India has emerged as the second largest manufacturer of cement in the world, according to a latest report released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
'India has an advantage because we produce more cotton and we have more workforce.'
The Indian government has approved the visit of a Pakistani business delegation to India, which is meant to revive economic ties between the two countries and provide an impetus to diplomacy.
The inflow in December 2008 is lower compared to $1.55 billion FDI the country received in the same month in the previous fiscal. The country has set a target of $35 billion for FDI in the current fiscal.
The value of India's foodgrain imports increased by over 28 times to Rs 17.66 crore (Rs 176.6 million) in April, vis-a-vis the corresponding period a year ago, as per the latest data from the commerce ministry.
Sectors that attracted maximum FDI include services, trading, automobile and power.
The developers, including Raheja Ltd, Ascendas, L&T and GMR, among others, are in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Export Promotion Council for export oriented units and special economic zones.
Scrapping of the EoU status to petroleum refineries was one of the demands of the Samajwadi Party after it decided to support the United Progressive Alliance government, which is set to face a trust motion in the Lok Sabha. "Amar Singh had met me, but there were no discussions on the EoU issue," said the commerce minister. Nath said everyone has the right to demand changes but it did not mean that the government would act on it.
Cash-strapped telco Vodafone Idea's proposal for investment of up to Rs 15,000 crore through foreign direct investment (FDI) has been approved by the Union government, according to officials. A top-level group, comprising representatives from the ministries of home affairs, external affairs, finance and commerce and industry, took the decision. The nod, which is an enabling provision, would help the financially-stressed company raise funds to pay up some of its dues linked to adjusted gross revenue (AGR), reduce debts and use the money for operational expenses.
Falling sugar production in the European countries would provide an excellent opportunity for Indian sugar exports to the European Union market, says a top government official.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hard sold his government's reforms spanning from manufacturing to taxation to labour, saying they have changed the world perception about the country from 'why India' to 'why not India' and went on to quote record foreign investment during the pandemic as a testimony to that. Speaking at industry association Assocham's Foundation Week event, Modi also said agriculture reforms brought by his government six months back have started benefiting farmers. The reforms in the last six years have influenced in changing the sentiment of the industry from 'why India' to 'why not India' in investing.
During April-May, growth in the eight core industries slowed to 3.3 per cent as against 4.9 per cent in the year-ago period.
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.
Sellers, especially the smaller ones, are planning to go to court as well as move CCI as they fear that Walmart could bring multiple private labels in India and flood the e-commerce platform with its own products.
The industry department had planned to get 10,000 price quotations from producers in order to have a new-look WPI, which incorporates a better snapshot of the economy. Out of this, 8,000 products are manufactured items. However, it now emerges that the DIPP may get price quotations from only 6,400 industrial units and factories.
Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal have been elevated to Cabinet ministers.
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.
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 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.
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.
Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley will visit the United States from June 8 to June 13 in order to promote Indo-US trade and economic relations.
The government's announcement to fund fashion initiatives is likely to provide a fillip to this largely unorganised sector.
The Commerce Ministry is set to unveil the annual review of the Foreign Trade Policy on April 11. It would not be exports alone which would be the focus, but steps to ease imports are also likely to give a boost to supply of essential commodities.The government is facing political pressure from many quarters, including the Left parties, to check the rising prices within a couple of weeks.
Earlier govt said it won't allow it to sell items such as textile products and office supplies.
The commerce ministry is currently firming up the annual supplement to the FTP, which is likely to be unveiled in April. Referring to the export performance during 2007-08, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said, actual export was likely to remain short of the target of $160 billion. The exports during the year were likely to reach a level of $152-155 billion, he added.
Commerce ministry monitoring remedial measures to promote exports in key markets.
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.
In 2011-12, the bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $75.45 billion.
With a comprehensive SEZ Act in place, the Union Commerce and Industry minister Kamal Nath said his ministry would go ahead with the plans to develop SEZs across the country, despite oppositions from the finance ministry.
SEZ in Mundra, Gujarat denotified for three violations.
The industry body has issued two advisories in an attempt to restore jewellers credibility in the wake of the Rs 12,000-crore PNB-Nirav Modi scam, and recent defaults by two domestic jewellers - Goodwin and Rasiklal.
IT sector has lots of hope from the Union Budget 2014-15.
Since no communication has been received from the Goan govt. on the cancellation of SEZs, the issue remains unresolved.
The Election Commission (EC) has raised certain questions on the government's proposal to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the construction and maintenance segments of the railways.
The officials also said that the ministry of commerce and industry had recommended the Maharashtra government to take back the land acquisition notification that it had issued. The zone has been given in-principle approval by the BoA, as RIL is yet to acquire the requisite land.
Foreign direct investment inflows into India rose an annual 12.9 percent in July to $1.66 billion.
Aiming to push India into the list of the top 10 agri export nations, the policy has been backed by the Prime Minister's Office
