In line with the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to make India a global hub for manufacturing, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry is organizing a Post Budget Webinar on 'Make in India for the World' on Thursday, the 3rd of March 2022.

 

The Union Budget 2022 has laid down a roadmap for India@100 with manufacturing as one of the key drivers of growth and employment generation. The webinar will include discussions on a paradigm shift in manufacturing in India, realising the trillion-dollar goal in Exports and also on MSMEs as a growth engine for the economy.

 

Carrying forward the themes of the Union Budget 2022, with focus on EoDB 2.0, implementation of all-inclusive technology led industrial development, skilling and employment, among other things, the Webinar will be addressed by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, and will see participation by the Hon’ble Minister for Commerce & Industry, senior officials of Central and State Governments, and senior Industry leaders.

 

The objective of the webinar is to sustain momentum of Union Budget 2022 by synergizing efforts with all stakeholders on various initiatives taken for boosting manufacturing, increasing exports and strengthening the MSMEs. By leveraging stakeholders’ expertise and experience, an Action Plan for the Industry’s way forward and monitoring framework for effective implementation of growth reforms in areas of manufacturing, exports and MSMEs will be finalised.

 

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will deliver a special address to all participants on the vision of ‘Make in India for the World,’ its convergence with Union Budget 2022 and the expectations from the Webinar. Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal will be delivering the concluding remarks for the event.

 

Following the opening session, the participants will break out into three consecutive sessions covering (i) Paradigm shift in manufacturing in India @ 100, (ii) Charting out the strategy for Realizing India’s Trillion Dollar Goal in Exports and (iii) Exploring how the MSMEs will act as the Growth Engine for Indian Economy.

 

DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry will be leading the session on 'Paradigm Shift in Manufacturing in India @ 100' to deliberate on the growth strategy for Industry 4.0, Auto and Auto Components, Telecom, Steel, Pharma & Medical Devices, Textiles and Drones. Sh Baba Kalyani, Chairman and MD, Bharat Forge will be the moderator for the session. This session will conclude with remarks from Secretaries in M/o Heavy Industries, D/o Telecommunications, D/o Pharmaceuticals and M/o Steel, followed by remarks from Industry Principal Secretaries of the States of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana.

 

The second session on 'Realizing India’s Trillion Dollar Goal in Export' will be led by Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This session will focus on ways to realise India’s larger goal of achieving the Trillion Dollar mark for exports and will cover focus sectors of Electronics, Agriculture & Food Processing, Textiles, Additive Manufacturing, Robotics. The session moderator is Shri Vir S Advani, VC & MD, Blue Star Ltd. This session will conclude with remarks from concerned Secretaries in D/o Commerce, M/o Electronics and Information Technology and M/o Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, followed by remarks from Iindustry Principal Secretaries of the States of Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka

 

The third session led by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, is titled 'MSMEs as the Growth Engine for Indian Economy'. MSME is the backbone for realizing the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative. For this session, the focus sectors that have been identified are Furniture, Leather & Footwear, Gems & Jewelry, Textiles, Food Processing. The session moderator is Shri Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum. This session will conclude with remarks from concerned Secretaries in M/o Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, M/o Food Processing Industries and M/o Textiles. Industries Principal Secretaries of States of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Tamil Nadu will deliver remarks in the session.

 

The closing session will witness the Presentation of Action Plans by the three senior Industry leaders, i.e, the Session Moderators, on the outcomes and the way forward.

The central government is committed to doubling the income of farmers and is working on making agriculture more profitable as well as more sustainable, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi said on Wednesday.

 

New Delhi: The central government is committed to doubling the income of farmers and is working on making agriculture more profitable as well as more sustainable, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi said on Wednesday.

 

In an interview, the PM also said his administration identified four pillars to make the lives of farmers better: lowering input cost, increasing the sources of income, better market prices and more use of scientific methods in agriculture.

 

'Both parampara (legacy) and pragati (progress) will be used to support our farmers,' Modi said.

 

During his first term, Modi first pledged to double the income of farmers by the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. Since then, his government has repeatedly stressed on its commitment towards agriculture, showcasing schemes such as PM-KISAN, under which cultivators are paid ?6,000 a year.

