The minister, however, said she was not in favour of relaxing rules for Apple to sell refurbished second-hand phones in India
Says Indian Patent Law conforms fully with global obligations under the WTO IPR pact-TRIPS.
Senior officials from different ministries, including finance, home affairs and defence, would be attending the meeting. The last BOA held on August 11 had allowed Maytas Ventures, promoted by the disgraced former Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju's son, to surrender its biotech SEZ and approved three new proposals, including that of Brooke Bond Real Estates IT/ITES tax-free enclave in Karnataka.
The total incentive outgo under the ambitious production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is estimated to be less than Rs. 40,000 crore by the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), when it completes the fourth year of implementation, according to the government's internal estimates. This means only a fourth of the allocated Rs 1.97 trillion is expected to be utilised by the end of FY24, indicating that not all the 14 PLI schemes would have taken off fully. While three of the 14 schemes - large-scale electronics manufacturing, bulk drugs, and medical devices - were introduced in 2020, the remaining were launched the following year.
Without making big-ticket changes in the economic ministries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday shifted Law Minister M Veerappa Moily to the ministry of corporate affairs and inducted young Milind Deora in his council of ministers.
Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's itinerary for his June 21-24 US visit could include an address to a fledgling business advocacy group, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
The government on Friday approved an electric-vehicle policy, under which duty concessions will be given to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of $500 million, a move aimed at attracting major global players like US-based Tesla. According to an official statement, the companies setting up manufacturing facilities for e-vehicles will be allowed to import a limited number of cars at lower customs duty. The policy seeks to promote India as a manufacturing destination for EVs and attract investment from reputed global EV manufacturers, it added.
The Commerce Ministry wants the Reserve Bank to reduce interest rate for dollar credit in its forthcoming monetary policy to help sustain the fledgling recovery in the exports sector.
The finance ministry is considering a suggestion by the Commerce Ministry to enhance duty neutralisation rates to make up for revenue lost by exporters due to sharp appreciation in the rupee.
India's exports to China have increased by 16.15 per cent to USD 20.87 billion in 2020 from USD 17.9 billion in the previous year on account of healthy growth in the shipments of ores, iron and steel, aluminum and copper, according to the data of the commerce ministry.
For the startup ecosystem in India, the scorecard so far has been a mixed bag, observes Akhil Gupta.
The recent Foreign Trade Policy announcement to waive service tax for exporters had the backing of the Prime Minister, Commerce Ministry sources said on Tuesday.
Trade deficit with China has risen to $40 billion, a cause for worry.
DEA official writes to DIPP suggesting that govt needs to understand what has been left out, and why, in the revised application of the retailer.
Batting for exporters hit hard by global downturn, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Monday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and made out a strong case for fiscal relief for the export sector in the Budget next month.
Paytm plans to induct 5,000 manufacturers and sellers; has started programmes to identify and train new sellers.
The government on Wednesday extended the existing foreign trade policy (FTP) for six more months up to September 30 this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a notification. FTP provides guidelines for enhancing exports to push economic growth and create jobs. On March 31, 2020, the government had extended the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 for one year till March 31, 2021, amid the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown.
The rupee on Tuesday recovered from its all-time intra day low of 77.79 to close higher by 7 paise on a stellar rally in domestic stock markets. After opening lower at 77.67, the local unit plunged further to its all-time intra-day low of 77.79 due to a spike in crude oil prices and disappointing macroeconomic data. However, a strong rally in domestic equities helped the rupee rebound and close at 77.48 (provisional), showing net gains of 7 paise over the last close of 77.55. The forex market was closed on Monday on account of Buddha Purnima.
The Centre on Friday said it will sell 'Bharat Rice' in the retail market at Rs 29 per kg from next week to give relief to the common man and has also directed traders to disclose rice/paddy stock, as part of its efforts to control prices that have risen by around 15 per cent in the last one year. In a press conference, Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra exuded confidence that these two measures along with the various restrictions of exports will help in cooling down the prices. Seeking to dispel market rumours, he categorically said the government has no plans to lift restrictions on rice exports any time soon.
The MFN status, which means that Pakistan will give trade treatment to India at par with its other partners, is likely to boost bilateral economic ties.
