Newsmakers: Budget 2016-17 on Feb 29, UN downgrades India GDP forecast and more

Maruti Suzuki launches Alto range with driver side airbag
Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India said it would offer driver airbag as an option in all variants of its entry level models Alto 800 and Alto K10. Alto 800 variants with driver airbag are priced between Rs 2.62 lakh and 3.78 lakh while Alto K10 is priced between Rs 3.45 lakh and Rs 4.08 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

It's conjecture: SBI chief on being in race for Sebi Chairman
Amid talks of she being in the race for the post of Sebi chief, SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said this is in "the nature of conjecture" as of now and she is very much focussed on her current role. "These (reports) are in the nature of conjecture at this point of time. We will see how things happen, but at this point, I am very much focussed on State Bank of India," she told reporters at the launch of an SBI branch dedicated to start-ups.

Govt to present Budget 2016-17 on Feb 29
Minister of state for Finance Jayant Sinha said the government will present the Budget for 2016-17 on February 29, which will set a roadmap for the coming three years. "We are working hard on Budget that will be presented on February 29 and that will establish a roadmap for two or three years," he said while addressing India-Korea Business Summit in New Delhi.

UN downgrades India GDP forecast for 2016 to 7.5%
United Nations has downgraded its GDP growth forecast for India for 2016 to 7.5 per cent from 8.2 per cent estimated earlier, largely due to slow progress in implementing reform policies. In 2015, India is expected to see better growth compared to China, but the higher rate is due to a change in the methodology of computing GDP in recent years rather than an increase in the growth rate.

Govt weighs indexing rupee debt with global currencies
Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said the government is considering permitting power firms to index rupee debt with global currencies to attract cheap loans from foreign banks. "Some Japanese companies have also indicated that they would be interested in financing UMPPs if we could have some portion of tariff indexed to a basket of currencies or a particular currency, which could mean much larger financing from international sources at a lower rate of interest with longer tenure and cheaper power," the minister said.