India will roll out nationwide faceless assessment for imports beginning October 31, which will be expanded across all ports by the year end. The move follows pilot projects conducted by the customs department in Chennai and Bengaluru from June, which were extended to Delhi and Mumbai last month. "Board has decided to roll out the Faceless Assessment at an all India level in all ports of import and for all imported goods by October 31, 2020," the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said in a circular. Faceless assessment of customs are part of reforms under Turant Customs to make the customs administration more modern, efficient, and professional. Tax authorities are moving towards going completely faceless or digital, with the government having launched faceless assessment for income tax assessments and faceless appeal beginning from September 25. The larger aim of the exercise is to improve ease of doing business, reduce corruption and tax evasion.
Source: Economic Times
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday said that the global manufacturer ecosystem is realising that they must have other places apart from China as India is emerging as a big manufacturing centre. While interacting with the non-resident Biharis via video conference here, Prasad said, "India is emerging as a big manufacturing centre and the global manufacturer ecosystem is realising that they must have other places apart from China. I am glad to inform that Apple is shifting to India in a significant way, Samsung has already come and they further want to expand. I have been told that around eight factories of Apple have shifted to India from China." "When we came to power in 2014, there were only two mobile factories in India, now its number has crossed 250. We launched Atmanirbhar Bharat with production linked incentive. We invited global companies to come to India and also Indian companies to match," he added. The Union Minister Prasad said when we talk about Aatmnirbhar Bharat, we don't want an isolated India but it means - India being a major economy of the world becoming good economic power to support the global economy. "I announced this scheme in April, during the height of COVID and gave July 31 as the last date for filing applications. They have committed to make mobile phones and components worth Rs 12 lakh crores in 5 years of which Rs 7 lakh crores worth products will be exported. It will provide jobs to three lakh in India directly and nine lakh Indians indirectly," Prasad said. He said that the bold step by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against China has been recognised by the US, UK, Japan and Australia. "When something happened with China in Ladakh, our PM stood firmly and made it very clear that India shall not compromise on its sovereignty. This bold stand of India is being globally recognised from US, UK and Japan to Australia," Prasad said.
Source: Business Standard
New Delhi: The pace of a comprehensive review of GST laws has accelerated with a special focus on decriminalising offences and wider use of compounding provisions with the objective of improving business sentiment and reducing litigation. The government is evaluating removal of clauses in the law that provide officers powers to arrest taxpayers suspected of evasion. It is also considering revoking powers to arrest in case of claiming undue input ta credit or for want of actual invoicing, leaving out bank accounts from the ambit of attaching properties and limiting the scope of criminal oence to only high values of fraud. These have been some of the key suggestions by industry bodies in a series of meetings held with the Central Board of Indirect Taes and Customs (CBIC) last week. The move follows the government’s broader drive to decriminalise minor oences across several laws including the Companies Act, where technical and procedural defaults such as shortcomings in corporate social responsibility reporting, inadequacies in board report, ling defaults, delay in holding annual general meetings among others have been decriminalised. "There has been a debate about building into statutes, criminal liability for acts that are civil in nature. Hence, for Companies Act, certain amendments are proposed to be made that will correct this. Similarly, other laws would also be examined, where such provisions exist and attempts would be made to correct them," Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her Budget speech in February. Most government departments are looking to decriminalise laws administered by them. The department of nancial services recently proposed decriminalisation of as many as 19 laws including the Negotiable Instruments Act, SARFAESI Act, LIC Act, PFRDA Act, RBI Act, NHB Act, Banking Regulation Act, Chit Funds Act, Insurance Act, Payment and Settlements Systems Act and NABARD Act as part of the move. “We’re reviewing industry suggestions… things will move fast,” said a senior official. Under Section 132 (1) of the Central GST Act, falsication of documents for obtaining refunds, dealing in conscated goods, abetment to committing the oences in the section and obstructing oicers from discharging their duties – punishable with up to ve years in prison – have been put up for decriminalisation. “Historically, in many cases the provision of arrest has been invoked but prosecution does not take place… many of these laws prescribe jail terms without allowing for distinction between intentional fraud and inadvertent mistakes,” said an industry executive asking not to be identied. Supply of goods without issuing invoice, issuing fake invoice for wrongfully availing input tax credit, non-payment of tax to government within three months of collecting the tax, should be struck down as non-bailable and cognizable oence, the industry suggested. “These laws have not only served as breeding grounds for corruption and harassments, but has created an atmosphere of terror in the trade and industry,” a senior industry executive said, asking not to be identied. Some laws lack specicity and their vagueness leaves room for harassment and misuse by the the tax oicer. The industry also suggested that the GST Council may issue circulars or guidelines or safe harbour provisions on the basis of monetary thresholds for arrest or prosecution, in line with global practices. The industry also suggested a complete overhaul of Section 138 related to compounding of oences, since in present form it is not applicable on a taxpayer accused of committing an offence under the Act. “Attaching bank accounts which a taxpayer uses to pay GST leads to a vicious circle,” said another executive. Section 83 of the GST Act permits tax authorities to provisionally attach properties of taxpayers, including bank accounts for a year as an anti-evasion method, which the industry has sought to be removed. "Rationalising some of the provisions permitting arrests will go a long way in alleviating the fear of misuse that businesses have, especially when the government wants to create an environment that promotes new business," said Pratik Jain, partner and leader, indirect tax at PwC India. While some industry bodies have made representations to the CBIC, others have sought responses from individual industry members which will be submitted this week. “There have been instances of abuse of such powers (to arrest) as well in the past and assessees have been coerced to make upfront GST payment in case of genuine interpretation issues as well,” said Rajat Bose, partner at law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.
