US and India have agreed to resolve their last outstanding dispute at the WTO on Indian measures concerning the importation of poultry and poultry products, said Katherine Tai
Updated On – 11:13 PM, Sat – 9 September 23
US and India have agreed to resolve their last outstanding dispute at the WTO on Indian measures concerning the importation of poultry and poultry products, said Katherine Tai
Washington: With India and the US announcing the resolution of their last trade dispute on poultry products at the WTO, New Delhi has agreed to reduce tariffs on certain American products like frozen turkey, frozen duck, fresh blueberries and cranberries, the USTR has said.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai in a statement said the US and India have agreed to resolve their last outstanding dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Indian measures concerning the importation of poultry and poultry products.
“As part of the agreement, India also agreed to reduce tariffs on certain US products, including frozen turkey, frozen duck, fresh blueberries and cranberries, frozen blueberries and cranberries, dried blueberries and cranberries, and processed blueberries and cranberries,” the statement dated September 8 said.
These tariff cuts, it said, will expand economic opportunities for US agricultural producers in a critical market and help bring more US products to India.
“Resolving this last outstanding WTO dispute represents an important milestone in the US-India trade relationship, while reducing tariffs on certain US products enhances crucial market access for American agricultural producers,” Tai said.
In June, the two countries agreed to terminate six outstanding disputes at the World Trade Organization. India also agreed to reduce tariffs on certain US products, including chickpeas, lentils, almonds, walnuts, apples, boric acid, and diagnostic reagents.
Biofuel alliance can generate opportunities worth USD 500 billion in the next three years for G20 countries, according to Indian Biogas Association
Published Date – 12:00 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: Biofuel alliance can generate opportunities worth USD 500 billion in the next three years for G20 countries, according to Indian Biogas Association (IBA). Biofuel alliance can be a win-win situation for G20 countries and the environment, IBA said.
According to a study by the IBA, the biofuel alliance can generate opportunities worth USD 500 billion in the next three years for G20 countries. The findings of the study assume significance as India is currently hosting the G20 leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.
Biogas can generate an opportunity of USD 200 billion, considering the least investment required, compared to other energy generation options and easy availability of raw materials, it stated.
Bioenergy/Biogas, in principle, has the potential to replace fossil fuels completely, especially to decarbonize the transport sector, it pointed out. In 2016, the G20 adopted a voluntary action plan on renewable energy, which committed members to increase the share of renewable energy in their energy mix.
India significantly increased its share of renewable energy in the overall energy mix and grew at a CAGR of roughly 22 per cent in the last six years. India has ramped-up solar energy 20-fold in the last decade. During this period, solar energy and wind energy roughly grew at a CAGR of 38 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.
It stated that an initial investment of USD 100 billion in financial support will be required to trigger the biofuel industry, five billion for each G20 partner in the next three years.
This anchor investment will have further multiplier effects on private investments and the production of biofuels, especially biogas. Creating a favorable regulatory environment in the G20 countries and sharing technological advancements will be key to the success of this biofuel alliance, it stated.
Promoting international cooperation through best practices followed across G20 nations will be key to the success of the biofuel alliance, it opined.
The transfer of machinery and equipment within G20 partners must be made easy for the success of the biofuel alliance.
This will help G20 nations reduce their dependence on fossil fuels; their overall import bill for non-fossil fuels can be reduced by billions of USD within the next three years, helping them meet Sustainable Development Goals, it stated.
Increased energy security, and creation of jobs for each country can be envisaged, it said, adding that improved air quality and a better environment can save billions in healthcare expenses.
The G20 is a powerful forum that can play a major role in promoting Bio energy.
As per Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, current biogas and CBG production in the country is 1151 MT per day, and with the push to the sector, even with conservative estimates, it can go up to 1750 MT per day by 2025 in the next few years.
So far as biomass availability is concerned, there is a tremendous availability of potent biomass in India, and harnessing all of these as the CBG plant’s feedstocks shall lead to a whopping production capacity of 170,000 MT of CBG per day, good enough to replace one-third of the crude oil imports or three times the imported LNG, it stated.
The average cost for each biogas plant is USD 4.25 million, and with the government’s target of 5,000 biogas plants, this is a huge opportunity of over USD 200 billion, it stated.
