Winning Bizness Economic Desk

India’s foreign exchange reserves surged to a record high of Rs 65.24-lakh-crore (USD 709.41-billion) as of January 23 of this year.

This is a climb from the Rs 63.73-lakh-crore (USD 701.36-billion) a week earlier, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 30.

As of the previous week of January 23, the Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs) stood at Rs 51.76-lakh crore (USD 562.89-billion) while gold holdings were valued at Rs 11.32-lakh-crore (USD 123.09-billion).

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) amounted to Rs 1.72-lakh-crore (USD 18.7-billion) while the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stood at Rs 43,086-crore (USD 4.7-billion).

Here, the point to highlight is that the increase of around Rs 1.50-lakh-crore (USD 8.05-billion) marks the highest level of reserves recorded so far, surpassing the previous peaks of USD 704.89-billion set in September 2024.

The northward movement in reserves over the past two-weeks reflects the Reserve Bank’s forex swap operations to infuse Rupee liquidity into domestic markets, along with a valuation gain from higher gold prices.

A higher reserve buffer strengthens the Reserve Bank’s capacity to shield the Rupee from excessive volatility and speculative pressures.

An important point to note here is that the Rupee has under-performed its emerging market peers this year amid equity outflows and delays in reaching a US trade agreement.

IIP Growth Clocks 26-Month High of 7.8 Per Cent in December 2025

The growth in industrial activity has climbed up steeply to a 26-month high of 7.8 per cent in December 2025, propelled by robust performances across sectors, including manufacturing, electricity and the consumer goods sectors, official data showed.

Data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) revealed that the Index last expanded faster than December 2025’s growth rate in October 2023.

At that time, it had grown 11.9 per cent.

The manufacturing sector moved northward 8.1 per cent in December last year, marginally slower than in the 25-month high of 8.5 per cent seen in November.

Here, it is important to point out that this was significantly faster than the 3.7 per cent growth registered in December of 2024.

There has been investment activity in the country and this is seen in the capital goods sector which expanded at 8.1 per cent in December of last year.

This follows a ten-month growth rate of a high of 10.5 per cent in November.

Notably, the growth rate in capital goods came on a high base of a 10.5 per cent growth rate in December 2024.

The infrastructure and construction sectors grew at 12.1 per cent in December of last year following a nearly 13 per cent growth rate in November.

This sector, too, registered a robust growth over a relatively high base of 8.4 per cent in December 2024.

Within the consumer goods sector, the consumer durables sector witnessed growth perk-up to a 13-month high of 12.3 per cent in December 2025.

The consumer non-durables sector saw growth climb to a 26-month high of 8.3 per cent in December 2025, although it was a on a low base as the sector had contracted 7.1 per cent in December 2024.

The electricity sector saw growth quicken to a 17-month high of 6.3 per cent in December 2025.

India’s GST Rev in January Up 6.2 pc to Rs 1.93-lakh-cr

The country’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue reached Rs 1,93,384-crore in January 2026, up 6.2 per cent from Rs 1,82,094-crore in the same month last year.

The increase was supported by a healthy performance in both domestic transactions and imports, signalling continued momentum in economic activity.

The domestic GST revenue for January 2026 stood at Rs 1.41-lakh-crore, marking a 4.8 per cent rise over the Rs 1.35-lakh-crore a year earlier.

Meanwhile, GST collected on imports increased 10.1 per cent to Rs 52,253-crore.

After accounting for refunds, net GST revenue for the month was Rs 1.70-lakh-crore, a 7.6 per cent gain compared with January 2025.

Refunds issued during the month fell 3.1 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) to Rs 22,665 crore, providing additional support to net collections.

For the period from April 2025 to January 2026, gross GST collections totalled Rs 18.43-lakh-crore, up 8.3 per cent from the Rs 17.02-lakh-crore in the same period last year.

The net GST revenue rose 6.8 per cent to Rs 15.96-lakh-crore, reflecting a steady fiscal performance despite higher refunds and moderate variations in state-wise collections.

World Bank President Ajay Banga Sees More Economic Upside Ahead

The country’s economy has clocked a 7.5 per cent growth rate, outpacing both the United States (US) and China, defying global expectations, World Bank (WB) President Mr Ajay Banga has said.

“The world economy is better than people thought in the last year, year-and-a-half,” Mr Banga said during an interaction with a leading Indian TV news channel.

The World Bank President also highlighted the country’s structural reforms and infrastructure investments as key drivers of its accelerating momentum.

“And I think part of that is the US is better than people expected. But the other two countries that did better than the math that was done earlier were India and China. And India had the highest growth rate of any of those three at 7.5 per cent,” he said.

Mr Banga highlighted India’s strides in infrastructure, particularly logistics. “More needs to be done, but don’t discount the impact of what has been done,” he said.

He also emphasised the need for investment in human capital while addressing India’s demographic advantage.

“You have the raw talent. You have the numbers. Can we convert that talent and numbers into a productive work-force that powers India’s growth? You can’t do that without both education and health-care. They have to be delivered together,” he said.

Speaking about economic reforms, Mr Banga pointed to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a personal milestone.

“Originally, it was GST. I’m just delighted it happened because I faced it personally. I think you have to give a lot of credit to your late Finance Minister at that time (Mr Arun Jaitley).”

“But subsequently, the support from the party and from the Prime Minister and from other parties as well….You couldn’t have got that through without a commonality of interest.”

Calling for deeper reforms in land and labour simplifying business operations, he said that “The simpler you can make it….the quicker off you are.”

Mr Banga also called for digitisation and investor-friendly policies.

India’s Sugar Production Increases 18.4 pc to 195.03-lakh Tonnes: ISMA

The country’s sugar production has increased to 195.03-lakh tonnes in January from 164.79-lakh tonnes during the same period of the previous season.

This is a climb of 18.4 per cent, said a statement by the Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA).

Presently, 515 sugar mills are operational across the country, slightly higher than the 501 mills in operation at the same stage last year, according to ISMA.

According to data released by ISMA, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are India’s highest sugar producing states. All three states have witnessed a rise in production this year as compared to the last year.

The sugar harvesting season commences from October.

The western state of Maharashtra is leading with sugar production reaching 78.72-lakh tonnes, a rise of nearly 42 per cent over the same period last season.

Maharashtra presently has 206 mills in operation compared to 190 mills at the same time last year.

Uttar Pradesh is the second largest sugar producer. The state has produced 55.1-lakh tonnes of sugar so far marking an increase of 2.5-lakh tonnes over last year by end-January, supported by steady crushing operations.

Karnataka, a southern state, has also registered an improved crushing momentum with sugar production increasing by about 15 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous season.