56 new airports will become functional in few years: Prabhu
The Dollar Business Bureau Citing the importance of efficient logistics for facilitating trade, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu on Thursday said that 56 new airports in India would be functional in the coming few years. “Efficient logistics is critical for countries like India to harness trade and facilitate greater and faster integration with both the domestic as well as the world economy,” the Minister said while speaking at the two-day Global Logistics Summit, jointly organised by Ministry of Commerce, FICCI and World Bank Group. Keeping this in mind, 56 new airports will become functional in the next few years which will enhance connectivity in the country,” he added. While urging all the stakeholders to churn new ideas for enhancing India’s logistics efficiency, Prabhu said, “There ...
Vietnam President invites Indian businesses to invest in his country
The Dollar Business Bureau President of Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang extended invite to business communities in India to invest in Vietnam and said that his country offers conducive environment and sustainable development. “India continues to be among Vietnam’s top ten trading partners as the bilateral trade turnover has increased 16% per annum on average in the past decade,” the Vietnamese President said while addressing a business meeting jointly organised by ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI in New Delhi on Saturday. “India has given priority to Vietnam in development cooperation and education and training, and paid attention to promoting bilateral cooperation in science and technology, information and communication, energy, oil and gas, agriculture and tourism,” he said. “India has actively supported Vietnam in training, capacity building, ...
Commercial mining of coal to reduce dependence on imports: FICCI
The Dollar Business Bureau Industry association Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) welcomed the Government decision for allowing commercial mining of coal and said that it will support ‘Make in India’ initiative and reduce the country’s dependence on coal imports. The Union Cabinet on Tuesday cleared a process of bidding for commercial mining after four years after enabling the sale and commercial mining of coal through the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014. “FICCI welcomes Cabinet approval to introduce commercial mining of coal and sees it as a landmark policy decision that will change the face of Indian Coal Sector by ushering in rebalancing of prices and market dynamics riding on efficient and large-scale mining,” the industry association said in a statement on Wednesday. It considers that ...
FTP Review: Industry welcomes MEIS & SEIS incentives, hike in duty credit scrips validity
The Dollar Business Bureau The industry has welcomed the initiatives taken in the mid-term review of Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) – 2015-20, specifically the 2% increase in rates under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS), as well as the raising of validity period of duty credit scrips from 18 to 24 months. Welcoming the FTP’s mid-term review, Ganesh Kumar Gupta, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said that the 2% increase in the MEIS rates for labour intensive sectors such as leather, carpets, handicrafts, tools, marine, medical & scientific products and services such as accountancy, architecture, legal, education, hotel and restaurant will provide much needed respite to these sectors which are facing huge ...
Record production of food grains in India in 2016-17: Radha Mohan Singh
The Dollar Business Bureau There has been a record output of food grains in the country in 2016-17 and all the earlier records were broken, said Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Friday. “As per the 3rd Advance Estimates, food grain production India has increased to 273 MT, sugarcane to 306 MT oil seeds to 32.5 MT, in 2016-17,” said Singh, while addressing the National Agriculture Marketing Summit organised jointly by FICCI with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. “As per the 2nd Advance Estimate, fruits and vegetable production has increased to 287 MT, he added. On the goal of doubling income of farmers by 2022, the Minister said that only through cross-pollination of innovations and expertise, and thereafter collaboration during the implementation ...
Goyal suggests PPP model to step up Indias mineral exploration
The Dollar Business Bureau Mineral exploration in the country is presently constrained due to lack of participation from the private sector, said Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal, and suggested a public private partnership (PPP) model to provide a fillip to the mineral exploration activity. “The time is ripe to reflect on where we had gone wrong”, the Minister said while addressing a conference on ‘Indian Mining Industry 2030 - Way Forward’, organised jointly by FICCI and Ministry of Mines on Tuesday. He suggested setting up of a committee that consists of young mining aspirants for developing a position paper to expedite exploration activities. “This committee should look at innovative ways to bring down the time of actual operation of mine after it ...
FTA between UK and India will be easier to accomplish once UK exits EU, Sujit Nair
By Sheela Mamidenna UK and India share an age-old history of common interests and values and with India’s rapid rise to fame as the ‘fastest growing large economy’ in the world, the relations between the two countries could ‘reboot’ as Theresa May had expressed during her visit to India in November last year. UK is India’s 5th largest trading partner and a great place for Indian businesses and will remain so post-Brexit for many reasons. However, trade bodies like FICCI voiced a negative sentiment saying that trade between India and UK is likely to suffer due to the Brexit vote and a decline in sterling. There are over 800 Indian businesses operating in the UK and serving as a gateway to Europe. Experienced ...
Industry reiterates its demand for a rate cut by RBI as IIP slips to 3.1%
The Dollar Business Bureau As growth of country’s industrial production slipped to 3.1% in the month of April, India Inc reiterated its demand for a cut in interest rate by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), stating that it was imperative to bolster growth as well as consumer demand. Industry body ASSOCHAM said on Monday that the industry has been disappointed by the RBI’s status quo on the interest rates as there was a possibility for a cut in the key policy rate. “It is unfortunate for the industry that while the government has taken steps to revive the demand by implementing reforms, RBI's stance to maintain the status quo has hit the expectations of the industry though there was a room for ...