SaaS startup joins unicorn fleet
API developer, Postman has raised US$ 150 million in an investment round spearheaded by Insight PArtners, a US based venture capital.
API developer, Postman has raised US$ 150 million in an investment round spearheaded by Insight PArtners, a US based venture capital.
The disruptions induced by the covid-19 have changed the way the government is doing business, encouraging it to adopt new strategies to mitigate hurdles.
Exporters in the industry are worried about the sharp rise in orders as they grapple with rising labour prices amid rising export queries.
Commerce & Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal is of the opinion that the country's exports have shown improvement in May though they came down by 36% yoy.
UNCTAD said that the value of global trade in goods is likely to fall by 27% in the ongoing quarter due to the “unprecedented effects of the pandemic”.
A group of countries, including India claim that EU and the UK's joint policy on agricultural imports is harming their exports.
EEPC revealed that with India's exports rising 95% yoy to US$553 million, Singapore was India's biggest overseas market for engineering parts in April.
S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday maintained India’s lowest investment grade (BBB-) credit rating with a fairly stable outlook.
The government restricted the exports of Swabs sterile synthetic fibre swabs, probes and primers specific for Covid-19 testing.
With merely 5 deals being concluded in the past 5 months, funds inflow into India’s property sector declined 93% year-on-year to US$ 238 million.
The government is open to allowing private companies to launch satellites, start space-based services and explore other planets and outer space.
The government is looking to create 3,500 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) in next three years with the intention to boost the income of farmers.
A report based on global trends & primary research by EY has revealed that at least five out of 10 urban consumers will continue to cut back on spending.
The software technology parks of India (STPI) units in Karnataka exported services worth Rs 36,459 crore during the past three months.
Adani Green Energy Ltd has sealed a manufacturing-linked solar contract worth US$ 6 billion with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to develop 8 GW of projects.
NFAP has found that there has been a decline by over 25% between academic years 2016-17 and 2018-19 in Indian science & technology students going to the US.
India's urban unemployment rate fell to 17.08% in the week ended 7 June from 25.14% in the week ended 31 May as per the data released by the CMIE.
As the country seeks to be self-reliant by augmenting the domestic oilseed production, India is considering raising import taxes on edible oils.
Breaking the halt in any activity, a number of mid-tier technology services firms have signed on fresh deals over the months of April and May.
At a time when demand for PPE is at an all-time high, the government has asked industry to prepare for global certification to facilitate their exports.
Public sector banks have disbursed Rs 8,320 crore till June 5 under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector.
CRISIL Ratings said that the debt of power distribution utilities will touch an all-time high of Rs 4.5 lakh crore by the end of the ongoing financial year.
According to industry estimates, cargo volume handled by major Indian ports dropped 22% during the first two months of the ongoing fiscal to 92.82 MT.
Experts opine that a complete suspension of IBC cases for defaults between March & September will make it difficult for banks & investors to recover loans.
Firms have urged the finance minister to allow 100% FDI through the automatic route to attract investment into the space/satellite broadband sectors.
Moving away from setting up long-term projects, India is finalizing the contours of green markets for short-term trade of renewable energy.
As the coronavirus brought activity to a near standstill, India’s enormous services industry endured devastating contraction in May.
The Department of Revenue said in a notification that the government has extended anti-dumping duty on certain variety of steel products till December 4.
PM Shri Narendra Modi & his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership & signed several agreements.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has released SOPs on preventive measures to be taken in hotels and hospitality units to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
According to official data, goods movement, which had contracted sharply in March and April, picked up noticeably in May.
Under SWADES initiative, the government will conduct a skill mapping exercise of workers returning to India from overseas.
A survey by digital platform CRED revealed that credit card spending tumbled falling by 10% in March & 51% in April amid the coronavirus lockdown.
The Home Ministry has allowed foreign businessmen, healthcare professionals and engineers to visit India on the condition that they obtain fresh visas.
The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has given nod to a consortia of 13 delivery startups to test fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones.
India's gold imports in May plunged 99% from 133.6 tonnes last year in May to around 1.4 tonnes of gold in May this year.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Tuesday initiated investigation into digital services taxes (DST) that have been either adopted or are being considered by 10 of its trading partners.
Indian lenders have sought the permission of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for restructuring loans worth about Rs 3 lakh crore given to hospitality, aviation and commercial property companies without downgrading these assets on their books. Without the restructuring relief, nonperforming assets (NPA) on their balance sheets will surge for these banks.
Union IT and Telecom Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday, unveiled the guidelines for 3 electronics manufacturing schemes - PLI, SPECS & EMC 2.0. Notified by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MietY) on April 1, the schemes have a total outlay of Rs 50,000 crore and strive to strengthen domestic manufacturing of five global and five Indian mobile phone makers.
World Bank urged nations to adopt a dual approach - long-term strategy aimed at resurrecting growth and short-term measures addressing health emergencies - to tackle the economic hardships created by Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the policies suggested to do some damage control include greater debt transparency to invite new investment, faster advances in digital connectivity, and a major expansion of cash safety nets for the poor.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that the nation must think about applying the “Make in India" initiative in the health sector. India could save up to $10 billion in 2025, if telemedicine replaced 30% to 40% of in-person outpatient consultations and there is digitization in the overall healthcare industry.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired a cabinet meeting on Monday in which key decisions related to MSMEs and agriculture were announced.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy data showed that there has been biggest improvement in percentage terms in the rural job loss rate in nine weeks. Consequently, the national unemployment rate was 20.19% in the week ended 31 May, improving from 24.34% a week earlier, and is the lowest rate of national unemployment rate after 22 March, when it touched 8.41%.
Research body ICRA expects domestic passenger vehicle demand to decline by almost a quarter in the current fiscal as against earlier projections of a 10-12% drop. Factors like lockdown extensions, liquidity crunch and tighter financing environment, weak rural income and overall slowdown in economic activity have also dampened the sector's performance.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has extended the validity of scrips or certificates, provided under export incentive schemes, which are expiring between March 1 and June 30 this year till September 30.
Three Indian companies Alpha Design Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bharat Forge Ltd and Medha Servo Drives Pvt Ltd, have got licences from NASA to manufacture its indigenously developed ventilators for critical COVID-19 patients.
Commerce & Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal appreciated the pharma industry for ensuring an adequate supply of all medicines amid ongoing Covid crisis and encouraged businesses to explore untapped markets in eastern Europe and Russia.
According to market research firms International Data Corporation (IDC) and Counterpoint Research, the estimated sales in the Indian smartphone market are likely to decline by 13-15% due to Covid-19.
At the virtual General Council Meeting of the World Trade Organization on Friday, India India has advocated for flexibility in global intellectual property rights (IPR) agreements to ensure access to essential medicines at low costs.
Industry analysts opine that the pandemic will usher in new use cases for automation, which will be vital in enhancing production according to short term demand fluctuations and for adaptive manufacturing.
Ministry of Home Affairs has issued guidelines for Lockdown 5.0, which provide a roadmap for phased opening up of the economy in non-containment zones.
Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal announced that the total Foreign Direct Investment in India grew at 18% in 2019-20 to US$ 73 billion.
The State of logistics in lockdown report by Shiprocket has revealed that medicines and food items were the most sold products across India in April.
The government has drafted a proposal to sharpen focus on Chinese FPIs by including mainland China & Hong Kong in Sebi’s list of high-risk jurisdictions.
Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal said that the country's outbound shipments will improve in May and June.
A study by Projects Today unveiled that around 8,917 projects worth Rs 21.11 lakh crore are at a standstill in the 108 red zone districts.
Manufacturers of masks, rubber gloves & PPE coveralls believe that there is an adequate domestic production capacity and their exports should be resumed.
TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan has said that by 2025 only 25% of its employees will need to work out of its facilities at any point of time.
Amidst fresh concerns about excess supply, following a U.S. industry report which signaled that crude inventories swelled for the first time in three weeks, oil prices continued their downward trajectory to near US$ 32 a barrel.
Crisil estimates that consumer sector will degrow by 2-4% this fiscal, due to the coronavirus lockdowns & the concomitant disruptions in demand and supply. It cautions that if the lockdowns continue beyond the first quarter, there could be a 30-40% degrowth in the sector.
Experts believe that as bad loans & credit costs balloon due to the Covid-19 induced slowdown in the economy, Indian banks may need to raise US $20-50 billion capital over the next two years.
According to a senior agriculture ministry official, the government is working on a new law on contract farming and agri-trade.
Addressing a webinar, IT Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said that though the country strives to be self-reliant, it is open to foreign direct investment and technology. He also clarified that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s call for “atmanirbharta,” doesn't mean India will isolate itself from the world.
A NIAM survey revealed that pan-Indian lockdown has hit the business operations of 67% of the 92 farmer-producer organisations (FPOs).
Indian gaming industry has got venture capital investments worth US$ 350 million from 2014 to early 2020, as per the 'Gaming - India Story' report.
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs officials have said that government may allow firms to claim input tax credit for free distribution of PPEs, masks & sanitizers.
While earlier the N-95 masks sold in the market cost around ₹150 to 300 per unit, there has been a 47% dip in their prices, after the NPPA advisory.
India's retail trade lost business worth about ₹9 lakh crore in the last 60 days during the lockdown period according to industry lobby, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
BOTT Travel Sentiment Tracker survey estimates 40% firms operating in tourism sector stare at the risk of complete closure over the next 3 to 6 months.
A recent Google report states that online searches for such products have gone up six-fold, with ayurvedic home remedies, giloy and vitamin C dominating the search.
Union oil minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan stated, "We are exploring some possibility if we can store some of our investment in a different country ... we are exploring the possibility in the USA if we can store some of the low priced oil."
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das today cut the repo rate by 40 basis points from 4.4% to 4% and extended moratorium on all term loans until 31st August'20.
Private equity firm KKR will invest Rs 11367 crore in Jio Platforms for a 2.32% stake. Jio will gain Rs78,562 crore from this & 4 recent similar deals.
According to sources, there has been a 70% dip in India's fruit & veggie exports since the lockdown commenced due to the high freight charges by airlines.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes has asked a GST wing to identify risky major suppliers to exporters & share it with jurisdictional field officers.
Inspired by government's recent call for self-reliance, Indian Oil, is embarking on a Rs 300-crore project for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as its raw materials can be sourced locally.
Union Minister Smt. Smriti Irani took to twitter to state that now over 600 companies in the country are certified to manufacture PPEs.
Ministry of Finance exempted firms with a turnover of over ₹50 crore & involved in only B2B transactions from accepting payments only by electronic modes.
Mercom said in a report that with project timelines getting extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, India is expected to add only 5,000 MW of solar capacity in 2020.
Due to coronavirus leading to a lockdown & halt in most business activities, India's overseas direct investment in April dipped to US$ 976.14 million.
As per the recent estimates by FAITH & CII, the entire tourism value chain may see up to 50 million jobs getting axed in the next three months.
Owing to a fall in domestic inventories & discounted prices, India has resumed purchases of Malaysian palm oil after a gap of four months.
A Nasscom survey disclosed that due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, around 90% tech startups in India are facing a decline in revenues and 60% of B2C startups are facing business closure.
Since migrant workers have either returned home or are waiting to go back and are reluctant to work in industry now, industries are turning to local labour.
In a virtual meeting of the WTO on COVID-19 trade-related measures, India advocated capacity building of developing and LDCs in imparting digital skills.
The Indian Railways has kick-started its first 12,000 hp electric locomotive built by French company Alstom under the Make in India programme.
Amidst the rising US-China trade tensions and investors becoming jittery over the economic harm caused by covid-19, gold prices in India hit a record high.
IHS Markit predicts that world economy will shrink 5.5% this year, triple the damage it sustained in the 2008 financial crisis.
Latest research by the National Foundation for American Policy has revealed that employing H-1B visa holders leads to higher earnings growth for US workers.
A pilot project has been initiated by Google where offline stores can list products available with them on a real time basis in the search page itself.
Amidst rising demand for fertilizers, high foodgrain production & a normal monsoon forecast, it is being reported that demand for tractors is increasing.
The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) is gearing up to export non-medical and non-surgical masks worth US $1 billion within the next three months.
Venture capital data tracker Tracxn believes that investors haven’t lost their appetite for Indian startups, as funding levels have risen again.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Home Affairs extended the coronavirus lockdown in the country until 31 May, while offering a few liberties to states & UTs.
Last part of economic package focused on consolidation of PSUs, boosting ease of doing business, and an allocation of Rs 40,000 crore under MNREGA scheme.
The 4th tranche of special package focused on coal, minerals, defence production, civil aviation, power distribution in UTs, space & atomic energy sectors.
FM Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced the third phase of relief measures the special economic package. These focus on the agriculture and fisheries sector.
Dabur India has initiated clinical trials to assess whether its flagship product Chyawanprash can boost immunity against the covid-19.
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that the government wants to make minimum wage universal to all workers under a new code.
SBI expects that India's fiscal deficit to rise to 7.9% in the current financial year due to the government's Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package.
United Nations Conference on Trade & Development said that there was a 3% dip in global trade in the first quarter of 2020 due to the spread of Covid-19.
Commerce and Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal said during a conference that going 'swadeshi' is about self-confidence and not inward-looking.
The Finance Minister announced the second tranche of special economic package to benefit small farmers, street vendors and migrant workers.
China recorded its worst performance in fintech with 29 deals totalling US$175 million; while India's fintech industry's deals amounted to $421 million.
While announcing a plethora of measures in the first part of the special economic package, the Finance Minister revised the definition of MSMEs.
The 'COVID-19 Accountability Act' allows President Trump to impose sanctions on China if it doesn't provide an explanation of the outbreak of coronavirus.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) opines that airline passenger traffic will not return to pre-crisis levels until 2023 (at the earliest).
EY said in a recent report that there was a 73% year-on-year dip in venture investment activity to US$ 881 million during the month of April 2020.
FM Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced measures for MSMEs, NBFCs, discoms, contractors & real estate under Part 1 of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package.
In his address to the nation on Tuesday, PM Shri Narendra Modi announced a Rs 20-lakh-crore stimulus package to stir up economic activity in the country.
The Welspun One Logistics Parks (WOLP) report has estimated that the warehousing and logistics asset class could be among the fastest to recover from the coronavirus crisis.
Airports Authority of India has begun the process of inking contracts with private parties through tenders for dedicated outlets to sell PPEs to travellers.
Dutch company, Philips, is planning to augment its investment in India to Rs 250-300 crore to boost its manufacturing and R&D facilities in the country.
Keeping in mind Centre's advice of crop diversification, paucity of labour & dipping water table, Haryana & Punjab are promoting sowing of non-paddy crops .
In a bid to provide relief to the units in SEZs, the government said on Monday that the lease rent will not be increased for 2020-21.
The blame game over the origin of Covid-19 has led to an ugly media spat between global superpowers, US & China, with both the sides blaming each other.
Following the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, the Finance Ministry on Monday released Rs 6,195.08 crore to 14 states.
India’s US$191 billion IT industry is seeking revisions in the country’s taxation and labour laws as remote working is likely to be the new normal.
In a bid to diversify its supply chain in the wake of coronavirus, Apple is planning to shift one-fifth of its production capacity from China to India.
Union Ministry of Defence on 8th May sealed a Rs 1,200 crore deal with Tata Power SED to modernise the infrastructure af 37 airfields.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway offers opportunities to invest in townships, smart villages and wayside amenities.
The International Monetary Fund said in a webcast hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations that the world can expect more waves of financial turbulence.
NDMA issued guidelines for restarting industries after lockdown, in the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam after it resumed operations.
Orders of non-essential commodities on e-commerce platforms in the first week of May in orange & green zones are gradually returning to pre-lockdown level.
India is seeking to lure U.S. businesses trying to shift out of China by offering incentives revolving around food processing units, textiles, leather, etc.
The ICMR has approved the use of Lopinavir/ritonavir, a fixed-dose combination of drugs used for HIV/AIDS treatment, for use in Covid-19 patients.
Rating agency ICRA has said in a report that Indian carriers are expected to incur combined losses of Rs 5,100-6,100 crore in the period between March 25 and May 31.
The SEZ units in India want the government to allow them to sell their products in the domestic market without payment of customs duties.
20% of the nation's auto retail chain, or roughly 3,500 outlets, opened for business this week, with one-third staff to comply with social-distancing norms.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been evaluating the effectiveness of polyester swabs for Covid-19 test kits amid a shortage of cotton swabs.
Ministry of Civil Aviation has exempted 13 consortia, like SpiceJet, ShopX, Dunzo and Throttle Aerospace, to operate drones on an experimental basis.
The Internet and Mobile Association of India's 'Digital in India' report states that the country has an active Internet user base of over 500 million.
Confederation of All India Traders said that COVID-19 has caused a huge dent in retail trade which will have a devastating effect on the whole country.
The country's sanitiser market swelled more than fourfold after the outbreak of novel coronavirus this March, according to Nielsen India.
In green & orange zones, the government has given a green chit to e-commerce firms like Amazon and Flipkart to begin the delivery of non-essential items.
Union Minister for MSME and Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari said the government is considering introducing a policy on import substitution.
At a time when global investors are moving supply chain outside China, India is developing a land pool double the size of Luxembourg to lure businesses.
In a speech to the NAM's virtual meet on covid-19 crisis, PM Modi said the world will need a new template of globalisation based on fairness and equality.
The extension of the nationwide lockdown has made the Reserve Bank of India to consider the extension of the moratorium on bank loans by another 3 months.
Skymet Weather Services has estimated that the country's wheat production this year would be around 113.66 MT against 103.60 MT last year.
Two-wheeler makers in the country, Hero MotoCorp & Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, are set to roll out production, after more than a month of lockdown.
Owing to a slump in international oil prices, Jet fuel (ATF) prices have been slashed by a steep 23%, costing about one-third of petrol and diesel rates.
The country's peak power demand - i.e. the highest energy supply during the day across the country - remained down by over 26% in May so far at 134.7 GW.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is brainstorming hard to identify certain key sectors that could establish India as a global manufacturing hub.
In the third phase of the lockdown, the country's hospitality services including hotels and restaurants remain prohibited.
Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, MSMEs, Shri Nitin Gadkar has suggested providing low-cost capital to MSMEs through NBFCs.
India’s eight core sectors contracted by a record 6.5% in March after touching an 11-month high in February on account of coronavirus.
According to sources, the government is set to guarantee loans - between 25% and 100% - given to small businesses by financial institutions.
Health Ministry Joint Secretary said that current doubling rate for COVID-19 cases has improved to 11 days as against 3.4 days before the lockdown.
The existing members of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are keen to welcome India’s return to the negotiating table for entering the trade bloc.
Research firm IDC reveals that India's domestic IT spending on hardware, software & services is expected to drop by 4.5% in 2020 due to coronavirus.
Bangalore's Strides Pharma has developed and commercialized Favipiravir Antiviral tablets, an antiviral medication that was initially developed to treat influenza in Japan.
The task force on National Infra Pipeline (NIP) projected total infrastructure investment of Rs 111 lakh crore during 2019-20 to FY25.
Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal said that incentives given to exporters must be justified, reasonable & compliant with global trade rules.
An aviation industry senior official stated that flight services, which were suspended from 25th March, could commence early June.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has asked manufacturers of RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) kits to ramp up production.
The government has extended relaxations of certain rules till 31 July to facilitate work from home for employees of IT & BPO firms.
A report by CBRE reveals that real estate recorded a 27% rise in investment in 2019 with approximate fund inflow of US$ 6 billion across all key categories.
While business productivity has suffered during the coronavirus crisis, individual productivity has increased, as per Deloitte India.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has warned that plasma therapy is still experimental & can create life-threatening complications in Covid-19 patients.
The World Economic Forum stated on Tuesday that blockchain technology can tackle supply chain failures that have surfaced amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, former President, CII, stated that over one million IT employees are expected to continue to work from home after the lockdown ends.
Reliance JioMart has introduced a new dedicated WhatsApp Order Booking Service for customers to order more conveniently during the lockdown.
Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital inked an agreement to sell 317 megawatts (MW) of solar assets to private equity firm KKR on Monday.
US-based Sewa International, has set up a programme for COVID-19 survivors to donate their blood plasma for a therapy to save severely ill patients.
In a bid to restart the economy, government is mulling a proposal to guarantee 3 trillion rupees (US$ 39 billion) of bank loans to small businesses.
While the lockdown has helped flatten the covid-19 curve and reduced the number of so-called red zones, 27 districts still account for 68% of the country’s total caseload.
18 IITs who are part of 208 dedicated R&D projects under seven different categories are the front runners of India’s scientific effort to contain and eliminate the threat of the novel corona virus.
Pune-based Serum Institute of India told reporters that it is all set to start manufacturing Oxford University's COVID vaccine over the next 2-3 weeks.
Nasscom has disclosed that over 1,300 patents were filed by India firms in the US in 2018-19 across fields like pharmaceuticals, AI and chemistry.
Government stated that production capacity of PPE coveralls has been ramped up to more than 1 lakh a day, with nearly half the production in Bengaluru.
