"By January 2010 there could be massive job losses on unprecedented scale which could lead to social problems in apparel manufacturing clusters across the country," AEPC Chairman Rakesh Vaid said.
India's gems and jewellery exports grew by 16 per cent at $28 billion last fiscal due to revival in demand in major markets as well as recycling of used diamonds, a top industry official said.
India's gems and jewellery export grew by 16 per cent to $28.41 billion in 2009-10 due to revival in demand from major markets like the US and Europe.
The issue has assumed serious proportions now. Suranjan Gupta, senior joint director, Engineering Export Promotion Council, said, many containers were being detained in Europe, to the extent that the steel ministry convened a meeting last week to discuss the matter. Europe accounts for 70 per cent of India's annual engineering exports of $33 billion.
Having shown some initial signs of recovery in November, India's apparel exports declined by over 11 per cent to $862 million in December 2009 on account of poor demand from the United States and the Euro zone.
Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's and other Indian drug makers may cut production as overseas buyers, hurt by the credit crunch, defer export orders. The move could also lower the country's drug exports by at least 10 per cent in the year ending March 2010, industry experts say."Many of our members have been intimated by their importers to stop shipments until further notice," said Venkat Jasti, chairman, Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council.
Those in the handicraft business say China has 'invaded' the Indian bazaars replacing sale of traditional hand-made products with machine-made items manufactured on a big volume. Besides, the Chinese manufacturers send these machine-made handicrafts to the global market giving tough competition to Indian suppliers.
Exports from the world's largest supplier of gems and jewellery were valued at $1.87 billion in May 2009.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday met exporters, a day after the release of the April export data which showed the sharpest fall in overseas shipments in 14 years, assuring them he would do his best in the Budget.
Exports stood at $5.27 million (around Rs 24 crore) in October last fiscal.
India has offered African countries --Botswana, Angola, South Africa and Namibia, incentives to strengthen their jewellery industry in return for direct procurement of rough diamonds from these countries.
The trade to-and-from India so far is not affected. But if the situation continues to remain the same for the next two to three months, it could definitely hurt India trade, including essential cargo.
Last fiscal, diamonds worth about $900 billion were sold globally of which those worth about $20 billion came back to India for recycling.
The department for promotion of industry and internal trade has asked the telecom department and State-owned BSNL to put on hold the tender for setting up 4G network, valued at Rs 9,000 crore, after allegations emerged that the tender favoured foreign companies. The tender was floated by BSNL in March under the new management for setting up the 4G network.
Imports of rough diamonds at $7,249.39 (Rs 32,839.73 crore) million in April 08 - February 09 have shown a decline of dollar term 20.12 per cent (11.31 per cent in rupee term) compared with $9,075.36 million (Rs 37,027.47 crore) in the same period last year. The marginal growth in exports of cut and polished diamonds in the year 2008-09 from the corresponding period of last year is due to increase in the trading activities of cut and polished diamonds.
The draft direct tax code that will lead to overhaul of the Income Tax Act, has created uncertainty among the developers and units in the special economic zones over continuation of the tax sops.
Thirty-one Indian companies, under the aegis of Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, will showcase their capabilities at the Gitex Dubai 2007, the largest IT show in the region.
DLF has sought the denotification of four of its IT/ITeS SEZs that were to come up in Haryana, Gujarat, Orissa and Kolkata, due to slowdown in the economy and liquidity crunch in the overall industry. The decision on the denotification would be taken on the June 2 meeting of the Board of Approval in the commerce ministry.
"We are confident that the status quo will be there...the issue has been taken up at the highest level," additional secretary in the Commerce Ministry D K Mittal said.
The survey revealed that firms were using a combination of measures like internal cost control and investment in new technology to combat the problem and stay afloat. There was a shift to a more capital intensive and labour saving manufacturing process in the small and medium scale sector. This meant significant downsizing in labour force on account of rupee appreciation.
The exports stood at $4.21 billion in June in 2008. Engineering exporters are not hopeful of recovery in demand in the international market in the coming months.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, last month urged small traders to compete with foreign retail chains through e-commerce.
India's carpet export rose by 22 per cent to $3.60 million (about 17 crore) in June year-on-year on account of good orders from the US and Europe.
With major IT markets in US, Europe and Japan expecting to witness a slowdown, Indian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is now turning to South Africa and West Asian markets in a bigger way.
Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Teletech has been presented the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council award for achieving the highest exports in telecommunications equipment during 2001-02.
According to ESC's Eastern Region Chairman S Radhakrishnan 20 IT/ITes non-competing companies located in New York and Chicago would be handled in the first phase. Each year, the expenditure for such centres would be about Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) and run for three years, Radhakrishnan told reporters in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Silk exporters are already hit by rupee appreciation and competition from Chinese firms, Mittal said, adding that of the total 50 lakh workers in the sector, over 100,000 have lost jobs. The industry is apprehensive that the situation could worsen this year due to deepening of the US economic slowdown, which is spreading to other economies as well.
The Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs has raised the issue with the Finance Ministry and is expecting a favourable response in the Budget. At present, units in the DTAs have to pay two per cent CST on goods bought from the special economic zones.
The engineering exports in the first month of 2009-10 plunged to $2.78 billion from $3.8 billion in the same month a year ago, according to the Engineering Export Promotion Council. However, the decline in April was not as sharp as in March, when the exports contracted by 34 per cent over the same period last year.
While sales in the domestic market declined 4.2 per cent during the April-July period, exports grew steadily at 9.5 per cent during the same period.
Recession-hit retailers in the US and Europe are increasing their purchases from Bangladesh as it is able to supply garments at a relatively less price due to low labour cost and better economies of scale, experts said. Data collected by the Apparel Export Promotion Council, the body for the promotion and facilitation of garment-manufacturing and their exports, show Bangladesh overtook India after August 2008.
Hit by the dollar-debasement, the Indian handmade carpet industry is all set to de-risk business by embarking on a new mission: That of looking beyond the US market and expanding its footprint in Europe.
Riding on the back of large capital inflows both in the stock market and through the foreign direct investment route, the Indian currency has appreciated by over seven per cent in the first six months of the current financial year.
While the formulation is being worked out by the commerce ministry, the industry and export community is also in touch with senior functionaries in the finance ministry.
The event will showcase India's cutting edge IT capabilities and outsourcing strengths to the global IT and business community.
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.
Diamond industry expects revenues to drop by 20-25% in the current financial year.
India and China are together expected to equal world's largest jewellery market, the United States, by 2015 when the global gems and jewellery trade is expected to touch $230 billion, states a new industry report.
Exports of jewellery from India have gone up 32 per cent in the last two months ended May thanks to increasing demand and sale diamonds abroad.
India's guar gum exporters are facing discrimination in the Chinese market with the Dragon country allowing duty exemptions to the commodity coming from Pakistan.
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