Business

Business leaders expect a normal monsoon, record sowing of summer crops, improved winter harvest and a raft of government measures to help farmers and boost rural incomes to boost demand for goods ranging from two-wheelers to tractors. Businesses are banking on a bumper harvest and high rural incomes to drive demand for goods after the Covid-19 pandemic stunted growth in the country’s cities, where most of the factories and offices are located. Business leaders expect a normal monsoon, record sowing of summer crops, improved winter harvest and a raft of…

The rupee opened on a strong note at the interbank forex market at 75.51 against the US dollar, but pared the initial gains and settled at 75.65 against the US dollar, unchanged against its previous close. The rupee pared initial gains and settled on a flat note at 75.65 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday as concerns about rising Covid-19 cases weighed on investor sentiment. Forex traders said risk appetite has waned amid spike in fresh coronavirus infections globally. The rupee opened on a strong note at the interbank forex…

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman wondered if importing household products used everyday like a soap-box, plastic items or incense sticks used for pooja purposes would support self-reliance especially when such products were made locally by Indian firms and MSME(s). Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday there was nothing wrong in imports to spur growth but wondered why even Ganesha idols should be bought from China. Importing raw materials that were not available in the country and needed for our industries was not wrong, she said addressing the BJP’s…

New Delhi: Indian benchmark indices opened in green on Friday with BSE Sensex reclaiming 35,000-level with a jump of over 300 points in early trade while the broader Nifty was nearing 10,400-mark in early trade in line with global peers.At 9:30 am, Nifty was up at 1.02% or 104.45 points to trade at 10,393.35 whereas Sensex was about 0.86% or 300.36 points higher at 35,139.42. Gains on the Sensex were led by IndusInd Bank and Infosys. Kotak Bank, HUL and Sun Pharma were among the laggards. About 1001 shares have…

The finance ministry on Tuesday said the agricultural sector would be the foundation of the country’s economic growth and “early green shoots” of economic revival are visible with pickup in agricultural procurement, fertiliser sales, energy consumption, freight movement, digital transactions and forex earnings. “Agricultural sector remains the foundation of the Indian economy and with a forecast of a normal monsoon, it should support the rebooting of the Indian economy,” it said in a statement. Procurement of wheat from farmers by government agencies has been a record 382 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) as on…