Government earmarks Rs 50,000 crore for developing 100 smart cities

The Government of India plans to spend Rs 50,000 crore (US$ 8 billion) to develop 100 smart cities in the country, with each selected city to receive assistance of Rs 100 crore (US$ 16 million) per year for five years.

Government announces major highway development program worth US$ 93 billion

The Government of India has announced highway projects worth US$ 93 billion, including the US$ 45 billion flagship road building programme National Highways Building Project (NHDP), one of the largest government-led Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects in the world.

Rs. 84495.62 Lakhs sanctioned to States/UTs for Developing Tourism destinations and Circuits in 2014-15

Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned Rs 84,495.62 lakhs (US$ 132 million) to States and Union Territories for developing tourism destinations and circuits during FY 2014-15, which includes projects relating to Product/Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits (PIDDC), Human Resource Development (HRD), Fairs and Festivals and Rural Tourism.

Government looking to spur public spending to provide momentum to economy: Arun Jaitley

India’s Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley has reaffirmed Government’s commitment to increase public spending on the economy this year to fill in for lower private sector investment. It has already proposed Rs 25,500 crore (US$ 4 billion) of extra spending, nearly half of which will go towards capital support to banks, which will help them to lend more, leading to a virtuous growth cycle.

Manufacturing growth hits 6-month high on export orders

The growth in India's manufacturing economy rebounded in July with the Nikkei India Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing rising to 52.7 in July 2015 from 51.3 in June 2015, mainly due to rise in export orders.

CLSA raises its overweight view on India

CLSA, one of the leading Asian equity brokerage and investment group, has raised its already substantial ‘overweight’ view for India in the Asia Pacific ex-Japan relative-return portfolio, post government's plan to inject US$ 11 billion in state-owned banks over the next four years.