Cutting the small savings rate could save the government an estimated $700 million a year. But the move is likely to irk small savers and could be unpopular politically, particularly in rural areas where few banks have branches.

NITI Aayog V-C Arvind Panagariya, appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a year ago to run his government's Policy Commission, said he doubted China would allow the yuan to crash.

China allowed the biggest fall in the yuan in five months on Thursday, pressuring regional currencies and sending global stock markets tumbling as investors feared it would trigger competitive devaluations.

The government is set to extend the term of Urjit Patel, the banker behind monetary policy changes that have helped reduce the high inflation, signaling confidence in Governor Raghuram Rajan's team.

SAIL, JSW Steel and Essar Steel have complained that surging imports from Indonesia, China, Japan, Russia, Ukraine and South Korea were squeezing their market share and profit margins.

Strategic Debt Restructuring allows banks to classify the debt in question as \"standard\", rather than bad, during the 18 month process.

The economy expanded by a 7.4 per cent annual rate in the second quarter of the current financial year 2015/16 that ends in March, compared with 7 per cent in April-June, the Statistics Ministry said on Monday.

The deficit was 89.6 per cent of the full-year target during the same period a year ago.

Infrastructure accounts for nearly 38 per cent of India's industrial output.

The Gold Coin Scheme has fared better with buyers acquiring 6,200 of the Ashoka Chakra coins which features a 24-spoke circle symbol and also graces the national flag.

Arun Jaitley challenged the opposition to back a crucial tax reform, pledging to put investments before budget savings to drive growth.

A survey of economists by Reuters had estimated industrial output would grow 4.7 per cent in September compared with a downwardly revised 6.3 per cent growth in August.

The RBI governor has also called on the government to continue pursuing structural reforms to bring down inflation and boost growth.

The scheme is aimed at mobilising tonnes of gold from households into banks, but low returns and concerns over tax authorities hounding depositors may hinder the programme.

The infrastructure output grew at its fastest pace in four months to 3.2 per cent in September from a year ago.

The government faces a revenue shortfall of up to Rs 50K cr in direct tax receipts, estimated at Rs 7.98 trillion for the 2015/16 year to March. FM Arun Jaitley does expect to meet his target for indirect tax receipts of about Rs 6.5 trillion.

The newly formed panel will suggest ways to create predictability and certainty in tax laws without having a substantial impact on the tax base and revenue collection, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Jaitley was among the officials who publicly pressed Rajan to cut the benchmark rate, in a bid to help revive the consumer and investor sentiment in a sluggish economy.

The trade deficit narrowed to $10.48 billion last month from $12.5 billion in August mainly on lower gold and oil imports, the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed.

The Washington-based Fund marginally lowered India's growth forecast to 7.3 percent this year, from its earlier estimate of 7.5 per cent, and said that a faster-than-expected deceleration in inflation provides leeway for modest cuts in interest rates.