สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 26 สิงหาคม 2556
Thailand in favour of lifting ban on gold exports to India
Thailand has set up a committee of senior government officials and trade representatives to discuss the trade barriers in gold jewellery exports with India.
Talking on the sidelines of the Thailand Shopping Festival-2013 here on Sunday, Adul Chotinisakorn, executive director and consul (commercial), Thai Trade Centre, said: "We are concerned about India's trade deficit, but we want India to open up gold jewellery import from Thailand, accompanying with the certificate of origin as per the guidelines set in the free trade agreement between the two countries." Chotinisakorn said Thailand was extremely serious about 20% value addition norm set in the FTA in gold jewellery in the country of origin. But the FTA signed between the two countries include the term that even gold jewellery, along with the certificate of origin, can be exported at concessional duty to India without any hesitation.
India had in February this year banned import of gold jewellery from Thailand to control widening current account deficit (CAD) after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence found in various raids on jewellers that the rules of bilateral trade were violated. India – Thailand FTA allows gold jewellery imports at a concessional duty of one per cent as against the prevailing high rate from other origins. Interestingly, jewellery importers use Thailand route to import gold ornaments even from other origins. But Thailand's move assumes significance in the wake of India's continuous effort to restrict gold import, which the government feels is extremely necessary to control CAD.
The bilateral trade between India and Thailand was recorded at $8.6 billion in 2012, which is likely to remain around the same level in 2013. "India imports only four per cent of its gold demand from Thailand. The remaining comes from Dubai. Hence, the import from Thailand is not so significant which calls for ban," said Chotinisakorn.
India, the largest consumer of gold, imported $38 billion worth of gold and jewellery in the financial year 2012-13, 4% of which constitutes around $1.52 billion from Thailand.
(Source: Business Standard)
Tourist spending Rs. 2,783 crore till July in Odisha
Odisha has recorded inflow of Rs. 2782.47 crore in 2013 up to July through tourist spending. The figure includes Rs. 2667.85 crore through domestic tourists and Rs. 114.62 crore from inbound foreign tourists.
Till the end of July, 5.31 million domestic tourists had flocked to different tourist destinations in Odisha while the number of their overseas counterparts was comparatively smaller at 35,797. In 2012, more than nine million domestic tourists visited Odisha of which around 60% visitors were from within the state. Inbound foreign tourists numbered 64,719 in the same year, tourism minister Maheshwar Mohanty informed the state assembly through a written reply.
The state's overall tourist earnings, inclusive of foreign and domestic tourists, stood at Rs. 4752.70 crore in 2012. Of this, the overseas tourists contributed a paltry Rs. 207.24 crore. To boost tourist inflow, the minister said that the state government was stressing on tourism infrastructure, international air connectivity and widespread publicity of tourist spots.
(Source: Business Standard)
Cabinet panel to give 28 power projects a big push
The Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) is likely to set the ball rolling for 28 stalled mega power projects, involving investments of Rs.1,72,000 crore, on Monday. These projects, slated for discussion at the CCI meeting, are expected to get cleared.
Though their real impact on growth might be visible only after a few years, these decisions would boost sentiment and help address the questions being raised about the government's so-called lackadaisical approach towards big projects.
Of the projects coming for discussion are those for 18 power plants — worth around Rs. 82,000 crore — stuck over issues related to fuel supply agreements (FSAs). According to officials in the know, CCI is likely to ask for an undertaking from the coal ministry that these FSAs will be signed by August 31.
(Source: Business Standard)
Wipro asks PM to seek Obama's help in immigration bill
IT services major Wipro has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek Obama administration's intervention to remove provisions in a proposed US immigration Bill that are discriminatory towards Indian IT firms.
"Provisions of the Senate Bill that are discriminatory and target Indian companies are — outplacement bans and restrictions; attestation on recruitment of US workers; and higher wages to H-1B employees vs American employees," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said in a letter addressed to PM. "We want your support to seek White House intervention to eliminate the discriminatory provisions in both the Senate and House Bills and to treat Indian IT service providers at par. This is in the interest of Indo-US trade relations and in keeping with your vision to increase bilateral trade by five times from the current level of $100 billion," Premji said.
The US Senate in June passed a landmark immigration Bill retaining killer provisions on H-1B Visas that would badly hit Indian IT companies in America.
(Source: the Financial Express, Business Standard)
8 developers to surrender SEZs, 13 ask for more time
As many as 8 SEZ developers have approached the government to surrender their projects, while 13 players have sought more time to execute their plans despite the Center's recent incentive package to revive investor sentiment for such zones.
These requests will be considered by the 19-member Board of Approval (BoA), Chaired by Commerce Secretary S R Rao, at its meeting on August 30. The reason which the developers have cited to surrender their projects include changed economic scenario, imposition of MAT and DTC, global economic and market uncertainties.
On April 18, meanwhile, the government announced a package of reforms, including easing of land requirement norms and an exit policy, to rekindle investor interest in SEZs. An industry expert said the government should withdraw MAT to revive investor's interest in these zones.
As many as 58 SEZ developers have surrendered projects due to various reasons till 31 July. Exports from SEZs grew by about 31% to Rs. 4.76 lakh crore during 2012-13.
(Source: Financial Express)
Economic Section
Royal Thai Embassy
