While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
Following the disengagement, both sides will soon start the coordinated patrolling in their respective areas, sources added.
A top Republican lawmaker has welcomed India signing a trade deal with Australia, and urged the Biden administration to enter into a similar arrangement with New Delhi that can advance Washington's strong economic agenda in the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region. "I'm pleased to see #Australia & #India sign a strong trade deal," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch said in a tweet. "The US needs to do the same and advance a strong economic agenda in the #IndoPacific. "The Biden Admin's failure to lead hurts US growth and our partnership in the region," Risch said in another tweet.
The Modi government's flagship initiative 'Make in India' launched 10 years ago has helped the country boost exports, push investments and promote manufacturing. Under the initiative, launched on September 25, 2014, a series of measures have been taken by the government to boost local manufacturing. These initiatives include the rollout of production linked incentive (PLI) schemes for 14 sectors, easing foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, reducing compliance burden to improve business climate, all approvals through single window, and rolling out of the national logistics policy.
Bharatiya Janata Party's National Democratic Alliance partners have got five cabinet ministerial berths in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as against none in the outgoing government, given the party's dependence on allies for a majority in the Lok Sabha.
The Pakistan government on Monday appeared divided over resuming onion exports to India with the Agriculture Ministry not averse to lifting the ban but the Commerce Ministry has some reservations.
India's exports contracted by 22 per cent, the steepest decline in the last three years, to $32.97 billion in June on account of global demand slowdown, especially in the Western markets like the US and Europe. According to the data of the commerce ministry, the trade deficit in June stood at $20.3 billion against $22.07 billion in the same month last year due to a fall in exports and imports. The inbound shipments during the month under review declined by a steep 17.48 per cent to $53.10 billion.
The wholesale inflation rose for the third consecutive month in May at 2.61 per cent on account of rise in prices of food articles, especially vegetables, and manufactured items. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation was 1.26 per cent in the previous month. It was (-) 3.61 per cent in May 2023. "Positive rate of inflation in May, 2024 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, crude petroleum & natural gas, mineral oils, other manufacturing etc," the ministry of commerce & industry said in a statement on Friday.
India stares at the risk of an influx of Chinese products as US tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, including solar panels, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, syringes, and steel, are set to take effect from September 27. With higher tariffs reducing China's access to the US market, there is concern that China may divert its exports to other markets, including India, which could lead to potential dumping of goods. This situation could challenge Indian industries, particularly in sectors where competition with Chinese products is already fierce.
Wholesale inflation fell to a 4-month low of 1.31 per cent in August due to a decline in prices of vegetables and fuel, even though onion and potato prices spiked, according to official data released on Tuesday. Wholesale price index-based inflation fell for the second straight month in August after it hit a high of 3.43 per cent in May. Inflation in July was 2.04 per cent. In August last year, WPI inflation was (-) 0.46 per cent.
The strong message from the prime minister is of continuity of policies he considers right with strong emphasis on execution, points out T N C Rajagopalan.
The revamped Special Economic Zone (SEZ) law is unlikely to see the light of the day before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, two people aware of the matter said. The commerce department had sought the Union Cabinet's nod to bring amendments to the existing SEZ Act, 2005 late last year. The plan, thereafter, was to introduce the Bill in the winter session of Parliament. Cabinet's approval remains pending.
References to the repealed laws for service tax, purchase tax, etc, continue in the SEZ laws.
The two countries also signed a 'Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Assignment of Liaison Officers', which will facilitate the posting of one military officer from each country with the military of the other.
'We are engaging in substantial open market sales of both wheat and rice to control food inflation; special measures of market intervention in vegetables, pulses and oil seeds were also taken to cushion the impact.'
The country's exports grew by 47.19 per cent to $35.17 billion on account of healthy growth in the outbound shipments of petroleum, engineering, and gems and jewellery, according to the provisional data of the commerce ministry. Imports during the month also rose by 59.38 per cent to $46.40 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $11.23 billion. Exports of petroleum, engineering, and gems and jewellery in July increased to $3.82 billion, $2.82 billion and $1.95 billion respectively, the data showed.
Three years and Rs 28,710 crore worth of transactions later, it has more than double the number of sellers than Flipkart.
'They were ahead of their times. We don't expect this from a civilisation of the first century AD.'
Move after spurt in shipments from the south-east Asian country Thai govt response awaited.
The probe is being conducted under various sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) after the central probe agency recently received a communication from the commerce ministry seeking "necessary action" against e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart pertaining to certain multi-brand retail businesses and an observation made by the Delhi High Court in relation to Amazon.
