Business

New Delhi, February 14 – Marking a significant shift in the approach to urban development, the government on Saturday approved the launch of the Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) with a central assistance of Rs 1 lakh crore.The central assistance will cover 25 per cent of the project cost, subject to raising a minimum of 50 per cent of the project cost from the market.This will lead to a total investment of Rs 4 lakh crore in the urban sector over the next five years, marking a shift from grant-based financing to market-linked, reform-driven, and outcome-oriented infrastructure creation, according to the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The Fund will be operational from FY 2025–26 to FY 2030–31, with a possible...

New Delhi, February 14, 2026 (IST) – GMR Airports Limited (BSE: 532754 | NSE: GMRAIRPORT) reported its highest-ever monthly passenger traffic, serving 11.13 million passengers in January 2026, marking a 3.9 percent year-on-year growth, according to the company’s monthly traffic update for January 2026 . The airport operator also crossed the 100 million passenger milestone in the current financial year (YTD FY26), setting a new record for cumulative traffic handled across its network. January 2026 Traffic Snapshot GMR Airports maintained strong traffic momentum across its key hubs, with both domestic and international segments showing resilience. Passenger Traffic – January 2026AirportTrafficYoY ChangeDelhi7,228,717▲ 4.7%...

New Delhi, February 14 – In a significant development, the Centre has approved three multi-tracking projects, covering 12 districts across Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, with a total cost of ₹18,509 crore.This will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by approximately 389 km. The projects are planned according to the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan, with a focus on enhancing multi-modal connectivity and logistic efficiency through integrated planning and consultations with stakeholders.These projects will also provide seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods, and services. The proposed multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to nearly 3,902 villages, with a combined population of...

New Delhi, February 14 – In a major push to India’s rapidly growing startup ecosystem, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the establishment of the Startup India Fund of Funds 2.0, with a total corpus of ₹10,000 crore.The new fund aims to mobilize long-term domestic capital and provide stronger financial support to startups across the country.The scheme is designed to accelerate the next phase of India’s startup journey by strengthening the venture capital ecosystem and supporting innovation-driven entrepreneurship.The government said the fund will help channel more patient and risk capital into emerging and high-potential sectors.Startup India FoF 2.0 builds on the success of the earlier...

New Delhi, February 14 – The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Ghoti–Trimbak (Mokhada)–Jawhar–Manor–Palghar section of NH-160A in Maharashtra, which has a total length of 154.635 km, with an outlay of ₹3,320.38 crore.The project is estimated to generate approximately 19.98 lakh person-days of direct employment and 24.86 lakh person-days of indirect employment, in addition to stimulating economic activity along the corridor.The region west of Nashik, particularly around Ambad and Satpur, is home to a dense cluster of industrial units developed by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.This generates significant freight...

New Delhi, February 14 – Artificial intelligence (AI) is unlikely to replace IT services companies anytime soon, according to a new report by JP Morgan's Asia Pacific Equity Research team.Instead of shrinking the industry, AI is expected to become another tool that helps companies deliver more work within the same budgets.In a note titled “India IT Services: Looking through the AI fog 2 – Discounted for extinction? Div/FCF yields at crisis levels,” JP Morgan said fears that AI could wipe out Indian IT firms may be exaggerated.The report argues that AI will create new areas of work rather than reduce opportunities for IT vendors.The brokerage compared AI with earlier technology shifts such as offshore labour, enterprise software...

Washington, February 14 – The administration of US President Donald Trump has unveiled an action plan to rebuild America's shipbuilding industry, pledging to continue "historic" cooperation with South Korea and Japan, and proposing a strategy that would allow the first ships in a contract to be built in a shipyard in an allied foreign country.The White House released "America's Maritime Action Plan," as Seoul and Washington are pushing to strengthen cooperation under the former's "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)" proposal as part of a bilateral trade and investment agreement, reports Yonhap news agency.In April, Trump signed an executive order, titled "Restoring America's Maritime Dominance," which calls for the...

