สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 24 ธันวาคม 2556

Focus on manufacturing to boost exports: Anand Sharma

India will achieve the modest export target $325 billion for the current fiscal but to enhance it substantially, the country needs to boost its manufacturing capability, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said. India has to grow in manufacturing led exports because we are not a country very much endowed when it comes to some of the natural resources which need for our economic growth particularly energy. Therefore, India has to become competitive in manufacturing and exports said Sharma. The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, declined by 2 per cent in October as against a growth of 9.9 per cent a year ago. During the April-October period of 2013-14 fiscal, the sector's output contracted 0.3 per cent compared to a growth of 1.1 per cent in same period last year. The dip in the growth rate of the sector has also cast its shadow on the country's exports which has slowed down to about 6 per cent in November. During April-November, exports grew by 6.27 per cent to $204 billion while imports aggregated at $304 billion. Trade deficit stands at $100 billion. Sharma expressed confidence that India would achieve its exports target of $325 billion for the current fiscal. He said the government has announced the national manufacturing policy (NMP) to boost the sector's growth and increase its share in the country's GDP to 25 per cent from the present 15-16 per cent in the next decade. It also aims creating 100 million new jobs by 2022. It envisages facilitation by the government in infrastructure development and improvement of the business environment through rationalisation and simplification of the regulatory framework.

(Source: Economic Times)

RBI expected to reboot policy, put focus on consumer inflation

The Reserve Bank of India could soon unveil a major change in monetary policy to explicitly make managing consumer inflation, rather than wholesale prices, its main objective. The shift would be a significant one in a country that's long struggled to contain retail prices. It is expected as part of a deep review of monetary policy that Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan ordered, after his September appointment, to sharpen the central bank's focus and increase its accountability. The report, due by the end of the month, could also recommend making price stability the main objective of the central bank, while keeping but trimming the focus on its two other objectives: economic growth and financial stability. The RBI is already making inflation a priority, having raised interest rates twice since September, but that is raising concerns about an economy growing at a decade-low pace and stuck in what some analysts call a stagflationary environment. Historically, RBI has relied on the wholesale price index (WPI), which is based on the prices of traded goods and services and thus has a bias towards businesses. Under Rajan, the RBI has made fighting inflation a priority because of its pernicious impact on the poor. High consumer prices have also led Indians to prefer gold over other financial savings, leading to persistently strong imports that keep the current account balance in deficit.

(Source: Economic Times)

Commerce Ministry to soon seek Cabinet approval for Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Saturday said he will soon approach the Cabinet for approval of the proposed Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC).  The project will be the second of its kind on the lines of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a $90 billion ambitious infrastructure project under implementation with Japanese help. Sharma said the government is taking several steps to boost manufacturing sector in the country. He was addressing the Ficci annual general meeting. The Minister said these projects are important in terms of boosting the manufacturing sector in the country as it would help in creating millions of jobs. He said the government has already notified 13 national manufacturing and investment zones (NMIZs) in different parts of the country and "master plan for eight has been approved". NMIZs will be mega industrial zones with world class supporting infrastructure. The government is offering a host of incentives like exemption from capital gains tax and a liberalised labour and environment norms to promote these zones.

(Source: Economic Times)

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