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 domestic drug industry has expressed serious concern over the central government's decision to make it mandatory to carry a barcode on every medicine pack meant for exports from July 1.
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.
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has pulled up the company secretaries of two telecom companies whose names have been mentioned in the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG's) report on the controversial allotment of airwaves. The two officials named in the report are Hari Nair, representing Swan Telecom, and Vidyadhar Chakradeo, the company secretary of Loop Telecom.
The numbers are the highest ever in the history of domestic drug discovery initiatives triggered by companies such as Dr Reddy's and Ranbaxy over a decade ago.
The Drugs Controller General of India, the apex drug regulator, has included a new clause in the trial approval letters, making these firms also accountable for any possible adverse event.
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.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the apex drug regulator, may soon ban the production and sale of three medicines in the country. The drugs - cisapride, phenylpropanolamine (PPA) and human placenta extracts - have been controversial medicines for their alleged adverse reactions for several years now.
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.
The eight-member expert committee, which is in charge of revising NLEM, plans inclusion of new drugs to the list and also do away with the current practice of including only specific strengths of medicines in NLEM.
Godrej Agrovet Ltd, the agri-business arm of leading conglomerate Godrej Ltd, plans to enter the dairy farming business. The company is in talks with at least two leading Israeli dairy farm technology providers.
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.
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