The story so far: E20 petrol, which contains 20% ethanol and is being sold by Indian oil refiners, has been much in the news lately. India has achieved its target to blend 20% ethanol per litre of fuel five years ahead of the target under the National Policy on Biofuels. Ethanol blending in India rose…
‘Sovereignty and global engagement can power the modern Indian economy’ | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto India’s digital trade compact with the United Kingdom breaks new ground. Chapter 12 of the India-U.K. Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) sets out a bargain that trades some oversight tools for access, credibility and scale. The trade-off has sparked…
Representative image | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto The new GST regime previewed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address would be consumer-centric, with particular emphasis on the poor, the MSMEs, the middle class and the farmers, senior government sources said on Sunday (August 17, 2025). The new two-tier Goods and Services Tax…
On August 11, 2025, the central government implored India’s seafood industry, that provides livelihoods to about 28 million people, to “bravely face” the U.S.’s tariffs of 25% that kicked in on August 7, 2025 and which could be raised to 50% on August 27, 2025, contingent upon the outcome of trade negotiations. On August 13,…
The Centre has proposed to reduce the number of slabs under the Goods and Services Tax system, retaining the 5% and 18% slabs, while introducing a lower concessional rate below 1% and a high “sin rate” of 40% on just five to seven items each, according to official sources. This would entail entirely doing away…
Gold prices on MCX surged 53% to ₹1,00,389 per 10 grams, while silver rose 41% to ₹1,13,342 per kg. In contrast, Sensex and Nifty gained only around 2%, and broader indices like BSE-500 and Nifty-500 saw marginal movements. | Photo Credit: iStockphoto Thanks to global economic uncertainty, gold and silver have outshined returns from the…
India dealers offer up to $6/oz discounts this week. | Photo Credit: ARUN SHARMA Physical gold demand in India improved slightly this week as a price pullback lifted buying interest among consumers, while activity in other top Asian hubs remained lacklustre. Gold prices in India closed at ₹99,838 ($1,139.61) per 10 grams on Thursday after…
India’s purchase of Russian oil has risen to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, as refiners continue to prioritise economic considerations in their sourcing decisions. As much as 38% out of an estimated 5.2 million barrels per day of crude oil imported in the first half of August came from Russia, according to…
Gold prices edged higher on Friday, buoyed by a weaker dollar, but were poised for a weekly decline after hotter-than-expected US inflation data dampened prospects for a super-sized September rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Spot gold rose 0.3 per cent to $3,345.21 per ounce as of 0757 GMT. Bullion has lost 1.5 per cent…
Representational image only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Diwali gift” to the people of India, of reforms to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system, will likely be across three pillars — structural reforms, rate rationalisation, and ease of living — and could entail a shift to a two-rate GST system…
