The textiles ministry has invited proposals from evaluating agencies to study and assess the performance of three schemes for growth and development of the decentralised power loom sector and identify existing gaps. The Office of Textile Commissioner, Mumbai, has floated an expression of interest-cumrequest for proposal to select an evaluating agency to assess the three schemes -- PowerTex India, Converged Group Insurance, and Revised Comprehensive Powerloom Cluster Development Scheme -- that are in place till March 2020. "All above schemes are being implemented by Office of Textile Commissioner, Mumbai, and the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India. Now, the evaluation of these schemes is required by an independent agency for assessing the performance of these schemes with a view to enable the Ministry of Textiles, to formulate new schemes for harmonised growth and development of decentralised powerloom sector of the country," according to the Office of the Textile Commissioner. The textiles ministry had launched the schemes for harmonised growth and development of the power loom sector in terms of improvement in infrastructure facilities, market development, upgradation of plain powerloom to overcome the lack of preparatory/pre-loom facility in power loom clusters, to make available raw material (yarn) at reasonable price and insurance coverage for power loom workers, removing various bottlenecks of existing power loom clusters of the country. The selected agency is supposed to assess the impact of the schemes with respect to the achievement of objectives and outcomes. It will also evaluate the contribution of the schemes to the growth of power loom sector either directly or by way of creating a leverage of growth in terms of increase in production, improvement in quality and cost of production, reduction in wastage, market improvement, employment generation, and social security, among others.
Source: Economic Times
The government is finalising a new definition for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which will be linked to turnover and do away with the current system of classifying units based on the capital deployed in plant and machinery. The MSME ministry, which is finalising the proposal, is seeking to end the difference between the manufacturing and services sector that the current investment-based definition makes. The move requires an amendment to the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Act, which is being finalised. Although an amendment had been proposed by the Narendra Modi government during its previous term as well, it had to be dropped due to opposition from outfits like Laghu Udyog Bharti, which is an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). But the government has renewed its efforts to amend the law as it sees the current definition to be outdated and prone to misuse, sources told TOI. According to the proposal, any unit with a turnover of up to Rs 5 crore will be classified as a micro enterprise, while those with up to Rs 75 crore annual revenue will be in the small unit category. Similarly, enterprises with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore will be classified as medium-scale enterprises. Until the 2006 law was enacted, there was only one category of manufacturing that was classified as small scale enterprise, eligible for several benefits, including on payment of excise. The new definition being discussed is similar to the one that had to be shelved as the last Lok Sabha could not approve the legislation. A section in the government believes that the definition should be de-linked from the law to make it possible to tweak it as and when required. Service sector outfits will, however, be ineligible for some of the benefits available to MSMEs, such as public procurement to prevent possible misuse. But they can avail of concessional bank finance and some of the other benefits available to small businesses. With GST, it is now easier to monitor turnover and classify units into various categories, compared to the investment in plant and machinery, which many believe is misused by certain units to get additional benefits available to MSMEs, government officials said. “The new definition will be more realistic given that the current investment-based classification was decided when the MSME Development Act was enacted 13 years ago. Often, Indian MSMEs are too small to be able to benefit from economies of scale,” said a source.
Source: Times of India
Under government route, foreign investor has to take prior approval of respective ministry/department. An inter-ministerial group on Tuesday held discussions on the possibility of further easing foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in different sectors with a view to attract overseas investors, an official said. The meeting was chaired by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra. Officials from different ministries, including defence, Home affairs, information and broadcasting, electronics and IT, and finance, attended the meeting, the official said. The department is looking at relaxing norms in those sectors where currently 100 per cent FDI is not permitted through automatic route. Foreign investment is allowed through automatic route in most of the sectors, but in certain areas such as defence, telecom, media, pharmaceuticals and insurance, government approval is required. In some sectors like telecom, insurance, banking, and media, there is cap on FDI limit. "Basic target is those sectors, where there is a government approval route and 100 per cent FDI is not there," the official said. Under government route, foreign investor has to take prior approval of respective ministry/department. Through automatic approval route, the investor just has to inform the RBI after the investment is made.There are nine sectors where FDI is prohibited and that includes lottery business, gambling and betting, chit funds, Nidhi company, real estate business, and manufacturing of cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes using tobacco. Recently, the government relaxed FDI norms in several sectors like single brand retail trading, contract manufacturing and coal mining. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech in July had proposed relaxation in the FDI norms for certain sectors such as aviation, AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming and comics), insurance, and single brand retail. Currently, a standard operating procedure is laid out by the DPIIT through which foreign direct investment proposals are processed within a fixed time period of 8-10 weeks. During the April-June period of the current fiscal, FDI into India increased by 28 per cent to $16.33 billion.