Source: Economic Times
Former finance minister Arun Jaitley displayed a masterly generosity of spirit and long-term vision in guaranteeing the states revenue growth of 14% per year for five years to clinch a deal on an all-India Goods and Services Tax (GST) to replace hundreds of different central and state taxes. This would improve efficiency, reduce tax evasion and inspector harassment, and accelerate long-term growth. However, the Covid-induced crash in GDP (down 24% in the rst quarter and maybe 10% for the full year) has devastated GST revenue, sparking an angry Centre-state ruckus on sharing the pain. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has opered a one-sided deal that the states have rejected furiously with accusations of betrayal. She should return to Jaitley’s spirit. The GST deal was rightly hailed as a great reform with long-term benefits. Earlier, GST had been discussed for a decade without fruition. All states would not agree to the reform, since some were potential losers, and many states were reluctant to give up their taxation powers permanently in the hope that GST would yield more in the long run. Their fears were assuaged only by Jaitley’s generosity. He was willing to make major financial sacrifices to get the states on board. That enabled him to succeed where many predecessors had failed. Jaitley guaranteed the states an increase in their share of GST revenue of 14% per year for five years till March 2022. He promised that the Centre would make good any shortfall in the guaranteed 14% target. This was generous since even with a real GDP growth of 7% and inflation at the RBI targeted level of 4%, nominal GDP growth could be expected to rise by only 11% per year, and tax revenues at a similar rate. Jaitley’s guaranteed 14% was far greater. It was agreed that new central cesses would be imposed to fund the GST shortfalls to the states for five years. Jaitley hoped that fast GDP growth would reduce the pains of transition. Alas, growth started dipping steadily after the GST deal was signed GDP growth declined from 8.2% in 2016-17 to 7%, 6.1% and 4.2% in the next three years. The coronavirus will now send growth crashing to maybe minus 10% this year. That has blown a huge hole in central and state finances. The central cesses are grossly inadequate to fund the shortfall in the 14% revenue growth promised to the states. There is a doctrine of “force majeure” or “act of God” in commercial contracts that enables a party to escape from a guarantee in the event of a natural disaster for which it is not responsible. In effect, Sitharaman has invoked force majeure to avoid paying the states anything more than collected by the cesses, which in today’s situation are grossly inadequate to meet the 14% guarantee. Instead, Sitharaman has offered the states two choices to deal with the shortfall. First, the states can borrow Rs 97,000 crore from the Reserve Bank of India via a special window with a low interest rate. According to the Centre, this is the shortfall due to GST implementation. In addition, there are Covid-induced losses, making a total shortfall of Rs 2.5 lakh crore. Sitharaman’s second option is for the states to borrow this full sum from the markets, at what will undoubtedly be a higher rate of interest. The states have howled that neither option is acceptable. They say Jaitley’s guarantee means the Centre must compensate the states in full even if the cesses to nance that compensation are not yielding the expected revenue. The states are right. GST was not a commercial deal between two corporate parties, one of which can invoke force majeure. It was above all a political pact between the Centre and states. Jaitley understood that fully. His successor needs to do so too. The Centre can simply borrow the additional Rs 2.35 lakh crore from the RBI to compensate the states in full. This will increase the central scale deficit by 1.25% of GDP, a substantial sum but not so large as to trigger a credit downgrade by rating agencies, something Sitharaman rightly wants to avoid. The same approach of full compensation for the states should hold for 2021-22, the last of the five years of Jaitley’s guarantee. This will mean a two-year bulge in central debt. That can be recouped by continuing with the cesses for a few years beyond 2021-22. This is not rocket science. Ever since the GST deal was signed, the BJP has taken pride in saying it has promoted scale federalism. It should live up to that ideal.
