Owing to limited capabilities of the Food Corporation of India, the government agencies have not been able to procure food crops from the farmers leading to protests in Punjab and Haryana. Now, in order to strengthen the FCI, the Modi government approved equity infusion of Rs 10,700 crore for its working capital for the current fiscal.

The decision also comes when campaigning is in full swing in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The news of strengthening the FCI is likely to have a positive bearing on the farmers in these poll bound states. 

The decision approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is aimed at “bolstering the agricultural sector and ensuring the farmers welfare.”  

This strategic move shows the government’s steadfast commitment to supporting farmers and fortifying India’s agrarian economy, said an official statement. 

Explaining the economics of current decision, the officials explained that the FCI started its journey in 1964 with authorised capital of Rs 100 crores and equity of Rs 4 crores.  Over the years, FCI operations increased manifold resulting in increase of authorised capital from Rs. 11,000 crores to Rs. 21,000 crores in February, 2023.  

“The equity of FCI was Rs. 4,496 Crores in Financial Year 2019-20 which increased to Rs. 10,157 Crores in the Financial Year 2023-24.  Now, Government of India has approved significant amount of equity of Rs. 10,700 Crores for FCI which will strengthen it financially and will give a big boost to the initiatives taken for its transformation,” the cabinet statement said.

“The infusion of equity is a significant step towards enhancing the operational capabilities of FCI in fulfilling its mandate effectively. FCI resorts to short term borrowings to match the gap of fund requirement. This infusion will help to lower the interest burden and will ultimately reduce the subsidy of Government of India,” the statement added. 

FCI plays an important role in ensuring food security by procurement of food grains at Minimum Support Price (MSP), maintenance of strategic food grain stocks, distribution of food grains for welfare measure and stabilization of food grain prices in the market. 

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Japan’s top currency diplomat said the government was ready to take action against “excess moves” in the yen as Asian currencies showed further weakness against a resurgent US dollar in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory.

The Japanese yen fell past ¥154 against the dollar to briefly hit a fresh intraday low on Thursday taking it to its weakest level since late July. The yen has weakened against the greenback since mid-September as investors bet on slower interest rate rises in Japan.

Talking to reporters in Tokyo, Atsushi Mimura said the authorities were closely watching developments in the currency market “with utmost urgency” and that recent moves had been “one-sided and drastic”.

“We are ready to take appropriate actions against excess moves,” he said, in comments that represented the strongest warning to speculators in months.

China set its official exchange rate at the lowest level since last November at 7.166 to the dollar after the renminbi tumbled 1 per cent against the dollar on Wednesday.

The People’s Bank of China, which fixes the official rate of the currency, is expected to confront depreciation pressure if Trump follows through with his pledge to impose steep tariffs on all Chinese imports.

The currency moves come ahead of the next rate-setting decision by the US Federal Reserve later on Thursday when officials are widely expected to continue an easing cycle, cutting a quarter of a percentage point from its benchmark lending rate.

The US dollar was slightly weaker on Thursday, after what was its best session in more than two years. It was down 0.4 per cent against a basket of its peers including the pound and euro. US Treasuries were steady in thin Asia trading, with the 10-year yield at 4.42 per cent.

The impact of a Trump victory included “Asia FX downward pressure, higher US treasury yields, and tariffs”, said Société Générale analysts in a note. “A weaker for longer yen is an upside risk.”

South Korea’s won also touched an intraday low beneath Won1,400 to the dollar in morning trading, its lowest in two years.

Vietnam also set its reference rate for the dong at a record low. On Wednesday, an official from Indonesia’s central bank said the bank was prepared to stabilise the rupiah.

The US election outcome spurred “Trump trades”, with the dollar surging while Treasury yields rose, as investors steeled for the impact on the US and other economies of a package of tariffs and tax cuts. US stock indices notched all-time highs.

Asian markets were upbeat by the close of trading, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advancing more than 2 per cent. The mainland CSI 300 climbed 3 per cent to rise 6.8 per cent over the past five sessions. Japan’s Topix was up 1 per cent while the tech-heavy Nikkei 225 closed down.

