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 The Indian Express September 28, 2020 SIX MONTHS INTO the Covid-19 pandemic, and a sharp 23.9 per cent GDP contraction in April-June following a strict national lockdown, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Saturday the economy continues to face challenges of a different nature with no clear-cut end date for the pandemic, especially in the absence of a sure-shot vaccine. In an interview to The Indian Express (detailed transcript to be published tomorrow), Sitharaman said, “Six months haven’t really reduced the challenges but the nature of challenges has changed… and the ministry is now quicker than what it was in terms of responding.” She said that although the numbers per million and the mortality ratio were both low for a variety of reasons — including heightened public awareness and caution — the Covid-19 was still very much a worry. From social distancing to face masks and frequent hand-washing, “you are doing all this with no material change in terms of handling th...

  Radhika Pandey  ,  Amrita Pillai  |  Updated: July 14, 2020 The government’s initiatives announced in the stimulus package have been geared towards helping MSMEs maintain liquidity and for ensuring greater credit availability. The emergency credit line, the subordinate debt provision and the equity infusion measure, apart from the long-awaited reform to the MSME definition, have been significant interventions. It is important, however, to examine how game-changing they have been to the existence of approximately 6.3 crore MSMEs that employ 11 crore people across the country. A recent nationwide survey, conducted by the All India Manufacturing Organisation (AIMO), found that 78 per cent of small companies’ owners were not satisfied with the implementation of the package. The results of the survey also suggest that transmission on the ground is slow, moreover 85 per cent of the sector may not benefit from it. In another survey carried out by FICCI-Dhruva Ad...

The Hindustan Times June 24, 2020 Posted by Aparajita Sarangi As our country goes through one of the toughest crises, it is expected that there would be political consensus, not political mudslinging, around our response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Right from upgrading hospital infrastructure, developing emergency beds and ICUs to economic measures. It was interesting to see Abhishek Manu Singhvi, in a recent newspaper article, taking umbrage at PM Modi’s ‘monumental failure’ expression for MGNREGS in 2014. However, the entire discourse, carried on by many opposition leaders, amounts to ‘missing the wood for the trees’. The recent announcement of an additional Rs 40,000 crore under MGNREGS to mitigate rural distress could not have come at a more appropriate time. This has further been supplemented by the “PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojna” that aims at providing Rs 50,000 crore worth of work to 69 lakh migrant workers in 116 districts. While the naysayers are recollecting...

The Hindu June 21, 2020 India has questioned the rationale of joint statements issued by some countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO) pushing for greater opening of markets for agricultural products. It has argued that for developing countries, export restrictions are a tool to prevent domestic shortages and are essen tial. The country made a case against permanent tariff concessions or a dilution of the tariff bindings at a special meeting of the Committee on Agriculture (CoA) in Geneva recently. “Members reviewed a number of farm-support packages and export-restrictive measures adopted as response to the Covid-19 crisis,” a trade official in Geneva told  BusinessLine . While India asked other countries to formulate a “balanced, inclusive and calibrated” response to Covid-19, it disagreed with the idea of permanent tariff concessions, or a dilution of the tariff bindings as a response to a temporary crisis. New Delhi also warned about a growing narrative that ...

The Mint June 21, 2020 Posted by  Asit Ranjan Mishra The last time India’s current account turned positive was in the March quarter of 2006-07 at $4.2 billion. For the full year, current account was positive for three consecutive years from 2001-02 to 2003-04. With significant slump in domestic economic activity due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown that has significantly curtailed imports, the finance ministry expects the country’s current account balance to turn surplus in the June quarter of FY21 after a gap of 12 years. The last time India’s current account turned positive was in the March quarter of 2006-07 at $4.2 billion. However, for the full year, current account was positive for three consecutive years from 2001-02 to 2003-04. India's CAD narrowed to 0.2% of GDP in December quarter of FY20 from 0.9% during the September quarter on the back of lower trade deficit and rise in net service receipts. Data for the March quarter is expected to be re...

The Telegraph June 18, 2020 Th e RBI has defined the businesses or qualifying assets that can be financed by housing finance companies as it invited public comments for a new set of rules governing HFCs which were brought under its control in August 2019 from the purview of the National Housing Bank. The RBI has proposed 11 activities or qualifying assets that come under housing finance: these include loans to individuals or group of individuals including co-operative societies for the construction or purchase of new dwelling units; loans to individuals for the purchase of old dwelling units; loans to individuals for the purchase of old or new dwelling units by mortgaging existing dwelling units; and loans to individuals for renovation or reconstruction of existing dwelling units. It also covers lending to builders for the construction of residential dwelling units and loans given for slum improvement schemes. At least 50 per cent of the net assets — total assets excludi...

Forbes June 04, 2020 Willium Pesek The kind way to interpret India getting downgraded this week is that the news could’ve been worse. Rather than cut India  two notches  to junk, Moody’s Investors Service just took one step to Baa2—the lowest investment grade. Yet this is no time for spin or delusion about where Asia’s No. 3 economy finds itself six years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New Delhi to save the day. After the events of 2013, it was hard not to argue India needed a dose of shock-therapy. At the time, it was among the emerging economies hardest hit by the “taper tantrum.” India made it onto Morgan Stanley’s “fragile five” list along with Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey.  Buzz in markets  was that India might be the first BRIC nation—Brazil, Russia, India and China—to lose investment-grade standing. In May 2014, voters turned to strongman Modi to shake things up. His 13-year stint running the western state of Gujar...

The Telegarph June 4, 2020 The Union cabinet on Wednesday allowed farmers to sell their products anywhere in the country, took steps to encourage contract farming and removed several items from the Essential Commodities Act. Farm minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the moves were a “historic step”, but analysts were sceptical. The cabinet approved The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 that will allow buyers to purchase directly from farmers, while farmers can sell anywhere in the country. The changes allow the farmers to sell outside the mandis mandated by the agriculture produce market committees (APMC) of the state governments. The government also approved The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 to empower farmers to engage with processors, aggregators, wholesalers, large retailers and exporters — a move which will encourage contract farming. The cabinet also ...

The Indian Express June 3, 2020 Prabha Raghvan, Aashish Aryan While the Indian industry has been asked to set new targets towards building self-reliance in furniture, footwear and air conditioners, the government has parallelly begun laying the groundwork to achieve this in at least 10 promising sectors. Here, the emphasis is on targeting the quality of domestically made products so that “unnecessary” imports can be reduced in these sectors and the nation can find stronger footing in the global value chain. Sectors already identified by the Department of Promotion for Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in consultation with other ministries include capital goods and machinery, mobile and electronics, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, textiles and garments. India has a natural advantage in these sectors, which can grow to become a strength for the country, according to DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra. “A lot of work has to be done. Import dependence has to be reduced t...

Business Line Dated May 31, 2020 Published by C.Gopinath Going local is becoming the new mantra Economic globalization has certainly taken a hit. Global trade is estimated to have shrunk by about 33 per cent and foreign direct investment flows by about 35 per cent. Even if you say you will wipe the containers with disinfectant, nobody is buying. Governments suddenly realised that if they want swabs or personal protective equipment, they have to stand in line behind many other countries to source from a limited number of suppliers, and so turned their focus to domestic manufacturing. Companies, also hit by obstructions in their carefully crafted global supply chains, began thinking that regional supply centres may make more sense. Not too long ago, mass customisation was catching the fancy of manufacturers. If you can individualise efficiently, surely regional distribution of manufacturing facilities should be achieved without sacrificing scale economies. Many leaders, including...