 

Modi also touched on the surprise repeal of three controversial farm laws, which sparked a yearlong protest by cultivator groups from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh. The government and many experts said the reforms were long overdue and would help the cause of farmers. However, farmers believed that the laws would increase their dependance on the private sector.

 

'As far as the impediment in the form repeal of the agricultural laws is concerned, I would say that the path may be different. But our goal is the welfare of the farmers,' the PM said.

 

Modi said the government was promoting traditional farming techniques, organic farming, zero budget farming and natural farming. He also stressed on technology, mentioning the Kisan Drone initiative, which can help in crop evaluation, digitisation of land records and spraying of pesticides and nutrients.

 

'The bright future of India’s agriculture is also linked to the export of more and more agricultural products. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, agricultural exports are at a record level this year… this shows that the government’s efforts are paying off,' he said.

 

Agriculture has also been one sector immune to the pandemic, growing by 3.6% last year (2020-21) and estimated to expand by 3.9% in the ongoing financial year.

 

The PM said the government focused on an all-round strategy to increase the income of farmers. 'For the first time, we have decided to keep the minimum support price (MSP) at 150% of the cost of the farmers. Apart from this, several facilities related to animal husbandry, fisheries as well as beekeeping and horticulture have been added…today, foodgrains are being purchased from farmers by twice the number of government procurement centres in the country compared to before 2016,' he said.

 

The PM said there was an 'unprecedented difference' in agricultural procurement between the previous government and his administration. 'In our time, there has been an increase of 78% in the purchase of paddy. We have broken all the previous records not only in the purchase of paddy, but also in that of wheat. Similarly, compare the last five years of the UPA [United Progressive Alliance] regime and the last five years of our government. The MSP payment in pulses has increased by 88 times,' he added.

The United States has said it will lead efforts to craft a trade arrangement in the Indo-Pacific region that would include provisions on high-standard labour commitments, environmental sustainability, cooperation in the digital economy, and sustainable food systems.

 

In its trade policy agenda for 2022, the US Trade Representative said that the specific content of the trade arrangement will be developed through extensive consultation with trading partners, a broad base of stakeholders, and the Congress.

 

Referring to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the USTR said: 'We will use this framework to address a range of important areas of economic cooperation, including: fair and resilient trade (including labour, digital and other elements); supply chain resilience; infrastructure, decarbonization, and clean energy; and, tax and anti-corruption'.

 

The US had last year indicated that it is not in favour of inking new trade agreements. 'USTR will lead efforts to craft a trade arrangement with parties that includes provisions on: high-standard labour commitments, environmental sustainability, cooperation in the digital economy, sustainable food systems and science-based agricultural regulation, transparency and good regulatory practices; competition policy and trade facilitation,' it said.

 

Last year at the India-US Trade Policy Forum, New Delhi agreed to allow imports of American pork and pork products.

 

'In 2022, USTR will continue to work with India to finalise market access for cherries and alfalfa hay,' it said.\

 

On the issue of Digital Services Tax (DST), the USTR said that it is prepared to examine all options if other countries move forward with new taxes.

 

India introduced a digital service tax called equalisation levy in 2016 on online advertisements whose scope was then widened to impose a 2% tax on non-resident e-commerce firms with a turnover of Rs 2 crore.

 

Last year, the US reached agreements with India, Turkey, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK suspending the application of DSTs during the interim period prior to full implementation of Pillar 1 of the OECD framework.

Experts feel that the cooperative sector needs a holistic approach to mitigate the challenges for its overall development in the country and reasonable success seen in sectors such as milk, credit, and agriculture can be employed for the same.

 

Cooperative sector experts deliberated at the Multi-Stakeholder Consultation hosted by the CII here on Wednesday, which was structured around key areas such as policy framework, success stories and opportunities for partnerships within and beyond for cooperatives.

 

The consultation was a collaborative initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and International Labour Organization (ILO), India.