Washington, February 14 – Calling the upcoming India AI Impact Summit a “key event,” Dell Technologies senior executive Vivek Mohindra said the gathering marks a pivotal moment for India and the broader Global South as artificial intelligence reshapes economies and governance.“This is the first global AI summit to be held in the Global South,” Mohindra told IAND in an exclusive interview.He added that India, with its “ambitious goals,” is convening global leaders “at a crucial time” to outline not only its own vision but “the role that all of us can play in helping India achieve its goals.”Mohindra serves as Special Advisor to the Vice Chair and COO at Dell Technologies and has previously held roles, including Chief Strategy...

New Delhi, February 14 – While India has strong artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, the key challenge remains scaling, coordination, and interoperability, according to experts.Professor V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, emphasized that AI should enhance inclusion, preserve linguistic diversity, and strengthen all learners without creating divisions.He was speaking at the ‘Bharat Bodhan AI Conclave 2026’ here, which brought together an unprecedented gathering of India's education and technology ecosystem.The conclave reaffirmed a collective commitment to the responsible transformation of India's education ecosystem through AI.Three key conclusions emerged from the conclave: India already has strong AI-in-education...

Mumbai, February 14 – Indian equity benchmarks lost nearly 1% during the week, weighed down by weak global cues and sharp declines in the IT index, reflecting Wall Street losses due to concerns about AI.Nifty lost 0.87% during the week and fell 1.30% on the last trading day to 25,471. At Friday's close, the Sensex was down 1,048 points or 1.25% at 82,626. It declined by 1.14% during the week.Sectoral performance remained firmly negative, with all major indices ending in the red. The Nifty Metal index was the worst performer, dropping 3.3%, followed by realty, which fell by 2.2%, and FMCG, which fell by 1.9%.The Nifty IT index touched a 10-month low before closing 1.4% lower, even as selective buying helped it recover from intraday...

Seoul, February 14: Exports by South Korea's 10 largest companies accounted for nearly 40% of all outbound shipments last year, reaching a record high, largely driven by strong semiconductor sales, according to government data released on Saturday.In 2025, outbound shipments by the top 10 exporters accounted for 39% of the country's total exports, up 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics, reports Yonhap news agency."The concentration level is the highest on record, with increased semiconductor shipments having the largest impact," said Jung Kyu-seong, a ministry official.Outbound shipments from the country's two major chipmakers – Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix...

Mumbai, February 14 – Gold prices fell by almost 1.82% during the week, as investors remained cautious amid high volatility with the dollar showing occasional periods of strength.Meanwhile, on Friday, MCX gold February futures rose by 0.20%, while MCX silver March futures increased by 3.62%. Currently, gold futures stand at ₹1,56,200, while silver futures are at ₹2,44,999 per kg.According to data published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA), the price of 10 grams of 24-carat gold was ₹1,52,765 on Friday, down from ₹1,55,593 seen on Monday.Gold traded positively in the early session on Friday, but the overall tone remained volatile and weak after a sharp sell-off from ₹1,58,000 to ₹1,54,000, as prices failed to...

Mumbai, February 14 – Sustained fiscal commitment has driven rural transformation, with rural development budget allocations rising by over 211 per cent in a decade, reaching Rs 2.73 lakh crore in 2026-27, according to an official statement.Poverty has declined significantly, with extreme poverty at 5.3 per cent in 2022-23, lower than the global average, and multidimensional poverty down to 11.28 per cent in 2023 from 55.3 per cent in 2005-06, the statement said.Rural connectivity is near-universal, with Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana allocations rising from Rs 12,581 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 19,000 crore in 2026-27, an increase of 51 per cent.Housing-led security has expanded significantly, with 3.70 crore rural homes built over...

New Delhi, February 14 – India has established a large-scale digital foundation for agriculture, with over 7.63 crore farmer IDs and 23.5 crore crop plots surveyed under the Digital Agriculture Mission, an official statement said on Saturday.According to the statement, the National Pest Surveillance System supports 66 crops and over 432 pest types, providing real-time advisories to more than 10,000 extension workers for early pest detection."As of December 2025, the Kisan e-Mitra chatbot has answered more than 93 lakh queries, handling over 8,000 farmer queries daily in 11 regional languages," the government said.An AI-based pilot for local monsoon onset forecasting for Kharif 2025 reached 3.88 crore farmers across 13 states via...

