Newsmakers: Japan offers to finance India's first bullet train and more

Japan offers India soft loan for $15 bn bullet train: Japan has offered to finance India's first bullet train, estimated to cost $15 billion, at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent, officials said, stealing a march on China, which is bidding for other projects on the world's fourth-largest network.

Rural inflation running higher than urban: Notwithstanding the fact that overall inflation has fallen strikingly in last few months, its benefits have not been equally distributed with the rate of price rise running higher in rural areas than in urban centres because of structural bottlenecks, says a report. According to global financial services firm HSBC, rural inflation has not fallen as much as urban inflation and the 'excess inflation' that the rural India is facing is apparent across major sub-categories like fuel, core and food.

Coffee Day nets Rs 1,150 cr from IPO: Set to debut in stock market, leading coffee chain operator Coffee Day Enterprises has fixed its public offer price at Rs 328 per share, taking the total proceeds to Rs 1,150 crore from its over-subscribed IPO.

Bajaj Auto gears up to roll out 4 new bikes: Bajaj Auto is set to launch four new motorcycles in the market soon as part of its plans to capture over 22 per cent share by the end of this fiscal. The company will be expanding its Avenger range of cruiser bikes through introduction of three new models this month.

India remains less exposed to external risks, says Moody's: Forecasting that India will clock the highest growth rate of 7-7.5 per cent among G20 economies in 2015 and 2016, Moody's Investors Service said the country is less exposed to external shocks, and the positive rating outlook reflects resilient growth and reforms momentum.