‘Govt sees no shortage of fertilizers in Kharif’

New Delhi (PTI): Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday asserted that there will be no shortage of fertilisers in the upcoming kharif sowing season as the domestic production and stocks-in-hand will be sufficient to meet the local demand for soil nutrients.

Major Highlights

pecting reader, it said.

"...Unlike the global economy, India would not slow down – it would maintain the pace of expansion achieved in 2022-23. We remain optimistic about India, whatever the odds," said the article authored by a team led by RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra.

They said the NSO's endFebruary data release indi- cates that the Indian economy is intrinsically better positioned than many parts of the world to head into a challenging year ahead, mainly because of its demonstrated resilience and its reliance on domestic drivers.

Currently available forecasts of India's real GDP growth for 2023-24, including those of the RBI, settle between 6.0 and 6.5%.

Continuing its previous day's rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 139.91 points to settle at 58,214.59. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 44.40 points to end at 17,151.90.

Among the Sensex stocks, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, TCS, Hindustan Unilever and Power Grid were major gainers. NTPC, Axis Bank, Nestle, HCL Technologies were the major laggards.

The minister said the country might not require to import urea from the spot market to meet Kharif (summer-sown) demand. Urea being imported under long-term supply agreements will come.

However, he said, there will be some import of DAP (Di-Ammonium Phosphate) to meet the local demand.

“There will be no shortage of fertilizers in the upcoming kharif season. The stocks that we will have at the start of next month and estimated domestic production between April and September of next fiscal z Chemicals and Fertilizers

Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the country might not require to import urea from the spot market to meet Kharif (summer-sown) demand z However, he said, there will be some import of DAP (DiAmmonium Phosphate) to meet the local demand will be sufficient to meet the projected requirement during Kharif season,” Mandaviya said.

He said the country will not need to import urea and NPK from spot markets.

New Delhi: Gold price tumbled `480 to `58,770 per 10 gram in the national capital on Wednesday amid a fall in rates of the precious metal internationally, according to HDFC Securities. The yellow metal had settled at `59,250 per 10 gram in the previous trade. Silver also declined `345 to `68,850 per kilogram. In the overseas market, both gold and silver were quoting lower at $1,939 per ounce and $22.34 per ounce, respectively. —PTI

Jio 5g Network Rollout Crosses

400 Cities In India

AXIS MUTUAL FUND AIMS TO RAISE `50 CRORE FROM NEW ETF FUND OF FUNDS

Mumbai: Axis Mutual Fund, the seventh largest fund house, is looking to raise at least `50 crore from a new fund offer during the primary subscription period of March 22-April 5. The open-ended S&P 500 ETF fund of funds will invest in exchange-traded funds replicating the S&P 500 index. Vinayak Jayanath will be managing the fund, which will carry an exit load of 25 bps if redeemed/switched out within 30 days from the date of allotment, and no exit load if redeemed/ switched out within 30 days of allotment, Raghav Iyengar, who is the chief business development officer at the fund house said. —PTI

ICRA REVISES DOMESTIC STEEL DEMAND OUTLOOK TO 7-8% FOR NEXT FISCAL

New Delhi: Icra on Wednesday revised its outlook for domestic steel demand to 7-8% for the next fiscal.

Earlier, the ratings agency had estimated the demand to grow in the range of 6-7%.

DoT seeks `33,111 crore for BSNL AGR dues

POWER FINANCE CORP PLANS TO RAISE `80,000 CRORE IN FY24

New Delhi: State-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC) said its board has approved raising up to `80,000 crore through various financial instruments.

DOWNFALL Gautam Adani's wealth dips by 60%

Mumbai (PTI): Gautam

Adani's fortunes have suffered a severe setback on concerns over corporate governance and accounting fraud, leading to Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani replacing the Ahmedabad -based industrialist as the richest Indian.

New Delhi (PTI): The Department of Telecom has sought ` 33,111 crore for payment of adjusted gross revenue dues of state-run BSNL which is likely to be made in the upcoming April-June quarter, according to a Parliamentary panel report.

New Delhi: Reliance Jio on Tuesday said it has now rolledout 5G network in more than 400 cities. The company has rolled out 5G in the nine cities of Andhra Pradesh, six in Tamil Nadu, five each in Haryana and Kerala, three in Madhya Pradesh, two each in Odisha and Maharashtra and one each in Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tripura.

“Jio True 5G will now be available across 41 additional cities in 16 states/ union territories,” the company said in a statement. —PTI

HERO

Motocorp To Hike Prices By Up

TO 2% FROM APRIL

“With the central government’s capex outlay in FY2024, Icra has revised upwards its steel consumption growth estimate for FY2024 to 7-8% from 6-7%,” it said in a report. In 2023-24, the capital expenditure is budgeted at `10 lakh crore. —PTI

An amount of `40,000 crore will be raised through longterm domestic borrowings, and another `20,000 crore by way of long-term foreign currency borrowing. Besides, proposals have been approved for raising up to `20,000 crore through short-term borrowings. —PTI

20 WOMEN-LED INDIAN START-UP IN PIPELINE TO BECOME UNICORN, REVEALS STUDY

New Delhi: Around 18% of India’s unicorn start-up are founded or co-founded by women and 20 other firms are in pipeline to become unicorn. The study conducted by TiE Delhi NCR, research firm Zinnov, Google, NetApp and venture capital firm Indian Angel Network found that despite comparable metrics, success, and high entrepreneurial intent, socio-cultural barriers hinder women founders’ growth. “Approximately 18% of India’s total unicorns are founded by women, with 20 Potential Unicorns in the pipeline,” the study said. —PTI

Says Adani Airports Ceo Bansal

New Delhi: Hero MotoCorp on Wednesday said it will increase prices of its model range by around 2% from next month in order to offset the impact of rise in production cost in order to conform to stricter emission norms. The company will make an upward revision in the ex-showroom prices of its select motorcycles and scooters, effective from April 1, 2023, the country’s leading twowheeler maker said in a statement. —PTI

In a submission to the Standing Committee of Communications and Information Technology, the DoT shared that against the proposal of ` 39,725.07 crore for 2023-24, `66,691.82 crore has been allocated to it in the budget.

"The increased amount is towards the payment of AGR Dues to BSNL, which is a part of its revival package. The Department had proposed an amount of `33,111.00 crore for the AGR Dues. The payment will be made once BSNL claims the amount and is most likely to happen in the first quarter of FY 2023-24," the DoT informed.

Mumbai (PTI): US aircraft maker Boeing has said India may require 31,000 pilots and some 26,000 mechanics over the next 20 years amid the growing order book of the aircraft original equipment manufacturers.

Boeing India President Salil Gupte also said the South Asian region is expected to remain the fastest-growing market globally over the next several years.

"India is going to need over 31,000 pilots and 26,000 mechanics over the next 20 years to take care of the aircraft coming in. This is as important a part of the Indian growth story as the aircraft (orders)," Gupte said. He said considering India's air traffic growth, a lot of focus has