In addition to Goa & Manipur, Tripura has announced that the state has become coronavirus- free after its second Covid-19 patient tested negative.
In a bid to inject liquidity into the economy, Indian government has redoubled efforts to push state-run banks to boost lending.
“Local Shops on Amazon” will help customers find products from local shops, while enabling shopkeepers to service customers outside their serviceable area.
The economic distress induced by the pandemic and shutdowns, will lead to a 20% dip in global remittances this year, according to the World Bank.
To offer respite to corporate borrowers, government is suspending up to 1 year the law provisions that trigger insolvency proceedings against defaulters.
India Ratings is estimating inland logistics companies' volume to plunge by 10-15% in the financial year 2020-21 as the consumption demand could take a longer time to revive.
“While dealing with a COVID-19 pandemic, we are also on the brink of a hunger pandemic,” David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) stated.
India’s appetite for key transportation fuels, refiners in India have filled 95% of about 85 million barrels of fuel storage capacity.
The heavy selling by foreign portfolio investors in the capital market has led to the Indian Rupee plunging to a record low of 76.92 against the US dollar.
57% companies in India expect moderate to large negative business impact in the next six months due to COVID-19 outbreak.
Ministry of Shipping has noted the disruption of logistic chains owing to COVID19 pandemic and subsequently offered some relaxations to ports.
The UK government on Tuesday announced that the human trial of a potential COVID-19 candidate vaccine being developed by researchers at University of Oxford is set to begin from Thursday.
MHA issued a fresh note to all the states regarding all the facilities which have been been exempted from lockdown measures.
According to a recent deal between the two giants, Facebook will invest ₹43,574 crore for a 9.99% stake on a fully diluted basis in Jio Platforms.
In an attempt to efface Covid-19 from the country, the department of biotechnology has granted funds to 16 companies for developing drugs, vaccines and devices to fight the virus.
Air passenger traffic is expected to decline by around 30% in the present fiscal and air fares may also rise due to social distancing guidelines.
Tiruppur, is doing its best to augment production as demand for personal protection equipment has unearthed a $2-billion worth business opportunity this fiscal year.
A complete revival of all MSMEs is expected to take a year and the cost of products could go up marginally when production is resumed.
According to media reports, the government will have to spend Rs 4,000 crore more on the revamped crop insurance scheme after making it voluntary from the upcoming kharif season.
Oil futures collapsed to below zero for first time since 1946. This reflects how oversupplied U.S. oil market has become with industrial activity ceasing.
Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the government has started distribution of one kg of free pulses per month to every ration card holder.
The Centre has launched Kisan Rath Mobile App. It will allow movement of farm produce from farm gate to mandi and from one mandi to another.
Pitching in the global efforts to find a quick preventive for the fatal infection spreading rapidly across the world, six companies in India are working on a vaccine for COVID-19.
The Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has coaxed states to incentivize setting up designated manufacturing hubs in India.
Railways has supplied 1,150 tonnes of medical items including medicines, masks, hospital items & other medical commodities across India amidst the lockdown.
To prevent opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government revised para 3.1.1 of the FDI Policy, 2017.
The government has decided to waive off for four months the rent paid by the IT & ITeS companies operating out of Software Technology Parks of India.
Data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Wednesday revealed that India's phone exports more than doubled from 1.7 crore units in FY18-19 to 3.6 crore units in FY19-20.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson, said India has the capacity to emerge as global hub for manufacturing testing kits.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced a series of measures to support the financial system against the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.
Sources from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have stated that Lockdown-2.0 would focus on aggressive testing starting April 20.
Union Agriculture Ministry has said that exports of major farm items such as rice, meat, dairy and processed food items have been commenced.
Merchandise exports in March stood at US$ 21.41 billion down from US$ 32.72 billion in the same month last year.
India’s biggest consumer goods companies have joined hands with the government to convert millions of neighbourhood kirana stores into sanitised retail outlets
Albeit there is enough stock of medical oxygen in the country, government has simplified process of getting a licence to manufacture medical-grade oxygen
At a time when the world is thinking of diversifying production, India wants to establish itself as an alternate manufacturing hub to China.
There seems to be some breather for the country as drug and medical device manufacturing companies start to operate with 40-50% capacity utilisation.
Despite online retailers trying to woo buyers with lockdown sales, industry experts believe that consumers may not be keen to buy apparels anytime soon.
Government has allowed importers and customs brokers to give electronic out of charge copies of bill of entry and eGatepass from April 15.
CAIT assured government that traders will continue to run the supply chain of essential goods in a "most efficient and effective" manner.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has set out six criteria to help countries gauge when to lift lockdowns.
Department of Agriculture has started an All India Agri Transport Call Centre to ensure smooth movement of perishables & agri inputs.
In order to flatten the curve of coronavirus in the country, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today extended the nationwide lockdown till May 3.
IIT Guwahati has developed economical antimicrobial spray-based coating for PPE & comfortable Ear Guards for masks.
India on Monday added more conditions on refined palm oil imports, further to the ones imposed by the DGFT on 8th January.
Owing to a delay in supply from China over quality issues, Indian government has tuned to South Korea, Singapore and Switzerland to procure antibody rapid test kits.
The government has given a green chit to packaging material makers to operate during the lockdown. The relaxation given to packaging industry is a blessing for food companies.
DPIIT has urged the home ministry to allow more industries to operate with reasonable safeguards even if the pan-Indian lockdown is extended.
Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSME, Shri Nitin Gadkari said that India needs to focus on infrastructure in wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
To avoid firms from being forced into insolvency proceedings, an ordinance to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is likely.
Indian cities are turning to tech giants such as Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies & Infosys to offer solutions to tackle the spread of Covid-19.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry stated that it has taken several measures to address hardships faced by exporters due to the coronavirus pandemic.
India is among the top ranking countries in terms of government responses according to the "Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker".
RBI cautioned that Coronavirus, the accompanying lockdowns and the expected contraction in global output in 2020 weigh heavily on the growth outlook.
Anticipating a volatile demand after the Covid-19 pandemic, automakers are looking to fast-track plans for agile manufacturing processes and supply chains.
The Covid-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package will be disbursed to state governments and Union Territories in three phases.
Union Minister for MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari spoke about the need to widen the scope of existing schemes for MSMEs to help them fight the impact of Covid-19.
The government has decided to exempt customs duty and health cess on the import of essential medical goods like ventilators and masks.
US president Donald Trump on Tuesday showered praises on India and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for lifting the curbs on hydroxychloroquine exports on a case-by-case basis.
Scientists in the country have started genome sequencing strains of the novel coronavirus isolated from patients in different parts of the country to track its spread and look for signs of emerging mutations.
In his interaction with political party floor leaders on coronavirus outbreak, PM Modi stated that the lockdown will not be lifted in one go on April 14.
The Finance Ministry has stated on Wednesday that it will immediately release ₹18,000 crore in tax refunds to individuals and businesses to provide respite against the backdrop of the covid-19 pandemic.
The coronavirus is forcing various ministries to be thrifty as Centre has tightened expenditure for the first quarter of FY21 and prioritised frontline spending to combat the pandemic.
25 million jobs across the world could be at risk from the coronavirus travel downturn, if experts from global airlines are to be believed.
According to a special report by Hurun released on Monday, the Covid-19 pandemic has effaced a combined US$ 408 billion from the world’s top 100 billionaires.
On Tuesday, gold prices in the country hit a new high of ₹45,724 per 10 gram in futures market, surging ₹2,000 per 10 gram.
Finance Secretary SC Garg stated that government may need to borrow at least 2% of GDP (INR 4-5 trillion) more for supporting the coronairus hit economy.
The disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak has put msall and medium-sized NBFCs at risk as they face the challenges of debt repayment & cash shortage.
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy revealed that urban unemployment rate soared to 30.9%, while overall unemployment rose to 23.4%.
Solvent Extractors Association of India, has revealed India's edible oil imports declined 32.44% to 9,41,219 tonne in March.
On Monday, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade removed the export restrictions on 24 active pharmaceutical ingredients & formulations.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on Monday directed the cabinet to prepare a list of 10 major decisions and 10 priority areas to focus on once the lockdown is lifted.
On Monday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stated that it is planning to scale up testing capacity to 100,000 tests per day in coming months.
India's corporate and income tax collection in 2019-20 fell 8% from the previous fiscal to ₹10.27 lakh crore amid a slowdown and cut in corporate tax rates
Rice exporters from India, the world’s biggest exporter, have ceased signing fresh exports contracts amid the nationwide lockdown intended to curb the spread of coronavirus.
India is drawing some lessons from the mistakes of global hotspots like Italy and Iran & stepping up its strike against Covid-19.
Indian Railways has made a low-cost ventilator, Jeevan. Developed at Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory and the brainchild of Ravinder Gupta, general manager of the RCF, it awaits ICMR clearance to go into production.
Following US president Donald Trump public appeal to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to allow its exports, India may consider relaxing restrictions on the export of hydroxychloroquine.
The World Bank has approved US$ 1 billion emergency funding for India, largest financial assistance among 25 nations, to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
Exporters have filed a petition amid a 21-day nationwide lockdown that they be allowed to restart operations with 50% staff.
Priced between ₹2,000 and ₹3,000 , Bione claims the kit is easy to use and displays accurate results within minutes.
The pharma companies in India have urged the government to airlift key active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) required to make hydroxychloroquine from China.
India’s largest restaurant chains, retailers and multiplexes are invoking the force majeure clause and have sought waiver of rentals from mall owners till May.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the launch of a report on Tuesday on the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19, that the world faces the most challenging crisis since World War II.
Taking the fight against covid-19 crisis a step further, the Reserve Bank of India has rolled out more relief measures from its kitty.
BDR Pharma & LASA Supergenerics are developing antiviral molecule Favipiravir that has aided recovery of Covid-19 patients in a trial conducted in China.
In the April-March period of FY20, GST revenue collection grew by 3.8% to INR 12.2 trillion from the year ago period.
According to data from a research service platform Venture Intelligence, the number of investments went down by 35.71% to 126 during the period from 196 last year.
Forrester estimates that 21-day nationwide shutdown to cease the proliferation of Coronavirus is going to hurt the e-commerce companies.
The pan-Indian three-week lock down is likely to leave a major dent on the government's revenue.
The data released by the Controller General of Accounts showed that the country's fiscal deficit amounted to INR10.36 lakh crore in February.
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has notified that from April 1, 2020, all medical devices shall be regulated by the government as drugs.
Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 conglomeration decided to deliver a joint action plan to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Centre has instructed India's automobile manufacturers to use their facilities to manufacture ventilators to boost the country's capacity of such machines.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 5.3% to trade at $20 a barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude was off 6.5% at $23.
Minimizing human contact and the threat of Coronavirus transmission, robots are being deployed in many parts of the world for jobs such as sanitizing hospitals and delivering food and medicines.
Coronavirus will adversely impact electricity demand and cash flows for discoms, resulting in payment delays for power generation & transmission companies.
India's labour-intensive export sectors are bering the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of these sectors include leather, textiles, gems and jewellery, carpets and handicrafts.
Given the trade problems due to Covid-19 outbreak, the government has decided to extend the existing foreign trade policy (2015-20) till September 30, 2020.
The government has directed shipping companies to refrain from collecting detention charges on EXIM cargo due to the business disruption owing to Covid-19.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday asked states to allow transportation of all goods, without distinction of essential and non-essential.
“Prince Abdulaziz assured (me) of LPG supplies in the coming days to support our domestic requirement,” the minister tweeted.
Albeit the Indian economy is likely to be battered by the Coronavirus pandemic this year, it is still likely to be better off than all other G20 countries.
Government has urged the countries, with which it has free trade agreements, to allow imports of goods without certificate of origin for the time being.
Amid the Coronavirus contagion, many companies have sought extension of current financial year till June 2020 & next one to start from July to March 2021.
Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal opined on Thursday that India is now showing a relatively slower spread of COVID-19 infection rate.
At the time when the whole nation has been engulfed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the repo rate by 75 bps to 4.4% on Friday.
Air India has secured short-term funds to service Rs 700 crore worth non-convertible debentures and avoided defaulting on the debt payment.
The Department of Telecommunications has given green chit to three private telcos to ensure hassle-free movement of critical workers amid the lockdown.
All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) is concerned that the three week lockdown is likely to affect medicine supplies in India.
The Cabinet xtended the period for the continuation of Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) for export of garments and made-ups.
The Senate and White House have reached agreement to pump US$ 2 trillion into the economy as millions of Americans have been ravaged by the coronavirus crisis.
If the 21-day long national lockdown leads to 80% production loss, the economy will take a hit of Rs 35,000-40,000 crore on a daily basis.
Amidst a pan-India lockdown to contain Coronavirus, air freight operators and logistics firms are being forced to suspend operations.
Despite the number of Covid-19 cases jumping to 606 on Wednesday, with 10 reported deaths, the Center has observed that there is no proof of community transmission so far in India.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced various statutory and regulatory compliance relief measures.
Following the PM's address to the nation, the Home Ministry on Tuesday released detailed guidelines on the measures to be taken central and state level to contain Covid-19 epidemic.
Transport curbs and pandemic fears open up a wide chasm between the farm and the fork, causing a possible in food prices and scarcity of these commodities.
The government has roped in private hospitals in its fight against the virus and directed them to begin admissions.
Indian government has decided to ban the the export of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, that has the potential to cure this deadly disease.
Union Cabinet has given approval to three key schemes with a total outlay of INR. 48,042.25 crore to incentivize electronics and components manufacturing exports and production in the country.
Amid global death toll from coronavirus crossing 15,000 & doctors across the world seeking ventilators, China has been working hard to produce ventilators.
UNCTAD estimated economic impact of Covid-19 at US$1 trillion in 2020. Many countries are prioritising relief & support over fiscal discipline.
Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has endorsed hydroxy-chloroquine as a preventive medication for high-risk population.
Balram Bhargava, ICMR, said, “Now kits manufactured in India need NIV validation and then apply to Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for manufacturing licence.”
Key segments of Indian manufacturing have started shutting down in response to the lockdown orders issued by central and state governments.
Central government has urged state governments to rope in distilleries to make hand sanitizers for the shutdown period till March 31 due to the pandemic.
The government has roped in defence and atomic research labs to accentuate the national effort to find a solution to deal with the Covid-19 virus outbreak.
As social distancing becomes key to contain the spread of the outbreak, Covid-19 pandemic could be the tipping point for the IT sector to work from home.
Centre and state governments have decided to completely shutdown 75 districts which have reported the incidence of this disease across.
Indian Rupee fell sharply to 75.31 against the dollar at day's low, compared to its previous close of 74.24.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has proposed the creation of Rs 3,000 crore corpus for companies to establish fermentation or API units.
Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy, Shri R K Singh informed the Lok Sabha that the country's renewable energy sector dropped by 14% to INR 68,550 crore in calendar year 2019.
To safeguard the country's financial health amid coronavirus outbreak, RBI will inject liquidity of ₹10,000 crore through open market operations on Friday.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has called for a people’s curfew (from 7am till 9pm) on Sunday in a drastic step by his administration to prevent a surge in Covid-19 cases.
While the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) pegged AGR dues for 16 entities to INR 1.69 lakh crore, that calibrated by companies like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Group stood at INR 37,176 crore.
Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal said that India is not obliged to implement recommendations the WTO's panel has made about its export promotion schemes.
The upcoming foreign trade policy could encompass making the country self-reliant in many products and a separate chapter on e-commerce.
Following the suspension on all tourist & e-visas to India after the virus hit India, Indian carriers may need to ground as many as 150 aircraft.
The ripple effects of coronavirus are being experienced by the live events industry, as many high-profile events are either cancelled or postponed.
NRAI has recommended its 500,000-plus restaurant members to shut down dine-in operations starting Wednesday across the country till March 31.
Fearing that the Asia Pacific region may tip into recession amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, Standard and Poor's (S&P) on Wednesday slashed its calendar year 2020 growth projection for India to 5.2% from 5.7%.
Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said in Rajya Sabha said that it has proposed amendments to the Competition law for greater regulation of e-commerce platforms.
A massive hit on sales due to the novel coronavirus scare has pushed numerous leading retail chains to seek rental rebates from malls.
The government has asked private hospitals to earmark beds and isolation rooms and has given the green signal for about 50 diagnostic laboratories.
Leveraging the low prices for oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, is planning to top up its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR).
Given the disruption of trade with China due to the coronavirus outbreak, government on Monday said India's near-term macroeconomic outlook is vulnerable.
The airline industry is facing the brunt of the rapid scale at which the is grappling with Covid-19 outbreak, as airlines made unprecedented cuts to flights, costs and staffing on Monday.
Owing to a sharp slowdown of industries and slower discretionary spends by consumers on dining out and movies, virtual payments sector is estimated to have registered a decline of around 30% in transaction value over the past few weeks.
For the first time in the last 7 months, India's exports rose for the first time in seven months in February growing by 2.91% to US$ 27.65 billion.
Taking charge of the battle against Coronavirus in South Asia, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on Sunday held a video conference with the leaders of SAARC member nations to exchange their views.
A provisional compilation by mjunction services revealed that in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, India's coal imports registered a decline of 14.1% to 17.01 million tonnes (MT) in February.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres counselled governments to work together to stop the coronavirus pandemic from plunging the global economy into recession.
Auto industry wants to seek an extension to the deadline (31st March, 2020) beyond which they cannot sell Bharat Stage-IV vehicles since India will be switching to BS-VI emission standards from April 1, 2020.
As prices of vegetables rose at a slower pace, retail inflation fell for the first time in 7 months to 6.58% in February compared with 7.59% in the preceding month.
Renewable Energy Minister Shri R K Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha that between April 2017 and January 2020, renewable energy projects attracted investment worth INR 1.34 lakh crore.
Owing to the fact that countries are shutting their borders and order cancellations, exporters are bracing for at least a US$ 1 billion decline in outward shipments in February.
Market intelligence firm TechArc is anticipating a 25-30% dip in April-June sales as inventory replenishment will not happen at the desired rate owing to the rampant scale at which the Coronavirus is expanding.
Indian authorities have decided to consider requests from foreign nationals holding medical visas on a case-by-case basis.
Diamond exporters are feeling the ripple effects of Coronavirus as the polished diamond export from India witnessing its steepest fall this February.
India is under a self-imposed quarantine and has shut doors for nearly all outsiders. This comes at a time when India’s count of infected people is at 62.
Planning Minister Shri Rao Inderjit Singh said that government will soon finalize the mechanism to implement the national strategy for artificial intelligence.
Biocon & its partner, Mylan, have won a patent case in the US District Court of New Jersey against Sanofi’s patent on the insulin Glargine device.
The country’s exporters are finding themselves tackling an array of challenges that have arisen in the face of the rampant outbreak of Coronavirus.
Agriculture Ministry has chalked out 21 commodities in which Indian exports could benefit from trade restrictions against Chinese goods.
Government data has revealed that India's thermal coal imports rose 12.6% to nearly 200 million tonnes in 2019.
Owing to challenging circumstances in which it finds itself & the need to boost profitability, Tata Steel Europe is planning to cut 1,250 jobs.
Airports Council International (ACI) has ranked 4 of India’s airports run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as those with the world’s best aerodromes.
IMF has opined that governments across the world should deploy "substantial" stimulus and international coordination to counteract the economic impact of the spreading coronavirus epidemic.
For the first time in about 28 years, oil markets fell the most since the US war in Iraq, 1991, due to a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus.
The country’s central bank on Sunday assured depositors that there is “no concern regarding the safety of their deposits in any bank”. “Concern has been raised in certain sections of […]
Yesterday, the BSE Sensex was trading 2009.20 points, or 5.375 per cent, lower at 35,567.42 Nifty plunged 547 points, or 5.11 per cent, to 10,431.
Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal on Saturday said that India’s trade negotiations with the US would open more opportunities for exports.
India's automakers & electronic goods manufacturers have to pay high rates to fly down spares & components from China and South Korea on chartered flights.
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Zydus Cadila’s new drug application for Saroglitazar to treat a particular condition of liver.
Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2020, projects the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) in India to grow by a whopping 73% in the next five years.
Industry experts are of the opinion that time is ripe for India to capitalize on the supply chain disruption in China owing to the outbreak of coronavirus and to acquire new markets for Indian manufacturing besides a lesson in risk management.
Lucknow’s Jewar airport has been recognised in the CG LA Infrastructure list of the world's 100 strategic global infrastructure projects for the year 2020.
Amidst the escalating instances of Coronavirus being reported in the country, firms are gearing up to meet sanitizers and masks demand.
In the wake of trade protectionist measures and rising risks because of coronavirus, a number of Multinational Companies are looking to diversify their supply chains away from China, to India.
According to subject-wise QS World Ranking, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai (rank 44) and Delhi (rank 47) are among the top 50 engineering colleges across the globe.
United Nations announced a likely USD 50 billion drop in the worldwide manufacturing exports in February’20 owing to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court lifted the ban on trading in cryptocurrency imposed by the Reserve Bank of India in April’18.
