Stories
Fiscal Deficit Hits 41.9% of Target; Tata Sons Feud Deepens; Markets Decline
- •India's central government fiscal deficit reached Rs 7.1 lakh crore, or 41.9% of the full-year target, by the end of August.
- •The boardroom dispute at Tata Sons escalated as Venu Srinivasan sought a regulatory inquiry into the governance of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.
- •Indian benchmark stock indices, Sensex and Nifty, closed lower for the third consecutive day due to selling in metal and pharma shares.
- •The rupee settled flat at 95.94 against the US dollar, with gains from a weaker dollar and retreating crude prices offset by FII outflows.
- •Gold prices rebounded by Rs 700 to Rs 1.49 lakh per 10 grams in Delhi, driven by value buying and a firm global trend.
Key Questions Answered
The government has notified the CAFE-III norms to target a 16.7 percent improvement in fleet-average fuel consumption over a five-year period. These updated standards give automakers greater flexibility to utilize electric vehicles, hybrids, alternative fuels, and advanced fuel-saving technologies to achieve compliance.
The Union Cabinet approved the PM-DHARA Scheme with an outlay of Rs 1.86 lakh crore. This funding is dedicated to establishing an intra-state transmission system alongside 50GWh of battery storage capacity designed to evacuate 135 GW of renewable energy.
The government announced that interest rates for various small savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund and the National Savings Certificate, would remain unchanged. This marks the tenth consecutive quarter that these rates have been left untouched, beginning October 1, 2026.