FPIs have turned net sellers to pull out Rs 4,200 crore from equities in September, so far, on rising US bond yields
Published Date – 12:10 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: After six months of consistent buying, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned net sellers to pull out Rs 4,200 crore from equities in September, so far, on rising US bond yields, a stronger dollar and concerns over global economic growth.
The outflow of foreign portfolio money could continue in the coming week or two, Nitasha Shankar, Chief Investment Advisor, YES Securities (India) Ltd, said. “We also need to keep an eye on the sharp volatility in the rupee, which could impact FPI flows going ahead,” he added.
According to the data with the depositories, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out a net sum of Rs 4,203 crore from the equities, so far, this month (till September 8).
This came after FPI investment in equities had hit a four-month low of Rs 12,262 crore in August.
Before the latest outflow, FPIs were incessantly buying Indian equities in the last six months — from March to August — and brought in Rs 1.74 lakh crore during the period.
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, attributed the reversal in trend in September to the rising US bond yields and the uptrend in the dollar index.
Shankar said the main reasons for the outflow can be attributed to a stronger dollar as the Dollar index continued its strong upward momentum and the rising US 10-year treasury bond yields, touching a 15-year high in the week gone by.
“The net outflow was mainly due to uncertainties surrounding the global interest rate landscape, particularly in the United States, and concerns regarding global economic growth,” Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director – Manager Research, Morningstar India, said.
These concerns stem from broader global macroeconomic factors, including surging crude oil prices and the reemergence of inflation risks, he said. He further said that worries about an impending interest rate hike in the US and its potential impact on the global economy have made investors more cautious, prompting them to adopt a “wait-and-watch” approach.
Apart from equities, FPIs invested Rs 643 crore in the country’s debt market during the period under review.
With this, the total investment by FPIs in equity has reached Rs 1.31 lakh crore and close to Rs 28,825 crore in the debt market this year, so far.
In terms of sectors, FPIs have been consistently buying capital goods and power. However, FPI selling in financials is keeping the prices of the banking blue chips low.
Geojit’s Vijayakumar said that FPIs can be expected to turn buyers, when the dollar index and US bond yields decline, which, in turn, will depend on the incoming US inflation and growth data.
Nifty has been gaining strength and is inching closer towards its life high of 19,992, says Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services
Published Date – 12:40 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: Nifty has been gaining strength and is inching closer towards its life high of 19,992, says Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
With monsoon gradually improving and India hosting G20 summit over the weekend, sentiments are buoyant and may lift market towards its life high and 20K mark over the next few days, he added.
Rupak De, Senior Technical analyst at LKP Securities said the Nifty displayed strength, primarily driven by strong demand for large-cap stocks. The overall trend remained robust as the index consistently stayed above a critical moving average. However, a significant hurdle for the Nifty came in the form of substantial Call writing at the 19,900 strike price.
Looking ahead, only a decisive move above the 19,900 level has the potential to propel the index towards the 20,200 mark. On the flip side, there was substantial put writing at the 19,700 level, providing strong support for the Nifty, he said.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said domestic indices experienced a gradual rally throughout the week, buoyed by strong domestic macroeconomic data such as robust GDP and PMI figures, which painted a positive outlook for the domestic market. Despite a mixed global trend marked by weak cues, Indian equities remained resilient, supported by this strong economic outlook. Global concerns were sparked by a surge in crude oil prices, August’s US jobless claims data, weak Chinese service PMI and trade figures, and rising gas prices due to strikes in Australia, he said.
However, in the broad market, mid- and small-cap stocks attracted strong buying interest, even though their valuations were relatively high. Moreover, heightened order inflows made sectors like infrastructure and realty particularly attractive to investors during the week. Currently, the market is eagerly awaiting data on inflation and industrial production to provide further guidance, he added.
The US dollar is on track for its eighth consecutive week of gains against a basket of major currencies, marking its strongest performance since the winter of 2014-2015. According to CNN, it has surged by 5% since mid-July.
Published Date – 12:52 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
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London: The US dollar is enjoying its longest winning streak in nearly nine years, CNN reported.
The greenback was heading for its eighth-straight week of gains against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, its best run since winter 2014-2015. It has gained 5 per cent since mid-July, CNN reported,
The rally comes after months of volatility, fueled by concerns that the dollar may be losing its status as the world’s reserve currency. Speculation about the potential de-dollarization of global trade rose again last month after the Chinese-led expansion of the BRICS group of nations to include major oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia.
