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Just in:   • PLI scheme has attracted Rs 1.46 lakh crore investment, created 9.5 lakh jobs  • India’s growth momentum has picked up after Q2 slowdown: Jeffries  • Centre pays Rs 4,820 crore to 2.75 lakh farmers for pulses under MSP scheme  • India needs economically-viable tech for infra projects: Nitin Gadkari  • India's private sector growth surges to 4-month high in Dec: Report  Last updated: 13 Dec, 2024   Manufacturing revival Bikky Khosla | 31 Dec, 2018 Two important sets of economic data were released recently: first, on manufacturing growth and second on fiscal deficit. According to the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, manufacturing sector activity improved in November and touched an 11-month high.    Read more.... Loan waivers vs. good economics Bikky Khosla | 25 Dec, 2018 Immediately after taking charge, the new Congress government in Madhya Pradesh announced a farm loan waiver and thus delivered on its poll promise to the state’s farmers.    Read more.... Fresh prescription for a healthy economy Bikky Khosla | 18 Dec, 2018 Amid rising debates over agrarian and job crises, which have emerged as a major concern in 2018, a group of 13 economists from academia came out last week with a concise strategy paper, which not only sheds valuable light on these burning issues...    Read more.... MSME credit: Liquidity crunch and delivery challenges Bikky Khosla | 11 Dec, 2018 Well, this week hasn't begun with a good note. In a surprise move, RBI Governor Urjit Patel on Monday resigned from his post with immediate effect. He cited "personal reasons" for the decision    Read more.... GDP growth, debate and development Bikky Khosla | 04 Dec, 2018 GDP growth for the second quarter of 2018-19 fell to 7.1% from 8.2% in the previous quarter. While this growth is higher than the 6.3% rate registered during the corresponding quarter of last year and also faster than that of China during the same period    Read more.... Credit flow to MSMEs Bikky Khosla | 27 Nov, 2018 Credit flow to the MSME sector in September fell for the first time in the past 14 months. According to recent data published recently by the central bank, credit outstanding to the sector witnessed 1.4 percent y-o-y fall for the month.     Read more.... Good news: RBI-Centre conflict cools down Bikky Khosla | 20 Nov, 2018 Finally the ice is broken and we can now heave a sigh of relief as the tension between the government and the RBI eased, with the two sides finding a somewhat middle ground on some contentious issues in a much-awaited board meeting that began on Monday.     Read more.... Rs 1 crore loan just in 59 minutes! Bikky Khosla | 13 Nov, 2018 The government recently launched a 'Support and Outreach Initiative' for micro, small and medium enterprises. As part of this programme, 12 key initiatives have been launched.    Read more.... India's rise in ease of doing business Bikky Khosla | 06 Nov, 2018 The latest Ease of Doing Business report published by the World Bank has brought a pleasant surprise for India. Climbing 23 places in the ranking from the 100th place previously, we now stand at the 77th rank.     Read more.... US-China tariff war: Opportunity for India Bikky Khosla | 30 Oct, 2018 Ever since the possibility of a full-blown US-China 'tariff war' had come to the fore, reports began flowing in on how India should capitalize on this new global trade dynamics. And today, when the much talked-about 'war' is more a reality than a mere anticipation    Read more.... Startup India: Much more needs to be done Bikky Khosla | 23 Oct, 2018 Startup India, a flagship initiative by the government, first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 15 August 2015 address from the Red Fort, was later launched in 2016 with much fanfare.    Read more.... Exports still doing well Bikky Khosla | 16 Oct, 2018 Merchandise exports declined by 2.15 percent in September on a year-on-year basis, according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday. It happened despite the ongoing sharp depreciation of the Rupee.     Read more.... Rupee fall: What awaits us Bikky Khosla | 09 Sep, 2018 For the first time ever, the Indian Rupee closed at a record low of 74.06 against the greenback on Monday. Some experts are of the view that outflow of foreign funds from the equity segment and global market volatility may further pull the currency to the 75-mark in the coming days.     Read more.... Fiscal dilemma Bikky Khosla | 02 Oct, 2018 Fiscal deficit for the April-August period climbed to Rs 5.91 lakh crore, accounting for 94.7% of the full year's target, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts last week    Read more.... Awareness drives on MSME benefits Bikky Khosla | 25 Sep, 2018 How many government schemes are currently in place to support our MSMEs? ? You may find this question a little difficult to answer! The same thing applies to the scores of skill development programmes offered by the Skill Development ministry.     Read more.... Rising fuel prices, falling Rupee Bikky Khosla | 18 Sep, 2018 Of late, there has been a growing concern about fundamental of the economy. Fuel prices are going up and the Rupee’s value is tumbling down, both like never before, thereby dominating headlines across the country.     