Ankishinde

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for the financial year 2026–27 (Apr-Mar) in the Lok Sabha on Feb. 1, the finance ministry said Monday. This will be her ninth Budget, bringing her level with former finance minister P. Chidambaram. Only one former finance minister has presented more Budgets — the late Morarji Desai. He presented 10 Union Budgets in all.
Significantly, the Budget will be presented on a Sunday for the first time. Sitharaman will begin her speech at 1100 IST, the ministry said.
Sitharaman’s ninth Budget assumes special importance from a fiscal p

After a sustained bull run in precious metals, the complex is likely to see further price upside, as geopolitical and other uncertainties are seen continuing to support portfolio diversification, Metals Focus said in a report on Friday. The underlying drivers of the gold rally in 2025 will remain in place this year as well, although the silver rally may reverse after mid-2026, it said.
Precious metals enjoyed a remarkable 2025, with gold, silver, platinum and ruthenium hitting fresh record highs, while palladium and rhodium surged to multi-year peaks. These advances were fuelled by uncertain

Futures contracts of gold and silver on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India hit fresh record highs on Monday, tracking gains on COMEX. Prices rose on COMEX due to a weak dollar, which makes dollar-denominated commodities more appealing to other currency holders, boosting demand.
At 0910 IST, the most-active February gold contract on the COMEX was up nearly 2% at $4,587.9 per ounce, after hitting a record high of $4,612.7 per ounce earlier in the day. At 0913 IST, the most-active February gold contract on the MCX was up over 1% at INR 140,700 per 10 grams, after hitting a record high of INR

Reliance Industries Ltd. on Sunday led Indian corporates in announcing their intent to invest over INR 8.5 trillion in Gujarat over the coming five years.
Speaking at the two-day Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conclave, Kutch and Saurashtra region, being held at Rajkot, Reliance Industries Ltd. Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Sunday announced that the group plans to invest an additional INR 7 trillion over the next five years. He said the investment would be across clean energy, renewable power, artificial intelligence-ready data centers, digital infrastructure, healthcare, education and sports faciliti

The United Nations projects India’s GDP to grow 6.6% in 2026–27 (Apr-Mar) and 6.8% in FY28, supported by resilient private consumption and strong public investment, which are seen offsetting the impact of US tariffs. “Recent tax reforms and monetary easing should provide additional near-term support,” the UN said in its World Economic Situation and Prospects 2026 report.
The UN sees India’s GDP growing 7.2% in FY26. According to the government’s first advance estimate released Wednesday, India’s GDP growth for FY26 is projected at 7.4%. For the calendar year 2026, the UN expects India’s GDP

Motilal Oswal Financial Services expects the bottom line of Nifty 50 companies to rise 8% on year in the December quarter. It sees 11% on-year growth in the revenue of these companies, according to its India strategy report. The brokerage said it is optimistic that the earnings cycle will look more reasonable, given a favourable backdrop.
Motilal Oswal has cut the estimate for earnings per share of Nifty 50 companies by 2.2% for FY26 and by 1.1% for FY27. It expects the metric to rise 9% on year in FY26 and 15% on year in FY27. The brokerage believes the cycle of cuts in earnings estimates h

Nuvama Institutional Equities expects the Nifty 50 companies to record a net profit growth of just 1% on year in the December quarter, lower than the 5% growth in Jul-Sept as well as Apr-Sept. The brokerage sees the growth in revenue of Nifty 50 companies at 5% on year for the reporting quarter, down from 8% growth reported in Jul-Sept.
The growth in earnings per share of Nifty 50 companies is likely to be flat on year in the quarter under review, Nuvama said. This flat growth is seen posing downgrade risks to consensus estimates of mid-teens growth in profit in Oct-Mar, 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) an

The Department of Food & Public Distribution will review sugar mills' export performance immediately after Mar. 31 to assess the utilisation of the export quota allocated to them for the 2025-26 sugar season ending September, the department said in a communication to mills. Sugar mills that do not wish to export according to their allocation can surrender the quota by the end of March, the letter said.
The department will redistribute the unused quota to mills that have shown better export performance or those willing to ship additional quantity. "Sugar Mills may also be allowed to exchange

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. Tuesday reported a significant jump in the production, sales and exports of all but one of its segments for the December quarter. The utility vehicle segment that consists of mid-sized sports utility vehicles, saw production and domestic sales drop 70-80%, the company said in an exchange filing.
For the December quarter, Tata Motors Passenger vehicles produced 165,841 units of vehicles in total, as compared to the production of 133,898 units in the year-ago quarter, implying a jump of an over 23% year on year. The company's domestic sales went up by nearly

Titan Co. Ltd. Tuesday said its jewellery business registered a volume growth of 41% in the December quarter. Revenue growth of this business was driven by a “substantial” increase in average selling price of products, which offset flattish buyer growth.
Overall, Titan’s consumer businesses registered a volume growth of 40% in the final quarter of 2025, the company said in an exchange filing. In India, its businesses reported a volume growth of 38% on year. Titan added 56 stores on a net basis during the December quarter, including 54 in India. Its overall store count stood at 3,433 as of De

Fast-moving consumer goods major Dabur Ltd. Monday said its consolidated revenue for the recently concluded December quarter is expected to grow in mid-single digits and its operating profit and profit after tax are likely to grow comparatively faster. "Favourable macroeconomic conditions and recent tax reforms are expected to support a sustained recovery in demand and improvement in revenue trajectory in the coming quarters," the company said in an exchange filing detailing its performance during the December quarter.