“Rumors of the US dollar’s demise continue to be greatly exaggerated,” James Athey, investment director at Abrdn, an asset manager, told CNN.
The US Dollar Index, which now stands at its highest level in six months, has been buoyed by a slew of positive economic data from the United States in recent weeks — fueling expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer. Higher interest rates tend to boost the value of a country’s currency by attracting more foreign capital, as investors anticipate making bigger returns, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, storm clouds have gathered over the economies of China and Europe.
“The US economy continues to demonstrate remarkable strength, while matters in China and Europe, in particular, seem to be descending into a much more recessionary place,” Athey added.
The US unemployment is hovering near its lowest level in 50 years. Hiring remains solid, having notched its 32nd consecutive month of growth in August. And wages, when adjusted for inflation, are rising, CNN reported.
Reserve Bank is likely to launch the pilot of Central Bank Digital Currency for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market by October
Published Date – 12:55 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank is likely to launch the pilot of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market by October, central bank Executive Director Ajay Kumar Choudhary said on Sunday.
The pilot of the wholesale CBDC, known as the Digital Rupee-Wholesale (e-W), was launched on November 1, 2022, with the use case being limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities.
“The RBI will introduce the wholesale CBDC in the call market either this month or next month,” Choudhary said on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit here.
The introduction of CBDC was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and necessary amendments to the relevant section of the RBI Act, 1934, were made with the passage of the Finance Bill 2022.
The RBI picked nine banks — State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC — for its pilot project for wholesale CBDC.
Besides, the central bank has already rolled out a pilot in the retail version of the CBDC (e-R) on December 1, 2022. The e-R is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender.
It is being issued in the same denominations as the paper currency and coins. It is being distributed through financial intermediaries like banks. Users can transact with e-R through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks.
The RBI is showcasing various digital initiatives in the financial sector at the exhibition pavilion during the G20 Summit.
These include Public Tech Platform (PTP) for Frictionless Credit, CBDC, UPI One World, RuPay On-The-Go and Bharat Bill Payment System.
Boeing has said that significant skilling of people to meet demand, rationalisation of fuel taxes and continued infrastructure investments will keep the growth going
Published Date – 02:00 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
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New Delhi: Asserting that the Indian aviation sector’s growth fundamentals are strong, aircraft maker Boeing has said that significant skilling of people to meet demand, rationalisation of fuel taxes and continued infrastructure investments will keep the growth going.
Boeing, which has hundreds of aircraft on order from Indian carriers, has also announced various investments, including USD 100 million for training pilots in the country. Besides, it has maintenance training partnerships with partners for having enough skilled mechanics in India.
“We see no slowdown (in India) and we continue to see very high load factors, extremely high rates of profitability amongst the airlines and we see extremely strong demand for aeroplanes as we have seen in some of the largest orders ever placed in the world.
“Overall, we see that demand grows. We are also seeing significant advancements in infrastructure as new terminals come up… new greenfield airports come up…That is going to be a boon to Indian aviation,” Boeing India President Salil Gupte told PTI in a recent interview.
For many many years, he said all were expecting to see the significant growth in Indian aviation and it is now occurring in a very real way. India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world and Indian carriers have around 1,500 planes on order. Earlier this year, Air India placed an order for 470 aircraft, including 220 planes from Boeing.
Indian carriers are expected to require more than 2,200 aircraft in the next 20 years. In order to tap the growth opportunities, Gupte said a few ingredients need to be put in place, including ensuring that there are enough pilots and mechanics to fly all these aeroplanes.
“That is going to require significant skilling, it is going to require us to train 37,000 pilots and 38,000 mechanics over the next 20 years. That is one reason why Boeing has announced a USD 100 million investment in pilot training, which includes infrastructure and curriculum… in India to ensure that we are doing our part to skill those pilots.
“This is also the reason why we are entering into maintenance training partnerships among our partners to ensure that we have enough skilled mechanics in India as well,” he said. Further, Gupte noted that rationalisation of fuel taxes must continue.
“There has been a good progress made with states in the last few years but we need to continue to make that progress, especially in some larger states, so that the rate of taxation of jet fuel can come down closer to the global level.
“Right now, the cost of fuel for Indian airlines is far higher than many airlines outside India. That needs to be done to tap the growth as well. Then the continued investments in infrastructure,” he said.
