Business

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that foreign investors proposing to enter the multi-brand retail business in India should know that they can face problems as the ruling BJP is not in favour of it.

The 30-share index opened higher and quickly regained the crucial 28,000-mark in afternoon trade to hit the day's high of 28,071.16 on optimism over rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India.

The applicable price of domestic PNG to households in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be Rs 27.05 per scm, which is being increased from existing Rs 26.55 per scm.

The local currency had surged 35 paise to 63.65 against the dollar in Thursday's trade.

Both the leading indices, NSE and BSE, ended in positive zone for the second straight week.

India is projected to record average annual growth rates of 7.9 per cent over the next eight years, nearly double of China's 4.6 per cent projected growth over the period.

The market kickstarts the week on a firm note. The Sensex is up 90.68 points at 27528.62 and the Nifty is up 26.15 points at 8331.40.

The domestic currency on Thursday opened lower at 62.95 as against the last closing level of 62.82 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange and dropped further to 63.34 before concluding at 63.32, marking a loss of 50 paise.

The domestic currency had ended six paise higher at 62.85 against the Greenback on dollar selling by banks after falling to over three-month low of 63.15 on Tuesday's trade.

"International factors obviously have an impact. Considering the vast depth and size of the Indian market...our ability to absorb those shocks is far stronger," Jaitley said.

The bank has also reduced ICICI Bank Base Rate by 25 basis points to 9.75% with effect from April 10, 2015.

The dollar weakened overseas amid a higher opening in the domestic equity market.

The panel has also taken note of an estimate of the Railways' financial needs and suggested appropriate framework and policies to raise resources.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson Anita Kapur has asked all Principal Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Income Tax department in the country to pull up their socks and put the house in order before the next review of the subject...