India’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic likely stumbled again in the first quarter of this year primarily due to Omicron-related restrictions and higher inflation, a Reuters poll showed.

Electoral calculations appear to be one of the key factors behind India’s decision to curb sugar and wheat export, according to industry analysts.

India has no immediate plans to lift a ban on wheat exports, but will continue with deals which are done directly with other governments, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told Reuters.

India’s export duty hikes and tax cuts will likely hurt economic growth and raise the chances of the fiscal deficit widening, but do little to bring down retail prices within the central bank’s tolerance level, economists and industry officials said.

India plans to restrict sugar exports for the first time in six years to prevent a surge in domestic prices and could cap this season’s exports at 8 million tonnes, government and industry sources told Reuters.

India on Saturday announced a series of changes to the tax structure levied on crucial commodities in a bid to insulate consumers from rising prices amid high inflation.

When New Delhi banned wheat exports as prices soared over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine it provoked consternation abroad and drove the cereal even higher.

Indian air conditioner manufacturers are expecting record sales this year as a heatwave scorches most of the country, an industry body told Reuters, but delayed arrivals of components from Covid-hit China may cause shortages of premium products.

India’s biggest retailer Reliance will acquire dozens of small grocery and non-food brands as it targets building its own $6.5 billion consumer goods business to challenge foreign giants like Unilever, two sources familiar with the plan told Reuters.

The Indian rupee plunged to an all-time low against the greenback on Monday, as US monetary policy tightening roiled sentiment and foreign investors continued to dump domestic stocks.

Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to cross $100 billion in annual revenues after the oil-to-telecoms giant reported strong quarterly results across its energy, telecoms and retail businesses Friday.

The European Union (EU) and India agreed on Monday to set up a trade and technology council to step up cooperation, as the bloc’s chief held talks with officials in New Delhi who have seen a flurry of top visits since the start of the Ukraine war.

India is planning new rules to make batteries used in scooters, motorcyles and three-wheeled rickshaws swappable across different models, part of a proposed new policy released by think-tank Niti Aayog.

India’s top retailer Reliance on Saturday called off its $3.4 billion deal with Future Group, saying it “cannot be implemented” after Future’s secured creditors rejected it.

India is tapping a new energy source that promises to help clean up smog-choked cities and is already providing a vital revenue stream for poor Indian farmers: truckloads of bovine manure.

The Federal Reserve is expected to deliver two back-to-back half-point interest rate hikes in May and June to tackle runaway inflation, according to economists polled by Reuters who also say the probability of a recession next year is 40 per cent.

In a dim room near the banks of India’s Ganges river, arms glide over a creaking loom as another silken fibre is guided into place with the rhythmic clack of a wooden beam.

India’s foreign minister said on Wednesday the government is working to stabilise economic transactions with Russia, a day after India condemned killings of civilians in Ukraine and called for an independent probe.

India and Australia signed an interim free trade deal on Saturday that cuts tariffs on billions of dollars of commerce as the two Quad partners bolster their economic ties.

Indian traders have started loading 40,000 tonnes of rice for prompt shipment to Sri Lanka in the first major food aid since Colombo secured a credit line from New Delhi, two officials told Reuters on Saturday.