India needs to focus on factor market reforms like land and labour to propel India's growth to a double-digit trajectory, ADB Chief Economist Albert Park has said. "There are still concerns that the basic factor markets like land and labour in the formal sector of unemployment in India are still small. So, you really want to formalise those," he told PTI in an interview. The factor market reforms include land, labour, energy, and access to credit, among others, which are critical factors for production. Labour reforms have been approved by Parliament in 2020, but it has not been implemented. In 2019 and 2020, 29 central labour laws were amalgamated, rationalised and simplified into four labour codes -- the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020. Labour is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution. Under the Labour Codes, rules are required to be framed by the .

India's coal import rose by 7.7 per cent to 268.24 million tonne (MT) in FY24 driven by softness in seaborne prices and likelihood of increase in power demand during summer. The country's coal import was 249.06 MT in FY23, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce company mjunction services. Coal import in March FY24 also rose to 23.96 MT, over 21.12 MT in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal. Of the total volume recorded in March 2024, non-coking coal import stood at 15.33 MT, against 13.88 MT in March FY23. Coking coal import in March 2024 was 5.34 MT against 3.96 MT a year ago. During FY24, non-coking coal import was at 175.96 MT, higher than 162.46 MT imported during FY23. Coking coal import was at 57.22 MT in 2023-24, against 54.46 MT in 2022-23. "There was an increase in coal import volumes due to the continued softness in seaborne prices and expectation of a demand uptick during the summer season. However, as there is ample availability of domestic coal in the

China has emerged as the largest trading partner of India with USD 118.4 billion two-way commerce in 2023-24, slightly edging past the US, according to the data of economic think tank GTRI. The bilateral trade between India and the US stood at USD 118.3 billion in 2023-24. Washington was the top trading partner of New Delhi during 2021-22 and 2022-23. The data showed that India's exports to China rose by 8.7 per cent to USD 16.67 billion in the last fiscal. The main sectors which recorded healthy growth in exports to that country include iron ore, cotton yarn/fabrics/madeups, handloom, spices, fruits and vegetables, plastic and linoleum. Imports from the neighbouring country increased by 3.24 per cent to USD 101.7 billion. On the other hand, exports to the US dipped by 1.32 per cent to USD 77.5 billion in 2023-24 as against USD 78.54 billion in 2022-23, while imports dipped by about 20 per cent to USD 40.8 billion, the data showed. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said

The government will accord focused attention to promote India's textiles exports, which declined for the second year in a row in 2023-24, Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah said. The government has set an ambitious target to achieve USD 100 billion export for textile products by 2030. The cumulative exports of textiles and apparel from India during April 2023-March 2024 registered a de-growth of 3.24 per cent at USD 34.4 billion, as compared to USD 35.5 billion in April 2022-March 2023. In 2021-22, outward shipments of textiles and apparel were recorded at over USD 41 billion. "We had challenges like the Red Sea crisis making it slightly more challenging," Shah said on the decline in India's textiles exports in 2023-24. Although geo-political challenges remain, the textiles secretary said some exporters have reported improvement in their order books in the first quarter and the shipments are likely to improve in the coming months. "We will be looking at more focused attention on prod

Despite declining by three percentage points in 2022-23 (FY23) compared to FY19, Odisha's unemployment rate remains higher than the average in India

The IIP had grown by 1.9 per cent in March 2023

As executive director, Rao will handle the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), the Right to Information Act (FAA), and the Department of Communication

India's industrial production grew 4.9 per cent in March this year, according to official data released on Friday. The factory output measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) witnessed a growth of 1.9 per cent in March 2023. India's Index of Industrial Production grew by 4.9 per cent in March 2024, an official statement said. The data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the manufacturing sector's output grew 5.2 per cent in March 2024 against 1.5 per cent in the year-ago month. In March this year, mining production rose 1.2 per cent, and power output increased 8.6 per cent. The IIP grew 5.8 per cent during fiscal year 2023-24 compared to a 5.2 per cent expansion in the preceding fiscal.

