Exports surprise
Bikky Khosla | 19 Dec, 2017 |
| India's exports rose 30.55 per cent to $26.19 billion in November. This spurt in overseas shipment is attributed mainly to improved global demand. |
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Foreign Trade Policy
Bikky Khosla | 12 Dec, 2017 |
| The Government last week came out with the mid-term review of India's Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). Originally slated for issue earlier in July, the policy came a bit late, but it came with good news. Releasing the FTP, the Commerce Minister said the focus of the new policy is the labour-intensive MSME sectors. |
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Q2 GDP: Little to cheer about
Bikky Khosla | 05 Nov, 2016 |
| First, the good news. India’s Growth Domestic Product (GDP) grew 6.3 percent during the second quarter of 2017-18, from 5.7 percent reported during the first quarter. Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows the GDP for Q2 standing at Rs 31.66 lakh crore. |
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Insolvency ordinance
Bikky Khosla | 28 Nov, 2017 |
| The Union Cabinet last week approved certain changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and afterwards an Ordinance was soon moved and finally it was approved by the President. |
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Moody's upgrade: Thumbs up to reforms
Bikky Khosla | 21 Nov, 2017 |
| After a gap of more than a decade, US-based rating agency Moody's last week upgraded India's sovereign credit rating to Baa2 from Baa3 and changed its outlook for the economy to positive from neutral. |
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GST: Course correction
Bikky Khosla | 14 Nov, 2017 |
| In a big relief to India Inc, the GST Council last week slashed tax rate on 178 items from 28 percent to 18 percent. Consumers will heave a sigh of relief as well. Now, only 50 items, classified as sin or luxury goods, are left in the highest tax slab. |
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Ease of doing business
Bikky Khosla | 07 Nov, 2017 |
| The recently released Ease of Doing Business ranking 2018 has brought a pleasant surprise for India. The country jumped 30 spots, securing a place among the top-100 countries. |
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Bank recapitalisation
Bikky Khosla | 31 Oct, 2017 |
| The Centre unveiled a mega recapitalisation package for public sector banks last week. Under the scheme, a whopping amount of Rs 2.11 lakh crore--representing nearly 1.2 percent of India's GDP--is to be allocated to these banks over a period of two years. |
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Counter counterfeiting
Bikky Khosla | 24 Oct, 2017 |
| Counterfeiting and piracy pose a serious global challenge, and like in many other countries in the world, they have assumed a grave dimension also in India. |
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Exposed: Banks behind unfairly high cost of credit
Bikky Khosla | 17 Oct, 2017 |
| The Reserve Bank of India, in its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review early this month, kept rates on hold, citing inflation concerns, a decision which according to India Inc, failed to take into account the unduly high interest rates that the industry is currently burdened with. |
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GST revamp: Relief to exporters, SMEs
Bikky Khosla | 10 Oct, 2017 |
| Nearly 100 days after implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, the GST Council at its 22nd meeting last week finally came out with some encouraging alterations, which deserve appreciation. |
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Can PM's advisory council revive growth?
Bikky Khosla | 03 Oct, 2017 |
| Prime Minister Modi last week revived the Economic Advisory Council, which has been defunct since the NDA came to power in 2014. The five-member council, comprising economists of high repute and to be led by NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy, will address the issues of macroeconomic importance and present its views directly to the PM. |
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Stimulus watch
Bikky Khosla | 26 Sep, 2017 |
| News reports have surfaced that the Centre is considering a stimulus package in the range of Rs 40,000-50,000 crore to halt the ongoing growth slowdown. The basic idea behind fiscal stimulus is that when the overall economic growth is sluggish, feeble or in a state of contraction, the government should increase public expenditures so as to financially stimulate the economy. |
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Export sops: WTO compliance
Bikky Khosla | 19 Sep, 2017 |
| First, the good news. The August export figures have come as a relief in the background of declining growth witnessed by the sector in the previous few months. However, there is little scope for complacency. |
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GDP slump: What to blame for it
Bikky Khosla | 12 Sep, 2017 |
| What is pulling down the economy? As per the estimates released by the Central Statistics Office on August 31, growth of the Indian economy, as measured by GDP, fell to a three-year low of 5.7 percent in the June quarter, against 7.9 percent in the same quarter a year ago and 6.1 percent in the preceding quarter. |
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Ease of doing business: Claim vs. reality
Bikky Khosla | 05 Sep, 2017 |
| Where does India really stand when it comes to ease of doing business? Time and again, the Centre has claimed that a lot of measures have been taken to improve the business ecosystem in the country. |
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NITI Aayog's Action Agenda
Bikky Khosla | 29 Aug, 2017 |
| The NITI Aayog released its 'Three-Year Action Agenda 2017-20' last week. The report, which has come on the heels of the second volume of the Economic Survey, views that our prospects of reaching the 8 percent-plus growth trajectory in the next few years are very bright. |
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Exports slowdown
Bikky Khosla | 22 Aug, 2017 |
| The Commerce Ministry last week came out with export figures for the month of July. The data shows that our overseas shipments rose for the 11th consecutive month, recording a growth of 3.9 percent over a year ago. |