Investors are positioning for the National People’s Congress, the standing committee of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, to announce the next stage of the country’s stimulus on Friday.

“The key risk is on trade: we could start to hear pronouncements from Trump quite soon. In the short-term, a protective trade stance is supportive of the US dollar and poses a risk to growth outside of the US,” said Johanna Kyrklund, group chief investment officer at asset manager Schroders.

“We would expect the Chinese authorities to continue with stimulative policies to offset this.”

Additional reporting by Ian Smith in London

PENSIONS can seem daunting, but getting your savings on track is crucial to make sure you can afford to retire when you want to.

Generally, the earlier you start saving the easier it is because compound interest over time means that even modest amounts set aside can grow into huge sums.

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But other common life choices, such as going on maternity leave, moving to a part time job, and getting divorced can cost you hundreds of thousands of pounds from your pot.

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has carried out research that identifies the six key common life choices that can have a devastating effect on your retirement savings.

The IFoA has then used actuarial modelling techniques to show exactly how costly each mistake can be.

Kartina Tahir Thomson, IFoA president, said: “The numbers presented in this report are stark. When we are making some of the biggest decisions in our lives, it is worrying that so much is at stake. 

“On top of this, many people are unaware of the hidden costs of their decisions that may not impact them until years later, during what could be considered the most vulnerable years of their life.”

The good news is, that there are things you can do to prevent these decisions from impacting your financial future. 

Here are the six life moments where it’s important to think about your pension, and how much you’ll miss out on if you don’t.

Not starting a pension – £300,000

Starting a pension as early as possible is one of the most important things you can do, and even small gaps can have a significant impact on your savings.

For instance, the IFoA estimates that for a young saver, starting a pension at age 35 instead of 25 could mean their pot is only £500,000 at retirement instead of £800,000.

If you start saving even earlier, for instance, from your very first job, your money grows even further.

To avoid these gaps, you should make sure you start saving into a pension as soon as you begin to earn, even if you’re not eligible for auto-enrolment.

Anyone aged over 22 who earns over £10,000 from a single employer should be automatically put into their company pension scheme. 

However, there are plenty of people who aren’t automatically eligible because they are younger than that, don’t earn enough or are self-employed.

It could even be that you’re over the age limit and your income is higher than £10k, but because you have multiple employers you don’t meet the £10k threshold for each individual job.

However, just because you’re not automatically enrolled, it doesn’t mean you can’t join the pension scheme. Anyone can ask to sign up and you’ll get tax relief from the government, which helps to boost your pension.

If you earn less than £10,000, but more than £6,240, your employer will have to put money into your retirement fund too.

If you’re self-employed, look into setting up a SIPP and contributing to that. You’ll also get tax relief top-ups on what you save. 

Opting out of a pension – £100,000

When you are auto-enrolled into a pension, you’re given the option to opt-out, but this can be extremely costly.

The IFoA estimates that opting out for just five years will reduce the average pension pot by £100,000.

Of course, being in the pension scheme means that money will be deducted from your salary, but you’ll also get tax relief from the government and a contribution from your employer.

And opting in from the start can set you on the right track to have enough to retire on.

Not taking advantage of extra employer contributions – £100,000

Some more generous employers offer something called “matching” where they agree to put extra money into your pension (above the auto-enrolment legal minimums) if you do too – up to a certain limit.

The IFoA calculates that for a typical person, not taking advantage of extra contributions of 1% of their salary for 40 years could result in up to £100,000 lost from the final pension pot.

On top of that, you’re basically turning down free money from your bosses.

Many employers will let you match for more than 1%, which means you could benefit from a much bigger boost.

For instance, a match of 4% could net you £400,000 more in your pension once the employer contributions, tax relief, and investment returns are factored in. 

Speak to your HR department or pension provider to see whether matching is available at your firm.

