City New Delhi Financial News

India is poised to overtake China as the largest member of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) in the next five years, its chairman said, underscoring a hitherto circumspect New Delhi's rapid global strides that neatly dovetail into a China-plus-one corporate sourcing strategy aimed at derisking supply chains across the planet. «I would say, particularly in the past 10 years, India's presence on the global stage has become increasingly pronounced,» said John E. Drew, Chairman of the WTCA, an international trade platform that connects more than 300 WTCs in nearly 100 countries. «While India's growth trajectory has been ongoing, its recognition and active participation in major economic discussions alongside China, the US, Russia, and the EU signify its emergence as a significant player in the global economy,» he said. Currently, India has about 40 WTC licensees covering more than 30 cities. According to the real estate developer, a large number of Indian entrepreneurs establishing successful companies in the US, particularly in tech hubs like California and Massachusetts, further strengthened India's influence in global business. «I expect this trend to continue, paralleling the trajectory seen with Chinese entrepreneurship,» he said.

NEW DELHI : Global supply chain challenges that have weighed down Indian airlines the past few years are unlikely to go away anytime soon, going by French aircraft manufacturer ATR’s projections. The company expects its aircraft deliveries to return to pre-covid levels only by 2027-2028, with a gradual easing of supply chain constraints in the aviation ecosystem. In 2023, ATR delivered 36 aircraft, down from 68 in the pre-covid year of 2019.

NEW DELHI : The Tamil Nadu government told the Supreme Court that Vedanta Ltd’s Sterlite Copper plant should not be considered a national asset or deemed necessary to reopen to fulfill the country’s copper demand. The state instead pointed to Adani Group’s forthcoming copper smelter plant in Gujarat as capable of fulfilling India’s copper demand. Since the Sterlite Copper plant in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi city was shut in 2018 following violent protests, India has transitioned from being a net exporter to a net importer of copper.

Women's Premier League (WPL) is set to kick off from Friday i.e. on 23 February. The tournament will go on till March 17 and will be held in Bengaluru and Delhi.

Raisina Dialogue will witness the participation of Ministers, former Heads of State and Heads of Government, Military Commanders, Captains of Industry, Technology Leaders, Academics, Journalists, Scholars on Strategic Affairs, Experts from leading Think Tanks, and youth from more than 100 nations. Over the course of three days, decision makers and thought leaders from around the world will engage each other across conversations in various formats, the MEA said in a statement.

NEW DELHI : The Union health ministry plans to expand the scope of its flagship cashless health insurance scheme, covering more expensive cancer and transplant-related surgeries and treatments for individuals from poor families. The ministry had in 2022 included certain basic oncology treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation, as well as kidney and heart transplants and dialysis under the scheme called Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna. While private hospitals typically charge ₹2.5 lakh to ₹10 lakh for such procedures, the government plans to include more complex treatments costing ₹20 lakh to ₹30 lakh, according to two ministry officials familiar with the plans.

PTI. This would be the first meeting of the FSDC after the passage of the ₹47.6 lakh crore Budget for 2024-25, focussing on capital expenditure with an outlay of ₹11.11 lakh crore. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit Punjab today and meet her Delhi and Punjab counterparts, Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann respectively, an official source told PTI on 15 February.

Indian farmers who have been protesting for a week to demand guaranteed crop prices have rejected a proposal from the government, and say they will continue their march to New Delhi

NEW DELHI : Delhi Police on Tuesday directed security personnel deployed at the city’s Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur border points to stay alert after farmers threatened to resume their protest on Wednesday and march towards the capital. Farmers late on Monday rejected the government’s proposal to buy pulses, maize and cotton crops at guaranteed prices for five years, and announced they would continue with their ‘Delhi chalo’ agitation.

NEW DELHI : India’s economy is performing well, with risks evenly balanced, to achieve 7% growth in FY25, but geopolitical tensions and geo-economic fragmentation pose risks to the country’s growth, the finance ministry said in its latest monthly economic review. In its economic review for January, the ministry said risks to global trade, including a spike in commodity prices due to the Houthi militant group’s attacks on important trade routes in the Red Sea region, have resulted in supply chain disruptions.

India will not support further continuation of prohibition of imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions at the World Trade Organization (WTO), meeting in Abu Dhabi next week, an official said Tuesday, as besides loss of revenue for developing countries, it also constrains their policy space. New Delhi is of the view that e-commerce needs to be looked at from a development dimension and not from the “eyes of big tech companies”.