Source: Economic Time
It’s not often that the macroeconomy and microeconomy move together and mirror each other. Mostly the latter reacts with some lag. In the April-June quarter (Q1), however, India Inc numbers have perfectly mirrored the country’s macroeconomic headline. The combined revenues of 2,170 listed firms were down 24.3 per cent year-on-year during Q1, mirroring 23.9 per cent contraction in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the same period. At current prices, GDP was down 20.6 per cent, doing better than India Inc. In contrast, India Inc underperformed the growth in ...
Source: Business Standard
The Union finance ministry has advised state governments that as banks adopt a mass scale of paperless transactions from this month for all their loans for retail and micro as well as small and medium enterprise (MSME) customers, the stamp duty regime in all states have to go digital. As a result, small-ticket loans can expand massively with the paperless documents being treated as valid legal documents. The entity, which will interface with states and banks is the National e-Governance Services (NeSL), promoted by leading banks and has the status of a government company. At an interaction ...
Source: Business Standard
The recently released quarterly GDP growth numbers for the rst quarter of FY2020-21 should alarm us all. The 23.9% contraction in India (and the numbers will probably be worse when we get estimates of the damage in the informal sector) compares with a drop of 12.4% in Italy and 9.5% in the US, two of the most Covid-affected advanced economies. Yet, India is even worse o than these comparisons suggest. The pandemic is still raging in India. So, discretionary spending, especially on high-contact services like restaurants, and the associated employment, will stay low until the virus is contained. Government-provided relief becomes all the more important. This has been meager -- primarily free foodgrains to poor households, and credit guarantees to banks for lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), where the takedown has been patchy. GoI’s reluctance to do more today seems partly because it wants to conserve resources for a possible future stimulus. This strategy is self-defeating. If you think of the economy as a patient, relief is the sustenance the patient needs while on the sickbed and ghting the disease. Without relief, households skip meals, pull their children out of school and send them to work or beg, pledge their gold to borrow, let EMIs and rent arrears pile up… Similarly, without relief, SMEs -- think of a small restaurant -- stop paying workers, let debt pile up, or close permanently. Essentially, the patient atrophies, so by the time the disease is contained, the patient has become a shell of herself. Now think of economic stimulus as a tonic. When the disease is vanquished, it can help the patient get out of her sickbed faster. But if the patient has atrophied, stimulus will have little eect. Even if they start earning, indebted households will not consume freely, especially if they believe they have to manage further periods without livelihoods or government help. Similarly, even SMEs that have stayed open but have huge unpaid bills and interest will not be able to function well. Without relief measures, the growth potential of the economy will be seriously damaged. Brazil, which has spent tremendously on relief, is seeing a much lower downgrade to medium term growth than India. So, government oicials who hold out the possibility of a stimulus when India nally contains the virus are underestimating the damage from a more shrunken and scarred economy at that point. Instead of claiming there is a Vshaped recovery round the corner, they should wonder why the US, despite spending over 20% of GDP in scal and credit relief measures, is still worried the economy will not return to pre-pandemic GDP levels by the end of 2021. Obviously, because of the pre-pandemic growth slowdown and the government’s strained scal condition, oicials believe it cannot spend on both relief and stimulus. This mindset is too pessimistic. But the government will have to expand the resource envelope in every way possible, and spend as cleverly as possible. It also has to take every action that can move the economy forward without additional spending. All this requires a more thoughtful and active government. Unfortunately, after an initial burst of activity, it seems to have retreated into a shell. On the resource front, India could borrow more without scaring the bond markets if it committed to return to scal viability over the medium term. For example, by setting future debt reduction targets through legislation, and committing to honest and transparent scal numbers with a watchdog independent scal council. In addition to borrowing, it should prepare public sector rm shares for on-tap sale, to take advantage of every period of market buoyancy. The current period of buoyancy already looks like a missed opportunity. Many government and public sector entities have surplus land in prime urban areas, and those, too, should be readied for sale. Even if sales do not take place immediately, preparations for sale, as well as an announced timetable, will give bond markets greater conviction that the government is serious about restoring scal stability. Turning to government spending, the key will be to prioritise. The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme is a tried and tested means of providing rural relief, and should be replenished as needed. Given the length of the pandemic, more direct cash transfers to the poorest households, especially in urban areas that do not have access to MNREGA, is warranted. The government and public sector rms