Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the banking sector will have to play a crucial role in driving the agenda of making India a developed nation or Viksit Bharat by 2047.

The government is considering to change the base year for computation of the GDP to 2022-23, from 2011-12 at present, to reflect an accurate picture of the economy, sources said on Thursday.

Jindal India, a downstream steel player, on Thursday announced its plans to invest ₹1,500 crore to increase its annual production capacity to 1.6 million tonne.

Markets regulator SEBI has amended rules to streamline the process for public issuance of debt securities aimed at providing faster access to funds for such issuers.

Under the amended rules, SEBI has reduced the period for seeking public comments on the draft offer documents from 7 working days to 1 day for issuers whose specified securities are already listed and 5 days for other issuers.

The government on Thursday announced steps, including reducing certain charges at ports and purchase of five additional second-hand container vessels by SCI, to resolve shipping sector-related problems of exporters and importers.

These measures were announced after a meeting of all the concerned stakeholders of the international trade segment, including senior officials of ministries like commerce and industry, shipping, ports, finance, civil aviation and railways; apex exporters body FIEO (federation of Indian export organisations), customs officials, freight forwarders, transport operators and shipping companies.

Steel products maker Rhetan TMT Ltd plans to set up a 2 MW solar power plant at its Kadi manufacturing facility in Gujarat, according to a statement.

The TMT bar and round bars manufacturer will set up the solar power plant for its captive use which will help it cut power costs and move towards green energy.

French consumer electronics brand Thomson, through its brand licensee Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL), on Thursday announced its foray into the Indian audio market with the launch of soundbars here.

Thomson, which is already present here in the TV and other appliances segments, also has plans to expand its play into the audio segment by launching more products in the soundbar and entering into the larger speaker and party speakers segment, SPPL CEO Avneet Singh Marwah said.

India's logistics cost will come down to single-digit within the next five years, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

Addressing the 'Deloitte Government Summit' here, Gadkari said the ministry is constructing several highways and expressways which will help reduce India's logistics cost.

The United States is India's sixth largest energy trade partner and the growing bilateral trade has the potential to cross the $500 billion-mark from $200 billion at present, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said.

The hydrocarbon trade between the two countries has reached $13.6 billion in 2023-24 -- nearly double the figure from 2018-19, Puri said at a roundtable with energy companies.

The US Fed rate cut of 50 basis points is unlikely to have any significant impact on foreign inflows into India, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said on Thursday.

He said the US Federal Reserve has done what it assesses is good for the largest economy in the world, but the RBI will take a decision on interest rate cut keeping the Indian economy in mind.

The impact of the US Federal Reserve's move to cut the benchmark interest rate will be muted for India as it was mostly priced in, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday.

He said that the Indian stock market is already attracting investor interest and overall the rate cut is positive for emerging markets.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the government has undertaken many reforms in the last 10 years for the growth of the food processing sector and the effort is to ensure that India sets global benchmarks for innovation, sustainability and safety in the food sector.

India's zinc consumption is estimated to increase to over 2 million tonnes in the next 10 years from the current 1.1 million tonnes, International Zinc Association (IZA) said on Thursday.

Speaking on the sidelines of Zinc College, 2024 event here, Andrew Green, Executive Director of IZA, said: "The zinc consumption and demand in India is 1.1 million tonnes (MT), which is higher than the current production in India. ...this is likely to go over 2 MT in the next 10 years. That's the forecast."

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday expressed hope that the country's merchandise and services exports will cross $825 billion despite global challenges.

State Bank of India Chairman C S Setty on Wednesday stressed that the corporate bond market needs to be strengthened even as he assured that the banking industry's exposure to small loans remains manageable, primarily due to the active participation of NBFCs and MFIs.

Speaking on the sidelines of Bengal Chambers of Commerce and Industry's annual financial market conclave here, Setty also addressed concerns about the slowdown in unsecured loans and the importance of maintaining a healthy CASA (current and savings account) ratio.

Online food delivery aggregator Zomato, in an exchange filing said, it has received a GST demand order along with interest and penalty of ₹17.7 crore from the Assistant Commissioner of Revenue, West Bengal.