 

The event was attended by senior representatives from industry, UN agencies, academia, cooperatives, start-ups, and development specialists from ITC, Dabur, IFFCO, Amul, Nurture Farm, Bain & Company, ILO, IRMA, the National Cooperative Union of India, SEWA, Sahakar Bharati, the International Cooperative Alliance, the National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India Limited, amongst others.

 

Additionally, the consultation emphasised on the need to explore more ways to infuse good practices and processes in cooperatives across other dimensions for greater impact on the Indian economy.

 

 

Private equity investments in agri-tech space have skyrocketed in last 4 years, growing at more than 50 per cent per annum to aggregate approximately Rs 6,600 crore, a report by Bain & Company showed.

 

Titled 'Innovation in India’s rural economy: Disruptive business models are stimulating inclusive growth in agriculture and rural finance', the report has been prepared by Bain & Company and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

 

It said that rural economy contributed nearly half of India’s overall gross domestic gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019–2020.

 

'Two-thirds of the population participated in rural economy in the past two years, and agriculture—the largest sub-sector within rural economy, had the highest share of output, contributing approximately 37 per cent of the total rural GDP,' the report noted.

 

Agriculture sector has been growing steadily at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11 per cent since 2015, supported by government and private sector initiatives towards improvements in its physical and digital infrastructure.

 

It has also witnessed highest disruption in terms of smartphone and internet penetration. This ecosystem is now at an inflection point, and companies that address inefficiencies across the value chain will have explosive growth potential, the report said.

 

Parijat Jain, partner and leader of Bain’s Agribusiness practice in India said: 'Disruption in India’s food and agriculture will evolve from traditional agriculture to new farming models, advanced agri-tech services, and new food products. In the last six years, several start-ups have emerged to reduce systemic inefficiencies among inputs and marketplaces, precision farming, processing and storage.'

 

The report further explained that over the past decade, India’s rural ecosystem has evolved significantly with multiple enablers priming this space for future growth. These trends have created an environment ripe for innovation—allowing start-ups and traditional players to introduce disruptive business models that address inefficiencies particularly in India’s agriculture and finance sectors.

 

UPI transactions double

 

According to Bain-CII estimates, about 30% of the rural ecosystem is adopting digital payment and digital commerce solutions to avail easier access to agri-financial services.

United Payments Interface (UPI) transactions have doubled in the past year, processing eight times more transaction value than credit cards.

 

The report said that even while cash remains the dominant method of payment for rural financing, accounting for roughly 90 per cent of all payments, digital payments penetration is increasing, driven by government interventions like the Payment Infrastructure Development Fund.

Digital-first banking models and lowering of operational costs (which enabled lenders to service lower-value loans) also helped lending organisations scale into the sector, it added.

Growth in rural microfinance sector

 

In the past 18 months, rural microfinance sector has grown significantly. From a gross loan portfolio of about Rs 1,22,500 crore in December 2019, it has risen to Rs 1,46,700 crore in March 2021.

 

'There has been a significant increase in access to credit in the rural ecosystem too. Agri credit has grown at 10 per cent CAGR in the last five years, reaching nearly Rs 14 lakh crore in 2019–20,' the report said.

 

About 35 per cent of agri-credit business comes from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, it added.

India’s merchandise export in February 2022 was USD 33.81 billion, an increase of 22.36% over USD 27.63 billion in February 2021 and an increase of 21.88% over USD 27.74 billion in February 2020.

 

India’s merchandise export in April 2021-February 2022 was USD 374.05 billion, an increase of 45.80% over USD 256.55 billion in April 2020-February 2021 and an increase of 28.16% over USD 291.87 billion in April 2019-February 2020.

 

India’s merchandise import in February 2022 was USD 55.01 billion, an increase of 34.99% over USD 40.75 billion in February 2021 and an increase of 45.12% over USD 37.90 billion in February 2020.

 

India’s merchandise import in April 2021-February 2022 was USD 550.12 billion, an increase of 59.21% over USD 345.54 billion in April 2020-February 2021 and an increase of 24.11% over USD 443.24 billion in April 2019-February 2020.