Border haats, to be set up in Tripura and Mizoram, follows the success of two existing border haats near Meghalaya.
TCS is also seeking more time for setting up a unit in Mihan special economic zone at Nagpur in Maharashtra.
The talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Canada may have taken a pause but will resume once the political row between the two countries is resolved as the pact has economic benefits for both the nations, trade experts and exporters said on Friday. However, they said that India may not hurry for the trade agreement as 60 per cent of New Delhi's exports are already entering Canada at zero duty. Earlier this month, India and Canada paused the negotiations for the agreement due to political reasons.
The country's exports surged 49.85 per cent to $35.43 billion in July on account of healthy growth in petroleum, engineering, and gems and jewellery segments, even as the trade deficit widened to $10.97 billion during the month, official data showed on Friday. Imports during the month also rose by about 63 per cent to $46.40 billion, as per the data released by the commerce ministry.
India and Iran plan to reach USD 25 billion in annual bilateral trade in the next four years, Indian commerce ministry has said.
The biggest fear many of the e-commerce firms have is the possible requirement to change business models overnight, which would drastically increase costs as well as disrupt businesses.
Indian exporters are keeping their fingers crossed on account of rising Covid infections in China and other countries as it could again disrupt supply chains and affect demand for goods. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) director general Ajay Sahai said that if the cases continue to increase in the coming days, it may have implications on imports. "We are keeping our fingers crossed," he said.
Among other things, taking note of complaints against several Chinese e-commerce players such as Shein, Ali Express etc for sending shipments as 'gifts' to customers in India and avoiding duties, the government has now mandated that all e-commerce sites and apps must have a registered business entity. This will be the importer on record and subject to customs rules, report Subhayan Chakraborty, Neha Alawadhi and Karan Choudhury.
Reflecting lack of enthusiasm about the SEZs, 20 more promoters have sought additional time from the government for implementing their projects, taking the number of developers seeking extension to over 200.
India's gold imports, which have a bearing on the country's Current Account Deficit (CAD), rose 6.4 per cent to $12.9 billion during April-July this fiscal due to healthy demand, according to government data. The imports stood at $12 billion during the same period a year ago. In July 2022, however, imports of the precious metal fell sharply by 43.6 per cent to $2.4 billion, as per the latest data released by the commerce ministry.
Although India's exports have started growing again after several months of decline, commerce ministry sources told Business Standard that the extension is being considered to sustain growth and stabilise it at 15 to 20 per cent.
Exports rose by 24.22 per cent to a monthly record high of $38.19 billion in April on account of healthy performance by sectors like petroleum products, electronic goods and chemicals, even as trade deficit widened to $20 billion during the month, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday. Imports during the month under review grew by 26.55 per cent to $58.26 billion. The trade deficit in April 2021 was at $15.29 billion.
In its recommendations to the finance ministry, the commerce ministry has made a strong case for helping exports, particularly in the labour-intensive sectors like leather, textile and handicrafts.
China on Thursday criticised India's latest decision to block access to 54 more Chinese mobile apps over security and privacy concerns, saying that the move has damaged the legitimate interests of companies from China. India on Monday blocked 54 more apps with Chinese links, including Tencent Xriver, Nice Video baidu, Viva Video Editor, and gaming app Garena Free Fire Illuminate. The Chinese apps allegedly obtain various critical permissions and collect sensitive user data. The collected real-time data are being misused and transmitted to servers located in a hostile country, sources in India said, adding that the IT ministry has issued interim directions for the blocking of 54 apps.
The government is planning to tweak its procurement policy to give a fillip to domestic manufacturing. The industry department has floated a proposal to raise the minimum local content requirement for public procurement for Class-I and -II suppliers from 50 per cent currently to 70 per cent, and 20 per cent as of now to 50 per cent, respectively.
From the rollback of customs duty on key electronic components to fast tracking delivery of goods imported from China, players are looking for incentives on several counts.
Government should make it clear as to whether the Duty Entitlement Passbook scheme will continue beyond June.
DIPP's proposal is believed to have the support of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution and was originally mooted by the Forward Markets Commission.
The country's exports in March 2022 rose 19.76 per cent to $42.22 billion on account of healthy performance by sectors such as petroleum products, engineering, and leather, even as trade deficit during the month widened to $18.51 billion. In March 2021, exports stood at $35.26 billion, according to a commerce ministry data released on Wednesday. Last month, imports grew 24.21 per cent to $60.74 billion, it showed. Trade deficit stood at $13.64 billion in March 2021.
