Thai Airways to start direct Ahmedabad-Bangkok flight from April
Thai Airways International will start a direct flight on Ahmedabad-Bangkok route from April 1, Thailand's Ambassador to India Pisan Manawapat said today.
" ... Thai Airways International will begin the first direct flight from Ahmedabad from April 1," he said at the valedictory session of the sixth edition of 'Vibrant Gujarat' summit, the state government's showpiece biennial event for attracting investment.
Though he did not mention the frequency of the flight from Ahmedabad, Manawapat said this would help attract more tourists to Thailand from Gujarat and reduce the burden of the people of Gujarat to catch flights from Mumbai or Delhi for their trips to Thailand.
Thai Airways International operates direct flights from at least eight Indian cities.
The Ambassador also said that a Thai firm is looking to set up a manufacturing plant in Gujarat, but he did not divulge the identity of the company.
Meanwhile, lauding the efforts of Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the development of the state, Manawapat said, "Whenever I visit to Gujarat, something concrete is always in the making".
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Hindu Business Line, Zeenews, NDTV, India Everyday)
Karnataka signs EoIs for $ 9.5 billion at Vibrant Gujarat
The Karnataka government has signed expressions of interest (EoI) for investment proposals worth $ 9.5 billion with investors at the just-concluded Vibrant Gujarat Summit organised by the government of Gujarat.
The state government signed EoIs with companies like Zydus Cadilla, Gitam Energy Generation Pvt Ltd, Creative Infocity Ltd, Park Power Generation, Nanotech Bio Sciences Technologies, Entire Ceramics, Geo Syndicate Power Pvt Ltd, Global Solar Florida USA among others. Investment interests were received in energy, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, clean energy, IT infrastructure and other sectors.
VITC, the trade promotion agency of Karnataka held discussions with 10 foreign trade bodies from Bahrain, Yaroslav, Holland, Thailand, Botswana, Germany, Poland, Japan, Canada, UK and Australia.
(Sources: Business Standard, Rediff, i4u, India Everyday, Yahoo News, NDTV)
India to grow 5.2 per cent in FY13: Citi
Citigroup has forecast the Indian economy will grow at 5.2% in FY '13, higher than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's expectation of a growth of just about 5 %, and expects the Reserve Bank of India to cut rates by as much as 75 basis points in 2013.
Concerns over a further slowdown in the economy grew after a general slowdown in exports and industrial output, reflecting weak consumption demand.
On the investment side, while the reforms, including the setting up of the cabinet committee on investments, are positive, their implementation is the key, said Citi.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Rediff, i4u, Zeenews, IBNLive, Moneycontrol, NDTV)
Fiscal situation may worsen: Assocham
Fiscal situation may worsen due to rising inflation, decline in economic growth and global slowdown, industry body Assocham said yesterday.
It also said that continued turbulence in the global economic conditions and widening infrastructure deficiencies are the major challenges for India's growth story.
It added that with public finances remaining in great stress, fiscal deficit may even touch 6.1 % of GDP in the current financial year.
The Current Account Deficit needs to be financed through external capital inflows, it said, adding that the Government's funding of the deficit through domestic sources tends to cause inflation.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Press Trust of India, Financial Express, the Hindu, i4u)
Take steps in Budget to boost investments, revive economy: CII
Industry body CII has asked the government to take steps in the Budget to boost investments as economic growth has slowed.
In its pre-budget memorandum to the Ministry of Finance, CII has asked for measures that can help in revival of growth momentum of the economy at the earliest.
It has suggested various steps to restart the investment cycle and that includes allowing accelerated depreciation rate on plant and machinery from the present level of 15 % to 25 % for the next 3 to 5 years period.
As roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) does not seem to be in sight soon, CII has also suggested reduction of Central Sales Tax rate from 2 % to 1 %.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Indian Express, i4u, Moneycontrol, India Everyday)
December inflation seen up slightly, rate cut still expected
India's headline inflation is likely to have risen in December by less than the central bank projected, and should reinforce hopes for a cut in interest rates this month to boost an economy that is set to post its slowest growth in a decade.
Data to be released on 14 Jan is expected to show the wholesale price index (WPI), India's main inflation gauge, probably rose an annual 7.4 % in December, according to a Reuters poll, reversing a declining trend and faster than the 7.24 % seen in November.
However, the Reserve Bank of India had projected December inflation of around 8 % in its October policy review, when it had also raised its March-end inflation projection by 50 basis points to 7.5 %.
While food prices are keeping the headline inflation figure high, non-food manufacturing, or core inflation, has been falling and dropped to 4.5 % in November.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Reuters India, Indian Express, Livemint, India Everyday)
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