Elections are underway in five crucial states, inflation is rising, and the country facing the second wave of the pandemic that has hurt incomes and livelihoods. A crucial policy decision on cutting the administered interest rate on small savings ought to have been thought through well.
A day earlier, in a blow to savers, the government had cut interest rates on small savings schemes, such as post office deposits and public provident fund, by up to 110 basis points. The new rates were to be effective today.
Infrastructure output, which comprises eight sectors including coal, crude oil and electricity, and accounts for nearly 40% of industrial output, fell by 8.3% in the 11 months through February from a year earlier, the data showed.
On Feb. 1, the government revised its fiscal deficit target for the current year that runs through March to 9.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), instead of its original target of 3.5% of GDP as the coronavirus pandemic led to lower tax collection and higher spending.
According to the schedule provided by the RBI, the second meeting of the MPC in the next fiscal will be held on June 2, 3 and 4; third meeting (August 4-6); fourth meeting (October 6-8); fifth meeting (December 6-8) and sixth meeting (February 7-9, 2022).
In a notification, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) waived the amount of penalty payable by a registered person for non-compliance of provisions of dynamic QR code in B2C invoices till June 30, 2021, subject to the condition that businesses comply with the provisions from July 1, 2021.
"The existing FTP 2015-20, which is valid up to March 31, 2021 is extended up to September 30, 2021," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.
Digital payments will grow at a rapid pace over the next few years and account for a 71.7 per cent share of all the payments in India by 2025, a report said on Wednesday.
The plan would help attract investment in the sector, step up processed food exports from India and boost farmers' income, Goyal told a news conference.
The delay in implementation of labour codes is a breather for India Inc as resurgence of Covid-19 cases in major industrial states have raised apprehensions that economic recovery seen so far could be stalled or even reversed if the cases continue to go up.
The improvements came on the back of the country’s vaccination drive, which was likely to spur activity in contact-intensive sectors and the infrastructure push in the Union Budget, which is expected to aid growth momentum and revive domestic demand, the report released on Wednesday said.
On March 31, 2020, the government had extended the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 for one year till March 31, 2021, amid the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown.
The Asia Pacific region, including India, is staring at a “K-shaped recovery” of their economies, as per the UN agency.
In a notification issued Monday, the Board has specified the portal as the one for facilitating registration, filing of bills of entry, shipping bills, other documents and forms prescribed under the Customs Act or any other law, besides duty payments and data exchange with other systems within or outside India.
A concern for the industry is the surge in Covid-19 cases, as it could impact movement of tea from the tea estates to the auction centres and to different parts of the country if states impose restrictions to check the spread of coronavirus.
Higher fuel prices will keep upward pressure on retail inflation and keep the RBI from offering further rate cuts, said Moody's Analytics, a financial intelligence company. Retail inflation rose to 5 per cent in February, from 4.1 per cent in January. The Reserve Bank mainly takes into account retail inflation while deciding on the monetary policy.
India, according to the 'Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2021: Towards post-COVID-19 resilient economies', is estimated to record an economic growth of 7 per cent in 2021-22, over a contraction of 7.7 per cent witnessed in the previous fiscal on account of the pandemic's impact on normal business activity.
Maharashtra is set to end the Covid-impacted financial year with Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections lower by 11.6% in comparison to the previous year. Data till March 25 shows that in 2019-20, the state collected Rs 1.85 lakh crore as GST, which fell to Rs 1.64 lakh crore in the current year—a Rs 21,594 crore shortfall.
While RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has said he doesn’t see any immediate threat to activity, economists see a bumpy road ahead given that Maharashtra, which contributes 14.5% to the country’s GDP, is among the worst hit and accounts for the majority of cases. The state has imposed a night curfew to tamp down cases that have been rising.
“We aren’t keen on Asean joining the initiative right now. We need to safeguard our interests and China’s influence through the grouping is a concern,” said an official.
Experts said India can raise a dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the US imposes any such tariffs, and draw up its own list of retaliatory actions such as banning American audio-video streaming services, social media platforms and credit cards.
Amid uncertainty created by surge in coronavirus cases, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to maintain status quo at its next monetary policy review and wait for some more time before taking any action to spur growth.
The Industry department said that various facilities and amenities has thoughtfully designed in the industrial park and these are conveniently located to ensure comfort and easy use by all.
Besides, Ind-Ra expects India's sugar production to increase 10 per cent YoY to around 30 million tonne (mnt) in sugar season 2020-21 (SS21), led by a sharp rebound in production in Maharashtra to 10.5 mnt.
The country had imported 227.23 MT of coal in the year-ago period, according to a report by mjunction services.
The portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles. Automobiles, computers and office furniture are currently the top product categories. Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, web casting and analytical, are listed on the portal.
The government and unions representing farmers, who have been camping at Delhi's border for four months in protest against the three laws that they say will end state procurement of crops at MSP, have held 11 rounds of talks, the last being on January 22. Talks broke down after widespread violence during a tractor rally by protesting farmers on January 26.
It is time because this time the government is showing real intent and desire to achieve this goal. From broad initiatives like Make in India and Atmanirbhar to specific policies like PMI that will cost the government lakhs of crores, there is definitely both intent and effort to push Indian manufacturing.
The Board has specified forms that applicants would have to use for registration and has also identified documents or statements that any fund, trust, institution, university, hospital or other medical institution would have to submit to claim tax exemptions.
"The point was to show Indians and people of colour that they too could be patrons, that crypto was an equalising power between the West and the Rest, and that the global south was rising," the Singapore-based newspaper quoted the duo as saying.
Speaking at a virtual conference by Jana Small Finance Bank, Subramanian said the disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore for 2021-22 is actually a carry over of the Rs 2.10 lakh crore target set for the current fiscal ending March 31.
"You will be delighted to note that since September 2020- Feb 2021, for the last six months, we have seen the highest freight loading in the history of Indian Railways, every month from September to February."
"We request immediate intervention to increase the supply of yarn to domestic manufacturers. We suggest that quantitative restrictions should be imposed on exports of cotton yarn, specifically on cotton yarn of 26 counts and above," AEPC said.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Thursday said this would collect duties on goods of India in the range of the amount of DST that India is expected to collect from US whose initial estimates are pegged at $55 million per year
The USTR on Friday said it is proceeding with the public notice and comment process on possible trade actions to preserve procedural options before the conclusion of the statutory one-year time period for completing the investigations.
Such a positive consideration by the Joe Biden administration comes after more than 60 lawmakers, mostly progressives, and a large number of rights and non-profit pharma bodies have approached the White House to support the move of India and South Africa along with hundreds of other nations that have urgently gone to the WTO seeking a time-limited waiver of the TRIPS agreement.
The statement said both agreed to further India-US economic cooperation on the basis of shared objectives and resolve pending legacy issues through mutual dialogue and discussion.
“We will be in a position to overtake China in their engagement with Bangladesh. We are working with that single minded purpose. We in government are proposing several initiatives. We don’t grudge their engagement with any other country,” Goyal said.
This route is used for Indian exports/imports worth $200 billion to/from North America, South America and Europe and includes petroleum goods, organic chemicals, iron & steel, automobile, machinery, textiles & carpets, handicrafts including furniture, leather goods.
In their first interaction after President Joe Biden took office, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal had a virtual meeting with his counterpart USTR Katherine Tai wherein they committed to “revitalize engagement through the US-India Trade Policy Forum”.
Cooperation between Japan and India on these crucial islands demonstrate the commitment of both countries to realizing a stable, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, an official said.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) also came down heavily on Amazon, terming its statement at a meeting organised by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on Thursday "extremely ridiculous and hilarious".
The 80 km rail network (funded by JICA) for Phase 2, covers Line R6 (Nagawara Gottigere, approx. 22.0 km), Phase 2A (Silk Board K R.Puram, approx.20.0 km) and Phase 2B (K R. Puram Kempegowda International Airport Terminal, approx.38. 0 km).
"The trend of summer sowing progress is very good as on date. Besides, the prospect of rabi crops is also very good and about 48 per cent of overall rabi crops have been harvested as on March 26 in the country," the ministry said in a statement.
Imports of palm oil by the nation, where consumption of fried foods generally surges during festivals, wedding seasons and long holidays, may climb to 8 million tons in the year ending in October, according to the median of six estimates in a Bloomberg survey of traders, analysts and importers.
As per the writ petition filed by the companies, only officers with certain seniority have the right to issue notices and summons. In certain cases, some officers, who merely introduced themselves as “senior officers,” carried on these procedures.
"Revival of economic activity should continue unabated and I don't see a downward revision in 10.5 per cent growth estimate for FY22 which RBI has given last month," Das said at the Times Network India Economic Conclave, adding he also does not foresee a repeat of the nationwide lockdown that the country witnessed last year.
We see 50 to 100 bps increase in India's GDP growth which would help us overtake Japan in 2030, says Indranil Sen Gupta, BofA Securities.
Effective regulation is a priority for the Reserve Bank, and regulation should not constrain innovation in the fintech space, the governor said.
Chief economic adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian is optimistic about a swift economic recovery, despite the looming threat of a second Covid wave. In an interview to TOI, Subramanian says the forecast of a double-digit growth for India in 2021-22 still holds.
