India Is The Largest Producer Of Coir In The World

India is the largest producer of coir in the world with a production of 5,42,000 MT which comes to around 55% of world production of coir. India is followed by Sri Lanka and Vietnam in terms of production of coir.

Government of India is implementing various Schemes for promotion of coir in the country and to enhance the production and export of coir and coir products. The Schemes are Coir Udhyami Yojana, Science & Technology and Coir Vikas Yojana comprising of components like Skill Upgradation, Quality Improvement Scheme and Mahila Coir Yojana, Export Market Promotion & Domestic Market Promotion. Government is also implementing the Scheme of Funds for Regeneration of Traditional Industries(SFURTI) for development of Coir Clusters. Under the ASPIRE Scheme of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Coir Board is in the process of establishing Livelihood Incubation Centres in various parts of the country, which will provide training and handholding support to new entrepreneurs of coir sector.

The thrust of Government has been to promote production of coir in the non-traditional States for which Coir Board has recently opened offices in Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Kavaratti in Lakshadweep and Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. In addition, Government through Coir Board has been focusing on production of value added products to cater to domestic as well as foreign markets.

 

Source:.business-standard.com

Market Coverage For Export Incentives Extended To All Countries

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) To make easier doing business in India, the government on Thursday announced revocation of the earlier requirement of landing certificates to be submitted by exporters under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS).

"The government has decided to extend the market coverage to all countries. Henceforth, landing certificates shall not be required under MEIS with effect from May 4, 2016," said a commerce ministry release here.

"Out of total 5,012 tariff lines under MEIS, incentives to 2,787 lines was available only to limited countries. Therefore, it required submission of landing certificates for claims. Government had received many representations pointing out difficulties in obtaining landing certificate from shipping Lines/agents etc.

"Government has decided to extend the market coverage to all countries in respect of these 2,787 lines. Accordingly, revenue foregone under the scheme has been revised from Rs.21,000 crore per annum to Rs.22,000 crore per annum," it added.

Aimed to incentivise merchandise exports, MEIS was introduced in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20, approved in April last year.

The current trade policy has merged all the earlier export promotion projects under two plans - MEIS and the Served from India scheme (SFIS) - for services exporters.

As part of this initiative, the import duty exemption scrips valued at 10 percent of the foreign exchange earned, which are given to service exporters as an incentive, have been made "tradeable" and can be used for service tax, customs and excise duty payments.

"There is no conditionality in any of the scrips issued under these two schemes," Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said regarding MEIS and SFIS.

As a measure to boost special economic zones, units within them have also been permitted to avail the benefit of the two merged schemes.

India's exports declined for the 16th straight month in March, with exports falling by 5.47 percent to $22.71 billion in the month, while for 2015-16, exports declined by 15.8 percent to $261.13 billion.

 

Source:timesofindia.indiatimes.com
 

Component Export From India To Touch Rs 1,500 Cr In Fy17: Honda

Japanese auto major Honda expects its components exports from India to jump by up to 50 per cent to around Rs 1,500 crore in the current fiscal as it widens the basket of products supplied to its global operations from here.

The company, which has identified India as a global hub for components, exports different engine parts, forgings and transmissions along with others, produced at its Tapukara plant in Rajasthan to a host of global operations.

“Our exports of components from India has been growing each year. Last fiscal, we did around Rs 1,000 crore and this year we are looking at exporting components worth around Rs 1,400 crore to Rs 1,500 crore,” Honda Cars India Senior Vice-President and Director Raman Kumar Sharma said here.

The company has been expanding to new markets for component exports from India. Last year, it started exporting to the US, China and Canada to add to the existing markets, including Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, the UK, Brazil and Mexico.

“We also export components of the Jazz, which is a global model,” he said.

Explaining factors behind the increase of exports from India, Sharma said: “There is availability of global quality products at a low cost. When global companies come to India to sell cars, they suddenly find world class components at such competitive prices and hence take the opportunity.”

Honda’s exports of auto components from India has been gradually increasing. In 2013-14, its component exports had a turnover of Rs 420 crore.

Sharma said Honda India has also been playing a key role in supplying diesel engine parts the Japanese parent’s operations in the UK, Turkey and Indonesia.

At present, Tapukara plant has an annual production capacity of 3 lakh units of diesel engines per annum.

 

Source:.financialexpress.com

India To Gradually Move To Gas-Based Economy: Dharmendra Pradhan

NEW DELHI: India plans to shift to a gas-based economy by boosting domestic production and buying cheap liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the world's third-biggest oil importer seeks to curb its greenhouse emissions, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

New Delhi has promised to shave a third off its emissions rate by 2030, partly by boosting the use of cleaner burning fuels.

"Gradually we are shifting towards a sustainable gas economy," Pradhan told Reuters in an interview.

Gas accounts for about 8 percent of India's energy mix, while oil accounts for more than a quarter.

