John B Menzer, president and CEO of Wal-Mart International, today met Prime Minister Manmohan Si
The Modi government's flagship initiative 'Make in India' launched 10 years ago has helped the country boost exports, push investments and promote manufacturing. Under the initiative, launched on September 25, 2014, a series of measures have been taken by the government to boost local manufacturing. These initiatives include the rollout of production linked incentive (PLI) schemes for 14 sectors, easing foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, reducing compliance burden to improve business climate, all approvals through single window, and rolling out of the national logistics policy.
Industry body CII has asked the governments of Delhi and Rajasthan to reconsider their decisions to scrap the FDI policy for multi-brand retail as such investments would help create millions of jobs and benefit consumers.
'India-China economic ties are likely to take a hit in the wake of the new situation, but that also provides India with a new opportunity to strengthen its manufacturing base,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
The country's forex reserves touched a record high of $675 billion on August 2, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday. The previous all-time high for the kitty was $670.857 billion on July 19 this year, and the last reported reserve was $667.386 billion as on July 26. Das said overall, the country's external sector "remains resilient" as indicated by an improvement in key indicators.
'Expect India to keep doing well irrespective of geopolitics.'
India has eased foreign direct investment rules for the construction sector, the government said on Wednesday, in an effort to attract more money into the country to build new hotels, housing and townships.
India and the United States will finalize the contours, schedule of negotiations, and terms of reference for a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during a three-day meeting beginning Tuesday. The agreement is expected to be finalized in two tranches, with the first phase focusing on goods trade. The US team, led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, will be in India from March 25-29 to discuss the agreement. Both countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall 2025.
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.
'We face the risk of remaining a low-income country for a very long time unless something changes in the next few years.' 'Instead of constantly talking about becoming a developed economy, we need to start fixing the problems of the economy one by one.' 'There is so much potential, and we are squandering away the opportunity.'
Etihad and Qatar Airways have held informal talks with Kingfisher and SpiceJet to expand their footprints in India.
Since allowing FDI in multi-brand retail has been left to the states, Indian companies may not benefit as foreign investors are wary of the politics.
The BJP-led government may not permit foreign retailers to open mega stores in the country as such a move may adversely impact small traders and farmers, new Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman indicated.
Whether it's Carrefour, Ford, or other foreign majors, they are ready to adjust their strategies and design their plans in a way that would address the Indian consumption story.
He said the government was targeting to attract Rs 1,00,000 crore (Rs 1000 billion) as FDI in the next two years and an additional Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) contribution to GDP each year.
'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.
Global sentiment has turned very positive for India
$5 mn FDI must come in six months: Govt to construction firms.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributors' association has written to the finance ministry, highlighting concern over fund utilisation and fund accumulation by quick commerce companies and deep discounting of goods on their platforms. According to a recent letter seen by Business Standard, All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) noted that its analysis indicated that approximately 80 per cent of these funds were directed toward customer acquisition strategies instead of creating cutting-edge innovations or sustainable growth models for the retail sector.
An article on 'State of the Economy' in the monthly Bulletin also said the improvement in the outlook for agriculture and the revival of rural spending have turned out to be the bright spots in the evolution of demand conditions. Consumer price inflation ticked up in June 2024 after three consecutive months of moderation as a broad flare-up in vegetable prices halted the overall disinflation that had been underway, it said.
The investment limit for foreign entities in Indian stock exchanges will be enhanced from 5 per cent to 15 per cent on par with domestic institutions.
The new Foreign Trade Policy, to be unveiled on April 7, would focus mainly on attracting foreign direct investment and generating employment for the youth.
The recent depreciation of the rupee along with sharp fall in the country's foreign exchange (FX) reserves has sparked a debate whether stability of the exchange rate is necessary and desirable. The rupee was one of the least volatile currencies among peers for almost two years before the current downward pressure started in September after the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rate.
But completion occupancy certificates to be mandatory.
This can mean companies like Apple, Zara can sell in India through wholly-owned subsidiaries
Recent easing of restrictions does not address the pain in the sector.
To boost Make in India in defence production, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said foreign direct investment limit in defence manufacturing will be hiked to 74 per cent from 49 per cent while some weapons and platforms will be banned for imports.
India has reduced the time period for foreign investors to seek international arbitration from five years to three years as part of the recently signed investment pact with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a departure from its model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). Under the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, if the Indian judicial system is unable to resolve a dispute within this shortened period, investors can resort to international arbitration. The investment pact, signed on February 13 in Abu Dhabi, came into force on August 31, replacing the previous pact.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in its draft Cabinet has proposed to further tighten the rules for foreign direct investment in brownfield pharmaceutical sector.
The government, in February, had released the draft national e-commerce policy proposing setting up a legal and technological framework for restrictions on cross-border data flow and also laid out conditions for businesses regarding collection or processing of sensitive data locally and storing it abroad.
On the face of it, the country attracted FDI worth $22.52 billion between January and September, 2011 against $15.97 billion in the same period last year.
The BJP lost 15 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. Union ministers have been deployed in all 15, tasked with turning the result around.
Private consumption is back driven by festive spending, and the medium-term economic outlook remains bullish as the innate strength of the macro-fundamentals reasserts itself, the Reserve Bank Bulletin said on Wednesday. Global economic activity remained resilient during Q4:2024 amidst fragile confidence and rising protectionism, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in the November Bulletin.
The eighth Budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continued to focus on 'GYAN' (Garib, Youth, Annadata, Nari) to maintain a consistent and coherent strategy initiated over the years in pursuing the government's vision for Viksit Bharat. The approach, characterised by incremental yet impactful steps, aims to create a compounding effect over time.
India's plans to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) rules across a broad spectrum of industries have received the final approval from the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA).
RSS-aligned Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on Monday expressed disappointment over the government's budget proposals with regard to divestment and foreign direct investment, especially in the insurance sector. The BMS, however, lauded the government for its current efforts on the massive vaccination programme, a special scheme for tea workers in West Bengal and Assam, labour oriented push on infrastructure projects in construction sector and development of five major fishing harbours viz. Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat as hubs for economic activities etc. On other Budget proposals, it said in a statement that "mixing the beautiful concept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat with FDI and disinvestment in the Union Budget is disappointing for the employees".
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
The Survey is authored by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran and his team.
CAIT had last month also filed a petition in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the Competition Commission of India's decision to approve the deal.
India attracted an estimated $49 billion FDI in 2019, a 16 per cent increase from the $42 billion recorded in 2018.
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