Of the budgeted amount, Rs 4,093 crore is to be spent on capital expenditure, nearly 15 times the money spent on capital expenditure (Rs 336 crore) in FY23

The railway board has been directed to formulate an action plan on all the policy initiatives discussed by June 15

The government on Friday permitted the import of pet coke for making graphite anode material for lithium-ion batteries as a feedstock and not for any other purposes. Import of pet coke for fuel purposes is completely banned. "Import of needle pet coke (NPC) is 'free' for making graphite anode material for Li-ion battery as feedstock/raw material and not for any other purposes, including use as fuel or for trade," the directorate general of foreign trade said in a notification. Lithium-ion batteries are used in electric vehicles. The DGFT, however, said that the sulphur content in the NPC should be less than 0.8 per cent, which would be monitored by state pollution control boards. It also said that the import of low-sulphur pet coke is restricted, and its imports are subject to authorisation from the directorate for use in integrated steel plants only for blending with the coking coal in recovery-type coke ovens equipped with desulphurisation plants. This is also subject to terms

85% of 11,000 products offered at zero tariff remains unutilised

Average time taken for issuing refunds by the income tax department has been brought down "significantly" and 80 per cent of refunds were issued in the first 30 days of filing of returns during the 2022-23 fiscal, CBDT Chairman Nitin Gupta has said. The chief of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the work of processing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) has been "expedited" as the tax department is leveraging technology in a big way and was working to ensure 'ease of doing business' for the taxpayers by promoting voluntary compliance. "We have expedited the processing of returns and quicker issue of refunds. The average time taken for processing of returns has been reduced to only 16 days in the financial year 2022-23 as against 26 days in the previous 2021-22 fiscal," Gupta said. "We have seen a hundred per cent increase in the total percentage of ITRs processed within one day of their filing. This percentage has increased from 21 per cent for assessment year (AY) 2021-22 to 42 p

India imported 0.5 million tonnes of finished steel in April - the highest since 2019 - up 38.2% from a year earlier, the data showed

Reserves had fallen by $6.05 billion in the week ended May 19, the biggest fall in more than three months

Former CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian said that his predecessor Arvind Subramanian could have 'easily picked up the phone and spoken to the chief statistician' something was wrong with GDP figures

Rajnath Singh stated that efforts were being made to create a strong, and tech-savvy armed forces on the back of a robust defence industry

The rooftop solar capacity in India increased by 6.35 per cent to 485 megawatt (MW) in the January-March quarter of this year, according to Mercom India. In the January-March period of calendar year 2022, the rooftop solar installation capacity in the country was at 456 MW, the research firm said on Friday. India's cumulative rooftop solar capacity was approximately 9.3 gigawatts (GW) at the end of Q1 2023. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, at 485 MW, rooftop solar capacity addition was marginally up by 0.4 per cent compared to 483 MW in Q4 2022, Mercom India said. According to its 'Q1 2023 Mercom India Rooftop Solar Market Report', nearly 58 per cent of capacity was added by residential consumers in Q1 2023, while industrial and commercial consumers accounted for 28 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively. In Q1 2023, rooftop solar accounted for 26 per cent of total solar installations. "After ups and downs in 2022, we are beginning to see steady growth in rooftop solar driven by so

Domestic coal production was 7.10 per cent higher year-on-year at 76.26 million tonne (MT) in May. India had produced 71.21 MT coal during the same month in 2022, the coal ministry said in a statement. "Ministry of Coal has achieved a remarkable feat with a substantial surge in overall coal production during May 23, reaching 76.26 MT surpassing May 22 of 71.21 MT, representing an increase of 7.10 per cent," it said. The cumulative coal production in April-May FY24 jumped to 149.41 MT from 138.41 MT in the year-ago period. Last month, Coal India Ltd (CIL) alone produced 59.94 MT coal, up 9.54 per cent over 54.72 MT in May 2022. With an increased first-mile connectivity infrastructure, coal dispatch last month grew 5.70 per cent to 82.22 MT from 77.79 MT in May 2022. First-mile connectivity refers to the transportation of coal from pitheads to dispatch points. The cumulative coal dispatch in April-May FY24 stood at 162.44 MT as against 149.76 MT in the year-ago period. This upturn

A $3 billion proposal that had Israeli foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd. as a tech partner has also stalled, while a third plan is stuck because Singapore-based IGSS Ventures Pte wants to re-apply

UP govt on Thursday launched a 15-day registration campaign for Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises in all districts across the state, according to an official statement from the Chief Minister office

GST collection, car sales post robust numbers

Implementation of the supply chain agreement being finalised among the 14-member IPEF grouping is expected to extend a number of benefits to India, including boosting domestic manufacturing and mobilisation of investments, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. Members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) concluded the negotiations on the proposed agreement, one of the four pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), on May 27 in Detroit. "Once implemented, the Supply Chain Agreement is expected to bring in a number of benefits to India and the other IPEF partner countries," it said. Some of the key benefits expected are potential shift of production centres in key goods/critical sectors to India; bolstering of domestic manufacturing capacities; mobilization of investments especially in production of key goods, logistics services and infrastructure, the ministry said. It may also help in increasing exports from India; mitigation of risks of econo

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Thursday said huge business opportunities are there for investors and sought Indian investments in various sectors such as mining, manufacturing, agriculture, energy, tourism, infrastructure, information technology and hospitality. He said that abundance of natural resources, large pool of human capital, a promising market with sound policies and regulatory framework makes Nepal an ideal attractive destination for investment. "No countries other than Nepal and India share such an intimate friendship and deep rooted cultural affinity providing an excitingly favourite business environment. Moreover, the two governments are moving ahead with bold decisions to transform the development landscape. This needs to be echoed by the private sector which is a powerful engine of growth," he said here while addressing CII's India-Nepal Business Summit. Opportunities for investments across a wide range of areas including mining, manufacturing

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said huge opportunities for people and businesses will be opened up when the country's goods and services exports touch USD 2 trillion by 2030. In the last two years, he said the country's exports jumped from USD 500 billion to USD 767 billion in 2022-23. India is a USD 3.5 trillion-economy today and will become at least USD 35 trillion- economy by 2047 and "imagine what opportunities it will open up for all the people of India," he said. According to him, by 2030, "we will see USD 2 trillion of exports from India, imagine the opportunities that it will open up". At the Times Network India Economic Conclave here, the minister also said the country's economy is growing at a faster pace and it is clearly reflected from the 7.2 per cent GDP growth in 2022-23. "India is in the mode of stability with a proactive government strengthening every element of the economy in a manner which will hold us in good stead in our pursuit to mak

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said the PM SVANidhi scheme, launched to help street vendors get easy loans, is witnessing one of the fastest roll-outs among all government schemes. The Union housing and urban affairs minister was speaking at an event on the completion of three years of the Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi, also known as PM SVANidhi. According to a statement, the minister at the event said the PM SVANidhi has led to an unparalleled wave of financial inclusion and digital literacy in the countries cities and small towns. The scheme, launched on June 1, 2020, with an aim to instil 'Swarozgar, Svavlamban, Swabhimaan' (Self Employment, Self-Sustenance, and Self-Confidence) in street vendors has become one of the fastest growing microcredit schemes of the central government and has given people access to credit and social security schemes, the statement said. Puri on Thursday also launched a PM SVANidhi mobile app to ease the loan applicati

Says Indian economy likely to grow at 6.5-6.7% in FY24

Strong increase in line with GDP growth estimate in FY24, say experts