Washington, Feb 14 – Artificial intelligence is at a critical juncture globally, and India must treat data as its “next oil” if it wants to lead the next industrial revolution, Sunil Pal, Head of AI GPU Allocation at AMD, said ahead of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.“2026 is the year for AI,” Pal told news agency IANS, describing the technology wave that began with ChatGPT’s release in 2022 as “like the fourth industrial revolution.”He said countries are racing to capture value in a market projected to reach $1.7 trillion by 2031.“Everyone is trying to see how they can capitalize on this overall AI,” he said, adding that “data is the key.”According to Pal, the summit in India comes at a time when governments and...

New Delhi, February 14: During the 10 years of the UPA government, only 6 lakh metric tonnes of pulses were procured, whereas the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has procured 1 crore 92 lakh metric tonnes of pulses, according to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.He announced that 100 per cent procurement of tur (pigeon pea), masoor (lentil), and urad (black gram) will be ensured."The Centre will procure the full quantity of pulses that farmers produce and wish to sell," the minister said.Chouhan noted that while India has 38 per cent of the global area under pulses cultivation, its share in production is only 28 per cent, reflecting low productivity due to old seed varieties, low seed replacement rates, and adverse...

Mumbai, February 14: India should focus on 10 key priorities, ranging from building a workforce ready for the future to enhancing manufacturing competitiveness and scaling up micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), to achieve the goal of "Viksit Bharat" by 2047, according to a new report.The report from KPMG in India stated that the first step in building a future-ready workforce involves operationalizing education, skills, and employment, expanding apprenticeships, and developing deep technological capabilities so that talent is ready for jobs across manufacturing, services, and emerging technologies.The report highlighted efforts to make manufacturing globally competitive through localizing components, adopting Industry 4.0...

Mumbai, February 11, 2026: Man Infraconstruction Limited (NSE: MANINFRA, BSE: 533169) announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2025, highlighting strong sales traction led by the launch of its ultra-luxury project ‘Artek Park’ at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). The company recorded ₹447 crore in sales during Q3FY26, while cumulative sales for 9MFY26 stood at ₹1,362 crore. The newly launched Artek Park project generated ₹140 crore in sales in Q3FY26 against an estimated total sales potential of ₹850 crore. Operational Performance During the quarter, MICL sold 1.2 lakh sq. ft. of carpet area, taking the nine-month total to 3.9 lakh sq. ft., driven primarily by ongoing projects across Tardeo...

Bengaluru, February 11, 2026 (IST) – OneSource Specialty Pharma Limited (BSE: 544292 | NSE: ONESOURCE) has secured approval from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority to commercialise its generic version of Ozempic® (semaglutide) in Saudi Arabia, marking a strategic entry into one of the largest GLP-1 therapy markets globally.The approval enables the company to launch the product in partnership with Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC, which will serve as the exclusive commercialisation partner across the Middle East and North Africa region.Strategic Entry into High-Growth GLP-1 Market Saudi Arabia represents a significant growth opportunity for GLP-1 therapies, given the rising prevalence of diabetes and obesity in the region. With regulatory...

Mumbai, February 10, 2026: JSW Steel Limited reported consolidated crude steel production of 24.75 lakh tonnes for January 2026, reflecting a 2 percent year-on-year decline compared with 25.18 lakh tonnes produced in January 2025. Production Performance Overview The marginal decline at the consolidated level was largely driven by lower output at overseas operations, even as domestic production remained broadly stable. Crude Steel Production (Lakh Tonnes)ParticularsJanuary 2026January 2025YoY ChangeIndian Operations24.5824.52*FlatUSA Operations (Ohio)0.170.66-74%Consolidated Production24.7525.18-2%*Includes trial run production of 2.11 lakh tonnes. India Operations Crude steel production at Indian operations was marginally...