India's gas supply deficit is expected to widen from 78 million cubic metres a day (mscmd) this fiscal year to 117 mscmd in 2021-22, according to a government estimate.

India recently negotiated better terms for a long-term LNG deal with Qatar and importer Petronet LNG is in talks with Exxon to renegotiate pricing for gas from Australia's Gorgon project.

"The price should be affordable to us. We respect long-term contracts but everybody has to appreciate the changing scenario," said Pradhan. "In a bigger canvas ... India has the potential of a huge market base".

Pradhan last month visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran to deepen ties with its main oil suppliers.

"We want to move beyond a buyer-seller relationship," he said, adding that India was offering them stakes in its pipelines, petrochemical complexes and refineries.

India is also in talks with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and Saudi Aramco to lease strategic oil storage.

GAS GIANT
Pradhan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Iran later this month would "certainly" deliver concrete results.

Iran has set aside its Farzad B gas field for development by Indian firms, a move that could result in the building of an LNG plant as India consumes or markets its production share, he said.

Over two years Asian LNG prices have slumped by three quarters to $4.65 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).

Pradhan expects hefty LNG investments worldwide to ensure affordable long-term prices, a trend that "will suit India as a consuming country."

GAS CONNECTIVITY
India is building import terminals on its eastern and western coasts and pipelines to boost industrial use of gas.

In the fiscal year to March, India's gas production declined by about 4.2 percent, while imports rose around 15 percent.

India recently offered better gas pricing to boost domestic output, but its most recent investment in an LNG terminal in the southern state of Kerala has been underutilised since it lacks pipelines to connect to demand centres after farmer opposition caused land acquisition problems.

Pradhan said the government was talking to the states and hoped obstacles to a pipeline connecting Kochi to Mangalore would be resolved after state elections in Kerala.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Gold Imports Plunge 10% In Fy'16 On Poor Domestic Sales

NEW DELHI: Gold imports fell by close to 10 per cent to 950 tonnes in the 2015-16 fiscal on poor domestic sales due to jewellers' strike and lack of global price parity, a top official of state-run MMTCBSE -0.79 % said.

The world's largest gold consumer had purchased 1,050 tonnes of gold from the overseas market in the preceding year.

"Gold imports fell to 950 tonnes in 2015-16 from 1,050 tonnes in 2014-15 fiscal," MMTC Chairman and Managing Director Ved Prakash told reporters.

The slump came as jewellers kept their shops shut in protest against imposition of one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. Lack of price parity in the global market also curbed shipments in 2015-16, he said.

The maximum quantity of gold was imported by the Bank of Nova Scotia at about 150 tonnes in the latest fiscal, followed by MMTC at 50 tonnes.

Riddhi SiddhiBSE -1.32 % Bullion, State Bank of IndiaBSE 2.19 %, Punjab and Sindh Bank, Tanishq are among other major importers of gold.

"MMTC's gold imports were down at 50 tonnes in 2015-16 from 70 tonnes in the previous year because of the 80:20 import rule and other developments," Prakash said.

Interestingly, the import of dore gold, unrefined form, was higher as compared to bullion in the said period due to lower import duties on dore gold and operation of small gold refineries in Uttarakhand.

At present, import duty on gold is 10 per cent, while it is 8.5 per cent on dore gold.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Cairn Can't Export Crude Till India Attains Self Sufficiency, Says Government

NEW DELHI: The government today told the Delhi High Court that Cairn IndiaBSE 1.65 % cannot be permitted to export excess crude from its Rajasthan oil field, till India attains "self sufficiency".

"The stand of the central government is unequivocal and unambiguous that as a national policy, export of crude oil is not permitted till India attains self sufficiency," the Centre told a bench of Justice Manmohan.

The submission was made by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas which is opposing Cairn's request for permitting them to export crude oil.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, who was assisted by central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, said, "It is admitted position that between the parties that a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) is entered into by and between the parties and that the petitioner is governed by the terms of the said PSC which prohibits export till India attains self sufficiency."

ASG further said that, "whether to permit exports of crude oil exploited from the fields located within the territory of India (at a time when the country itself is suffering from huge deficit in demand and supply of hydrocarbons and is primarily dependent on imports), essentially falls within the realm of a policy decision, which is to be taken by the government keeping in mind the national interest and large public purpose.

"The decision of the government not to permit export of the oil produced by the petitioner is a policy decision taken by the government, which cannot be in anyway termed to be an arbitrary, irrational or a mala fide decision warranting interference by this court," the Centre submitted.

The court asked the government to show it the copy of the policy under which Cairn was denied permission.

While listing the matter for further hearing on May 18, it also asked them to inform whether there was any law or any contract under which they can restrict Cairn from selling their crude abroad.

The court was hearing the plea of Cairn India, subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta group, seeking directions to the government to permit it to export the excess crude.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com