-Financial Express The third advance estimate of wheat production by the agriculture ministry is expected to be released this month. Heatwave conditions since the middle of March have caused significant damage to the standing wheat crop, especially in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, all major producers of the staple cereal. Early estimate says that the crop damage would be of the order of 15-20 million tonne, meaning wheat output in 2021-22 crop...

-Newsclick.in The central government has raked in over Rs18 lakh crore from excise duties compared to Rs14 lakh crore from taxes by all state governments over the past eight years. Yet again, the government has tried to obfuscate the exorbitant petrol/diesel prices by blaming state governments. This time, it was the Prime Minister himself who blamed some Opposition-ruled states for not reducing taxes like the Value Added Tax (VAT) after the central...

-The Hindu What is the Opposition-ruled States’ stand on reduction of value added tax to bring down petrol prices?  The story so far: Petrol is retailing at more than ₹100 per litre across India. While rising crude Oil prices have added to the burden, the primary reason behind the steep increase in pump fuel prices over the last few years is the gradually rising Central Government's excise duty component. Currently, for every...

-Hindustan Times India is the world's biggest importer of palm Oil and relies on Indonesia for nearly half of the 700,000 tonnes it takes every month. Indonesia President Joko Widodo's drastic measures to control food prices by banning palm Oil exports have come into effect from Thursday. India is the world's biggest importer of palm Oil and relies on Indonesia for nearly half of the 700,000 tonnes it takes every month. Palm...

-Business Standard Experts feel this could keep prices of major farm commodities and products dependent on them, such as poultry and meat, at an elevated level for quite some time By the end of this financial year or perhaps even earlier, depending upon the crop cycle, India might be staring at a multi-year low closing inventory levels of several key farm commodities. Stocks of sugar, wheat, cotton and Oilseeds both, with traders and...