Production growth in India's eight core infrastructure sectors slowed to a three-month low of 2.3 per cent in February, impacted by contractions in crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products output.
Revenue collection next financial year may be affected, and, along with this, subsidies on food and fertilisers can go up if the war in West Asia drags for long, according to experts.
Alliances fight wars effectively only when they share an endgame. If Israel acted without US knowledge, then the military alliance is operating without real coordination at the level of strategic targeting. Neither picture is reassuring in a war that is no longer regional in its consequences. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
India's eight core infrastructure sectors experienced a slowdown in production growth, reaching a two-month low of 4% in January. Crude oil and natural gas output declined, while refinery products remained flat. Overall growth for the April-January period was also lower compared to the previous fiscal year.
India's manufacturing sector experienced a significant growth spurt in February, reaching a four-month high driven by strong domestic demand, according to the HSBC India Manufacturing PMI.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday warned that India's limited crude oil reserves of about 100 million barrels - sufficient for only 40-45 days of consumption - leave the country particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing war in West Asia.
If the conflict continues for a prolonged period, State-run oil companies may have to review retail fuel prices accordingly.
India's services sector experienced a slight moderation in growth during February, according to the HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index, with new order growth slowing and inflation picking up.
'The contours of the trade deal need to be reworked now.'
'My concern is that, although everything is expressed in monetary terms, you are effectively combining values that have been adjusted using different price measures.'
'AI adoption is moving faster than our ability to measure it -- and that's a challenge for anyone trying to make smart decisions.'
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Analysts predict India will face oil price volatility and macroeconomic effects due to the escalating Iran crisis, though the country's oil supply chain is not yet structurally insecure.
While participants in the domestic financial market are expecting a 25 basis-point policy repo rate cut in the December meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), economists remain torn between a reduction in rate cut and a pause.
The artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem is opaque and needs to be made transparent and accountable, said Competition Commission of India's (CCI) Chairperson Ravneet Kaur at the Business Standard Manthan Summit on Wednesday.
India's economy experienced a growth of 7.8 per cent during the October-December quarter of 2025-26, according to the new series of national accounts with 2022-23 as the base year.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's biggest challenge will be to find a new growth driver, particularly against the backdrop of a global economy ravaged by heightened uncertainty and fragmentation, financial markets on a precipice, and global commodity prices on a continued uptrend.
Gold imports climbed 349.22 per cent to $12.07 billion in January, while silver imports rose 127 per cent to $2 billion.
The 16th Finance Commission, led by Arvind Panagariya, has recommended maintaining the states' share in central taxes at 41% for the five-year period starting April 1, 2026. The government has accepted this recommendation, with Rs 1.4 lakh crore allocated to states for FY 2026-27 as Finance Commission Grants.
'After the Galwan clash, the rules of engagement changed with the army commanders allowed to use any means at their disposal as they deem fit for tactical operations.'
Political analysts express skepticism about the upcoming Bangladesh general election, citing concerns over manipulation, voter participation, and the influence of money and muscle in the changed political landscape.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a set of liquidity measures through open market operations (OMOs), dollar-rupee buy-sell swaps, and long-term variable rate repo (VRR) operations, in a bid to infuse liquidity into the banking system.
India's services sector growth rose to a two-month high of 58.5 in January, on faster expansion in new business intake and output, prompting service providers to hire additional staff, a monthly survey said on Wednesday.
India's manufacturing sector activity witnessed a slight recovery in January, amid faster increase in new orders, even as business confidence slipped to its lowest level in three-and-a-half years, a monthly survey said on Monday.
'The real risk is not that AI will fail to transform India's economy.'
'The risk is that it already is -- while our measurement systems continue to look the other way,' observes Nishant Sahdev, a theoretical physicist at the University of North Carolina.
Like the realisation on the failure of development, we have also internalised the failure on democracy, argues Aakar Patel.
With the Union Budget 2026, India's 74th, fast approaching, all eyes are once again on New Delhi's North Block as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is preparing to table it on February 1, 2026, marking her ninth Budget presentation in a row.
'We believe the truth is in the middle, and that India is at an important crossroads.'
India's eight key infrastructure sectors registered a four-month high growth rate of 3.7 per cent in December last year, driven by a jump in the output of fertiliser and cement, according to official data released on Tuesday.
The previous largest weekly decline was recorded in the week ended November 15, 2024.
'This Budget has a one-year agenda, which you can call the sprint, and the marathon is towards Viksit Bharat.'
Restoring weighted tax deductions and adopting a petty patents regime can foster firm-level innovative activity critical for competitiveness, points out Nagesh Kumar.
Bangladesh is preparing for elections and a referendum on reforms, but the absence of the Awami League and rising political tensions are raising concerns about the legitimacy and stability of the process.
The Union Budget for 2026-27, presented by Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, which was a first, had an excellent domestic macro backdrop. According to the first advance estimates, gross domestic product (GDP) in constant prices is projected to grow 7.4 per cent in the current financial year, against 6.5 per cent in 2024-25.
Retail inflation rose to a three-month high of 1.33 per cent in December 2025 mainly due to higher prices of kitchen essentials, including vegetables and protein-rich items.
The Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2025-26, up from 6.5 per cent in the previous fiscal, mainly on account of better performance of manufacturing and services sectors, as per the government data released on Wednesday.
The Election Commission served a notice to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen regarding electoral roll discrepancies, sparking a political controversy in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress has criticized the move as a politically motivated attack.
Stock market is gearing up for an eventful week ahead where key triggers such as quarterly earnings from corporates, the US Fed interest rate decision and the upcoming Union Budget for 2026-27 would grab the limelight, analysts said.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Nirmala Sitharaman moved into her Kartavya Bhavan office on October 2, in time to get the work on the Budget 2026-2027 going.
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