Source: Business Standard
Existing structure of Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax, the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and Dividend Distribution Tax (DTT) are being reviewed by the Prime Minister’s Office in consultation with the Finance Ministry’s Revenue Department and NITI Aayog, a source said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are planning a series of tax alignments for equities in the coming weeks in a bid to further boost investor sentiment and bring in much-needed foreign exchange into the government’s coffers, sources in the Finance Ministry and NITI Aayog told CNBC Awaaz. Existing structure of Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax, the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and Dividend Distribution Tax (DTT) are being reviewed by the Prime Minister’s Office in consultation with the Finance Ministry’s Revenue Department and NITI Aayog, a source said. “These steps are likely to be announced before or in the Budget,’’ another source said. Sitharaman, already on a tear when it comes to announcing steps to boost slowing economic growth, is likely to present the Annual Budget for FY21 on February 3. “Now a group of officials are preparing the groundwork which is likely to finalised by November-end,” the source added. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry did not respond to CNBC Awaaz’s queries. Sitharaman has been taking a series of bold steps in the past three months to kick-start growth in Asia’s second largest economy, which is witnessing a slowdown. The Finance Minister has slashed corporate tax rates drastically to 15 percent for new units from 30 percent earlier; aggressively mounted a campaign to sell loss-making public sector companies; forced government departments to start spending budgeted allocations; pushed for quicker payments to outstanding government bills; nudged public sector banks to lend aggressively to small and medium sized enterprises and has also merged 12 public sector lenders to create four large banks in a bid to stem non-performing assets, give greater autonomy to government lenders and make them locally competitive to their private peers. As a consequence, Indian corporate tax structure is now the lowest in southeast Asia. These steps have boosted stock prices and investor sentiment during the festival season. Foreign investor inflows have improved sharply and major indices are less than three percent away from record highs. The Nifty rose 43 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,627 points on October 29. The 50-share index hit a record high of 12,103 points earlier this year. Now, more firepower is being added to make local tax rates in line with global peers, sources said. Comparative studies are being done to lay down the groundwork for longer term money from sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and insurance monies to flow into local equities. “Tax rates are being reviewed for equity, debt and commodities markets. Differential tax structure for equities market may be rationalised to almost a single tax structure,” the source said. Initial discussions point to DDT being brought down substantially. There is a belief in vast sections of decision makers that DDT is a major obstacle in bringing in long term overseas pension money into Indian equities. A task force set up on pruning direct taxes, too, has recommended abolition of DDT. In case an investor makes a profit on sale on equities, he is liable to pay capital gains tax. For gains made on equities held more than one year, LTCG is applicable at the rate of 10 percent from this fiscal. However, LTCG applies only on profits exceeding Rs 1 lakh. In case the shares are sold within one year, a flat Short Term Capital Gains (STCG) tax is applicable at the rate of 15 percent. Companies are subject to DDT at the rate of 15 percent of the dividend paid, along with 12 percent surcharge and a three percent education cess. A domestic company will be liable to pay an additional tax at the rate of 15 percent on any amount declared, distributed or paid in the form of dividends to its shareholders. This amounts to double taxation on already meagre earnings. Both LTCG and DDT have been long standing sore points with long-term investors. “The Finance Ministry wants to announce it in the coming Budget. But once the proposals are finalised, the PMO may push for an early announcement even before the Budget,’’ the source said. One estimate pegs Sitharaman’s tax cuts may result in the government's FY20 revenues falling short by at least Rs 1.5 lakh crore ($21.1 billion). These gaps have to be filled via aggressive sales of PSU assets, better tax revenues and sensible government expenditure, economists said.
