Indian jewellery is widely prized for intricacy and craftsmanship.
The country's exports grew 5.37 per cent year-on-year to $27.24 billion in January 2021, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharma and engineering sectors, according to provisional data of the commerce ministry. Trade deficit during the month narrowed to $14.75 billion from $15.3 billion in January 2020. It was $15.44 billion in December 2020. Imports in January 2021 rose 2 per cent to $42 billion.
The country's exports dipped 8.74 per cent to $23.52 billion in November on account of contraction in shipments of key sectors like petroleum, engineering, chemicals and gems and jewellery, official data showed on Tuesday. Trade deficit during the month narrowed to $9.87 billion as imports too declined by 13.32 per cent to $33.39 billion.
The rising dependence on discounted crude oil has resulted in India's trade deficit with Russia hitting the second-highest place last year, after China, reveals Department of Commerce data. From April through January 2022-23 (FY23), India's maximum trade deficit was with China, at $71.58 billion. This was followed by Russia, where the deficit expanded sevenfold - from $4.86 billion in April-January of 2021-22 (FY22) to $34.79 billion during the same period in FY23.
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Depreciating rupee a silver lining for some businesses amid the economic downturn.
With the foreign apparel market looking towards India to meet its requirements in the post-quota period, the Apparel Export Promotion Council will be organising mega shows in the United States in June.
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.
From toys, footwear and furniture to insulated flasks, smart meters, and air coolers - the Central government over the last decade has mandated higher standards for production and imports of such items. Sample this: Till 2014, there were 14 Quality Control Orders (QCOs) covering 106 products. By the latest count, there are 156 QCOs on 672 products.
With the government asking the companies to operate with only 50 per cent staff strength, and exports dipping to almost zero, the truck and bus drivers idling at the petrol pump say they hardly have any work now. At a petrol pump on the deserted Bavla-Changodar highway near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, several trucks and buses are neatly parked in a row.
Experts call for consistency in government policies to enable Indian exporters to frame a long-term strategy.
In a year bookended by intractable conflicts and geopolitical fragmentation, India focused on ramping up military prowess by broadly firming up defence procurement worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore even as Indian and Chinese militaries completed pulling back their troops from border face-off points in eastern Ladakh.
Imports too declined 26 per cent to $29.47 billion in August, leaving a trade deficit of $6.77 billion.
As part of the charm offensive, New Delhi has invited global regulators -- including the FDA -- to visit Indian production units to get first-hand evidence of measures taken to ensure the quality of locally manufactured generics.
Round-tipping creates the opportunity for exporters to source funds at a much cheaper cost, which they divert to some other business.
India processes around 90% of the world's supply of rough diamonds.
Imports too tumbled by 58.65 per cent to $17.12 billion in April from $41.4 billion in the same month last year, according to the data by the commerce and industry ministry.
The Customs clearance required for moving equipment like laptops, desktops, etc out of SEZ units was delaying things as the clearance had to be taken in person after a first level of approval online.
Sharma was addressing the members of the Board of Trade, a body comprising captains of Indian industry.
Though exports to Hong Kong, a major destination for India's polished diamonds, have resumed, the industry is currently sitting on an inventory worth around $2.3 billion.
Imports too declined by 16.31 per cent to $37.39 billion.
Imports rose by 1.44 per cent to $43.44 billion in March 2019.
The spotlight is back on the hawala trade in diamonds.
5G networks in India can be deployed in three months but in limited areas as the optical fibre based infrastructure to support the technology is not ready yet, telecom industry players said on Tuesday. Nokia India head of marketing and corporate affairs Amit Marwah said that India has to take a call on deployment of 5G services otherwise it will miss to take advantage of the next generation technology that it can bring for the economy.
Out of 30 key export sectors, as many as 22 showed negative growth in September.
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.
Imports increased by 4.5 per cent, the highest growth in the last six months as crude oil and gold shipments shot up in the month.
Export sectors that showed positive growth last month included chemical, iron ore, electronics, marine products and pharmaceuticals. Decline in overall imports, including oil and gold, led to narrowing of trade deficit.
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.
The GST Council on Saturday is expected to extend the date for IGST exemption and cess on imports
The US is the largest consumer of gems and jewellery in the world contributing nearly 40 per cent of global production. If India can tap the opportunity, its overall exports to the US could jump by 10 per cent to $ 11 billion this year.
Indian exporters are said to be exporting gold jewellery with minimum value addition to get a higher gold import quota for domestic market after imports linked to exports under the 80:20 rule.
While the government has not made the report public, sources said the panel had recommended a sharp cut in all taxes on the gold business, including import duty and goods and services tax which amounts to over 13%.
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme worth Rs 10,683 crore for textiles sector with an aim to boost domestic manufacturing and exports. The decision was taken in a meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Cabinet "has approved the PLI scheme for textiles for MMF (man-made fibre) apparel, MMF fabrics and ten segments/ products of technical textiles with a budgetary outlay of Rs 10,683 crore," Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters.
It is mind-boggling to find our prime minister putting exports on the back-burner, says Jayanta Roy.
The industry alleges the government has been apathetic, despite their pleas for quick action. However, H2 may be different as The US-China trade war had opened a window for Indian exporters to ship more to America.
Despite the robust growth in this country, Apple's India share in its overall global sales remained modest -- constituting 1.5 per cent of its overall turnover of $389 billion in FY23.
Some jewellers kept their shops shut in Mumbai as well.
Barring rice, spices, iron ore and pharmaceuticals, all the remaining 26 key sectors registered negative growth in May. Imports too plunged 51 per cent to $22.2 billion in May.
Diamond industry expects revenues to drop by 20-25% in the current financial year.
So far, rough diamonds mined from the Panna mines in Madhya Pradesh were auctioned online but displayed only at Panna.
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