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India’s growth story a work in progress: PM
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 30 said India’s development story as “a work in progress” and that “there is a lot of distance that is still to be covered.” He was speaking at his farewell speech at the Planning Commission, with which he has been associated for the past three decades. “The external world is changing rapidly. The structure of the economy and the role of the state in the economy are also changing. “With an increasingly open and liberalised economy with a greater reliance on market mechanisms, we need to reflect on what needs to be the role of the Planning Commission in this new world,” Dr. Singh said. Recalling his association with the panel for a decade, he said: “What the Planning Commission has achieved over the last decade gives me confidence that it can address these challenges and questions. I am sure it will subject itself to a critical review and will continue to play a leading role.”
Forex reserves up $500 million at $310 billion
Foreign exchange reserves shot up by $499.8 million to $309.913 billion in the week to April 25 on an increase in the currency assets. Last week, after rising for seven consecutive weeks, the total reserves had marginally declined by $31.6 million to $309.413 billion. Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major part of the overall reserves, surged $493.2 million to $282.029 billion for the period
under review, RBI said. Gold reserves remained unchanged at $21.566 billion, as per RBI data.
India asks EU to lift mango import ban
Describing the European Union’s ban on import of Indian mangoes as a “unilateral action”, India has asked the 28-member bloc to lift the restrictions on the shipments of the fruit from the country. In a letter to EU Trade Commissioner Karl De Gucht, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said that the recent ban on import of mangoes from India has caused considerable apprehensions and alarm in the country. “It is surprising that the EU Commission has chosen to take this unilateral action without any meaningful official consultation,” Sharma’s letter said. It said that India has mandated strong (SPS) sanitary and phyto-sanitary (related with plants and animals) standards and those norms are enforced by state-run regulatory body, which ensures appropriate compliance. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) allows only those exporting agencies to undertake exports which are fully compliant with international standards of the importing country. “APEDA has recently introduced regulations especially for EU bound consignments which mandate specific compliance on SPS standards as required by the host country. Therefore, the unprecedented action by EU is even more surprising at this juncture,” it said. The letter said that the EU’s decision is “unfair” and it would potentially jeopardise India-EU agri trade. It also said that such measures coming at a time which is a peak season for such agricultural produce. “I must mention that the ongoing negotiations for an India-EU broad-based trade and investment agreement is based on the premise of a strong trust and understanding for a more liberal trade regime on both sides. “I am sure that you will take cognisance of the seriousness of our domestic concern and invoke necessary correctives,” Sharma’s letter added. On April 28, the EU banned the import of Alphonso mangoes, the king of fruits, and four vegetables from India for the period from May 1 to December 2015 after authorities found consignments infested with fruit flies. “The EU informed India in mid-March about the issue and immediately after that we have put in place a strong mechanism for examination and certification of the commodity. We have already addressed their concerns,” said Ajay Sahai, Director General of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations. “So we have asked the EU to lift the ban,” he added. The ban was imposed on Alphonso mangoes, eggplants, the taro plant, bitter gourd and snake gourd to tackle “significant shortcomings in the phytosanitary certification system of such products exported to the EU.” Imports have been restricted as 207 consignments of mangoes and some vegetables shipped from India in 2013 were found to be contaminated by pests. The UK imports almost 160 lakh mangoes from India and the market for this fruit is worth almost 6 million pounds a year. India, the world’s largest mango exporter, sells about 65,000-70,000 tonnes of all varieties of the fruit overseas out of its total production of 15-16 lakh tonnes.
India can be leader in supplying medicines: Cipla chairman
India can be a global leader in supplying affordable and high quality medicines to the world, and especially to the underdeveloped countries where such medicines do not reach the poor because of their high cost and the monopoly of foreign manufacturers, said a leading entrepreneur. “India has emerged as the pharmacy of the world,” said Yousuf Hamied, chairman of pharmaceutical giant Cipla. Hamied was speaking in New Delhi on May 2 at the special screening of “Fire in the Blood” - a documentary that depicts mass devastation in Africa, Asia and other parts of the global South due to obstruction of low cost anti-retroviral drugs used for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The documentary was screened by the ministry of external affairs. “India is not just contributing to the arena of medicines but also playing a humanitarian role by manufacturing medicines and supplying them at a low cost across the world,” he said. “India is supplying essential medicines to people in all corners of the world. It is a great role towards humanity and also an initiative to curb the monopoly over medicines created by multinational pharma companies,” said Hamied. The 59-minute documentary tells the story of how western pharmaceutical companies and governments blocked access to low cost AIDS drugs for the global South countries in 1996 and afterwards - leading to 10 million deaths. “The right to live should never be contingent to the ability to pay. Medicines that are required the most should never be sold in a monopoly. It is a very sad part of the story that countries, who need the medicines the most, are the ones who can’t afford them because of the high cost and the patent by foreign companies to prevent any other firms from manufacturing the same drugs at a low cost,” he said. “The companies having patent rights for medicines should allow other firms to manufacture the drugs and ask for royalty in return. Drugs manufacturing should never be seen as a money making business, especially when the motive is to save lives,” Hamied added.
India to give $30 mn to Asian Development Bank Fund
India has decided to be a contributor to the Asian Development Fund and will contribute $30 million in instalments beginning October, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on May 4. “India has decided to become a contributor to the Asian Development Fund and will contribute $30 million towards ADF-11 in agreed instalments beginning October 2014,” Chidambaram said addressing the 47th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, a finance ministry statement said. The Asian Development Fund (ADF), funded by ADB’s member countries, offers loans at very low interest rates as well as grants to help fight poverty in the Asia and Pacific region. Emphasising that “we should aim to have ADB double its lending capacity over the next 10 years”, Chidambaram said: “It is only natural that we feel closest to ADB and are most comfortable partnering with them. Our vision and aims converge.” Pointing out that the Asian multilateral bank is currently facing the twin challenges of portfolio performance and declining disbursements, the finance minister said ADB’s net financial support to members declined to its lowest level in the last five years to just over $100 million. According to a bank review, average delay in completion of successful projects is 2.3 years with one-sixth of projects getting delayed by over four years. “This underscores the need for internal reforms, re-engineering of business processes and delegation and decentralization,” Chidambaram said.
DISCLAIMER
This newsletter is compilation of news articles from various business-e-newspapers and in no way is an endorsement or reflection of Embassy of India, Berne views.