Six months maternity leave – £30,000

The IFoA says that six months of maternity leave could reduce a pension pot by £30k or more.

If you have multiple children or take longer leave, the impacts could be much more severe, which is just one of the reasons that women typically have much smaller pension pots than men.

The issue here is that your contributions are typically based on your income, and many women are on statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance.

Even women who work for employers with more generous maternity benefits often take an income hit if they stay off work for a full year.

You’re allowed to overpay your pension (as long as you don’t exceed the annual allowance of £60,000 or your total income), so it’s important to sit down as a family and crunch the numbers.

If you can overpay to the same level as before you went on leave, you’ll avoid the impact on your overall retirement fund.

Of course, the early baby years are expensive, and not everyone can afford to overpay, but make sure you’re having those conversations and looking at the whole family finances and what it means for the future.

Getting divorced – amount depends on circumstances

Pensions are often one of the top two biggest assets in a marriage, so it’s crucial you take them into account when you divorce.

If either party has a defined benefit pension, it could even be worth more than the house.

Make sure that when you’re making decisions around finances that you fully understand the pensions picture, and that it is factored into any agreement.

Moving from full-time to part-time work – £200,000

There are many considerations when it comes to moving from full-time work to part-time work but often pensions get forgotten. 

Because your contributions are normally calculated as a percentage of pay, reducing your hours could have a significant impact on your retirement pot. 

For example, the IFoA calculates that an average employee choosing to work three days a week for the last 25 years of their career would be paying in 40% less pension contributions and this could reduce their pension by £200k at retirement. 

According to the ONS, ‘Labour Force Survey’ 1.7 million men and 5.1 million women are employed part-time workers in the UK.

When thinking about going part-time, make sure you’re including pensions in your calculations.

Think about whether you’ll be able to afford to voluntarily overpay so that you are putting in as much as when you were full time.

Czech car maker Skoda on Wednesday entered the competitive sub-four meter compact SUV market, unveiling the Kylaq SUV. Skoda Auto India’s brand director Petr Janeba is hopeful that the company can triple its share in the market from 1 per cent to 3 per cent with this launch. In an interview with THE WEEK, he also shared the company’s network expansion plans and the roadmap to bring electric vehicles in the country.

Q. Skoda is entering one of the hottest segments in India with the Kylaq. How is this going to drive Skoda and the overall Volkswagen group’s ambitions in India?

We are finally coming to the segment, which is already, first, the number one segment in India; second, very much crowded; and third still the most growing segment because everybody wants to be there. Overall sub-four meter segment is over 60 per cent. So, it is a bigger part of the Indian market and we were not there. We were there in the past with Fabia But it was always a European parts and components car, which never can be really competitive.

Looking for the products, which competitors are offering, I have to say everybody does its best, and the pricing is a key issue. That’s why we have developed something what we think can resonate with the customer as a great value proposition in terms of product and very aggressive and fitting pricing. The last mile to go is the cost of ownership story. You know, a lot of cars, which are on the road and we have more than 300,000 cars on the road, are still parts and components cars, 100 per cent European cars. So a lot of customers are still experiencing this pattern of slightly more expensive after sales than they were expecting. But it’s definitely not the case of Kylaq.

We will start the booking on 2nd December, when the full prices will be revealed. Together with the prices we will launch a very aggressive offer, which will underline our state of the art cost of ownership for the first 33,333 potential new Kylaq buyers.

Q. You rightly mentioned that it’s a very crowded segment you are entering at this point in time. How are you going to differentiate with this product in the market?

We are taking the higher segment platform and bringing it to the sub-four meter segment. It’s a win-win scenario, because by increasing our production capacity in Chakan plant (near Pune) to 2.50 lakh, we can as well increase our scale on MQB 37 (platform) and the 1.0 litre turbocharged engine, which is localised here. We have 76 per cent on Kylaq currently localized and we are determined to do even more. So, it’s a win-win situation even for Kushaq and Slavia. What will improve as well is the cost position and as well a potential price positioning of the higher segment cars, and at the same time it will contribute to another TCO (total cost of ownership) value proposition with a low spare parts value in future.

