Sugar industry backs pause at 20% ethanol blending in petrol

By Afra Abubacker
India's sugar industry has welcomed Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's call to pause ethanol blending in petrol at 20% for assessment before rolling out higher blending mandates. However, it stressed that the sector has the capacity to supply ethanol as required for higher blends and pressed for restoring its supply share in the biofuel mix. Read more

Sugar industry eyes new ethanol avenues amid surplus sweetener view

By Afra Abubacker
Faced with forecasts of surplus sugar production and shrinking domestic consumption, India's sugar sector is pinning its future on securing new avenues for ethanol. At the two-day India Sugar and Bio-Energy Conference in the national capital last week, policymakers and industry experts signalled an urgency to expand ethanol usage for blending in petrol, sustainable aviation fuel, and diesel. They are also counting on exports to offload surplus sugar in the global market. Read more

Rupee's fall shows RBI's tolerance to weak currency on US tariff woes

By Pratiksha
The rupee's fall to lifetime lows against the dollar in recent times is a result of the concerns around the impact of US tariffs on India. But the sustained decline in the Indian currency also reflects the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance towards a weaker exchange rate due to the ongoing uncertainties, according to market participants. Read more

Fertiliser shortage hits states even as kharif sowing nears end

By Pallavi Singhal and Narayana Krishna
With hardly three weeks left for kharif sowing to end, farmers across the country are grappling with shortage of fertilisers, mainly urea. While states have repeatedly appealed to the Centre to intervene, a mix of geopolitical constraints, supply chain bottlenecks, and surging demand has deepened the crisis. Read more

CPI seen benign ahead despite Aug rise, giving space for rate cuts

By Shubham Rana
Retail inflation may have risen from a month ago for the first time in 10 months in August, but the current food price trajectory, base effect, and the cut in goods and services tax rates are likely to keep price increases in check going ahead, economists said. In fact, inflation is likely to fall again in the next couple of months, providing some space to the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee to lower interest rates further, they said. Read more

Aug WPI inflation seen rising to 0.3% from 2-year low in Jul

By Shubham Rana
Wholesale prices in India likely increased year-on-year for the first time in three months in August with WPI inflation seen rising to a four-month high of 0.3% last month, according to an Informist poll of 10 economists. WPI inflation is seen rising in August because of a statistical effect of a low base and a rise in food prices during the month, economists said. Read more

Market sees basmati rice prices up on likely crop damage

By J. Navya Sruthi
Basmati rice prices usually start falling towards the end of September, ahead of the arrival of the new crop in October. This year, however, market participants expect prices of the premium aromatic rice to increase as the recent deluge in key growing states Punjab and Haryana is expected to have damaged a substantial part of the standing crop. Read more

US bill to tax outsourcing of services unlikely to hit Indian IT companies

By Anjana Therese Antony
The US Bill that proposes to impose a hefty tax on outsourcing of services from foreign individuals or companies could have been a double whammy for India's information technology sector, but experts think otherwise. The Bill is unlikely to be passed in the US as it could hurt US-based companies heavily dependent on outsourced workforce and could also lead to retaliatory action from other countries, market participants said. Read more

CPI inflation seen rising to 2.1% in Aug from Jul's 8-year low

By Shubham Rana
CPI inflation in India likely rose to 2.1% in August from an eight-year low in July because of fading away of the statistical effect of a favourable base and a rise in food and gold prices, according to an Informist poll of 12 economists. Read more

Excise, NCCD hike to keep tax rate same on tobacco pdts: CBIC head

By Priyasmita Dutta and Sagar Sen
The government will exercise its Constitutional powers and choose from the options such as a hike in excise duty or the National Calamity Contingent Duty in order to maintain the tax incidence on tobacco products once the goods and services tax compensation cess levy is discontinued, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Chairman Sanjay Agarwal said. "Currently on tobacco products, central excise duty and NCCD is levied though at a very low rate...yes, that could be one of the options," Agarwal told Informist in an interview. Read more