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Just in:   • Biden administration forgives $4.7 billion loans to Ukraine  • Women entrepreneurs driving innovation, growth in gem & jewellery sector: Smriti Irani  • India’s export outlook brighter as manufactured goods gain share: RBI  • India’s consumer durable makers to log 11-12 pc growth in FY25  • SEBI’s proposal on SME IPOs: striking a delicate balance  Last updated: 14 Nov, 2024   Abe's visit and importance of Act East Forum Shubha Singh | 28 Dec, 2019 India-Japan relations have grown into a close strategic partnership in the past decade. Regular annual summits between their leaders have helped nurture the relations and made them among the fast-growing ties for each country. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to India from December 15 to 17 will be his sixth bilateral summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to further consolidate the bilateral relationship.    Read more.... Mission 2020: Government as the enabler of business TAPONEEL MUKHERJEE | 23 Dec, 2019 As the calendar year 2019 winds to a close, a lot more needs to be done in 2020 to keep pushing the wheels of the Indian economy, especially, with the objective of achieving high economic growth and unleashing the real economic potential of the country. The year 2019 presented both lessons on the good work that needs to be continued as well as areas warranting improvement as we head into the next year. The focus must be on improving the ease of doing and time required to do business.    Read more.... Effective regulations as the lynchpin for growth TAPONEEL MUKHERJEE | 15 Dec, 2019 The importance of an effective regulatory mechanism for a conducive business environment cannot be over-emphasized. As India looks to push consumption and investments further up, a renewed focus on improving the regulatory framework will help the business climate significantly.    Read more.... Transmission mechanism: Monetary policy and beyond TAPONEEL MUKHERJEE | 10 Dec, 2019 The Reserve Bank of India decided to hold repo rates unchanged in its meeting on December 5, 2019. In this context, apart from the outlook on inflation, the crucial area of focus should be the "transmission mechanism" of the rate cuts already delivered in 2019.    Read more.... Creating global Indian giants TAPONEEL MUKHERJEE | 02 Dec, 2019 As debates on Indian economic growth, infrastructure and job creation, business environment and corporate balance sheets rage on, an alternative way to boosting the Indian economy would be to create Indian businesses that can scale globally.    Read more.... Providing momentum to asset monetisation Taponeel Mukherjee | 25 Nov, 2019 The success of the third toll-operate-transfer (TOT) auction by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) provides the momentum needed for India to embark on the path of swift and transparent asset monetisation in the next few years. Asset monetisation has received much attention, and a few large government asset monetisations have taken place in the last few years. It is about time the Government pushes the process ahead at a rapid pace.    Read more.... Software is eating trade, digital platforms replacing agreements K. Yatish Rajawat | 19 Nov, 2019 Since India rejected RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) with ASEAN and six other countries, most commentators have focused on reasons for exit. The government has reiterated that it was a decision in the interest of the country. Impact on farmers due to agri-imports impact is one of the dominant reason. There are more powerful forces at play shaping the structure of global trade that India needs to account for in any trade negotiation going forward.    Read more.... Prime Minister looks inwards for improving governance D.C. PATHAK | 11 Nov, 2019 With a remarkable insight into how the governance in this country ought to be upgraded, Prime Minister Modi while addressing the Probationers of Indian Civil Services attending the Foundational Course, outlined the big picture of 'the mission and delivery' that the officers manning the famed 'steel frame' of India were expected to measure up to in their long years of duty ahead. In a first time event, the officers who were in the early phase of their training were assembled at a place outside of the LBSNAA Mussoorie -- at Kevadia in Gujarat, the venue of Sardar Patel's statue -- for the Prime Minister's address on October 31 marking the National Unity Day.    Read more.... Worrying distanomics: Has India factored CPEC into RCEP? Robinder Nath Sachdev | 05 Nov, 2019 As the 16 nations in Asia are marching towards closure on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) discussions in Bangkok, it will be a major step if India signs up to the deal. But there are questions, and a raging controversy back home in India about the pros and cons of the agreement in its present form.    