should clear their payables quickly (something that has been talked about for years), so that liquidity moves to corporations. In addition, small rms below a certain size could be rebated the corporate income and goods and sales (GST) tax they paid last year (or some portion thereof), with the rebate tapering o with rm size. This would be an objective way of helping small, viable rms based on a hard-to-manipulate metric, even while rewarding them for their honesty. Finally, the government will likely have to set aside resources to recapitalise public sector banks (PSBs) as the extent of losses are recognised. The private sector should also be urged to give a helping hand. Cash-rich platforms like Amazon, Reliance, and Walmart could help smaller suppliers get back on their feet, even funding some of them. All large rms should be incentivised to clear their receivables quickly. As the various payment moratoria come to an end, a number of entities will be unable to repay. Instead of reacting in a piece-meal way, GoI should have a well-thought-out plan to deal with the coming financial distress. structures should be in place to help debtors and claimants such as landlords and banks reach agreements to restructure obligations, including having unpayable amounts written o. A number of arbitration fora should be set up to renegotiate claims of various sizes. Civil courts, debt recovery tribunals, and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) should be beefed up to provide rapid back-up judgments. Given the depth of the contraction, stimulus will also be needed, especially investment in infrastructure construction, which creates jobs and increases demand for all manner of inputs like cement and steel. The Centre should replenish the coers of the state governments, which typically spend more on infrastructure. This can be accounted for as part of the GST dues the Centre owes the states. In addition, the Centre should notify shelf-ready projects that are in the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for implementation. Given the lead time for such spending, all this should happen now. Reforms can be a form of stimulus, and even if not carried out immediately, a timeline to undertake them can boost current investor sentiment. The world will recover earlier than India, so exports can be a way for India to grow. For that to happen, GoI has to reverse its recent raising of taris so that inputs can be imported at low cost. Once it resets taris, the government should make it harder to change them at whim, else rms will not have the condence to invest in export production, given how competitive the world is. To improve our competitiveness, long-debated reforms to land acquisition, labour, power, and the nancial sector should be implemented, as should recently announced reforms in agriculture. Temporary half-baked ‘reforms,’ such as the recent suspension of labour protections in a number of states, will do little to enthuse industry or workers, and give reforms a bad name. India needs strong growth, not just to satisfy the aspirations of our youth but to keep our unfriendly neighbors at bay. The recent pick-up in sectors like autos is not evidence of the much awaited V-shaped recovery. It reects pent-up demand, which will fade as we go down to the true level of demand in the damaged, partially-functioning economy. No doubt, GoI and its bureaucrats are working hard as always. But they need to be frightened out of their complacency and into meaningful activity. If there is a silver lining in the awful GDP numbers, hopefully it is that.
Source : Economic Time
The government has identified 24 focus manufacturing sectors, which have the potential to expand, scale-up operations, improve quality, and increase India’s share in global trade and value chain. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal today said that 24 focus manufacturing sectors have been identified which have the potential to expand, scale-up operations, improve quality, and increase India’s share in global trade and value chain. Piyush Goyal added that these sectors have the capacity to substitute imports and push exports. India is being seen in the world as a trusted and resilient partner in the global value chain, he further said. Earlier, the government had identified “champion sectors” including leather, gems and jewellery, renewable energy, pharma, and textiles, to facilitate investment with a focus on improving India’s manufacturing capabilities. Piyush Goyal underlined that India’s exports and imports are showing positive trends and the trade deficit is narrowing. Indicating the revival in exports, he said that the exports are approaching the last year’s levels. Regarding imports, he added that the positive thing is that the capital goods imports have not declined, as the fall is mainly in crude, gold, and fertilizers. The government is in the process to generate more reliable trade data so that there can be better planning and frame policies accordingly. The commerce minister was meeting with the heads of various Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), to discuss the issues concerning India’s global trade, ground-level situation, and problems being faced by the exporters. The minister highlighted that the capping of Rs 2 crore will not affect 98 per cent of the exporters who claim benefit under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS). He said that the government has already announced the Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme for exporters to take the place of MEIS, and a Committee has also been set up to determine the ceiling rates under the RoDTEP scheme. The new scheme is expected to reimburse the embedded taxes and duties already incurred by exporters.