Latest OECD forecasts have dimmed, India's real GDP growth to 5.1% during the fiscal year starting 1 April, 2020 and improve to 5.6% in the following year.
On account of robust demand from China, India’s overall pellet exports were at 12.86 mt in 2019 compared with 8.42 mt in 2018.
Shaktikanta Das told reporters that he’s ready to act to shield the economy from the coronavirus and reiterated there’s room to cut interest rates if needed.
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a bill in Lok Sabha which seeks to protect the interest of small depositors by bringing cooperative banks under the RBI regulations.
On Tuesday, after perusing Demands for Grants 2020-21 of Department of Heavy Industry (DHI), a parliamentary panel suggested lower GST rate for the automobile segment at least until it revives.
The Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Monday said that the curbs on onion exports will be lifted from 15 March.
Indian retail tycoon M A Yusuff Ali, the chairman of the LuLu Group, has become the first Indian to receive Saudi Arabia's premium residency.
With the dissemination of coronavirus from China (the source of its germination) to Southeast Asia, the Far East and Europe, companies across the world are imposing restrictions on business travel by staff.
According to industry analysts, the fact that US banks, including Citibank, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Bank of America have said they would continue to invest in technology is a reason to celebrate for the Indian IT industry.
Bain & Company's India Venture Capital Report 2020 revealed that Indian VC industry is riding high as it invested US $10 billion (over ₹72,000 crore) in 2019.
Beating Russian and Polish firms, India has managed to bag a US$ 40 Million defence export deal owing to the reliability of the Indian system vis-à-vis its counterparts.
RBI data has recently revealed that Bank credit growth declined to 8.5% in January from 13.5% in last January.
Union minister Shri Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said the government will give a major boost to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
India’s Foreign Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that countries urging India to be more open are themselves sensitive to remove trade barriers.
According to the authorities in Italy, the epicenter of coronavirus outbreak in Europe, on Sunday, the total number of people infected in Italy had risen to 1,694, a 50% jump from just 24 hours earlier.
New Zealand has stated that if India does not join the China-backed mega trade deal RCEP, then New Zealand would like to seal a bilateral trade agreement with India.
Countries have started stockpiling medical equipment and virus-related disruptions to international travel and supply chains have fuelled fears of recession in the United States and the Euro zone.
A recent report by Maple Capital Advisors titled 'Shared Economy - India Story' stated that shared economy in India is poised to become a USD 2 billion industry by the end of the year.
Elara Securities said in a recent report that India’s gas demand is at an inflection point and expected to rise 66% from 148 million standard cubic meters per day in 2018-19 to 250 mmscmd by FY25.
The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that Indians have emerged as the fastest growing nationality for student visa applications to the United Kingdom.
The findings of the 2020 Hurun Global Rich List have announced that with 138 billionaires in total, India is home to the most numbers of billionaires after China (799) and the US (626).
The latest survey released by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) divulges that after hitting a six-year low in August-October, India’s business confidence rose by 7.8% from the preceding quarter to 111.2
A recent survey report by EY reveals that numerous enterprises across the globe making investments in next generation 5G technology are uncertain about the transition.
A recent notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said that the government has removed eight more items, including a kind of gas mask and surgical blades, from the list of banned export items.
India is pushing for a major change at Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on methodology at determining taxability in every jurisdiction.
Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) urged the government to stop issuing further licences for the import of palmolien in a representation to the Commerce & Industry Ministry.
A recent Knight Frank India report has shown that transit retail opportunity is estimated to grow to US$ 21.6 billion by 2030, while private operators are expected to see lease rental opportunity of US$ 3.2 billion by then.
On Tuesday, India and the US inked three MoUs, including one to synergize their cooperation in the energy sector.
Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said India and the US will fast track talks for a larger free trade agreement (FTA) and get into its legal vetting soon.
Taking their strategic partnership a step forward, India & US concluded a pact for the supply of US gas to India.
India’s largest gas utility, GAIL India Ltd has decided to invest Rs 1.05 lakh crore over the next five years to expand pipelines, lay city gas distribution network and raise petrochemical production capacity.
The Reserve Bank of India on Monday said it will strive to make digital payments a divine experience for the users.
According to official sources, India will block the European Union’s request for a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
According to the forecast, in total, airlines in the Asia Pacific region are set to see a US$ 27.8 billion revenue loss in 2020, while those outside Asia are expected to lose US$ 1.5 billion in revenue.
Trump administration officials on Friday ruled out the possibility of even a limited trade deal during US President Donald Trump’s maiden trip to India.
Jammu & Kashmir has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth over INR 2,100 crore during its investment summit roadshow in Mumbai.
2018-19 data from the Commerce & Industry Ministry has revealed that surpassing China, the USA has emerged as India’s top trading partner.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued import licences for 1.1 million tonnes of refined palmolein sourced from Indonesia.
Exercising the powers conferred by section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52of 1962), the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Department of Revenue has issued new exchange rates.
The union cabinet has approved an INR 4,558 crore scheme to promote the dairy sector. The scheme will benefit about 95 lakh farmers in about 50,000 villages.
The Finance Bill, 2020, is set to levy stricter norms to tighten scrutiny over businesses claiming customs duty relief meant for imports from India’s free trade agreement (FTA) partner countries.
During the EU’s trade policy review at the World Trade Organization (WTO), India opined that the non-tariff barriers such as maximum residue level (MRL) limits imposed by EU on food products are much higher than the limits set by the standard setting agencies such as CODEX, and trade restrictive.
Ahead of his India visit, US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about striking substantial deals with India.
TPCI’s member, Mr. Rajat Luthra, Director, Unique Fragrances bags the first prize for excellence in exports.
President Trump’s maiden visit to India is likely to be a reason for celebration for American defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp as the two sides are likely to ink a US$ 2.6 billion deal for New Delhi to buy 24 Seahawk helicopters.
According to an official source, a 15% growth in consumer durables segment is expected in the last quarter taking the sector's expansion in 2019-20.
The Drug Regulatory Authority is preparing a list of APIs for which India is very dependent on Chinese imports.
The union cabinet has given its green signal to a plan to sign an initial pact on intellectual property rights with the United States.
If developers are able to prove that they have been impacted after coronavirus hit supplies from China, India might extend their deadlines for completing solar energy projects.
An official release said on Tuesday that exports from SEZs have crossed $100 billion mark by mid-February in the current financial year.
After US has sought access for its dairy industry without addressing New Delhi’s concerns on the issue, the possibility of a trade deal between the two nations is bleak.
Citing the protracted impact of the Covid-19 outbreak in China, Moody’s Investor Services has lowered its growth forecast for the Asia-Pacific region to 5.2% for 2020.
A joint report titled ‘Women Entrepreneurship in India – Powering the economy with her’ by Bain & Company and Google has revealed that women in entrepreneurship can generate transformational employment in India with 150–170 million job opportunities.
The corporate sector suggested a few measures to the Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and her team of officials in a meeting of nearly 20 sectors on Tuesday.
Amidst the rapidly rising threat of the spread of Coronavirus in India, the country’s food regulator – FSSAI is in the process of introducing hygiene ratings for meat shops.
Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal asked the industry to look for ways to expand India’s export basket by adding more value-added products.
Reserves of lithium, a rare metal critical to build batteries for electric vehicles, have been discovered in Mandya, 100 km from Bengaluru.
US-based think tank World Population Review in its report declared India to be the fifth largest economy in the world in 2019.
Taking merchandise and services collectively, overall trade deficit for April-January 2019-20* is estimated at US$ 64.16billion as compared to US$ 97.79billion in April-January 2018-19.
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, opined that the coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth this year.
The world's first yoga university outside India – Vivekananda Yoga University (VAYU) – has established its initial campus in Los Angeles, USA, with a budget of US$ 5 million.
To ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs in India due to the lockdown in China’s Hubei’s province, the government is considering putting a stop to the exports of 12 essential drugs.
The long term crude oil deal is likely to be inked during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit in October for the annual summit talks with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, which aim to enhance India’s trade with Russia from US$ 11 billion at present to US$ 30 billion by 2025.
They also have to respond to verification requests by European Union (EU) within prescribed time limit, failing which the Registered Exporter Number (REX) may be annulled.
He spoke about the potential of textile sector to increase exports to US$ 100 billion in the next 10 years from the current level of about US$ 37 billion.
Import of refined oil (mainly RBD palmolein) decreased from 4,06,799 tonnes during first quarter of existing oil year to 2,66,859 tonnes.
On Thursday, the gems and jewellery industry approached the government with demands pertaining to more flexible taxation laws & lower import duties on gold.
The optimistic observation is based on the sector’s performance during the October-December 2019 period. 27 out of 35 cities recorded a 5% quarter-on-quarter increase in home sales in the third quarter of FY20.
All Food and Drug License Holders Foundation (AFDLHF) reveals that the total market for masks has jumped up from about INR 200 crore annually to INR 450 crore over the last two months.
Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said on Wednesday that the coronavirus outbreak in China provides an excellent opportunity for India to expand export.
The statistics office has lowered the FY19 GDP growth rate to 6.1% from the provisional estimate of 6.8% and has forecast 5% growth in FY20.
What has motivated DRL to diversify its market is the fact that it has been grappling with regulatory actions by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The latest survey, also pointed out that 57% of IT sector CEOs expect FY21 growth to be similar or better than FY20.
China plays an integral part in the supply chain: while battery and some camera modules are made in Vietnam, displays and connectors are majorly made in China.
According to the latest notification by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, from 1st April’20, all medical devices, including implants and contraceptives, will be brought under the lens of the Central Drugs and Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).
Some of the green shoots identified by the minister include rising foreign direct investments (FDIs); foreign portfolio investments (FPIs); rebound in industrial activity; rising Purchasing Managers’ Index; increasing forex reserves; and robust collections of the goods and services tax and a rising Sensex.
This development has also subdued the possibility of the restoration of preferential benefits under the Generalised System of Preference.
India has also sent its scientists to a WHO forum to help tackle the outbreak of the virus.
Numerous gems & jewellery houses have sought help from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Finance Ministry & the Reserve Bank of India.
IHS Markit recently pointed out that since at least a decade, business growth in Dubai stalled while jobs disappeared at the fastest pace.
India is set to give final approval to a US$ 2.6 billion deal for military helicopters from U.S. defence firm Lockheed Martin.
This will also give the opportunity to Australia to export its product to markets other than China. As for India, it will open doors for malt barley imports, besides Argentina & Canada.
Infosys Ltd is planning to acquire Simplus, one of the fastest growing Salesforce platinum partners in the US and Australia for up to US$ 250 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020.
With little signs of respite from the Coronavirus, industry experts are anticipating a slowdown in 5G rollouts and devices ecosystem development globally.
Owing to the suspension of fuel contracts by China in the face of the Coronavirus outbreak, Indian firms are on a hunt for bargains on diverted cargoes of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Exports of gloves made from nitrile rubber and masks other than two and three-ply, will nonetheless, continue to be restricted.
Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia are the top 10 nations susceptible to Coronavirus.
India has joined a select few countries that chase “Quantum Supremacy” with an INR 8,000-crore national mission that will include building solutions for quantum communications, storage and encryption.
According to the latest findings of the automobile industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), there has been a 6.2% year on year drop in the sales of domestic passenger vehicles.
The country has introduced an enabling provision that will make an overseas platform that advertises, streams or sells goods to an Indian IP address taxable.
Tax on garbage collection and additional levies on services such as issuing birth certificates are ways in which Mumbai will stimulate its economy.
Due to the low growth in manufacturing and construction, the growth of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has declined.
Potential bidders have sought flexible norms for mining commercial coal blocks. These include suggestions such as 50% lesser payment and more lenient requirement of minimum production.
Taking into account the rapid outbreak of the Corona Virus in China, Tata Motors, one of the largest Indian employers in China, asked its 3,000 personnel recruited there to work from home.
India’s public cloud deployments are projected to grow to become a US$ 8 billion industry in 2023, according to a combined report by Google Cloud and BCG.
The Indian services sector showed a strong uptick in January, with rising demand fuelling the sharpest increases in new orders and output in seven years.
India's gold imports dipped steeply by 48% YoY in January, their lowest in 4 months due to a rally in local prices that dampened buying sentiment.
The Commerce Ministry has set the process rolling for preparation of a district export plan with the aim to boost India's outbound shipments.
India's unemployment rate stood at 6.1% in 2017-18, according to a new Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Government of India.
Government is planning a Rs 45k crore fund for large electronic manufacturing firms & contract manufacturers to bring their global supply chains to India.
India's manufacturing activity saw a rebound in January 2020, growing at its fastest pace in nearly eight years with a surge in new business & production.
India is planning a major change in the domestic framework of rules of origin to help customs officers tackle large scale imports.
Tata Consultancy Services has won a US$ 1.5 billion deal across a ten-year period from US pharma retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA).
India is planning to have 10 additional defence attaches in 10 countries to promote its defence exports and expand its diplomacy.
Recognising the constraints in working capital credit, the government has introduced a scheme to provide subordinate debt to MSMEs in Union Budget 2020.
Under Budget 2020, the government has announced its intention to sell partial stake in LIC through an IPO as part of its disinvestment drive.
The government has revised basic customs duties to as much as 100% for a number of products to encourage domestic processing and manufacturing.
Budget 2020 has given taxpayers with an annual income of upto Rs 15 lakh an option to go for a lower tax slab in lieu of foregoing income tax exemptions.
Budget 2020 has placed special emphasis on the blue economy, with the government aiming to raise fish production to 200 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.
To improve foreign investment in the textile sector, India is planning a complete overhaul of its scheme to establish integrated textile parks.
The government is talking to e-commerce firms to help SMBs sell their products across the world to tackle the trade deficit.
Rice export prices from India have reached a four-month peak this week backed by increased demand from African buyers & constrained supply from Thailand.
The Government of India tabled the Economic Survey 2020 in the Parliament today, which projected that GDP growth will rebound to 6-6.5% in 2020-21.
As the coronavirus epidemic spreads across China and beyond its borders, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it as a global health emergency.
India's sugar exports are not growing as expected with mills not keen on selling despite prices at 2-1/2-year highs, making global sugar buyers nervous.
NHAI is planning to launch its InvIT offer in coming months, part of its plans to explore alternative sources of funding in roads & infrastructure.
India has called for removal of trade-distorting subsidies on agriculture and continuation of differential treatment to developing countries by WTO members.
India and US are expected to consummate a trade deal valued at around US$ 10 billion in February during a visit by USTR Robert Lighthizer to New Delhi.
India's foodtech industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 25-30% to US$ 8 billion by the end of 2022, according to a report by Google and BCG.
India has asked Qatar to lower LNG prices under its current long-term contracts, where rates are linked to crude oil prices and higher than competitors.
Hon'ble CIM Shri Piyush Goyal has confirmed that the scheme for export credit at low interest rates announced in September 2019 would be implemented soon.
India's tyre exports grew by 11% YoY in volume terms between April-November, 2019-20, slightly lower than 12% y-o-y volume growth in the previous year.
US aerospace company Boeing has affirmed that India is among its top markets that are critical to its international growth plans.
The government is evaluating an extension of zero duty import of ready-to-use open cell television panels beyond September, prompted by industry inputs.
The government is expected to place restrictions on imports of furniture to promote indigenous manufacturing and cut down imports of non-essential items.
Trade ministers from 83 countries, that are in negotiations for framing rules on e-commerce, have agreed to develop a consolidated negotiating text by June.
India is expected to witness a decline in steel exports in FY 2020-21, due to higher domestic demand from the automotive and infrastructure companies
India's gold imports witnessed a decline of 6.77% YoY during April-December, 2019-20 to reach US$ 23 billion, according to data from MOCI.
The government has set off the process to sell off stake in Air India for the second time, offering 100% stake and a reduced debt burden to the new owner.
Britain's Brexit bill officially became law on Thursday, thereby removing the last obstacle to UK's exit from the European Union in just over a week.
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva has asserted that the growth slowdown in India appears to be temporary and the momentum should improve going forward.
India's refined fuel exports increased by 24.2% YoY in December to reach 6.46 million tonnes, exhibiting the fastest growth since October 2016.
Brazil has asked India to cut import taxes on chicken and chicken products so that it can capitalise on the rising demand for poultry and poultry products.
India has been ranked number 1 in clean energy investment rankings among 104 emerging markets worldwide according to a BloombergNEF survey.
India views the Trump administration’s reassessment of America’s traditional alliances as a strategic opportunity to deepen ties with Washington.
PM Shri Narendra Modi has proposed a three-point strategy to boost country's economic diplomacy that emphasises on 3 'T's - trade, tourist and technology.
In a move initiated to boost growth, Mumbai will provide residents the facility of shopping & dining out until dawn from late January.
India has expressed interest in increasing imports of crude oil from Brazil, in order to diversify its import basket beyond the volatile Middle East region.
The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has introduced quality control orders to curb imports of some substandard steel items and cables.
Incorporating best practices and policies from countries like Israel will be crucial for India to accelerate innovation, according to NASSCOM.
A number of angel investors from India are looking to invest in the US startup market, as a number of high technology ventures offer promise.
Hon'ble CIM Shri Piyush Goyal spoke for greater cooperation among nations to realise the huge growth prospects in the Indian Ocean region.
Khadi Village Industries Corporation is seeking a global trademark for ‘khadi’ to prevent any product from masquerading as ‘khadi’ nationally or globally.
According to research by Nielsen, India’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market is set for an expected growth rate of 9-10% in calendar year 2020.
Due to India's strong economic growth of 7% in the last decade, Brazil sees huge potential for exports of food and commodities.
The Chinese economy grew at its slowest in almost three decades in 2019 at 6.1%, under the impact of the damaging trade war and weak investment scenario.
Amidst the economic slowdown, India is witnessing a growth in demand for both credit cards and personal loans, leading to a rise in consumer credit.
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has committed US$ 1 billion to help bring small Indian businesses online, with an aim to reach as many as 10 million SMBs.
Department of Commerce has proposed changes in the eligibility criteria for SEZs to link them to investments in R&D, innovation & employment generation.
Hon'ble CIM Shri Piyush Goyal announced that no imports will be allowed without HSN code into India, while speaking at the 6th National Standards Conclave.
In December 2019, India's exports stood at US$ 27.36 billion, declining by 1.8% according to latest data released by the Department of Commerce.
India-China has declined by about $3 billion in 2019, even as India’s trade deficit continues to be high at around US$ 56.77 billion.
The edible oil industry has asked the government to restrict imports of refined palm oil and palmolein to a maximum of 50,000 tonnes per month.
Legal immigration from India to the US on green card dropped by 7.5% during 2017 and 2018 according to data from a US-based think tank.
India is looking to offer a series of incentives to suppliers of Samsung and Apple to encourage them to open manufacturing units in the country.
In a possible indication of the impact of the rise of smartphones and OTT content, TV sales in India witnessed their worst ever performance in 2019.
The world has beaten the record for the highest ever debt-GDP ratio before the close of 2019, reaching 322% & narrowly bettering the previous best in 2016.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry has sought a major cut in the import duty on gold in the budget to boost exports and manufacturing of gems and jewellery.
Bulk tea companies are expected to continue to face margin pressure in FY 2020, despite marginal improvement in financial performance in the first half.
Free trade agreements (FTAs) with key markets like Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the EU will help boost India’s textile exports.
Indian sugar mills have gained due to the rise in sugar prices in the international market. This has improved the demand for sugar exports from the country.
India and Canada could fast track negotiations for a trade agreement, according to Andrew Smith, Minister (Commercial), High Commission of Canada in India.
Indian rice exporters have expressed concerns over tensions between US and Iran. Already, Rs 900 crore in payments are pending from Iran since May 2019.
India's restrictions on refined palm oil could push Malaysia to a price war with Indonesia in crude palm oil, where the latter has an advantage.
Foxconn has decided not to set up its manufacturing units in Maharashtra, India, after failing to strike a deal with the state government.
Hon'ble CIM Shri Piyush Goyal has asked SIDBI and the CGTMSE to develop a framework for faster processing of loans to SME units
Unlike in the U.S., where government programs and rising rates helped lenders rebound quickly after the financial crisis, European banks are still struggling to regain their footing.
It is being said that to prevent a spike in the prices like the one of onions, government was closely watching the situation and would ensure adequate supply of protein-rich seeds.
In November 2019 Asia-Pacific’s power industry saw 617 tenders being announced, marking a flat growth over the last 12-month average of 620.
This would be exclusive of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) where ongoing negotiations are in a state of limbo.
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had recently pointed out that at least 355 projects have seen a cost overrun of Rs 3.88 lakh crore and about 552 projects have faced time escalation.
Recent data from the RBI has revealed that the health of the banking system has improved with the gross non-performing loan ratio remaining stable at 9.1% in FY19, declining from 11.2% registered last fiscal.
Owing to the fact that countries such as Turkey and Sri Lanka have curbed exports of onions to India, the prices of this vegetable are expected to remain somewhat firm till mid-February.
Across the globe, too, deals were hard to materialise due to various factors including uncertainties caused by the US–China trade war, which left many investors in a wait-and-watch mode.
