BUSINESS
India's merchandise trade deficit narrows to $20.98 billion in June
While exports fell 7.7 percent from May to $35.20 billion in June, imports declined at a faster pace of 9.25 percent to $56.18 billion.
BUSINESS
India’s ‘TOP’ vegetables could spoil its disinflation party
Even as some see retail inflation moderating in June, a spike in the cost of tomatoes and onion and its impact on the food index could dampen the exuberance of any fall in the headline figure.
BUSINESS
Trade Minister Piyush Goyal to visit Switzerland on EFTA's $100-billion FDI promise
"I am off to Switzerland on Sunday to take forward the EFTA commitment of $100 billion in FDI investment and thereby a million jobs due to that investment," Goyal said adding that India could get more than the committed amount, if the country is more forthcoming.
BUSINESS
"Struggling to prepare" Jan Vishwas 2.0, Piyush Goyal says citing lack of ideas from India Inc
Speaking at an event on July 10 in New Delhi, Goyal said that the government is working on making the India investment journey easier by reducing compliance burden and decriminalisation of laws. However, he raised concerns over fewer ideas from the industry on this.
BUSINESS
Government looking at incentive-linked scheme to spur jobs with focus on MSMEs
The idea is to design a programme that can enable the participation of the MSME sector, which has been struggling since the covid pandemic and has often complained that PLI scheme is targeted at big industry
BUSINESS
Modi-Putin meet: India needs a solution for the ballooning trade gap with Russia
From being India's ninth largest import source nation in May 2022, Russia now occupies second place. But when it comes to exports, Moscow ranks a distant 25th.
BUSINESS
India’s e-commerce policy likely to be on backburner amid sluggish FDI inflows
Latest data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade revealed that India’s net FDI inflows contracted 3.5 percent year-on-year in FY24 to $44.42 billion, the lowest in five years.
BUSINESS
PLI scheme overhaul plan includes quarterly disbursals, addition of vaccines, chemicals
The government is also mulling bringing new sectors into the fold of the incentive-linked plan such as toys, footwear, chemicals, and vaccines. Apart from this, there are plans to bring in another PLI scheme for electronics.
INDIA
Announce BPCL refinery for Andhra Pradesh in Budget 2024, Naidu tells Centre
The Andhra Pradesh government said the establishment of the refinery in the state “will augur well for increasing the refinery capacity of the country” and will help India in becoming a developed nation.
INDIA
India may review rice export ban in September if the rain gods smile
The rainfall deficit in June is not likely to impact rice production given that most of the sowing happens in July and August. However, the distribution of the monsoon in July-September will be crucial for rice production.
BUSINESS
Labour Party win paves the way for inking India-UK FTA by Oct with minor tweaks
However, with the change in regime in the UK, a few minor adjustments in the trade pact on matters such as curtailing number of visas for India professionals are likely, said GTRI's founder Ajay Srivastava.
BUSINESS
Govt, RBI mull giving e-commerce players up to 15 months for FX payment realisation
Easing the RBI's FEMA guidelines in this regard would benefit e-commerce players which, in addition to selling directly to consumers, also export goods, store them in warehouses abroad, and sell them after a year or more
BUSINESS
Neither conservative, nor optimistic, realistic tax targets in Budget 2024 is key to fiscal prudence
Given that Budget 2024 is expected to deliver more on welfare, the government may want to be more accurate with its revenue projections in a bid to design public expenditure better.
BUSINESS
India may grant PLI-led visas for Chinese experts for only up to 6 months
The idea is to fast-track visas for Chinese technicians for shorter durations so that Indian workers can be trained by them on how to use the parts and machineries sourced from Beijing. This move comes amid delays in facilitating entry of such vendors involved in projects, especially ones pertaining to the PLI scheme.
BUSINESS
Govt may discontinue monthly GST releases; shorter statement on the cards
The finance ministry may alter the way it presents GST collections data on the first day of every month, and replace the earlier detailed format of the statement with a more succinct version.
BUSINESS
Ban on India's sugar exports may stay in place till at least October: Official
Despite the restrictions, however, the average retail price for a kilogram of sugar on the last day of June was slightly higher than what prevailed on the same day a year earlier.
BUSINESS
India bets on higher foreign inflows, lower borrowing costs on the eve of JP Morgan bond index inclusion
Indian sovereign bonds will become part of JP Morgan’s Global Government Bond Index – Emerging Market (GBI-EM) on June 28, concluding decade-long efforts to secure the inclusion and attract more foreign fund inflows. While this development promises higher FPI participation and lower domestic borrowing costs, it also raises concerns about “hot money” flows.
TECHNOLOGY
Flipkart stops sellers from changing prices of items in alleged violation of FDI policy
According to sources close to the developments, Flipkart might be preventing price changes as a strategy to force sellers to pass on the benefits of lower commissions — charged to sellers in its new rate card — to consumers
BUSINESS
Andhra to submit revised cost proposal to restart Amaravati, Polavaram projects to Centre
The Naidu government plans to request the Centre to resume payments under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, said to be halted during the YSR Congress Party's tenure. This after estimating the inflation-adjusted cost required to restart these projects.
BUSINESS
Amid limited revenue options, states may resist fuel inclusion in GST
Jet fuel and natural gas are more likely to be included under GST than petrol and diesel, given their minimal revenue impact on states.
BUSINESS
Indian exporters may face higher costs once EU's ecodesign norms kick in
Higher compliance costs could eat into the price advantage Indian exporters currently enjoy. However, there are still two years to understand the broad contours and adapt to the new norms.
BUSINESS
Fading Russian oil discounts adding to India's widening trade deficit woes
India's goods trade deficit widened to a seventh-month high of $23.78 billion in May. One of the leading causes for the higher gap was a significant jump in the oil import bill. And, one of the reasons for this jump is more expensive Russian oil purchases.
BUSINESS
Govt may hike exemption limit under new tax regime to Rs 5 lakh; relief unlikely for the rest
The government may not tinker with rates under the old tax regime despite requests to increase the threshold for the highest tax slab to Rs 20 lakh. This is to ensure that more people are incentivised to move towards the new regime that discourages exemptions and rebates.
BUSINESS
Commerce ministry's 100-day agenda includes FTA with Oman, SOP for trade talks
Speaking of FTAs, the commerce ministry, on June 14, said that outstanding issues around the trade deal with UK will be resolved once the general elections in Britain are over.
