Govt mulling changes in FTA with Thailand to check gold imports
Faced with over 10-fold increase in gold jewellery imports in the first nine-months of the current financial year, the government is looking to revisit a clause in the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Thailand.
Under the clause, gold jewellery would attract only 1 % of import duty from Thailand, compared to 10 % from other origins. There are reports that traders convert gold into ornaments in Thailand and then import them to India from that country to evade the 4 % duty on normal gold imports. Total gold jewellery import into India from the three major origins Thailand, Italy and Dubai was estimated at $4 billion in the first nine months of the current financial year against $400 million in the corresponding period last year.
While no official gold jewellery import figure was reported by government agencies, traders estimate over 50 % of the total gold jewellery imports to India with an estimated value of $ 2.21 billion came through Thailand.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Business Standard, IBNLive, Worldnews, Times of India)
India to see 6.1% economic growth this year: UN
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific on Thursday pegged India’s economic growth in 2012 at a 10-year low of 5.5%, owing to slackening demand and investment, high interest rates and political gridlock. The economy grew at a three-year low of 5.3 % in the first quarter, 5.5 % in the second and again by 5.3 % in the third quarter, yielding 5.35 % expansion in the first nine months of 2012. The UN body projected India’s economy to grow 6.1 % in 2013. Though this would be higher than the growth in 2012, it would be lower than the commission’s previous forecast of 7.2 % by 1.1 percentage points.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Business Standard, NDTV, i4u, Financial Express)
Dumping duty to help Indian solar power gear makers: Experts
Indian manufacturers of solar cells and modules would gain if the government imposes an anti-dumping duty, but it would also raise prices for project developers and eventually increase the price of power generated from these plants, industry officials and analysts said.
Indian solar panels are already costly by 20%-30% than those manufactured in other parts of the world. The Indian solar equipment manufacturing industry is down to utilizing only 15%-30% of their capacity and the exports have died down as well. The total manufacturing capacity of India is around 1,050 mw.
Manufacturers believe that restricting imports or pricing them high will remove the hurdles in their path of growth.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Worldnews, Infraline, Rediff, Hindu Business Line)
Bajaj auto looking to emerge market leader in Northeast India
Bajaj Auto is looking to emerge as the market leader in Northeast India. Presently around 40,000 bikes are sold in Northeast India in a month.
President (motorcycle business) of Bajaj Auto, K. Srinivas who was in Guwahati on Thursday said around 860,000 bikes are sold monthly across the country. "Northeast India is a big market of sports bike and commuter bikes."
He said presently Bajaj auto accounts for 37 % of bike market of Northeast India. “With our new launches we will emerge market leader here."
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Worldnews, i4u, Rediff, Zeenews)
Honda plans to launch four two-wheelers every year in India
Japanese two-wheeler giant Honda today said it will launch at least four products every year in India with its first integrated R&D centre here, that will also serve as a global innovation hub, coming on-stream.
The company's wholly-owned subsidiary Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) will also hire 2,000 people at its upcoming third manufacturing facility in Karnataka during 2013-14. The new R&D centre along with HMSI technical centre currently has strength of 200 engineers and developers.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Business Standard, Moneycontrol, Hindu Business Line)
India aims to clock $15.5 bn pharma exports in FY'13
India is aiming to export pharmaceutical products worth $ 15.5 billion in 2012-13 fiscal, a jump of around 17 % compared to $ 13.22 billion in 2011-12, Ministry of Commerce and Industry Joint Secretary Mridul Jain said here today.
The $ 25 billion target, however, for pharma exports in 2013-14 would be a challenging task in view of global slowdown, she added.
The Indian pharmaceutical industry reported business growth of about 15 % on compounded aggregated growth rate between 2006-07 and 2011-12.
Further, market initiatives were underway to promote exports, especially the International Exhibition for Pharma and Healthcare (IPHEX) to be held April 24-26, 2013 in Mumbai.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Indian Express, Moneycontrol, Daily India News)
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