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Union Budget Expectations: The Modi government, in its first Budget of the third term, is expected to stick to the disinvestment target set for this fiscal year in the interim Budget. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman set the target for 2024-25 at Rs 50,000 crore. However, in the Interim Budget tabled in February, the 2023-24 disinvestment estimate was revised downward to Rs 30,000 crore from the previously budgeted Rs 51,000 crore. Ahead of the full Budget for 2024-25, scheduled for July 23, SBI Research has suggested that the government may take a clear stance on the disinvestment of public sector banks (PSBs). The report, led by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser at SBI, emphasised the need for a concrete roadmap to attract capital and boost confidence in financial institutions. A recent CareEdge Ratings report noted a total disinvestment potential of approximately Rs 11.5 trillion at current market capitalization, assuming the government retains at least a 51 per cent stake in these public enterprises. Public sector enterprises could contribute around Rs 5 trillion, while public sector banks and insurance firms could potentially add another Rs 6.5 trillion.

This is part of a special series of articles by the country's foremost voices, ahead of Union Budget 2024, aiming to draw attention to the critical reforms that can help India in its journey to become a developed nation by 2047. The vision to be ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047 can become reality only when we closely monitor progress towards our development targets and can prove at the end that we successfully met them. This rests on the institutional capacity to measure defined indicators and present them in an unbiased manner.

Countries that adopted such a trajectory have manufacturing’s share at 20%+ of their gross domestic product. Despite the reforms and initiatives, India’s manufacturing ecosystem continues to face challenges on key investment criteria on account of low labour productivity, high logistics and power costs, and limited innovation.

Also read | Can India keep up with the ebbs and flows of power demand? Additionally, the 2022 electric power survey considered emerging demand from electric vehicles—it assumed that 30% of all vehicles sold in 2030 would be battery electric vehicles and 100% by 2042. Solar power and hydrogen mission contributions that will ease the pressure on conventional energy sources were also considered. However, the widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, and the setting up of large data centres to support online AI interactions could lead to the overshooting of these demand forecasts.

Distance is a curious thing. In cricket, 22 yards is the one most spoken about, because it’s the length of the pitch. In geography, when India play Pakistan, even that is shortened, given the contentious border the two countries share.

Manishi Raychaudhuri, Veteran Investor In Asian Equities, says for global investors’ focus to come back sustainably in emerging markets, the rate narrative and the US dollar narrative has to change. Till then, we would possibly see this three steps forward and two steps back as far as the FII flows into India and other Asian markets are concerned. There are enough opportunities in India in sectors like capital goods, industrials and power which hitherto had not performed and some FIIsfund managers have moved into midcaps and even smallcap spaces. There was a weakish patch barely a week or 10 days ago when the market corrected from 23,000 to 21,800 odd. At that time, a narrative got built that China and Hong Kong markets have started to look very attractive versus India, so some money went there. But right now, we are back at life highs. Can India afford to do well despite some flows going to China? Manishi Raychaudhuri: I would think so.

Also Read: Can Indian stock market crash further before Lok Sabha election result? Users of social network forum Reddit contemplated on the question whether the stock market will slide down if the INDI alliance comes to power. Most of the users anticipate a knee-jerk reaction if BJP loses power, but they expect the market to continue to grow in the long-term, regardless of the party in power. “It doesn't matter which party is in power.

With artificial intelligence (AI) seen as the next big frontier for tech businesses, Microsoft’s global expansion budget has been grabbing attention. The company has declared it plans to invest $1.7 billion in Indonesia over the next four years to expand its cloud infrastructure, especially for AI support.

developing countries’ ideas for growth are staggeringly ambitious. India and Indonesia hope to become high-income countries within 25 years. Muhammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, wants to diversify and develop its economy just as rapidly.

Mint looks deeper into the third quarter performance and the prospects for the next few quarters. After strong growth in the first two quarters of 2023-24 (8.2% in Q1 and 8.1% in Q2), it was expected that the economic expansion will moderate to 6.5% levels in the third quarter. This was because manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors were showing signs of weakness, and an uneven monsoon was hurting agricultural output.

cricket, withdrew from the match due to a family emergency, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on February 16. Earlier in the day, Ashwin became the second Indian bowler after Anil Kumble to claim 500 wickets in Test cricket. "Ravichandran Ashwin has withdrawn from the test squad, effective immediately due to a family medical emergency.

The delegate had a point. India's G20 presidency was, indeed, a Goldilocks moment on the global stage.

Ram temple ceremony in Ayodhya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a scheme to install rooftop solar systems in 1 crore homes. This is his first scheme after the consecretion ceremony.

exchange-traded fund (ETF) to track Bitcoin by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sent waves of excitement across the global cryptocurrency community. This development is not only an important milestone for crypto enthusiasts around the world, but also raises an important question for Indian investors – can they also participate in the Bitcoin ETF? Viram Shah, CEO of Vested Finance, said, «For Indian investors, the Bitcoin ETF will provide an opportunity to include crypto in their portfolio via the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) route.» Indian individuals can send money outside the country through the LRS route. Under the scheme, an individual can send a maximum of $250,000 to an overseas jurisdiction in a year. Like any investment, Bitcoin ETFs come with their own set of pros and cons. However, one notable advantage is that investors can gain exposure to Bitcoin through regulated entities, alleviating concerns about cryptocurrency storage.

Mint explains: Last week, the government launched a new portal where farmers growing pulses can register and sell their produce directly to central agencies at the minimum support price (MSP). The move follows a spike in consumer prices which were 18% higher year-on-year in November 2023. Farmers often hesitate to grow pulses, preferring rice and wheat which government agencies procure at MSP to supply to the food security scheme.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday emphasized the need to shape international relations with Indian characteristics. He highlighted that his "major preoccupation" is to dedicate more time to exploring India's reservoir of culture and knowledge.

The debate on India's sovereign rating continues, with a chief economic once again expressing dissatisfaction over the ratings assigned by major credit agencies. Despite India's economic ascent from the twelfth to fifth largest globally within 15 years, it remains pegged at the lowest investment grade. In the Economic Survey of 2016-17, the then chief economic adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian first highlighted the "poor standards" of rating agencies.

Jaishankar said while speaking at an event in Chennai. He pointed out that the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) drive is a step towards meeting the demand, however, the debate is still alive, as reported by Hindustan Times. Dual or multiple citizenship grants an individual legal status as a citizen of two or more countries simultaneously.

On 19 November, the world celebrated the 10th Women's Entrepreneurship Day, an annual effort to bring to the fore the issues faced by women business leaders. In the last official economic census a decade ago, just 14% of all establishments in India were led by women. The share is estimated to have improved since then to over 20%, but the likes of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Vandana Luthra and Falguni Nayar remain rare examples in an arena flooded with male leaders.

RBI’s target band in July and August on account of higher food prices, which raised investor concern about whether RBI would have to hike rate again to bring inflation back under control. However, the vegetable prices that spiked and led to this acceleration in inflation were of a short-duration nature and their prices have since reversed. Over the coming quarters, MS India economist, Upasana Chachra, expects that headline inflation will remain within the target range.

Tata Motors has done well in. Last year, the electric four-wheeler market clocked 33,000 units in sales. This year, that number is expected to more than double, a pace of growth that promises to bring economies of scale within the reach of dominant EV sellers.