We welcome all companies from India to come and invest and do business there. We have almost no restrictions in any sector at all. However, we expect similar reciprocity in India for our apples, pistachios, helicopters, and disaster relief materials, besides other products. We do not restrict such items from entering the US markets.
The finance ministry said it would wait for RBI guidelines, a development which will provide much relief to ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. Both are already known as Foreign Owned Indians Controlled entities, after foreign investment in them rose much above 50 per cent, following new norms of calculations by the commerce ministry.
The government is likely to extend interest subvention for some export-oriented sectors for another year to sustain the current growth in exports. This will be announced during the coming Union Budget for 2011-2012.
The government is set to announce some significant measures to reduce the high transaction costs faced by the country's exporters in their day-to-day operations. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be unveiling the measures on February 8.
The government is unlikely to extend any more incentives to exporters this financial year, with the export growth rate at an impressive 36.3 per cent in December, even as they complain of a high interest rate eating away competitiveness.
Despite all official assurances, the path towards a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) this year remains ambiguous, as both sides are unwilling to relax their stand on the biggest stumbling block - the issue of "data exclusivity".
The long-awaited move to bring urea under the Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme is likely to be announced in the coming Union Budget, to be unveiled on February 28, even as the government would decontrol its prices gradually.
The government is likely to announce significant policy measures relating to allowance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail segment, even as the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (Dipp) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is giving final touches to the draft report prepared by an inter-ministerial committee.
The government's aim is to ensure it gets to its Rs 40,000-crore (Rs 400-billion) target from disinvestment proceeds before the end of 2010-11.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said India will not "rush to" the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the "regressive" steps taken by the US recently, which include an increase in the visa fee and a special levy on foreign manufacturers.
According to a senior commerce department official, talks between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) - the 10-country trading bloc - have hit a roadblock, with some of the advanced developing countries demanding greater flexibilities from India.
Earlier this week, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar met EU director-general for trade David O'Sullivan to review the progress so far. Several differences mired the process over EU's insistence on including social issues such as human rights, labour policies and climate change within the FTA purview.
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is looking for ventures into analogous sectors. While the state-run company is going for a follow-on public offer (FPO) in early 2011, it is looking at some aggressive expansion plans, and mergers and acquisitions as well, said Chandra Shekhar Verma, chairman and managing director.
India and Canada aim at achieving a bilateral trade target of $15 billion in the next five years, even as both countries are beginning a series of negotiations to have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) soon that would yield significant economic benefit for both countries and lower tariffs over a large number of products, says Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, Canada.
The Department of Fertilizers (DoF) plans to bring in all policies, including the New Investment Policy meant to overhaul urea production, under one umbrella - Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) policy.
SEZs promoted by Reliance, Raheja, IFFCO may benefit.
The government has failed to reach a consensus on the issue of setting up plastic reprocessing units in special economic zones and is likely to defer its decision once again in the meeting of the Board of Approval on October 21.
India may formally approach the World Trade Organisation's dispute panel against the European Union following the seizure of low-cost generic medicine consignments in European ports meant for other developing countries. The two parties have failed to reach an amicable solution during the consultation process.
Last week, Chandra Shekhar Verma did something rather uncharacteristic for a state-owned company chieftain, especially one reputed to be a stickler for rules. The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) chairman - its youngest ever - openly criticised the government.
Nine years after New Delhi started implementing its Plan B - bilateral trade agreements - to beat the impasse at the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round of liberalisation talks, India seems to be finally rolling.
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