สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 24 กันยายน 2556

Govt to set up infra trust funds to spur investments

The Union government is looking to set up an infrastructure trust fund, similar to real estate investment trusts in countries such as Singapore, by November to spur investments in the infrastructure sector. India’s infrastructure sector has been struggling for the past few years due to lack of investments as banks have been wary of lending due to policy constraints. The government is looking to improve investments in the sector even as the parliamentary elections are less than a year away. Under the infrastructure trusts, the underlying revenue of a project will be transferred to a trust, which will issue units to investors, including foreign investors who want to buy the units. Meanwhile, the government is also looking to set up a fund to promote debt and equity investment in the infrastructure sector.

(Source: Business Standard)

US body launches anti-India campaign ahead of PM Manmohan Singh's visit

An apex body of American manufacturers has launched a massive anti-India campaign just ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's United States visit, protesting India's allegedly discriminatory trade practises. The move comes after a series of campaign urging the Obama Administration to press India on addressing concerns over several Indian trade and business policies. Through its campaign, NAM (The National Association of Manufacturers) has urged the Obama Administration to raise their concerns at the highest levels of the Indian government and to coordinate closely with the European Union and other like-minded economies. NAM alleged that over the past year, Indian government agencies and courts have engaged in a persistent pattern of discrimination and forced localisation designed to benefit India's corporations at the expense of manufacturing jobs in the United States.

(Source: Financial Express)

Selective stimulus plan in the works to revive growth; some sectors may get direct line of credit

India is eyeing its own version of quantitative easing to selectively revive sectors to boost overall growth. The finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are in talks to arrive at a mechanism to provide a direct line of credit to some industrial sectors. While new RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan opted to tighten monetary policy on Friday, saying the US Federal Reserve will wind up its bond-buying programme sooner or later, the finance ministry is of the view that a precisely directed stimulus programme will help revive flagging growth without undermining the central bank's inflation focus. One of the options under discussion is for the central bank to set up a special window to buy commercial paper from companies in the chosen sectors at preferential rates. Growth slowed to a decade low of 5% in the year ended March and was at 4.4% in the April-June quarter, belying hopes of a revival. The sectors on the radar, according to the official cited above, are medium and small enterprises, engineering goods and commercial vehicles - areas that, if selectively revived, would encourage more economic activity across the board. The intervention will be focused as a wider spread would run counter to RBI's efforts to check inflation by raising interest rates. Wholesale inflation rose to a six-month high of 6.1% in August while retail inflation is already near double digits.

(Source: Economic Times)

India tea steady on high demand

Tea prices in India, the world's second-biggest producer, were largely steady at last week's auction as a slight improvement in supplies was countered by robust local demand. The CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade was sold at Rs 143.66 ($2.29) per kg up 0.45 percent from the previous week's auction, while the dust variety was steady at Rs 149.63 ($2.39) per kg. Tea plucking in India usually rises between July and October.

(Source: Business Standard)

Economic Section 

Royal Thai Embassy