by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, Finance, Investing, Large Enterprise, News, Politics
Suresh Prabhu
By Arun Kumar Das,
New Delhi : A government cannot run industry and regulation on businesses should be kept to a minimum to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) and spur domestic financing, according to a minister.
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said that a committee had been set up under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, to look at regulatory issues.
“The ultimate idea is that regulation should not stifle the possibilities of investment. I get a sense now that people have again started looking at investments,” Prabhu told this correspondent in a freewheeling interview here ahead of his visit to Davos for the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual conference.
Prabhu also maintained that the government cannot run industry and a new industrial policy was in the works aimed at reducing regulations and promoting modernisation of existing industry. It will also seek to encourage new and emerging industries, even those which are not seen today.
The minister is slated to hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from many countries, including Australia and the UK, participating at the WEF in Davos, besides holding meetings with leading business leaders from around the globe in an attempt to attract more FDI into the country.
Taking note of India’s jump in the global “ease of doing business” rankings from 130th place to 100th, Prabhu said the government was in the process of initiating a number of measures, which might not have been captured in this particular ranking study. “In the next few years’ time, we will see it (the ranking) improving again and again,” he said.
Prabhu said the change in rankings was largely because of the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) regime which was the single-largest and most significant reform post-Independence. It was also “a great positive” step in the direction of bringing transparency and greater reliability.
On the core focus areas for India to boost exports, he said the government was in the process of drawing up strategies across five main components — promotion of services, value-addition in goods, focus on agriculture, improving standards, and logistics.
“We have identified champion sectors with untapped potential for value-addition, employment generation and technology upgradation to promote services. Focus will be on improving the ease of doing business across these sectors,” he said.
India, he said, was poised to become the third-largest economy in the world and the onward journey of becoming a $5 trillion economy was “inevitable and unstoppable”.
“Today, global output is higher than the global trade. We need to re-strategise our global trade. India’s journey towards achieving $5 trillion economy sooner is not possible without expansion of our basket of global trade,” Prabhu said.
Envisaging a new high in India’s economic scenario, he said: “If we grow by more than eight per cent we will reach there in the next 6-7 years; if we grow by today’s pace of around 7 per cent we will reach there in 1-2 years more.”
Asked about the steps being taken to reduce India’s logistics costs, Prabhu said earlier there was no dedicated team dealing with logistics, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken the decision to create a separate logistics division within the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
He said steps were being undertaken to create a digital logistics platform for the industry to increase the speed of movement of goods and reduce costs.
“If a consignment is to be transported from, say, Mumbai to Kolkata, why not part-use rail and part-use road? But the right decision can be made only when we know the exact cost and time taken. A digital platform can make that happen,” he said.
Dwelling on the strategy to boost the “Make In India” initiative, he said it will be successful only if it happens at the state and district levels.
As Railway Minister Prabhu had undertaken a programme of developing a joint tourism circuit on the western coast of India, including the Konkan and Goa regions.
Now as the Minister for Commerce and Industry, he wants to take the Make-in-India concept to the Konkan.
(Arun Kumar Das is a senior freelance journalist. He can be contacted at akdas2005@gmail.com)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Business Ideas, Business Summit, Emerging Businesses, Entrepreneurship, Events, Investing, SMEs, Startup Basics, Your Business Plan
By Bappaditya Chatterjee,
Kolkata : Against the backdrop of only half of the about Rs 8 lakh crore (over $125 billion) investments proposed in the past three editions of Bengal Global Business Summit reaching the “process” stage, the just concluded fourth edition has seen a Rs 15,000 crore drop in proposals from last year.
Experts and economists say the challenge for the state now is to translate higher proportions of these proposals into Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandums (IEMs) filed with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of the central government and also move into the implementation stage.
According to the state government, the 2015 and 2016 summits had fetched investment proposals of Rs 2.43 lakh crore and over Rs 2.5 lakh crore, respectively. The third edition netted proposals of over Rs 2.35 lakh crore.