Under the scheme, also called the Export Credit Insurance Scheme, the insurance guaranteed could cover up to 90 per cent of the principal and interest.
The country's exports rose by 47.34 per cent to $32.46 billion in June on account of healthy growth in sectors such as engineering, gems and jewellery and petroleum products, even as trade deficit aggregated at $9.4 billion during the month, according to the data released by the commerce ministry on Friday. Exports in June last year stood at $22 billion and $25 billion in June 2019. In May 2021, the outward shipment was worth $32.27 billion, while in April this year, it was $31 billion. Imports in June 2021 grew by 96.33 per cent to $41.86 billion, from $21.32 billion in June last year. In June 2019, imports stood at $41 billion.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on Monday ruled out any differences with the finance ministry on certain provisions of the Foreign Trade Policy and said the Policy will be announced before April 10.
The country's exports for the first time crossed the $400 billion mark in a fiscal on healthy performance by sectors such as petroleum products, engineering, gems and jewellery, and chemicals, according to the commerce ministry's data released on Wednesday. The merchandise exports rose by by 37 per cent to $400.8 billion in 2021-22 until March 21 against $292 billion in 2020-21. Previously, the outbound shipments had touched a record of $330.07 billion in 2018-19.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under the commerce ministry has floated a draft Cabinet note for inter-ministerial discussions on foreign direct investment in aviation.
Wholesale price-based inflation rose to an eight-month high of 0.26 per cent in November, driven by a sharp jump in food prices, especially onion and vegetables. The WPI inflation was in the negative or deflationary zone for the past seven months since April and was at (-)0.52 per cent in October. The last positive WPI inflation was recorded in March at 1.41 per cent.
The action comes two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a key meeting and broke the ice by starting dialogue with some of the prominent 'letter-writers', who had earlier written to her demanding an overhaul of the party and an effective leadership.
India's exports in January rose 25.28 per cent to $34.50 billion on account of healthy performance by mainly engineering, petroleum and gems and jewellery sectors, even as trade deficit widened to 17.43 billion, according to data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday. Imports grew by 23.54 per cent to $51.93 billion during the month under review. Trade deficit, difference between imports and exports, stood at $14.50 bn in January 2021.
A panel led by the secretaries of the DEA and the DIPP would conduct a quarterly review on the pending proposals.
India has banned wheat exports with immediate effect as part of measures to control rising domestic prices, according to official notification. However, the export shipments for which irrevocable letters of credit (LoC) have been issued on or before the date of this notification will be allowed, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification dated May 13. "The export policy of wheat ... is prohibited with immediate effect...," the DGFT said. It also clarified that wheat exports will be allowed on the basis of permission granted by the Government of India to other countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their governments.
The sops, to be given under different schemes like 'Focus Market' and 'Focus Products' from January to December 2011, were unveiled here by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.
The ministry also expects the pace of job losses in export-oriented units to slow down in the coming months.
The Union ministry of food and consumer affairs proposes to insert a new clause in the fresh discussion note for the Cabinet on allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to a 14-month high of 12.1 per cent in August 2023 against 4.2 per cent a year ago, mainly due to expansion in production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, according to the official data released on Friday. The expansion in August is the highest since June 2022, when it was 13.2 per cent. The production of refinery products, steel, cement and electricity also grew in August, the data showed.
According to the Morcha, the demands which Delhi Chalo has been called include: MSP should be guaranteed as per C2+50 percent formula and, as promised, a law should be made to guarantee it; all the farmers should be made debt free, and all agricultural loan must be waived.
The government on Friday came out with Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 which seeks to boost the country's exports to $2 trillion by 2030 by shifting from incentives to remission and entitlement based regime. Unlike the practice of announcing 5-year FTP, the latest policy has no end date and will be updated as and when needed, said Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi while briefing media about FTP 2023. Earlier, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal unveiled FTP 2023 which will come into effect from April 1, 2023.
Argentina has assured India that it will resolve the issue of restrictions on import of Indian drugs to the Latin American country.
Development commissioners have been asked to forward proposals regarding SEZs along with their comments at the earliest so that they could be deliberated over at the meeting, it said.
The aviation minister, Ajit Singh, on Tata-Air Asia joint venture