Exports From Sezs Down 1.89% In Apr-Dec 2015

India’s total exports originated from special economic zones (SEZs) fell by 1.89% to Rs.3.41 lakh crore during April-December 2015, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Parliament on Monday.  

In the financial year 2014-15, exports from SEZ’s had fallen by 6.13% to Rs.4.63 lakh crore.  

“In order to boost exports from SEZs, the government periodically reviews the policy and operational framework of these zones and takes necessary steps to facilitate speedy and effective implementation of SEZs,” Sitharaman said on Monday.

The commerce minister stressed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has put a particular emphasis on developing India’s SEZs, as these economic zones hold immense potential to boost the country’s export segment.

Sitharaman said the government has, for the last three years and during the current financial year, granted more time to 132 SEZ developers to complete their projects.

SEZ units and developers have for long complained to the government about the imposition of dividend distribution tax (DDT) and minimum alternate tax (MAT) stressing that these additional charged have impacted exports from SEZs.

In a separate reply, the commerce minister said the government has not imported food grains for its central pool since 2008-09, and further there is no proposal to ban inbound shipments of wheat.

Replying to a question on WTO, Sitharaman said India has been pitching for a comprehensive discussion on public stockholding for food security and also on a special safeguard mechanism. 

 

Source :thedollarbusiness.com

India Replacing China As The Center Of The World’S Oil Demand Growth

India is replacing China as the center of the world's oil demand growth as it's economy expands faster than any other major country and a growing middle class has more money to spend. India's oil demand grew by 300,000 barrels a day last year, double the average rate in the previous decade, according to a report by The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies this month. China's growth has slowed to 300,000 barrels from an average 500,000 barrels in the decade to 2013 as the government moves the economy away from heavy industry.

Since the turn of the century, China has guzzled oil as its economy expanded, helping drive up crude prices to above $100 a barrel. A slowdown in this growth in the past few years and a surge in production from the US to Russia and Saudi Arabia sent prices crashing to below $30 a barrel, pummeling oil-producing nations' economies.

"In this new era of slower Chinese growth, a new contender has emerged: India," Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects, and Anupama Sen, senior research fellow at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, wrote in the report.

"Structural and policy-driven changes are underway which could result in India's oil demand 'taking off ' in a similar way to China's during the late 1990s." As living standards improve, Indians are buying more cars and the government is looking to boost the share of manufacturing in the country's gross domestic product, which traditionally has been services-led.

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Sit To Monitor Probe In Over Rs1,000 Crore Rice Export Scam

New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money will monitor the probe into the alleged over Rs 1,000-crore scam in export of high-quality Basmati rice to Iran which was fraudulently diverted mid-sea to Dubai.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which has unearthed the scam, has shared relevant details of the case with the SIT, which will monitor the agency's probe, official sources said.

With this, the DRI will have to share its probe details periodically with the SIT during the review meetings, they said.

The SIT, which is headed by former Supreme Court judge M B Shah, is responsible for investigating cases of black money stashed abroad through coordination of various members from Reserve Bank of India, Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation, Financial Intelligence Unit, Research and Analysis Wing and DRI.

According to the probe being done by the DRI, over two lakh metric tonnes of Basmati rice was illegally offloaded in Dubai in the last over a year instead of in Bandar Abbas in Iran, official sources said.

Over 25 big exporters from Haryana and Punjab are under the scanner of DRI and other agencies for their involvement in the multi-crore scam. Both the DRI and SIT have referred the case for probe by ED also, they said.

Explaining the modus operandi, the sources claimed the rice would be taken to Gujarat's Kandla Port by these exporters.They would then file Shipping Bills--documents filed withcustoms authorities carrying details of goods to be exported, consignor and consignee--for export to Iran, the sources said.

 Instead of the consignment reaching Iranian shores, it would be diverted mid-sea to Dubai allegedly with connivance of cargo ship operators carrying the goods.

Surprisingly, payments were also made from Iran to these exporters in India. Importers and port officials would allegedly acknowledge the receipt of rice and allow payment to be made against it here, they said.