This year, the summit has received proposals of about Rs 219,925 crore, the lowest since the government kicked off the process of branding the state.
Describing the latest edition as the “top of the top” business summit, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: “Even last year, of what we discussed, 50 per cent of the businesses (proposals) are in process… Earlier also, the situation was like this.”
Expressing satisfaction, West Bengal Finance and Commerce and Industries Minister Amit Mitra, a former Secretary General of industry lobby FICCI, said the state had done well to draw investments given the low gross capital formation in the country and slower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
Industry doyens like L.N. Mittal, Mukesh Ambani and Sajjan Jindal and other majors praised Banerjee’s leadership and the state government for creating a friendly climate and an enabling policy infrastructure.
However, the chink in the armour remains the realisation of these business announcements.
The state’s opposition parties — the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) — have demanded a White Paper from the government on the number of proposals the state had received in the earlier summits and those that had fructified.
“The signing of memorandum of understanding in a business summit, like this, will gain more relevance if these pacts are translated into filing in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of central government. A general trend suggests that only about 10-15 per cent of the total proposals coming from these summits are filed with DIPP. Though, there are some exceptions, the trend is applicable to almost all the states and West Bengal is no exception,” economist and Professor of Jadavpur University Ajitava Raychaudhuri told IANS.
Investments proposed at a particular summit do not necessarily have to be filed in the same year and the IEMs filed may include earlier proposals.
Union Commerce Ministry data suggests that out of 2,279 IEMs filed during the year 2016-17, 406 were for Gujarat, 376 for Maharashtra and 322 for Karnataka. However, in terms of proposed investments, Karnataka led with Rs 171,347 crore followed by Gujarat (Rs 73,559 crore) and Maharashtra Rs 38,188 crore.
In 2016-17, West Bengal bagged 63 IEMs worth Rs 4,690 crore.
“In terms of implementation of the Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandums, the picture is even worse. Again, the trend suggests that only about 10-15 per cent of IEMs filed are being reported as implemented. This is an all-India phenomenon and includes West Bengal. So, the challenge for the state is to improve the proportion of filings and implementations,” Raychaudhuri added.
Do these summits have any relevance? Given the “dull” investment scenario in India, several states have been competing to net industries and investments and organising such business summits is becoming necessary to be in the competition, Raychaudhuri said.
“It wouldn’t be correct to see West Bengal in isolation. The world economy, as well as India’s, is going through a sluggish trend. Unless and until the country’s economy is steadied, investors will continue to be cautious,” economist and former Professor of Presidency University Debnarayan Sarkar said.
Echoing Raychaudhuri, Sarkar told IANS: “There is a marked difference between IEMs filed and investments proposed in summits. But West Bengal has a better translating rate than leading states. For example, in 2016, proposed investment of IEMs filed was about Rs 56,000 crore in Gujarat while IEMs implemented were worth about Rs 8,200 crore. In contrast, West Bengal saw about Rs 5,204 crore of proposed investments in 2016 and implementation was Rs 3,400 crore.”
However, the flip side of the summit was absence of central ministers, which could be a direct off-shoot of Banerjee’s constant anti-Narendra Modi stance.
Usually, central ministers attract industry honchos and public sector entities tend to announce projects that swell the investment kitty. But unlike the previous editions, no major business announcements surfaced from central PSUs this time.
According to official figures, 350 delegations from over 32 countries and over 4,000 delegates participated at the summit.
(Bappaditya Chatterjee can be contacted at bappaditya.c@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Investing, Large Enterprise, Markets, Sales, Technology, World
San Francisco : Apple has announced to contribute $350 billion to the US economy over the next five years that includes an estimated $55 billion investment this year.
The investments will concentrate in three areas where Apple has had the greatest impact on job creation: direct employment by Apple, spending and investment with Apple’s domestic suppliers and manufacturers, and fuelling the fast-growing app economy which Apple created with iPhone and the App Store, the Cupertino-based iPhone maker said in a statement on Thursday.