Read more.... Credit culture needs to change K. Yatish Rajawat | 29 Oct, 2019 The fraud at Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank shows that there is a rot in the system and not the bank. If unchecked, it can cause irreparable damage to the system. The complicity of bank officials with the Wadhawan family and its companies shows that there is a systemic flaw in the credit system. The extent of it may vary from one bank to another, but its existence is now undeniable.    Read more.... Tourism growth and its inter-linkages Taponeel Mukherjee | 22 Oct, 2019 The dynamics of industrial growth in India, for all ancillary industries, makes for fascinating reading and analysis. India has embarked on a renewed push towards making the country an attractive tourist destination through a variety of measures such as the "Incredible India 2.0" campaign.     Read more.... What can India learn from China's 70 years of economic growth? Amit Kapoor | 13 Oct, 2019 China celebrated the 70th anniversary of becoming a communist republic with much fanfare. Back in October 1949, when China was adopting the communist model of societal organisation, India was framing its constitution. Less than four months later, India was a democratic republic.     Read more.... Modi's US visit: But is it Mission Accomplished? Frank F. Islam | 05 Oct, 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has returned home to India from his six-day visit to the US to reach out to the Indian American community, buttress US-India trade relations, speak in a number of forums, hold meetings with country and business leaders to reassure to encourage and promote investment in India. And do all of this while avoiding or minimizing speaking about Kashmir.    Read more.... No halfway house D.C. Pathak | 29 Sep, 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again proved that on matters of national and strategic import there is no stopping him till the goals set by him would be totally achieved. The 'Howdy Modi' extravaganza at Houston so meticulously planned and scripted became an effective platform from where India's foreign, domestic and economic policies would be defined and reaffirmed by the Prime Minister for the benefit of the entire world and an assertion made of India's arrival as a global player.    Read more.... Fiscal expansion and monetary 'teasing' Suyash Choudhary | 23 Sep, 2019 The unexpected corporate tax cuts alongside previous measures announced over the last few days by the government amount to a total fiscal expansion of around 0.8 per cent of GDP at face value. That said, private estimates in this regard are between 0.2 - 0.4 per cent shy of the governments estimate    Read more.... Supporting SMEs: The evolved approach NBFCs adopt to underwrite SME loans Bajaj Finance Spokesperson | 23 Sep, 2019 There's no questioning the fact that SMEs are integral to the fabric of the Indian economy. With over 50 million SMEs employing roughly 10 crore professionals, SMEs have been and continue to be the segment that's leading from the front.     Read more.... The subtle art of credit price discovery Taponeel Mukherjee | 17 Sep, 2019 As India grapples with credit issues, one of the primary factors that needs analysis is the broken transmission mechanism that relays credit quality to market participants. In common parlance, the transmission mechanism that provides information regarding the credit quality of the borrower to the lenders is unable to do so efficiently. Recent news whereby credit downgrades have just preceded defaults by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) is a case in point.    Read more.... Three positive possibilities to look forward to Arun Kejriwal | 09 Sep, 2019 The week gone by had a trading holiday on Monday in India and the US, and began trading on Tuesday on an extremely weak note. The merger of PSU banks probably did not go down well with the markets or they expected more than just this.    Read more.... Quick ways out of slowdown: 10 things government can do K Yatish Rajawat | 03 Sep, 2019 Growth has momentum and slowdown has inertia. The Indian GDP growth has fallen to 5 per cent in the April-June quarter, from 8 per cent. This slowdown can only be reversed if both short-term and long-term reforms are undertaken.    Read more.... RBI transfer to government: The good and the bad Suyash Choudhary | 27 Aug, 2019 The RBI board accepted the recommendations of the Bimal Jalan committee and has decided to transfer Rs 1,76,051 crore to the government. This is broken as Rs 1,23,414 crore as surplus for year 2018-19 and another Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions identified by the committee as per the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF).    Read more.... A structural or cyclical slowdown? Deepti Mathew | 26 Aug, 2019 The Indian economy is passing through a phase of economic slowdown, with the GDP growth registering one of the lowest rates of 5.8 per cent in the last quarter of FY19. The GDP growth rate for the first quarter of FY20 is feared to be lower than 5.8 per cent. While there is a consensus that the economy is slowing down, the debate is still going on whether the slowdown is structural or cyclical.    