Business Highlights

Following are the top business stories at 1825 hours:-

DCM10 BIZ-PMI-SERVICES India's service sector activity growth hits 7-year high in Jan: PMI

New Delhi: India's services sector activity surged to a seven-year high in January driven by sharp increase in new business orders, leading to job creation and business optimism amid favourable market conditions, a monthly survey said on Wednesday.

DCM28 BIZ-TAX-COLLECTION Confident of meeting Rs 11.7 lakh cr tax collection target in FY20: CBDT chief

New Delhi: The tax department is "reasonably confident" of meeting the revised direct tax collection of Rs 11.7 lakh crore in current fiscal, a senior official said on Wednesday.

DCM60 BIZ-FINMIN-INSURANCE Govt to finalise PSU general insurers' merger by March-end: Finance Secretary

New Delhi: The government aims to complete merger of three state-owned general insurance companies -- National Insurance Co Ltd, United India Insurance Co Ltd, and Oriental Insurance Co Ltd -- by the end of March, Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said.

DEL96 BIZ-LD STOCKS Benchmark indices end higher for 3rd day; RBI policy eyed

Mumbai: Indian equities notched up their third straight gains on Wednesday as investors felt the need to neutralise budget overreaction and move positively as improved business sentiment and positive global cues augur well.

DCM23 BIZ-LD BPCL-ROSNEFT Russia's Rosneft keen to bid for BPCL

New Delhi: Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft is keen to bid for acquisition of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), sources said after the Russian firm's CEO Igor Sechin met Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday.

DEL94 BIZ-RUPEE-CLOSE Rupee settles nearly flat at 71.24 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee pared initial gains to settle nearly flat at 71.24 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, as market participants await fresh cues from the RBI's monetary policy.

DCM1 BIZ-AUTO-MARUTI Aim to sell one million environment-friendly cars over next few years: Maruti

Greater Noida: The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Wednesday said it aims to manufacture and sell another million "green vehicles" in the next couple of years as it accelerates its eco-friendly mobility drive.

DCM38 LSQ-TELECOM-AGR PSUs owe telecom ministry Rs 2.65 lakh crore: MoS Sanjay Dhotre

New Delhi: Public sector companies owe the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) around Rs 2.65 lakh crore, with GAIL India alone owing around 65 per cent of the total amount, Minister of State for Telecom and IT Sanjay Dhotre told Parliament on Wednesday.

DEL73 BIZ-NITI-TAX Middle class people 'trained enough' to pick right Income Tax option: Rajiv Kumar

New Delhi: Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said the middle class is "trained enough" to decide which personal income tax option is good for them and exuded confidence that their propensity to save will not come down.

DEL10 BIZ-FITCH-BUDGET Fitch says Budget light on new structural reforms

New Delhi: ‎Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget for 2020-21 was light on new structural reforms, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday adding ‎it has not materially altered its forecasts for India's economic growth to rise to 5.6 per cent in the next fiscal from 4.6 per cent in 2019-20.

DCM8 BIZ-TWITTER Twitter tightens rules to curb manipulated, misleading content

New Delhi: Twitter on Wednesday said it will soon begin labelling tweets containing "manipulated media" which aim to mislead people, and would take steps including removal of tweets if such content has the potential to harm public safety or lead to voter supression.