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Economic Survey: Volume-2
Bikky Khosla | 16 Aug, 2017 |
| The Economic Survey 2016-17, Volume 2, released by the Department of Economic Affairs last week, came out with some valuable insights for economy watchers. On the bright side, it mentions about a 'rekindled optimism' on structural reforms, driven by launch of GST |
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Short-term pains amid long-term optimism
Bikky Khosla | 08 Aug, 2017 |
| The RBI in its recent policy review kept the growth outlook for the current financial year unchanged at 7.3 percent, on expectations of a normal monsoon, higher rural demand, increased government spending and the growth enhancing effects of GST. |
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GST: End of road for check gates
Bikky Khosla | 01 Aug, 2017 |
| The Goods and Services Tax (GST) would benefit India’s small businesses, accelerating transportation of goods across the country, Prime Minister Modi recently said in a meeting. |
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GST: Export shipment clearance issues
Bikky Khosla | 25 Jul, 2017 |
| It is not unexpected at all. Since the GST coming into force beginning this month, in fact, much before than that, everybody -- despite admitting that the new tax regime is a long-term opportunity -- has been talking about possible disruptions, which now seem to be slowly rearing their heads, and like many other sectors our exporters are also facing the heat. |
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Co-origination model: A new approach to MSME credit
Bikky Khosla | 18 Jul, 2017 |
| Over the years, the RBI has repeatedly urged our banks to step up credit flow to the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector. Time and again, the central government has launched several schemes to address this concern. But the result has turned out to be hardly satisfactory. |
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Digital MSME scheme: Cloud made easier
Bikky Khosla | 11 Jul, 2017 |
| Last week, we received an email from a top official from the MSME ministry, informing us about the Digital MSME scheme, launched recently on the occasion of the UN Day for MSMEs. Cloud computing for ICT applications is fast emerging as an innovative technology to increase business efficiency, expand reach and push innovation |
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Anti-profiteering, Composition scheme concerns
Bikky Khosla | 04 Jul, 2014 |
| The long wait is finally over. 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 at a midnight joint parliamentary session last week. |
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GST transition for SMEs
Bikky Khosla | 27 Jun, 2017 |
| While the GST is all set to roll out from July 1, our small and medium enterprises are on tenterhooks: how the new tax regime would impact the sector? There have been talks that GST will usher a revolutionary change in the country's taxation system, bringing in transparency, eliminating hidden costs and improving ease of doing business. |
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Poor state of state finances
Bikky Khosla | 20 Jun, 2017 |
| The last week saw release of a number of key macroeconomic data sets. Inflation, both retail and wholesale, fell sharply in May, raising hope for a rate cut by the RBI in coming days, but industrial production growth slipped to 3.1 percent in April, again pulled down by poor manufacturing. |
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RBI-government rift
Bikky Khosla | 13 Jun, 2017 |
| The RBI last week came out with another monetary policy review; the key interest rates were kept unchanged; the Indian industry argued that the central bank overlooked the pressure being borne by it -- there is nothing new in this development. |
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No private investment, no growth
Bikky Khosla | 06 Jun, 2017 |
| The Central Statistics Office last week came out with its latest growth estimates. As per the data, GDP growth in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal is projected at 6.1 percent, against an unexpectedly buoyant third quarter growth of 7 percent |
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Cyber resilience
Bikky Khosla | 30 May, 2017 |
| The WannaCry ransomware recently created havoc worldwide, infecting nearly 3 lakh computers in over 150 countries. The target was majorly healthcare and government infrastructure in the western countries. and fortunately the level of damage India suffered was substantially less compared to other countries. |
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Three years of Modi government
Bikky Khosla | 23 May, 2017 |
| In what could be its last meeting before rollout of the indirect tax regime, the GST Council last week finalised rates of the new tax for most of the goods and services. |
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Jobless growth
Bikky Khosla | 16 May, 2017 |
| Jobless growth has, for quite some time now, been pointed out as a major challenge facing India. Our economy is powering ahead, but without creating enough jobs, and this widening gap clearly indicates that our policy makers' focus only on increasing the GDP growth rate is not enough. |
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Reform drive
Bikky Khosla | 09 May, 2017 |
| While the world economy has continued to face uncertainty, India is fast emerging as a global growth engine. Experts almost unanimously agree on this view, but -- there is a 'but' attached. |
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Farm debate
Bikky Khosla | 02 May, 2017 |
| Should agricultural income be taxed? Last week a Niti Aayog member argued that the government should tax farm income above a certain threshold. The view stirred up a hornet's nest among many. |
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Monsoon delight
Bikky Khosla | 25 Apr, 2017 |
| The India Meteorological Department last week came out with its projection of a 'near-normal' South-West monsoon this year. In its first long-range projection for 2017, the weather office said that total rainfall during the June-September period would be around 96 percent of the long-term average. |
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Exports recovery gathers steam
Bikky Khosla | 18 Apr, 2017 |
