The government will announce the annual Foreign Trade Policy on April 8, which will aim at giving a boost to exports of pharmaceutical, auto components and services.
The government has constituted a high-powered committee, headed by Planning Commission Member NK Singh, to set new guidelines for regulating film financing.
Telecom firms earning foreign exchange on incoming overseas calls, Internet services and rentals from cable networks are not entitled to duty sops under an export promotion scheme, says the government.
The items prohibited for import into India from the neighbouring country would include chocolate and chocolate products, candies, confectioneries and food preparations with milk as an ingredient.
The next Budget is likely to see significant changes in the duty structure for the gems and jewellery sector
The commerce ministry has mandated bar coding on all medicine packs meant for exports from July 1, to trace and track these medicines to its source of origin. The move is in response to quality concerns raised against Indian drugs by some African countries.
Breaking its silence on reports that Chinese telecom equipment makers are being banned in India on security reasons, Beijing on Monday urged New Delhi to remove restrictions and said such curbs amount to discrimination.
According to data released by the commerce and industry ministry, exports stood at $25.01 billion in the month. The fall is only the second time exports contracted in the past year.
Imports grew at a faster rate of 20.25 per cent to $40.1 billion.
Increase in gold imports pushed the country's trade deficit to a five-month high of $ 15.33 billion in April.
There was a wide fluctuation in the growth rate for exports when the basis of comparison was changed from provisional-to-provisional to provisional-to-provisionally revised or final.
Cumulative exports during April-August of 2017-18 rose by 8.57 per cent to $118.57 billion
For the purpose the ministry will rope in the private sector companies to give a boost to Indian tea abroad.
Scores of leading SEZ promoters, including Infosys Technologies, CMC Ltd, Hindalco Industries, NIIT Technologies, HCL Technologies, Orient Craft Infrastructure, L&T Phoenix Infoparks and K Raheja Corp, have sought more time from the Board of Approval, which is meeting in New Delhi on June 2.
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.
Is Guar the next commodity that is likely to be banned by the Forward Markets Commission?
According to industry experts, there are more than 10,000 drug manufacturers in the country and most of them are small-sector units operating in the generic segment. With a large number of drugs going off-patent in developed markets like the US and Europe, Indian companies are expected to garner a lion's share in the segment.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the commerce ministry has asked state governments and central ministries to re-examine and streamline existing procedures, so as to provide a hassle-free environment for business.
A combination of externalities such as global trade wars and slowing growth, continuing glitches in accessing offsets under the GST regime, which has created a liquidity crunch for smaller exporters, and the growing competitiveness of smaller countries are causing the slowdown.
Wholesale inflation rate eased to 34-month low of (-) 0.92 per cent in April on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation has been on a declining trend for 11 months in a row and entered the negative zone in April. In June 2020 WPI was at (-) 1.81 per cent.
China which recently emerged as the world's second largest economy has now become the fifth biggest global investor even as Foreign Direct Investment into the country is set to cross $100 billion this year.
India's exports are growing at 20 per cent an year and will cross the target of $92 billion set for 2005-06, according to the annual report of the commerce ministry released on Thursday.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to 4.95 per cent in December 2022, mainly due to fall in prices of food articles and crude petroleum. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 5.85 per cent in November 2022 and 14.27 per cent in December 2021. Inflation in food articles was (-)1.25 per cent, while in fuel and power it was 18.09 per cent during December 2022.
The economy clocked a robust 7.9 per cent growth in the second quarter, catapulted by a stimulus packages-powered strong industrial growth. And, manufacturing grew by 9.2 per cent against 5.1 per cent in the year-ago quarter.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the nodal department that handles intellectual property rights (IPR) related matters under the commerce ministry, is launching an ambitious Rs 300-crore (Rs 3 billion) project to sensitise all stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, scientists, companies, ministries and the general public on IPR issues.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a directive that telecom operators will have to refund the duty sops availed under the commerce ministry's export promotion scheme for services -- Served From India Scheme.
India on Tuesday banned exports and imports of all items from North Korea that can be used in nuclear or ballistic missile plans. The Commerce Ministry imposed a blanket ban on "all items, materials, equipment, goods and technologies which could contribute to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear-related, ballistic missile-related and other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes".
However, the countries did not take up the issue of proposed withdrawal of export incentives by the US to Indian exporters under Generalized System of Preference.
Negotiators from the two sides will meet in July either at Brussels or Geneva, additional secretary in the commerce ministry D K Mittal told PTI.
Imports too jumped by 51.5 per cent to $40.4 billion in July against $26.6 billion in the same period last year, leaving a trade deficit of $11 billion, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.
India needs a National Trade Policy Council, chaired by a minister who reports directly to the PM, says Jayanta Roy, former economic advisor to the Union commerce ministry.
India is likely to appeal against the ruling of a World Trade Organisation compliance panel, which concluded that the European Union had complied with an earlier WTO ruling regarding its anti-dumping measures against Indian imports of cotton bed line
Even as the freeze on all decisions and notifications for fresh special economic zones continues, the government on Friday gave its nod for authorised operations in 30 notified SEZs, while granting co-developer status to five zones.
The government on Monday extended till July 21 the deadline for public comments on proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules, 2020. Earlier, the last date for public comments on the draft e-commerce rules was July 6. "It has now been decided to extend the timeline for receipt of comments/ suggestions on the draft e-commerce rules. "Views/ comments/ suggestions on the proposed amendments may be sent by July 21, 2021," a government notice said.
