The Indian government has raised the windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil from Rs 3,300 per tonne to Rs 4,600 per tonne, effective from March 1. The tax, levied as Special Additional Excise Duty, does not apply to petrol and jet fuel. However, the tax on diesel exports has been reduced to nil from Rs 1.50 per litre. Windfall profit taxes were first introduced in India on July 1, 2022, and are reviewed every fortnight based on average oil prices in the previous two weeks.
State-run oil marketing companies have announced a price increase of Rs 25 for 19 kg commercial LPG gas cylinders, effective from March 1. The retail price of a commercial gas cylinder in Delhi now stands at Rs 1795, while in Mumbai, it is priced at Rs 1749. Chennai and Kolkata will see prices of Rs 1960 and Rs 1911, respectively. This follows a previous price hike of Rs 14 on February 1, when a 19 kg LPG cylinder was priced at Rs 1769.50 in Delhi.
India’s manufacturing sector experienced a five-month high in growth in February, with the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rising from 56.5 in January to 56.9 in February. This indicates the strongest improvement in the sector’s health since September 2023. The survey also revealed a significant increase in production, sales, and new export orders.
Welspun Enterprises Limited, the infrastructure and energy arm of Welspun World, has secured a contract worth Rs 4,123.88 crore from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The contract involves the design, construction, and operation of a 2,000 million litres per day Water Treatment Plant at Bhandup Complex in Mumbai. The project is expected to be completed within 48 months, with Welspun Enterprises responsible for operations and maintenance for 15 years.
Google has warned companies that continue to flout its billing norms for in-app digital goods on the Play Store. The tech giant stated that it will take necessary action, including removing non-compliant apps from Google Play. Google emphasized the importance of fair treatment for all developers and maintaining an even playing field.
The BSE and NSE stock exchanges will conduct a special trading session on Saturday to test their preparedness for major disruptions or failures at the primary site. The session will involve intra-day switch over from the Primary Site to the Disaster Recovery site. During this session, securities will have a maximum price band of 5 percent.
Indian benchmark indices ended higher on March 1, with Nifty reaching around 22,300. The top gainers on the Nifty were Tata Steel, L&T, JSW Steel, Titan Company, and IndusInd Bank. The losers included Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, Infosys, and SBI Life Insurance. The metal index saw a 3 percent increase, while the bank, capital goods, and oil & gas sectors rose by 2 percent each. The healthcare index declined by 1 percent, and the Information Technology index dropped by 0.5 percent.