Read more.... Education and its economic outgrowths Amit Kapoor | 19 Aug, 2019 In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the issue of population explosion in the country and the need to address it. He added education as a means of both moderating the trend of rising population and making them productive as well. Development trends throughout history have shown that as literacy levels go up, fertility rate falls and economic growth is easier to achieve. The latter is due to the fact that with education, child progress takes place at a faster rate making the future generation of workforce more productive.     Read more.... Why Modi acted now on Kashmir? Deepika Bhan | 12 Aug, 2019 The question is why did Modi chose ‘now to do what he has done with Article370? There was no big election in sight so as to create a build up for electoral gain. Neither was there any major crisis or any embarrassing situation for the government to find a succour in Kashmir. Perhaps, this was the best time to enact the best of action story for the Modi-Shah Combine.    Read more.... Enabling cities as drivers of economic growth Amit Kapoor | 06 Aug, 2019 Economic development always comes with a dash of urbanization. That is almost an economic truism. Empirical studies have shown that nearly all countries that have attained middle-income status were urbanized by at least 50 per cent, and all high-income countries were at 70 to 80 per cent level of urbanization.    Read more.... Bond with USD liabilities, not necessarily with the bond Taponeel Mukherjee | 29 Jul, 2019 The Budget 2019 announcement regarding a potential USD bond issuance by India has been in the news of late with opinions divided amongst market experts. Given the two distinct components of the USD bond issuance, of increased debt and higher USD liabilities, a look at the second component in detail is well worth our time. While the government will have to borrow to fund specific components of its expenditure, the question is whether the USD bond issuance route is the optimal strategy to utilise for increasing USD liabilities for India. Alternatively, are there alternative avenues to boost the economy by increasing USD liabilities.    Read more.... Economic remedies for water crisis Amit Kapoor | 23 Jul, 2019 While contemplating our natural resources, past conversations often centered around fossil fuels and them becoming scarce due to overuse. However, recent conversations have stirred our attention to another natural resource that is available in abundance but is still causing a crisis in many parts of the world.     Read more.... India's balancing act D.C. Pathak | 11 Jul, 2019 With India, the largest democracy of the world, rapidly rising to its potential as a global player during the Modi regime, its natural placement in the international arena is attracting the limelight after a long period of survival without shine. The hallmark of this is an implicit acknowledgement by the world powers that India stood for sanity in global affairs.    Read more.... Budget 2019: Kickstarting India's Developmental Journey Amit Kapoor | 09 Jul, 2019 Since the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a bold target of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024 at a NITI Aayog meeting early last month, the conversations in the mass media have disproportionately centred on the idea.     Read more.... Budget 2019: Boosting new investments through tax-strategy Taponeel Mukherjee | 30 Jun, 2019 All eyes are on what policy mechanisms will the Hon. Finance Minister of India use in Budget 2019-2020, to boost consumption and investments in India. Amongst the wide variety of available strategies, a focus on utilising tax-rebate strategies such as allowing high accelerated depreciation to promote new investments in areas of the economy that require investments is one that can help significantly.     Read more.... Tackling trade tensions Amit Kapoor | 27 Jun, 2019 The trade war between US and China seemed like a distant conflict to most Indians. As the two largest economies in the world dished out threats and counter-threats of tariff hikes, India was largely a disinterested bystander with the only consequential fear of slower global trade. However, over the course of last few weeks, the US reservations with global trade have expanded across the Asian continent and specifically onto India.    Read more.... Lower global rates: An opportunity for the Indian economy Taponeel Mukherjee | 24 Jun, 2019 The ten-year United States (US) Treasury yield dipped below two per cent recently. The Indian market participants must view this move as an opportunity to improve and strengthen the investment markets in India. Low yields in developed markets and the consequent need for higher investment returns from investors are trends that have been evident over the last decade as quantitative easing by central banks has led to a lower interest rate world. The dramatic drop in developed market bond yields in the previous thirty days further emphasises the renewed focus investors will have on seeking higher investment returns.     