After three consecutive weeks of drop, India's forex reserves increased by USD 3.668 billion to USD 641.59 billion for the week ended May 3, the RBI said on Friday. The overall kitty dropped USD 2.412 billion to USD 637.922 billion for the previous week ended April 26. For the week ended April 5, the reserves had hit an all-time high of USD 648.562 billion, following multiple weeks of increases after breaching the previous high of September 2021 in March this year. For the week ended May 3, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by USD 4.459 billion to USD 564.161 billion, the data released on Friday showed. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. Gold reserves decreased by USD 653 million to USD 54.88 billion during the week, the Reserve Bank of India said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were u

Majority of personal computer and server makers selected under the IT hardware production-linked incentive scheme are expected to start production this year, a senior government official said on Friday. "... About 17 out of 27 PLI companies will start production this year. Around 6-7 of them started production last year and two have plans to start production next year," Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) Secretary S Krishnan said on the sidelines of the inauguration of a new high-end computing server manufacturing unit of Netweb Technologies here. The government in November, 2023 approved the application of 27 companies, including Dell, HP, Foxconn, Lenovo, Netweb Technologies, under new production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware. Among the big names that have been granted approval under the IT hardware scheme are Flextronics, VVDN, and Optiemus. Other applicants that have received the green signal include Padget Electronics, SOJO Manufacturing Services, Goodworth,

The deficit also follows delays, a government source said, in the commissioning of 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-fired plants which had been targeted to be operational before March

Traders and market players said that going forward, vegetable prices will continue to rule firm as heat wave singes supplies

The Indian private equity and venture capital investments declined by about 35 per cent to around USD 39 billion in 2023 from USD 62 billion in 2022, according to a joint report by Bain & Company and IVCA released on Thursday. The private equity (PE) investments in India dropped by 18 per cent to USD 29.6 billion from a peak value of USD 36 billion in 2022. The drop in VC investments was much sharper, with total investments at USD 9.6 billion in 2023 versus USD 25.7 billion in 2022. "Mirroring the global trend, Indian private equity and venture capital (PE-VC) investment softened by about 35 per cent from approximately USD 62 billion in 2022 to around USD 39 billion in 2023, returning to pre-Covid-19 activity levels," the report said. The report saw 2023 as a marquee year for Indian exits with exit values soaring by 15 per cent to USD 29 billion with sale of shares in 340 entities. "In a year marked by global economic uncertainties, India's private equity landscape demonstrated ..

RBI may be looking at the bigger picture, and companies at their balance sheets, says former RBI governor D Subbarao on draft provisioning norms

The Export-Import Bank of India on Thursday said India's merchandise exports would grow by 12.3 per cent year-on-year to USD 116.7 billion in the April-June quarter this fiscal. "These positive growth rates are expected to be witnessed in continuation of the positive growth witnessed during the last two quarters of the previous financial year," India Exim Bank said in a statement. The positive growth in India's exports could be the result of the country's GDP growth fundamentals and outlook, and sustained momentum in the manufacturing and services sector, it added. "Export-Import Bank of India forecasts India's total merchandise exports to amount to USD 116.7 billion, witnessing a y-o-y growth of 12.3 per cent," it said. It added that the growth in exports is expected to continue to witness a positive momentum in the forthcoming quarters. However, it cautioned that the outlook is subject to risks of uncertain prospects for advanced economies, geopolitical shocks, and the Middle Ea

Citing Tea Board data, the association said that North Indian tea production from January to March 2024 was down by more than 21 million kilograms

Most of the funds were picked up by state-owned banks and insurance companies, said market participants

India's income tax receipts rose 17.7% year-on-year to nearly $235 billion in 2023/24, higher than government's projection

India received more than $111 bn in remittances in 2022, the largest such amount

V Anantha Nageswaran, the government's chief economic adviser, said on Wednesday the Indian economy was better placed than before to pursue 'non-inflationary' growth