Serious efforts are needed make this energy supply alternative a success

Yogi Adityanath government is estimated to incur Rs 4,000 crore on acquiring land flanking the expressways, especially at the entry and exit points for faster transportation and logistics

The Odisha government has approved seven key projects with an investment of Rs 80,125 crore in different sectors, an official said. The projects received the state government's nod at a High-Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday. These investments are expected to create job opportunities for 24,552 people in various sectors, including steel, green energy, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals, the official said. These projects are spread over Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, Ganjam, and Bhadrak districts, he said. Granules Life Sciences Private Limited, a leading producer of paracetamol in India, has proposed to set up its pharmaceutical unit at Tata SEZ, Gopalpur in Ganjam district. The company aims to produce 4 billion units of paracetamol, metformin, ibuprofen and other pharma products, for which it will pump in Rs 1,100 crore in the Ganjam plant, generating jobs for around 1,500 people. Granules CZRO Private Limited will also

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the discourse surrounding women's issues has garnered renewed attention with the slogan of 'Nari Shakti' but several activists are apprehensive that the core concerns of women may again get subdued in the broader economic and political debates. There is a need for political parties to prioritise gender-sensitive policies, not merely as token gestures but as integral components of their core agendas, Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India (PFI) said, criticising the "marginalisation" of women's issues within the broader electoral discourse. "To truly empower women and address their unique concerns, it is imperative that political parties and leaders integrate gender-sensitive policies into their core agendas and manifestoes as a priority. "This includes not only increasing women's representation in political spaces but also ensuring that their voices are heard and acted upon in decision-making processes," she ..

The India-United States trade is likely to surpass the previous record of USD 200 billion this year and huge opportunities exist for the two countries to expand cooperation in defence, space besides critical emerging technologies like semiconductors and artificial intelligence, said American Ambassador Eric Garcetti on Thursday. The US is proud to be India's No. 1 trading partner with two-way trade reaching nearly USD 200 billion last year, Garcetti told reporters in Indore. "I think this year we will break the (previous) record of USD 200 billion in bilateral trade (between India and the US)," he said. The envoy asserted that US President Joe Biden in the past had emphasized that trade between India and America should rise to the level of USD 500 billion given the potential for expansion. Efforts are on achieve this goal, said the Ambassador who took charge of his new diplomatic assignment last year. Garcetti said huge opportunities exist to further grow Indo-US trade, and for ..

The Union Cabinet on Thursday discussed the proposed free trade agreement between India and four European nation bloc EFTA and the pact is likely to be inked on Sunday, said sources. The negotiations for the pact with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members -- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland -- have concluded. The pact is expected to be signed on Sunday here, sources added. India and EFTA have been negotiating the pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), since January 2008 to boost economic ties. The agreement has several chapters including trade in goods, rules of origin, intellectual property rights (IPRs), trade in services, investment promotion and cooperation, trade and sustainable development, and trade facilitation. EFTA has 29 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 40 partner countries, including Canada, Chile, China, Mexico, and Korea. Under free trade pacts, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate .

B V R Subrahmanyam underscored the fundamental role the organisation can play in guiding states towards fulfilling their developmental objectives in consonance with the central government's growth

The government on Thursday approved a Rs 10,037-crore new industrial development scheme, UNNATI, for northeast states. The Union Cabinet in a meeting approved the Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme, 2024, here, an official release said . The central sector scheme has been announced for the development of industries and employment generation in the states of North East Region. The scheme's main objective is to generate gainful employment, which will lead to the area's overall socio-economic development. The scheme will create productive economic activity in the manufacturing and service sectors. Under the scheme, incentives would be provided to investors for setting up new units or undertaking significant expansion of the existing units. The scheme will be effective from the date of notification and up to March 31, 2034, along with eight years of committed liabilities.

Modi's government already hiked the subsidy for low income households twice last year to 300 rupees per liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder from 200 rupees earlier to rein in inflation

The report also notes that the current situation index (CSI) and future expectations index (FEI) are above their pre-pandemic levels (at 89.4 and 118.0 respectively)

Rises in food prices, which make up almost half of the consumer price index (CPI) basket and experience sharp swings often due to uneven monsoons, have recently outpaced overall inflation

The amended FDI norms in the space sector strike a fine balance between the funding needs of India's spacetech startups and the country's security

Moody's Ratings on Thursday raised India's GDP growth forecast for FY24 to around 8 per cent from 6.6 per cent on the back of strong domestic consumption and capital expenditure. The estimate comes a day after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the economic growth in the current financial year could be close to 8 per cent in view of the third quarter GDP data released by the government. The latest estimate of Moody's is about 140 basis points higher than the earlier projection of 6.6 per cent made in November 2023. The National Statistical Office (NSO) has projected 8.4 per cent growth in December quarter of the current financial year. It has also revised GDP estimates for the first and second quarters to 8.2 per cent and 8.1 per cent from 7.8 per cent and 7.6 per cent, respectively. "We expect India to be the fastest-growing economy among major G20 countries, with its real GDP growth to accelerate to around 8 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2024 (fiscal 2023-24) from 7 per

Australian food brands seek a market of 25-30 million people in India's Tier-I and Tier-II cities, he says

India's second such local currency trade agreement, after one with the UAE

Demand was up about 5.1% on a daily basis from the 4.74 mbpd (20.04 million metric tons) consumed in January

The surprise 8.4% surge in gross domestic product was largely due to base effects related to subsidies, which boosted the net indirect tax category, CEA V Anantha Nageswaran said

The farm ministry in February predicted a record harvest of 112 million tons this year, and farmers will begin collecting crops in April

India and Japan are natural partners in a world headed towards "re-globalisation", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, asserting that the two nations also share basic affinities, being democracies and market economies. Jaishankar is in Tokyo for the second leg of his four-day visit to South Korea and Japan. Addressing the first Raisina Roundtable here, the minister said, "The world is heading for re-globalisation with the building of resilient and reliable supply chains and trusted and transparent digital transactions." The minister said the "top 20 or 30 nations today are not what they were two decades ago. Even less so. What they were four or eight decades ago." "Not only are the countries that impact us different but so are relative weight, importance and capability. As a result, new balances are being sought and occasionally achieved," he said. Jaishankar asserted that India and Japan are natural partners in the re-globalisation of the world as democracies

There is the reality of very big power shifts in Indo-Pacific, Jaishankar said while addressing the Raisina Roundtable organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in Tokyo