Coal Ministry is likely to issue bidding rules for commercial coal mine auctions hold consultations with the concerned stakeholders next month.
The need for the introduction of 2D/3D seismic survey and other modern available technologies which for expediting coal & lignite exploration to cover more area in a shorter time were also discussed.
This has been attributed to the abrupt reduction in non-bank financial companies' (NBFC) credit expansion and the associated broad-based tightening of credit conditions.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways directed the NHAI to equip toll lanes across national highways with electronic toll collection infrastructure.
After increasing 10 times since 2014, Tesla revenue will advance an additional 14 per cent in 2019, 21 per cent in 2020 and 18 per cent in 2021, according to the forecasts at Bloomberg.
377 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 3.94 lakh crore. Further, 565 projects reported time escalation.
International steel production too registered a 1% fall at 147.791 MT in November 2019 as compared with 149.356 MT in November 2018.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has lowered the cargo handling target to 100 million tonne (MT) on national waterways by 2021-22.
GST framework presently doesn’t allow a firm to file current tax dues if it has past dues.
A recent report by U.S.-based trade finance company Drip Capital pointed out that India's marine exports are expected to remain sluggish.
A recent report calibrated by the global property consultant Colliers points out that there has been a 9% hike in real estate investments to INR 43,780 crore during this calendar year owing to higher inflow from foreign funds.
Given the challenging condition in which the country’s textile sector finds itself, the Textiles Ministry has started consultations with the industry stakeholders on the New Textiles Policy.
Data from HR firm Xpheno has shown that hiring has slowed across IT, startups and multinational corporations. This scenario is likely to continue next year too.
The government’s Economic Survey (2017-18) has revealed that technology is finally solving inefficiencies in logistics. The industry is becoming more streamlined as a significant number of firms are adopting technology-led tracking systems that make it easy to predict when a parcel is expected.
While India's trade minister in October said the broad outlines of a deal with US had been worked out, Navarro gave no details about where talks or any US-India trade agreement stood.
India's sugar production stood at 4.58 million tonne till December 15 of the ongoing marketing year according to the estimates of industry body ISMA.
International design experts said at the Kochi Design Week that even though India is a potentially huge design market, it has a dearth of qualified designers.
Situated 130 km away from Agartala, this will be a Sector Specific Economic Zone for Agro-Based Food Processing – like Rubber based industries, textile and apparel Industries, and bamboo.
Startups dealing with global technology companies registered outside India assert that they pay more taxes on their revenues.
Citing feeble household consumption, global ratings agency Moody's Investors Service lowered India's gross domestic product growth projection for the fiscal year 2019-20 to 4.9% from 5.8%.
Union Minister Shri Piyush Goyal opined that the government’s decision to stay out of the RCEP was a bold one and that it was in the national interest.
This has been attributed to a flurry of overseas sales in the past few months, prompted by attractive global prices.
As per the statistics compiled by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), China, US & India are the top 3 producers of scientific articles in the world.
According to sources, demands were also made for allowing setoff through input tax credit (ITC) of the 5% GST levied on transport companies.
This has been attributed to the Finance Minister’s confirmation on increasing the statutory foreign portfolio investment limit in a company from 24% to sectoral foreign investment limit effective April next year.
Tax reforms introduced by the government recently will ensure investments come back to India.
Both the quantity and value of feature phones and smartphone imported by India in the last 3 years has declined from 758 lakh in 2016-17 to around 270 lakh units in 2018-19.
In a bid to revive FTA talks with EU, India is examining the areas where the negotiations are stuck and think of a possible way ahead.
The World Trade Organization said that attempts are being made to set up a “stop-gap” arrangement to resolve global trade disputes through arbitration.
A comprehensive review has been undertaken by government agencies & RBI to assess the control over telecom & infrastructures at strategic locations and border areas of the country.
In November 2019, India’s palm oil imports stood at 671,863 tonnes; while in November 2018, the country imported 691,827 tonnes of palm oil.
The commerce department has urged the finance ministry to impose border adjustment tax (BAT) on imported goods.
The authority is likely to probe into the alleged dumping and consequent injury to the domestic industry.
The slide was led by a contraction in the manufacturing sector followed by construction.
The two sides will make a comprehensive review of cross-cutting foreign policy and defence and security issues in bilateral ties.
Government is going to sell its entire stake in Air India (-which as a debt burden of more than INR 50,000 crore) under the proposed disinvestment process.
The government has decided to put an end to the gift channel being used by Chinese e-commerce portals like AliExpress, Club Factory and Shein.
Bilateral trade between the two countries rose to US$ 17.63 billion in 2018/19 from US$ 10.9 billion in 2008/09, with the trade balance widening to US$ 7.9 billion in favour of Japan.
India had 3.40 million hectare of area under organic farming, the ninth largest in the world besides having the highest number of organic farmers.
India exported goods worth of US$ 6.3 billion (as per USTR figures) to the US under the GSP regime.
Some farmers also estimate that prices are unlikely to rise further, and have already started to drop due to this development.
Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) Chairman Pawan Kumar Aggarwal has urged the stakeholders in food & beverage industry to trim the level of 'unsafe food' to less than 1% or negligible levels within the next four years.
MAIT, the apex body of electronic product makers, has asked the government to restore the 4-5% incentive under the Merchandise Exports of India Scheme (MEIS) as the curb of these benefits is likely to hit exports worth about US$ 8 billion.
Thus, the body would no longer be in a position to consider new appeals after December 10 and will have a negative impact on WTO’s dispute settlement system and also the multilateral trading system as a whole.
India and South Africa had argued that the ecommerce moratorium led to loss of revenue (which according to an UNCTAD study, could be as high as US$ 500 million every year for India).
The new deal aims to improve enforcement of worker rights and hold down prices for biologic drugs by eliminating a patent provision.
Byju, Swiggy, Zomato, PhonePe, Myntra are some such companies that he has great hopes from.
Data from the DHL Global Trade Barometer released by DHL, revealed that strong ocean imports and exports will sustain India’s trade growth over the three-month period ending in January 2020.
Foreign cos won’t be allowed in local contracts unless India Inc gets to compete in those nations.
Chief Economic Advisor K Subramanian said, while addressing the FICCI young leaders summit on Monday, that the country has not lost its growth potential and the economy will bounce back.
A joint venture between Kingsland Drinks and Indian wine producer Soul Tree has led to the first ever shipment of bulk wine from India to the UK.
The export revenue to China has subsequently reduced to between INR 100 crore and INR 150 crore since January.
India, along with many countries, has expressed anguish over the eclipsing of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body.
Video streaming company Netflix is planning to invest Rs 3,000 crore to develop and export India-focused content on its platform.
The Indian table grape industry is expected to witness record exports this season, despite expectations of lower production due to climatic challenges
Due to a crackdown by China on illegal meat imports India, which is one of the biggest exporters of buffalo meat, will have to look for new avenues.
DPIIT has decided to set up a bimonthly and quarterly panel to address grievances of venture capitalists and startups, chaired by the CIM Shri Piyush Goyal.
The failure of OPEC to pin down the details of an agreement to adjust its official output target led to the sputtering in oil prices to US$ 58 a barrel.
RBI's MPC slashed its GDP growth estimate for 2019-20 by 110 basis points to 5% from 6.1% forecast two months earlier. But it retained repo rate at 5.15%.
India's textile exports have increased 6.2% post-Goods and Services Tax (GST) as compared with corresponding period pre-GST.
The International Air Transport Association data has revealed that India's domestic air passenger traffic grew 3.6% in October.
US, EU, Canada and Australia have created barriers through domestic regulation conditions to deny market access to short-term services providers from India.
The union government has also asked states to crack down on hoarders, create a buffer stock, and distribute imported onions.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed the idea of a new pre-paid instrument for payments up to ₹10,000 for buying goods and services.
India is set for a modest recovery after a loss of momentum as reforms to simplify taxation lighten business regulations and upgrade infrastructure start to fructify.
The Reserve Bank of India has modified its estimate for CPI inflation figures for the month of December 2019 upwards from the 3.5-3.7% to 4.7-5.1% range that it had predicted in the previous policy.
It is being feared that Chinese goods are being diverted through Singapore due to duty concessions offered under a free-trade agreement.
Trump has threatened to impose 15% levies on an additional US$ 160 billion in Chinese goods if an agreement is not reached by that date.
The government has been practicing various schemes like Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Mission Organic Value Chain Development North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) to promote organic farming in the country.
The US has decided to continue with the ban that it imposed on sea shrimps because they are caught by vessels without turtle excluder devices.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who founded Google more than twenty years ago, are stepping down from executive roles at Alphabet, Google's parent company.
Heavy rain at the end of monsoon in chief onion-producing states had damaged the kharif season crop and led to a supply shortage this year by around 26%.
FSSAI held a meeting with experts to bring the curtains down on the prolonged cold war between icecream makers and manufacturers of frozen desserts.
12 global companies have demonstrated a willingness to shift their base from China to India, taking advantage of competitive tax rate of 15% announced recently.
The government is contemplating the idea of bringing under its scrutiny foreign players participating in certain ‘strategic areas’.
Companies indicated that workloads had been managed by existing staff, while others cited the non-replacement of retirees and non-renewal of temporary contracts.
China has sought to expedite the finalisation of the RCEP deal as it faces slowing growth from a trade war with the U.S. The deal would also lead to better integration with Asia.
There was a remarkable 63% hike in the number of Indian students being granted visas to study at British universities over the past year by the UK government.
The country is now in a comfortable position to meet its electric demand.
This is the weakest pace in more than six years of the economy’s expansion.
Action for misuse of facilities under Export Promotion Scheme during the last three years has been taken against 1,271 companies by Directorate General of Foreign Trade.
The government is preparing a strategy for national level use of Blockchain technology to scale up and widely deploy the new age technology.
At present, India imports more than 50 MTPA coking coal. Government data revealed that shipments of coking coal from the United States and Canada rose to a sixth of all Indian imports of the fuel during the last fiscal.
Due to the shift towards modernised infrastructure and applications, the highest revenue-generating segment in the IT services market continued to be systems integration in the first half.
Even in 2010 and 2015, India was the top recipient of remittances. The increase in remittance between 2015 and 2018 is 14%, according to the UN body.
Union minister Shri Piyush Goyal expressed confidence in the economy stating that India's service sector can help reach the Central government’s target of USD 5 trillion GDP.
The government is considering a proposal to restrict the import of all kinds of refined edible oils, while continuing to keep crude oils under the free category.
According to some insiders familiar with this development, the government has pumped in INR 56,000 crore in the past decade in a bid to keep the carrier afloat.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave a green signal to the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Chile.
This will enable the consumers including discoms or captive to buy power at exchanges just one hour before delivery.
To promote the domestic pharmaceutical industry, it is recommended that there should be a preference for Make in India products during public procurement.
In her interaction with media she cited slowing global growth, falling trade intensity and uncertainties stemming from trade conflict as the reasons for India’s slowdown.
Almost 40 products including pistachios, walnuts and apples have been identified by India & US for duty concessions.
New Delhi is in a fix after the recent WTO ruling which required India to roll back its export sops under the MEIS scheme.
India and Indonesia are trying to reach their target of US$ 50 billion trade by 2025 by eyeing new areas of investments during the “India Indonesia Investment & Business Forum”.
India’s pepper output is projected to see a sharp fall of 30% due to erratic climatic conditions in south India and rising imports from Sri Lanka.
Commerce & Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the government has simplified patents regime to boost innovation among India’s MSMEs and startups.
Rising output could create pressure on China’s thermal coal prices. China has decided to scrap its coal-electricity price linkage mechanism from 2020.
Slowdown has propelled some of the major logistics players to defer planned expansions, and setting relatively modest revenue targets
To prevent misuse by Chinese e-commerce firms, CBITC could remove the provision where citizens can get duty-free gifts/samples’ under Rs 5k from overseas.
Prices of Indian rice export fell to their lowest in nearly 3 years as fresh supplies from the summer-sown crop loom large amid subdued global demand.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed the Rajya Sabha that it is trying to convince US that tapping into Indian talent benefits both countries.
Experts feel that a US-China trade deal might not materialise until 2020. Currently, Beijing is demanding that Washington roll back tariffs imposed on it.
Recent findings of Grant Thornton's latest M&A Dealtracker revealed that there were 28 M&A deals worth US$ 1.5 billion in October this year
The Commerce Ministry has asked DGFT to identify the export promotion council that will work to promote furniture exports from India.
In order to capitalize on the US-China trade war, India is planning to offer 324 companies various incentives for investment in factories.
Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the Cabinet’s approval to import 1.2 lakh tonnes of onions to enhance supply and check prices..
The recent RBI data revealed that bank's credit grew by 8.07 per cent to Rs 98.47 lakh crore in the fortnight ended November 6.
Reliance Industries surpassed BP Plc to become the world’s sixth-largest energy company in terms of market capitalisation.
The government is considering forex loans at cheaper rates to exporters and higher insurance coverage to banks on their export-credit-disbursement.
Prevalent global economic uncertainty due to factors like delayed Brexit & US-China trade war, is compelling IT clients to delay deals.
According to the norms of the multilateral trade body, when a decision is challenged by an appeal by the member-country concerned, it cannot come into effect.
US President Donald Trump warned in an address to the media that the failure to get a trade deal with China will prompt US to impose more tariffs.
Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Prakash Javadekar said the slowdown in automobile sector is cyclical.
Economists from various agencies have lowered their growth forecasts for India for the quarter ended September to between 4.2% and 4.7%..
Around 3.43 million barrels per day was sourced from OPEC, which (until now) accounted for about 80% of India’s oil needs.
It also stipulated that international students contributed US$ 44.7 billion to the economy in 2018, an increase of 5.5% from the previous year.
the country’s per capita consumption of stainless steel touched a new peak. Against 1.2 kg per capita in 2010, the consumption registered a 100% growth and touched a new peak of 2.5 kg in 2019.
The country’s central bank has been blaming banks for the slower transmission of its policy cuts into their lending rates and continuously prodding them to cut more.
The data issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) showed that domestic scheduled carriers carried 12.3 million passengers last month
The All India Spices Exporters Forum has made several appeals to the Centre on MEIS and it reckons that exporters will lose heavily if the benefits are not allowed in full from August.
Alarmingly, these drugs have not undergone clinical trials, and do not have the drug controller’s approvals.
A study by ISC Research shows that after China, India has the maximum no. of international schools in the world. This is an improvement of two ranks since 2012.
N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, supported the privatisation of power distribution companies, and also ensuring that every generation plant is operational to help the power sector.
The multilateral organisation has US$ 3 billion exposure to India, which will continue to be the largest borrower in the near future.
The trade dispute between the two superpowers has already ensnared more than 70% of bilateral trade in goods ever since it commenced about 2 years ago.
Recent media reports suggest that India Inc’s revenue dropped marginally in the September quarter, the first decline in nine quarters.
After a gap of nearly a month, Indian refiners have resumed buying Malaysian palm oil.
Data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Thursday showed that India’s wholesale inflation eased to 0.16% in October, its lowest in more than three years.
56% of those firms that were surveyed said that it is getting easier to do business in India. Their perception about corruption being a barrier to operating in India saw a sharp drop.
India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 11th Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa, or BRICS, summit.
With September shipments conceding fourth straight monthly decline and fifth in fiscal 2019-20 to 6.11%, it is quite evident that a global slowdown has taken a toll on Indian engineering exports.
Information Technology Industry (ITI) Council, held that India’s mandate on data localization could prove detrimental to tech companies.
The rupee plunged to INR 72.08 against a dollar yesterday, down 62 paise or 0.87%.
The auto industry is expecting investment over the next 3-5 years from at least half-a-dozen Chinese vehicle makers along with their vendor-partners.
Shri Piyush Goyal, said at the BRICS trade ministers meeting in Brasilia that some e-commerce companies are indulging in predatory pricing, which has detrimental effects on millions of small retailers.
A report from the Economic Research Department of State Bank of India (SBI), which was launched yesterday trimmed the country’s GDP growth forecast.
Owing to unprecedented rainfall in the major growing regions (including Madhya Pradesh) during October and November, as much as 50% of the urad pulse crop was damaged.
A Bloomberg survey of 33 economists anticipated retail inflation to be 4.35% in October, the highest since June last year.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that in order to ensure that farmers get the correct price for their produce, the government will form 10,000 farmer producer organizations.
India’s plastic exports for September 2019 declined by 16.8% to US$ 649 million from US$ 780 million in September 2018.
Soybean Processors Association of India is of the opinion that India’s soyameal exports for the oil year 2019-20, starting October, may see a sharp decline.
A medical invention (called Cytotron) by Bengaluru-based scientist, Rajah Vijay Kumar, has been labelled as a “breakthrough device” by US FDA
To shirk the country’s dependence on US manufacturers, Indian government is trying to woo Japanese investment in India’s medical devices sector.
IT research firm, Gartner, on Monday said that the overall IT spending in India would grow 6.6% to reach US$ 94 billion in 2020, from US$ 88.5 billion in 2019.
The Dun & Bradstreet Composite Business Optimism Index is arrived at on the basis of a quarterly survey of business expectations.
India has also been seeking increased market access for certain agricultural goods including fruits and vegetables. The meeting comes ahead of the minister’s participation in BRICS meet.
According to the country’s existing foreign trade policy, tax incentives under Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) to several services sector are provided.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon, has asserted that she is quite interested in the business opportunities in the agriculture and digital healthcare sectors.
India is predominantly an importer of medical devices, with the domestic industry accounting for about 2% of the global industry
Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Consul (Commerce) in the Embassy of India in Washington, sounded optimistic about the US-India trade deal by the end of 2019.
China & US are willing to roll back the tariffs that they imposed on each other’s goods, provided that phase one trade deal is completed.
Government plans to extend its existing NPOP certification to textiles, cosmetics and AYUSH products to raise their credibility in international markets.
The government is planning to introduce an online application form and single-window clearance for coal mining lease, land acquisition and other approvals.
The upcoming meeting of India’s PM, Shri Narendra Modi with China’s President, Xi Jinping on the sidelines of BRICS Summit could include discussions on RCEP
The aim is to help farmers and local industry, apart from reducing the current account deficit.
Many young and rich Indians, are choosing gems like rubies, sapphires, emeralds and aquamarines over gold or diamond.
Petroleum Minister, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, opined "India will see an investment of USD 100 billion by 2024 in oil refining, pipelines, city gas distribution networks, and LNG terminals."
Owing to factors like a fall in the domestic production of crude oil and natural gas by 6% and 1.5%, respectively, in the first half of the current fiscal year, India’s imports have risen of late.
This follows the recent inquiry by the DPIIT has to ecommerce firms about how they can work with small retailers to boost such neighbourhood stores.
National Foundation for American Policy reports that denial rates for H-1B petitions have increased from 6% in 2015 to 24% in the third quarter of the current fiscal.
India is still open to joining Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal; provided all its concerns are met.
The Indian government has sought a more balanced principle for the taxation of companies like Google, Facebook & Uber based on place of revenue generation.
The new Consumer Protection Act (CPA) has been open to public domain for feedback from until October 31.
These tariffs were imposed by US on about US$ 110 billion in goods in September, and about US$ 250 billion that last year.
Surging prices continued to weigh on consumer demand during the festival season, bringing down India’s gold imports in the month of October by 33%.
The decision comes at a time when China & US are embroiled in a trade war that is affecting US-based companies in China, and vice versa.
In the given circumstances, not joining the agreement reflects both our assessment of current global situation and of the fairness and balance of the agreement.
The leading global advisory also stated that though salary increases in India are stabilising at around the 10% mark, they remain the highest in the Asia Pacific region.
“The single value of the national minimum wage for India should be set at Rs 375 per day as of July 2018”, recommended an internal panel of the labour ministry.
The government is considering the option of setting up ten integrated mega parks with state-of-the-art infrastructure near ports to attract FDIs.
A recently released draft statement by Southeast Asian leaders stated that the signing of the world’s largest trade pact will likely be kicked back to 2020. Objections by India have […]
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi expressed confidence that India will be able to convert the US$ 5 trillion economy vision into reality soon.
The first ever containerised cargo movement via Indo-Bangladesh protocol route and Brahmaputra river started from West Bengal's Haldia on Monday.
IMF has indicated that led by India, South Asia has the potential to contribute about one-third of the world's growth by 2040.
With India on Thursday saying that there were still some critical issues pending resolution, its membership of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) could go down to the wire.
The squabble between US & India over the latter’s export promotion subsidies has been won by the US.
Economy may have slumped further in the second quarter of the current financial year and a recovery may take time.
Rating agency ICRA had also predicted that Coal India's output target will be missed by about 55-75 MT.
Data from Refinitiv reveals that private equity investment in India for the first nine months of the year stood at US$ 12.8 billion.
The group, which was formed last September, is of the opinion that exclusion from the pact will keep India out from a large regional market.
India is the second largest aquaculture producer, 3rd largest fish producer in the world with exports of marine products worth USD 7 billion and the 4th largest exporter of seafood in the world.
