Business

Finance Minister P Chidambaram is set to present Union Budget 2013-14 on Thursday.

In the last Budget before the General Elections, Chidambaram has to balance austerity with reviving the economy and putting more money in consumers' hands.

Tatkal charges will go up by Rs 15 on sleeper class to Rs 100 on Executive Class.

The fuel adjustment component, being introduced on freight tariff from April, would fetch an additional revenue of Rs 4,200 crore.

Freight hike increase may also lead to higher landing cost for generating companies by up to 3 per cent.

Railways would set up six more Rail Neer bottling plants at Vijayawada, Nagpur, Lalitpur, Bilaspur, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

The decline marks the biggest percentage drop for the benchmark S&P's 500 Index since Nov 7, and drove S&P down to its lowest close since Jan 18.

Air India on Wednesday launched special fares offering a discount of up to 40 per cent on its one-way domestic flights.

The chairman of state-run Air India said on Wednesday that Boeing is hopeful of getting the Dreamliner back in service by early April.

The bank's exposure to Kingfisher Airline is Rs 1,700 crore and provision to the extent of Rs 1,650 crore have been made.

UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya is also expected to be present at the meeting.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said all documents highlighting the economic backwardness of Bihar have been provided to the Centre.

Wholesale prices - main inflation gauge - probably rose 7 per cent in January from a year earlier.

Up to 10 per cent of its 23,300 staff could go, and Jenkins is expected to cut pay across the unit.

RBI concerns the country's current account deficit is headed to its highest ever this fiscal also put pressure on the rupee.

The rupee resumed higher at 53.12 per dollar as against the Wednesday's closing level of 53.16 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market.