The country's textile industry is concentrated in a few pockets of Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west and Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the south.
.jpg)
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.
The government may roll out a new foreign trade policy (FTP) of a shorter term of two-three years in a bid to keep pace with the fast-evolving scenarios in international trade which have been triggered by recent disruptions, such as the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. An FTP is an elaborate policy guideline and strategy to promote the export of goods and services, with a duration of five years usually. The existing policy came into force on April 1, 2015, and was valid for five years, before multiple extensions.
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.
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.
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 central government and the Reserve Bank of India have devised a country-specific plan towards implementation of overseas trade in rupee, people aware of the matter said. To start with, a small number of banks will be allowed to manage cross-border transactions in domestic currency with a particular country. "Small countries that are dollar-deficient have shown interest in doing trade in rupee.
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.
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.
Experts call for consistency in government policies to enable Indian exporters to frame a long-term strategy.
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.
Imports too declined 26 per cent to $29.47 billion in August, leaving a trade deficit of $6.77 billion.
India processes around 90% of the world's supply of rough diamonds.
Round-tipping creates the opportunity for exporters to source funds at a much cheaper cost, which they divert to some other business.
Sharma was addressing the members of the Board of Trade, a body comprising captains of Indian industry.
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
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.
The spotlight is back on the hawala trade in diamonds.
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 rose by 1.44 per cent to $43.44 billion in March 2019.
Imports too declined by 16.31 per cent to $37.39 billion.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 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.
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%.
It is mind-boggling to find our prime minister putting exports on the back-burner, says Jayanta Roy.
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.
Some jewellers kept their shops shut in Mumbai as well.
'Unsurprisingly, Trump shared Modi's podcast with Fridman on his Truth account.' 'The intentions of Trump, a transactional president, are never easy to tell.' 'We will know in the next fortnight if and when he unfolds reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, whether Modi's flattering words made any significant difference to Trump's compass,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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.
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.
