Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured CEOs of semiconductor industry that his government will follow a "predictable and stable" policy regime even as he emphasised that India has the wherewithal to become a reliable partner in the diversified semiconductor supply chain. Ahead of the Semicon India conclave, the prime minister chaired on Tuesday a Semiconductor Executives Roundtable in which he underlined that democracy and technology together can ensure the wellbeing of humanity. He gave assurances to the CEOs that India will provide a conducive environment for growth in the semiconductor sector. "The Indian government will follow a predictable and stable policy regime. With the focus of Make In India and Make for the World, the government will continue to support the industry at every step," Modi said, according to officials. The PM said the ideas of the innovators in this field have an impact on India's future and semiconductors will be the basis of the coming Digital Age which will be technology-driven. "The day is not far when the semiconductor industry will be the bedrock for even our basic necessities," he said.
Source: Economic Times
While expecting overall asset quality to improve over the coming six months, lenders have flagged risks of high Non-performing Assets (NPA) in sectors like textiles, food processing and infrastructure, according to the FICCI-IBA survey. In the survey, for the January to June 2024 period, about 76 per cent of respondents have cited textile as a sector with high NPA levels. This was followed by 59 per cent of them reporting infrastructure and 53 per cent identifying food processing as a segment with high incidence of bad loans. “Some of the sectors that may continue to show NPAs over next six months include agriculture, textiles and garments, MSMEs, and gems & jewellery,” said the survey released on Tuesday. Bankers said these sectors stand out from the overall trend. The adverse international markets have impacted the repayment capacity of some textile and garments units and the sector-specific conditions would only change gradually for better. A total of 22 banks, including public sector, private sector and foreign banks, participated in the survey by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). These banks together represent about 67 per cent of the banking industry, as classified by asset size. Respondent banks continued to remain sanguine about the asset quality prospects in the current round of the survey, cushioned by policy and regulatory support. Over half of the respondent banks in the current round believe that Gross NPAs would be in the range of 2.5-3 per cent over the next six months. The latest Financial Stability Report of RBI, released in end June, showed scheduled commercial banks’ gross NPA at 2.8 per cent, and net NPA at 0.6 per cent as on end March 2024. Resilient domestic economy accompanied by upgraded and improved credit assessment, effective and continuous credit monitoring, lower slippages, high write-offs and healthy capital position of banks were some of the key factors cited by respondent bankers who expect asset quality to further improve over the next six months, it added. Referring to the overall business environment, FICCI-IBA survey observed the Indian economy and the banking sector remain robust and resilient. With improved balance sheets, banks are supporting economic activity through sustained credit expansion. However, credit growth is outpacing deposit growth, which could lead to liquidity challenges for the banking system. Raising deposits to keep pace with the loan growth and keeping the credit cost low remains on the top of banks’ agenda, it added.
Source: Business Standard
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry on Wednesday launched the Trade Connect eplatform to help Indian exporters, MSMEs and entrepreneurs. Trade Connect ePlatform will connect Indian Exporters, MSMEs and Entrepreneurs with various stakeholders including Indian Missions Abroad, Export Promotion Councils, and other Partner Government Agencies. The platform will provide information on trade events taking place in different parts of the world, benefits available due to India’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and other international trade-related information and data. Launching the platform, Union Minister Goyal said, “Truly delighted to see the baby taking birth after months of hard work collectively put in by the entire team. Commerce TCS, DGFT, inputs from MSE, inputs from different ministries, brainstorming over long hours, getting the support of organizations like Exim Bank and Hard work put in by TCS. It truly is a matter of celebration.” Exporters will get all information on Trade Connect ePlatform at the click of a button “It’s very interesting that in the third term of the Modi Government, we have taken up upon ourselves under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi.” Said Goyal. “The prime minister has set a time-bound goal for all ministries and work is being done accordingly to meet the Viksit Bharat mission of 204,” he added. “We’ll have a mission for the first year. We’ll have a mission for the first five years up to 2029. And this journey to 2047 is going to be broken into elements that are monitorable for time-bound action. People can be held responsible for outcomes and the entire effort to provide ease of doing business to provide ease of living to the common man,” he said. “Digital focus and new technologies is being used for faster and better implementation of policies. To the citizens of India, the effort to use technology in a big way so that we can work smarter, better, faster. Prime Minister says we have to work with three times the speed because our effort has to be three times what it was earlier and correspondingly, the outcomes also have to be three times larger, better and more effective in our delivery of services and our delivery of good governance,” Goyal said during the launch of the Trade Connect e-platform.
