Reflecting the enthusiasm among private companies for setting up special economic zones, the board of approval for SEZs will consider over 100 proposals on March 17 - its first meeting since the implementation of SEZ Act and Rules last month.
In a bid to curb harassment of taxpayers, Sitharaman said, a faceless e-assessment scheme was launched in October to eliminate interface between an assessing officer and a taxpayer.
Retail inflation, based on Consumer Price Index, hit a 15-month high of 4.88 per cent in November
India on Wednesday said that developed and developing countries should now 'close their differences' and move forward after the Cancun debacle but felt more 'transparency' in decision-making process was needed at the WTO to help towards this end.
The decline in gold imports has helped in narrowing the country's trade deficit to $106.84 billion during the eight-month period under review as against $133.74 billion in the year-ago months.
India's medical devices imports surged 41 per cent to touch Rs 63,200 crore in 2021-22, led by a 48 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in imports from China to Rs 13,538 crore, the commerce ministry data analysed by the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) has showed. Local industry players say this has led to several small and medium units to shut shop. Rakesh Vaid of Usha Fabs, a garments exporter, had started making N95 masks in his Gurgaon factory during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the high-end bikes will not enjoy any cuts on import duty, the commerce ministry has now mooted capping the number of such bikes to be imported in a year.
India has set an ambitious target to quadruple annual information technology exports to $50 billion by 2010 from $12.5 billion at present.
The government has approved a Rs 675 crore (Rs 6.75 Special Economic Zone by Finnish telecom major Nokia near Chennai.
Existing units stay operational; those approved may not be notified, land could be used for other purposes
Government has initiated an anti-dumping investigation against imports of Titanium Dioxide from China.
Pakistan, "for the time being", does not want to import diesel from India either through land or sea route, owing mainly to its "higher rates".
It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that not a single Muslim is part of the Union Cabinet.
The government is all set to liberalise the promotional Market Access Initiative scheme to enable exporters penetrate new markets, as it targets to achieve $120 billion in exports this fiscal.
As sanctions-hit Russia increasingly relies on consumer products from India, outbound shipments to Russia have started picking up for the second consecutive month in October. This comes after it witnessed contraction for six consecutive months starting March, commerce and industry ministry data showed. During October, India exported goods worth $280 million, up 3.7 per cent as compared to a year ago. It was led by demand for items such as vegetables, tea, coffee, chemicals as well as iron and steel products.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to over two-year low of 3.85 per cent in January on easing prices of manufactured items, fuel and power, even though food articles remained expensive. This is the ninth straight month of decline in the rate of wholesale price-index (WPI) based inflation. The WPI inflation was 4.73 per cent in January and 13.43 per cent in February, last year.
The Centre on Tuesday said it will not seek disclosure of flash sales from e-commerce players to regulate the fraudulent sale of goods and services but will take appropriate action as per the law on consumer complaints. Discount sales that benefit maximum to consumers will continue, but not fraudulent flash sales on the e-commerce platforms, the government said, adding that the e-tailers need not be "anxious" about the draft rules. Ban on fraudulent flash sales, mis-selling and appointment of chief compliance officer/grievance redressal officer -- are among key amendments proposed to the Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules, 2020, on which the government has sought public comments by July 6.
The USTR has placed India on its "priority watch" list for two years in a row, saying the country's patent laws unfairly favour local drug makers.
Exporters can make payment of fees through debit/credit cards.
Making the announcement, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday that India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 leaders' summit in 2023 for the first time.
Last year, the commerce ministry announced that Status holders (ie recognised export houses, trading houses etc), who achieved a minimum annual export growth of 25 per cent (a minimum of Rs 25 crore) could earn Duty Free Import Entitlement Certificat
Gogoi and Sarma have been locked in a war of words on 'X' since Wednesday on the issue of the chief minister's wife's company allegedly being given a credit subsidy of Rs 10 crore.
Joshi's decision to step down comes a couple of days after Home Secretary L C Goyal sought early retirement, 17 months before his term was to lapse
Investor sentiment remained upbeat on narrowing trade deficit and sustained foreign fund inflows.
As a prelude to the proposed Free Trade Agreement, India and Bangladesh have agreed on a revised draft of bilateral trade agreement signed in 1980.
In more than a decade since 2002, 60 fugitives were extradited or deported by foreign governments to India, which received a major victory in its fight to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to justice when a US federal court agreed to the extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana to the country.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to a 19-month low of 8.39 per cent in October, on easing prices of fuel and manufactured items. This is the first time in 19 months that WPI inflation print has come in single digit. Last was in March 2021 at 7.89 per cent. Since April 2021, WPI inflation remained in double digits for 18 months with September print at 10.79 per cent.
The move is aimed at dealing with any possible emergency situation on account of a spurt in coronavirus cases.
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