Business
Saved Rs 2,062 Crore In Cost Of Toll Collection In FY2024-25: NHAI
New Delhi: The cost of toll collection came down from Rs 4,736 crore in FY 2023-24 to Rs 2,674 crore in FY 2024-25, resulting in savings of Rs 2,062 crore for NHAI, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on Thursday. In percentage terms, the cost of toll collection decreased from 17.27 per cent in FY 2023-24 to 9.27 per cent in FY 2024-25.
The ‘cost of toll collection’ is the difference between the Toll Fee collected by the tolling agencies and the amount remitted to NHAI at public-funded toll plazas. In FY 2023-24, total toll collected by the toll agencies amounted to Rs 27,417 crore, out of which about Rs 22,681 crore were remitted to NHAI.
However, in FY 2024-25, the toll agencies collected a total of about Rs 28,823 crore as toll fees, out of which around Rs 26,149 crore were remitted to NHAI.
The savings in cost of toll collection resulted primarily due to various initiatives taken by NHAI, like close monitoring of current contracts, deletion of provision for deemed extension of three months, timely bidding, ensuring the maximum contracts for one-year duration are awarded and short-term contracts of three months are minimised.
Moreover, measures were taken to drastically reduce short-term three-month contracts, limiting only three premature termination requests during a financial year and restricting the same contractor in bidding of the toll plaza, for which he submitted the premature termination request.
Also, NHAI has been regularly engaging with the ‘All India User Fee Collection Federation’ to address issues and challenges faced by the toll collection agencies to build confidence and increase participation in toll bids.
According to a ministry statement, the timely release of performance security (cash part) and bank guarantees of the toll collection agencies further enhanced their bidding capabilities, resulting in higher bid amounts.
Apart from this, to avoid any windfall gains to the toll collection agencies, a ‘Windfall Gain’ clause was also introduced in the agreements, under which the contract of the toll collection agency can be terminated if the moving average of toll collection in the last 15 days is more than 40 per cent of the remittance paid to NHAI.
Business
Investors suffer a big blow, Bitcoin price suddenly drops – SUCH TV
After the drop in gold price, Bitcoin price also fell.
Bitcoin fell below $77,000 in the global market, Bitcoin price fell by more than 13% in a week.
Bitcoin’s highest price in 6 months fell below $126,000, Bitcoin price has dropped by more than $49,000.
Business
Post-Budget Session: Bulls Push Sensex Up By Over 900 Points, Nifty Reclaims 25,000
Last Updated:
The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 371 points, or 0.47%, at 81,090.24, while the NSE Nifty rises by 70 points to trade above 24,850 at 24,889.25.
Stock Market Today.
Market Updates Today: A day after the market crash following the Budget’s provision to hike Securities Transaction Tax (STT), the domestic equity market on Monday saw heightened volatility. After opening nearly flat, the NSE Nifty rose to the day’s high, then touched the day’s low before sharply recovering to trade at the day’s high of 25,093.
As of 3:16 pm, the BSE Sensex surged by 932 points, or up 1.13%, to 81,641.87 in the afternoon trade and the NSE Nifty rose by 267 points, or up 1.07%, to trade above 25,000 at 25,093.27. After opening nearly flat, the NSE Nifty rose to the day’s high, then touched the day’s low before sharply recovering to trade at the day’s high of 25,093.27.
Among the 30 Sensex shares, 25 stocks were trading in the green. Among the top gainers were PowerGrid, Adani Ports, BEL, Reliance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, and IndiGo, rising by up to 7.91%. The laggards were Axis Bank, Infosys, Titan, TCS, and Trent, falling by up to 1.97%.
After opening nearly flat, at around 9:30 am, the BSE Sensex jumped by 350 points to 81,112.03 in the opening trade, while the NSE Nifty rose 91 points to trade above the 24,900 level at 24,910.85. However, the benchmarks gave up all gains and declined to day’s low amid heavy volatility.
Aakash Shah, technical research analyst at Choice Equity Broking Private Ltd, said, “Near-term sentiment remains cautious despite some support from domestic technical indicators. The broader market direction will largely be influenced by global equity cues, crude oil price movements, and institutional fund flows.”
On Sunday, the Nifty saw an aggressive sell-off after the Budget 2026 announcement to hike STT, plunging nearly 870 points from 25,440 to an intraday low of 24,571, before staging a partial recovery to close at 24,825.
“A strong bearish candle was formed, with the index closing decisively below the 200-day EMA, indicating a deterioration in trend strength. Immediate resistance is placed at 24,950–25,000, while key support lies in the 24,650-24,700 zone. The RSI slipped to 31, reflecting oversold conditions, while India VIX surged 10.73% to 15.09, highlighting elevated market volatility,” Shah said.
On Sunday, February 1, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 588 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also remained net sellers, offloading shares worth Rs 682 crore, adding to the pressure on the market.
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, said, “Yesterday’s market selloff resulting in 495 point crash in Nifty was a knee-jerk reaction to the sharp increase in STT on F&O trades. This was not a revenue-raising measure, but a decision to discourage retail traders from complex F&O trading, in which 92% of them were losing money. This decision is in the interest of retail investors. But this decision impacted the market sentiments, which were already impacted by the decision to make no changes in the LTCGs tax, which a section of the market was expecting rather unrealistically.”
It is important to understand that the Budget is a growth-oriented Budget with fiscal prudence. The 10% nominal GDP growth projected in the Budget is achievable and has the potential to deliver around 15% earnings growth in FY27. The market will soon start discounting this positive. But it is possible that FIIs may continue to sell impacting the market. Retail investors should keep their cool and remain invested and continue to invest systematically. A significant upturn in the market may take time; perhaps a retreat from AI trade globally. We don’t know when this will happen. But we know that an earnings rebound is imminent in response to this growth oriented Budget. That is a clear positive, he added.
February 02, 2026, 09:34 IST
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Business
Gold and silver sell-off gathers steam in correction after record highs
Gold and silver prices have continued to drop sharply in a “brutal” sell-off after hitting record highs in recent weeks.
The precious metals began falling on Friday in response to US President Donald Trump’s nomination for the incoming chairman of the Federal Reserve.
His choice for former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to replace current chairman Jerome Powell when his term ends in May soothed some investor nerves, which boosted the US dollar but saw appetite for safe-haven investments gold and silver slump in response.
Gold and silver suffered their worst trading days for decades on Friday and were down heavily again on Monday, with spot prices off by another 7% and 11% respectively at one stage.
Silver had plunged by nearly 30% on Friday and gold dropped over 9% in its worst one-day drop since 1983.
Gold and silver had been enjoying a record breaking rally as investors sought refuge amid global geopolitical uncertainty, conflict and tariff woes.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: “The sell-off has been far more brutal than I, and many, expected.”
He added: “For silver, the rally on the way up was faster than gold’s, so the correction on the way down is faster too.”
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, added: “If the sell off continues, then gold and silver are at risk of eroding their losses for the year so far.
“The historic move lower in silver prices has not stemmed a fall at the start of this week.
“Traders have not yet found a level that they are happy to buy the dips, and the timing of Chinese Lunar New Year in mid-February could accelerate the sell off, as Chinese traders reduce risk ahead of the holiday.”
UK and US stock markets are expected to open in the red on Monday, as the gold and silver rout has a knock on effect on mining giants, while Brent oil was also 5% lower.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Mining stocks are likely to feel the heat as metal prices scramble to find a floor.
“Oil prices are also trending the wrong way for investors in commodity-focused companies.”
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