Source: Money Control
US discussing deal to reinstate GSP for India: Congress report
The US and India are reportedly discussing a deal to allow the Trump administration to reinstate the Generalised System of Preference for India in exchange for certain market access commitments to America, a US Congressional report has informed the lawmakers. The Generalised System of Preference (GSP) is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme and is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries. "The US and India are holding negotiations to address bilateral trade frictions. They reportedly are discussing a deal for the US reinstatement of GSP for India in exchange for certain market access commitments from India," the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in its report on India-US trade relations. In June, the US terminated India's designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the key GSP trade programme after determining that New Delhi has not assured the US that it will provide "equitable and reasonable access" to its markets. In its report, the bipartisan and independent research wing of the US Congress, the CRS, said that expectations did not materialise for a deal announcement in September 2019 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US for the United Nations General Assembly. "Earlier lack of progress reportedly prompted the Administration to consider launching a Section 301 investigation of India's trade practices-the trade law under whose authorities the Administration investigated certain trade policies of China and imposed higher tariffs on trade with China," it said. Reports of CRS are prepared for the lawmakers to make informed decisions and are not considered as an official position of the US Congress. Currently, the US and India trade on WTO terms as they do not have a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). "In 2018, President Trump stated that India expressed interest in negotiating an FTA. Some India watchers advocate for an FTA, while others question India's willingness to open its markets," the report said. Past negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty are stalled due to differences on approaches to investor protection. "The government-to-government Trade Policy Forum (TPF) has not met regularly in recent years amid growing trade frictions. The private sector-based CEO Forum also is an opportunity for bilateral engagement," it said. The CRS told the lawmakers that the Trump Administration, which views bilateral trade balances as an indicator of the health of a trading relationship, takes issue of the US trade deficit with India. It has also criticised India for a range of "unfair" trading practices that restrict US exports to and investment in India. Modi's first term fell short of many observers' expectations, as India did not move forward with anticipated market-opening reforms, and instead increased tariffs and trade restrictions, the CRS alleged. "Modi's strong electoral mandate may embolden the Indian government to press ahead with its reform agenda with greater vigor. Recent slowing economic growth in India raises concerns about India's business environment," the report said. The CRS said that India has relatively high average tariff rates, especially in agriculture. It can raise its applied rates to bound rates without violating its commitments under the WTO, causing uncertainty for US exporters. India's tariff hikes include raising tariffs on cell phones from zero per cent originally to 15 per cent to 20 per cent, it said. "The US and others question India's compliance with the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA). India also raised duties on certain "non-essential" consumer and other goods to stem its current account deficit, it said. "US concerns over Indian market access also include price controls on medical devices, investment and other non-tariff barriers," CRS said, adding that India opposes the 25 per cent steel and 10 per cent aluminum tariffs that the US has imposed on trading partners under the national-security based "Section 232" law. Referring to the Trump Administration's decisions to terminate India's eligibility for the GSP, the CRS said the determination followed a US investigation into India's market access practices based on petitions by the US dairy and medical technology industries. In 2018, India was the largest beneficiary of GSP. Over one-tenth (USD 6.3 billion) of US goods imports from India entered duty-free under the program, such as chemicals, auto parts, and tableware. GSP removal reinstated US tariffs, which range from one per cent to seven per cent on the top 15 GSP bilateral imports. The CRS in its report also mentioned about the US visa policy for Indians. "India is challenging the US fees for worker visas in the WTO, and monitoring potential US action to revise the H-1B (specialised worker) visa program. India also continues to seek a 'totalisation agreement' to coordinate social security protection for workers who split their careers between the two countries," the CRS said. The two sides differ on how to balance IP protection to incentivise innovation and support other policy goals, such as access to medicines. "While India is eager for more technology-sharing and co-production; some reports indicate the US and Indian interest in producing F-16 combat aircraft there," the CRS said, adding the US has been urging more reforms in India's defence offsets policy and higher FDI caps in its defense sector," the report said.
Source: Economic Times
A high-level advisory group (HLAG) on trade and policy has recommended simpler regulatory and tax framework for overseas investment funds, allowing individual investment from abroad in Indian debt and capital markets, and state-specific policies to facilitate foreign direct investment in agro-processing. The group also favours a single ministry for the regulation of medical devices across the value chain, an independent commission on pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, a simpler medical visa regime and health insurance portability of social security entitlements across countries. The group — led by Surjit Bhalla, a former member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, and formed last year in September — has also proposed making Invest India the centralised authority for issuing licences. This authority should be made answerable to an apex decision-making body, headed by a select set of ministers who can approve investment, it suggested. “The report, though planned earlier, has come at an opportune time when India’s exports and investments need a push. The report outlines the strategy for that,” said a member of the HLAG. The report, which proposes ways to double India’s exports to $1 trillion by 2025 from $500 billion in 2018, will be made public on Wednesday.