 

Value of non-petroleum exports in February 2022 was 29.70 USD billion, registering a positive growth of 18.04% over non-petroleum exports of USD 25.16 billion in February 2021 and a positive growth of 22.23% over non-petroleum exports of USD 24.30 billion in February 2020.

 

Value of non-petroleum imports was USD 39.96 billion in February 2022 with a positive growth of 26.0% over non-petroleum imports of USD 31.72 billion in February 2021 and a positive growth of 47.33% over non-petroleum imports of USD 27.12 billion in February 2020.

 

The cumulative value of non-petroleum exports in April 2021-February 2022 was USD 319.09 billion, an increase of 36.16% over USD 234.36 billion in April 2020-February 2021 and an increase of 26.07% over USD 253.10 billion in April 2019-February 2020.

 

The cumulative value of non-petroleum imports in April 2021-Feb 2022 was USD 408.63 billion, showing an increase of 49.61% compared to non-oil imports of USD 273.12 billion in April 2020-Feb 2021 and an increase of 26.61% compared to non-oil imports of USD 322.74 billion in April 2019-Feb 2020.

 

Value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in February 2022 was USD 26.60 billion, registering a positive growth of 18.31% over non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 22.48 billion in February 2021 and a positive growth of 24.98% over non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 21.28 billion in February 2020.

 

Value of non-oil, non-GJ (gold, silver & Precious metals) imports was USD 31.61 billion in February 2022 with a positive growth of 31.66% over non-oil and non-GJ imports of USD 24.01 billion in Feb 2021 and a positive growth of 42.31% over non-oil and non-GJ imports of USD 22.21 billion in Feb 2020.

 

The cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in April 2021-February 2022 was USD 283.83 billion, an increase of 33.92% over cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 211.95 billion in April 2020-February 2021 and an increase of 29.47% over cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 219.22 billion in April 2019-February 2020.

 

Non-oil, non-GJ (Gold, Silver & Precious Metals) imports was USD 332.85 billion in April 2021-February 2022, recording a positive growth of 44.78%, as compared to non-oil and non-GJ imports of USD 229.89 billion in April 2020-February 2021 and a positive growth of 22.35% over USD 272.05 billion in April 2019-February 2020.

Turkey's state grain board TMO has started making provisional purchases of wheat in an international tender on Wednesday with about 175,000 tonnes initially bought, traders said.

 

The tender seeks 435,000 tonnes and more purchases are expected later on Wednesday.

 

The purchases in TMO’s tenders are provisional and subject to final confirmation in coming days. Purchases can be reduced or cancelled completely.

 

Both imports and wheat already in warehouses in Turkey could be offered in the tender for shipment/delivery between March 10-April 8.

 

Traders said the tender was dominated by offers of wheat already in warehouses inside Turkey, with Ukrainian and Russian exports disrupted by the fighting in Ukraine.

 

Some export houses have been shipping Russian wheat into Turkey in advance of sales to escape repeated increases in Russia's export taxes.

 

Traders reported these provisional purchases with port of unloading/delivery, tonnes sold, protein content, seller, price in dollars a tonne and if to be delivered from a warehouse in Turkey:

 

Port Tonnes Seller Protein Price If warehouse

 

Iskenderun 25,000 Kibar 13.5% $408.90 warehouse

 

Iskenderun 25,000 Aston 12.5% $410.80 warehouse

 

Iskenderun 25,000 Aston 13.5% $414.80 warehouse

 

Mersin 25,000 Grain Star 12.5% $442.80 warehouse

 

Mersin 50,000 Erser 13.5% $447.00 warehouse

 

Derince 25,000 Erser 13.5% $470.00 warehouse

 

'I think this tender is another illustration of the financial pain faced by importers after wheat prices rose so sharply since the conflict in Ukraine started last week,' one European trader said.

 

In its last wheat purchase on Jan. 18, Turkey bought some 335,000 tonnes at the lowest price of $341.90 a tonne c&f

Government’s agri export promotion body APEDA and re-financing agency Nabard will soon impart training to 30 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) in Varanasi, Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur and Chandauli districts of Uttar Pradesh as part of a five-year plan to boost agricultural exports.

