The country has for the first time crossed the milestone of 1 billion tonnes of coal and lignite production in the financial year 2023-24, Union Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Monday. India's total coal and lignite output was at 937 million tonnes (MT) in the preceding 2022-23 fiscal, as per official figures. "Proud to share that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, we have registered a stellar achievement by crossing 1 billion tonne (BT) coal and lignite production," Joshi said. It is a historic moment for India as the country has achieved the highest-ever production, and it will go a long way in ensuring energy security to the nation. The continuous efforts to increase domestic coal production has ensured that going forward the country will never have to face coal shortage, the minister said. Joshi further said, "I thank the officials of the sector, all the coal warriors and private miners for their grit and hard work in helping achieve mission-1BT. Owing to y

The gross total GST collection for FY24 stood at Rs 20.14 trillion, up by 11.7 per cent when compared to FY23

Jet fuel prices reduced, however, domestic LPG cylinder prices remain unchanged

Jet fuel or ATF price on Monday was cut by a marginal 0.5 per cent while rates of commercial LPG used by establishments such as hotels and restaurants were slashed by Rs 31 per cylinder in line with international prices. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was cut by Rs 502.91 per kilolitre or 0.49 per cent, to Rs 100,893.63 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Rates in Mumbai have been cut to Rs 94,466.41 per kl from Rs 94,809.22. Prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes. Alongside, oil firms also cut the price of commercial LPG by Rs 30.5 to Rs 1,764.50 per 19-kg cylinder. Rates of the cooking gas used in domestic households however remained unchanged at Rs 803 per 14.2-kg cylinder. This is the first reduction in commercial LPG prices since January. Rates had gone up Rs 14 per cylinder on February 1 and Rs 25.5 on March 1. Also, the price of the 5 kg FTL (Free Trade LPG or market price

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India needs to become economically self-reliant in the next 10 years so that the nation is not impacted much by global factors. Speaking on the 90th anniversary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Prime Minister also said a lot of work will be generated for everyone once the BJP-led NDA assumes office for the third term in June. "We have to increase India's economic self-reliance," he said. Modi said the banking sector has become profitable and credit growth has been increasing because of efforts taken by his government and the RBI in the last decade. He further said the gross NPAs of public sector banks, which was around 11.25 per cent in 2018, dropped to less than 3 per cent by September 2023. The "twin-balance sheet" problem is now a thing of the past, Modi said, adding that banks are now registering a credit growth of 15 per cent. The RBI has played a significant role in all these accomplishments, the Prime Minister added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambition of privatising state-run firms has taken a back seat due to general elections that start on April 19

Tech professionals are leaving India's IT hub of Bengaluru amid an intensifying drought that has gripped the city as it sweats through another torrid pre-monsoon season

Indian economy shows resilience with PMI growth, strong GST collections, and bank credit growth

GST field officers will now have to seek the approval of their zonal principal chief commissioners to initiate an investigation against any big industrial houses or major MNCs and levy duty on goods/services for the first time. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued guidelines for Central GST (CGST) officers. According to the guidelines, when a taxpayer is simultaneously being investigated by the state GST and DGGI officers on different subject matters, the principal commissioner will "consider the feasibility" of only one of the offices pursuing all the cases with respect to the taxpayer. The guidelines have also set a deadline for tax officers to conclude an investigation within one year of their initiation. CBIC further said that in initiating an investigation with respect to a listed company or PSU or seeking details from them, the CGST officers should issue "official letters instead of summons" to the designated officer of the entity, detailing the .

As many as 443 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or above, were hit by a cost overrun of more than Rs 4.92 lakh crore in February 2024, an official report stated. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,902 projects, 443 reported cost overruns and 764 projects were delayed. "Total original cost of implementation of the 1,902 projects was Rs 27,08,030.44 crore, and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 32,00,507.55 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,92,477.11 crore (18.19 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for February 2024 said. According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till February 2024 is Rs 16,76,739 crore, which is 52.39 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, the number of delayed projects decreases to 568 if the delay is ...