Source: Financial Express
Relative to advanced nations, the monthly economic review of the ministry for August said, contraction in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the April-June quarter has been ‘slightly higher’ but attributed the same to the stringent lockdown in the quarter that has helped keep Covid-19 mortality in check. India is witnessing a ‘V’ shaped recovery, the nance ministry said on Friday, pointing to a clutch of indicators such as manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), auto sales, railway freight, steel and power consumption, e-way bills, highways toll and retail nancial transactions. Relative to advanced nations, the monthly economic review of the ministry for August said, contraction in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the AprilJune quarter has been ‘slightly higher’ but attributed the same to the stringent lockdown in the quarter that has helped keep Covid-19 mortality in check. It flagged areas that may require specic attention including agrarian supply chains, factor markets, infrastructure, Information and communications technology (ICT), start-ups, nancial inclusion, skilling and health care. With regards to India’s record growth contraction of -23.9% in the rst quarter of the scal, the report termed it an inevitable result of the lockdown, citing the Oxford Covid-19 government response tracker which ranked India’s lockdown as the most stringent in the world. Further, the lockdown enabled the country to restrain its pandemic-induced death rate to one of the lowest in the world, it said. India's case fatality rate was 1.78% as on August 31, compared to 3.04% and 12.35% in the US and UK respectively. The report was optimistic in its outlook, stating that the worst was behind us as high frequency indicators were showing improvements since June. “The trend in macroeconomic indicators elucidated above establishes that India is well on its path to a Vshaped recovery,” the report said. India’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), at 52.2, moved into the expansionary zone in August for the rst time since the lockdown. Similarly, e-way bills touched Rs 13.8 lakh crore last month, reaching 97.2% of the gure for August last year. The report suggested a calibrated re-orientation of India’s policy matrix towards building resilience for an uncertain future while specifying priority areas for policy action. “Agriculture has emerged as a resilient silver lining in the current scenario,” it said, recommending policy priority in building eicient and sustainable agrarian supply chains for a persistent increase in farmer incomes. While the manufacturing sector was showing signs of recovery, the report advised wide-ranging structural reforms in land, legal, labour and capital markets to reverse the slowdown and to boost risk appetite. For the financial sector, the report cautioned of its disconnect with the real sector due to a global liquidity surplus. “Possible risks of disruptive market corrections may manifest in terms of capital ight, currency volatility and ensuing worsening of balance-sheets of rms, posing negative macro-implications for global labour markets as well,” it said.
Source: Economic Times
In April, following the Covid-19 pandemic, Tokyo had announced a large subsidy programme of 220 billion yen (about $2 billion) for its companies shifting production back to Japan and set aside another 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move facilities to Asean member states. Japan will extend subsidy to its companies under a 23.5-billion yen (about $221 million) plan for moving their factories from China to India and a few others, in the latest sign of deepening engagement between Tokyo and New Delhi to bolster supply chain amid Beijing’s growing belligerence in the region. According to a report in the Nikkei newspaper, Japan will add India and Bangladesh to the list of “relocation destinations”. In April, following the Covid-19 pandemic, Tokyo had announced a large subsidy programme of 220 billion yen (about $2 billion) for its companies shifting production back to Japan and set aside another 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move facilities to Asean member states. By expanding the scope of the subsidy programme now to include India and Bangladesh, Japan aims to reduce its dependence on a particular region (China) and build a system which is able to provide a stable supply of medical materials and electronic components even in an emergency, according to Nikkei. In July, Japan’s ministry of economy, trade and industry said as many as 57 companies, including facemask-maker Iris Ohyama and Sharp Corp, will receive a total of 57.4 billion yen ($536 million) in subsidies. At the same time, another 30 companies would get funds to move manufacturing to Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations. The second round of applications for availing of subsidy started from Thursday. Japan is the latest in a growing list of countries that are actively looking for ways to decouple economies and firms from China. In 2019, Taiwan adopted a formal policy that aimed at bringing investment back home from China. Earlier this week, trade ministers of India, Japan and Australia decided to launch an initiate later this year to achieve supply chain resilience in the Indo-Pacific region, a move seen as countering China’s dominance on world trade. Already, India, Japan and Australia make up the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, along with the US, to strengthen national security consultation.