Kylaq is the biggest car in the segment. So we really tried to use every single millimeter from an inherited platform to have a nice looking car from outside and giving the best possible space inside, especially in the rear seats, in combination with the highest boot space. A lot of people now in crowded cities need safe cars, robust cars. They need a good visibility from the car like SUV is giving and it’s an outstanding looking car in terms of design. But, at the end of the day when you are parking, you want a very compact car and this car is finally bringing all of these things.

Currently, we need to increase our number of touch points all across India, to even embrace the tier three cities. We are committed to increase the touch points from currently 260 to over 350 in next eight months.

Q. What kind of volume growth are you expecting with the Kylaq being launched in the market?

With Slavia Kushaq and Kodiaq, we are having cars in the segments, which represent potentially 27 per cent of new car buyers in India. So we are roughly covering one quarter of all new car buyers in India with our current product portfolio.

Kylaq coming in as a fourth car in our Skoda family will increase this target audience from 27 to over 60 per cent. This is more than doubling, nearly tripling. Knowing currently our market share is around 1 per cent, our ambition should not be lower than 3 per cent; tripling the market share within a year.

We have officially communicated target to reach one lakh unit sales in 2026. Everybody wants to cross the milestone of one lakh as soon as possible. We cannot guarantee it’s going to happen immediately in 2025, but if the customer feedback for this car is overwhelming, what we expect to be, then it can even happen next year.

Off late, we have been hearing a lot about sales slowing across the industry. How has the festive season panned out for you in terms of the overall demand and how do you see things panning out?

The last week of October was crazy. All around India, more than 150,000 cars were sold or delivered to customers, which was not expected till the middle of the month. So, it has changed during the month so fast. Whether it was demand which was postponed from July, August and even September

and everybody was waiting for the festive season to get the best deal? I don’t know. But finally it has happened. A lot of people believe that because of the great offers after Dhanteras to Diwali, there was preponing by customers from November to October.

November-end will show us if there was preponment, and if the market is not recovering, then we will now be in this consolidation phase. But, there are a lot of new products coming and new products always make people enthusiastic about buying something new. It will definitely spark some more demand. I do believe there is still a high growth potential in India. Whether it’s on the level of 5 or 10 per cent per year, it’s a little too early.

How are you looking at the EV front? You had announced plans earlier to bring Enyaq…

One of the most successful EV in Europe is our Škoda Enyaq. On October 1, we launched the Elroq. Setting this new design language standard with Elroq, Enyaq will undergo a huge facelift in March next year and this was one of the reasons why we finally decided in May this year not to bring the Enyaq now because the change within the facelift is so big that it would probably kill the car.

We brought the car in January for the Bharat Mobility Show. Now, we have decided to wait. We are thinking whether we bring Elroq or Enyaq or Enyaq coupe or all three cars. We are closely watching what is the sentiment in the segment, because all new cars, which the competitors are bringing are much better cars than the EVs, which were sold before. What is undermining the customer journey of the early adopters, because all of them are losing money, because deterioration of the residual value is so high. We think this now should mitigate a little bit.

There were a lot of expectations about EVs. It was like a trend and then people found out basically three things, charging infrastructure is difficult, the residual value topic and this anxiety of the potential run out of the battery is there and you need to really plan recharging and everything.

I think the government targets (of EVs to be) 30 per cent until 2030, is definitely too high. We will be happy if it is 15 to 17 per cent. But with all the new models of the competitors in the pipeline, Skoda will as well bring the EVs next year. How many will be still discussed.

We are preparing for a full deeply localized EV from Pune in 2027 and this cannot come like the first car. So, we need European cars coming next year, to embrace it with the dealers, with the customers on the market. But, we see most of the competitors in this price segment were not so successful. We would like to come to the market when the situation stabilizes. We are looking forward to see some EVs from Skoda in India just after the second half of next year.