Read more.... A GeM of opportunity Bikky Khosla | 11 Sep, 2018 Last week saw the launch of a national mission on Government eMarketplace (GeM). The objective is to promote inclusiveness by empowering MSMEs, start-ups, domestic manufacturers, women entrepreneurs, and self-help groups    Read more.... All is not well with GDP growth Bikky Khosla | 04 Sep, 2018 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of the current financial year registered a robust 8.2 percent growth, according to official data released last week.    Read more.... Need of a new export strategy Bikky Khosla | 28 Aug, 2018 Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on Monday chaired a meeting of different exports stakeholders to discuss a strategy for doubling India’s exports by 2025.     Read more.... Bank, FinTech tie-ups a boon for MSMEs Bikky Khosla | 21 Aug, 2018 Over the last few years, India has witnessed a FinTech revolution. 'Funding for financial technology' or 'FinTech' in short is basically about using technology to improve financial services, and with its ability to touch nearly every aspect of the financial value chain, the scope of this model is enormous.     Read more.... Niryat Mitra, a well thought-out app Bikky Khosla | 14 Aug, 2018 Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu last week launched a mobile app ‘Niryat Mitra’, developed by exporters’ association Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).    Read more.... RBI rate hike Bikky Khosla | 07 Aug, 2018 Citing upside risks to inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week raised the policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 percent.    Read more.... Exports must be priority Bikky Khosla | 31 Jul, 2018 In an article published in a national daily last week, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has viewed that the Indian economy cannot survive without exports.    Read more.... GST rate cut, easier compliance norms Bikky Khosla | 24 Jul, 2018 The GST Council last week announced reduction of rates on a list of 100 items, including sanitary pads, small TVs and footwear. The new rates are to be implemented from July 27    Read more.... Review of Companies Act 2013: A welcome step Bikky Khosla | 17 Jul, 2018 The Centre is setting the ground for another overhaul of the Companies Act 2013. According to a press statement released by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs last week, the government has constituted a committee to revisit several provisions of the Act.     Read more.... MSP hike Bikky Khosla | 10 Jul, 2018 The Union Cabinet last week cleared a big jump in minimum support prices (MSPs) for Kharif crops. It gives farmers a fixed margin of 50% over their input costs. This marks the highest increase in MSP since 2013.    Read more.... Rupee downslide Bikky Khosla | 03 Jul, 2018 The Indian Rupee slumped to an all-time low of 69.09 against the dollar last week, surpassing its previous record-low of 68.86 hit in November 2016, and though there was an immediate recovery from those lows on expectations of possible intervention by the Reserve Bank of India    Read more.... One year of GST Bikky Khosla | 26 Jun, 2018 The first anniversary of rollout of Goods and Services Tax is approaching. It all started way back in 1986, when the then finance minister VP Singh put forward a Budget proposal for overhauling the excise taxation structure, and after three decades, GST was finally rolled out on July 1, 2017.     Read more.... Macro data relief! Bikky Khosla | 19 Jun, 2018 Exports increased by over 20 percent in May. According to official data released last week, the value of merchandise shipped out in the month stood at $28.86 billion, rising from $24.01 billion in May last year. Total value of exports for the April-May 2018-19 period now stood at $54.77 billion.     Read more.... RBI's surprise rate-hike Bikky Khosla | 12 Jun, 2018 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week increased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent. This is the first rate hike since the NDA government came to power in May 2014.    Read more.... Fiscal deficit, GDP data: Is it a turnaround Bikky Khosla | 05 Jun, 2018 In a big relief, the government has broadly met its fiscal deficit target of 3.5 percent for the financial year 2017-18. According to provisional data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), fiscal deficit for the period stood at 3.53 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product.    Read more.... IBC fine-tuning Bikky Khosla | 29 May, 2018 The Union Cabinet last week approved, via an ordinance, amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), allowing promoters of companies with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore to bid for their companies against which insolvency proceedings have begun.    Read more.... Oil, Rupee concerns Bikky Khosla | 22 May, 2018 First, the good news. Exports rose 5.17 percent in the month of April this year, compared to the same month last year. Definitely it’s good news for the economy. But meanwhile two major challenges have emerged.    Read more.... Inflation shocker Bikky Khosla | 15 May, 2018 The government came out with inflation figures for April on Monday, and while the recent data sets on manufacturing and services sector output had come as a relief, the latest inflation figures, both retail and wholesale, came as a dampener, raising question whether now the debate    Read more.... Manufacturing, services data fuels optimism Bikky Khosla | 07 May, 2018 In a positive development India’s manufacturing growth rose in April. Though marginal, the growth, as reflected by the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), is encouraging.    