The ASCI report says there is ample evidence of “market dominance” in specific media markets, but the government has ignored the report for three years. A ministry official tells PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA that it is unlikely to be implemented. A report prepared by an independent institution recommending imposition of cross-media ownership restrictions recently entered the public domain nearly three years after it was submitted,  following a rebuke to the government by...

India Inc. was aghast at the recent report of a parliamentary committee that recommended that a new draft land acquisition law limit occasions when the government may intervene to acquire land for use by private firms. But in a paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly last month, Delhi University economics professor Ram Singh laid out data that supports the committee’s recommendations. Mr. Singh argues that government-driven land acquisition is generally...

If the government accepts oil minister S Jaipal Reddy's proposal, the price of small diesel cars could soon rise by Rs 1.7 lakh while medium-to-large guzzlers could become costlier by Rs 2.55 lakh a piece. The proposal to impose additional excise duty on diesel cars is bound to trigger protests from automakers, who have seen sales growing at the slowest pace in seven months in May. Domestic car sales declined 24%...

RANWAN, India — In this north Indian village, workers recently dismantled stacks of burned and mildewed rice while flies swarmed nearby over spoiled wheat. Local residents said the rice crop had been sitting along the side of a highway for several years and was now being sent to a distillery to be turned into liquor. Just 180 miles to the south, in a slum on the outskirts of New Delhi, Leela...

-Reuters Inflation may have accelerated at its fastest pace this year in May, driven by higher food and fuel prices, impeding chances of a rate cut by the central bank at its review next week, a Reuters poll showed. The wholesale price index, India's main inflation gauge, is expected to rise 7.60 percent in May versus a year ago, compared with April's 7.23 percent, the poll of 31 analysts showed. Forecasts ranged from...