There has been a sharp drop in the average of India’s labour productivity from 7.4% between 2010-11 and 2014-15 to a low of average 3.7% during fiscal year 2015-16 to 2017-18.
In the third quarter, India's real GDP growth is estimated to be 1% on a quarter-on-quarter basis and is projected to rise to 2.20% in the fourth quarter, according to the report.
Some time back, startups made representations to the government about receiving notices from the Income Tax Department, making it difficult for them to operate.
With the ongoing tussle between the US and China redefining global headwinds, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s ‘Act East’ policy is paving the way for banks and financial institutions to find new means to engage with countries in the East.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on Tuesday, while addressing the Future Investment Initiative 2019 in Riyadh, extended an invitation to Saudi companies to invest in India's energy space.
The denial rates for H-1B petitions have increased because USCIS has changed the standards for approval without new regulations or Congress passing a new law.
A high-level advisory group (HLAG) on trade and policy led by Surjit Bhalla, a former member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council was formed last year in September.
Given the lack of fiscal space to reduce income tax and the prevailing higher levies in several countries such as China, the US and the UK.
Industry has also recommended setting up a Defence Industry Advisory Committee (DIAC) under the pact to enhance government’s efforts to promote technology sharing.
The government has given the green chit in fuel retailing for petrol, diesel, LNG and CNG.
The difficulty of Brexit could work in the favour of India’s IT sector, according to an industry insider.
From 77th position last year, India climbed the ladder by moving up 14 places to 63rd rank.
64% of companies are not hiring apprentices due to slowdown. The research entailed a survey of 500 employers across 12 sectors.
Lawmakers voted by 322 to 308 against the so-called programme motion citing the reason that they did not have ample time to scrutinize such an important bill.
The period between April-June saw 1% decline in international air travel following the collapse of Jet Airways.
As far as the average for the last 12 months goes, India held the top spot with 321 tenders, followed by Bangladesh with 101 and the Philippines with 83 tenders.
Only 19% of Indian organisations regularly make significant amendments to their cyber security approach, and 38% intend to make changes to their security approach in the next 6-24 months.
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) plans to hike vestment (FDI) in defence in the automatic route from 49% to 74%.
Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA), the industry body for Indian edible oil has issued an advisory to its members to refrain from importing palm oil from Malaysia.
The revamped policy is likely to have changes in incentives given to goods as the current export promotion schemes are challenged by the US in the dispute resolution mechanism of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
India is looking to the US for technology, innovation, skills and quality education.
This has been attributed to the closure of Vedanta’s copper smelter in Tuticorin, which led to the erosion of more than 46% of the country’s production of the base metal.
China and the USA dominate with over 80 percent of the world's known unicorns, despite representing only half of the world's GDP and a quarter of the world's population.
The platform has been to provide assistance to Startups and SME’s and help them in understanding Intellectual Property Rights.
Latest data by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) suggests that two-wheeler exports rose by over 4% in the April-September period of the current fiscal.
As we envisage becoming a five trillion-dollar economy by 2024-25, our focus on creating world-class infrastructure has become even more resolute.
Monetary policy cannot be the only game in town. It should be coupled with fiscal support where fiscal space is available.
M-SIPS (2012-18) offered multiple incentives for 10 years, including a capital subsidy of 20% in special economic zones (SEZs) and 25% in non-SEZs, and reimbursements of countervailing duty.
S&DT offers several flexibilities for developing countries, such as longer time periods for implementing agreements and commitments, lower levels of commitment and measures to increase trading opportunities.
It’s the first time ever that India has used its heft as a trade partner to express unhappiness about a political statement.
India’s rice exports in August fell 29% year-on-year to 644,249 tonnes due to weak demand from African countries for non-basmati rice, among other factors.
The developments are worrying for the company as emerging markets contribute 60% to the company's overall sales.
We have to make even more efforts at facilitating and promoting private investment in the country.
5G will only constitute 7% of India's installed base of over 1.3 billion connected devices in 2025.
Brick-and-mortar retailers and companies have stated that the weeks of the shopping spree ahead of the festival season has been trimmed down to one weekend.
“Acceding to RCEP at this juncture will accentuate the uncertainties and could result in loss of jobs and incomes which the country can ill afford” stated the Forum For Trade Justice.
With a record 1.54 million applications (led by telecoms and computer technology), China accounted for nearly half of global patent filings last year.
International Monetary Fund called for a coordinated policy action, especially from some of the world’s largest economies, including India.
Malaysia plans to boost raw sugar & buffalo meat imports from India. Relations soured recently due to Malaysia’s criticism of India's actions in Kashmir.
The Centre directed states to take action on October 2. However, different policies across states are fragmenting the Indian market, according to Rambhia.
The reason cited for this is that the country does not have the high-skill talent it needs and the drop in student admissions over the past three years is acting as a deterrent to get qualified immigrants into the US.
India’s exports contracted by 6.57% in September’19 to US$ 26.03 billion. India’s imports on the other hand declined 13.85% to a three-year low of US$ 36.89 billion, signaling weak domestic demand on account of a slowing economy.
What we have received from Trai is pricing, there are other parameters which we have to examine, ultimately it has to go for government approval,” Anshu Prakash, telecom secretary said.
An update by the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), revealed that India exported US$ 1.36 bn worth of apparel in July, which was 7% more than July 2018 and 11% more than June 2019.
The findings also suggested that the overall food inflation was 7.47% in September from 7.67% in August as inflation rate for fruit dropped sharply to 6.67%.
The estimate also suggests that the technology will contribute 20% to the country’s in nominal GDP, sustaining 60-65 million jobs by 2025.
The price of groundnut is likely to remain range bound due to bumper production this year. The export of groundnut oil is likely to be more due to better availability.
Against the earlier growth forecast of 7.5% in April, the World Bank has trimmed India’s growth forecast to 6% for current fiscal in its latest edition of South Asia Economic Focus.
Bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$ 95.54 billion in 2018, with the trade deficit at US$ 53 billion in China's favour, the biggest deficit that India has with any country.
Hyundai Motor India led these exports. Ford India Pvt. Ltd and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd were the other top performers.
The government has identified 15 large coal blocks for the pilot round of commercial bidding in December. These blocks will have a capacity to produce 4 million tonnes per annum.
They are primarily eyeing early-stage ventures - not more than three years into their lifecycle for investment.
About 20% of the ornaments sales by volume now consist of diamond-studded jewellery.
China is working to bring down its trade surplus with India. In the first eight months of this year, India’s trade deficit went down by 1.6% to US$ 37.9 billion.
India has already proposed to put in place an auto-trigger mechanism to prevent the dumping of goods by other countries of RCEP.
The other top 3 countries which outperformed India in August’19 were China at 10.1%, Russian Federation at 6% and the US at 3.9%.
The agriculture ministry will fund, handhold, train, ensure easy credit availability and provide other support to these FPOs (having a minimum of 500 member-farmers on board) to make them viable.
Tea Board has reported that tea exports from India remained virtually stagnant in the first eight months of 2019 in volume terms.
The scheme hopes to further the government's goal of doubling farmers’ income by promoting cooperative-to-cooperative trade within India & abroad and promoting exports of key agriculture commodities and products.
This is a shot in the arm for India, which has proposed its own regulations on taxation of digital companies.
WEF observed that India's rank is high in terms of macroeconomic stability and market size but added that the banking system has been affected by a high delinquency rate.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that "We've been also negotiating with our friends and partners in the EU about Brexit and you know I'm still cautiously, cautiously optimistic."
Indian solar developers should consider quality, service standards, overall costs and geopolitical implications before opting for cheap Chinese imports.
The Bureau of Industry and Security, US Department of Commerce, has decided to add 28 Chinese governmental and commercial entities to the Entity List for engaging in or enabling activities contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United States.
It also stated that India’s plastics exports had risen at a CAGR of 11-12% in the last three years and are estimated to reach US$ 25 billion in trade by 2025. The country’s plastic exports in FY19 were US$ 8 billion, as per the study.
Economic activity is softening in advanced economies, such as the US, Japan and, especially, the Eurozone, while in other emerging markets such as India and Brazil, the slowdown is even more pronounced this year.
Various stakeholders from the country’s dairy industry and farming community have expressed fears that this would severely hurt Indian farmers and small businesses due to stiff competition from New Zealand & China.
The government has decided to probe increase in imports of phthalic anhydride from South Korea, after allegations of serious injury by domestic industry.
Auto companies continued to struggle with low demand, inventory correction and cuts in production across segments in the quarter ending September 2019.
Top ministers of the Modi government held a meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi on Monday to decide on whether India should go ahead with the RCEP deal.
Indo-US trade opportunities are “historic”as per Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, one of five governors scheduled to visit India in the coming months
India is developing an index to assess the costs of logistics in its top nine export sectors, including agriculture, leather, apparel and gems & jewellery.
The defence ministry has stipulated thatstartups can now bid for contracts valued less than INR 150 crore without the burden of providing financial credentials.
After India, the world's biggest seller of onions, banned exports following delayed harvests caused by extended monsoon downpours, buyers across the region are bewildered.
The findings of a report by the World Economic Forum and Ola Mobility Institute suggest that India has the potential to become one of the largest electric vehicles (EVs) markets in the world.
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has decided to keep a strict eye on festive sales by e-commerce companies.
India had blocked a US request to set up a panel to settle its disagreement over retaliatory tariffs on 28 American products.
The disinvestment plan includes Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, BEML, Container Corporation of India and Shipping Corporation of India.
Amidst the souring prices of Indian onions due to a seasonal shortage which has been worsened by flooding in several states, the government has decided to ban exports of onions.
India Ratings and Research, has revised its outlook on the auto sector to stable-to-negative from stable for the remaining half of the current fiscal.
Keeping the fiscal deficit at glide path at 3.3% of the GDP in the current fiscal, the government’s borrowings will be within the budgeted Rs 7.1 lakh crore.
The World Bank has recently released a list of the 20 economies that have improved the most in three or more of the ten regulatory areas considered for their ease of doing business score.
Oil prices rose, easing concerns about demand at the world's largest crude importer amid an ongoing trade war with the United States.
Ensuing the concern of Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' about the issue of rankings of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
The policy is aimed at promoting emerging sectors, reducing regulatory hurdles and making India a manufacturing hub and will replace the earlier one which was drafted in 1991 in the backdrop of the balance of payment crisis.
MoSPI suggests that there has been a drop in the share of agriculture, forestry and fishing in India’s gross value added (GVA) from 18.6% in 2013-14 to 17.9% in 2016-17.
India's FY20 soymeal exports are likely to drop (28.6%) to 1.5 million tonnes in the new marketing year from 2.1 million tonnes in 2018-19.
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman sought the help of private banks and non-bank lenders to boost credit disbursal so as to stir up consumer demand.
10 new AI-based jobs are being created for every 100 positions made redundant in traditional technology according to some experts.
A government official stated that India’s electronics industry needs additional sops such as cheap credit and incentives for export along with infrastructure support in order to flourish and compete with China, Vietnam and Thailand.
Trade and Development Report 2019 projected India's growth rate for the current year to slowdown at 6% from last year's 7.4%.
Sansui, which has joined hands with Jaina Group, is gearing up to enter the Indian market and make it one of its global production hubs.
Other leading nations in the garment industry such as Bangladesh and Vietnam are being given preferred access in India’s biggest textile market — the European Union.
India’s mobile exports in 2018-19 grew over eight-fold to INR 11,200 crore, thereby exceeding imports (amounting to Rs 10,000 crore) for the first time.
This has been attributed to tepid credit demand and prudence by banks after bankruptcy laws came into play to resolve bad loans.
The government has taken a string of measures to facilitate greater ease of doing business including reducing corporate tax and abrogating 50 laws to improve business sentiment.
India’s growth forecast has been sharply cut by the Asian Development Bank to 6.5% for the ongoing fiscal year.
The Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA) has from September 1 made it mandatory for each rice consignment to be accompanied by a Certificate of Conformity (COC) according to the latest norms.
The Indian Railways is exploring the possibility of handing over operations of more trains to private players offering improved services and amenities for passengers in the near future on several important routes.
While US president Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meeting was expected to come as a breather amidst the spiraling tensions of the two countries, little has been achieved in terms of advancing their trade relations.
Commerce and revenue departments have initiated discussions to extend the sunset clause for the scheme that ends March 31, 2020.
Addressing the first Chintan Shivir, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, stated that India is going to be a net exporter of steel in the coming years.
Maersk suggest that India's container trade growth slowed to 1% due to growing trade tensions, rural distress and slump in manufacturing sector.
Rating agency ICRA is of the opinion that India’s automotive industry is likely to be one of the key beneficiaries of corporate tax revision.
Indian sugar producers are all set to commence exports to China, East Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran.
To protect the interests of domestic industry in case of dumping of goods, significant jump in imports or subsidized imports, government will make changes in the rules of trade remedies.
India-based and India-centric IT firms paid US$ 96,300 on an average in 2017 for local as well as H-1B visa-holders software programmers.
Shri Piyush Goyal, whose visit to US is coinciding with that of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, will work with US officials on resolving bilateral trade issues.
The Union Government has estimated a collection of Rs 1 lakh crore cess on sin and luxury goods in 2019-20.
Foreign Secretary Mr Vijay Gokhale asserted that India meets the criteria for trade concessions under the US' Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
The Government of India announced a cut in effective corporate tax inclusive of cess to 25.17% for domestic companies, effective from April 1, 2019
The government aims to increase India's exports of fish and fishery products by over 50% to Rs 1 lakh crore every year in the next five years.
The general slowdown in the economy, along with the ongoing monsoon, will negatively impact occupancy levels in hotels in the medium term.
Labour ministry has come up with a revised social security code with the intention of simplifying and rationalizing the germane provisions of the existing 8 central labour laws by establishing a social security board in the country.
The US terminated incentives to US$ 6.3 billion of Indian exports under the GSP programme from June 5 this year.
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade notified the recent decisions pertaining to the relaxation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.
This will harm the local steel industry by opening floodgates to cheaper Chinese imports.
The industry is apprehensive that import of cheaper milk powder will be detrimental for the livelihood of India’s dairy farming community, which is already in a macabre state.
This is not going to remove all of the trade frictions between India and the U.S. — those are substantial— but it is a step in the right direction.
The ban has ramifications for all sectors like food processing, dairy, garments, toys," stated Jayesh Rambhia, All India Plastic Manufacturers Association.
By offering deep discounts ranging from 10-80% on their ecommerce portals, these companies are clearly influencing the prices and creating an uneven playing field.
The 5% import duty on open cell LED TV panel has been obliterated by the Ministry of Finance yesterday and is likely to reduce television prices.
The system will provide advanced information about steel import to government and other stakeholders, including producers and consumers, to have effective policy interventions.
Commerce ministry will soon approach the government to trim down insurance premium rates from 0.7% currently to 0.6% for small exporters.
These duties are explicitly authorized by the WTO and are likely to drive up the cost of products for the American customers.
Commerce Ministry will initiate the process of winding up debt-ridden State Trading Corporation (STC), and Project and Equipment Corporation of India (PEC).
An inter-ministerial panel has already been set up by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to examine the ways in which handset manufacturing can be boosted within one month in India.
India’s exports for the month of August dropped to US$ 26.13 billion. Consequently, overall exports are down by 9% to US$ 15.33 billion in the first five months of this fiscal.
The scheme was overall a partial success: the levies helped create a local ecosystem for batteries, chargers and printed circuit board assembly, while duties on components did not have the same effect.
Setting up of this committee headed by Infosys cofounder S Gopalakrishnan brings some national-level cohesive thinking around the issue of non-personal data.
According to Tracxn, a startup data tracking platform, investments worth US$ 697 million, spread across 115 rounds, have been made in deep tech startups so far this year.
A strike by 10 unmanned aerial vehicles on Saudi Aramco (which is regarded as the world’s biggest crude-processing facility in Abqaiq) removed about 5% of global oil supplies.
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyalsaid the country is ready to take bold decisions to enhance its presence in international trade.
Spain, France, Germany, Japan, US, UK, Australia, Italy, Canada & Switzerland emerged as the top 10 global tourist destinations. The report evaluated 140 countries.
Companies are turning to Thailand & Vietnam over India as a chosen destination to escape from the harsh dynamics of the ongoing US-China trade war.
The findings of a new research titled "Infosys Talent Radar 2019"conducted by Infosys revealed that analytics, user experience, automation, IT architecture and Artificial Intelligence are among the most sought after tech skills.
The government will soon come out with guidelines on extending foreign exchange credit to exporters at nominal rate of sub 4%.
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that India will look out for its national interest in the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement.
The two economies imposed fresh tariffs on each other on Sept. 3, leading to a tit-for-tat tariff war that has unsettled financial markets and raised the specter of a global recession.
Inspite of headwinds in global trade, Basmati paddy prices are expected to remain steady owing to better quality of the crop and the expectation that the export will pickup in later part of current financial year.
According to the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), Indian high tech has the potential to attract an investment of a whopping US$ 21 billion and generate millions of jobs
Leveraging the tussle between the US & China, India’s gems and jewellery sector hopes to tap a US$ 1-billion export opportunity to US.
Trade ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries (which together account for about a third of all global trade), have vouched to wrap up RCEP.
India & ASEAN have agreed to constitute a joint committee to review their free trade agreement, signed in 2009.
US & India have initiated discussions on a string of thorny issues which had fanned tensions between them like restoration of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will expedite infrastructure spending to bolster consumption.
The British government has decided to offer from next year a two-year work visa to foreign students graduating from a British university.
With the influx of fresh funds, hiring in tech startups may not be immediately affected due to the current economic slowdown in India.
The deficit has already ballooned to over US$ 57 billion in 2018.
The discussions focus on duties (ranging from 7.5% to 20%) imposed by New Delhi on the imports of certain information and communications technology (ICT) goods.
The government is working on Bharat Craft, an Alibaba-like e-marketplace for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
India and China have agreed to identify non-tariff areas to make it easier for the Indian businesses to make inroads into China.
There has been a 16% yoy dip in China’s exports to US to US$ 44.4 billion, due to punitive tariffs imposed by the latter.
UNCTAD predicts that domestic market for computer services in India is forecast to grow faster than exports.
This import-export data will help make the system transparent and reduce the issue of over-invoicing and under-invoicing.
Government is contemplating the idea of bringing Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) and Advance Authorisation Scheme, within the ambit of the drawback committee under the revenue department.
Members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have asked India to make up its mind on its membership of the trade group.
The FAO food price index averaged 169.8 points in August from an upwardly revised 171.7 points in July.
Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ President Rajan Wadhera believes that a million contractual manufacturing jobs are at stake due to the slowdown in consumption.
Due to the ensuing US-China trade war, US has started importing value-added shrimps like breaded shrimps from India.
A market update by Cogoport, an online logistics marketplace states that India should explore Egypt, China, Mexico & Malaysia for its rice exports.
Ahead of the upcoming Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership meet in Bangkok on September 7-8, India is drawing up a list of products on which it can offer duty concessions.
The government recognises the fact that a good performance in exports is important for the GDP to show robust growth.
FDI equity inflows into India rose 28% from US$ 12.7 billion in the first quarter of the previous financial year to US$ 16.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019-20, with Singapore (US$ 5.3 billion) & Mauritius (US$ 4.6 billion) being the top contributors.
As many as 918 million transactions worth Rs 1.54 lakh crore were processed on the interoperable digital payments channel.
Credit disbursals by non-banking finance companies slid by 28% to Rs 1.79 lakh crore at the end of June versus Rs 2.49 lakh crore at the end of March.
The mounting pressure on the growth of economies around the world due to the repercussions of proposed Brexit and trade war between US & China has put the onus of driving growth on shoppers around the world.
Exports to major markets like China have declined by 50 per cent and Bangladesh by 38 per cent and Korea by 45 per cent.
This move comes a month after Pakistan had decided to suspend bilateral trade with India after India revoked Article 370 (which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir) of its Constitution.
A recent Deloitte-IMI report has suggested measures like eradication of piracy and strict enforcement of laws against copyright infringements, music centric grants, and export schemes to promote the Indian music industry.
The depreciation of rupee coupled with expectations of deeper rate cuts from US Federal Reserve has set the prices of gold & silver in India souring.
A joint study titled 'Bolstering ARCs' by Assocham-Crisil, has predicted that gross bad loans of the country’s banks are expected to come down marginally to Rs 9.1 lakh crore by the end of the current financial year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to attend the 5th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostoc, Russia, as the chief guest between September 4 & September 6.
Chile wants to explore avenues to increase knowledge sharing with India w.r.t. each other’s production structures, & to identify value chains.
The UBS India Financial Conditions Index points out that the country’s growth may have reached a trough in the June 2019 quarter.
The government has again permitted gold and silver jewellery exporters to replenish the precious metal duty free after selling it at global exhibitions.
Rating agency ICRA is of the opinion that given the subdued global sugar prices, achieving the target of 6 million tonnes of sugar exports this year will be a challenge.
The broader picture for Asian exports remains very weak because of the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, which is continuing to escalate.
Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (compiled by IHS Markit) touched 51.4 in August from July's 52.5, the weakest since May 2018.
Indian rice exporters have a reason to cheer as they have got a breather till December 31 from stricter rules on shipments of basmati rice to Saudi Arabia.
President of US-India Business Council opined that India should present its growth vision to lure businesses to invest in the country at a time when the global economy is beset with challenges.
Singapore’s minister for law and home affairs, K. Shanmugam, has called India’s membership in this trading block a stabilizing factor.
The recent findings of the Reserve Bank of India suggest that the export credit by banks dropped 36.1% year-on-year as of June 21, even on a low base (it had contracted 42.7% a year earlier).
A statement of Gao Feng from China’s commerce ministry to the effect that China may not instantaneously respond to the latest tariffs imposed on them, led to a boost in US stock futures and European stocks.
The 2018-19 annual report of Reserve Bank of India has stated that Indian economy (both rural and urban areas) has been marred by a cyclical slowdown.
Making the most of the fiery trade battle between US & China, India is trying to pitch itself as an attractive destination for prominent foreign firms like Apple, Pegatron Corp
Overall increase is recorded in production of fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers and honey whereas downslide is observed in plantation, aromatics and medicinal crops as compared to last year.
In the face of economic slowdown, low foreign investments, the effects of currency devaluation by China and the impact of US-China trade war, the rupee is losing its year-to-date gains in the space of just one month.
India & Iran are expected to conclude a preferential trade agreement, in spite of the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic after the US walked out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Despite India attracting litigation from WTO members for its sugar subsidies, the cabinet has approved the decision to provide incentives of Rs 62.68 billion to export 6 million tonnes of sugar in 2019/20.
“The changes in FDI policy will result in making India a more attractive destination, leading to benefits of increased investments, employment and growth," the Cabinet stated.
According to reports, exports of cotton yarn and fabrics dropped by 9.98% and 10.54%, respectively in July.
For every percentage point increase in global exports, India's exports tend to rise by half a percentage point and vice versa.
Taking forward 'Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for Northeast', the government is mulling the prospect of shelling out about ₹5,400 crore in viability gap funding for a proposed 1,656-km long Northeast gas grid.
With the intention to boost regional trade, India has called for having a uniform standard for Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) among SAARC nations. “GAP is a crucial tool for India […]
Property market experts are of the opinion that there is little that can be done to rekindle the sagging housing market activity, according to a recent Reuters poll.
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement, has been under negotiation since 2005 and is aimed at liberalising norms to boost two-way commerce and investments.
The amount comprises of RS.123,414 cr as dividends and Rs. 52,637 Cr as excess provision. Earlier, RBI was expected to transfer only RS. 66,000 cr to the Centre.
Government has asked the industry to introspect on the factors behind it and suggest the policy initiatives needed to boost the inflows.
In the April-June quarter, India’s growth figures dropped to 5.7%, registering the slowest pace in more than five years.
In his interaction with US President Donald Trump along the sidelines of G7 meeting in France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India plans to further increase imports, including oil, from the US.
European Union Council President Donald Tusk asked Britain to pay its Brexit divorce bill, even if it walks out of the bloc devoid of any deal.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement being negotiated by 10 ASEAN members & their 6 trade partnersincluding India, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.
In order to trigger the country’s economic growth amidst an environment of weak consumer spending, pessimism regarding jobs & slowdown, Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced a number of measures on Friday.
It has been reported that garments manufactured in other nations are being shipped to India via Bangladesh in order to take advantage of duty concessions offered under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement.
Union Minister for MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari said that the government's planned e-commerce portal Bharatcraft can achieve revenues of Rs 10 lakh crore in 2-3 years.
The Indian rupee fell to an eight-month low of 71.81 against the US dollar, as falling equities and outflows of foreign funds impacted sentiment.
Facing downfall in China, the Australian government is looking to leverage the growth in India's electricity market through exports of thermal coal.
India has challenged the ruling by WTO dispute settlement panel on the solar case against the US, on certain issues of law and legal interpretation.
Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal cautioned that if protectionism and unilateral measures continue, we are looking at a serious world recession
Shipments for smartphones in India grew by around 10% during April-June, 2019 and are expected to improve even further in the September quarter.
India is in the process of preparing an index to rank eight trading partners on restrictiveness with respect to cross-border movement of professionals.
NITMA an association of textile mills in Northern India, states that the textiles industry is facing the worst financial crisis and slowdown in 10 years.
Amazon India Head Amit Agarwal has opined that India must reduce its e-commerce restrictions to revive the economy and red tape is impacting the sector.
CEA Mr K Subramanian has urged India's private sector to change mindsets and refrain from the tendency to grab profit and socialise losses
India's diamond and polishing hub in Gujarat has witnessed job losses of around 15% due to a slowdown in demand from China and West Asia.
Commerce Ministry has proposed that the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) platform be remodelled to also offer B2C retailing.
The Ministry of Finance has begun a comprehensive review of India's past FTAs to ascertain the impact of these agreements on the overall economy.
India's shrimp exports to the US have increased by 14% YoY during January-June 2019 to reach 115,694 tonnes, even as US imports recorded a small drop.
India's mobile phone exports have risen at a CAGR of 17% annually over the past five years, and become the 23rd largest exported product for the country.
Former RBI Governor and noted economist Prof Raghuram Rajan has called the recent slowdown in India's economy “very worrisome”, and urged the government needed to introduce a new set of reforms to revitalise ailing sectors.
Passenger vehicle sales in India fell by 11% YoY in July 2019 to reach 243,183 units according to the automobile dealers body FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations).
ISRO has successfully inserted Chandrayaan 2 into the lunar orbit today after completing a critical orbit maneuver at 9:02 am.
The Government of India has awarded geographical indication (GI) tag to four new products from the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Mizoram.
The government is currently in discussions over a sectoral package for stressed sectors, but this is not expected to have revenue implications.
One out of every three fund (34%) managers surveyed by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofAML) feels that a recession is possible in the coming 12 months.
The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance has urged Niti Aayog and the Department of Pharmaceuticals to establish a large fund to further technological innovation in pharma and healthcare startups.
After failing to reach a mutually agreeable position in its discussions with Australia, Brazil and Guatemala at WTO, it has been decided to set up dispute settlement panels to look into India’s sugar subsidies.
WTO’s quarterly outlook indicator recorded a lower reading of 95.7, showed that growth in global goods trade is likely to weaken in the coming months.
RBI's June dollar purchases hit a 4-month low touching US$ 4.4 billion as the dollar inflows that started amid uncertainties in the global markets.
Owing to the higher shipments of organic goods, drugs and pharmaceuticals, there has been a 2.25% rise to US$ 26.3 billion in India’s exports in July’19 from US$ 25.75 billion in June’18.
According to the data put together by IT industry body, Nasscom, the country’s agri-tech segment has received more than US$ 248 million funding between Jan’19 to June’19, recording 300% growth as compared to the previous year.
It was decided to diversify and deepen cooperation in priority sectors to meet the bilateral trade target of US$ 30 billion by 2025.
Against the backdrop of the tensions caused by US-China war & India’s differences with its western neighbor, Pakistan, the Indian rupee slumped by more than 3% this month.
The US government has decided to postpone the imposition of tariffs on Chinese-made cellphones, laptop computers, shoes, apparel and other items till December 15.
The recently released data of Real Estate Sentiment Index Q2 2019 survey points toward the bleak future sentiment score of the sector, which stood at 47 during the quarter.
India has been the recipient of US$ 13 billion net foreign funds so far this year, according to the findings of Goldman Sachs India Securities.
The Sensex slumped 624 points today, one of the biggest drops of this calendar year; while Nifty stooped below 10,950.
Given the low costs of land and labour, local pool of Hindi or English interpreters and the presence of a corruption-free government, he explained how India is an attractive investment destination.
The government is planning to enhance the tariff on solar equipment in the coming years to encourage domestic industry.
The ensuing China-US trade war and US' unilateralism has propelled China to look for new import sources.
In order to give a boost to the sagging economy and to improve credit flow, the government is exploring various options including “full reimbursement” of various imposts on exports and relaxed lending norms.
Digitization has the potential to add a trillion dollars to India’s GDP by 2025 according to Gautam Kumra, Managing Partner, McKinsey India.
This measure will enable the government to curtail large scale dumping of goods and give a fillip to local manufacturing.
The recent developments in the spiraling trade spat include the US imposing 10% tariff on a final US$ 300 billion worth of Chinese imports w.e.f. Sept. 1 and labeling China as a currency manipulator.
In a bid to break the corruption-laden nexus between inspectors & employers, the government has removed geographic limits on labour inspectors and introduced the option of web-based electronic inspection.
The steel ministry has initiated a study to examine whether higher grade iron ore is being exported by passing off as inferior grade material (with iron content up to 58%) or pellets.
According to the recent crop forecast by Washington State Tree Fruit Association, about 137.3 million boxes will be produced in 2019.
For the first time in a decade, its central bank (People’s Bank of China) set the midpoint of the Renminbi’s daily trading range above 7 to the American dollar.
Patna (61%), Lucknow (58%), Nagpur (56%) and Jaipur (54%) are the cities with the strongest family orientation towards such credit.
In a meeting with Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, India Inc is demanding an amount of Rs 1 lakh crore to kick-start the investment cycle and to give a boost to India’s sagging economy.
World Bank president David Malpass recently stated that China’s monetary policy statements “have been in the direction of stabilization,” though it faces several challenges in its interactions with the world.
In the U.S., the recession risk is “much higher than it needs to be and much higher than it was two months ago,” noted Lawrence Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary and a White House economic adviser.
Responsible for export promotion and development of 14 agricultural and processed foods, APEDA contributed to US$ 18.8 billion out of the total US$ 331 billion exports by India in 2018-19.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das sought to assure that the " economic slowdown is cyclical and not a deep structural slowdown".
Pakistan has decided to downgrade its diplomatic relations and suspend bilateral trade with India.
A decline in demand owing to high prices has led to a 59% YoY dip in India’s July soymeal exports.
India has only shipped 3.4 million tonnes so far out of the 5 million tones target that it had set for exporting sugar this season, which ends on September 30.
More than 60% of 125 firms that have reported results so far have missed profit forecasts for the June quarter, the most since 2016, according to Refinitiv data.
With the aim to attract foreign energy giants like Saudi Aramco, Total and Trafigura and supermarket chains, the government is planning to restructure fuel marketing in the country.
This has been attributed to the shift to cheaper daily essential brands by consumers in the urban markets and slowdown in the growth of rural sector.
The plummeting of rupee to a low of 70.73 against the US dollar in the background of the escalation of US-China war & the slipping of Yuan, has sent Indian exporters into a tizzy.
The principles for e-commerce business for preventing fraud, unfair trade practices and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
The government has kick-started the process to auction 27 coal mines & allot 15 coal blocks to public sector undertakings, according to the Ministry of Coal.
Some of the measures that have been undertaken to rectify the situation include plans to plans to develop 17 sites to attract visitors.
China’s central bank allowed the yuan to slip below the seven-to-one dollar level, for the first time since 2008, triggering fears of a currency war.
In the background of India’s staggering merchandise trade deficit with the RCEP grouping (US$ 105 billion in FY19), India may pull out of the mega trade deal if its demands are not met, according to sources.
On account of robust domestic and international demand and a rise in hiring, India's services activity in June’19 recorded the highest growth over a yea.r
These dealerships are compelled to hand out pink slips in order to weather the impact of the unprecedented plunge in vehicle sales.
This is attributed to the ongoing US-China trade war, due to which imports from China to the US dropped by 12% and America's exports to China declined by 19%.
The Ministry of Coal is devising strategies to trim imported coal by one third over the next five years to reach 150 million tons by FY 2023-24.
Gross GST collections in July 2019 stood at Rs 1.02 lakh crore, 5.8% higher than the Rs 96,483 crore collected in July 2018.
Malaysia is all set to replace Indonesia as the top palm oil exporter to India in 2019. This is due to the fact that New Delhi has been charging lower import tax (50% from the earlier 54%) on refined palm oil shipments from Malaysia.
In the backdrop of the simmering US-China trade war, Taiwan's Foxconn is exploring the possibility of selling its new US$ 8.8 billion display panel factory in China.
A study titled ‘Top 100 Retailers in Asia,’ has ranked Walmart as the top retail company in India. This has been on account of the American company’s acquisition of Flipkart in 2018 for US$ 16 billion.
The Morrison government is all set to exert its clout over India & China to get an EU-style Asian trade agreement.
The first quarter of the current fiscal saw a 33% YoY decline in India’s cotton yarn exports to 226 million kg, according to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics data.
India’s share of exports to the world rose by 1.71% in Q1 2019 from 1.58% in Q4 2017. The findings also suggest that the share of every other economy among Asia’s 10 biggest exporting nations plunged during the same period.
In an interaction with exporters, Shri Piyush Goyal, Commerce & Industry Minister stated that for India to be a US$ 5 trillion economy in the upcoming years, the country’s exports will have to be US$ 1 trillion.
In the month of June’19, core sector growth registered for India was merely 0.2%, the lowest in more than four years, when it saw a 0.5% contraction in April 2015.
India's naphtha exports dropped by 43% month on month in June’19. This could be on account of the maintenance at refineries, which is now largely completed.
According to a recent report by World Trade Organization, India was the 8th-largest services exporter and the 10th-largest services importer in 2018. It was also the 2nd– largest exporter of […]
As part of the new export-import policy, the Commerce & Industry Ministry is considering a move to terminate Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). The new export-import policy is going to replace the earlier one which expires in 2020 and put an end to the 4% incentive given to the garments exporters under MEIS.
According to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, "Our Indo-Pacific strategy is well on its way to bearing fruit for not only them but for the United States, and we have watched these coalitions build out. We're working hard with the Indian government to provide them with opportunities to grow their economy as well."
According to the Annual Report 2018-19 put together by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), India received the highest-ever FDI inflow of US$ 64.37 billion during FY’19.
While overall exports to the USA grew by 9.46% to US$ 52.4 billion in FY19, for China the growth was 25.6% to US$ 16.7 billion.
While the exports to the 10 Asean economies rose by 9% YoY & stood at US$ 37.4 billion; the country’s imports were up by 25% and pegged at US$ 59.31 billion.
According to data from the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), while India’s overall exports stood at 1.53 million tonnes during April-May 2018, the figures recorded for this year amounted to 711,837 tonnes. In values terms, India’s overall non-basmati rice exports slumped to US$ 294 million in April-May FY 2019-2020 as against US$ 652 million in the corresponding period last year.
This tag recognizes that this pungent, raindrop-shaped garlic is an agricultural product unique only to this southern hill stations and forbids use of the name 'hill garlic' for other varieties.
This weakening growth in internet user base has been attributed to the fact that for many millions, going online is still an expensive proposition and the adoption of smartphones, too, is not high. The fact that most of the digital content is in English complicates the virtual experience for those proficient in vernacular languages.
President Shri Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to travel Benin, Gambia and Guinea. At the same time, Defence Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh landed in Mozambique on Sunday for his 3-day trip. Exclusive economic zone surveillance, sharing of white shipping information and hydrography are some of the things on the minister’s agenda.
China said that there is a need to restructure IMF, UN, WTO & other global institutions at the recently concluded BRICS Foreign Minister's meet in Rio De Janeiro.
Though the government has been ardently championing its flagship ‘Make in India’ campaign, foreign goods stemming from countries having FTAs with India have inundated the domestic market, thereby impacting sales of domestically produced goods.
Exports by India fell by 2% from US$ 20.46 billion in the previous fiscal to US$ 20.08 billion for the first three months of this fiscal (FY 2019-20).
India’s jewellery exports to US could rise from US$ 1 billion to US$ 3 billion. For this jump to happen, Washington would have to extend duty benefits to these products under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
Niti Aayog chairman Amitabh Kant said while showcasing the report, “While India did succeed in attracting some companies to begin assembling phones here, the larger ecosystem comprising the vendors and suppliers of high value components and assemblies did not shift to India.”
According to the recent findings of Hinrich Foundation, All India Management Association (AIMA) and AlphaBeta Advisors, digital trade is likely to create trade possibilities worth Rs 3,331 thousand crore by 2030.
BRICS opposes unilateral approach to world affairs, including illegal unilateral sanctions, hypocrisy and clandestine political agendas.
The plan to establish these battery storage factories of 10 gigawatt hours (GWh) each is the brainchild of NITI Aayog, the country’s federal policy think tank.
While this year the transactions done so far amounted to US$ 32.1 billion (US$ 17.9 billion for mergers & acquisitions and US$ 14.2 billion for private equity transactions), deals worth US$ 74.4 billion were concluded last year.
Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry informed the Lok Sabha yesterday that the government has set up a committee to study issues pertaining to foreign direct investment (FDI) […]
Defying criticism from Brazil and Australia that India’s sugar export subsidies are distorting global trade & hurting their farmers, India is mulling new subsidies for its sugar exporters.
Indian IT firms have invested more than US$ 50 billion across many states in the US & that programmes such as H1B visas have facilitated the movement of skilled labour between the 2 nations.
There is an immediate need to stimulate vehicle demand and also sustain it post BS-VI implementation, as vehicles will become significantly expensive thereafter.
India has jumped from its 57th rank last year to its current 52nd position in the Global Innovation Index due to the past measures of Indian government.
The first quarter of the current financial year saw abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA ) received by Indian pharma firms dipping by 28%. While during 2017-18, 155 Indian firms received approvals by US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
Japan, the EU and the US have all seen declines in the total value of seafood imports in early 2019, giving back some of the gains achieved last year.
According to the latest annual growth forecast of India for FY’20 by the International Monetary Fund, the economy is expected to grow at 7%, 0.3% point slower than IMF’s earlier projection in April.
According to data for the month of July computed by the India Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI), consumer confidence recovered marginally by 0.6 points. The monthly survey registers consumer attitudes on the present and future condition of economy, personal finance, savings and investment confidence.
The government is giving a big push to IPR education by including it in school curricula, and so far over 4 lakh students have been covered under this initiative.
The main bone of contention is that the amount of support given to agricultural producers is in excess of India’s product-specific de minimis level of 10 per cent for sugarcane. In addition, subsidies such as the state-level export subsidy for sugar, federal-level assistance and export incentives (raw sugar export incentive scheme), and freight assistance seem inconsistent with the Agreement on Agriculture.
In a major relief to India’s gems & jewellery sector, the government has exempted exhibition jewellery from 3% Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). The Ministry of Finance has clarified that since such an activity is not a supply, it cannot be deemed as “zero rated supply‟ as per the existing IGST provisions.
Amitabh Kant, Niti Aayog’s CEO has opined that India needs to grow over 8% a year to become US$ 5-trillion economy by 2024-25. He also noted that the road to the country's economic growth goes through exports and staunchly advocated for globalizing the economy.
Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur, informed the Lok Sabha that the Government has given ‘in-principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment of 23 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs).
Two TeamLease Services reports anticipate a drop in employment creation in several principal job-creating sectors due to growing automation of key functions and activities. The study also indicates that there has been a rise in the tendency among employers to hire employees with new age skills. Another positive development is that in the short-run, 95% of the employers surveyed expressed an inclination to increase recruitments during these six months.
India has cautioned that the WTO appeals body is in danger of collapsing due to the US continuing to stall the appointment of judges.
US-India bilateral trade is expected to grow to US$ 238 billion by 2025, according to a report by US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).
Hon'ble CIM Shri Piyush Goyal has called a meeting of exporters and officials on July 31 to discuss ways to increase exports to US and China.
A significant chunk of this contribution came from those individuals who migrated from Kerala. Gulf nations (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar & Oman) and the United States continue to drive most of the remittances to India.
Since 2018, the growth in India’s working age population (people between 15 and 64 years of age) is outnumbering the growth in its dependant population. According to famous population studies, such a phase is usually accompanied by a rapid economic growth and is the result of changes in Total Fertility Rate.
According to a notification by the government, companies engaged in backend services related to Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) will now come under the ambit of 18% tax under the GST regime. […]
A trial shipment of 10 tonnes of the ‘Chausa’ variety of mangoes has already been sent by sea through this route. The consignment was sent from Lucknow to Pipavav port in the western state of Gujarat by road, to reach Italy via Spain.
The think tank is of the opinion that space must be given so that the private sector in India can flourish. This could be done by changing the incentive structure pertaining to exports and ensuring greater participation of the country in global value chains.