Source: The Print
New Delhi: The government on Wednesday launched a trade portal to provide all kinds of information related to exports and imports, a move which would help new as well as existing entrepreneurs. stop solution for all kinds of information such as customs duties, rules and regulations. The portal is set to address information asymmetry by offering exporters comprehensive support and resources. Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that it will provide exporters real-time access to critical trade-related information, while seamlessly connecting them to key government entities such as the Indian Missions abroad, Department of Commerce, Export Promotion Councils, and other trade experts. Whether a seasoned exporter or a new entrant, the platform is designed to assist businesses at every stage of their export journey, he said. The platform will connect more than 6 lakh IEC (import-export code) holders, over 180 Indian Mission officials, over 600 Export Promotion Council Officials, besides the officials from DGFT, department of commerce and banks. The information which would be available on the platform included product and country-wise customs duties and regulations; free trade pacts-related information, trade-related services offered by different departments and agencies; non-tariff barriers; about global buyers, and exhibitions. Goyal said that the portal will be updated regularly, and stakeholders' feedback will help in launching its second version in 2025. "The global trade is in a paralytic situation, but this is our effort to increase India's market share in the world," he said, adding that it will be released in regional languages also. Sarangi added that in the second version, other services will be included such as banking, insurance and logistics. Speaking at the event, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the platform will help both existing and aspiring exporters. "It will be a ChatGPT for exporters…We want entrepreneurs to grow in the trade business. Unless and until, we have entrepreneurs, the dream of $2 trillion exports of goods and services (by 2030) will be difficult to achieve," the secretary said.
Source: Deccan Herald
Jaishankar External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India is open to pursuing business with China, but the question is in what sector and under what terms. He was speaking in Berlin at Germany's annual ambassadors' conference. Jaishankar stated that China was the world's second-largest economy and a premium manufacturer. "We are not closed to business from China. Nobody can say I won't do business with China. I believe the issue is in which industries you do business and at what terms. "It is far more complicated than a black and white binary answer," he explained. On the Russia-Ukraine war, the foreign minister said both countries had to negotiate an end to the conflict and India was willing to give advice to either of them if asked.
Source: economic Times
Synopsis The government has revised rules for mergers under the companies law, now requiring prior RBI approval for amalgamations involving a foreign holding company and its wholly-owned Indian subsidiary. The corporate affairs ministry has updated the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016 to include this new requirement, aiming to streamline the process for such mergers. The government has amended certain rules governing mergers under the companies law and amalgamations involving a foreign holding company and its wholly-owned Indian subsidiary will now require prior RBI approval. Amendments have been made to the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016 by the corporate affairs ministry. The changes are with respect to "transferor foreign company incorporated outside India being a holding company and the transferee Indian company being a wholly-owned subsidiary company incorporated in India" entering into a merger. In such cases, the ministry on Monday said both the companies shall obtain the prior approval of the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) and the transferee Indian company should also comply with the provisions of Section 233 under the Companies Act. Broadly, Section 233 pertains to mergers and amalgamations of certain companies. Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, Partner at Nangia Andersen LLP, said the trend of reverse flipping has been the norm for many new-age startups in recent times and the resilience and growth of the country's IPO market provide investors with a viable exit strategy for realising returns.
Source: Economic Times
India remains committed to reducing the budget deficit over the medium term, despite its focus on higher public capex and demands of the coalition government, Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday. In a report, it said India has achieved or outperformed its budget deficit targets in the last few years, thereby improving its fiscal credibility. Fitch said India using RBI dividend to lower its fiscal deficit target for the fiscal year ending March 2025, reinforces its view that the country prefers fiscal consolidation over additional spending. Still, India's deficit, and interest-to-revenue and debt ratios remain high compared with the 'BBB' category sovereign peers, Fitch said. "...we believe its (India) government remains committed to reducing the budget deficit over the medium term, even amid the demands that governing in the coalition will impose on the newly elected administration - and despite the government's sustained focus on supporting economic growth through higher public capex," the rating agency said. In the full Budget presented in July, the government lowered the fiscal deficit target to 4.9 per cent for the current financial year against 5.1 per cent estimated in February's interim Budget. In May, the RBI board approved a Rs 2.11 lakh crore dividend to the government for 2023- 24 fiscal. Last month, Fitch Ratings affirmed India's sovereign rating at 'BBB-' with a stable outlook citing a strong medium-term growth outlook and solid external financing position.