Read more.... The budget and beyond Amit Kapoor | 18 Jun, 2019 How does one determine the finances of a country where the growth rate is slowing, banks are sceptical to lend and tightening fiscal space leaves little scope for adventurism? That is the impossible conundrum facing Nirmala Sitharaman, Indias first woman Finance Minister in the Modi governments new Cabinet. It will be interesting to note how she addresses these pertinent issues facing the Indian economy when she rises up in Parliament on July 5 to deliver her Budget address.    Read more.... NBFC wounds need salve Arun Kejriwal | 10 Jun, 2019 Markets began the week on a strong note and registered new lifetime highs on June 3. They surrendered some of the gains on the same day and all of it and a little more by the end of the week to register minor losses. The four-day trading week saw BSE Sensex close at 39615.90 points a loss of 98.30 points or 0.25 per cent, while NIFTY closed at 11,870.65 points a loss of 52.15 points or 0.44 per cent.    Read more.... Now for the next steps after rate cut Taponeel Mukherjee | 08 Jun, 2019 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rate cut is expected to provide a boost to the economy. Lower interest rates will help in providing support to the economy but are not the sole elixir that India needs. The focus must not be just on the immediate economic issues but on the broader target of implementing changes that have a long-lasting positive impact on the economy.     Read more.... Two focal points to boost investments and infrastructure SME Times News Bureau | 04 Jun, 2019 Two keywords that will define the investment climate and encourage more investments in India are "balance and focus". And the common factor between the two keywords is the concept of transparent and rational pricing.    Read more.... After consumption slowdown, India set to face wider trade deficit Rohit Vaid | 27 May, 2019 Impacted by a consumption slowdown, India's economy faces another peril, that of rising trade protectionism, which, along with tensions in the Middle East, will hamper merchandise exports and widen the trade deficit, as it did in April.    Read more.... Art of commuting: Delhi metro stations double up as art galleries SME Times News Bureau | 20 May, 2019 Most Indians may still need a push to visit art galleries and museums, but when the national capital's favourite commuting mode Metro Rail doubles up as a contemporary art gallery itself, it is not uncommon to see Delhiwallahs stop, look and even click an occasional selfie.    Read more.... Bankruptcies: The good, the bad and the ugly Taponeel Mukherjee | 13 May, 2019 Bankruptcies are a painful process for businesses, employees and business partners, but are an inevitable consequence of business dynamics and competition.    Read more.... Now's an excellent learning opportunity for Indian credit markets Taponeel Mukherjee | 06 May, 2019 News on Indian credit markets over the last few weeks provide us with pointers that should help shape policy and business strategy. The struggle to get bidders for Jet Airways and the tepid response from investors towards Indias fledgeling municipal bond market point towards the need for a better-structured credit market, especially as the nature of businesses evolve even as the demand for credit rises to finance consumption and infrastructure needs.    Read more.... How this Hyderabad social entrepreneur is using big data to change farmers' lives Mohammed Shafeeq | 29 Apr, 2019 At a time of widespread agricultural distress caused by successive droughts, unremunerative farming and debt-trapped rural economies, a young man with his mobile app is showing how change can be brought in the life of farmers at the grassroot level.    Read more.... What if there is a hung parliament? Amulya Ganguli | 22 Apr, 2019 Conventional wisdom has it that the current polls will not produce a clear-cut result as in 2014.    Read more.... Technology for security D.C. Pathak | 15 Apr, 2019 I had the benefit recently of listening to a well established American IT expert on the challenges for security strategists in these times of a literal tsunami of technological advancements. He brought out how the incredible speed at which technology was developing made it difficult to assess its repercussions for the future in terms of both global competition in business as well as the evolution of military domain.     Read more.... Mission 2019: Ensuring payments and price transparency SME Times News Bureau | 06 Apr, 2019 The importance of the flow of capital into the power and housing sectors in India cannot be overemphasised. Recent developments in both sectors once again bring to the fore the critical issues of effective payment mechanisms and price transparency as vital factors to boost the economy.     Read more.... Aggregating small cement businesses can push India's growth SME Times News Bureau | 30 Mar, 2019 The slowdown in real estate over the last few years and the constraints that India's infrastructure sector have faced due to non-performing assets (NPAs) have had a significant impact on allied industries, none more than on the cement sector itself.     