Precious ornaments are estimated to become 3% costlier under GST
Senior officials say the government might come up with an incentive package for the SEZs following the release of Foreign Trade Policy.
Overall gross import of rough diamonds between April to November 2019 has shown a decline of 17.24 per cent to $8.55 billion from $10.34 billion registered during April to November 2018. This is one of sharpest fall in import of diamond in India in last one decade.
Providing relief to the economy from widening trade deficit on account of gold imports, the inward shipments of the metal slumped in December to 39 tonnes, Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said on Wednesday.
Since he lives locally, Harish Patel is one of the luckier migrant workers in Surat - in that his employer was able to squeeze in a single shift for him at the weaving unit in Kamrej in Gujarat - unlike others who went home for Holi and other festivals just as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was waxing and ended up stranded in local lockdowns.
Three-four big gem and jewellery firms are showing financial weaknesses and might find it tough to withstand shocks
COAI has argued that in India the government has been working to keep telecom networks secure, with reviews of the security policy and the insertion of specific clauses into the licences to prevent any risk to network security.
The ministry of civil aviation has eased the rules regarding drone operations in the country by reducing the number of forms that need to be filled to operate them from 25 to 5 and the decreasing the types of fees charged from the operator from 72 to 4.
Centre has already started work on developing a mechanism to ensure states producing any item in excess is able to transport it to other states where there is demand
To mark the first anniversary of the Sterlite firing anniversary -- 13 people died and several were injured when the Tamil Nadu police fired on a large crowd protesting -- various organisations will hold rallies and meetings in the port city.
The possibility of the slowdown affecting more players is greater if the industry doesn't get access to easier finance in the next six to eight months.
Orders for the festive season abroad begin from next month.
Industry is displeased over the failure of the National Manufacturing Policy, which has failed to invite any sizeable investment since it was launched more than two years ago.
The minister emphasised that India will play its due role in advancing global food security and it will do so in a manner in which it upholds equity, displays compassion, and promotes social justice.
Most of the jewellers who had reopened their showrooms in confusion on Monday, kept shutters down today at Mumbai's Zaveri Bazar and several other places, demanding rollback of the proposal.
Just a few weeks ago, Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw did some tough talking with the senior managers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the ailing state-owned telecom service provider. The message was clear: They had to perform, quit by taking the voluntary retirement package or be compulsorily retired from service. The terse message from an otherwise polite and soft-spoken minister came just days after he announced a second and bigger package of Rs 1.64 trillion as part of a four-year turnaround plan for BSNL.
All stakeholders in the diamond industry chain from mines to retailers have to follow a system of warranty under which they have to individually declare in the invoices they issue that what they have sold are not conflict diamonds.
Existing units stay operational; those approved may not be notified, land could be used for other purposes
Spurring the economy, currently in the throes of a slowdown, remains the prime focus for most ministries, but the government is also looking to make women's welfare and environmental protection key to policymaking in this term.
Hit hard by volatility in yarn prices, 50% of the looms said to be operating only 3-4 days a week.
The Reserve Bank of India on Monday moved on Monday to tighten gold imports again in an attempt to rein-in a record high current account deficit by taming demand for the yellow metal.
Govt clamps have resulted in 93% decline in April-November
The first of its kind, a gem bourse to cater to the needs of the gemstone industry of the Pink City where all the business could be transacted under one roof, would soon become a reality.
The Chinese dependence is far from over, industry players are also citing a shortage of electronic toys in the country.
The report by the High Level Advisory Group said India stands to benefit even more when the US and China are locked in a global trade war.
When the lockdown was lifted last year, Rasikbhai Kotadiya, who runs a powerloom unit in the Kim-Pipodara industrial area on the outskirts of Surat, was left with only four workers out of the 48 that he used to employ to run his 128 looms. Though the economy had been unlocked, his textile unit, and that of thousands of others, struggled to resume operations. By the last week of May, nearly 700,000 of Surat's 1.2-1.5 million migrant workers, left high and dry with no pay during the lockdown, had returned home. In Laskana, another textile weaving hub in Surat, the powerlooms were all but silent, with only 2,000 of the total 55,000 looms churning out grey cloth at a snail's pace.
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) on Friday opposed a regulatory body's recommendation for environmental release of genetically modified mustard, calling it "dangerous" and urged the Centre to ensure that the crop's seed is not allowed to be planted "now or ever". In a letter to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, the RSS-affiliated organisation accused the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) of functioning in an "irresponsible fashion" and said the claims made in support of genetically modified (GM) mustard were "completely untrue, unsubstantiated and wrongly projected". "Swadeshi Jagran Manch has all along been opposing this dangerous and unneeded GM mustard being brought in through the backdoor as a public sector genetically modified organism (GMO)," organisation co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said in the letter.
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.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has liberalised the procedure for facilitating the import of rough diamonds (termed roughs in the trade).
For the last few days, Surat-based diamond exporter Savji Dholakia has been inundated with job applications.
There are around 6,500 diamond manufacturers of which Palanpuri Jains operate a mere 6 per cent, or around 400 companies. But they stand out for being highly interlinked through blood ties.
Motherson Sumi, Tata Steel, Jaguar Land Rover will face higher cost.
While an official in the Commerce Department indicated a trade war was in the offing, till now the government has been in wait-and-watch mode.
On the present government's 'Make in India' campaign, C Rangarajan, former chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, says it is important to first ask for whom it is being made.
Despite various challenges, the past year was a good one, says Bruce Cleaver, chief executive officer of the De Beers Group, the global corporation that has been the leading one in all aspects of the diamond trade for over a century.
The Bhratiya Janata Party has justified its poll alliance with the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh despite critical comments made in the past by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.
Assocham expressed concern over the precarious situation that the manufacturing sector is in, observing that if the trend does not reverse with monetary and fiscal measures it would be difficult for the industry to generate jobs.
'The package will help in realising the true potential of employment generation in the textile and apparel sector.'
The China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to revive diplomatic ties should not be a matter of concern for India as the pact would provide regional stability and would be beneficial for New Delhi's interests as well, Iranian ambassador Iraj Elahi said on Friday.
India is the second largest buyer of Iranian crude, after China.
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