Business Today 16 February 2025

The Budget for 2025-26 is poised to be a defining moment for India’s economy, which is projected to grow at its slowest pace in four years—6.4% in the current fiscal year ending March 31. Crucially, the Economic Survey, tabled a day before the Budget, forecasts growth between 6.3% and 6.8% next year. Against this backdrop, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s eighth Budget follows a multi-pronged approach to reignite economic momentum. As noted by Morgan Stanley Research, the Budget strikes a delicate balance between supporting growth and maintaining fiscal prudence. The first full-year Budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term seeks to accelerate growth by boosting disposable incomes for salaried taxpayers, with the expectation that urban Indians will increase consumption. Another crucial pillar is capex-driven growth, including ₹1.5 lakh crore in…

THE BHARAT MOBILITY GLOBAL EXPO 2025 AT BHARAT MANDAPAM, NEW DELHI SOURCE PIB, VAHAN, ACE EQUITY, MEDIA REPORTS THE BHARAT MOBILITY GLOBAL EXPO 2025, INDIA’S LEADING MOBILITY SHOW, TOOK PLACE FROM JANUARY 17–22, 2025. SPREAD ACROSS MORE THAN 200,000 SQ. M, THE EVENT PLAYED HOST TO OVER 9 SHOWS. HERE ARE SOME KEY NUMBERS: 1 MILLION Footfall across three venues—Yashobhoomi, Bharat Mandapam, and India Expo Center & Mart 239 LAUNCHES Number of launches the expo saw from all concurrent shows, 26 of which were EVs 1,500 PLUS Exhibitors, who launched 90 vehicles and 97 product and component launches ₹40,000 CRORE Combined profit (PAT) of 18 companies in the BSE Auto index in H1FY25, a 14% surge from H1FY24…

TOTAL SPENDING THE COMBINED TOTAL EXPENDITURE OF CENTRAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT JUMPED SHARPLY AFTER COVID-19 ALLOCATIONS BARRING FINANCE AND DEFENCE, THE ROAD, RAILWAYS, PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SECTORS SAW MAJOR CENTRAL SPENDING TOP SCHEMES CENTRE SPENT OVER ₹13 LAKH CRORE ALONE ON MGNREGA & PMAY IN THE PAST 10 YEARS TILL FY26 STATE PRIORITIES TOTAL EXPENDITURE BY STATE GOVERNMENTS ON SOCIAL SERVICES HAS RISEN OVER 200% IN 10 YEARS 8.4 PER CENT OR ₹4.26 LAKH CRORE, OF THE TOTAL BUDGET OUTLAY FOR FY26, IS THE SHARE OF SUBSIDIES. THIS MARKS A DECLINE FROM 21.6% (₹7.58 LAKH CRORE) IN FY21 ₹2.75 LAKH CRORE UTTAR PRADESH’S EXPENDITURE ON SOCIAL SECTOR, OR 10.8% OF ITS GSDP AT CURRENT PRICES IN FY24, AS PER RBI. IT WAS FOLLOWED BY MAHARASHTRA (₹2.39 LAKH CRORE OR 5.9% OF GSDP)…

JUST SIX DAYS after Union Budget 2025-26 was presented and nearly five years after its last such decision, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on February 7 cut the repo rate by 25 basis points taking it to 6.25%. The move, under new RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, who chairs the MPC, comes amidst concerns of slowing growth and ebbing consumer demand that the Budget too tried to address with massive tax cuts for individual taxpayers. Together, these are expected to spark a virtuous cycle, providing taxpayers more disposable income and lower interest rates to make bigticket purchases from cars to homes and consumer durables, which will then set the wheels of the economy in motion and get the private sector to invest to meet this…

WITHIN HOURS OF being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States of America, Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders that sent shock waves across the globe. From aggressive trade tariffs to changes in immigration, energy, and climate policies, Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda is un apologetically focused on boosting the US economy—often at the expense of its global partners. Trump’s message was unambiguous at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he promised businesses operating within the US some of the lowest tax rates globally. But his warning was just as sharp. “If you don’t make your product in America—which is your prerogative—then, very simply, you will have to pay a tariff. Differing amounts, but a tariff that will direct hundreds of billions, even trillions, into…

THE CAPEX THEME which was a favourite of Dalal Street in recent years, may take a back seat for some time as the government shifts its focus to boosting consumption amid the urban slowdown. Market watchers believe that the tax rebate may infuse ₹1 lakh crore into the hands of middle-class households nationwide, but equity markets were not excited. After falling marginally by 0.1% during the special trading session conducted on Budget Day (February 1), the benchmark equity index NSE Nifty 50 declined by more than 0.5% to 23,361 on February 3. Wealth manager Emkay Global Financial Services has maintained its December 2025 target for the Nifty 50 index at the 25,000-mark. Market veteran Vijay Kedia, Director, Kedia Securities, told BTTV that the consolidation in the stock markets may continue…