 

Already the government has allotted different agri products to these districts under 'One District One Product' scheme – chilli for Varanasi, tomato in Mirzapur and Chandauli, onion for Ghazipur and Kala Namak rice variety in Gorakhpur.

 

Earlier this week, both Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Nabard have agreed to launch the training programme at the earliest, sources said.

 

Nabard Consultancy Services (NABCONS) will be the project manager to implement the training programme, the sources added.

 

Pilot initiative

 

Confirming the development, APEDA Chairman M Angamuthu said: 'This is a pilot initiative and we will extend it to next level soon.'

 

'The course curriculum will be customised by Nabcons in consultation with APEDA for imparting focused training on export oriented theme,' he said.

 

Such training programmes will strengthen the role of FPOs in the export value chain, he added.

 

There are a total of 117 FPOs and farmer producers’ companies (FPCs), including 30 such bodies promoted by Nabard,have been operational in these five districts.

 

Besides NABARD, APEDA has also signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with other implementing agencies of FPOs scheme – Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

 

Under these MoUs, APEDA willoprovide technical knowhow to tPOs to upscale infrastructure created for post-harvest management to promote exports.

 

APEDA will also assist FPOs in certification of organic produce.

 

FPOs promotion scheme

The government in 2020 had launched 'Formation and Promotion of FPOs' scheme under which 10,000 new FPOs are targeted to be formed by 2027-28.

 

Under the scheme, the Centre grants up to Rs33 lakh as handholding and financial support for five years to each new FPO. Also, a credit guarantee facility up to Rs2 crore of project loan per FPO is in place.

The Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has decided to relax some provisions of foreign trade policy (FTP) to help importers bring in their moong cargoes contracted before February 11, in a move that could provide relief to a section of the pulses trade.

 

Last month, the Centre had amended the moong import policy by moving it from 'free' to 'restricted', a move that shocked importers.

 

Following representation from various entities, the DGFT has decided to relax the FTP provision to allow importers to ship in moong for fiscal 2021-22, subject to some conditions. The quantity eligible for import would be proportionate to the amount paid prior to February 11, 2022, as advance. If the advance payment had been made in full for the entire contracted quantity, then the eligibility would be for the entire contracted quantity. 'If there is a partial payment, quantity admissible for import shall be limited to the quantity in proportion to the advance payments made,' DGFT said in a trade notice issued on Monday.

 

DGFT said the import contracts should have been entered into prior to February 11 with payments made. Details of such contracts have to be registered before March 15 at the jurisdictional regional offices of additional DGFT in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Ludhiana.

 

Trade sources, following the change in moong bean import policy early last month, had indicated that cargoes of upto 50,000 tonnes were getting prepared to be shipped to India before March 31 from origins such as Myanmar.

 

India’s moong imports during the April-September period of the current fiscal were valued at $76.9 million against $77.14 million in the entire f2020-21 fiscal.

 

As per the Second Advance Estimates, moong production in India during 2021-22 is expected to be 3.06 million tonnes, including 2 million tonnes in kharif and 1.06 million tonnes in rabi season.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) has clarified that the coverage on export transactions to Russia has not been withdrawn. It has been mentioned in various media reports that ECGC has withdrawn its cover on the export transactions to Russia vide its circular dated 25.02.2022; this is factually incorrect.

 

In view of the prevailing situation, ECGC carried out a review of the country risk rating of Russia as per its extant underwriting policy. Accordingly, with effect from 25.02.2022, the cover category of Russia has been modified from Open Cover to Restricted Cover Category – I (RCC-I) for which revolving limits (normally valid for a year) are approved specifically on a case-to-case basis.

 

It is further clarified that this change has been made to ensure that ECGC is able to assess and monitor the risks covered under its export credit insurance policies and to place appropriate risk mitigation measures. The above measure will also enable the exporters / banks in India in assessing the export payment realization prospects from buyers and/or banks in Russia.

 

The customers have been suitably advised to contact their servicing branch of ECGC for cover on shipments to Russia.

 

ECGC continues to monitor the situation and further review of the underwriting policy will be undertaken based on future developments.