Rupee Closes Marginally Stronger At 66.68 Against Us Dollar

 The Indian rupee on Wednesday closed marginally stronger against the US dollar tracking the gains in the Asian currencies markets.

The rupee closed at 66.68 against the US dollar, up 0.07% from its previous close of 66.73. The home currency opened at 66.69 a dollar. So far this year, it fell 0.85%.

Most Asian currencies closed higher following government data that showed the Chinese economy grew in line with expectations for the July-September quarter.

Traders are cautious as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton square off in the third and final debate before the presidential election.

South Korean won was up 0.56%, Japanese yen 0.51%, Philippines peso 0.4%, Thai baht 0.4%, Malaysian ringgit 0.19%, Indonesian rupiah 0.13%, Chinese yuan 0.07%, Taiwan dollar 0.06%. However, Singapore dollar was down 0.08%.

India’s benchmark Sensex index closed at 27,984.37 points, down 0.24% or 66.51 points from its previous close. So far this year, it has gained 7.15%, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought $7.42 billion.

India’s new monetary policy committee (MPC) was concerned about economic growth, and saw the downturn in retail inflation and slack in the economy as an opportunity to cut the key policy rate, according to the minutes of its first meeting released on Tuesday. All members leaned heavily on the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) staff surveys and reviews, which some analysts saw as a negative.

The goods and services tax (GST) council worked out a compensation formula for states and is now bracing for a testy debate on rates. The Centre has proposed a tiered rate structure with the rates varying from 4% for commodities like gold to 26% plus cess on so-called sin goods.

Since 3 October to 17 October, FIIs sold $1.15 billion in debt and so far this year they have sold $886.60 million.

The benchmark 10-year government bond yield closed at 6.732% compared to Tuesday’s close of 6.722%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.76, down 0.13% from its previous close of 97.895.

Numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics in China showed the third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.7% on-year and 1.8% on-quarter. Among other data released on Wednesday, China’s fixed-asset investment increased 8.2% nominally on-year in the January-September period, retail sales were up 10.7% on-year in September and industrial production increased by 6.1% on-year in September, missing markets’ expectation for a 6.4% rise, Reuters reported.

 

 

Sources :.livemint.com

Gjepc Seeks Exemption From Gem And Jewellery Exports, 1.25% Gst Rate For Local Transactions

KOLKATA: Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has sought exemption for gem and jewellery export transactions and 1.25% GST rates for domestic transactions even as the GST Council commenced a crucial meeting to set rates.

At present, gems & jewellery exports are effectively zero rated. Hence any element of tax in exports is required to be rebated. As regards VAT, it is typically charged at the rate of 1% on the sale price by almost all the states in India.
In its representation, GJEPC mentioned that export transactions should not be subjected to any effective GST as regards exports. All related consumption of raw materials, inputs and input services such as input of rough diamonds gold/ silver/platinum (through duty free export promotion schemes) at the input level should continue to be free from levy of any import duty/GST. In the representation, GJEPC has mentioned that all transactions, whether direct or indirect, for exports, should continue not to be taxed with any indirect taxes in the form of GST.

As regards transactions for domestic consumption (other than those meant for ultimately converging into exports), GJEPC, in its representation, has suggested that the preferred tax rates for different segments of the GJI should be nil for rough and cut and polished diamonds and coloured gemstones.. The body has suggested a GST of 1.25% for gold/silver/platinum jewellery (including studded jewellery and costume fashion jewellery). It has said that gold procured from nominated agencies for purpose of use in exports should continue to be exempted in line with the existing framework).

Mr. Praveenshankar Pandya, chairman, GJEPC said, “Considering that India has achieved a pre-eminent global position in the gems & jewellery exports and that 4.6 million of skilled & unskilled people are directly employed in the business, and GJI contributes 14% of the India’s merchandise exports, it is urged that as currently, all transactions, directly or indirectly, in the course of exports of the products of GJI, should not suffer any tax burden under GST. Considering the extremely high price sensitivity of the products of GJI and the various complexities in the manufacturing and distribution cycle, tax and fiscal policy makers in India have, over several decades, experienced and accepted that, for domestic transactions, a minimal indirect tax rate of 0 – 1.25% best ensures tax compliance and collection, while curbing the well known adverse economic impacts of higher taxation in the GJI. Given the high price of the products where around 80% - 95% of the content is imported component, diverse sensitivities that the gem and jewellery industry (GJI) faces as well as considering its economic and social significance, historically, the GJI has always been taxed at the very lowest level in the current system of indirect taxation.”

 

Sources :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Blue Revolution In India: White-Leg Prawn Boosts Marine Exports

Litopenaeus vannamei, the white-leg prawn originally a native of the Americas, is helping script a blue revolution in India. Fisheries scientists call it one of the biggest success stories of Make-in-India if the concept can be stretched to apply to aquaculture.

Introduced in India in only 2009, the vannamei variety now makes up for roughly 80% of the country’s shrimp/prawn exports and 46% of the outbound shipment value of all marine products, showed official data. The variety has been promoted immensely by the Marine Products Exports Development Authority both in India and abroad.

The variety’s success can be gauged from the fact that its export value has risen close to sixfold in the past four years through 2015-16 to $2.14 billion (see chart). In volume term, its exports have risen just over sixfold in these four years to to 2.57 lakh tonnes in 2015-16.

Encouraged by the success of vannamei, the government expects marine product exports to touch $10 billion by 2019-20, compared with $4.68 billion in the last fiscal. The US, the EU and Japan are the biggest markets for Indian shrimps.
Massive vannamei supplies have helped India’s marine exports maintain relatively good growth and prevent the overall farm export growth from sliding further in recent years. From just over 9% in 2011-12 (when vannamei exports started picking up), the share of marine products in the country’s overall farm exports rose to almost 15% in 2015-16. Marine items now form the largest segment of the overall agricultural export basket.