Export push
FTA In order to give a leg up to slowing exports, the group has suggested the commerce department to engage an institution, outside the ministry, with expertise in trade, economics and big data analytics, to create a prediction system. It has also proposed enhancing the capital base of the EXIM Bank by Rs 20,000 crore by 2022 and that of the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation by Rs 350 crore. “India should aim to bring down the cost of capital to the average of 10 best performing OECD countries. The median real policy rate of 30 countries in August 2019 (excluding Argentina, Mexico and Turkey) was minus 0.7 %, with India having the highest rate at 2.2%,” the group said in the report. An apex trade promotion organisation established as a separate entity replacing the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, India Trade Promotion Organisation and the Trade Promotion Council of India, and a world-class ‘war room’ to realise single-window clearance are among other key ideas in the report. The recommendations come at a time when India’s exports shrank 6.57% in September. The group has also pushed for a database detailing the utilisation of India’s various trade agreements, a five-year programme for negotiation of free-trade agreements and an advocacy programme to spread awareness about potential trade pacts. Besides identifying products where India has an export advantage to build up domestic competitiveness in these products, the panel also wants the government to “begin process of identifying and resolving non-tariff barriers which prevent Indian exports from accessing key importing nations”, starting with the major countries with which India has FTAs.
Source: Economic Times
Both the appointments shall be made by the central govt on the recommendations of the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee. The Centre has set in motion the process to appoint two full-time members for the actuarial and distribution position in the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). Earlier, Sujay Banarji was the whole-time member for distribution in Irdai and Pournima Gupte was the actuarial member. Term of both the members will come to an end in January 2020. Gupte joined Irdai in 2015 and Banarji in 2018. The posts that the government is looking to fill has a maximum five-year stint and comes with Rs 4 lakh monthly compensation and does not include the facility of a house and a car. These two positions are crucial for vetting insurance product proposals filed with the regulator. Besides the chairman, Irdai has five full-time members on its board. Three others are for life, non-life, and investment segments. K Ganesh is the member for life insurance, T L Alamelu is for non-life insurance, and Pravin Kutumbe is for finance and investment. For the whole-time actuarial member, the government has mandated that the candidate has to be a fellow from either the Institute of Actuaries of India, the UK, Australia, the US, or Canada. Also, the candidate cannot be beyond the age of 50 years to apply for the post of actuary in Irdai and has to have at least five years of experience in the area of actuarial functions. Similarly, for the post of whole-time member in charge of distribution, the eligibility criteria set by the government includes at least 25 years of experience of post qualification, of which at least 15 years should be in the relevant field. Moreover, government servants, who wish to apply for the position of the whole-time director for distribution, need to have worked at least at the level of additional secretary to the government of India, or its equivalent level in state governments. And, public sector officials should have worked at least at one level immediately below the board level. Private sector employees wishing to apply for the post should have worked at the level of functional head, and for academicians applying for the post need to have worked at least as a professor. Both the appointments shall be made by the central government on the recommendations of the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee. “The selected candidate shall be required to resign or retire and be relieved from his/her current employment before joining Irdai,” the government notification reads.
Source: Business Standard
By September-end, the Polavaram Weavers’ Co-operative Production and Sales Society Limited (PWCPSSL), one of the oldest societies in the State, obtained a credit of ₹73 lakh from the NABARD against its stock so as not to let the handlooms fall silent. In its 75 years of journey, the society in Guduru mandal of Krishna district also started spending its reserve fund from last year surviving the challenges. The two government bodies -- Department of Handlooms and Textiles and the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Societies Limited (APCO) -- did not show any mercy on this society to which they owe ₹24 lakh. “The APCO had bought saris worth ₹14 lakh since early 2018, but did not pay us. We do not want to sell our products to it hearafter. The Department of Handlooms and Textiles also owes us ₹16 lakh of ‘discount fund,” K.N. Srinivasa Rao, Manager of the PWCPSSL, told The Hindu. The rebate is compensation paid by the APCO to the societies for selling the products with discount prices at exhibitions. The society requires ₹12 lakh a month to sustain itself. Over the years, it had seen nearly 100 weavers quitting the profession and barely 160 weavers are now working on the handloom.
