The biggest fear many of the e-commerce firms have is the possible requirement to change business models overnight, which would drastically increase costs as well as disrupt businesses.
The talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Canada may have taken a pause but will resume once the political row between the two countries is resolved as the pact has economic benefits for both the nations, trade experts and exporters said on Friday. However, they said that India may not hurry for the trade agreement as 60 per cent of New Delhi's exports are already entering Canada at zero duty. Earlier this month, India and Canada paused the negotiations for the agreement due to political reasons.
FDI in the defence sector during 2000-2014 has been a meagre $4.94 billion, despite the total FDI flow into the country across sectors standing at $321.81 billion.
"Not a single step has been taken by this government to empower small businesses in India," says Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders and former treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit.
"We want to trade even more," US President Barack Obama said on Sunday as the two-way commerce between America and India touched a record $100 billion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government has within 100 days in office steered the economy out of a "difficult situation" and brought stability, and promised to remove roadblocks to foreign investment.
In yet another step to attract foreign money, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed non-resident investors to acquire shares of listed Indian companies through stock exchanges under the foreign direct investment (FDI) scheme.
It is only for retail trading of goods that sourcing conditions are mandated. Such norms are not applicable to manufacturers as goods are produced in India, the government said.
White labeled ATMs are set up by private non-bank companies that own and operate their own brand of ATMs.
At the heart of the issue is the way e-commerce is defined in the current draft policy.
Oppo's FDI application approved for single-brand retail trading
Also the companies should be self-sufficient in product designing and have maintenance and life cycle support facilities.
Auchan and another French retailer, Carrefour, exited India in 2014
Future Retail's (FRL's) independent directors have written a second letter to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), stating American e-commerce major Amazon never intended to invest in Future Coupons (FCPL) and the representations made by the US e-commerce player were completely opposite and contradictory to their own internal correspondences as submitted before courts. The directors also wrote to CCI that Amazon has obtained approval by making deliberate misrepresentations. By actively misleading the CCI and the regulator, it has to revoke the approval granted for Amazon's investment in FCPL.
Auto, tourism exceptions but major sectors otherwise saw decline in FY13 inflows.
Regulator believes Jet Airways deal triggers open offer
Last year in January at Amazon's flagship event Smbhav, Infosys Co-founder N R Narayana Murthy had to shorten his keynote speech from 20 minutes to about five because the event was delayed by 1.5 hours. "I will try to finish it in five minutes, because I am not used to delays," said Murthy, while addressing hundreds of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) about building businesses that last. In the audience was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Murthy referred to Bezos' prediction that the 21st century will be the Indian century. "That confidence enhances our enthusiasm," said Murthy. The relationship between Murthy and Bezos dates to 2014, when Prione, a 49:51 joint venture (JV) between Amazon and Murthy's venture capital company Catamaran, was formed.
Startup founders need to sit up and think about how not to take stardom for granted and how not to disappoint their fans who have stood in long queues for those precious selfies with popular entrepreneurs, notes Nivedita Mookerji.
The broader NSE Nifty index too finished lower by 4.80 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 10,632.20.
In a wide-ranging overhaul of rules to make India an easier, safer and attractive investment destination, Sebi on Tuesday unveiled a new set of streamlined entry norms for foreign investors, while putting in place checks against any wrongdoings by the company promoters.
Apple has been lobbying hard for exemption from the mandatory 30 per cent local sourcing.
Tesco, which has sought the government's permission to buy 50 per cent stake in Tatas-owned Trent Hypermarket Ltd, will have to invest atleast $55 million in creation of fresh back-end infrastructure.
The government eased investment rules for the retail sector on Thursday in a renewed attempt to attract foreign supermarket operators such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Tesco.
D&N cites positive changes in momentum in certain segments of economy, but says some areas of concern remain
Nike has about 400 stores in India.
Spain on Monday proposed to cooperate with India in developing smart and sustainable cities in the country.
At the heart of the current controversy is the government's FDI rule
Union Minister of Commerce and Textiles Piyush Goyal has stirred up a hornet's nest by taking on India Inc, specifically the Tata group, which is among the companies that lobbied against the Modi government's pro-consumer draft e-commerce policies. While Goyal's comments, made at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event, were streamed live on YouTube, the industry lobbying body later edited the video and subsequently withdrew the entire speech. Goyal had said the Tata group and other Indian companies often lobbied for their interest, while ignoring national interest.
The new government's challenge would be to reverse the tide in FDI, boost manufacturing and come up with an e-commerce policy that is fair to all investors.
Approval comes 6 months after Swedish clothing giant applied for India entry; FIPB now to consider on Oct 18.
The economic growth slowed to a decade low of 5 per cent in the 2012-13 fiscal.
Legislative process in the country is unduly long and tedious
Some developers point out that what comes in the way of low-cost housing is the sky-high price of land
Palo Alto-based electric carmaker Tesla has initiated talks with the government on the modalities of setting up fully-owned retail outlets. The company needs to comply with the foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines related to single-brand retail, including local sourcing norms, to sell directly in India. At least two other foreign majors - Apple and Ikea - were engaged in talks with the government long before the sourcing norms were eased under the single-brand retail route.
The government is mulling allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country's largest insurer LIC, a move which would help overseas investors take part in the company's proposed mega IPO, sources said. The proposal is under discussion between the Department of Financial Services and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). "Discussions have been going on for the proposal for the last few weeks. "It would also go for inter-ministerial discussions and would also require Cabinet nod," a source said.
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Prime Minister's key economic advisor C Rangarajan on Friday lowered the growth forecast for the current fiscal to 5.3 per cent from 6.4 per cent projected earlier and listed out host of measures, including further liberalisation of FDI norms to improve economic condition.
These companies struck joint ventures with foreign partners before the government relaxed FDI sectoral limits by issuing Press Notes 2 and 4 in February this year, and had approached FIPB for approvals later. FIPB sent a note to this effect to the RBI a month ago, advising the central bank to deal with such cases.
The new PN3 norms and lack of clarity on what constitutes beneficial ownership are the primary reasons for the decline in investments from China and Hong Kong.
While 100 per cent FDI is allowed in single-brand retail, if the foreign investment exceeds 51 per cent, the 30 per cent mandatory local sourcing norm kicks in.
It is still "discounts" that e-commerce players have to rely on to bring in customers, though they might claim otherwise.