Gupte spoke to PTI on the sidelines of an aerospace conference recently held in Gwalior. India’s domestic air passenger traffic is projected to grow further in the current fiscal.
Credit rating agency Icra, this month, said that after the fast-paced recovery in FY2023, the growth in domestic air passenger traffic is projected to be 8-13 per cent and touch 150-155 million in the current financial year. In FY20, before the coronavirus pandemic, the traffic was at 141.2 million passengers.
Against the backdrop of supply chain woes impacting the aviation industry, including resulting in delayed aircraft deliveries in some cases, Gupte said the supply chain situation is “certainly healing” and definitely getting better.
On February 14, it was announced tha Air India will purchase 220 planes from Boeing for USD 34 billion and there is also an option to buy 70 more aircraft. Air India will purchase 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787, and 10 B777X valued at USD 34 billion at list price. The deal will also include customer options for an additional 50 Boeing 737 MAX and 20 Boeing 787, totalling 290 airplanes for a total of USD 45.9 billion at list price.
The frictionless credit initiative being piloted by the Reserve Bank is helping lenders slash their customer acquisition cost by a whopping 70 per cent
Published Date – 02:35 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
Mumbai: The frictionless credit initiative being piloted by the Reserve Bank is helping lenders slash their customer acquisition cost by a whopping 70 per cent, while for borrowers the saving is 6 per cent of the loan amount, a senior central bank official has said.
The pilot started with an all-digital KCC (kisan credit card) lending, developed by the RBI Innovation Hub on the public tech platform, in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh this April.
The pilot has been extended to four more states — Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat (for dairy farmers) from August 17 this year.
The pilot launch of the public tech platform for frictionless credit to farmers has helped reduce operational costs for lenders by more than 70 per cent, while for the farmer, the saving is 6 per cent of the loan amount, Ajay Kumar Choudhary, an executive director and head of the fintech department at the RBI, said here over the weekend while addressing the three-day global fintech festival.
Moreover, there is massive savings in opportunity cost, as earlier a farmer had to make six to eight weekly rounds to the bank which has come down to a maximum of 0 minutes now, Choudhary said.
Choudhary further said this has also reduced traditional charges that banks used to levy from borrowers, as with all documents available digitally, there is effectively no cost in customer acquisition with this model of lending.
The platform was created by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, an independent subsidiary of the central bank, enabling seamless flow of necessary information to lenders. This in turn will help in disbursing frictionless credit.
On April 17, the RBI rolled out a pilot project for pure retail products such as kisan credit card loans up to Rs 1.6 lakh per borrower, dairy loans, un-collateralised MSME loans, personal loans, and home loans, in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The platform is an open architecture, based on open application programming interfaces (APIs) and standards platform where all financial sector players can connect seamlessly in a plug and play model.
It’s akin to a Google search for retail lending as the platform just collates data (Aadhaar e-KYC, Aadhaar e-signing, account aggregation by account aggregators and PAN validation, to sanction and disburse loans as part of KYC verification.
“The frictionless credit platform is intended to be rolled out as a pilot project in a calibrated fashion on August 17, both in terms of access to information providers and use cases. It shall bring about efficiency in the RBI lending process in terms of reduction of costs, quicker disbursement, and scalability,” the RBI said in a public release on August 15.
“During the pilot, the platform will focus on products such as KCC loans up to Rs 1.6 lakh per borrower, dairy loans, MSME loans (without collateral), personal loans and home loans through participating banks,” the apex bank said.
Based on the learnings, the scope and coverage will be expanded to include more products, information providers and lenders during the pilot, the RBI release said.
The official said there are risks associated with cryptocurrencies as there are the same set of entities who act as depository and clearing systems, unlike that in the stock market.
Published Date – 04:53 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: India will decide on implementing cryptocurrency regulations after extensive discussions with other countries, a senior official said on Sunday, virtually ruling out a ban on such assets.
Ahead of G20 leaders’ summit, the IMF and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) had last week made a strong case for a coordinated global policy action to deal with risks posed by cryptocurrencies and said that there should not be any blanket ban.
The IMF-FSB recommendations laid out a “roadmap” and suggested “bare minimum” regulations that every country should have on cryptocurrencies.
