Business
Opening Bell: Markets Trade Flat Amid Mixed Global Cues; Sensex At 63,182.52, Nifty At 18,738.55

The markets on Thursday morning were trading flat with Sensex at 63,182.52, up by 39.56 points and Nifty was at 18,738.55 with a gain of 12.15 points. Nestle, Tata Motors, NTPC, Bharti Airtel and Power Grid were the top gainers in the morning session whereas Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, TCS, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Steel were the top losers.
Markets on Wednesday
The markets on Wednesday closed higher for the fourth straight session with Sensex at 63,142.96, up by 350.08 and Nifty at 18,726.40 with a gain of 127.40 points. All sectors were in the green with FMCG, Power, oil and gas, capital goods, realty and metal up by 1 per cent each.
Global markets
Ahead of key economic and policy events next week the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 91.74 points to 33,665.02. However, the S&P 500 dropped by 16.33 at 4,267.52 and Nasdaq ended lower at 13,104.90 down by 171.52 points.
The Asian stock markets on Thursday were mixed with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was at 19,227.84 with a loss of 24.16 points, South Korea’s KOSPI was relatively flat at 2,610.52 with a dip of 5.08 points and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 6.83 points at 32,906.91. However, Singapore’s SGX Nifty was higher with a gain of 11 points at 18,823.
Oil prices
After oil prices saw a jump of 1 per cent on Wednesday, they were relatively stable on Thursday as investors took into consideration the increasing demand concerns over a global economic slowdown in the backdrop of expected fall in supply from Saudi output cuts. Brent crude futures were down 1 cents at $76.94 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $72.58 per barrel with a gain of 11 cents.
Business
Coal demand in India projected to reach 1,755 MT by 2047

New Delhi, Feb 10: The coal demand in India is projected to reach 1,462 million tonnes (MT) in 2030 and 1,755 MT by 2047, the government said on Monday.
With the fifth-largest geological coal reserves globally and as the second-largest consumer, coal continues to be an indispensable energy source, contributing to 55 per cent of the national energy mix.
Over the past decade, thermal power, predominantly fueled by coal, has consistently accounted for more than 74 per cent of the total power generation.
Despite commendable strides in promoting renewable energy sources, the sheer growth in electricity demand necessitates a continued reliance on thermal power, with projections indicating its share to be 55 per cent by 2030 and 27 per crnt by 2047, according to Ministry of Coal.
As per the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI), the coal sector registered the highest growth of 5.3 per cent in December 2024, reaching 215.1 points compared to 204.3 points in December 2023.
During April-December 2024, the coal industry index increased to 177.6 points from 167.2 points in the previous year, marking a 6.2 per cent growth—the highest among all core industries, according to the government data.
The Combined Index of Eight Core Industries showed an overall growth of 4.0 per cent in December 2024 compared to the previous year.
The index for April-December 2024 increased by 4.2 per cent over the same period in FY 2023-24, emphasising coal’s significant contribution to industrial expansion.
Additionally, the coal sector accounts for about 50 per cent of freight revenue for Indian Railways and provides direct employment to nearly 4.78 lakh individuals.
India’s coal production reached an all-time high of 997.82 million tonnes (MT) in FY 2023-24, marking a significant rise from 609.18 MT in FY 2014-15, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.64 per cent over the past decade.
In FY 2023-24 alone, production has surged by 11.71 per cent compared to the previous year.
A landmark policy reform came with the introduction of commercial coal mine auctions in 2020, encouraging private sector participation and modern technological adoption.
With the vesting of these mines, a total of 107 coal mines have been auctioned under commercial coal mine auctions, with a cumulative PRC of approximately 246.60 MTPA, generating estimated annual revenue of Rs 34,000 crore and employment for about 3,33,000 people.
Business
RBI desires to go extremely calibrated on future repo rate actions: Experts

New Delhi, Feb 8: The monetary policy in India is easing since last few months and as rate cuts transmit with a lag, it makes sense to act with a forward-looking estimate if the monetary policy has to work its way on real economy, according to experts.
The October policy saw the stance getting changed to neutral (vs. withdrawal of accommodation). This was followed with 50bps of CRR reduction in December, plethora of liquidity supporting measures in January and now a 25bps of repo rate reduction in February 2025.
“We interpret the neutral stance as the RBI desire to go extremely calibrated on future repo rate actions, given the change in global dynamics, where the markets have significantly dialled down quantum of rate cuts by the US Fed in 2025,” said Mittal.
The fact that stance is neutral, it means that everything that transmit between now and April — Q3 FY25 GDP data, global dynamics, currency, crude, March heat waves — will matter.
“We are expecting 50bps of rate cutting cycle,” Mittal said, adding that liquidity will play much larger role.
In a big relief for banks, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced that the implementation of the proposed Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR), as well as project financing norms, will be deferred by a year and will not be implemented before March 31, 2026.
“A key announcement for banks concerned the postponement of the LCR guidelines implementation, now scheduled for no earlier than April 1, 2026, and to be rolled out in a phased manner,” said Mittal.
Additionally, the RBI indicated that more time would be needed to finalise project financing norms and expected credit loss rules.
According to Ajay Kumar Srivastava, Managing Director and CEO, Indian Overseas Bank, with the inflation rate expected to moderate further in FY26 and GDP growth estimated at 6.7 per cent, “we believe this rate cut will provide a boost to the economy and stimulate investment and consumer demand, fostering overall economic momentum”.
“We also appreciate the RBI’s focus on enhancing digital security in the banking and payments system,” he added.
Business
New Income Tax Bill set to be tabled in Parliament next week

New Delhi, Feb 8: Aiming to put more money in the hands of the middle class and simplify the whole filing process, the new Income Tax Bill is set to be tabled in the Parliament next week after receiving approval from the Union Cabinet.
The bill, which was granted approval in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, will be introduced in the Parliament next week before it is sent to the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance.
Before the Income Tax Bill was cleared by the Cabinet, people in the know said that the legislation would likely provide directions to widen the tax net, given the contraction in the tax base following the exemption limit being raised to Rs 12 lakh in the Union Budget.
The current Income Tax Act was enforced in the country in 1961 and now, the new Income Tax Act is being made according to the needs of the 21st century to replace the existing law, according to sources close to the development.
A review committee was formed for the new Income Tax law in the country to replace the earlier cumbersome law. According to sources, the new Income Tax Bill has been prepared by the government on the recommendation of the committee.
In this era of technology and massive digitalisation, taxpayers can perform several things online on his or her own. In such a scenario, there will be smooth changes in the new I-T Bill for the common man who can understand it seamlessly online. This is an attempt to make the system simple and convenient for common people.
Along with this, the government’s intention behind giving such a big relief to the taxpayers is to increase private consumption which would directly benefit the health of the economy.
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