“China is experiencing its slowest economic growth in the last three decades, so are some of the advanced economies ... if the global economy performs even poorer than we assume, then we may even look at our numbers once again in the next months to come,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s Executive Director said. Oil demand has slowed down in the US as well, the agency noted. While 2.2 million bpd increase was recorded in US last year, the growth estimate for this year is 1.8 million bpd.“China is experiencing its slowest economic growth in the last three decades, so are some of the advanced economies ... if the global economy performs even poorer than we assume, then we may even look at our numbers once again in the next months to come,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s Executive Director said. Oil demand has slowed down in the US as well, the agency noted. While 2.2 million bpd increase was recorded in US last year, the growth estimate for this year is 1.8 million bpd.“China is experiencing its slowest economic growth in the last three decades, so are some of the advanced economies ... if the global economy performs even poorer than we assume, then we may even look at our numbers once again in the next months to come,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s Executive Director said. Oil demand has slowed down in the US as well, the agency noted. While 2.2 million bpd increase was recorded in US last year, the growth estimate for this year is 1.8 million bpd.“China is experiencing its slowest economic growth in the last three decades, so are some of the advanced economies ... if the global economy performs even poorer than we assume, then we may even look at our numbers once again in the next months to come,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s Executive Director said. Oil demand has slowed down in the US as well, the agency noted. While 2.2 million bpd increase was recorded in US last year, the growth estimate for this year is 1.8 million bpd.
Envisioning the same in her maiden budget speech on July 5, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said, “We recognize that investment driven growth requires access to low-cost capital. It is estimated that India requires investments averaging Rs 20 lakh crore every year.”
While the termination of GSP will negatively impact India’s exports to US, it will also have a negative effect on US firms in India as their tax burden will grow by an additional US$ 300 million every year. This could further mean job cuts, scaling down investment plans and more prices for consumers.
“If we don’t fix the problem of talent pool immediately, there will be a point where companies are going to start hiring from each other. That’s going to have a big impact on wages and will redefine the competition landscape for companies,” stated Ms. Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom.
To entice foreign investors, FDI of up to 100% under the automatic route has been allowed in food processing industries. Furthermore, 100% FDI under government route for retail trading is permitted in respect of food products manufactured and/or produced in India.
Introduction of electric buses and taxis could be one step in facilitating consumers’ acceptance towards the use of EVs. Incentives against scrapping of old vehicles, launching EVs in a phased mannner, reducing GST & building public e-charging infrastructure are other ways suggested by TERI Director-General, Mr. Ajay Mathur, to enable this change.
Data suggests that the number of Indian nationals who were issued H1-B visas were: 125,528 in 2018, 129,097 in 2017; 126,692 in 2016; and 119,952 in 2015. H-1B visa has been designed to enable American firms to recruit foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
The Department of Commerce has identified 203 products which could be potentially exported to US. India is already exporting these products to US and is a competitor of China. India must capitalize on these opportunities soon before competitors like Vietnam and Cambodia take advantage.
Falling margins and tariff pressure are making it difficult for these firms to meet their working capital and other operating expenses. These shutdowns have been attributed to flawed policy decisions by states like Tamil Nadu, UP & Rajasthan including failure to honour 20-30% capital incentives and retrospectively cancel net metering.
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, pointed out that thanks to the steps taken by the government, the total bad loans of commercial banks declined by Rs 1.02 lakh crore to Rs 9.34 lakh crores in FY 2018-19. The government designed a comprehensive 4R's strategy for transparent recognition of non-performing assets (NPAs), resolution and recovery of value from stressed assets, recapitalizing public sector banks (PSBs) and restructuring PSBs.
"Designed in the UK - Made in India”can be the new focus area for this partnership. Similarly, in the services sector, India can provide huge technical expertise to British companies," the Minister of Commerce & Industry said. This could go a long way in establishing the 2 nations as preferred source countries in the global supply chain.
In an earlier ruling, World Trade Organization (WTO) had ruled in favour of China, when it filed a case against United States’ anti-subsidy tariffs on its exports. US has not fully complied with the terms laid down by the ruling since it has enforced certain tariffs that are incompatible with the guidelines of the Geneva-based multilateral trade body.
Delay in the arrival of the monsoon and low rates of infections took a toll on the demand for acute therapy products. Low inventory stocking following the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) also contributed to this trend, which intensified in May’19 when the market slowed down to a growth of 7% from an average of 10% in the earlier five months.
India rolled out these subsidies in Setember’18 to incentivise mills for overseas sugar sales and set an export target of 5 million tons for marketing year ending September 30, ’19. This was done with the intention to enable mills to be able to pay the money owed to farmers. Besides launching a transport subsidy, the government has also increased the prices given to cane growers.
In order to check the situation, the"government has also notified 53 Steel and Steel Product (Quality Control) Orders which is applicable for both domestic production as well as imports," said Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Steel. Other measures taken by the government to safeguard the domestic steel industry from unfair external competition include anti-dumping and countervailing duties.
The net balance of private sector companies that were foreseeing output growth dropped from 18% in February to 15% in June. The tri-annual report predicted lesser profits, subdued hiring plans and relatively muted capital expenditure. However, there are hopes of demand pick up, pro-business government policies and a better financial flow improving profitability.
Overall, India’s trade deficit narrowed for the month by 8% to US$ 15.28 billion. Weak indicators on consumption, along with lukewarm private investments also contributed to the slowest growth rate (5.8%) of the economy during January-March’19. Given these numbers, there’s a possibility that the economy could have slowed further during April-June, 2019.
India has clearly stated that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is not a win-win situation for all. One major demand by India pertains to easier mobility for its services professionals across borders under Mode 4. This is yet to be conceded by the members.
India's defence exports are expected to surpass the target of Rs 35,000 crore by 2024-25, according to Shri Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production Department. This exponential growth in defence exports has been attributed to the strong growth in shipments in recent years. He also asserted that the government has been actively involved in giving a boost to the private sector & MSMEs to invest in defence production under the existing production policy. For instance, the Ordinance Factory Board (OFB) had decided to scrap capacity verification for almost 90% of the products, excluding some sensitive items. OFB and defence PSUs are also planning to outsource about 3,000 items to encourage the MSME sector.
The country’s economic growth slowed down to 6.8% in fiscal 2019, the slowest pace of expansion recorded in the last five years. This was accompanied by a decline in the number of deals to 183 from 234 during the same period. Inbound deals were hit too, dropping by 53% to US$ 12 billion; while outbound transactions halved to $1.4 billion in the first 6 months of 2019.
As electronic products are the second largest contributor to the import bill, India wants to capitalize on the prospect created by the Sino-US trade tensions & evolve as an attractive base for manufacturing and exports.
Negotiations on vital matters such as agricultural commodities, e-commerce, and steel and aluminum have been deferred. India’s major concern remains that the US could be planning to push for a major FTA that could hurt India’s competitiveness.
The lack of working capital has prevented companies from capacity expansion and made servicing of existing loans difficult. Sales also continue to be sluggish in India & are said to have been slumped by 20-25% in recent weeks.
This drop has been attributed to reasons like production cuts and closure of plants by major automakers to manage higher inventory costs due to weak demand.
Following the meeting of Indian PM Shri Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in Osaka, Japan, along the sidelines of the G20 Summit, the two nations have announced that they will restart their trade talks.
The government is likely to retain a 24% stake and all attendant shareholder rights available to it under law, instead of opting to remain as a minority financial investor.
According to RBI's Residential Asset Price Monitoring Survey, there was an increase in the house price-to-income ratio in India in the last four years from 56.1 in the March’15 to 61.5 in March’19.
The rupee along with other Asian currencies strengthened against US dollar, touching a high of Rs 68.30. Consequently, the benchmark Sensex rose by 0.42% to 38,720.44 points. So far this year, the index has risen by 7.38%.
This bill enhances the per-country quota on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%. It also eradicates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas.
The higher remuneration of expats could weigh in on India’s image as a pool of talent. Expats are an imperative source of senior talent across numerous sectors.
Of the total overseas direct investment during June’19, US$ 340.28 million was in the form of equity infusion, US$ 222.06 million was through loans and US$258.02 million came in through issuance of guarantee.
The move would go a long way towards establishing India as a lucrative export hub for smartphone companies & reducing the cost of production of iPhones.
Moody’s Investors Service has opined that subdued growth will make fiscal consolidation and raising incomes challenging for the government.
Indian Industry is not convinced that RCEP will create a win-win situation for all by ensuring balanced outcomes in across the key pillars, particularly goods and services.
India's exports to China in May 2019 stood at US$ 1.52 billion, dropping by 7.15%, while Chinese exports have declined by 4.54%, standing at US$ 6.66 billion. Consequently, the bilateral trade in May’19 dropped by a significant 5.04% YoY.
While the bilateral relationship between US & India has bloomed over the years, it has been dented by the row over market access and tariff escalations, leading to fears of a protracted dispute with larger ramifications.
A report by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) titled, ‘Ethnicity Pay Gaps in Great Britain: 2018', reveals that Indians earn 13.47 pounds an hour on an average and are the second highest paid ethnic group in UK, after China. They also have the second highest employment rate of 75.9%, following the Whites.
While in 2017, Canada had admitted nearly 26,300 people from India under the express entry route, in 2018, it awarded PR to 39,677 Indians.
India is the only one of four nations in Asia (tracked by the Global Trade Barometer) to still record an index value of above 50. The growth in India's trade has been attributed to strong ocean trade.
The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) is of the opinion that the hike of 45-70% in import duty on cashew kernels in the budget 2019-20 is a reason to rejoice.
The government has initiated projects to enhance the technology backbone of the Income Tax department resulting in enhanced time-bound services to the taxpayers as well as increase their voluntary compliance.
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das termed the budget’s proposal to infuse ₹70,000 crore of capital into state-run banks as a positive development. Ahead of themonetary policy review on 7 August, he expressed happiness […]
The government is open to reducing its stake in select state-controlled firms to as low as 40%. This is in sync with the government's commitment to disinvestment in the budget.
In line with the announcement on e-verification for angel investors in the budget, the government is planning to roll out a string of measures to make it easier for the startups to do business in the country.
Modern services, food production, information and communication technology and urban solutions are some of the sectors where the FTA could be concluded.
The Centre is expected to forego Rs 3,000 crores revenue annually as a consequence of this move, which covers 99.3% companies filing returns.
Sovereign bond demand will rise, which will appreciate the price of rupee slightly. This might impact India's exports by up to 5 per cent.
The budget'19 announced that the government is considering further opening up of foreign direct investment (FDI) in aviation, media, animation, and the insurance sectors.
Startups and investors who file requisite declarations will not be subjected to any kind of scrutiny by the income tax department with respect to valuation of share premium.
The Government has given a massive push to all forms of physical connectivity & infrastructure development needed for it in the Union Budget’19.
The government’s maiden budget intends to bring the fishermen community under the framework of welfare programmes and social security schemes.
The US argued that India does not enforce these duties on like products originating in the territory of any other WTO member nation.
The Economic Survey 2019-20 sees investment as the "key driver" of simultaneous growth in demand, jobs, exports & productivity.
Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal informed the Parliament that there has been a rise in India’s trade deficit with 25 countries in the last 3 years. These include […]
The government is all set to unveil a new industrial policy in the upcoming Union budget. The policy is expected to revolve around the Make In India theme to re-industrialize […]
Weak sales, competitive pressures and unfavourable taxation have led to a contraction in services sector in June’19 for the first time since May’18.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its nod to higher support prices for kharif, or summer-sown crops. The measure is in accordance with the aim to give farmers 1.5 times the cost of production.
India is likely to get additional US$ 217 million of revenue from the retaliatory tariffs it imposed on 28 American products.
According to data by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, investments in new projects dropped to a 15-year low for the quarter ending June 2019. Indian companies from both the […]
Over the next two years, India will continue to be a net importer of steel according to Fitch Ratings Ltd.’s local unit. This can be attributed to the fact that […]
The government has announced the setting up of an export-promotion forum & trade fair (October 11-13) to support farm cooperatives. The Commerce and Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal, and Agriculture […]
According to the recently released assessment of Central Electricity Authority, coal may account for half of India’s power generation in 2030 despite a boom in solar and wind energy projects. […]
There has been an increase in India’s tea exports to Iran in the first quarter of 2019 to 27.09 million kg despite the prospects of India losing this market due […]
According to the latest trade data, India’s solar imports witnessed a significant year-over-year (YOY) decline in the first quarter (Q1) of 2019. While in Q1, 2018, India imported US$ 1.1 […]
In a bid to encourage consumers to make healthier food choices, the draft regulations of FSSAI have a provision that requires packaged food companies to label sugar content of products. […]
The Ministry of Commerce & Industry has invited stakeholders to offer suggestions for boosting the exports and trade for its new foreign trade policy (2020-25). Given the fact that some […]
According to the recently released official data, there has been a mere 5.1% growth in May’19 in India’s 8 core sectors. This is attributed to slowing growth in coal and […]
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the establishment of a panel for agriculture reforms. The committee would suggest the modalities for adoption and time-bound execution of agriculture sector reforms […]
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) wants to amend the Food Safety and Standards Act so that it gets more jurisdiction over India’s food exports & imports. […]
Kuwaiti government has decided to recognize degrees only if India’s National Board of Accreditation (NBA) approves of the courses they studied.
The possibility of the government getting a fiscal boost from the RBI surplus is pretty slim. The high-level Bimal Jalan panel (which is looking at the economic capital framework) is […]
India has managed to get 3 harmful provisions pertaining to pharmaceuticals and agriculture dropped out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. These provisions related to patent term extensions and data […]
In a bid to entice foreign investors, China’s state planning agency is loosening FDI curbs in numerous sectors. These sectors include petroleum and gas exploration, agriculture, shipping agencies, cinemas and […]
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi held talks with US President Donald Trump ahead of the G-20 Summit. Discussions took place on various bilateral and global issues such as Iran, 5G […]
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, spoke about having better coordination between the Ministries of Commerce & Industry, Road, Civil Aviation and Railways while reviewing the draft […]
The proposal of the Indian Chemical Council to increase duty on raw material has not gone down too well with the plastic industry, which has urged the government to roll […]
In a massive development, India defeated the US at WTO in a case concerning America’s domestic content requirements and subsidies provided by eight states in the renewable energy sector
The Ministry of Finance has instructed banks to appoint a general manager-level official to solve the problems faced by micro and medium enterprises. The move intends to boost the MSME […]
Union Commerce Minister Shri Piyush Goyal informed the Lok Sabha that the government is negotiating the issue of withdrawal of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) status with the US.
The Union Minister of Commerce & industry, Shri Piyush Goyal has decided to exclude data localization norms from the final e-commerce policy. He has left the proposed data...
As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo set his foot on the Indian soil on Tuesday, the Trump administration made a case for India’s adoption of fair and reciprocal trade […]
Coal Minister, Shri Pralhad Joshi, informed the Parliament that India imported 235.2 million tons (MT) of coal in 2018-19 valued at Rs 1.7 lakh crore in FY’19. During the previous […]
According to the World Trade Organization’s 1st Monitoring Report, G20 members have imposed 20 new trade-restrictive measures in last 8 months (between mid-October 2018 and mid-May 2019). Commenting on the […]
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has come out with fresh rules surrounding the logo & tagline use of Geographical Indication. As per the guidelines proposed by […]
Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, & other world leaders will meet US President Mr. Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Japan to hold a discussion over […]
Arvind Panagariya, the first Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog, has stated that export-led growth is imperative for creation of good jobs in India. While the government is focusing on […]
With the aim of attracting investments from Chinese companies, India is mulling over the idea of offering incentives such as preferential tax rates and the tax holiday like the one […]
According to the Team Lease Services biannual ‘Employment Outlook’ report for April-September 2019-20, the logistics sector is expected to add 1.49 lakh new jobs in the April-September period. This implies […]
There has been an augmentation in the exports of India’s readymade garments (RMG), after a 2 year hiatus. Exports of RMG for May’18 rose by 14.05% YoY in May’19 to reach US$ […]
Contrary to India’s enviable position of having established itself as a food basket for the world, there is a possibility of a decrease in its food exports, thanks to the […]
Commerce & Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal, introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha that paves the way for trusts to set up units in special economic zones (SEZs), replacing […]
In the backdrop of the sanctions imposed by it on Iran, US has emerged as a leading source for India’s oil importers. India, touted as the world’s third-biggest oil importer, bought […]
The new transport and marketing assistance scheme for farmers introduced by the Union government in March has been under fire at the World Trade Organization (WTO). According to Australia, the scheme may have flouted a WTO’s Nairobi Ministerial meet decision on curbing such subsidies. The scheme provides assistance for the international component of freight and marketing of agricultural produce which is likely to alleviate the disadvantage of higher transportation charges of export of specified agriculture products in specified overseas markets. These markets include North America, the EU, some countries in South America, China, the ASEAN, New Zealand and Australia.
Along the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, the leaders of BRICS are likely to discuss ways to oppose the "unilateralist" and "protectionist" trade policies of the US. China's Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Jun stated, “Given the current international landscape, the meeting among the three leaders is also of significance. As you know, China's relations with Russia and India are showing sound momentum of growth." Given the fact that US has withdrawn the GSP benefits given to India, China is optimistic that India will support China, which is embroiled in a trade war with US. Talks will also be held on other areas like cooperation on economy, political issues, security and people-to-people exchanges among the grouping to further deepen cooperation and uphold the good momentum of BRICS cooperation, he said.
In the backdrop of the longstanding Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership talks, Malaysia’s PM – Mahathir Mohamad – expressed his desire to conclude the trade pact bereft of India for the time being. According to a recent report by Nikkei Asian Review, China, too, has echoed the same view in the face of the slow progress in bringing India, Australia and New Zealand on board. India has so far not signed on the dotted line of this mega Asia-Pacific trade agreement owing to its reluctance in opening up its markets. The negotiations started in 2013 and involve 16 countries – the 10 Southeast Asian nations and their large trading partners: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia & New Zealand.
In order to keep a check on the spiraling oil prices which have resulted from the US sanctions on Iran, India has resorted to diplomatic channels to address the issue. The recent geopolitical tensions – attacks on oil cargoes in the Gulf region and downing of a US drone by the Islamic Republic – have added to the woes of oil importers in India. These tensions may also drive the freight and insurance costs up. The rising crude prices are a serious cause of concern for India as it imports 84% of its oil needs. In order to ensure a constant supply of oil from the region, India has also deployed warship and aircraft to secure tankers headed to India from the Persian Gulf region.
Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal, informed the Rajya Sabha that there has been a 35% drop in India’s steel exports to the US during FY 2018-19. This can be attributed to US imposition of additional tariff of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminium respectively across the globe (except Mexico & Canada, owing to its security ties). Interestingly, however, there was a 14% increase in the aluminium exported by India to the US. Of late, Washington & New Delhi have levied a string of tit-for-tat tariff measures. For instance, US has revoked India’s status as a beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences. India has hiked tariffs on more than 29 products imported from US.
The US has officially denied that it will put a cap on H1B visas for nations that compel foreign companies to store data locally. This was confirmed by a state […]
President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind stated in a sitting session of both houses that India will announce an industrial policy soon to promote industrial growth and provide jobs. […]
Motorola, which is now owned by Lenovo, is focused on making India an export hub to bolster its thrust towards profitable growth in the country. It is currently exporting around […]
US has cautioned the Indian government that companies found supplying equipment/other products made by the US to Huawei or its units may face punitive action. The letter was sent to the Ministry of […]
The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has admitted that it is critical to give greater importance to the faltering economic growth, as inflation in India well within the monetary policy committee’s […]
Ukraine is optimistic that India's imposition of tariffs on apples and nuts from US will provide it a great opportunity to penetrate the Indian market.
The Indian pharma industry has set a vision to reach US$ 120-130 billion by 2030 from US$ 38 billion presently, according to a report by Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).
The United States is reportedly planning to impose caps on H-1B visas for countries that compel foreign companies to store data locally according to sources, obviously referring to India’s position […]
Growth in India's corporate debt market has been slowing since 2017, and recorded its weakest growth in over a decade at 9.7% in May 2019, according to the Bloomberg Economics index. In comparison..