“Apple is a success story that could only have happened in America, and we are proud to build on our long history of support for the US economy,” said CEO Tim Cook.
“We believe deeply in the power of American ingenuity, and we are focusing our investments in areas where we can have a direct impact on job creation and job preparedness,” he added.
The contribution will not include Apple’s ongoing tax payments, the tax revenues generated from employees’ wages and the sale of Apple products.
Apple is already responsible for creating and supporting over 2 million jobs across the US and expects to generate even more jobs as a result of the initiatives being announced on Thursday.
Planned capital expenditures in the US, investments in American manufacturing over five years and a record tax payment upon repatriation of overseas profits will account for approximately $75 billion of Apple’s direct contribution.
Apple, already the largest US taxpayer, anticipates repatriation tax payments of approximately $38 billion as required by recent changes to the tax law.
As part of the total investment, Apple will spend an estimated $55 billion with US suppliers and manufacturers in 2018.
Apple expects to invest over $30 billion in capital expenditures in the US over the next five years and create over 20,000 new jobs through hiring at existing campuses and opening a new one. Apple already employs 84,000 people in all 50 states.
“The company plans to establish an Apple campus in a new location, which will initially house technical support for customers. The location of this new facility will be announced later in the year,” Apple said.
Over $10 billion of Apple’s expanded capital expenditures will be investments in data centres across the US.
The iOS app economy has created more than 1.6 million jobs in the US and generated $5 billion in revenue for American app developers in 2017.
“With demand for coding skills stronger than ever, today there are more than 500,000 unfilled programming-related positions across the country, and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2020 there will be 1.4 million more software development jobs than applicants qualified to fill them,” Apple said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Business Summit, Events, Investing, Large Enterprise, Venture Capital
(Maeeshat Photo)
Kolkata : The two-day “Bengal Global Business Summit 2018” organised by the state government has received new investment proposals worth Rs 2,19,925 crore, which is less than last year by about Rs 15,000 crore, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced here on Wednesday.
Addressing delegates on the concluding day of the meet, she said 50 per cent of last year’s business proposals and those of previous years were “in the process” of implementation.
“The new investment proposals for this year that we have received is about Rs 2, 19,925 crore. It may go up also,” she said.
The state’s opposition parties – the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) – had on Tuesday demanded a white paper from the government on the number of proposals the state had received in the earlier summits and those that had fructified.
Banerjee on Wednesday said: “Whatever we discussed about the business summit… you cannot say that we only discuss or give hopes. We talk less, work more.
“Even last year, of what we discussed, 50 per cent of the businesses (proposals) are in process… Earlier also, the situation was like this.”
State Finance and Industries Minister Amit Mitra told reporters that of the total investment proposals, the manufacturing and infrastructure sector netted investment commitments of Rs 1,56,811 crore, “which is significant”.
Among other major sectors, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and textiles attracted business proposals of Rs 52,952 crore, hospitality and tourism got Rs 1,483 crore, IT &ITes Rs 1,146 crore, animal resource, food processing, fisheries and agribusiness Rs 1,518 crore and health, education and skill development got Rs 6,015 crore worth of proposals.
According to the state government, the 2015 summit fetched investment proposals worth Rs 2.43 lakh crore and the 2016 edition over Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
Business announcements worth over Rs 2.35 lakh crore were received by the state in the last edition of the summit.
Terming the fourth edition of the business summit a “successful event”, Mitra said 1,046 B2B and 40 B2G meetings were held in the summit and, in all, 110 MoUs was signed.
“The perceptional change about Bengal was visible from the participation of delegates from India and abroad who expressed their business interest in the state,” he said.
As many as 350 international delegations from 32 countries including Japan, Italy, Poland, Korea, Czech Republic, Germany, Britain, France and UAE and over 4,000 delegates participated in the fourth edition of Bengal Global Business Summit held at the sprawling Biswa Bangla International Convention Centre at New Town, Rajarhat here.
