The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Commerce Ministry proposes to scale back the Foreign Direct Investment ceiling for the tobacco industry from 100 to 74 per cent and insert a caveat that cigarettes manufactured in the new ventures or in upgraded facilities must be mainly for consumption outside India.Sources said the department, which is responsible for the policy on FDI, is finalising a cabinet note aimed at comprehensive review of the tobacco policy.
Mumbai-based infrastructure conglomerate Essar group has withdrawn its plans to build a 1,125 hectare Special Economic Zone in Jamnagar because of the adverse economic environment, a commerce ministry official said. The proposal was to set up a 16-20-million-metric-tonne-a-year petrochemical refinery at an investment of Rs 15,000 crore, one of the largest SEZ proposals, according to information available on the company's website.
Goa has scrapped 12 SEZs, including the seven, which were approved by the state government. But the government is struggling over denotification of three industrial enclaves, which has now rushed to the High Court against government's intention to scrap them.
India-ASEAN Summit, scheduled for December 17 in Thailand, has been postponed as crisis-ridden South-East Asian country is unable to host the meet.
6 locations in New Delhi and 2 in Mumbai were raided.
Overall exports in 2008-09 grow at slowest pace in 7 yrs.
Even as the freeze on all decisions and notifications for fresh special economic zones continues, the government on Friday gave its nod for authorised operations in 30 notified SEZs, while granting co-developer status to five zones.
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.
The inflow in December 2008 is lower compared to $1.55 billion FDI the country received in the same month in the previous fiscal. The country has set a target of $35 billion for FDI in the current fiscal.
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.
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.
The drafts or rules are prepared by Directorate General of Safeguards and it is to be issued by Finance Ministry in consultation with commerce ministry. The government may impose safeguard duties, which could be as high as more than 100 per cent, after thorough investigations confirm that import surge is leading to 'serious injury, market disruption' to domestic industry.
However, the board of approval in the commerce ministry asked the DLF to return all the tax sops it had taken from the Centre before its SEZs in Gujarat, West Bengal, Orissa and Haryana could be denotified. The BoA, headed by commerce secretary G K Pillai, also allowed more time to the K Raheja group to build its tax-free zones in Goa, Hyderabad and Navi Mumbai, an official said.
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.
The buoyancy in exports, which are expected to grow 23 per cent to around $155 billion in 2007-08, does not convey the real picture.Commerce ministry data show that the sectors with higher import content like petroleum products, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and agriculture have provided the momentum for growth in exports, which have been hit by the appreciation of the rupee and infrastructure bottlenecks.
The inflation rate inched closer to 7%. the government has started pulling out all stops to boost domestic supply situation by withdrawing incentives on export of at least 40 items, including steel, cement and non-basmati rice. The Commerce Ministry withdrew or temporarily suspended the tax refund scheme - Duty Entitlement Pass Book. Besides measures to discourage exports, the government is considering more fiscal steps to improve supplies and rein in inflation, he indicated.
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.
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.
The finance ministry is of the view that all interests -- direct and indirect -- should be taken into account and that there should not be any threshold for calculating total effective foreign shareholding in a company.
In one of its many arguments, North Block has maintained that direct tax exemptions may be viewed as a subsidy by importer countries, which may then impose countervailing duties on exports from Indian special economic zones. The issue is pending with the empowered group of ministers on special economic zones headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Adani, Reliance Industries, DLF, Omaxe and Singapore-based Ascendas Group had plans to set up mega multi-product SEZs, with some of them having infrastructure like ports and air-cargo complexes.
The ministry also expects the pace of job losses in export-oriented units to slow down in the coming months.
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 on Monday lifted the ban on importing toys from China provided they conform to international safety norms.
India's import bill contracted for the first time in almost nine years during January 2009, led by crude oil and capital goods, which constitute nearly half the total imports.
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.
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.
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.
Barn is a curing structure where tobacco leaves are processed to produce the FCV tobacco used mainly by cigarette manufacturers. However, the board's proposal will first have to be approved by the commerce ministry before being sent to the finance ministry for funds.
Gadkari said that the MSME sector contributes significantly in pushing the country's economic growth and creating employment.
Kerala-based Kinfra Film & Video Park has received the commerce ministry's approval to set up an International Animation School that is to be built on a private-public-partnership basis.
A joint economic group comprising commerce ministers of India and China is scheduled to meet in the first week of April to discuss the proposed India-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a commerce ministry official said today.
India Inc has couter attacked claims by US presidential candidates about the drain of jobs from US to India.
Till such time as the study is complete, the plan to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment in speciality retail sectors such as consumer electronics and sports goods has been put on hold.
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.
This decision will come as a relief to Essar's multi-product port-based SEZ project in Hazira as well as of Adani Group's zone in Mundra, which the revenue department felt was not built on vacant land when it was notified, and hence it had violated the law. Both the zones are in Gujarat.
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.
Unaffected by controversies, global financial market heavyweight Soros group, has approached the Indian government, expressing interest to invest in special economic zones in India.
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