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Urban consumption not growing as anticipated: CII President Rajiv Memani
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Ruchika Chitravanshi New Delhi
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Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Rajiv Memani — in a conversation with Ruchika Chitravanshi in New Delhi — said that the financial risk taking capacity of entrepreneurs has come down in the last 3-4 months. Memani spoke about issues ranging from the India-US free-trade agreement (FTA) to India's complex relationship with China and the labour code implementation. Edited excerpts:
What are some red flags and green shoots in the whole macroeconomic outlook right now?
All the macroeconomic parameters, from a government standpoint, are strong. Net non-performing asset (NPA) and interest rates are at an all-time low. Inflation is
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The Hindu
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Gadkari invokes Nehru-Gandhi ideals to drive mining-led jobs in Vidarbha
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The Hindu
39 minutes ago
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How will the railway to Sairang help in regional connectivity?
The story so far: The Indian Railways recently commissioned the new 51.38 km track to Sairang, 18 km short of Mizoram's capital Aizawl. It raises hopes for India's ambitious Act East Policy which envisages rail and road links with Southeast Asia. When did the Mizoram project start? Mizoram had 1.5 km of metre gauge railway track connecting Bairabi in the State's Kolasib district to Assam's Silchar before the gauge conversion project, sanctioned in 2000, was undertaken. The extension of this project to Sairang, which entailed laying a 51.38 km track, began in 2008-09, but the progress was slow due to inclement weather, a difficult and landslide-prone terrain, manpower shortage, and issues with transporting construction materials. The project was part of the Indian Railways' plan in the early 2010s to connect all the northeastern State capitals to the country's rail network, although the Sairang railway station is 18 km short of Mizoram's capital, Aizawl. The Bairabi-Sairang section, which received safety clearance in June 2025 and awaits formal inauguration, has 48 tunnels with a total length of 12.85 km and 142 bridges. The project cost more than ₹5,020 crore and the lives of 18 workers when the bridge with the tallest pier collapsed during construction in August 2023. What is its significance? Landlocked Mizoram's fastest access to the rest of the country is through air travel. The Aizawl-Silchar highway, also via Sairang, is the second-fastest option that consumes at least five hours. Trains, including a proposed Rajdhani Express, from the Sairang railhead will slash this travel time to 1.5 hours and the cost of transportation considerably. Railway officials say the biggest gain for the State will be in tourism, trade, and transportation of goods, reducing the dependence on trucks to a large extent. They said the Sairang railhead is strategic vis-a-vis the Act East Policy, envisaging rail and road connectivity to improve trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other East Asian countries, deepen diplomatic engagements, and build stronger security cooperation. Sairang is also expected to be vital for transhipment of goods from the India-funded Sittwe Port in Myanmar. What is the Act East Policy? The Act East Policy, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, was a more ambitious version of the Look East Policy initiated during the Congress government in 1991 with the key objective of transforming the northeastern region into India's gateway to the ASEAN bloc. Official data show that the Centre increased the budgetary allocations for the region by 300% from ₹36,108 crore during the 2014-15 fiscal to more than ₹1,00,000 crore during 2024-25. More than 10,000 km of highways and 800 km of railway tracks were built, eight new airports established, and several inland waterway projects undertaken during this period. Vital to linking Southeast Asia by rail are the 82.5 km Dimapur-Zubza (near Kohima) project in Nagaland, the Imphal-Moreh plan in Manipur, and the Asian Highway 1 from Assam to Moreh via Kohima and Imphal. While the Nagaland project is on track, the ethnic conflict in Manipur has affected the proposed railway line between Imphal and Moreh. The connectivity projects to link the northeast with Southeast Asia have not progressed beyond India's borders due to the unrest in India's neighbourhood. The Act East Policy ran into the civil war in Myanmar following a military coup in February 2021, followed by the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh in August 2024. The Agartala-Akhaura railway project, which would have provided Tripura faster access to Kolkata through Bangladesh and connectivity to the Chittagong Port, has been stalled. The biggest setback has been the delay of the ₹2,904 crore Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in Myanmar, which would have reduced the distance between Mizoram and Kolkata by 1,000 km.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Stocks to Watch Today: ITC, Federal Bank, LIC Housing, Delhivery, Tata Power, MCX In Focus On August 4
Last Updated: Stocks To Watch Today, August 4: Hero Motocorp, ITC, MCX, Dilip Buildcon, RaiTel Corporation, and ABB India are some of the key stocks to watch today. Stocks To Watch Today, August 4: Indian equity benchmarks are expected to open on a positive note this Monday, tracking a slight uptrend in Gift Nifty futures and a mixed global market setup. At 8:19 am, the Gift Nifty Futures were trading at 24,688, up by 89 points or 0.36 per cent, indicating a firm start for domestic indices. Investors will be closely watching key triggers this week, including the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy decision, progress in the India-US trade negotiations, and the ongoing Q1FY26 earnings season. Asian equities opened mixed as investors weighed the impact of fresh US tariffs and a recent US jobs report that sparked expectations of a potential Federal Reserve rate cut in the coming policy meet. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.8 per cent, while South Korea's KOSPI gained 1 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3 per cent. On Friday, Wall Street ended sharply lower with the S&P 500 declining 1.6 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.23 per cent. Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp clocked total sales of 4,49,755 units in July 2025, a robust 21.5 per cent jump from 3,70,274 units in July last year. Domestic sales came in at 4,12,397 units, registering an 18.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise. Exports soared 64.3 per cent to 37,358 units in July 2025 from 22,739 units a year ago. ITC posted a consolidated gross revenue of Rs 23,007 crore in Q1FY26, up 19.6 per cent from Rs 19,239 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA rose 4.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 6,816 crore, while profit after tax (PAT) grew 4.9 per cent to ₹5,343 crore. Delhivery Logistics firm Delhivery reported a 5.6 per cent increase in consolidated revenue to Rs 2,294 crore in Q1FY26. 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Q1 Results Today Investors will also monitor Q1 results scheduled to be released today by several major companies, including Shree Cements, Aurobindo Pharma, DLF, Siemens Energy, Bosch, Marico, Aditya Birla Capital, Godfrey Phillips India, Tata Investments Corporation, Escorts Kubota, Sona BLW Precision Forgings, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, OneSource Specialty, Triveni Turbine, Globus Spirits, Oswal Pumps, Sanofi Consumer Healthcare India, Ather Energy, Kansai Nerolac, Inox India, and Akzo Nobel India. Stay updated with all the latest news on the Stock Market, including market trends, Sensex and Nifty updates, top gainers and losers, and expert analysis. Get real-time insights, financial reports, and investment strategies—only on News18. tags : stock market Stocks to watch today view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: August 04, 2025, 08:28 IST News business » markets Stocks to Watch Today: ITC, Federal Bank, LIC Housing, Delhivery, Tata Power, MCX In Focus On August 4 Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