What is worrying for intelligence agencies here is that they do not know the end-use of rice off-loaded in Dubai. They suspect use of rice as barter system to fund some illegal activity like terror financing, the sources said.


While India lost foreign exchange which it could have got from Dubai in case of genuine trade, Iran was also deprived of customs duty it would have been entitled to if rice was delivered at its shore, they said.

 

Source :timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India’S Polished Diamond Exports +2% In February

. India’s polished diamond exports increased 1.9 percent year on year to $2.34 billion in February, according to provisional data provided by the nation’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

By volume, polished exports increased 8.2 percent to 3.3 million carats. Polished imports dived 45 percent to $222.1 million, leaving net polished exports up 12 percent to $2.12 billion.

Rough diamond imports surged 37 percent to $1.55 billion and rough exports soared 49 percent to $131.8 million, leaving net rough imports 36 percent higher at $1.42 billion. India’s net diamond account, which is calculated as the difference between net polished exports and net rough imports, narrowed 17 percent to $700 million.

During the month, India imported $7.3 million of rough synthetic stones, most of them diamonds. Polished synthetic imports, meanwhile, totaled $9.7 million and exports were $6.4 million.

In terms of diamond trading for the first two months of the calendar year, Rapaport News calculated that India’s polished diamond exports fell 17 percent year on year to $3.38 billion, while polished imports dived 46 percent to $419 million. Net polished exports fell 10 percent to $2.96 billion.

Rough imports in the first two months increased 28 percent to $2.54 billion, while rough exports advanced 23 percent to $238 million, leaving net rough imports 29 percent higher at $2.3 billion. India’s net diamond account for January and February was $664.1 million, a 56 percent drop from $1.52 billion a year ago.

 

Source :.diamonds.net

India's Exports Drop 13.6% In January To $21 Billion In 14Th Straight Fall

NEW DELHI: India's exports in January fell 13.6% from a year earlier to $21.07 billion - declining for the 14th consecutive month - while a contraction in imports narrowed the trade gap to an 11-month low.

Imports fell 11% to $28.71 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $7.63 billion, provisional data released by the ministry of commerce & industry showed.

The last time the gap was lower was in February 2015 at $6.84 billion.
India's exports drop 13.6% in January to $21 billion in 14th straight fall
Gold imports rose 85% to $2.91 billion last month compared with a 179% increase in December.

Oil meal exports posted the steepest decline at 77.5%, while petroleum product shipments fell 35.18%. Of the 30 export sectors, 13 registered growth amid subdued global demand and softening commodity prices. "The trend of falling exports is in tandem with other major world economies," the ministry said in a statement.

China's exports dropped 11.2% on year to $177.5 billion in January while imports plummeted 18.8% to $114.2 billion.

In the first 10 months of the current financial year, India's exports were $217.67 billion compared with $264.32 billion in the same period last year.

"At this rate, total exports will be in the $260-265 billion range. Fall in import of capital goods and raw materials is not a good sign for industrial recovery. SMEs will not have wherewithal to retain labour and in such a case, job losses become imminent," said Ajay Sahai, Director General of Federation of Indian Export Organisations.

"Overvaluation of the rupee, after adjusting against domestic retail inflation, is also eating into competitiveness of Indian exports. The fall in engineering exports by over 27% for January will have a negative impact on jobs as well since the sector is dominated by SMEs with large number of employment," said Engineering Export Promotion Council of India chairman TS Bhasin.

Oil imports dropped 39% to $5.02 billion while non-oil imports declined 1.4% to $23.68 billion. Non-oil, non-gold imports, seen as a measure of domestic demand, fell 7.4% to $20.78 billion.

"The seasonal uptick in gold imports was partly advanced in the current year with the fall in prices in rupee terms during the second quarter of FY16, which led to a 19% shrinking in the value of gold imports on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter of FY16," said Aditi Nayar, a senior economist at ICRA Ltd. "Benefiting from this, ICRA expects current account deficit to halve in the third quarter as compared to the $8.2 billion in the third quarter of FY15."

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com