The ministry made the announcement on the day when it launched the second round of auction for the 18 strategic mineral blocks valued at Rs 30 trillion

The ongoing WTO 13th ministerial conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi, which was supposed to end on February 29, has been extended by a day due to the logjam over key issues

The manufacturing sector, too, gathered momentum in February on the back of expansion in new export orders and easing of pricing pressures

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said many countries are negotiating to start trade in rupee as the country's fundamentals are strong and the Indian unit has been "mostly stable" against most of the international currencies. Addressing the Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru Memorial Lectures 2024 at JNU, Sitharaman also said India has opened up every sector for private investments and will extend fiscal and policy support to sunrise sectors like artificial intelligence, semiconductors and manufacturing using innovative tools. "Indian Rupee being mostly stable against most of the international currencies except for the US dollar, where it had volatility. But even in that case, compared to many other currencies, the Indian rupee has been far more stable even against the US dollar. "And therefore, you find countries today wanting to have trade relations built on rupee trade," said Sitharaman while addressing students and professors at her alma mater. "As a central university, JNU

Coal-producing states earned a revenue of Rs 1.52 lakh crore in the last nine years from royalty, District Mineral Foundation (DMF) and National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET). State-wise and year-wise data indicate that the coal mining sector is a very significant contributor to the revenue of states including Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, the Coal Ministry said in a statement. "During 2014-2023, total revenue from royalty, DMF & NMET of all coal-producing states through coal mining sector is Rs 1,52,696 crore," the ministry said. The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of the revenue from coal mining during 2014-2023 was 13.80 per cent, it said. Coal mining sector has proved to be a big booster for economic growth of the states that produce fossil fuel. State governments are entitled to receive 14 per cent of royalty on the sale price of coal and 30 per cent of the royalty as contribution towards the proposed district mineral foundations (DMFs)-- which ..

India's forex reserves jumped by USD 2.975 billion to USD 619.072 billion for the week ended February 23, the Reserve Bank said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by USD 1.132 billion to USD 616.097 billion. For the week ending February 23, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by USD 2.405 billion to USD 548.188 billion. 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 increased by USD 472 million to USD 47.848 088 billion during the week, the RBI said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by USD 89 million to USD 18.197 billion, the apex bank said. India's reserve position with the IMF was up by USD 9 million to USD 4.839 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed. India's forex reserves hit an all-time high of USD 645 billion in

Government data showed fertiliser subsidies in the October-December quarter declined by nearly 70% to 307 billion rupees ($3.7 billion) from the same period a year ago

The average monthly gross collection for the current fiscal stood at Rs 1.67 lakh crore, exceeding Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the last fiscal

The latest PMI figure comes a day after the National Statistical Office (NSO) data showed that India's GDP grew by 8.4 per cent in the October-December quarter

Adani group will invest about Rs 75,000 crore in Madhya Pradesh in power plants, building Mahakaal Expressway, and setting up cement grinding units in coming years, a top group executive said on Friday. The apples-to-airport group has already invested almost Rs 18,000 crore in the state and will continue investing in diverse sectors, said Pranav Adani, Managing Director (Agro, Oil and Gas) and Director of Adani Enterprises at the Regional Industry Conclave here. "Currently, our presence in Madhya Pradesh spans a wide range of sectors - from roads, cement, and natural resources to thermal power, renewable energy and power transmission," he said. "Our faith in your (chief minister Mohan Yadav's) visionary leadership will see us investing close to Rs 75,000 crore in Madhya Pradesh," he added. He, however, did not indicate a time frame for the investment. Of this, the group will invest Rs 5,000 crore in building the Mahakaal Expressway from Ujjain to Bhopal, through Indore. "We will

The GDP growth for the current financial year could be within striking distance of 8 per cent, a study by the State Bank of India (SBI) said on Friday, a day after India posted an 8.4 per cent growth in the December quarter, and revised upwards the estimates for the preceding two quarters. "The third quarter GDP numbers jolted the psyche and cognitive framework of most in markets, while sweeping some by a pleasant surprise. Clearly, right policy prisms and perspectives can trump irrational expectations bordering fault lines," SBI said in its research report 'Ecowrap'. It noted that defying all estimates, the economy grew 8.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2023-24 after exhibiting more than 8 per cent growth in the preceding two quarters. The buoyancy in indirect tax mop-up (32 per cent year-on-year growth), gap between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Value Added (GVA) growth widened. "For fiscal 2023-24 GDP growth is expected to increase 7.6 per cent and GVA growth by 6.9

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Highways Authority of India and manages toll road projects

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said nearly 97.62 per cent of the Rs 2,000 bank notes have returned to the banking system, and only about Rs 8,470 crore worth of the withdrawn notes are still with the public. On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation. "The total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation, which was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of Rs 2000 banknotes was announced, has declined to Rs 8,470 crore at the close of business on February 29, 2024," the RBI said in a statement. Thus, 97.62 per cent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation as of May 19, 2023, have since been returned, it added. "The Rs 2,000 banknotes continue to be legal tender," the RBI added. People can deposit and/or exchange Rs 2,000 bank notes at the 19 RBI offices across the country. People can also send Rs 2,000 bank notes through India Post from any post office to any of the RBI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said Direct Benefit Transfer of Rs 34 lakh crore has been facilitated by the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) and asked accounts officers to further enhance efficiency and transparency of the system. In a written message to the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) and the Indian Civil Accounts Organisation (ICAO) on the occasion of the 48th Civil Accounts Day, Sitharaman said PFMS has been the cornerstone of establishing an efficient fund flow system alongside a robust payment and accounting network. PFMS is the management information system used by officers of the Indian Civil Accounts Service to maintain the accounts of the government. It is also used to transfer funds to beneficiary accounts of various government schemes via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). "The Direct Benefit Transfer mechanism, facilitated through PFMS, has led to the transfer of Rs 34 lakh crore from the government. This is a testament to the system's ...

He also expressed his best wishes to the students appearing in the board examination and wished for their bright future, suggesting they write the examination without any fear

In volume terms, transactions were seen at 12.10 billion, compared to 12.20 billion in January

The meeting of the highest decision making body of the WTO on Friday entered the fifth day with key members including India, the US and EU holding talks to iron out differences on issues such as agriculture, fisheries subsidies, and duty moratorium on e-commerce trade. The 13h ministerial conference (MC), which was to end on February 29, extended for a day as developing and developed nations were unable to find a common ground on these key issues. The members are talking to end the impasse and so far things have not moved much, an official said. "There are nine countries in the Green Room meeting including Brazil and China. The negotiations have been extended as WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is pushing for outcomes," the official said. However, officials here are not sounding positive so far about bridging the differences and coming out with a ministerial declaration, which is a must for the success of the conference. India has clearly stated that finding a permanent solution to t

India's HSBC India Manufacturing PMI came in at 56.9 in February, the fastest since October last year when it was 55.5

Last month, before Budget 2024, the price of commercial LPG cylinders was hiked by Rs 14 in Delhi to Rs 1,770

Coal output grew by 10.2 per cent, the only sector to retain a double-digit growth in January, compared to 10.7 per cent previously