The Government of India has disapproved the demand by small traders for a regulator in the e-commerce sector. Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal told representatives of small traders during […]
India could reduce the goods and services tax (GST) on electric vehicles (EVs) from 12% to 5% to boost the sector. The proposal to this effect is expected to be considered by […]
The Indian government could do away with the import duty on liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the upcoming Union Budget to be presented in July. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry […]
China is reportedly proposing a new Asian free trade agreement without India, a development that exposes significant strains in negotiations over the 16-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. According to the […]
The apple industry in Washington has affirmed that retaliatory tariffs by India on US apples will have a severe impact on exports. The state expects exports to India to slow […]
India’s defence exports have increased by over 100% YoY to reach Rs 10,745 crore in 2018-19 from Rs 4,682 crore in 2017-18 , led by policy liberalisation and access to the […]
California Senator Dianne Feinstein has strongly criticised US President Donald Trump for “damaging” trade ties with India. Her statement carries significance especially in context of India’s retaliatory tariff imposition on 29 […]
India’s workforce under flexi-staffing (provided through contractors to various employers) has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3% to reach 3.3 million in 2018 as opposed to 2.1 […]
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has affirmed that President Donald Trump is ready to impose additional tariffs on the remaining US$ 300 billion worth of imports from China if the […]
Farm support initiatives by India and US have been questioned by other WTO members in their questions submitted to the organisation’s quarterly agriculture committee meeting. Both US President Donald Trump and […]
In a meeting with e-commerce companies, Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal asserted that the Government of India will not allow multi-brand retailing by foreign companies. He added that they […]
Global rating agency Fitch Ratings has cut its India’s GDP growth forecast for the second consecutive time to 6.6% for the current fiscal. It had earlier cut its forecast from […]
The UK-India Business Council (UKIBC) has asked the Government of India to review its norms for investment in multi-brand retail to boost FDI in the politically sensitive sector. Currently, India […]
The Pellet Manufacturers’ Association has sent a written request to the Prime Minister’s Office for an increase in export duty on iron ore from 30% to 50%. The association is […]
A study by the Commerce Ministry has concluded that India can boost exports in at least 354 items, ranging from capital goods to base metals as a result of the […]
India’s total exports (merchandise and services combined) in April-May 2019-20* are estimated at US$ 92.33 billion, growing by 4.32% YoY, according to latest figures released by the Department of Commerce. Imports for the period are estimated at US$ […]
India has decided to levy retaliatory tariffs on 29 US products after the latter removed India from the GSP regime. The tariffs became effective on Sunday, June 16. 2019. A […]
India has introduced a new proposal at the WTO to protect its rights to provide subsidies to small and artisanal fishers in the country. In this proposal, India has suggested […]
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has increased the minimum import price (MIP) for broken cashew to Rs 680/kg from Rs 288/kg. The price of whole cashew has also been raised to Rs 720/kg […]
India’s sugar output is projected to fall by as much as 15% in 2019-20 due to the onset of severe drought in the major sugar growing regions. This will lessen […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised to further simplify regulations for import of certain goods from India to address the trade imbalance between the two countries. He said this during […]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged India to open up its economy and “diversify” its energy portfolio, adding that countries that provided American companies with access to their local markets […]
The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is preparing for implementation of new packaging regulations, which will be effective from July 1, 2019. Successful implementation of these regulations will need integrated […]
India’s factory output showed an expansion in April to reach a six-month peak. Statistics from NSO show that the index of industrial production (IIP) expanded at a rate of 3.4% […]
India is expected to secure a place for itself among the top 20 countries for outbound FDI by the end 2019, according to a survey of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) conducted by the United […]
According to official sources, the Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal has studied India’s past FTAs in detail and the extent of gain it has provided to […]
India’s cashew exports have dropped to a two-decade low in 2018-19, falling by 20% YoY to 66,693 tonnes and by 24% YoY in value terms to Rs 4,434 crore. Export quantities […]
The government is planning to take urgent measures to curb the import of defective/sub-standard steel in the interest of domestic manufacturers. The issue was discussed at a high level meeting […]
Mr Keith Rockwell, Director of Information & External Relations, WTO, has struck a note of caution on the ongoing hostilities in the global trade environment. He warned that in case […]
A weak supply situation has led to a steep rise in the price of onions and compelled the government to revoke 10% export incentives on the vegetable. Last December, amidst […]
India and China held discussions on the deadlock in RCEP negotiations on June 10 and 11, led by Commerce Secretary Shri Anup Wadhawan and Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang […]
India is ranked 4th among the top overseas investment destinations for London technology companies over the past decade, according to official data released by London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s […]
India has prepared a list of 85 countries for export promotion of military equipment where it wants to promote its defence equipment. It has empowered its defence attaches to show […]
Singapore has overtaken the US as the most competitive economy globally in the IMD World Competitiveness annual ranking. Hong Kong SAR took the second position followed by the US at […]
US President Donald Trump has demanded that India must bring down import duties on American goods. In particular, he stressed that the duty on motorcycles must be reduced to zero, […]
Ahead of the meeting between Indian PM Shri Narendra Modi and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), China has welcomed India […]
US President Donald Trump continues to staunchly defend his deal with Mexico, wherein he backed off from a threat of 5% tariffs in return for Mexico promising to control the […]
Pepper exports in India are expected to witness a steep fall from 16,840 tonnes in 2017-18, which was in itself a relatively low figure. The reason is a drop in […]
India’s gems & jewellery exports have been witnessing a declining trend of late due to the twin challenges of slowing international demand and weak liquidity in the Indian market. According […]
Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, emphasised on the importance of preserving the essential principles of the WTO in its reform process. He stated, “India believes that the […]
India’s Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman urged G20 countries to resolve the issue of taxation of profits by digital companies in countries where they do not have a significant physical […]
Indian rice and soya bean exporters have been unable to sign contracts with Iran owing to the ambivalence after US ended the waiver on sanctions against Iran. They requested the […]
Indian IT firms are likely to face a volatile situation in the near future w.r.t. the banking and financial services, which account for a major share of the tech services business. […]
Despite the fact that the rupee has been appreciating, there has been a 6% growth between January’19 & March’19 in India’s containerised exports, according to a report by Maersk India. […]
Minister of Road Transport Shri Nitin Gadkari, has suggested a move to cleaner automobiles – electric vehicles – and called for a wider consultation of stakeholders to facilitate this change. This move […]
India’s steel consumption is expected to increase by 5-6% in 2019, according to CARE Ratings. This growth will be driven by the government’s resolve to spend on infrastructure and construction. […]
Addressing the Board of Trade and the Council of Trade Development and Promotion, Mr. Piyush Goyal stressed on the need to slash export subsidies and increase competitiveness. “Let us look at […]
According to the findings of a recent McKinsey report, nearly one-quarter of all women employed across the globe could be replaced by automation. Correspondingly, 163 million men (21%), could face […]
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points while switching its policy stance from neutral to accommodative. The reverse repo rate under […]
The Government of India is exploring the possibility of bringing down export subsidies and is instead looking for ways to boost infrastructure, the flow of credit and enhance insurance. These […]
As per data computed by Tea Board India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India’s tea exports increased by 11.5% to 17.93 million kg in April’19 as compared to 16.08 million […]
Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry is looking to revamp the Ministry to propel India’s exports, according to a report published in TOI. The plans will include expanding […]
India is likely to catapult itself to the position of the 5th largest economy this year and outperform United Kingdom, reaching a total GDP size exceeding US$ 3 trillion. It will […]
The termination of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits by the US could have a relatively marginal impact on Indian pharmaceutical companies that export drugs to the US. Dinesh Dua, […]
The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed changes to the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSS Act), seeking to bring export consignments within its purview. The […]
Netflix’s first Indian animation show for children, ‘Mighty Little Bheem’, has become a global sensation. The second most watched show in the world on Netflix, after ‘Boss Baby: Back in […]
A slowdown in demand in developed markets of the world has led to gems & jewellery exports declining by 5.32% YoY in to US$ 30.1 billion in 2018-19, according to […]
Amidst the fears of economic slowdown driven by the annual growth for FY 2018-19 and quarterly growth figures (January-March, 2019) hitting a 5 year low, there is a sign of […]
Due to the influx of foreign currency, the Indian Rupee has emerged as the top performing currency in Asia over the last 3 months. The election of Mr. Modi as […]
The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has allowed smaller firms (those with a turnover of 1.5 crore or lower) to download a software that would help them move ahead […]
US has put an end to benefits available to India under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The move came after the US administration concluded that India has not committed […]
Coal imports by India and China reached multi-year highs in May 2019, despite the shift being made towards renewable sources. Together, they accounted for a share of over 50% of […]
Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal has been appointed as the Honourable Union Minister for Food Processing Industries for the second time under the Narendra Modi government. She made her debut in […]
Shri Piyush Goyal has been appointed as the Minister of Commerce and Industry in the newly elected Modi government. He will also assume the charge of the Railways Ministry. Shri Goyal […]
Despite its desire to build warm relations with the newly elected Indian government, the Trump administration is steadfast on removing India from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) due to […]
The Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) has been ratified by the parliaments of 24 countries after removal of a procedural hurdle. So far, 52 nations are on board vis-à-vis […]
Japan and South Korea accounted for an overwhelming 57% of India’s steel imports (pegged at 630,000 tonnes) in April 2019, compared to 45% in the previous month. Imports from Japan […]
The US has removed India’s name from its list of currency manipulators globally, showing confidence in India’s forex policies and clearing it of alleged involvement in measures like currency devaluation […]
Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade is planning to come up with a strategic roadmap to boost India’s exports via the e-commerce route. The policy will reportedly incorporate […]
India’s e-pharma market is projected to reach a size of US$ 2.7 billion by 2023 from US$ 360 million currently, according to a report by consulting firm E&Y. According to […]
The US International Trade Commission has concluded that glycine imports from countries like India, China and Japan are damaging the interests of the US industry. The Commission has inferred that […]
The Indian pharmaceutical industry is eagerly looking forward to new avenues in the wake of the US-China trade war. Though Chinese regulations are quite complex, the industry is preparing to […]
India climbed up one place to 43rd most competitive economy in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, owing to its robust economic growth, a large labour force and huge market size. […]
The Process Plant and Machinery Association of India (PPMAI) has expressed concern over the rise in imports of metals and capital goods due to India’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with countries like […]
In its 100-day agenda for the new government, the Commerce and Industry Ministry has proposed formation of a separate department for trade facilitation and logistics, to facilitate better coordination among […]
FY’19 saw FDI equity inflows dropping by 1% to US$ 44.4 billion, the first decline over the past 6 years, according to data released by the Department for Promotion of […]
US, Japan & EU have pleaded to WTO to amend the rule on farm subsidies, in the backdrop of the claims of under-reporting of farm subsidies. According to the WTO […]
Coconut product exports are set to cross Rs 2,000 crore in value terms in FY 2019 due to higher prices for activated carbon in the international market. Till January 2019, […]
India’s aluminium exporters are jittery about China’s plans to curtail aluminium imports from July. Furthermore, there is speculation that China will dump aluminium in India due to its trade war […]
The Government plans to do away with Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) – that subsidizes exports – which has been challenged by US in the World Trade Organization (WTO). […]
The Ministry of Commerce & Industry has promulgated a new set of product-specific regulations pertaining to India’s exports. A ready reckoner for exporters, the draft policy intends to consolidate the […]
In the wake of the surge in garment imports from Bangladesh, Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) has made a case for sourcing clothing requirements from within the country instead of importing. […]
Alleging currency undervaluation, US has added the India to its list of economies to watch out for unfair practices and macroeconomic policies. The semi-annual report on US’ trade partners’ macroeconomic […]
India’s mango growing regions – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat & South India – have succumbed to the adversities caused by vagaries in weather. Furthermore, low production & increased logistical costs, […]
At a recent informal gathering of select trade ministers in Paris, India has emphasised that it “cannot agree to any approach which undermines the centrality of the development dimension in […]
Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal has suggested that the Reform Agenda 2.0 should focus on turning India into an export and private sector driven economy. He further affirmed during an […]
In the backdrop of continued uncertainty over Brexit, Theresa May has announced her decision to step down as Britain’s Prime Minister on 7th June, 2019. She stated, “I will resign as leader […]
According to estimates by the Paris-based think-tank Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), India’s GDP growth lead over China is expected to increase in the coming years. Despite the […]
Even though the US government sees Huawei, the second-largest smartphone maker in the world, as “very dangerous”, US President Donald Trump sees the possibility of its inclusion in the trade talks […]
In a move aimed at protecting its domestic rice cultivators from the competition posed by neighbouring countries like India, Bangladesh has decided to nearly double its import duty to 55%. […]
A High Level Committee of companies has submitted short-term, medium-term & long-term strategies to reduce India’s rapidly swelling oil imports to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. In 2018, […]
Fearing payment defaults in the light of the sanctions imposed by UN on Iran, Indian exporters have withheld shipments of Basmati rice to Iran. The ambiguity over trade with Iran […]
Surat-based textile exporters are highly optimistic regarding potential gains from the US-China trade agreement in fabric and readymade garment exports to the US. According to Synthetic & Rayon Export Promotion […]
A Mumbai Customs directive has laid down new procedures for importing rough diamonds, which seek details on origin, size, shape, type, colour and clarity of diamonds from overseas. The fact […]
In the month of April’19, India has registered an 18% hike (US$ 9.8 billion) in its oil import bill in value terms and by 14% (19.7 million tonnes) in quantity […]
With iron ore fetching US$ 100 per ton, the highest in the last 5 years in the international markets, India’s exports of lower grade iron ore could increase. According to […]
New investments in the Indian economy have continued to decline for the fourth consecutive year in 2018-19. The previous fiscal saw new investments at Rs 9.76 trillion, compared to Rs […]
According to UN’s recent World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 Mid-year Update, the Indian economy will grow at 7.0% in 2019, in comparison to 7.2% growth registered last year. […]
US has requested the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to allow it to participate in consultations between India & Japan on the tariffs levied on IT products on the grounds that […]
WTO foresees continued sluggishness in global trade growth during the second quarter of the current financial year due to the escalating tensions in the ensuing tariff spat between US & […]
Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) has expressed concerns over the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as it could lead to a flooding of imported goods in Indian markets. According […]
The imposition of tariffs on China’s textiles has created an opportunity for Indian textile manufacturers, according to a report by the Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry (CITI). The tariff hike by the […]
India is being perceived as a major market by Taiwan. This is attributed to a string of developments such as the New South Policy (2016), the current China-US trade tensions […]
In the light of the ongoing trade friction between US & China & the likely dumping of aluminium & copper products in India, industry insiders cautioned the government about the […]
In order to promote the level of indigenous content in defence equipment procured by the Indian Armed Forces, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is rolling out a new policy. The […]
Changing consumption patterns in China have led Indian cashew producers to regard China as a potential market. However, there is one stumbling block in this development – unlike Vietnam & […]
The current tax exemptions on e-transmissions are costing India around US$ 500 million every year, according to a research paper by UNCTAD. The paper estimates a total loss of around […]
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, is championing the cause of framing preferential norms for India, akin to those offered to China, in order to give an impetus to India’s […]
Thanks to the surging garment exports, India & Poland became major export destinations for Bangladesh, in addition to 9 other economies in 2018-19. According to the data collated by Export […]
In the financial year 2018-19, India recorded a trade deficit with as many as 11 out of 16 member nations of planned Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). While India had a […]
According to an analysis by Indian Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), the trade spat between US & China will lead to the latter dumping its products at predatory rates in emerging markets, including […]
The US has removed Turkey from the list of nations getting benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), as threatened by it earlier in March. Turkey was the fifth […]
Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) has urged the government to stop the illegal import of refined soyabean oil and palmolein from Nepal at zero customs duty. This concession, which […]
Amazon, with the help of Souq, a Dubai-based e-commerce company, will allow India’s online vendors to export their products to the UAE. This move is likely to trigger an increase […]
The year 2018-19 saw a 31% increase in the export of grapes to Europe, one of the most premium markets for the product. Within Europe, the prominent destinations for India’s […]
The period during April 2018-February 2019 saw an increase in garment imports by 47% to US$ 1 billion and a 5% decrease in exports as per the data collated by […]
In a move that could possibly escalate the US-China trade war, the Trump administration has imposed heavy sanctions on Chinese telecom equipment major Huawei, even as treasury secretary Mr Steve Mnuchin […]
According to the estimates of All India Sugar Traders’ Association, sugar mills have only exported 56% of their minimum indicative export quota (2.8 million tons out of 5 million tons) […]
With a number of South East Asian and the Gulf countries expressing an interest in BrahMos, India is all set to commence the export of this supersonic cruise missile later […]
The OECD Services Trade Restrictive Index (STRI) report for 2018 has evaluated a total of 45 economies (36 OECD and the rest non-OECD) and 22 sectors. According to the report, […]
The Union Ministry of Textiles has forecast a 10% increase YoY in jute production for the year 2019-20. While the final estimates for 2018-19 were 72 lakh bales; estimates for […]
India’s total exports (merchandise + services) are estimated to have grown by 1.34% YoY in April 2019 to reach US$ 44.06 billion, according to latest estimates released by the Department […]
The grounding of the 120-strong fleet of Jet Airways as a repercussion of the financial woes facing the international carrier, is now impacting exports of Alphonso mangoes to Europe & […]
Indian steel makers are apprehensive that with the increase in tariffs by US, China could dump large quantities of steel into the Indian market. The industry has asked the Government […]
The Government of India has further delayed its plans to levy retaliatory import duties on 29 US products till June 16. India planned to levy these duties on American products […]
Japan has accused India of advancing its interests by fostering domestic production and adjusting various taxes, including custom duties, under the Make in India project. While WTO membership terms specified […]
In continuation of the simmering trade war between US and China, the US Trade Representative (USTR) proposed to increase tariffs levied on 3,805 Chinese imports, pegged at about US$ 300 billion. […]
The Indian economy witnessed a hike in consumer price index (CPI) based inflation, which rose from 2.86% in March’19 to 2.92% in April’19, the fastest growth over the past six […]
Seven leading Indian pharmaceutical firms including Sun Pharma, Cadila Healthcare and Wockhardt are facing litigation in the US for alleged collusion in price fixing. The lawsuit includes 20 companies, led […]
Indian exporters of goods and services as well as suppliers to SEZ units are expected to receive GST refunds automatically from the coming month, according to an official source. So […]
Addressing the World Trade Organization Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi, Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, opined that “the crisis in the Appellate Body threatens to bring back power […]
Retaliating to the U.S. government’s decision to increase tariffs on US$ 200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10% to 25%, China will hike tariffs on US$ 60 billion worth […]
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ (SIAM) findings suggest that the sales of passenger vehicles have plummeted in April’19 by 17% YoY to reach 247,541 units, the worst fall in […]
Basmati rice prices have fallen by around 5% over the past two weeks due to uncertainty regarding the impact of US sanctions on Iran. Exporters have asked the government for […]
India is hosting a 2-day WTO Ministerial meeting starting today in New Delhi to discuss and build consensus on various issues. A meeting between senior officials of participating countries is being held […]
India’s first export shipment to Afghanistan of around 500 tons of rice has reached Chabahar, according to Mr Khan Jan Alokozay, deputy chairman of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries. […]
Vice President of India Mr Venkaiah Naidu asked Vietnamese President Mr Nguyễn Xuân Phúc to facilitate the entry of Indian pharma players in Vietnam. He assured Mr Phúc that Indian players have the capability […]
The US duty hike on US$ 200 billion worth of Chinese imports came into effect today. US President Donald Trump has said that this is important to ensure that China […]
Industry body FICCI has released a research report with consulting firm Matt MacDonald which concludes that most free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by India have not helped the chemical and […]
India has imported an additional 27,000 tonnes of non-genetically modified (GM) corn from Ukraine at US$ 205/tonne (CIF) according to sources. This procurement became necessary as India faced a shortage due […]
EEPC India has asked the Reserve Bank of India to help Indian exporters in a scenario where US-China trade tensions are increasing, crude prices are unstable and forex markets are subject […]
Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan and General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) Vice-Minister Li Guo signed a protocol for exports of Indian chilli meal to China on Thursday. This is […]
China has threatened to retaliate if US President Donald Trump goes ahead with his plan to increase tariffs on US$ 200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%. Trade delegations […]
The Indian edible oil industry is worried about the possible impact that US sanctions on Iran could have on exports of oilmeal. Due to the prevailing uncertainty, they are apprehensive […]
India has responded to US demands for removing 20% duties on imports of seven ICT products that also include high-end cell phones. While this would benefit US exporters, India asserts […]
Officials from the Department of Commerce will be meeting a delegation from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) today to discuss ways to bring down India’s trade deficit […]
The world’s rich are erring on the side of caution by increasing their cash holdings, according to a recent Quarterly Investor Sentiment survey by UBS. The survey reveals that cash […]
The IDC Asia/Pacific Semiannual Services Tracker – 2H 2018 has projected that the Indian IT & Business Services market will grow by 8.8% annually to reach US$ 13.1 billion by […]
A report by global audit and consulting firm FinExpertiza reveals that Russia’s trade with its BRICS partners– Brazil, India, China, and South Africa – reached US$125 billion during the previous […]
India’s cotton imports are estimated to be twice their value in 2018-19 compared to the previous year to an unprecedented 3.1 million bales. This is owing to the drop in […]
The Cashew Export Promotion Council has requested the government to restrict illegal imports of cashew kernels, which have caused the shutdown of over 50% of Indian factories and job losses […]
According to data on tanker arrivals viewed by Reuters, India’s imports of oil from Iran dropped by 57% year-on-year in April 2019. Average oil imports from Iran were at 277,600 […]
India’s largest drug maker Sun Pharma is confident of scaling up its business in the US$ 160 billion Chinese pharmaceutical market over the next 6-9 months. China has embarked on a huge multi-city drug procurement programme across cities,
The demand-supply scenario for steel in India during the previous fiscal year indicates that steel imports are expected to grow in the coming months. While steel consumption grew by 7.5% YoY in 2018-19 to 97.54 million MT
India’s Services PMI touched a 7-month low to reach 51 in April 2019, as compared to 52 in March. The decline signified slower increase in new businesses and growth in output.
After ending the waiver period for sanctions on oil imports from Iran, the US has been trying to export more of its shale oil to India. But India, which is looking for alternative sources to supplement the shortage,
Speaking at the 11th edition of Trade Winds Business Forum & Mission hosted by the US Department of Commerce, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has cautioned India against imposing any retaliatory tariffs on US exports.