| The Indian export sector started the last financial year on a dismal note, with exports falling by 6 percent in the very first month, continuing a seventeenth consecutive month of decline, and now by the end of the year the sector has distinctly reversed the trend, growing for seven months in a row since September last year. |
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Rise of the Rupee
Bikky Khosla | 11 Apr, 2017 |
| The Indian Rupee is on a roller coaster ride. The currency appreciated by 4.5 percent versus the US dollar in the last quarter ending March. This quarterly rise, according to an estimate, is its best first quarter of any calendar year in the past 42 years. |
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FY18: The way ahead
Bikky Khosla | 04 Apr, 2017 |
| An eventful financial year has come to an end. In the global front, it was the Brexit referendum that came as the biggest shock of the year, taking not much time in fuelling talks of another global recession. |
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Time to get GST-ready
Bikky Khosla | 28 Mar, 2017 |
| First of all, here's the good news. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday tabled four Goods and Services Tax (GST) enabling bills in the Lok Sabha and they will be taken up together in the House for discussion on Wednesday. |
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It's time for SMEs to go online
Bikky Khosla | 21 Mar, 2017 |
| The number of Internet users in India is expected to reach 450-465 million by June, 2017 from 432 million in December last year, a report said recently, adding that it did not factor in the impact of demonetisation, which has given a big boost to digital and mobile transactions. |
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BJP win: Reforms to get a boost
Bikky Khosla | 14 Mar, 2017 |
| It is another thumping victory for Brand Modi. While in UP and Uttarakhand, the BJP secured landslide wins, bagging three-fourth majority, the party is likely to form its governments also in Goa and Manipur, by cobbling up coalitions with regional players. |
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No demon in demonetisation!
Bikky Khosla | 07 Mar, 2017 |
| And now yet another twist in the demonetisation story. When PM Modi took the whole nation by surprise by announcing the note ban of November 8, initial public perception was widely positive. The move was cheered as an attack on black money and corruption. |
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NPA menace: It's time for all-out war
Bikky Khosla | 28 Feb, 2017 |
| The scourge of loan losses has a tendency to increase, get too big to ignore, too late to manage, and push the system into crisis — what the former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan once said now seems to coming true. |
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H-1B visa: IT sector woes
Bikky Khosla | 21 Feb, 2017 |
| In a first in 25 years, Nasscom, a leading trade association of Indian information technology and business process outsourcing industry, has refrained from issuing a growth forecast for the sector for the next financial year. |
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Temptation of protectionism
Bikky Khosla | 14 Feb, 2017 |
| Last week, an urgent meeting was convened by the Commerce Minster on the proposed tightening of the US visa regime. The development came amid grave global concerns over US protectionism under President Trump. |
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Budget 2017: Positive for MSMEs
Bikky Khosla | 07 Feb, 2017 |
| Arun Jaitley last week presented his fourth Union Budget. Expectations were high and so were the challenges, and it was indeed a tough task for the Finance Minister to play a balancing act between growth stimulus and fiscal consolidation. |
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Budget to chart course of the economy
Bikky Khosla | 31 Jan, 2017 |
| Another Budget is in the offing. Like all years, expectations are in the air. Industry lobbies are eagerly waiting with 'wish lists' in their hands. It's a no-brainer to say that this will be one of the most interesting Budgets in our recent memory. |
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Start up, stand up: A distant dream
Bikky Khosla | 24 Jan, 2017 |
| In his Independence Day speech in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ambitious scheme, 'Start-up India, Stand up India', to encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of the country. |
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Reforms hold key to growth
Bikky Khosla | 17 Jan, 2017 |
| Reforms will decide the coming days of Indian economy, global credit rating agency Moody's expressed this view in a recent report. It said that the Government's capacity to implement reforms and policy effectiveness will decide the economy's rating going forward. |
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Takeaways from GDP estimate
Bikky Khosla | 10 Jan, 2017 |
| The CSO last week came out with its GDP estimate, which was pegged at 7.1 percent for the current financial year, lower than the 7.6 percent growth in 2015-16. The data, which is in sync with the RBI's earlier estimate, is not good news, but it's also not something to panic about. |
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Exports: Govt must pave the way in 2017
Bikky Khosla | 03 Jan, 2017 |
| Well, another year has come and gone. When the Indian export sector started the year 2016, it was going through one of the toughest phases in terms of growth. Overseas shipments had been in decline since December 2014. |
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Index
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| Customs Exchange Rates |
| Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
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84.35
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82.60 |
UK Pound
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106.35
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102.90 |
Euro
|
92.50
|
89.35 |
| Japanese
Yen |
55.05 |
53.40 |
| As on 12 Oct, 2024 |
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| Daily Poll |
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| Will the new MSME credit assessment model simplify financing? |
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