Source: Financial Express
President of the World Fair Trade Organization and CEO of NGO Sasha, Roopa Mehta is raising a red flag for India’s pandemic-struck textile industry. President of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), Roopa Mehta is thoroughly disillusioned with the Indian government. “It just doesn’t have its ear to the ground. They’re talking about being Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) but they do not engage NGOs that have demonstrated great impact in the communities they work in. They are offering loans, but that will only push poor farmers and weavers further into debt traps and poverty. The COVID relief package is just pomp and show. It’s cruel to raise people’s hopes like that.” It’s no small charge from a woman who has spent the better part of her life working towards the upliftment of India’s textile weavers and craftspersons. Since the mid-1980s, Mehta has spearheaded the Kolkata-based Sasha Association for Craft Producers. The NGO has impacted lakhs of lives working as a development and marketing organistion for over a hundred groups of disadvantaged producers and artisans from rural and semiurban pockets of northeast India, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and other states. They focus on capacity building, technical assistance, design inputs, and product development while also keeping the social development of the workers' needs in mind. When Fair Trade Forum India was initiated in 2000 to promote fair-trade principles and practices to ensure ethical production and fair wages, Sasha was one of its seven founder members. As president of the platform, Mehta attended conferences worldwide, understanding the logistics and challenges faced by artisans and craftspersons in developing countries around the world. In September 2019, she was announced president of WFTO after an election held in Peru. Soon after she took over, the pandemic struck a crushing blow to India’s textile industry, and retail dropped to zero. “Initially, buyers contributed to workers’ welfare by crowd funding and buying items like masks from our online stores,” she says, referencing an order of 30,000 masks that Sasha got recently from a fair-trade buyer for free distribution in artisan villages. “With the support of our buyers, we took care of our artisans by providing relief through funds for essentials. At this time, there were also orders that gave work and income to home-based artisans. We hoped we would recover our losses,” she says. But as the lockdown wore on, Mehta’s hope for the community diminished. “Very few organisations are working for the benefit of migrant workers. Groups associated with Sasha were still better off during lockdown. But that didn’t happen everywhere.” Mehta believes policymakers need to think seriously about this sector, and how much potential it has to contribute to India’s GDP. “The pandemic made it clear what our priorities are, who has profited and who is suffering the most. We have enough plans to reach the moon and Mars, but how much do we invest on education and health? We need migrant labour to generate corporate profits, but what do we give them in return?” she asks. Born in Patna where her mother was interning to be a medical doctor at the time, Mehta grew up in Delhi and graduated in Economics. After doing her Master’s in business management, she moved to Mumbai where she met her husband. Having worked briefly with a fashion brand, she began researching Indian textiles and crafts and decided she wanted to help rural artisans reach bigger urban markets and earn better wages from their traditional crafts. That’s how she came across Sasha and the rest is history. These days, the 68-year old mother of two and grandmother of four is at home in Kolkata with her husband – who, at 75, is retired and handles the kitchen very efficiently. She has a message for the government: “Give the textile sector a chance to recover. Don’t charge GST for a while; let them at least get back on their feet.” Then in the next breath, she sighs, “Oh, I don’t know how and when it will ever get back up.” Even the ever-optimistic Roopa Mehta is hard-pressed for signs of hope.
Source: Money Control
When German leisure wear brand Marc O’Polo called its Indian vendor Warsaw International to place an order for supply of some jerseys, proprietor Raja Shanmugam knew this order was different. The same product was supplied by his competitor in China to Marc O’Polo all these years. When German leisure wear brand Marc O’Polo called its Indian vendor arsaw International to place an order for supply of some jerseys, proprietor Raja Shanmugam knew this order was dierent. The same product was supplied by his competitor in China to Marc O’Polo all these years. “We have a huge order. It’s a litmus test for us and the country. If we crack it, then gates open for more global brands to increase their India sourcing,” Shanmugam said. “This season (normally begins September 1), we expect a lot more sourcing from India as brands realise that they need to look at alternatives. We only wish that the 6-month moratorium is extended as we are in very early days of restart and we need handholding and support from the government,” Shanmugam, who also heads the Tirupur Eporters Association, said. “I expect a 25% increase in sourcing this season.” P Nataraj, MD of KPR Mills, a leading garment exporter and among the largest yarn exporters from India, echoed similar views. “Our buyers have told us that this year sourcing from India will be much higher than last. We will know about the actual size of increased orders in a couple of weeks. We are just opening up after the lockdown,” he said. Similarly, Carter’s - once the world’s largest baby wear brand has asked SP Apparels in neighbouring Avinashi in western Tamil Nadu to work on developing a new fabric (using man-made bres) as it wants to shift signicantly from China to India. “Carter’s is working with us to develop a new fabric. If it clicks, then it’s a huge opportunity,” said P Sunder Rajan, MD of SP Apparels. “Beating China is tough as they have the scale, but looks like a beginning has been made this time. We will need a lot of support on labour, nancial and infrastructure from the government,” Rajan added. Industry body Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) too is chipping in. “We are in negotiations with Taiwanese and Korean entities for a joint venture, which will work on developing the fabric with man-made bre. We are very strong in natural bres, but the opportunities in man-made bre is humongous. We need assistance, which is why we are looking at joint ventures for fabric development. The talks are progressing well,” said A Sakthivel, chairman of AEPC. The contours of the discussion are to get the fabric ready for sports wear and lounge wear. Garment exports from Tirupur dropped to 25,000 crore for the year ended March 2020 from 26,000 crore in the previous year as the Covid pandemic wiped away most March exports. The target was to export garments worth 28,000 crore. Domestic sales were at at 25,000 crore for the scal. The town employs 6 lakh workers, half of whom are from other states.