India continues to rise, mirroring ongoing inflationary pressures, higher commodity prices and increased construction costs. The average cost to fit-out workplaces with medium specification across India increased 4.5% from a year ago with the average fit-out cost per sq ft rising to Rs 5,788. Mumbai continues to be the most expensive city in India for office fit outs at an average of Rs 6,588 per sq ft followed by New Delhi at Rs 6,068 per sq ft, showed global property consultant JLL’s Asia Pacific Fit-Out Cost Guide 2023-2024. “India’s supply-chain performance has improved significantly over the last two year, coping better to the global disruption, and varying regulatory frameworks. Largely, input costs have decreased due to reduced global raw material prices, however increasing labour costs remains set on an upward trajectory. This industry is also making efforts to modernise and streamline the supply chain to enhance efficiency and competitiveness,” said James Jipu Jose, Managing Director, Project & Development Services (PDS), India, JLL.

NEW DELHI : Audio series platform Pocket FM will invest $40 million in its newly launched online reading service Pocket Novel to enhance its presence in the literary landscape and develop intellectual properties over the next year, said Rohan Nayak, co-founder and CEO, Pocket Novel. Similar to YouTube, Pocket Novel allows writers to upload novels and receive compensation in return. Though the focus currently is on novels in the Hindi language, the idea is to gradually expand to Tamil and Telugu, Nayak said in an interview.

Chandigarh mayoral polls and video recording of the counting process on Tuesday after raising deep concerns over horse trading and dismissing fresh polls. The top court said it may consider the declaration of results based on votes already cast.

Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre opens in Mumbai. All you need to know about NMACC “I'm simply excited, and it's wonderful that so many girls will come to India and talk about it and experience our hospitality, just as India will also get to experience what I did six years ago when I attended a competition like this. They will be posting about their experiences on their social media handles.

NEW DELHI : Bosch Ltd is looking to boost investments in R&D and increasing local production of components such as hub motors used in electric two-wheelers (e2w), a top company official said, as adoption of green mobility widens in the world’s fifth-largest economy. The local arm of Germany’s Bosch GmbH also aims to expand its research and development efforts for passenger car electrification in India. “We are looking at continued investments in the passenger car segment.

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court came down heavily on SpiceJet for failing to clear its outstanding dues to Credit Suisse and ordered the low-cost airline to settle all pending payments by 15 March. The court on Monday directed SpiceJet to pay $1.25 million to Credit Suisse, along with monthly installments. Additionally, SpiceJet’s chairman and managing director, Ajay Singh, has been summoned to appear before the court on 22 March.

India will hold extensive deliberations on Wednesday to unpack the security and policy aspects in jointly combating online disinformation campaigns. The peer-to-peer discussion in Delhi will explore trends in the use of disinformation online and encourage EU and Indian governmental and non-governmental actors to compare notes and share best practices for countering disinformation. The EU and India have on multiple occasions reaffirmed their commitment to an open, free, secure, stable, peaceful and accessible cyberspace that enables economic growth and innovation.

New Delhi: India and Sri Lanka may conclude their long-awaited economic and technology cooperation agreement (ETCA) in FY25, two people aware of the matter said. The ETCA, which builds on an earlier free trade agreement (FTA) implemented in 2000, will enhance bilateral trade between the neighbours. India and Sri Lanka re-launched talks on the ETCA in November 2023 after about a five-year hiatus as both sides are keen to deepen the economic relationship between them.

New Delhi: The textile industry is moving to shed its polluter tag by adopting a ‘circular economy’ in order to avoid being snared by future climate change tax regimes such as the European Union’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), two persons aware of the plans said. CBAM will tax the ‘embedded carbon’ in imports from select emission-intensive sectors—steel, aluminium, cement, hydrogen, electricity and fertilizers. It is expected to be implemented in 2026.

India's foreign policy is going strong, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the world is seeing how New Delhi's relations with many countries continue to grow stronger in trade, tourism, technology and various other aspects. In a jibe against the critical remarks over the years on experience in foreign policy, PM Modi said that when he took the oath as India's Prime Minister, questions were raised about him not having «experience outside a state.» While addressing the concluding day of the National Convention of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Delhi's Bharat Mandapam, PM Modi said, «When I took oath in 2014, many of our critics said that what experience does Modi have outside a state. Many things were said about foreign policy.»