New Delhi, Nov 1: State-run oil marketing companies have reduced commercial LPG cylinder prices across metros, offering a slight relief to businesses, starting from Saturday.

The move will provide marginal relief to thousands of small and medium-sized businesses.

According to the latest revision announced by state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs), the 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder will now cost Rs 1,590.50 in Delhi, reflecting a Rs 5 cut from the previous rate of Rs 1,595.50.

With the highest drop of Rs 6.50 per cylinder among the metros, the charge in Kolkata will now be Rs 1,694 per cylinder. Chennai will now charge Rs 1,750 (down Rs 4.50), while Mumbai now charges Rs 1,542 (down Rs 5).

For businesses that depend significantly on LPG for their everyday operations, like restaurants, hotels, and catering services, the most recent revision provides a small reprieve following a hike of Rs 15.50 that was put into effect late in September.

However, domestic LPG prices have not changed and are the same in every city.

Earlier in September, OMCs had reduced the price of commercial LPG gas cylinders by Rs 51.50. Following the revision, a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder in Delhi was available at Rs 1,580.

Earlier, OMCs had reduced the price of a 19 kg commercial LPG gas cylinder by Rs 33.50. Before that, prices had been reduced by Rs 58.50 on July 1.

Earlier in June, oil firms had announced a Rs 24 cut for commercial cylinders, setting the rate at Rs 1,723.50. In April, the price stood at Rs 1,762. February saw a small Rs 7 reduction, but March reversed this slightly with a Rs 6 increase.

Meanwhile, the Centre had announced to provide 2.5 million free LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) during the festival season.

New Delhi, Oct 31: India aims to achieve 300 million tonnes of crude steel production capacity by 2030, Union Minister of State for Steel, Bhupathiraju Srinivas Varma, said on Friday.

In a meeting with Sara Modig, State Secretary to Minister for Energy, Business and Industry, Sweden, here, in presence of Swedish Ambassador to India Jan Thesleff and other officials, the minister highlighted India’s growing steel sector, driven by visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Notably, India’s domestic steel demand is growing at an impressive 11-13 per cent, fuelled by large-scale infrastructure projects, while global demand faces a slowdown, according to Steel Ministry.

The discussions were held to explore collaboration opportunities in the field of research and development in Green Steel production and other advanced technologies to reduce carbon emissions.

Varma reaffirmed the invitation extended to Sweden to participate in Bharat Steel 2026, an International Conference-cum-Exhibition dedicated to the steel industry, scheduled to be held on April 16–17, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the growth rate of India’s eight core industries was recorded at 3 per cent in September this year compared to the same month of the previous year, with the steel and cement sectors recording strong growth during the month, data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry showed.

Steel production surged by a robust 14.1 per cent in September compared to the same month of the previous year on the back of increased demand from big-ticket infrastructure projects being carried out by the government. The cumulative growth of steel during April to Sept of 2025-26 increased by 11 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

The government imposed a 12 per cent temporary safeguard duty on certain steel imports in April 2025 to protect the domestic market. These measures follow previous actions and are part of ongoing efforts to safeguard the industry while promoting self-reliance under initiatives like ‘Make in India’.

New Delhi, Oct 31: India’s fiscal deficit for the first six months of the current financial year (April-September) stood at Rs 5.73 lakh crore, which constitutes 36.5 per cent of the annual estimate in the budget, government data released on Friday showed.

The figures show that the fiscal deficit is well under control, which paves the way for stable growth of the economy.

Total receipts stood at Rs 17.30 lakh crore, while overall expenditure during April to September was at 23.03 lakh crore rupees. These comprised 49.5 per cent and 45.5 per cent, respectively, of the target set in the budget for 2025-26.

Revenue receipts stood at Rs 16.95 lakh crore, of which tax revenue comprised Rs 12.29 lakh crore and non-tax revenue worked out to Rs 4.66 lakh crore.

Non-tax revenue jumped as the Reserve Bank of India approved a dividend of Rs 2.69 lakh crore to the central government, up from Rs 2.11 lakh crore transferred last year. This will help the central government reduce its fiscal deficit further.

The total government expenditure during the April-Sept period went up to Rs 23 lakh crore compared with Rs 21.1 lakh crore during the same period of the previous year.

This reflects higher Government expenditure on big-ticket infrastructure projects in the highways, ports and railways sectors, which play a key role in spurring economic growth in the country amid increasing economic uncertainties triggered by geopolitical developments and the US tariff turmoil.

The central government has pegged its fiscal deficit target at 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in its latest budget for FY25, compared with 5.6 per cent in the last fiscal year, which was lower than the revised estimates of 5.8 per cent.

A declining fiscal deficit reflects the strengthening of the fundamentals of the economy and paves the way for growth with price stability. It leads to a reduction in borrowing by the government, thus leaving more funds in the banking sector for lending to corporates and consumers, which leads to higher economic growth.

With the strong emerging fiscal position in 2025-26, the government is likely to have some additional headroom to meet unforeseen expenditure on account of defence, according to a recent Bank of Baroda report.

The observation assumes importance in the backdrop of the tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.