A top Indian policy adviser on Wednesday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should carefully consider returning to normal monetary policy, a sign the government may be giving it the green light to raise interest rates next month.

A top U.S. official on Monday urged India and other large emerging economies to rescue the eight-year-old Doha round of world trade talks by making better offers to open their markets to American goods.

Private equity investments in India's logistics services sector are set to rise as it gears up to improve transportation - with costs among the most prohibitive in the world - and boost related infrastructure bottlenecks.

Economic recovery is still being driven by public spending and is not yet broad-based, the finance minister said on Wednesday, further clouding the debate on the timing of rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Business activity among Indian service companies grew at its fastest pace in 17 months in February, climbing for the third straight month as both output and new orders increased, a survey showed.

India's manufacturing industry in February grew at its fastest pace in 20 months, expanding for the third month thanks to expanding output and new orders, a survey showed.

The Reserve Bank of India said fiscal consolidation in the government's budget would help in its fight against inflation, and said on Friday it would ensure record gross market borrowing would not unsettle the market.

The government will boost farm spending and lift agriculture sector growth to 4 percent in the medium term, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday, but analysts said the budget failed to introduce measures to curb rising food prices.

The government expects stake sales in state firms to fetch 400 billion rupees ($8.6 billion) in 2010/11, an estimate analysts believe is achievable if the stock market holds up and government offerings are priced attractively.

The government plans record levels of borrowing next year and will count on surging economic growth to help cut its fiscal deficit, putting pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to be more aggressive in its monetary tightening.

India's annual budget on Friday is expected to slash the deficit as the economy rebounds, but investors were hoping Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will also be firm on keeping borrowing in check.

The government should start fiscal consolidation beginning in April by reforming spending, eliminating its revenue deficit, and putting a cap on government debt, a finance ministry report said on Thursday.

The government's push for financial access for hundreds of millions of the unbanked is helping secure its vote base and creating lucrative opportunities for financial institutions, technology and mobile services firms.

The government will not defer plans to sell stakes in state-run firms, required to bridge its yawning fiscal deficit, despite a poor response to two of its recent sales, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The government will be able to finance its deficit comfortably, Goldman Sachs said in a note, adding that India's net borrowing in the coming fiscal year will likely be lower than that in the current year.

India's economy will accelerate in the coming years as it recovers from the global downturn and the government will act to protect the poor from the impact of food inflation, the president said on Monday.

A near one-way surge in the Indian equity markets has left fund managers with fewer opportunities in the arbitrage domain, denting returns and leading to a fall in fund assets.

The government should begin to lower its fiscal deficit in the budget set to be announced next week but should not cut capital spending on infrastructure, a top government panel said on Friday.

India's economy may grow at more than 8 percent in the 2010/11 financial year, after growing at around 7.5 percent in the current fiscal year ending March, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.