India’s retail inflation rate fell to 9.4% in April due to easing of prices of vegetables, edible oil and protein-based items such as egg, meat and fish, latest price data released on Monday showed.

Country's merchandise exports grew by 1.6% to $24.16 billion in April this year, whereas imports increased by 10.9%.

Falling for the second straight month, retail inflation declined sharply to 9.39% in April due to easing of prices of vegetables, edible oil and protein-based items.
Goa has become the first state to sell petrol at cheaper rates than diesel after oil companies recently announced a hike of Rs. 1 per litre for diesel. This was the fourth such hike this year.
The Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies smoothed over US-European differences at a weekend meeting on how to balance deep austerity measures with ways to support fragile growth.

With rural GDP growing faster than urban in India, the rural consumer is demanding more of branded products, an opportunity brands are scrambling to make the most of.
Rachit Vats reports.
Rural consumption growth outpacing urbanIn what seen as a major victory for power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the petroleum ministry has proposed equal priority for allocation of natural gas to fertilisers, LPG, power and city gas distribution projects.

Despite a slowdown and worries over rising fiscal and current account deficit, India is still attracting sovereign wealth funds and multilateral investors,
Anupama Airy and Mahua Venkatesh report.

Millions of educated young Indians join the labour market every year but rising mismatch between basic skills and jobs on offer is leading to a peculiar flux.
Gaurav Choudhury writes.

India’s industrial production grew by 2.5% in March — the fastest in five months — but the full-year growth for 2012-13 recorded a two-decade low of 1%, prompting industry leaders and analysts to caution that the worst may not be over yet.

Subsidy shadow: With the government freeing up diesel, private players may return to fuel sales, driving down retail prices.
Upbeat over pick-up in industrial growth, finance ministry on Friday expressed confidence that with the current trend continuing, the economic growth rate would cross 6% in 2013-14.

India's exports rose for the third straight month in March, offering some relief to the high current account deficit, which hit an all-time high in the quarter to December.
New Delhi now shares with Beijing the top position as the most targeted emerging markets retail destination among Asia-Pacific markets in 2012, a CBRE survey has found.
Rachit Vats reports.
Retail detailDue to low disposable income, Indian consumers now prefer travelling to domestic leisure hotspots for holidays over international destinations, says the latest MasterCard Consumer Purchasing Priority Survey on travel.
HT reports.
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