The Centre's dividend receipts from CPSEs have exceeded the revised budget estimate by 26 per cent to about Rs 63,000 crore, with PSU behemoths like Coal India, ONGC, Powergrid and GAIL making handsome payouts in the current fiscal. The revised estimates of the Budget presented in Parliament on February 1 pegged dividend receipts from CPSEs at Rs 50,000 crore for the current fiscal. The actual dividend collections have been about 26 per cent higher at Rs 62,929.27 crore in the 2023-24 fiscal ending March 31, 2024, as per the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) website. In March, the government received hefty dividend tranches from ONGC (Rs 2,964 crore), Coal India (Rs 2,043 crore), Power Grid Corporation of India (Rs 2,149 crore), NMDC (Rs 1,024 crore), HAL (Rs 1,054 crore) and GAIL (Rs 1,863 crore). In the last fiscal (2022-23), dividend receipts stood at Rs 59,952.84 crore. Higher dividend is a reflection of the robust financial performance of CPSEs duri

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday vowed to transform the country's economic landscape as he said he has shared the broad parameters of a five-year plan with all the ministries, the state media reported. Sharif, who earlier this month took oath as the prime minister for a second time since 2022 amidst staggering economic and security challenges, chaired a Cabinet meeting in which he shared the five-year plan with all the ministries specifying their targets, reported Radio Pakistan. He emphasised that the ministries would have to devise strategies to achieve these targets and the progress would be reviewed regularly. We have to cut our expenditures and take the country towards self-reliance, he said. Expressing determination to uplift various sectors such as agriculture and information technology, Sharif said We have to take the country on the growth trajectory and create employment opportunities. He was confident that the Ministry of Commerce would take the requisit

Country's economy is projected to grow at 7.6% in the current fiscal year to March 31, according to the latest government estimates

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund confirmed a deal with Egypt to increase its bailout loan from USD 3 billion to USD 8 billion, in a move that is meant to shore up the Arab country's economy which is hit by a staggering shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation. In a statement late Friday, the board said its decision would enable Egypt to immediately receive about USD 820 million as part of the deal which was announced earlier this month. The deal was achieved after Egypt agreed with the IMF on a reform plan that is centred on floating the local currency, reducing public investment and allowing the private sector to become the engine of growth, the statement said. Egypt has already floated the pound and sharply increased the main interest rate. Commercial banks are now trading the US currency at more than 47 pounds, up from about 31 pounds. The measures are meant to combat ballooning inflation and attract foreign investment. The Egyptian economy has be

India's forex reserves increased by USD 140 million to touch its all-time high of USD 642.631 billion during the week ended March 22, the Reserve Bank said. This is the fifth consecutive week of a jump in the overall reserves. The kitty had increased by USD 6.396 billion to USD 642.492 billion in the previous reporting week. The previous peak level was recorded in September 2021 when the country's foreign exchange reserves reached USD 642.453 billion. The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year. For the week ended March 22, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by USD 123 million to USD 568.264 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

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday reiterated a message he has sounded in recent weeks: While the Fed expects to cut interest rates this year, it won't be ready to do so until it sees more good inflation readings' and is more confident that annual price increases are falling toward its 2 per cent target. Speaking at a conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Powell said he still expected "inflation to come down on a sometimes bumpy path to 2 per cent". But the central bank's policymakers, he said, need to see further evidence before they would cut rates for the first time since inflation shot to a four-decade peak two years ago. The Fed responded to that bout of inflation by aggressively raising its benchmark rate beginning in March 2022. Eventually, it would raise its key rate 11 times to a 23-year high of around 5.4 per cent. The resulting higher borrowing costs helped bring inflation down from a peak of 9.1 per cent in June 2022 to 3.2 per cent last .

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.3% last month, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said

Domestic demand growth for non-ferrous metals such as aluminium and copper is likely to remain at 10 per cent in the next financial year, Icra said on Friday. The apparent consumption growth for non-ferrous metals in the domestic market remained at 10-13 per cent in the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal supported by the government's push on infrastructure development and encouraging demand from renewables sectors and electric vehicles. "While the demand is expected to remain soft over the next two quarters as government spending moderates around the general elections, the overall demand growth is expected to remain comfortable at 10 per cent in FY24 and FY25," Icra said in a statement. The operating margin of domestic players is also likely to remain stable at 17-17.5 per cent in FY25, like the levels estimated in FY24. Consequently, the rating agency maintains a stable outlook on the sector, it said. "Icra notes that the domestic e-auction premia on coal had eased in recent

Foreign exchange reserves include India's Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund

Others see a slowing economy and weakening job growth on the horizon, pushing the Fed to cut in order to support the labor market