Daily News - Monday, 2 December 2024
‘Italy can be India’s gateway to Europe’ (mint)
Italian Minister Adolfo Urso emphasized a strategic partnership where Italy serves as India’s “landing base” for accessing European markets, while India plays a similar role for Italy in Asia. Highlighting new geopolitical realities, Urso underlined the economic and technological potential of the Arabian Peninsula as a critical communication and trade route, supporting maritime commerce and data connectivity between Europe and Asia. Additionally, he advocated for expanding India-Italy relations beyond trade to include collaborations in science, technology, and industrial innovation.
India readying plans on green aviation (mint)
India, the world’s third-largest aviation market, is preparing to address stricter global and EU regulations on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), including the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia). While India abstained from Corsia’s voluntary phase (2021-2026) due to concerns about mandated SAF thresholds, it faces compliance challenges with the EU’s progressive SAF mandates, starting at 2% in 2025 and increasing to 70% by 2050, to avoid fines. As 129 countries adopt Corsia by 2025, India is engaging key ministries to align policies and safeguard national interests amid the EU’s broader carbon border adjustment mechanism, which could impact 0.05% of GDP.
India to set up agency to regulate carbon trade in COP29 follow-up (mint)
India plans to establish a dedicated agency, modelled after the National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed), to regulate carbon trading and support green finance initiatives like green bonds. This move follows the amended Energy Conservation Act, 2022, which authorizes the creation of a domestic carbon market and issuance of carbon credit certificates, aligning with global trends after COP29’s decision to formalize carbon trading rules. While India’s green bond issuance totalled $21 billion in 2023 (just 2.2% of global issuance), the government aims to leverage a $3 trillion global green bond market, balancing stringent international definitions of “green” with domestic policy to attract foreign investment for sustainable development.
Ignore Trump, India must focus on rupee trade, says think-tank (Financial Chronicle)
US President-elect Donald Trump’s warning of imposing 100% customs duties on BRICS countries if they replace the US dollar is deemed unrealistic, with think tank GTRI emphasizing its detrimental impact on US consumers through higher import costs and global trade disruption. While BRICS nations like Russia and China explore alternatives to the dollar, India has abstained from this move, instead prioritizing the development of a transparent local currency trading system. GTRI suggests that India’s strategic focus should be on strengthening its financial infrastructure to navigate global trade shifts while avoiding full dependency on either the US dollar or a BRICS currency.
Plan in Works to Prioritise EFTA Investments (The Economic Times)
India is developing a framework to prioritize investments from European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members—Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein—under the India-EFTA free trade agreement, which includes a $50 billion investment commitment over 10 years, with an additional $50 billion in the following five years. Key focus areas include renewable energy (Norway), pharmaceuticals (Switzerland), green energy, shipping, IT, and engineering, alongside opportunities for medium enterprises. The agreement, expected to create one million jobs in India over 15 years and facilitate skilled manpower mobility to EFTA nations, is pending ratification, which Norway and Switzerland aim to complete by early next year.
