The immediate trigger is the environment ministry's latest policy of asking corporates to mandatorily commit five per cent of project investments in environment protection measures.
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.
Says Indian Patent Law conforms fully with global obligations under the WTO IPR pact-TRIPS.
In a move that is being seen as a snub to Walmart, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Thursday cancelled a meeting with US retail giant's Asia head Scott Price.
In a major policy reversal, the AAP government wrote to the Centre to withdraw approval given by previous Congress government for FDI in multi-brand retailing in Delhi, saying the entry of global chains such as Walmart and Tesco in India would result in large-scale job losses.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will be meeting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to make a case for the extension of one of the most popular incentives to exporters, the Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme (DEPB), which is slated for expiry on June 30. DEPB is a duty reimbursement scheme, launched 14 years earlier.
Batting for the worried SEZ developers who fear withdrawal of incentives in the new direct tax code, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Friday said his ministry would ensure that the sops continue.
The meeting assumes significance as Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, which plans to invest Rs 10,500 crore (Rs 105 billion) to set up its own stores in India, had sought relaxation in certain conditions related to the mandatory 30 per cent sourcing from micro and small enterprises.
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.
In a meeting with the commerce minister, India Inc hammered Sharma on the collapse of investments, structural nature of the current account deficit and stagnant growth in agriculture.
Sharma proposes to pass on the 'handover note' to his successor, which as per the poll projections is likely to be from Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
Worried over continuous decline in exports, the Commerce Ministry has stepped up its pressure on Finance Ministry to expeditiously notify a scheme which was announced in June to boost the overseas shipments.
According to government statistics, Indian IT firms support 280,000 jobs in the US and have contributed about $15 billion to the US Treasury in the past five years.
The Commerce Ministry, according to an official, has proposed interest subsidy for different sectors like engineering which are reeling under the impact of global economic slowdown.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has protested, on behalf of the corporate sector, against the Union environment and forests ministry's 'unreasonable environment regulations' being clamped on the industrial projects.
The commerce ministry has sought a review of foreign direct investment policy in the pharmaceutical sector, in the light of recent takeovers of domestic companies by multinationals.
A meeting of the Board of Trade, an advisory body to the Commerce Ministry, is likely to be held on October 11, a ministry official said.
Four new retailers from US, two from Germany may have shown interest in setting up shop in India.
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.
Officials in the government, however, said India could only lodge a protest and not take legal action against the US.
With the FIPB giving approval to the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture to start a full-service carrier, Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata on Friday met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.
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.
Earlier govt said it won't allow it to sell items such as textile products and office supplies.
Anand Sharma, who took charge of the nodal ministry for FDI on May 29, said there is no need for a relook at the policy amended in February by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. While the policy does not allow overseas inflow into this sector, the changes in February were perceived to be opening the sector to FDI up to 49 per cent in an Indian firm that has a downstream subsidiary firm in retailing.
The meeting, which would have representation from the ministries of finance, external affairs and micro and small and medium enterprises, would suggest steps to prepare the way for the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy (2009-2014), expected to be unveiled in April.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday said the government will soon announce incentives for labour intensive export sectors, notwithstanding high growth in the shipments during December.
The government is expected to take a decision tomorrow on the issue of allowing foreign airlines to buy up to 49 per cent stake in cash-starved Indian carriers.
Anand Sharma working tirelessly for extension of tax breaks that expired on March 31, 2010.
The government is believed to be working on a strategy to resolve the matter related to Wednesday's Supreme Court order asking Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee to appear within six weeks before the Ghaziabad trial court in a pending payment case.
In a major policy reversal, the AAP government wrote to the Centre to withdraw the approval given by the previous Sheila Dikshit government for FDI in multi-brand retailing in Delhi, saying the entry of global chains such as Walmart and Tesco in India would result in large-scale job losses.
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After a high-level meeting held on Friday chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it has been decided that the Commerce and Industry would soon start a consultation process to address 'dangers inherent' in the current model of FDI in brownfield pharma units.
Sharma says efforts on to bring dissenting ministries on board eBiz platform.
The government is considering to tweak FDI policy in retail sector so as to allow global chains like Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco to open multi-brand stores in non-hilly cities with population less than one million.
Gold imports, which peaked at 162 tonnes in May, came down to 19.3 tonnes in November.
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Exports picked up to post a growth of nearly 13 per cent.
In a major reform push, government on Thursday approved 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector, meeting a key demand of the fund-starved industry.
Before leaving on a 10-day foreign visit starting Monday, Sharma said he would address concerns of foreign retail sector investors and ensure help in setting up stores.
Worried over excessive outflow of foreign exchange as royalty and fees for technology transfer and use of brand names, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma wrote to Finance Minister P Chidambram on the matter.
A panel headed by Economic Affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram had suggested FDI limit be raised to 49 per cent in almost all sectors through the automatic route.
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