- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
HERE are news in brief on Indian economy and business for Friday, June 7, 2024:
An analyst at Fitch Ratings on Friday said India’s medium-term fiscal consolidation, crucial for any ratings upgrade, is likely to face greater challenges with a new coalition government taking office, Reuters reported. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party fell short of a simple majority in the recent parliamentary elections, necessitating reliance on support from regional parties to form the government. Modi is set to be sworn in for a third term on Sunday (9). Jeremy Zook, director of Asia-Pacific Sovereigns at Fitch, told Reuters in an interview, ”Our expectation is that the government will look to achieve the 4.5% fiscal deficit target by 2025-26. Beyond FY26, we have little clarity on where the medium-term fiscal path will go.”
India’s strong growth is leading to a trend of ‘reverse flipping’ as domestic startups that once used to move abroad for capital access and tax benefits are now returning home, a top government official has said. The country’s commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal also said that the digital economy along with emerging technologies like AI and the rise of data centres were key to future Indian growth. He was speaking at an event in Singapore organised by the commerce ministry to showcase various investment opportunities in India.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday hiked the threshold for bulk fixed deposits to Rs 3 crore (£282,295) from existing Rs 2 crore (£188,197) with a view to improve asset liability management of banks. Bulk fixed deposits earn slightly higher interest rate than retail term deposits as banks offer different rates as part of their liquidity management exercise. Now single rupee term deposits of up to Rs 2 crore with Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks) and Small Finance Banks will be part of retail fixed deposits.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday revised upwards the GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 7.2 per cent from 7 per cent on rising private consumption and revival of demand in rural areas. Unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policy, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said estimates released by the National Statistical Office placed India’s real gross domestic product growth at 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. “During 2024-25 so far, domestic economic activity has maintained resilience,” he said, adding that manufacturing activity continues to gain ground on the back of strengthening domestic demand.
Brisbane-based renewable energy technology company ZekiTek is assessing the Indian market and plans to shift its manufacturing facility from the Australian city to India, the company’s Indian-origin CEO Rikesh Ram said on Friday. The company, which also manufactures electrical charging systems, aims to supply an integrated renewable energy generation ecosystem as well as electric charging solutions in India. “We want to help communities, especially those in remote regions, with mobile and portable power systems,” Ram said at the sidelines of the 2024 Clean Economy Investor Forum, organised under the auspices of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in Singapore on June 5 and 6.
(With agencies)
