BUSINESS
Customs duty inversions on key items may be corrected in Budget
The commerce ministry has sent a list of items to the finance ministry to correct the inverted structure in the customs duty levied on certain items.
BUSINESS
Agri talks a no-go for India at WTO meet without public stockholding solution
The Indian government official cited above said that some WTO members have raised concerns over India's Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme on key agricultural products, as well as the recent export restrictions on commodities such as rice citing that it distorts market prices.
BUSINESS
India may buy more crude oil from Iraq if Red Sea crisis escalates: Official
For a seamless flow of crude oil, India is betting on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passage through which most of the commodity is exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait, and Iraq, for Asian buyers.
BUSINESS
India using rupees to pay for gold imports from UAE: Govt source
The rupee settlement of trade between India and the UAE assumes significance, given that the two countries signed an MoU in July 2023 to set up a framework to use their respective local currencies to settle bilateral transactions.
BUSINESS
Red Sea crisis fallout may show up in India's January trade data: Official
The Red Sea strait is crucial for 30 percent of global container traffic and 12 percent of global trade. About 80 percent of India's merchandise trade with Europe passes through this route.
BUSINESS
India's goods trade gap narrowed to $19.8 billion in Dec, exports growth turns positive
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said, "India is beating the global trends in trade. And we expect higher volumes of exports in the last quarter of the current fiscal."
BUSINESS
MC CEO Survey: 98% of India Inc. optimistic about business sentiment in the country
The survey showed that 47.2 percent of CEOs were optimistic, and nearly 51 percent were cautiously optimistic about current economic trends. Additionally, nearly 70 percent of Indian businesses plan to make fresh investments in the next six months amid stronger corporate and bank balance sheets and the government’s capital expenditure push.
BUSINESS
India Inc CEO Survey: 53% believe India will soon become a competitive manufacturing hub
Global giants, including Tesla, are said to be betting on India becoming a key manufacturing hub. Such companies have been exploring opportunities to set up factories here, as then they can also take advantage of the country’s growing domestic market.
BUSINESS
Ensure laptop import policies do not restrict trade: US tells India
US Trade Representative Ambassador Tai raised the issue of India’s new import requirements for computers, tablets and servers. In response, Commerce Minister Goyal described the objectives behind implementing these policies, including national security concerns
BUSINESS
Exclusive: Red Sea attacks compel at least 65% of Indian exports shipments to Europe to take longer routes, sources say
The Indian government has asked exporters to focus on markets in the east such as Australia in a bid to avoid higher costs as well as security issues associated with sending their outbound shipments to Europe following the spate of attacks on vessels taking the Red Sea route.
BUSINESS
India won't resume FTA talks with Canada anytime soon as solution eludes Khalistan issue: Source
India may consider restarting talks on a free trade deal if there is a change of guard after the federal elections in Canada in October 2025. New Delhi has asserted that Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s government has been lenient towards pro-Khalistan violence, an issue that the former has raised consistently over the past few years.
BUSINESS
Rolls-Royce, IPR, to Khalistani extremism in focus as Defence Minister Rajanth Singh visits UK
Singh’s visit to the UK, a first for an Indian defence minister since 2002, is expected to include discussions on a wide range of issues, including security and industrial cooperation. New Delhi’s relations with London are guided by the India-UK Strategic Partnership, part of an agreed-upon 2030 roadmap between the two nations.
INDIA
Exclusive: Suez Crisis: India mulls subsidies for exporters facing higher shipping costs, says source
India is worried that the attacks on cargo ships passing through the Red Sea route could particularly impact its agricultural exports to Europe.
BUSINESS
Budget 2024: GDP growth-tax collections relationship is now complicated
The finance ministry makes its projections for next year's tax collections based on how fast it thinks the Indian economy will grow in nominal terms. But if the experience of 2023-24 is anything to go by, the relationship that existed between the two seems to have become more complicated and could present a challenge in crunching the numbers for the 2024-25 interim Budget
BUSINESS
India to become $4 trn economy before 2024 elections: Piyush Goyal
Goyal said that in 2-2.5 years, India will become a $5 trillion economy. This figure is crucial since PM Narendra Modi in 2019 gave a clarion call for the country to achieve this target by 2024.
BUSINESS
India mulls import duty concessions on some petroleum, plastic items in FTA with Oman: Source
In 2022-23, India's merchandise exports to Oman were valued at $4.5 billion, with New Delhi supplying 6.6 percent of the West Asian nation’s imports
BUSINESS
Former NITI VC Arvind Panagariya is chairman of 16th Finance Commission
The order notified the formation of the 16th Finance Commission and listed Panagariya as its chief, but a notification for the appointment of other panel members would be issued separately.
BUSINESS
India's pharma, electronics sectors emerge key beneficiaries of Australia trade pact
India-Australia FTA: The India, Australia Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into force on December 29, 2022, has completed a year. The two nations are currently looking to expand the existing pact to an ambitious Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA).
BUSINESS
India hopes to close talks for 3 trade deals, including UK before general elections: Source
With talks for the India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement largely concluded, authorities expect talks for the deal to close in January 2024. As for the UK-India FTA, the 14th round of talks is scheduled for next month
BUSINESS
No fresh trade pacts in 2023, but India could clinch Oman, UK FTAs in early 2024
According to GTRI’s Srivastava, India’s “Look West” policy will dominate its export strategy in 2024. Apart from that, new and emerging matters such as digital trade and sustainability will also be a key aspect of FTA talks going ahead
BUSINESS
Modi budget at 10: Did the Make-in-India Gir Lion roar?
While the Production-Linked Incentive scheme has done wonders for a handful of sectors, including electronics manufacturing, in many others, investments have been sluggish. In fact, the commerce ministry is working on reviewing the scheme to ensure better utilisation across sectors.
BUSINESS
Freebie culture: Political parties may not believe in fiscal discipline, but governments do: Montek Singh Ahluwalia
The veteran economist said that history shows that while political parties may make fiscally risky promises to win elections, they become more disciplined in government.
BUSINESS
Bilateral FTAs no solution, India needs to ink trade pacts with multi-nation blocs: Montek Singh Ahluwalia
In an interview to Moneycontrol, the former Deputy Chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission said that he sees merit in India joining RCEP despite China’s presence in the mega trade pact.
BUSINESS
India needs to lower import duties to gain from global supply chain shift, says Montek Singh Ahluwalia
According to Ahluwalia, India cannot latch on to global supply chains if the country insist on maintaining higher import duties compared to other East Asian countries.