Source: Business Standard
Uncoordinated unilateral approaches to address the digital economy and the low-carbon transition can create potential distortions and trade tensions, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has said. In its World Trade Report 2024, it cautioned that fragmentation or the unwinding of trading relationships and the recourse to unilateral, rather than multilateral, policies – presents a “major risk to progress in reducing poverty and inequality and particularly affects vulnerable groups, such as low-income households, women and MSMEs”. “Without international trade agreements, large economies might be tempted to raise tariffs unilaterally, reducing the price of their imports at the expense of their trading partners,” the WTO said in its report released Monday. Highlighting that trade measures taken unilaterally by importing economies to raise labour standards in exporting economies have the potential to create trade tensions, it emphasised on strengthening the WTO’s deliberative and monitoring functions to ensure more inclusive trade. It also said that low-income economies stand to benefit from improvements in investment facilitation as set out in the plurilateral Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement, something that India has opposed as it is outside the ambit of the global trade watchdog. More than 120 WTO members have supported the China-led IFD p opportunities, with digital trade in particular lowering the bar for enabling underrepresented economies, small businesses and women entrepreneurs to connect to international markets,” she said. As per the report, protectionism is not an effective path to inclusiveness and restricting trade is an expensive way to protect jobs for specific groups within society which can raise production costs, while inviting costly retaliation from disgruntled trading partners. Trade reforms, costs As per the report, unilateral trade reforms in developing economies have, on average, boosted economic growth by 1-1.5 percentage points, potentially resulting in a 10-20% higher incomes over a decade. Moreover, trade cost reductions between 1995 and 2020 led to a 20-35% faster income convergence of low- and middle-income economies with high-income economies. A more promising path towards a global economy that works for everyone lies in “reglobalization” – bringing more economies and communities from the margins to the mainstream of the global economy by helping them attract more trade- oriented investment, according to the WTO. For example, while global rules for digital trade at the WTO would create new commercial opportunities in the sector, extending the reach of those opportunities to everyone who could benefit would require action to close the digital divide, with investments in digital connectivity, infrastructure and digital skills, as well as in creating an enabling legal and regulatory environment. Solutions could also include improving data collection, research and information exchange on the negative spillovers across economies of unilateral policies and on the uneven effects of trade policy, and enhancing the participation of vulnerable groups in trade policy decision-making processes, the Geneva-based organisation said
Source: Economic Times
Romania’s trade deficit with goods increased by 29% y/y to EUR 2.95 billion in July, as the exports’ modest improvement (+8.6% y/y) was offset by the robust increase (+13.4% y/y) in imports, according to the statistics office INS. It could be concluded that the robust demand for private consumption, driven by higher wages, drove the imports and the trade gap – but it would be short-sighted. In fact, the 12% y/y nominal advance in consumption in 12 months to June (latest data available) failed to push up the imports that contracted by 1.5% y/y. In volume terms, the 4.4% y/y advance in consumption (+4.5% y/y for households) pushed up the imports (goods) by only 0.5% y/y. The import of services increased by 1.0% y/y. But the GDP rose three times faster than the import of goods, by 1.9% y/y. From a slightly broader perspective, Romania’s exports and imports (hence the trade gap) expressed in nominal (euro and local currency) terms have actually featured no particular trend for the past two years. Exports, imports, and trade have stagnated nominally. High annual growth rates, such as the deficit’s sharp advance in July ( or Q2), reflect certain volatility but not necessarily real trends. In comparative terms, as a share of the total economy (GDP), both exports and imports (and the deficit) shrunk. The exports in 12 months to July contracted by 1.9% y/y to EUR 92.6 billion, imports edged down by 1.0% y/y to EUR 124.0 billion, and the trade gap increased marginally by 1.5% y/y to EUR 31.4 billion. In the meantime, for the same period of time, the GDP increased by 11.3% y/y (as of June 2024, the latest data available), diluting Romania’s foreign trade figures – including the deficit.
Source: Economic Times
Uzbekistan hosted a significant Textile and Apparel Conference from September 8 to 10 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The event highlighted the country’s rich textile heritage and its rising influence in the global textile industry. Over 500 participants, including leading brands, financial institutions, and retailers, attended to discuss key themes such as innovation, cooperation, and regulation. The conference covered advancements in cotton and artificial fibers, and addressed challenges related to compliance and sustainability in global supply chains. Attendees also enjoyed post-conference activities, including visits to local textile factories and a cultural tour of Bukhara, offering a deeper understanding of Uzbekistan’s textile history and its blend of tradition with modern practices.
Source: Intelli News