Awaits payment
Another old society -- The Syamprasad Weavers’ Co-operative Production and Sales Society Limited -- which was established in 1973 here has been waiting for the pending payment to be released by the APCO (₹25 lakh) and the Department of Handloom and Textiles “We have been forced to borrow ₹1.7 crore from the NABARD on 10% interest to meet our expenditure to run the society. We never consider the APCO as a hand-holding government body. Our prime customers are from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana and not the APCO,” says P. Kota Prasad, stockist in charge of the Syamprasad society. The Krishna district has 37 weavers’ co-operative societies with 5,179 registered weavers. Of them, above 50 % of societies are in Guduru mandal alone. “Of the total 5,179 weavers, only 2,787 are working on the looms now,” says Handloom and Textile Department assistant director S. Raghunadha.
Source: The Hindu
Citing the example of Singapore, several experts have suggested that India should do away with multiple tax slabs under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for greater ease of compliance. Singapore has only one tax rate under GST— seven per cent -- on taxable goods and services while India has multiple slabs to charge the indirect tax. An achievement of India's GST implementation is that the measure hasn't been inflationary, according to Abhijit Nath, who works with Insitor Partners, a consultancy firm on GST. “However, to avoid confusion and greater ease of compliance, India should aim for a tworate system over time to be in line with global best practices,” suggested Nath. GST introduction in India has the potential to be a long-term game-changer by unifying the country as one market, he said. Singapore's practice of early announcement of GST rates for various categories helps in smooth transition, he added. “This also makes the increase politically viable,” Nath said, suggesting that the same can be followed in India as well. Singapore's Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in his budget 2018 speech announced that there are plans to increase GST from 7 per cent to 9 per cent sometime from 2021 to 2025, according to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). Sandeep Chilana, managing partner of Chilana and Chilana law offices, said India should endeavour to move towards least tax slabs. He said while other countries have considered a single rate of GST, keeping in mind the vast gap in per capital income and the need for generating revenues, it may not be possible at this stage for India to consider it. “However, India should endeavour to move towards least tax slabs possible, of 6 per cent and 14 per cent,” Chilana said. Manu Bhaskaran, founding director and chief executive officer of Centennial Asia Advisors, said GST is one of the most efficient taxes available “so it is a good tax”. “By itself, it can be regressive so it needs to be combined, as Singapore did, with other measures so that the net effect is not regressive,” he said, when asked what developing economies like India can learn from Singapore's GST model.
Source: Economic Times
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday said the slowdown in the Indian economy is temporary and the recent measures taken by the government will help reverse the trend in the coming quarters. Speaking at Saudi Arabia's annual investment forum, also known as 'Davos in the desert', he said the reforms undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government since August will bear fruits in the next few quarters. "Yes, there has been a slight slowdown (in the Indian economy). But my own view is that it is temporary," he said at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference here. "All the reform measures that have been taken in the last few months will see the outcome and I am quite sure that in coming quarter this will reverse," he said. Indian economy, which till recently was hailed as the fastest-growing major economy, has seen growth rate decline in each of the past five quarters, falling to 5 per cent in April-June 2019 from 8 per cent recorded a year earlier. This is the lowest growth outturn since 2013 and has largely been attributed to the slowdown in investment that has now broadened into consumption, driven by financial stress among rural households and weak job creation. The government has taken a string of policy measures over the past couple of months to shore up the economy and revive credit. The measures include attempts to ease NBFCs' liquidity positions by encouraging banks to purchase high-quality NBFC assets through credit guarantees and additional liquidity. Also, further capital is being injected into banks and the corporate tax rate was cut to their lowest level. These measures should gradually improve the flows of credit and nudge up growth, analysts have said. Ambani, who is in talks with Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco to sell one-fifth of his oil-to-chemical business in India for $15 billion, said the two countries have almost factors to drive growth - technology, young demography, and leadership. "Above all, there is a leadership accelerator. Both the countries are blessed with leadership that is unique in the whole world, at least in today's time," he said referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. Saudi Arabia, he said, has seen tremendous transformation in the last 2-3 years. "For me, this is 1980 vintage China or India of the 1990s where India really took on the world map." Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd, was speaking at the forum on the topic 'The next decade: How will a new era of economic ambition shape the global economy?'Modi is a keynote speaker at this year's FII, the third annual conference. Ambani had in August announced that Saudi Aramco has agreed to take a 20 per cent stake in Reliance Industries' refining and petrochemicals business, as the world's largest crude oil exporter deepens its ties with India, the fastest-growing energy consumer. The deal, which values the business at USD 75 billion including debt, is supposed to close the first half of 2020 and would be one of the largest foreign investments in India. As part of the deal, Aramco will provide Reliance's refinery business with about 500,000 barrels of oil a day, double the size Ambani firm currently buys from the OPEC kingpin. Last month, the government announced a reduction in the base corporation tax rate to 22 per cent from 30 per cent as part of stimulus measures to revive slowing economic growth. The tax cuts rates were aimed at bringing India closer to peers throughout Asia and support the business environment and competitiveness.
