\"We expect inflation to peak off if the US Fed tapering contains oil and other commodity prices and reduces imported inflation pressures. This should support our call that the RBI will hold till December end,\" the brokerage said in a report.

The global ratings agency has a BBB- rating on India with a negative outlook and has warned of the risks of a ratings downgrade in the absence of structural reforms, fiscal consolidation and if economic growth decelerates further.

Post-elections, the pace is expected to be greater for inbound deals, which have been largely pushed back for many months now for want of better clarity on the policy stance of new government, experts said.

Consumption of cold drinks and ice cream, and as a result demand for sugar, rises in India during the summer months. But this year, demand has been higher as political parties hold huge rallies, some attended by as many as 300,000 people.

The new government that will be sworn in after the elections should repeal populist laws and jumpstart the stagnant economy, say panellists at Business Today's election debate.

Strategists in Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, confident that his jobs-first policy pitch will secure a strong voter mandate, suggest that they would prefer to have one of their own at the helm of the Reserve Bank of India.

In an unprecedented move by a national party, the Bharatiya Janata Party will release its manifesto on the day of the first round of polling, i.e April 7. The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party isn't any better, releasing its manifesto on Thursday.

In our cover story, we bring you ten investment strategies commonly adopted by retail investors and tell you situations in which these may not work and why these are not sure-shot ways to create wealth.

Rajan is concerned about the excessively high expectations financial markets have been displaying, almost taking it for granted that a Narendra Modi-led BJP Government will come to power and form a stable government. 

\"The rally is due to the fact of a stable government...not because of some kind of fond hope,\" he said and hit out at Narendra Modi, saying he is known to favour \"crony capitalism.\"

Besides labour laws, implementation of proper reforms in other areas such as subsidies, can lead to overall job gains rising to 110 million over the next 10 years, the largest for any major economy, Goldman Sachs said.

\"We disagree with the consensus that elections can revive the investment cycle,\" economists at Credit Suisse said, adding that \"such misplaced optimism ignores the realities of the business cycle and overestimates the power of the central government\".

A Reuters poll forecast annual retail price inflation likely eased to 8.35 per cent in February, the slowest in two years, after standing at 8.79 per cent in January.

Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath was at pains to clarify that it is not a nine-phased polling and the whole exercise will be over in 72 days, three days less than the last elections. Counting of votes in all the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held on a single day on May 16

\"The allegation against me is against the cabinet; it was the decision of the cabinet, not a personal decision or my own decision and it (allegation) is baseless,\" Moily told reporters in Bangalore on the sidelines of International Bamboo Conclave and Expo- 2014.

Both Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi have presented their broad economic vision, but neither has offered any pragmatic solutions to the most pressing problems facing the Indian economy.

Kejriwal wanted to know if Modi would reduce natural gas prices, which were allowed to be doubled to Rs 8 per unit, and said he was accordingly sending an open letter to him. He held a press conference in New Delhi on the matter.

Chidambaram was asked about Modi's reaction to his Interim Budget on Monday calling it \"a final act of misery after a decade of decay.\"

Since taking the additional environment portfolio on December 24, Veerappa Moily has given his go-ahead to projects worth some $40 billion, including Posco's $12.6 billion steel plant.

As India prepares for elections, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) terming its economic policies as retrograde and \"blood-eyed\" and asked why it's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had never fielded a Muslim candidate.