After a record run in December, gold prices are likely to consolidate with a positive bias in January, according to analysts. Though prices have recently pulled back from last month's highs due to profit-booking, the precious metal is likely to remain supported by de-dollarisation trends and increased geopolitical risks, they added. Analysts say the recent decline in prices is a pause after a strong rally rather than the start of a strong correction.
As per the median of estimates from eight broking firms polled by Informist, the February gold futures on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India

Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra Monday met managing directors and chief executives officers of select non-banking finance companies, including state-owned NBFCs, housing finance companies, and microfinance institutions. The meeting was part of the central bank’s regular engagement with regulated entities, the RBI said in the release. The previous round was held on Feb. 13 last year.
Malhotra highlighted the important role of non-banking finance companies and housing finance companies in facilitating credit flow and underlined the need for sound underwriting standards and close

India's GDP growth may rise to a three-year high in the current financial year ending March, thanks to quicker-than-expected expansion in the first half of the year, even with economic activity projected to slow down during Oct-Mar.
According to an Informist poll of 11 economists, India's GDP is expected to grow 7.5% in FY26, the highest rate of growth in three years. After shrinking 5.8% in FY21, the Indian economy grew over 7% in each of the subsequent three financial years. In FY25, growth slowed to a four-year low of 6.5%.

Mills in the country have crushed 700,000 tonnes of mustard seed in December, Jaipur-based Marudhar Trading Agency said. Mills have so far crushed around 10.2 million tonnes of mustard in the season that began in March, the agency said. All India mustard seed arrivals were at 10.0 million tonnes during Mar-Dec. The arrivals in December fell to 400,000 tonnes from 650,000 tonnes in November, the agency said.
Mustard, a rabi crop, is sown between October and early December across north, east, and northeast India. The crop matures in 108-147 days and is harvested between mid-February and May. M

US President Donald Trump has said that his country could raise tariffs on India if New Delhi does not help address Washington’s concerns about Russian oil. The US currently levies 50% tariff on India, including 25% as penalty for buying crude oil from Russia.
“They wanted to make me happy, basically… PM Modi’s a very good man. He’s a good guy. He knew I was not happy. It was important to make me happy. They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly..,” Trump told reporters Sunday.

The Indian equity market continued to offer subdued returns in 2025, but the returns were slightly better than in 2024. While the year witnessed nightmarish tariffs by the US, it also saw a ray of hope after the government cut goods and service tax on several products. The market faced multiple challenges on the global front during the year but domestic factors acted as a cushion and kept sentiment largely positive.
The Nifty 50 yielded over 10% returns in 2025, slightly higher than the 8.8% returns recorded in 2024. Despite the marginal improvement, the 10% rise was still only half the bump

As the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism comes into full effect on Thursday, nearly 8% of India's exports to the bloc face a fresh risk. A potentially larger challenge, however, looms over the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations between New Delhi and Brussels, with the carbon tax threatening to undermine the progress made over the past two years.
From Thursday, EU importers, who since Oct 2023 have been required only to submit quarterly reports on greenhouse gas emissions embedded in their imports, will be required to pay a levy based on the carbon content of their sh

India’s manufacturing sector ended 2025 on a sombre note, with activity slowing down to a two-year low in December, S&P Global said Friday. The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 55.0 in December, the lowest since December 2023, from 56.6 in November, S&P Global said.
The final manufacturing PMI print for December was lower than the flash figure of 55.7, data for which was released on Dec. 16. A PMI reading of more than 50 denotes expansion in activity, while a print below it shows contraction. “The end of the 2025 calendar year was characterised by a loss of growth

Borrowing through corporate bond issuances in December fell to the lowest in four years as issuers stayed away due to higher yields, market participants said. Most state-owned companies scrapped bond issuances during the month due to higher coupon rates.
According to data compiled by Informist, corporates raised INR 940.60 billion in December by issuing 279 bonds, compared with INR 1.13 trillion raised a year earlier through 265 bonds. Of the total corporate bond issuances in December, more than 32% were AAA-rated. Bonds rated AA, AA+, and AA- raised a cumulative total of nearly INR 428 bill