- Saturday, January 11, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
HERE are news in brief on Indian economy and business for Friday, September 29, 2023:
The output of India’s eight core sector industries increased by 12.1 per cent (provisional) on a yearly basis in August 2023. The production of all eight core industries — cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilizers, natural gas, refinery products and steel — recorded positive growth in August over the corresponding month of last year, according to the country’s commerce and industry ministry. Cement production, which has a weightage of 5.37 per cent, increased by 18.9 per cent in August, and coal having 10.33 per cent, increased by 17.9 per cent in August. Crude Oil production increased by 2.1 per cent in August 2023 over August 2022. Electricity generation increased by 14.9 per cent in August 2023 over August 2022.
Air India on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of its first A350-900 aircraft by way of a finance lease transaction with HSBC through the GIFT City. This is also the first wide body aircraft to be leased through the GIFT City, the country’s first International Financial Services Centre. In a release, the airline said the transaction was facilitated by its wholly owned subsidiary AI Fleet Services Ltd (AIFS) and is also the first financing transaction from the orders for 470 aircraft that were made earlier this year. Tata Group-owned Air India, which has embarked on an ambitious transformation plan, expects the first A350-900 aircraft to arrive in India by the end of this year.
The Narendra Modi government is likely to monetize nearly Rs 2 trillion (£19.7 billion) worth of highways in the country over the next few years, Bloomberg reported citing a rating agency. In a note, CareEdge Ratings has said with 4,000 to 4,500 kilometres of new roads likely to be commissioned a year by the National Highways Authority of India over the next few years, the government will be in a position to monetize the assets through an Infrastructure Investment Trust or toll-operate-transfer model. The government’s present plan which is based on a public-private partnership model, has been successful as 88 per cent of road projects awarded prior to March 2020 are now operational and can be monetized, the Bloomberg report added.
Novo Nordisk plans to bring its popular weight-loss medicine Wegovy to India in 2026, after getting regulatory approvals and ensuring that it has adequate supply to meet demands, a top official of the Danish company told Reuters. India, the world’s most populous country, offers a huge market opportunity for the drug, particularly with its obesity problem, especially among women. “I think there would be quite a lot of patients and quite a lot of doctors who would be interested in this therapeutic area,” Novo Nordisk’s India managing director Vikrant Shrotriya was quoted as saying by the news outlet. He also urged patients to avoid copycat versions of Wegovy, saying they could be hazardous.
BOULT, India’s rapidly expanding wearable brand, on Friday unveiled a strategic foray into offline retail across 13 Indian states. This bold move echoes BOULT’s ambitious growth trajectory, following remarkable success since its inception. The objective is to enhance accessibility of BOULT’s top-tier audio and wearable offerings to consumers, tech aficionados, and fitness enthusiasts, reiterating the brand’s dedication to redefine experiences. The offline retail expansion strategically targets the states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir among others, catering to diverse regional customers.
The Delhi-NCR real estate market is set for remarkable growth in the upcoming festive season. As per a recent survey conducted by R&R, buyers have an appreciable enthusiasm for residential real estate investments during the festive period. The festive season is considered one of the most auspicious in Indian households. This period is supposedly considered to bring more luck, wealth and prosperity and that is the reason why people make expensive purchases. Following robust growth in the first two quarters of the year, the real estate sector is set to scale new heights during the upcoming festive season as buyers eagerly anticipate making festive investments, particularly in the residential real estate segment. The mid-segment and luxury housing categories are expected to be the frontrunners in this festive extravaganza.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI, BusinessWire, NewsVoir)