Source: Business Standard
The government plans to revamp its skills framework, including a more targeted Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and setting up of a dedicated national institute of skill development to centralise skill training and funding. The proposals form part of the skill development and entrepreneurship ministry's Vision 2025 to help substantially enhance the scale of skilling in the country in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India the skills capital of the world, a senior official said. “Going forward NSDC (National Skills Development Corporation) will cease to play the role of an implementor of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and focus on its other three roles,” the ministry has said in its draft vision document. EThas seen a copy of the document. This is in line with the government decision to enhance focus on its flagship skill development scheme and will help sharpen NSDC's focus in other areas such as creating sustainable ecosystem for skill development, incentivising skill development programmes, and providing services such as innovation and funding, the official said. The ministry has prepared a comprehensive vision document to take its skilling initiatives forward. This will be finalised soon after consultations with various stakeholders. The ministry is looking to enhance the role of sector skills councils to assess demand generation in the informal sector as well. “Earlier the participation was limited from states and MSMEs, but we will now increase their participation to account for local context and skilled needs of the informal sector,” the draft said. Besides, the ministry has proposed set-ting up of a National Institute of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. The structure and functions of the institute “will be detailed in the next phase, post consultations with relevant stakeholders”, it said. People familiar with the development said this could serve as a common umbrella, collectively evolving into a think tank for knowledge production and capacity building for skill and entrepreneurship development in the country. The government had in 2015 rolled out a National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, aiming at policy prescription to make India the skills capital of the world though Skills India Mission, to be reviewed in five years. “A comprehensive skills policy is already under place… Hence, we intend to supplement this with a five-year vision to achieve desired results,” a senior government official told ET on the condition of anonymity.
Source: Economic Times
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
989.15 |
USD/Ton |
-0.14% |
10/28/2019 |
|
VSF |
1514.16 |
USD/Ton |
-0.74% |
10/28/2019 |
|
ASF |
2171.47 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
Polyester POY |
996.94 |
USD/Ton |
-1.19% |
10/28/2019 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2306.61 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
40D Spandex |
4089.64 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
Nylon POY |
2306.61 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1125.00 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2518.88 |
USD/Ton |
-0.28% |
10/28/2019 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5349.08 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1238.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2165.10 |
USD/Ton |
-0.33% |
10/28/2019 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2122.65 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1620.29 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2419.82 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1966.99 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1783.03 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2278.31 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2377.37 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.25 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
-0.20% |
10/28/2019 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.96 |
USD/Meter |
-0.15% |
10/28/2019 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.56 |
USD/Meter |
-0.75% |
10/28/2019 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.66 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/28/2019 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14151 USD dtd. 28/10/2019). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Vietnam reaped export turnovers of more than 217 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 7.4 percent, while seeing import turnovers of nearly 210 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.8 percent, the country's General Statistics Office said on Tuesday. Specifically, Vietnam gained 43.5 billion U.S. dollars from exporting phones and components, up 5 percent; 28.8 billion U.S. dollars from electronic goods, computers and components, up 17.1 percent; 27.4 billion U.S. dollars from garments and textiles, up 8.7 percent; and 14.6 billion U.S. dollars from footwear, up 11.2 percent. Between January and October, the United States remained Vietnam's biggest importer with turnovers of 49.9 billion U.S. dollars, tailed by the European Union with 34.2 billion U.S. dollars, and China with 32.5 billion U.S. dollars, said the office. In the same period, Vietnam spent 43 billion U.S. dollars importing electronic goods, computers and components, up 21.5 percent; 30 billion U.S. dollars on machines, equipment and spare parts, up 11.4 percent; 12.2 billion U.S. dollars on phones and components, down 3.5 percent; and 10.9 billion U.S. dollars on cloth, up 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, China was Vietnam's largest exporter with turnovers of 62 billion U.S. dollars, up 16.1 percent, followed by South Korea with 39.4 billion U.S. dollars, up 0.6 percent, and the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with 26.4 billion U.S. dollars, up 1 percent, according to the office. Vietnam recorded export turnovers of over 243.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up 13.2 percent against 2017, and import turnovers of 236.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 11.1 percent, with a trade surplus of 6.8 billion U.S. dollars.
