ECONOMY
Exclusive | Upcoming Economic Survey may bat for more PLI schemes
Released by a day before the Union budget is unveiled, the Economic Survey provides broad policy directions for the economy and is known for introducing major policies such as doubling farmers’ income, mobile-based development, as well as contentious ideas such as universal basic income.
ECONOMY
SC verdict on Devas yet again shows how Congress did scams: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
The Supreme Court had junked an appeal by Devas Multimedia, which sought to quash an earlier NCLT ruling that ordered the shutdown of the firm for fraud and cheating Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO.
ECONOMY
Budget 2022: Commerce ministry seeks more budget allocations for district export initiative
The Districts as Exports Hubs initiative maps exports from all 748 districts in the country, and aims to push unique products from each through targeted government support and investments.
BUSINESS
Government may increase cover for MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme
Officials say expanding the credit guarantee amount for each MSME, currently Rs 2 crore, has been a long-term suggestion.
BUSINESS
Officials rule out company specific incentives for Tesla
Tesla wants the government to reduce the import duty on foreign cars, before it sells its e-vehicles in India. But the Centre is not keen on changing policies for a single company, sources say.
WORLD
India and UK officially launch FTA negotiations, eye early-2023 deadline
While both governments remain enthusiastic of clinching an early harvest deal, sources in the know said the issues in question, from market access to tariff reduction, have seen little movement so far.
ECONOMY
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal tells industry to prepay MSMEs for their services
With regards t the series of proposed trade deals currently being negotiated by the government, Goyal told industry leaders to be proactive in giving inputs to the government.
ECONOMY
India reaps high growth from agriculture, allied products in FY22
An intense focus on securing market access abroad and promoting Indian goods saw dozens of new products including Himachali millets and Chandauli’s black rice being shipped from India to several new destinations such as the UAE, and Denmark
WORLD
Indian passport becomes 83rd most powerful globally in 2022, up from 90th rank
The Henley Passport Index now places India at the 83rd position globally, after Oman and Armenia were added to the list of visa-free destinations. Indian passport holders now have visa-free access to 60 nations.
ECONOMY
Exclusive| Govt's first foray into e-retail through 'Bharat Craft' portal shelved for now
Bharat Craft, a project drawn up by the MSME ministry back in 2019, was envisaged as a platform for rural and tribal businesses to showcase their products online. But after a series of challenges, work on the portal has been put on the back burner.
BUSINESS
Explained| What is RCEP, the largest trade bloc in history that went live on January 1
Major trade partners of India, including China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, have finally launched the RCEP mega regional trade deal. After 10 years of discussions, India had exited the talks citing lack of benefits. But India’s exports can’t escape being affected by the staggering scale of the deal.
ECONOMY
Startups have created 6.5 lakh jobs till now, says DPIIT Secretary
By 2025, the department aims to create 20 lakh new jobs by officially registering 50,000 new startups.
INDIA
Explained: What are ePassports and why is India set to introduce them soon?
The Indian passport is the third highest issued globally but ranks a lowly 90th in terms of international access. The new ePassport may usher in a change.
ECONOMY
Cabinet approves Rs 12,000 crore green energy corridor
The scheme is a crucial component of India's plans to generate 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030.
BUSINESS
Exclusive | Centre works on new ease of doing business reforms
India has closely followed the World Bank's ease of doing business guidelines until now. But with the latter now confronting a global controversy, India is set to create its own reforms.
BUSINESS
Services sector PMI in December slows to 3-month low of 55.5 as Omicron bites
Job shedding began in the services sector after a gap of 4-months. 2021 had seen nine continuous months of job losses across the services sector.
ECONOMY
Exclusive | Government pushes to conclude pending trade deals in 2022
Proposed trade pacts with up to eight nations are at various levels of discussion. While India is preparing trade offers for accelerating negotiations, Commerce Department officials say more time will be needed.
BUSINESS
Exports cross $300 billion in the first 9 months of 2021-22
India will launch trade negotiations with Canada and Israel soon, commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said
BUSINESS
Exclusive| Commerce Ministry's 2022 agenda aims to achieve $400 billion export target
To capitalize on the momentum of exports, officials say the Department has identified a key policy to help India reach the unprecedented $400 billion target before FY22 ends.
BUSINESS
Foreign trade in 2021: Record exports, Switzerland becomes 4th biggest import source
Commerce Department data also shows that while export of raw material helped accelerate the growth in exports, higher-valued finished products like engineering goods and electronics slowly continued to claim their place in India's export basket.
ECONOMY
GST Council Meet | Hike in GST on textiles unanimously deferred, no breather for footwear
The GST rate hike on textiles from 5 percent to 12 percent was to come into effect from January 1. The Council however did not take a similar decision for footwear, GST rates on which are still expected to rise from the first day of the new year.
BUSINESS
Exclusive | E-commerce consumer protection rules may drop contentious clauses on deep discounts, flash sales
Aiming to quickly bring out rules for e-commerce consumers, the government may scrap the most contentious parts and deal with them separately.
ECONOMY
Explained | What are HSN codes and why are they changing?
Come January 1, 2022, the set of codes used to monitor and regulate global trade by more than 200 nations, will be changing.
BUSINESS
2021 : A look back at the highs and lows of India's trade
After a disastrous 2020, India’s trade picked up in 2021 as global demand from its biggest markets shot up. But price fluctuations, logistics and a liquidity crisis kept export growth below potential.
