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.
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 Russian currency depreciated by 24 per cent in the past month to trade at 56.54 to the dollar at present, a sharp recovery after hitting a low of 68 in early December.
Two entities under the Union ministry of commerce report differing figures for import of cut and polished diamonds for the first eight months of the financial year.
Round-tipping creates the opportunity for exporters to source funds at a much cheaper cost, which they divert to some other business.
Precious ornaments are estimated to become 3% costlier under GST
Economists polled in a recent survey by Ficci unanimously felt that the rupee will continue to be under pressure in 2018-19
In august last year, the government had raised import duty on gold and silver to 10 per cent to curb the surging imports and burgeoning CAD.
There was a massive 24% decline in India's gems and jewelry exports to $2,321 million for September 2018 as against $3,053.38 million in the same period last year.
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.
Banks have become more vigilant over the past two weeks, with many more officials involved in loan approval and disbursal.
Only 400 grams have been deposited so far.
With exporters' claim for over five months still pending, liquidity has been wiped out and the process of finalising new contracts has been held up.
Indian exporters are said to be exporting gold jewellery with minimum value addition to get a higher gold import quota for domestic market after imports linked to exports under the 80:20 rule.
Despite the onset of wedding season, the situation in apparel retail market remained unchanged and saw sharp decline in sales
'His death is an irreparable loss to the nation'.
Out of 389 SEZs notified, 170 are operational, Export Promotion Council for export-oriented units and special economic zones (EPCES) said in a statement.
Official sources say that the finance ministry is aware of the possible spike in smuggling activity and has already asked intelligence agencies to tighten their vigilance and come down on the unofficial entry of gold into India.
Exporters believe the situation will also have a grave outcome for employment, with large numbers of casual laborers looking at no work, as well as downstream units facing a loss of work, reports Subhayan Chakraborty.
Particularly hit has been the apparel sector, where the time taken by the industry to adjust to the Goods and Services Tax regime, downward revision of export incentives, and a credit squeeze faced by small and medium scale enterprises, has pushed production downwards.
It may touch Rs 19,800 crore.
The fall in exports of gems and jewellery exports is mainly because of shortage of raw-material for jewellery manufacturing.
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.
Indian exporters on Monday said the fluctuating rupee will not only raise imports bill but would also lead to volatility affecting their businesses.
With the government asking the companies to operate with only 50 per cent staff strength, and exports dipping to almost zero, the truck and bus drivers idling at the petrol pump say they hardly have any work now. At a petrol pump on the deserted Bavla-Changodar highway near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, several trucks and buses are neatly parked in a row.
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.
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.
Work on a dozen decisions to start by next week.
Around 55 per cent of land in the 36 operational special economic zones (SEZs) in Tamil Nadu is lying vacant owing to various reasons, including the recent economic slowdown.
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.
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Imports of gold virtually stopped since July 22 after confusion on the new import rules.
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.
'Obviously, MSP hike raises chances of a reduction in exports. Even without an MSP hike, India's exports of a number of agri-commodities, like sugar, were unviable in the overseas markets.'
A 15 per cent corporate tax rate for services companies in SEZs, setting up a fund for deep-tech startups and establishing clusters to demonstrate design-to-manufacturing capabilities of tech firms were some of the key demands made by the IT sector at the pre-Budget consultation on Monday. The participants shared their views and suggestions regarding Big Data, incentives for encouraging setting up of data centres, fiscal incentives for data localisation, incentives for pushing digital penetration in rural areas, and corporate guarantee to startups for competing with other nations.
Senior officials say the government might come up with an incentive package for the SEZs following the release of Foreign Trade Policy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked exporters to prepare a strategy for the next five years and start working in that direction.
The Bill to amend the Bureau of Indian Standards Act has been passed.
The 80:20 rule mandates importers to channel at least 20% of the import quantity for jewellery exports.
Exports of gold jewellery fell 23.13 per cent to $1153 million.
When overall gems and jewellery exports remained resilient so far this year on global economic uncertainty, shipment of silver jewellery witnessed a phenomenal growth so far this year.
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