Source: Economic Times
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
810.97 |
USD/Ton |
2.40% |
06-09-2020 |
|
VSF |
1256.63 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
ASF |
1725.68 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
Polyester POY |
748.87 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
Nylon FDY |
1972.62 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
40D Spandex |
4091.36 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
Nylon POY |
1899.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
927.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2235.64 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5260.32 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
949.78 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1863.03 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
1749.06 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1388.14 |
USD/Ton |
0.53% |
06-09-2020 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2206.41 |
USD/Ton |
0.33% |
06-09-2020 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1702.30 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1548.87 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2074.90 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
1899.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.15 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.64 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.94 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.48 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.66 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
06-09-2020 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14612 USD dtd. 06/09/2020). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Thursday said textile mills and buying houses will require mandatory registration with the authorities concerned under the Textile Act 2018. The BB's Banking Regulation and Policy Department issued a circular in this regard, saying many textile mills and buying houses of the country have been doing business without complying with provisions of the act. The BB circular, signed by general manager Nazrul Islam, noted that such malpractices have been tarnishing Bangladesh's image abroad. However, officials at the textile mills and buying houses said many of these entities are yet to register with the Department of Textiles, as the act was passed in 2019. They also opined that bribery and other types of corruption may be involved in completing the registration process with the government organisation. "We will take registration as per the act, but bribery and other corruptions may be incorporated with the process. More than 1,500 textile mills will need such registration at a time following the BB circular," said an official of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA). Meanwhile, the BB's Foreign Exchange Operation Department, in a circular on the day, has eased the remittance process of surplus earrings of the foreign airlines in Bangladesh. The circular, issued by general manager Maksuda Begum, said this is meant for simplifying the remittance process of surplus earnings. The process will not require submitting other documents rather than banking documents, it added.
Source: Financial Express
Pakistani economic official secretly visits Taiwan Trade Center in Cairo Pakistan, one of China's closest strategic allies, is reportedly pursuing secret trade ties with Taiwan, according to Times of India. On Wednesday (Sept. 2), Sidrah Haque, trade officer at the Pakistani embassy in Cairo, posted a picture of her visit to the local Taiwan Trade Center and its director Michael Yen (葉人誠). She said their meeting was focused on developing Pakistan-Taiwan trade ties and sharing information about the local business market. Although Haque expressed excitement about connecting with Taiwanese on trade matters, she quickly deleted the post, likely due to concerns over Beijing's reaction. However, it is clear that Pakistan is considering establishing closer economic ties with Taiwan despite its heavy dependence on China. With a population estimated at 212 million, Pakistan relies on rice, cotton, linen, and textiles as its main exports. Its top imports include petroleum products, electrical machinery, plastics, iron, and steel. According to Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) data, Pakistan's imports from Taiwan totaled US$626 million in 2019. In the same year, its exports to Taiwan were worth US$100 million, reported CNA.
Source: Taiwan News
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh and his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai exchanged views on cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand during a virtual talk. Pramudwinai extended congratulations from the Thai government to Vietnam on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of National Day of Vietnam (September 2), saying Thailand attaches importance to continuously consolidating and developing the bilateral friendship. Hailing Vietnam’s great efforts in the fight against Covid-19, the Thai Deputy PM expressed his belief that the country will continue to keep the pandemic under control while successfully performing its socio-economic development tasks. He stressed that Vietnam, as Chair of ASsean in 2020, has successfully organised Asean meetings, and maintained and promoted cooperation within the grouping, as well as collaboration between Asean and partners. Minh, in reply, thanked Thailand for its support and coordination, and pledged to facilitate the entry of foreign investors, experts, managers and skilled labourers, including those from Thailand, and consider resuming flights between the two countries. The two sides agreed to increase all-level meetings and visits when possible, and work together in organising activities marking the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2021. They will also maintain and make full use of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the organisation of the fourth joint cabinet meeting at a suitable time, and the signing of an action plan to implement the enhanced strategic partnership between the two countries during the 2021-25 period. The two sides will work to raise bilateral trade to US$20 million per year as targeted, and soon sign a new labour agreement. Vietnam would create favourable conditions for Thailand to invest in the areas of its strength like maritime tourism, garment-textile, footwear, high-tech agriculture, and support industry, and consider the possibility of resuming flights between the two countries, Minh said. Pramudwinai expressed his hope for more Vietnamese investments in Thailand, saying Thailand will continue to encourage and make it easier for Thai investors to invest in Việt Nam.