Source: Xinhua
China on Tuesday released a four-year action plan on strengthening its manufacturing design capabilities amid a shift from the "Made in China" model to "Created in China." Key targets for the 2019-2022 period include developing an open design platform for equipment manufacturing and enhancing the design of special-purpose or special-environment equipment as well as key parts of high-end equipment, according to the plan unveiled by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and 12 other departments. China aims to achieve breakthroughs in original design in fields including high-grade numerical control machine tools, industrial robots and artificial intelligence within the period. The country also aims to improve the design capabilities of industries with competitive advantages including textiles, automobiles and heavy machinery to facilitate industrial upgrading. It will form industries and national standards of system design, artificial intelligence design and ecology design. It will also develop a number of productive and professional design tools. Around 10 demonstration cities will be named to serve as examples of manufacturing design services, while over 200 state-level industrial design centers and about 100 manufacturing design training bases will be established or further developed, according to the plan. A national research institute of industrial design will also be built to enhance basic research in the sector. The plan outlines supportive policies to boost manufacturing design. In terms of funding, the country will encourage private capital-based design industry funds to be established, qualified design enterprises to go public for financing, and banks and other financial institutions to provide tailored services to design firms.
Source : Xinhua
Amazon is beating other US retailers on price by an average of 20% across key product categories, according to a survey from e-commerce performance analytics firm Profitero.The latest study in Profitero’s Price Wars series compared daily prices on 12,500 products across 20 retailers from July to September. Overall, Amazon had the lowest prices on the broadest selection of popular items, winning in all categories studied, Profitero concluded. Walmart.com was the next most competitive among retailers in the survey, with prices averaging 4.1% higher than Amazon’s. The price gaps between Amazon versus Target.com and Jet.com were more substantial at 10.6% and 11.3% higher, respectively. However, Profitero found Amazon faces tough competition in select categories. Walmart.com narrowly trailed Amazon in baby (0.2%), pet supplies (1.3%) and toys & games (1.7%). Chewy.com fell to Amazon by just 0.4% in price. Jet.com is most competitive in office supplies, getting bested by only 0.6%.Category specialists, such as Best Buy, Staples, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Wayfair, were found to be widely overpriced compared to Amazon – “a sign they are choosing to compete on non-price factors to win with shoppers,” the study concluded.
Source: Home Textiles Today
Picanol, a leading textile machinery manufacturer, will be present with an information booth at Techtextil India, which will be held from 20-22 November in Mumbai. Amongst the company’s representatives will be product specialists, and the booth will be located in the Weaving Hall. Driven by extensive investments in R&D, Picanol has grown into an industry leader for high-tech weaving machines in the sector of technical textiles. “Many recent developments clearly highlight this point,” the company says. “One is the growing success of the super-wide rapier machines, which can be equipped with positive guided grippers in widths up to 540 cm. Indeed, they are being considered as a valid alternative to projectile machines in such applications as agrotextiles, packaging, and carpet backings.” Another innovation is the introduction of wasteless LHS in four colours (Ecofill 4) demonstrated during the last ITMA Barcelona for selected fabrics, such as para-aramids, where a significant cost savings in regard to waste can be obtained, according to the manufacturer. Furthermore, there is the new SmartShed technology, which was introduced on the most recent OmniPlus-i airjet machine and was also on display at ITMA, weaving car seat fabric with 14 harness frames at very high speeds. These introductions complete Picanol’s offerings for coated fabrics, conveyor belting, glass fibre, tire cords and airbags, among other things. Picanol supplies weaving machines to weaving mills worldwide, and also offers its customers such products and services as weaving accessories, training, upgrade kits and spare parts. In India, Picanol operates three wholly-owned subsidiaries in New Delhi, Mumbai and Coimbatore. These subsidiaries offer sales support and a complete range of services for all Picanol products.
Source: Innovation in Textiles
