Indian equities touched record highs after the RBI kept interest rates steady due to high inflation, and retained its accommodative monetary policy stance.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said India's prospects have brightened with progress on Coronavirus vaccines, consumer confidence has turned positive and projected real GDP for the current financial year to contract just 7.5%.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.80% at 13,239.05 by 10:42 IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.80% at 44,993.92. Both indexes touched record highs.

Rate-sensitive financial stocks rose after the policy announcement. The Nifty Banking index was up 1.27%.

UltraTech Cement Ltd rose as much as 6.2% to a record high, a day after the cement manufacturer said it would invest 54.77 billion rupees to expand capacity.