Source: Vietnam News
The newest Korean Ambassador has made his first visit to Beni Suef on Friday, a hotbed for Egypt-Korea educational and industrial collaboration where factories belonging to Samsung Electronics and Ulhwa Egypt for Textiles, and the Korea-Egypt Beni Suef Technological University are located. Also coming as his first trip outside of Cairo since arriving in July, Ambassador Hong Jinwook’s visit to Beni Suef saw him meet with the Governor of Beni Suef, Hani Ghoneim. Ambassador Jin-wook congratulated Ghoneim on being the youngest governor in Egypt’s history. He further hailed the Egyptian government’s eagerness to allow young talent to take on leadership responsibilities, which the Korean government supports by sharing with Egypt its expertise in human resources development. The ambassador added that his visit coincides with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Korean National Human Resources Development Institute and the Egyptian National Training Academy, which will lead to tangible outcomes in the near future. Beni Suef is the Korean government’s strategic partner through Korea’s Official Development Assistance in the Upper Egypt region, which follows suit with the Egyptian government’s policy to promote the development of Upper Egypt. Following their meeting, Ambassador Jin-wook and Governor Ghoneim toured the Beni Suef Technological University, a US$5.83 million project first initiated in 2016 between the presidents of Egypt and South Korea, and later established in 2019 by joint efforts between the Korea International Cooperation Agency, Ministry of Higher Education and the Beni Suef Governorate. The university has served as a role model for educational and industrial development in less than a year since its opening, and plans to expand further through joint cooperation between the two nations. This leading educational institution in the region aims not only to empower youth and provide more career opportunities for them, but also to attract investments to develop the local economy. The ambassador also expressed the Korean government’s eagerness in supporting technical and S&T education within Egypt. This comes in line with the importance Egypt’s government has attached to education and expanding development of technical universities which can produce the skilled labor Egypt needs to meet its desires for industrialization and development. Choosing Beni Suef for such a project is part of Egypt’s efforts to develop the Upper Egypt region and of Korea’s interest in facilitating the creation of an echo system for industrial development in Egypt through linking educational outcomes with labor market needs, he added. The ambassador also said that Beni Suef is now emerging as a manufacturing hub with the presence of industrial zones and mega industrial projects including Samsung Electronics and other medium-sized Korean companies, all of which requires highly skilled and trained labor.
Source: Egypt Independent
President Xi Jinping pledged to open China's service industries wider to foreign competitors as its first in-person trade fair since the coronavirus outbreak opened under intensive anti-disease controls. Xi gave no details in his speech Friday night, but Chinese leaders are emphasizing development of tourism, retailing and other services. They are part of a campaign to nurture economic growth driven by consumer spending instead of exports and investment. China will relax market access for service industries and actively expand imports of high-quality services, Xi said at the China International Fair for Trade in Services. Xi appeared on a video screen before Chinese businesspeople and a handful of foreign VIPs who wore masks and sat in widely spaced chairs at a convention center adjacent to the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Most exhibitors from abroad are participating via the internet because Beijing has yet to relax curbs that bar most foreign visitors from the country. The annual export-oriented Canton Trade Fair in southern China, the world's biggest sales event, was held online in June. China's manufacturers are flexible, efficient global competitors, but its fledgling tourism, finance, health care and other service industries lag their Western counterparts. Regulatory barriers limit the ability of foreign banks and other providers to compete in China two decades after Beijing joined the free-trading World Trade Organisation. US officials who are waging a tariff war with Beijing over its trade record point to services, in which the United States runs a surplus with China, as a promising area. Organisers say 18,000 companies and 100,000 people from 148 countries and regions signed up to take part in the trade fair, which runs through Wednesday. China, where the pandemic began in December, was the first economy to shut down and the first to begin the struggle to revive business after the ruling party declared victory over the disease in March. Factories, office towers and shopping malls have reopened but visitors to public buildings in Beijing still are checked for fever by masked guards. China became the first economy to return to growth with a 3.2% expansion over a year earlier in the three months ending in June, rebounding from the previous quarter's 6.8% contraction. The trade fair has three-dimensional technology for foreign vendors to show goods and secure online communications to talk to customers, the director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Yan Ligang, told reporters on Thursday. Guests and staff must wear masks and will be checked throughout the day for fever, according to Yan. He said organisers will restrict the flow of people and the building will be tested for the virus and disinfected every day. Some 200 medical, disease control and first aid staff will be on duty, Yan said. Chinese companies plan to showcase possible coronavirus vaccines that are under development, according to the Beijing Health Commission. It said some will display tools that can detect the virus in 30 minutes. Other planned exhibitions include cultural, financial and public health services, next-generation telecoms and service robots. The coronavirus cannot stop the development of service trade, nor can it stop our confidence and action to work together, Xi said.
Source: Business Standard
