The decision regarding this was taken by the Board of Approval in its meeting on September 18.
A closer look at the data reveals that a lot of the items are not part of this calculation. The notable ones include buffalo meat, marine exports, raw cotton, and plantation crops such as tea, coffee, rubber, etc.
The EU also feels that Tamil Nadu has adopted a restrictive practice for imported liquor. Significantly, a similar complaint by the trade bloc at the WTO led to the elimination of additional Customs duty on imported liquor in 2007.
The government is considering de-canalising import of petrol and diesel from the next fiscal, a move long awaited by global oil majors like Royal Dutch Shell to begin petro retailing in the country.
The commerce ministry has projected Rs 21,631.94 crore (Rs 216.31 billion) worth of exports from the 63 special economic zones, which have been notified since February 2006. Till date, Rs 13,435 crore (Rs 134.35 billion) has been invested in them.
As part of efforts to give a greater fillip to trade, the commerce ministry is working aggressively on finalising trade pacts with countries in the South East Asian region and some Latin American countries.
'There is a need for a national task force with a singular objective to increase automotive exports.'
India's exports have declined for the seventh consecutive month in April.
Under the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12), Rs 550 crore (Rs 5.5 billion) was provided for promoting exports through Market Access Initiative scheme.
The exercise is aimed at finalising India's position for a free trade agreement with BIMSTEC nations.
Overall exports in 2008-09 grow at slowest pace in 7 yrs.
A high-powered inter-ministerial committee was expected to finalise the list based on the suggestions and recommendations from different chambers, business houses and trade experts, the Daily Star newspaper reported.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade on Monday notified Duty Entitlement Pass Book Scheme (refund of local taxes) on cement exports. The commerce ministry had lifted the 46-day old ban on cement exports on May 27. However, it had allowed shipments only through ports in Gujarat. The state accounts for 95 per cent of the total cement exports.
India's exports and imports have together dipped for the first time in seven years, signalling weakening of domestic and external demand in the backdrop of global economic crisis. Government officials said the sale of Indian goods in overseas markets was likely to see a dip in February as well.
In the previous fiscal, exports from the SEZs was Rs 99,689 crore (Rs 996.89 billion). Exports from Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery is likely to contribute substantially to the total shipments this fiscal, another official said.
Hong Kong-headquartered Growth-Link Overseas has announced it would invest Rs 300 crore to build a manufacturing facility for Nike footwear at Cheyyar, near Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu.
A dip in petroleum product exports for the first time in the current fiscal has contributed to a 22 per cent decline in merchandise exports in January, commerce ministry data reveals.
Relief for exporters, additional incentives for export of farm products other than those in short supply and more steps to check inflation through hassle-free and cheap imports are likely to be announced on Friday in the last review of Foreign Trade Policy by the UPA government.
A revamped Electronic Data Interface system and easier norms for the Accredited Clients Programme are some features likely to be introduced to reduce the transaction time and costs of exporters. Some of the measures may figure in the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy, which is being released on Apr 11. ComMin officials expect the new Electronic Data Interface System to become operational by the end of this fiscal. Exporters will have to submit lesser documents.
India may get its first unicorn this year as Zepto, which promises 10-minute deliveries, is in talks to get fresh funding that would take the start-up's valuation past $1 billion. The quick-delivery firm is looking to raise $150 million in a series E round, which will take its valuation to $1.3 billion. The round will be led by StepStone Group, a limited partner (LP) of Zepto's existing investor, Nexus Venture Partners, said media reports.
Initial commerce ministry estimates suggest a 10 per cent contraction in exports in December. Coming after 12 and 9.9 per cent falls in October and November respectively, India is unlikely to meet the export target of $ 200 billion in the current fiscal. The last quarterly dip occurred in 2001, when exports were in the negative territory for six consecutive months ending December that year, data provided by the Reserve Bank of India and the commerce ministry showed.
Iraq has urged the international community to help prevent ISIS from gleaning profits from oil smuggling
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has so far given three packages to exporters aggregating Rs 5,200 crore (Rs 52 billion) as the $160 billion export target for 2007-08 appears difficult to meet. He has expressed hope that exports target would be met. Palanimanickam said government was already providing 100 per cent tax benefits on profit on exports apart from indirect tax incentives.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) chairman Bibek Debroy on Tuesday said the government was losing revenue due to the GST, which should be revenue neutral with a single rate. Speaking at an event organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, he however said that GST has led to a lot of simplification. "The ideal GST is one that has a single rate, and it was meant to be revenue neutral.
The boom in world trade has ensured that export has grown by over 20 per cent. Has the FTP contributed to the stellar growth in exports? T N Rajagopalan thinks it did.
While admitting India's persistent stand on the issue might delay the agreement, a top commerce ministry official said the talks were on track. "We will maintain a hardline stand," said the official. It is to be noted, the sixth round of EU-India trade negotiation in Delhi in March ended without any substantial progress because of the tariff-related issues. The EU is India's largest trading partner and the total bilateral trade stood at over $70 billion in 2008-09.
India's inflation rate shot up to its highest level in more than 16 years this month, increasing the chances of the fourth rise in interest rates in Asia's third-largest economy since June.
India's software exports suffered a severe setback in March declining by 96.6 per cent to $1 million from the year-ago period due to recession in world's major economies like the US and the Europe.
Since the SEZ Act was notified in February 2006, 22 SEZs have been up and running. In the last financial year (2006-07), these SEZs collectively exported goods worth Rs 33,000 crore (Rs 330 billion) , roughly 6 per cent of India's total exports of Rs 5,71,641 crore (Rs 5716.41 billion). Officials also pointed out that 52,000 people have found employment in the new SEZs set up after 2005.
Inflation for the month of August stood at 8.51 per cent, according to the new Wholesale Price Inflation (WPI) series.
We have a government with an extremely weak economic team advising a PM who hardly pays attention to their thoughts, says Jayanta Roy.
The commerce ministry on Wednesday reiterated that the three notified special economic zones in Goa could not be scrapped by the Centre. It added that the issue had to be sorted between the state government and developers of the zones. Even as the Goa government has raised the issue of scrapping three notified special economic zones with the Centre, the state administration has till date not sent any formal communication to the SEZs in this regard.
In view of popular sentiments, the Goa government had decided to scrap 12 SEZs and sought denotification of three SEZs from the Centre. In view of popular sentiments, the Goa government had decided to scrap 12 SEZs and sought denotification of three SEZs from the Centre. The three SEZs for Meditab Specialities, Peninsula Pharma Research Centre and K Raheja Corporation had started work on the sites before the state government issued them stop-work orders.
