Given the Budget’s silence on a number of key issues, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla has had to spend most of his time after July 6 explaining the unstated details of the Budget strategy. In a candid interview with Puja Mehra, Chawla elaborates on the Budget’s growth gamble.

Despite monetary easing, banks are still unwilling to lend. Or are companies reluctant to borrow?

BT takes a close look at sectors across the economy, noting the big events and placing on record the expectations for 2009.

Increased government spending can help fight economic slowdown. But it won’t. And the reason is not lack of funds. What is needed is a comprehensive booster dose of steroids to resuscitate the economy. Manmohan Singh’s diagnosis is not off the mark, but the delivery is. A report by Puja Mehra.

“The global crisis has showed us that financial stability is vulnerable”

Agri-commodities can be a hedge against inflation in any portfolio. But at current high prices, should you invest in them?

Although more than 90 per cent of the world's diamonds are processed in this port city of Gujarat, the industry is facing a multitude of challenges in an ultra-competitive market. The latest: workers are asking for better wages. Business Today's T.V. Mahalingam says the all-pervading joie de vivre among diamond-makers is misleading.

IT and ITES companies will step up recruitments, while financial services and telecom firms will hire less.

Despite the recent price hikes in India, oil is a ticking time bomb that will be defused only by a sharp drop in demand and, in the long run, alternative sources of energy. Meanwhile, brace up for the coming pain. Business Today's Rishi Joshi reports.

Better returns to workers is one reason why pension management in the country needs sweeping reforms. Inadequate coverage is another. A report.

Rising crude prices could derail India’s growth story and cause massive pain all around.

While India Inc. had managed to avert a sharp deceleration in its topline and bottomline growth in the first three quarters of fiscal 2008, it’s the last quarter that perhaps gives a clear picture of where they are headed. Hit by higher input prices and interest rates, corporate earnings growth was down sharply in the last quarter of 2007-08. Now with derivatives losses growing, India Inc. faces anxious times ahead.

Nilesh Shah, Deputy Managing Director, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, talks about the current market and the strategies that investors should adopt in the changed market realities in an interview with BT’s Krishna Gopalan.

Investing in commodities can be just as profitable as doing so in equity and debt.

Yes, the stock markets have been on a roll for four years now and the Sensex is at 20,000 plus. But a surging economy is expected to keep the FIIs interested in India this year.

The economy is slowing down, but the long-term story remains intact.

India is on the threshold of a retail revolution. In fact, it has, in some segments, already traversed some way down that path.

This could be another reason why global workers might just want to relocate to India.

The why, what and how-to of policy making.

How to utilise the forex reserves.