If any country wants to have a more stricter regulation, it can frame a more restrictive regulation depending on the risk it sees from cryptos, the official said.
“Now G20 leaders have endorsed it and now ministers and governments will discuss it and take it forward. We expect a lot of discussion to happen on how to implement it faster, swifter and in a comprehensive manner. We have a good framework to decide our own way forward. The foundation is ready, beyond that how much we want to go it is for us to decide in coming months and then take a call,” the official said.
India has been pressing for a global regulation on cryptocurrencies to tackle tax evasion and round tripping of funds. India’s central bank RBI has been asked for a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ether, saying they are akin to gambling.
The official said it would be difficult for one country to ban cryptocurrencies and globally a consensus has to be reached that all countries follow the “bare minimum” regulation that the IMF-FSB paper has outlined.
“If you want to ban it (cryptocurrency), go ahead and ban it. But if the rest of the countries are not banning it, it will be extremely difficult for one country to ban it. Now that discussion, we have to take up and try to build a consensus on regulation. Then we gradually decide on our own system. The discussion will happen now in our system. It is not an easy one,” the official said.
The fourth meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors is scheduled to take place in Marrakech, Morocco, on the sidelines of the 2023 annual meetings of World Bank and IMF from October 9-15.
The official said there are risks associated with cryptocurrencies as there are the same set of entities who act as depository and clearing systems, unlike that in the stock market.
“The purpose of regulation is that the risk is well managed. Any country which feels they have more risk can make their regulation more restrictive,” the official said, adding if all countries agree on the same regulation there will be no arbitrage.
The IMF-FSB in its paper had said that its proposed regulation apply the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation”, establish a minimum baseline that jurisdictions should meet, and aim to address the set of issues common across majority of jurisdictions.
A two-member Chennai bench of the appellate tribunal held earlier that there was a pre-existing dispute over the payment between Wipro and the petitioner and observed that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was not framed for being a “mere recovery legislation for creditors”.
Published Date – 05:53 PM, Sun – 10 September 23
New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has dismissed an operational creditor’s petition to initiate insolvency proceedings against Wipro Ltd.
A two-member Chennai bench of the appellate tribunal held earlier that there was a pre-existing dispute over the payment between Wipro and the petitioner and observed that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was not framed for being a “mere recovery legislation for creditors”.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has upheld the order of the NCLT.
Earlier, the Bengaluru Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), on January 16, 2020, dismissed the plea by Tricolite Electrical Industries in the capacity of operational creditor.
The order was challenged by the Delhi-based operational creditor, a manufacturer of ‘LT/ HT Electric Panels’ before the appellate body NCLAT.
However, the NCLAT also dismissed it after observing, “We are satisfied that a ‘dispute’ truly existed for the Respondent Company (Wipro) to have withheld 3 per cent of the total invoice amount”.
Under the IBC, the insolvency process against any corporate debtor is generally initiated only in clear cases where a real dispute between the parties as to the debt owed did not exist.
The dispute is related to the supply of goods for a government project implemented by Wipro, where it was awarded the work of design, manufacture, supply and installation of MV Panels.
Pursuant to that, Wipro had placed purchase orders for a total supply worth Rs 13.43 crore.
According to the appellant, it supplied the goods in a timely manner and raised various invoices, for which Wipro made a payment of 97 per cent of the value of the invoices, but 3 per cent of the total value of the invoices, which is a substantial amount, was kept outstanding.
Despite several reminders, it was not paid and did not reply to the Demand Notice issued by it.
Wipro denied the allegations, arguing that there is a pre-existing dispute between the parties, which is reflected in their email. It has already paid 97 per cent of the amounts due, and the appellant had sought to question the basis and the right of the respondent to levy liquidated damages to the tune of 3 per cent of the contract value.
Agreeing with it, the NCLAT said: “It is the consistent stand of Wipro that 97 per cent of the amount was paid and the balance 3 per cent was kept on hold only on account of evaluating customer satisfaction and it was established that there was a delay of six weeks on behalf of the Appellant Company in executing the job assigned to them on account of which liquidated damages/Penalty of Rs 40,56,539, which is as per the terms of the contract was levied”.
“Therefore, this Tribunal is of the considered view that there is a pre-existing dispute, which is not a spurious defence which is a mere bluster,” said the NCLAT bench comprising Justice M Venugopal and Shreesha Merla.