Even though vannamei exports value dropped in the last fiscal, thanks to the broader slide in commodity prices that affected per-unit realisation, the volume of the outbound shipments rose, suggesting robust demand.

graph

“Given the country’s extensive coastline, abundant marine resources and a tropical climate that lends itself to aquaculture production all year round, India has tremendous potential to be a leading global seafood player well-connected in distribution markets.
Vannamei will continue as the key contributor to the sector and is in growing demand as a candidate species in aquaculture in the coastal states of India,” Marine Products Exports Development Authority chairman Jayathilak A told FE.
He added that for a sustainable shrimp industry and to retain the unit value realisation of vannamei, the country needs to go for value addition in accordance with global demand.

 

Sources :financialexpress.com

Micra Most Exported Car Brand From India In September

 During the month of September, Nissan's Micra was the most exported car from India, followed by Ford's Ecosport and General Motor's Beat.

Over the last few years, the Japanese automajor Nissan and Ford of US have been on the top slots. Month-over-month, one of the two companies will be number one and two.

7,412 units of Micra were exported in September. Ford's EcoSport sold 6,837 units while General Motors' Beat sold 6,643 units.

Micra was launched by Nissan in 2010 and it was one of the successful products for the company both in domestic and export markets. From April to September 2016, Nissan has exported 39,017 units of Micra from India.

In September 2016, Nissan reported a 20 per cent growth in overall exports from India as compared to the same month one year earlier. Nissan Motor exported a total of 11,999 vehicles — including both Nissan and Datsun cars — in September. Nissan in India has a portfolio of two brands, Nissan and Datsun.

Guillaume Sicard, President, Nissan India Operations said, "Nissan is proud to contribute to the country's economy and the Make in India program by continuing to be one of the largest automotive exporters from India. Our strategy to use our plant in India as an export hub underlines our significant presence here and also demonstrates our long-term plans for growth. The Oragadam plant is the largest and most advanced in the Alliance, and directly and indirectly we have created 40,000 jobs in India, including 6,000 high value engineering jobs at our R&D centre."

Nissan earlier this year also announced the start of exports of the Datsun redi-GO to South Africa, Sri Lanka and Nepal, in addition to the Datsun GO and GO+.

 

Sources :.business-standard.com

Grape Exports From India: El Nino Set To Shower A Windfall

The country’s grape exports are expected to gain significantly this season owing to bad crop conditions in Chile, one of the largest exporters of grape in the world.

According to All India Grape Exporters Association president Jagannath Khapre, around 1.92 lakh tonne has been the peak of Indian grape export and the country is likely to cross this mark this year due to good monsoon and the prevailing good weather conditions in the grape growing regions. On the other hand, the table grape crop in Chile is expected to suffer a loss of 15% to 20% as a result of the unfavourable climate this season and the devastating impact of El Nino.

“Grape exports from Chile to the European Union is likely to be impacted this season because of the bad weather in that country. And if India plays its cards right, it could benefit and improve grape exports this year,” he said. Moreover, Russia and Bangladesh exports from India had reduced last year and if these countries increase export then again India could gain advantage, he added. The demand will rise, and if the currency improves, exports could rise, he said.

Last year, the country exported around 84,000 tonnes of grape to Europe. This number could improve by 5-7%, he said. The European Union (EU) has agreed to retain the residue levels of chlormequat chloride (CCL), a plant growth regulator at 0.05 ppm (papers per million), for a period of two years and this comes as a major shot in the arm for Indian exporters. In August this year, EU had proposed to change the pesticide residue levels in grapes to 0.01 ppm causing unrest among Indian exporters. In 2010, Indian grape exports faced a setback as EU was reluctant to accept Indian table grape consignments after chlormequat chloride was detected in excess of the prescribed maximum residue level (MRL). In 2009, EU had come up with more stringent regulations on pesticides. Unaware of the changed rules, Indian exporters who did not meet the new standards, faced rejection. However, less than 10% of the total export volumes were rejected.

Indian grapes began to find favour after 2014 when 1.92 lakh tonnes of grapes were exported by Indian traders to around 94 countries. Of this, Europe and the UK together accounted for the largest share of 65,000 tonnes.

In the overall grape exports from India, Nashik district recorded the highest ever export of 108,000 tonnes during the last grape season against 49,768 tonnes in 2014-15. Of the total 108,000 tonnes of the fruit, 75,000 metric tonnes were exported to European countries, while the rest 33,000 tonnes were shipped to countries like Russia, Bangladesh, China, Dubai etc.

At present, Canada has granted market access for the Indian fresh grapes. This follows the recent Indo-Canadian bilateral discussions held in New Delhi. However, the Indian exporters will be able to take advantage of this development only from the next season. Canada will open its market for the Indian exporters who have been shipping fresh grapes to European countries. Canada has also imposed conditions that exporters have to register the vineyards and pack houses, and maintain traceability.

The total area under grape plantation across the country is estimated at 3.50 lakh acres, including 2.75 lakh acres in Maharashtra and rest of the 75,000 acres spread in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Total grape production of the country is estimated at 28 lakh metric tonnes, of which 22 lakh tonnes is expected from Maharashtra alone.

Meanwhile, grape growers have started the registration of vineyards with the agriculture department of the state for the 2016-17 season. The agriculture department has set a deadline of October 30 for the purpose. As per guidelines by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), it is mandatory for grape exporters to register their vineyards for export.

 

Sourecs :financialexpress.com