Read more.... Democracy on test D.C. Pathak | 25 Mar, 2019 India has over the decades emerged as a leading light in the democratic world on two counts - the masses here have proven their ability to oust well entrenched regimes from power and have demonstrated their wisdom in opting for clean governance, assurance of development and national stability and security. And this has happened in spite of that typically Indian social phenomenon of caste and creed affinities ruling the political turf.    Read more.... From tribal hamlets to world markets: The amazing journey of Araku coffee Mohammed Shafeeq | 17 Mar, 2019 From tribal hamlets to Paris, Araku coffee has come a long way and is set to lure the taste buds of New York's coffee aficionados this year.    Read more.... NDA will marginally fall short of majority but form government IANS Election Special | 10 Mar, 2019 The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will fall marginally short of a majority in the Lok Sabha but will comfortably form the government with post poll tie-ups. In the eventuality of no Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance of opposition parties) in Uttar Pradesh, the Narendra Modi-led NDA will walk home with over 300 Lok Sabha seats.    Read more.... Are you well-informed? D.C. Pathak | 28 Feb, 2019 We live in the Age of Knowledge that set in with the success of the information technology (IT)revolution at the beginning of the Nineties -- 1991 is, in fact, acknowledged as the cut-off year between the new era and the earlier Industrial Age. It gifted a new level of connectivity across geographical frontiers that brought in 'globalisation' unleashing a different degree of competitiveness in business and sharing of ideas that would force socio-political transparency.    Read more.... Land, as vital as ever Taponeel Mukherjee | 23 Feb, 2019 The availability and usability of land to many investment sectors are essential, and yet these are areas that do not get the attention they deserve while making investment decisions and formulating policies. In the Indian context, this issue assumes greater importance    Read more.... India should start a Well-Being Index Frank F. Islam | 19 Feb, 2019 2018 was not a bad year in general for India. GDP growth has been relatively good, the Modi administration has launched several new initiatives, and Indias status and world image has strengthened. The problem is that these are all top-line measures and do not get down to how the Indian people are feeling.    Read more.... Indian infrastructure: Time to refocus on the basics Taponeel Mukherjee | 12 Feb, 2019 With 2019 underway, it would serve us well to look at some of the most pressing needs of Indian infrastructure. Trends in global capital markets and the needs of Indian infrastructure have broadly remained the same, but so have the challenges.    Read more.... A budget that is good politics and economics rolled into one Amit Kapoor | 02 Feb, 2019 As was expected, the interim Budget presented by Piyush Goyal was not a traditional vote-on-account by any means. Contrary to the election-year convention, a full Budget was introduced by the government to pacify the voters.     Read more.... India should be an APEC member: Australian Shadow Trade Minister Biswajit Choudhury | 24 Jan, 2019 With trade becoming fundamental for global peace and stability and preventing the US-China kind of trade wars, it is vital to push for an Indo-Pacific free trade zone like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) that should include India, a leading Australian politician has said.    Read more.... Increase in digitalisation and other SME trends in 2019 Sameer Vakil | 17 Jan, 2019 The recent announcement that the GST Council is further easing the compliance requirements for SMEs will come as good news for the sector, which is acknowledged as the growth engine of the Indian economy. There is a collective sigh of relief now that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has raised the sales threshold for GST registration from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh.    Read more.... New Indian IT rules take social media giants to task IANS | 14 Jan, 2019 As India gears up for general elections, owners of global social media platforms are in a huddle over how to curb the spread of misinformation and fake news in a country where deep mobile penetration has made Facebook, its messaging service WhatsApp and Twitter available at the fingertips of millions.     Read more.... Ties with US, Russia, trade talks India's diplomatic priorities in 2019 Aroonim Bhuyan | 04 Jan, 2019 Maintaining a balance between ties with the US and Russia, talks on free trade agreements with Europe and Southeast Asia, and making the Indo-Pacific concept gain global acceptability will be among India's top foreign policy priorities in the year ahead.    Read more.... 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