Reliance Petro, the petroleum business unit of Reliance Industries Limited, has embarked upon retail expansion binge in a big way to become the biggest player in the private sector.

Driven by Maruti, Hyundai and Tata Motors, car sales soared 24.1 per cent in September 2004 for the sixth consecutive month, raising hopes of good second quarter profit for automakers.

With danger signals flashed in the Economic Survey, the Budget is likely to contain certain bold decisions to cut fiscal deficit and spendings laced with tax sops for the salaried class.

The car sales went up by 9.88 per cent in the second month of this fiscal with Maruti and Tata Motors propelling the growth even as Hyundai slowed down the overall sales last month.

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The increase in bus and truck sales of Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland pushed commercial vehicle sales up by a robust 35.7 per cent in the first eleven months of this fiscal.

Cellular service provider Hutch will spend Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) on network expansion in Rajasthan this year.

Painting a rosy picture of the economy, the mid-year review on Friday projected over 7.0 per cent economic growth this fiscal backed by over 8.0 per cent jump in farm output.

In a bid to boost economic and trade ties with energy rich Central Asia, India has agreed to actively participate in building trans-Afghanistan road and rail links between Uzbekistan's Termez to Iran's Chahbahar Port in the Gulf.

India is incurring an annual loss of Rs 20,000-30,000 crore (Rs 200-300 billion) due to the problems in the road sector, including overloading and poor maintenance, a World Bank expert said on Thursday.

Steel Authority of India was bolstered by statements from the company's chairman about its prospects for the current year.

The nationwide, indefinite strike by truckers, demanding stable fuel prices and fewer levies, entered the second day on Tuesday - threatening to cripple the country's delivery network.

Government has cleared 29 foreign direct investment proposals worth Rs 262 crore (Rs 2.62 billion), including the Rs 134.35 crore (Rs 1.34 billion) proposal by Atlas Copco to convert Indian operations into a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday admitted that eight per cent growth was difficult due to drought but was not impossible if the challenges were faced in unity, shunning political differences.\n\n

The Asian Development Bank said on Friday it will earmark loans up to $2 billion for India this year, with 70 per cent of it going towards infrastructure projects.

The text of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's speech at the inaugural session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, January 9, 2003