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Dear Readers,

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year ahead. On 25th of December Christmas - the birthday of Lord Jesus Christ will be celebrated allover the world. His core teachings emphasize righteousness and service to humanity as the way to seek Kingdom of God. Wishing you all again a successful and rewarding year ahead. May 2026 bring growth, new opportunities and success.

Indian Economy: India’s economy registered a GDP growth of 8.2 % in real terms for the July – September 2025 quarter. Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran said that the Indian economy is likely to grow at 7% rate or more in the current financial year. PM said 8.2% GDP growth is very encouraging which is supported by the manufacturing and service sector. However, US levied duties are bleeding key sectors. As of now the 50% tariff imposed on India by US is among the highest. India trade deficit widened to a record of USD 41.68 bn in October 2025 as exports contracted 11.8% to USD 34.38 bn during November 2025. Imports also rose 16.63% adding to India’s trade deficit.

Finance Minister stated that the growth has been supported by well – planned and targeted public investment along with the implementation of various reforms which have enhanced productivity and improved the ease of doing business. Prime Minister said that the GDP growth is very encouraging. It reflects our growth policies and reforms and the hard-working spirit of our people and enterprises.

Despite global uncertainty the Indian economy has remained relatively strong and stable supported by domestic demand and well contained inflation. Supportive policies are there. Central government has set a target to bring down the fiscal deficit to 4.4 % of GDP in FY 26 from 4.8 % in FY 25.

In its latest upgrade, Goldman Sachs turned bullish on Indian equities — upgrading India to “Overweight.” According to their analysis, from current levels, Nifty is expected to reach 29,000 by end-2026 implying a potential 14% upside.

New Labour Code with structural changes in wages, gratuity, PF and other benefits will be valuable for the employees. However, they might prove to be challenging for the industries and establishments who have been affected by external factors and making losses. They might have to downsize, which can pose a threat specially to low skilled employees who might find it difficult even to have their basic necessities after losing their job. To ensure that the new reform does not unintentionally accelerate closures or job losses, the government should consider special provisions or phased relaxation for financially stressed units. Loss making units which are unable to service their loans are viewed as fraudulent by the lenders.

Rural demand remains a bright spot, aided by a good monsoon and government support for agriculture. Inflation has dropped sharply: Retail (CPI) inflation fell to an all-time low of 0.25% in October 2025.

The RBI’s inflation forecast for FY26 is relatively low: the central bank has revised it in October to 2.6 %, down from the earlier estimate of 3.1 % citing benign food prices and adequate stocks. Private consumption — a key growth driver — is expected to remain resilient, supported by both rural and urban demand.

Some international agencies remain relatively positive: S&P Global retains a 6.5% growth outlook for FY26, and expects growth of 6.7% in FY27. They also expect a policy repo rate cut and continued domestic demand strength. Global uncertainty remains a concern, especially with geopolitical risks, trade tensions, and monetary policy uncertainty in developed nations.

Cover Story – Uttar Pradesh: Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state of India exceeding 240 million people. The state is known as the “Heart of India”. It is the land of epics, holy rivers and ancient cities. Since the times of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna and Gautama Buddha the state has been the centre of cultural and intellectual brilliance.

It is the fourth largest state of the country with extensive fertile land and early industrial establish-ments. It has not grown to its potential and is still developing and is coming out of its economic adversity. The state now aims to emerge as a driver of the Nation’s economy with its network of expressways, industrial corridors, international airports, centres of educational and medical excellence and as an exporter of indigenous products. At current prices the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) of Uttar Pradesh is around ` 25.47 trillion, only behind Maharashtra and Gujarat. In 2023, domestic tourist arrivals in the state stood at 478.53 million, the highest in th`1e country while foreign tourist arrivals stood at 1.6 million. The state government has decided to establish four new heliports in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Mathura and Agra in a bid to promote tourism.

The state boasts of a number of places of pilgrimage places like Ayodhya the birth place of Lord Rama and His four brothers Bharat, Shatrughan and Laxman and the kingdom of King Dasaratha; Mathura (the birthplace of Lord Krishna) and Vrindavan (the place where Lord Krishna spent his boyhood); Varanasi the holy city of India having spiritual significance among the Hindus (the city has the religious site of Kashi Vishwanath temple); Barsana the birthplace of Maa Radha; Prayagraj where there is confluence of river Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati; Sarnath – sacred place for Buddhists and many more. Agra has the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World  and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All these places attract a large number of tourists from India and abroad every year. The cities of Vrindavan and Ayodhaya have more than thousands of temples and religious sites. Several saints and sages live in these cities. Some of the major international hotel chains like Marriott International, Radisson Hotel Group, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Hilton Worldwide etc are operating in Uttar Pradesh — across cities like Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Noida/Greater Noida, Vrindavan and more. Their presence reflects the growing demand for global-standard hospitality alongside tourism and business travel in the state.

Uttar Pradesh experienced significant industrial growth with the number of factories growing 15.9% year-on-year in 2023 – 2024, outpacing the national average. Thermal power contributed significantly to the state’s total installed power generation capacity of 21,417,26 MW as of September 2023. The Nivesh Mitra Portal of the UP government has taken the initiative to focus on improving business in the state such as streamlining land allotment, digitalization of various services etc.

IBC: The central purpose of IBC has not been fulfilled and has been unable to help the loss-making units to repay their debt and regain stability. Loss making enterprises are unable to make payments in time due to manifold external factors. Lenders (banks) mark them or term them as a fraudulent entity and refer them to NCLT where assets are being sold at 20 – 50 % of their value. Lenders are able to recover only a small percentage of their dues. The Supreme Court in its order said that loss making enterprises cannot be equated to frauds.

Conclusion: Investors are shy to make fresh investments, especially when production capacities are being utilized sub - optimally. Even groups like Tatas and few other big conglomerates have refused to expand by taking debts. The global and Indian economic environments present a variety of opportunities, challenges and transitions as we near the end of yet another year. India continues to be one of the top performers in spite of global challenges. The nation has maintained its status as one of the fastest growing major economies because of strong macroeconomic fundamentals, solid consumption, reform led momentum, digital revolution and other reforms continue to fuel long term confidence. However, whether the momentum of a surge in demand following the GST rates rationalization is sustained beyond the festive season is something which will be observed keenly by all stakeholders.