In the previous fiscal, exports from the SEZs was Rs 99,689 crore (Rs 996.89 billion). Exports from Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery is likely to contribute substantially to the total shipments this fiscal, another official said.
A dip in petroleum product exports for the first time in the current fiscal has contributed to a 22 per cent decline in merchandise exports in January, commerce ministry data reveals.
Relief for exporters, additional incentives for export of farm products other than those in short supply and more steps to check inflation through hassle-free and cheap imports are likely to be announced on Friday in the last review of Foreign Trade Policy by the UPA government.
A revamped Electronic Data Interface system and easier norms for the Accredited Clients Programme are some features likely to be introduced to reduce the transaction time and costs of exporters. Some of the measures may figure in the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy, which is being released on Apr 11. ComMin officials expect the new Electronic Data Interface System to become operational by the end of this fiscal. Exporters will have to submit lesser documents.
In a major relief to Indian information technology (IT) companies operating in Australia, Canberra has agreed to amend its domestic laws to stop taxing offshore income of such Indian companies, as part of the free trade deal inked. This may lead to savings up to $200 million each year for over 100 Indian IT companies operating in Australia. "The Government of Australia has agreed to amend the domestic taxation law to stop the taxation of offshore income of Indian firms providing technical services to Australia. "This will resolve the issue that the Indian government has raised about the double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) between the two governments for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income," said a commerce ministry official.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US is expected to see discussion on India's possible entry into a US-led global alliance on critical minerals, officials told Business Standard. In June last year, the US, the European Union, and other G7 partners launched the Minerals Security Partnership to ensure that China did not further strengthen its grip on supplies of critical minerals the world over. Various ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, have communicated to the Ministry of External Affairs to explore the possibility of India joining the partnership, officials said.
Initial commerce ministry estimates suggest a 10 per cent contraction in exports in December. Coming after 12 and 9.9 per cent falls in October and November respectively, India is unlikely to meet the export target of $ 200 billion in the current fiscal. The last quarterly dip occurred in 2001, when exports were in the negative territory for six consecutive months ending December that year, data provided by the Reserve Bank of India and the commerce ministry showed.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has so far given three packages to exporters aggregating Rs 5,200 crore (Rs 52 billion) as the $160 billion export target for 2007-08 appears difficult to meet. He has expressed hope that exports target would be met. Palanimanickam said government was already providing 100 per cent tax benefits on profit on exports apart from indirect tax incentives.
A closer look at the data reveals that a lot of the items are not part of this calculation. The notable ones include buffalo meat, marine exports, raw cotton, and plantation crops such as tea, coffee, rubber, etc.
The boom in world trade has ensured that export has grown by over 20 per cent. Has the FTP contributed to the stellar growth in exports? T N Rajagopalan thinks it did.
India's inflation rate shot up to its highest level in more than 16 years this month, increasing the chances of the fourth rise in interest rates in Asia's third-largest economy since June.
While admitting India's persistent stand on the issue might delay the agreement, a top commerce ministry official said the talks were on track. "We will maintain a hardline stand," said the official. It is to be noted, the sixth round of EU-India trade negotiation in Delhi in March ended without any substantial progress because of the tariff-related issues. The EU is India's largest trading partner and the total bilateral trade stood at over $70 billion in 2008-09.
Since the SEZ Act was notified in February 2006, 22 SEZs have been up and running. In the last financial year (2006-07), these SEZs collectively exported goods worth Rs 33,000 crore (Rs 330 billion) , roughly 6 per cent of India's total exports of Rs 5,71,641 crore (Rs 5716.41 billion). Officials also pointed out that 52,000 people have found employment in the new SEZs set up after 2005.
India's software exports suffered a severe setback in March declining by 96.6 per cent to $1 million from the year-ago period due to recession in world's major economies like the US and the Europe.
Inflation for the month of August stood at 8.51 per cent, according to the new Wholesale Price Inflation (WPI) series.
Iraq has urged the international community to help prevent ISIS from gleaning profits from oil smuggling
India's exports jumped 45.76 per cent to $33.28 billion in August on account of healthy growth in segments like engineering, petroleum products, gems and jewellery and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to a four-month high of $13.81 billion.
The US must make substantial cuts in farm subsidies and scale down demands for tariff reductions by developing countries to enable the stalled WTO talks to move forward, India's top trade negotiator said on Thursday.
The commerce ministry on Wednesday reiterated that the three notified special economic zones in Goa could not be scrapped by the Centre. It added that the issue had to be sorted between the state government and developers of the zones. Even as the Goa government has raised the issue of scrapping three notified special economic zones with the Centre, the state administration has till date not sent any formal communication to the SEZs in this regard.
The commerce ministry had, in March, put on hold this change in the SEZ rules.
In view of popular sentiments, the Goa government had decided to scrap 12 SEZs and sought denotification of three SEZs from the Centre. In view of popular sentiments, the Goa government had decided to scrap 12 SEZs and sought denotification of three SEZs from the Centre. The three SEZs for Meditab Specialities, Peninsula Pharma Research Centre and K Raheja Corporation had started work on the sites before the state government issued them stop-work orders.
India on Monday lifted the ban on importing toys from China provided they conform to international safety norms.
"It will become clear in the next few days whether the US and other developed countries are serious to conclude the Doha negotiations, which have dragged for seven long years," a senior commerce ministry official told PTI. India along with other members of the G-33 (a group of countries with protective interest) is apprehensive of the US exerting pressure on the negotiating group to cut the number of Special Products.
India's import bill contracted for the first time in almost nine years during January 2009, led by crude oil and capital goods, which constitute nearly half the total imports.
The commerce ministry-promoted Spices Board is getting into retail by floating a company to market spices in India and abroad.
With regards to continuing the anti-dumping duty on import of raw silk from China, the Commerce Ministry has ordered a sunset review investigation by the Central Silk Board in the matter. In face of the pending investigation, the duty has been extended for another year up to January 1, 2009. The silk growers in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir are concerned that this exercise may lead to opening up the silk imports from China.
The government will not stop companies from filing fresh applications seeking permission to set up special economic zones. However, it will not process any fresh applications until it clears the backlog of over 360 pending proposals.
French dairy major Groupe Danone has offered to pay the Wadia Group euro1 million ($1.34 million) as compensation to use its Tiger brand in international markets.
Barn is a curing structure where tobacco leaves are processed to produce the FCV tobacco used mainly by cigarette manufacturers. However, the board's proposal will first have to be approved by the commerce ministry before being sent to the finance ministry for funds.
The commerce ministry has allowed the technical expert group headed by former Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Chief R A Mashelkar to correct the "technical inacuracies" in the patent law report and re-submit it within three months.
eGOM is likely to reconsider the 5000 hectre SEZ land ceiling limit in the coming month.
The decision has come in the wake of allegations of plagiarism against the Mashelkar panel report.
Amidst controversies, global IT giant Hewlett Packard has decided to drop its plans for a Special Economic Zone in Bangalore
This decision will come as a relief to Essar's multi-product port-based SEZ project in Hazira as well as of Adani Group's zone in Mundra, which the revenue department felt was not built on vacant land when it was notified, and hence it had violated the law. Both the zones are in Gujarat.
