclusive: DGCA plans to roll out new pilot fatigue norms from July 1
All aviation industry participants including airlines, the aviation ministry, safety regulator and pilot bodies have agreed to implement the FDTL norms from July 1 in a phased manner, but some new aspects are still under discussion which will likely be rolled out from November 1, 2025.
BUSINESS
MC Exclusive: IndiGo's international expansion plans to get 'XLR boost' by June 2025
The new A321XLR aircraft will have dual-class configuration and will help IndiGo fly nonstop routes of up to 4,700 nautical miles or 8,700 km, which will help the airline fly directly from India to London, Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo and Perth.
BUSINESS
NHAI in talks to raise Rs 9,000 crore for its InvIT
The funds will be used to acquire a portfolio of road assets from NHAI. The National Highways Infra Trust has a portfolio of 15 road stretches, spanning 1,525 km spread across nine states
BUSINESS
Data shows fall in airfares to Prayagraj, but for pilgrims, it's still beyond reach
Data from Ixigo shows that while the average spot fares from Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai to Prayagraj have fallen to Rs 13,000-25,000 on February 3, 2025, from Rs 17,000-33,000, seen around January 28, 2025, ticket prices are still much higher, compared to the same period last year.
BUDGET
Indian Railways aims to cross Rs 3 lakh crore in revenues in 2025-26, around 8 percent higher than 2024-25
Indian Railways’ revenue from the passenger segment is expected to rise 16 percent on year in 2025-26 to Rs 92,800 crore, revenues from cargo segment are seen rising only 4.4 percent on year to Rs 1,88,000 crore.
BUSINESS
Funding for the dedicated freight corridor falls sharply in Budget for 2025-26 indicating that the project will be completed soon
The Vaitarna-JNPT section of the western corridor is the last leg of the project which was stuck due to shortcomings of the contractor, Tata Projects. The company was served a termination notice by DFCC in 2023, which was later revoked
BUSINESS
Safety will continue to be the big ticket item for the Indian Railways' capital expenditure spending in 2025-26
Rail minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw recently told Moneycontrol that safety will continue to be the big-ticket item for railways capital expenditure spending in 2025-26
BUSINESS
Govt keeps NHAI’s borrowings to a minimum for 4th straight year
This move is part of the government’s efforts to reduce the highway developer’s debt. NHAI’s debt stood at Rs 3.44 lakh crore at the end of January 2022, against Rs 24,188 crore in 2014-15, a 14-fold rise in less than seven years
BUSINESS
Budget keeps capital expenditure for highway ministry unchanged at Rs 2.72 lakh crore
Of the total Rs 2.72 lakh crore, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been allocated around Rs 1.87 lakh crore as part of MoRTH’s capital expenditure plan for 2025-26, a 10 percent increase from 2024-25, when it was allocated Rs 1.68 lakh crore.
BUSINESS
Railway Budget 2025: Capex remains unchanged at Rs 2.52 lakh crore for second year in row
The railways was allocated around Rs 2.65 lakh crore in 2024-25 through various financing sources, including funds raised through IRFC for capex deployment.
BUSINESS
Finance Minister Sitharaman extends re‐export window for rail industry
The Budget also proposes to extend the time limit for re-import of goods for repairs under warranty from three to five years
BUSINESS
Govt announces that financial assistance scheme to enable faster growth of a homegrown shipping industry will be launched in Budget 2025
The shipping industry has long sought that the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways' (MoPSW) capital subsidy scheme – Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy (SBFAP) – be extended for shipbuilding by another 10 years under Amritkaal Maritime Vision 2047.
BUSINESS
Govt to ask every infrastructure ministry to come up with a list of projects to be awarded under the PPP model
Introduced in 2019, NIP has a projected investment of around Rs 111 trillion for FY20-25 for developing a comprehensive view of infrastructure development in the country.
BUSINESS
Govt announces a new regional air connectivity scheme UDAN for the next 10-years will be launched in Budget 2025-26
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on February 1 did not mention the total outlay for the Civil Aviation Ministry, but said the new UDAN scheme will benefit 4 crore additional passengers in the next 10 years.
BUSINESS
FM extends 50-year interest-free loans to state governments in Budget 2025
The PM Gati Shakti Master plan, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which found prominent mention in Sitharaman’s budget speech of 2022-23, involves holistic policymaking for the seven infrastructure sub-sectors, with one digital portal that can accessed by all stakeholders for real-time information.
BUSINESS
India Post to be transformed into logistics firm, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
The government is looking to to increase the revenue of the postal department by 50-60 percent over the next three-four years, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in September, talking about the logistic push
BUSINESS
Indian Railways saw wagons, locomotives production rise in FY25, says Economic Survey 2025
According to the report, a total of 2,031 kilometres of railway network was commissioned in the current fiscal year during April to November, which was slightly slower than the 2,282 km of rail network was commissioned in FY24 during the same period.
BUSINESS
Govt to roll out barrier-free tolling on all national highways, high-speed corridors by FY29: Eco Survey
The Survey added that the construction of national highways has slowed down in 2024-25. Data shows that 5,853 km of national highway was constructed during April to December in FY25, while 6,215 km of NH was constructed in FY24 during the same period.
BUSINESS
Airport operators, developers spent around Rs 82,500 crore as capex during last five years: Eco Survey
The Economic Survey 2024-25 said India has seen a notable rise in drone activities, with 140 remote pilot training organisations, 18,862 remote pilot certificates, 26,659 registered drones, and 82 approved drone models (DGCA type certificates).