Foreign delegates from Korea, China, Germany, Italy and other countries have shown interest in the manufacturing sector, Banerjee said.
“Your kind presence made the summit successful. Your kind presence is our inspiration and strength. You are our great assets. We are delighted to know about your vision,” she said.
Thanking Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani for his Rs 5,000 crore investment proposals, she said the investments would create a large number of employment opportunities in the state.
“If you calculate all together, with whatever business proposals we have received, employment for more than 20 lakh people will be created,” Banerjee said, adding that industries and agriculture were growing hand-in-hand in the state.
Mitra said new policies – Logistic Park Development and Promotion Policy, Export Promotion Policy, RoRo Operation policy – were unveiled during the summit to provide an enabling framework.
According to him, Dassault Systems signed off with Indian Chamber of Commerce for setting up a design centre while Apparel Export Promotion Council announced the setting up a skill development centre.
Uber and Ola signed pacts with the state Transport Department to increase employment opportunities for the youth.
Among big ticket MoUs is signing of pact between state government and Poland’s Silesian region and state Power Department inked agreement with GIZ (Germany) towards an Energy Action Plan for the state.
State-run Jadavpur University signed three MoUs for collaboration in various fields with Exeter University, Edinburgh University and Eotvos Lorand University. City-based Presidency University too inked pact with Edinburgh University in the area of higher education and Life Sciences.
The Chief Minister described the state as “the investment destination”, as it had political stability and labour, talent and a business-friendly environment.
According to her, West Bengal is strategically placed for businesses for Asean countries, including neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan and the northeastern states of India.
“Bengal deserves to be a global industrial hub,” she told delegates at the summit.
“We are a united and cosmopolitan family. There are no differences on caste and creed. Tolerance is the key. If you don’t tolerate people, you would not get the results,” she said.
Banerjee also announced that national carrier Air India would commence its services from the Greenfield airport at Andal near Durgapur in the state to Delhi from January 28.
The next year’s summit will be held on February 7 and 8. “Next year, one day will be dedicated to the world business summit and the other day for conclaves,” Banerjee said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, Emerging Businesses, Investing, Markets, News
New Delhi : The governments recent move to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail under the automatic route is expected to increase the market share of organised retail in India to 10 per cent by fiscal 2020, rating agency Crisil said on Monday.
Crisil said the decision will increase the market share by almost 100 basis points from its earlier expected share growth of nine per cent by fiscal 2020, based on healthy revenue growth of 18 per cent of organised brick and mortar (B&M) retailers.
“Better operating environment for single-brand retail would also mean the pace of store additions by organised retailers will be faster than the annual 10-12 per cent Crisil had presaged earlier,” it said in a statement.
According to Crisil, the impact of relaxation in rules would be more pronounced in the apparel, luxury goods, home decor, footwear, and electronics segments, which make up around 45 per cent of the country’s organised retail revenues.
“Global single-brand retailers facing growth headwinds in their key geographies will now be more than keen to peg tent in India,” said Anuj Sethi, Senior Director, Crisil Ratings.
“And those already present could step up investments. The previous sourcing norms were a bottleneck to scaling-up of operations,” he added.
Crisil said while FDI approval under the automatic route will lower the time to commence business, the relaxation of 30 per cent local sourcing norms for the first five years by allowing inclusion of incremental sourcing for global operations will provide sufficient time for new entrants to set up and stabilise their sourcing base.
“All this will mean increase in competition for domestic organised B&M retailers,” said Amit Bhave, Director, Crisil Ratings.
“However, more foreign retailers vending their ware would also lead to sharper focus on, and improvements in, supply chain efficiencies which will benefit the sector over the medium term,” he added.
The rating agency believes that healthy growth prospects for the sector and benefits of scale and focus on profitability, will help offset the impact of higher capital spending and increasing competition on credit profiles over the medium term.
—IANS
