Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

India's budget increases healthcare spending 135 per cent, opens up insurance

India's budget increases healthcare spending 135 per cent, opens up insurance

INDIA boosted healthcare spending by 135 per cent and lifted caps on foreign investment in its vast insurance market on Monday(1) to help revive an economy that suffered its deepest recorded slump as a result of the pandemic.

Delivering a budget statement to parliament, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman projected a fiscal deficit of 6.8 per cent of gross domestic product for 2021/22, higher than the 5.5 per cent forecast by a recent Reuters poll of economists.


The current year was expected to end with a deficit of 9.5 per cent, she said, well up from the 7 per cent expected earlier.

Prime minister Narendra Modi said the budget was aimed at creating 'wealth and wellness' in a country that is battling the world's second highest coronavirus caseload after the US.

India currently spends about 1 per cent of GDP on health, among the lowest for any major economy.

Sitharaman proposed increasing healthcare spending to Rs 2.2 trillion ($30.2 billion) to help improve public health systems and fund a huge vaccination drive to immunise 1.3 billion people.

"All of us decided to give impetus to the economy and that impetus, we thought, would be qualitatively spent and give necessary demand push if we choose to spend big on infrastructure," Sitharaman told reporters after the presentation of the budget in parliament.

Unlike other countries, India refrained from announcing a big stimulus, offering greater liquidity to firms instead, and held off using its fiscal firepower until curbs to contain the virus were lifted.

The government estimates the economy will contract 7.7 per cent in the current fiscal year ending in March, in what would be the biggest fall ever recorded. However, it foresees a strong recovery in 2021/2022 with growth of 11 per cent.

That would make it the world's fastest growing major economy ahead of China's projected 8.1 per cent growth, but the government said it would take the economy two years to reach pre-pandemic levels.

"In a time of unprecedented economic stress, the government's responsibility was to spend enough to revive the economy or else face enormous human suffering," said Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra group, an autos to technology conglomerate.

"So I had one expectation from this budget: that we should be very liberal in terms of the targeted fiscal deficit. Box ticked."

Markets surge

India's main stock indexes surged. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was 4.7 per cent higher in its best performance on budget day in at least two decades. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 5 per cent.

But, bond yields jumped after the government announced plans to raise additional funds from the market over the next two months.

Sitharaman said the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap for the insurance sector would be increased to 74 per cent from the current 49 per cent.

To bridge some of the deficit, the government plans to sell its stake in the state run companies and banks including IDBI bank, an insurance company and oil companies. It also wants to sell state firms' surplus land.

Gene Fang, associate managing director, sovereign risk group, Moody's Investors Service, said the budget announcements did not change the credit rating agency's stance on India. Moody's rates Indian sovereign debt at 'Baa3' - the bottom rung of investment grade ratings - with a 'negative' outlook.

More For You

Indian-IT-Reuters

Employees of Indian IT services exporter LTIMindtree work inside its office in Bengaluru, India, September 24, 2025. (Photo credit: Reuters)

Reuters

Trump visa curbs push US firms to consider shifting more work to India

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s decision to sharply increase H-1B visa application costs is expected to accelerate American companies’ move to shift more high-value work to India. Economists and industry experts say this will further boost the growth of global capability centres (GCCs), which manage operations ranging from finance to research and development.

India hosts about 1,700 GCCs, more than half of the global total. These centres, which began with a focus on tech support, have expanded into innovation-driven work, including car dashboard design and drug discovery.

Keep ReadingShow less
EA

Shareholders will receive £166 per share in cash,

Getty Images

Video game giant EA bought out in £43bn deal, biggest all-cash takeover ever

Highlights

  • EA to be acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
  • Shareholders to receive £166 per share, 25% above market value
  • Deal marks largest all-cash sponsor take-private investment ever
  • EA to remain headquartered in California under CEO Andrew Wilson
  • Transaction expected to close in early 2027

EA agrees to £43bn all-cash takeover

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), the studio behind blockbuster franchises such as FIFA, Battlefield, and The Sims, is set to go private after agreeing to a £43 billion acquisition by an investor consortium made up of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners.

Shareholders will receive £166 per share in cash, a 25% premium on EA’s recent market price. PIF, which already owns 9.9% of the company, will roll its stake into the deal. Once completed, EA will no longer be listed on public markets.

Keep ReadingShow less
Luke Miels

He will also receive an on-target yearly bonus of 150 per cent and a long-term incentive grant equal to 7.25 times his salary.

LinkedIn

Luke Miels to replace Emma Walmsley as GSK chief from January 1

BRITISH drugmaker GSK on Monday named Luke Miels as its CEO designate. He will take over from Emma Walmsley, who steps down after nine years leading the company.

Miels will formally assume the role on January 1. He will be responsible for steering GSK towards its target of generating more than 40 billion pounds ($53.78 billion) in annual sales by 2031.

Keep ReadingShow less
Google

Many of the apps appeared legitimate when installed directly from the Google Play Store

iStock

Google blocks 224 Android apps after ad fraud scheme hits millions worldwide

Highlights

  • More than 38 million downloads across 228 countries and territories
  • Cybersecurity firm HUMAN uncovered large-scale fraud campaign dubbed SlopAds

  • Apps disguised on Google Play Store and fake ad pages
  • US, India and Brazil hardest hit by fraudulent traffic
  • Google continues crackdown following recent security breaches

38 million downloads linked to fraudulent apps

Google has removed 224 Android apps after investigators uncovered a vast advertising fraud scheme. The operation, named SlopAds, involved apps that had been downloaded more than 38 million times across 228 countries and territories.

The discovery was made by the Satori Threat Intelligence and Research Team at cybersecurity company HUMAN, which confirmed that the apps were designed to manipulate online advertising systems by generating fake ad views and clicks.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK steps in with £1.5bn lifeline for Jaguar Land Rover

FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks during a visit to the Jaguar Land Rover car factory on April 7, 2025 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool / Getty Images)

Getty Images

UK steps in with £1.5bn lifeline for Jaguar Land Rover

THE government will back Jaguar Land Rover with a £1.5 billion ($2bn) loan guarantee to help support its supply chain in the wake of the luxury carmaker's production shutdown following a cyberattack.

Jaguar Land Rover's shutdown has lasted nearly a month, and the government had been exploring options to support the company and its supply chain, with some small suppliers saying they had one week left at most before they ran out of cash.

Keep ReadingShow less