Read more.... Bank credit Bikky Khosla | 01 May, 2018 There is a dire need to increase credit availability to the Indian industry, but the current scenario hardly offers much hope. Our public banks are saddled with mammoth non-performing assets, incidents of banking frauds are coming to light every next day    Read more.... Delay in dealing with GST refund delays Bikky Khosla | 24 Apr, 2018 Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu last week promised to address the problem of delayed refunds faced by exporters under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and take up the issue with the Finance Ministry.    Read more.... Exports growth: No time for complacency Bikky Khosla | 16 Apr, 2018 The commerce ministry last week came out with exports figures for the month of March. The data shows that there was a 0.66 percent dip in overseas shipments to $29.11 billion in the month.     Read more.... Three years of Mudra Bikky Khosla | 10 Apr, 2018 In his Budget Speech for Financial Year 2015-16, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed the creation of a Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank, with a corpus of Rs.20,000 crore, and credit guarantee corpus of Rs.3,000 crore.    Read more.... RBI policy review Bikky Khosla | 02 Apr, 2018 The Reserve Bank of India will review its monetary policy on 4-5 April. In its last review in February, which took place against the backdrop of fiscal slippages, pressure on inflation and rising oil prices, the policy rate was left unchanged at 6 percent.     Read more.... Trump's trade war: Opportunity for India, China Bikky Khosla | 27 Mar, 2018 China on Monday promised to address the issue of its massive trade surplus with India. In the 11th meeting of India-China Joint Group on Economic Relations, Trade, Science and Technology,     Read more.... Draft agriculture export policy Bikky Khosla | 20 Mar, 2018 The government has launched a draft Agriculture Export Policy. It aims at doubling agricultural exports and integrate Indian farmers and agricultural products to the global value chain.    Read more.... Another MSME portal: will it serve its purpose Bikky Khosla | 13 Mar, 2018 The MSME ministry last week launched a web portal for women entrepreneurs of the country. Called ‘Udyam Sakhi’, the platform is designed—according to official claims—to be "a network for nurturing entrepreneurship and creating business models for low-cost products and services in order to empower women and make them self-reliant and self-sufficient".     Read more.... GDP surprise Bikky Khosla | 06 Mar, 2018 It was unexpected but obviously pleasant. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Indian economy grew 7.2 percent in the October-December quarter of 2017-18, the fastest in five quarters.     Read more.... India's biggest bank fraud Bikky Khosla | 27 Feb, 2018 The banker-borrower nexus is not new to India, but the current episode, involving a high-profile businessmen and by far the biggest ever banking scam in the country’s history, shows that the nexus is far deeper than we have ever imagined.    Read more.... Exports: Time for govt to step in Bikky Khosla | 20 Feb, 2018 Exports for the first month of the calendar year 2018 stood at $24.38 billion. The latest data released by the Commerce Ministry can be interpreted in two ways.    Read more.... New MSME definition Bikky Khosla | 13 Feb, 2018 The Union Cabinet last week approved a proposal to change the definition of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises.     Read more.... Budget boost to MSMEs Bikky Khosla | 06 Feb, 2018 Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Budget in the Lok Sabha last week. This is the current government’s last full Budget and therefore its focus on agriculture and the rural sector is quite expected.    Read more.... MSME sector, exports need Budget push Bikky Khosla | 30 Jan, 2018 The Economic Survey, released by the government on Monday, paints a bright picture for the economy’s short and medium term growth.     Read more.... Exports on the right track! Bikky Khosla | 23 Jan, 2018 Export figures for the month of December, 2017 came as a pleasant surprise again. It is the second consecutive month of growth. In November, the sector, after a fall in the previous month, had registered a whopping 30.55 percent y-o-y growth to $26.19 billion    Read more.... Manufacturing relief Bikky Khosla | 15 Jan, 2018 In a signal that the economy is in a recovery mode, industrial production jumped a 25-month in November. In the previous month, the IIP index had hit a three-month low of 2.2 percent    Read more.... Centre-states partnership in exports Bikky Khosla | 09 Jan, 2018 The Union Commerce Minister has chaired the 3rd meeting of the Council for Trade Development and Promotion in New Delhi. The underlying objective is to enhance the Centre's cooperation with the states and union territories in making the latter active partners in boosting India's exports.     Read more.... Fiscal concerns Bikky Khosla | 02 Jan, 2018 India's fiscal deficit at the end of November, 2017 breached the total Budget estimate, touching 112 percent of the full year's target. While the total deficit was estimated at Rs 5,46,532 crore, at the end of November it now stood at 6,12,105 crore.     Read more.... 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