Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn on Wednesday said food inflation was beginning to look structural and the best way to tackle it was by addressing supply-side issues. “We have been emphasising that food inflation is starting to look structural in nature...We have come to the conclusion that there is a structural driver to food inflation. In this case, the apt approach is to address the supply side,”...

India's economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter of its financial year, figures show. In the three months to September, gross domestic product (GDP) was up 8.9% from the same period last year. However, inflation remains a real concern for authorities with new figures showing prices rising by 9.7% in October. Although only the world's 11th biggest economy, India is the second fastest-growing major economy, behind China. Strong farm production, increased vehicle...

The country’s economic growth is expected to remain strong despite sluggishness in the manufacturing sector as a rebound in agricultural output is expected to support overall growth. Growth in the key farm sector, which accounts for nearly 17% of the nation’s GDP, has been a concern for policymakers for the past few quarters. But, healthy monsoon has raised expectations of strong farm output during July-September 2010. In addition, the arrival of...

Acknowledging that some labour laws have not yielded the desired results, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said there is a need to revisit some of them which have hurt the growth of employment. "We have enacted several progressive labour laws since independence and some even before that. But it appears that not all these laws have had the intended good effects that we would like to see on the ground," he...

A parliamentary committee has asked the government to consider incentivising private players to set up grain storage facilities as it prepares to implement the right to food. The government will require around 620 lakh tonnes of foodgrain annually to implement the food security law. The official procurement stood at 539.75 lakh tonnes in the recent marketing year. “(The) government should provide soft loans at affordable rates and subsidies to private players to...