India's exports zoom to $ 163 billion -26.4% annual growth

Demonstrating signs of a robust Indian economy, India’s merchandise exports increased from US $ 63.8 billion in 2003-04 to US $ 162.9billion in 2007-08 recording average annual growth rate of 26.4% during the last four years.
(Values in US $ billion)
Year Exports %Growth Imports %Growth
2003-2004 63.8 -- 78.1 --
2004-2005 83.5 30.8 111.5 42.7
2005-2006 103.1 23.4 149.2 33.8
2006-2007 126.3 22.5 185.6 24.4
2007-2008 162.9 29.0 251.4 35.5
2007-08(Apr-Nov.) (P) 99.9 153.1
2008-09(Apr-Nov.) (P) 119.3 19.4 203.6 33
Provisional
Data Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata

Steps taken by the Government to arrest deceleration of export -- (1) Excise duty reduced across the board by 4% for all products except petroleum products and those products where current rate was less than 4%; (2) Interest subvention of 2% has been provided till 31.3.2009, to the following labour intensive sectors for exports: Textiles (including Handlooms), Handicrafts, Leather, Gems & Jewellery, Marine Products and SMEs; (3) Additional funds of Rs.350 crore provided for export incentive Schemes; (4) All items of handicrafts included in Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana; (5) Back-up guarantee to ECGC for up to Rs.350 crore; (6) Rs1,100 crore provided to ensure full refund of claims of CST/Terminal Excise duty/ Duty drawback on deemed exports; (7) Additional funds of Rs.1400 crore provided for textile sector to clear the backlog claims of TUF; (8) Export duty on iron ore fines eliminated, and for lumps, reduced to 5%; (9) Import duty on naphtha for power sector eliminated; (10) Some pending issues relating to Service Tax refund on exports – resolved.

Special Economic Zones

SEZs have created employment for large number of unemployed rural youth. Even in the services sector, 12.5 million sq meters space is expected in the IT/ITES SEZs which as per the NASSCOM standards translates into 12.5 lakh jobs. It is, therefore, expected that establishment of SEZs would lead to fast growth of labour intensive manufacturing and services in the country. The total investment in the SEZs, as on 30th September 2008, were Rs.93507.23 crore and the total employment generated so far to 3,62,650 persons.

Out of the 531 formal approvals given till date, 174 approvals are for sector specific and multi product SEZs for manufacture of Textiles & Apparels, Leather Footwear, Automobile components, Engineering etc. which would involve labour intensive manufacturing. Exports from SEZs during the year 2007-08 was to the tune of Rs.66,638 crore with a growth of 92% over 2006-07 (overall growth of exports of 381% over past four years (2003-04). The export projection for 2008-09 is Rs.1, 25,950 crore.

Gems & Jewellery

During the year 2007-08, exports in gems & Jewellery sector were worth US $ 19,657.36 million dollars and registered growth of 23.13% as compared to the year 2006-07. During the period April-July of the current fiscal exports worth US $ 6296.14 million were effected as against US $ 6141.92 million during the corresponding period previous year.

Marine Products

Marine Products Export Development Authority had initiated following measures to sustain the export of marine products during the current year: 1. Launched a comprehensive programme to tap deep sea resources of Tuna and finalised an action plan for development of tuna fishery in the Andamans. 2. Increased thrust on diversification of culture practices and launched a new scheme for providing financial assistance for value addition. 3. Introduced for the first time in the world Organic fresh water shrimp in the international market. 4. Promoted ornamental fish breeding for export. 5. Took steps to set up six more screening laboratories in Andhra Pradesh to improve the quality of shrimp exported. 6. Undertook R&D activities for new aquaculture technologies / innovative methods for increasing the production of fin/shell fish varieties. 7. Taken steps to introduce a brand promotion scheme to promote the image of Indian Seafoods at abroad.

Anti-dumping Investigations during 2008

During the year 2008, the Directorate General of Anti Dumping has so far initiated 18 fresh anti-dumping investigations (till 8.12.2008). The products involved are Cable Ties, All Fully Drawn or Fully Oriented Yarn/Spin Draw Yarn/Flat Yarn of Polyester, Plain Medium Density Fibre Board, Power Steering Gear System, Thyionyl Chloride, Plastic Processing Machinery, Cathode ray Television Picture Tube – III, Nylon Tyre Cord Fabrics, Flax Fabrics, Ceramic tiles, Tyres Curing Presses, Radial Tyres, Pencillin – G, Phosphoric Acid, Diethyl Thio Phosphoryl Chloride, Cold Rolled Products of Stainless Steel, Hot Rolled Steel Products and Axle Beam and Steering Knuckles. The countries involved in these investigations are China PR, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, European Union, Indonesia, Belarus, Hong Kong, Korea RP, Japan, South Africa, Taiwan, USA, Iran, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.

Performance of Plantation Sector

COFFEE – The Government of India has approved the Development Support Scheme for coffee sector with a total financial outlay of Rs.310 crore during the month of March 2008. An area of 47776 hectares has been brought under plantation from January to November 2008. A new scheme on Export Promotion of Coffee and the scheme on Support for Coffee Processing have been approved by the Government of India with a total financial outlay of Rs.45 crore on April 10, 2008. The total export for the period from January to November 2008 was 2,08,023 tonnes earning a foreign exchange of Rs.2,271.81 crore against 2,04,538 tonnes earning a foreign exchange of Rs.1,773.50 crore during the same period last year.

RUBBER – India is the fourth largest producer of rubber with a share of 8.3% in the world production. The rubber sector accounts for 93% of the production and 89% of the area with an average holding size of 0.5 hectare. Natural rubber export and import is expected to reach 72,000 tonnes and 80,000 tonnes respectively in 2008. The Rubber Training Centre received ISO: 2000 certificate in June 2008.

SPICES – Indian spices industry recorded an export of 4,44,250 tonnes worth over US $ 1 billion during the year 2007- 2008. It marked a quantum leap of 19 per cent in volume and 24 per cent in rupee value. Mumbai is the major hub for export of spices and has alone accounted for 39% in volume of the total spice exports during the last financial year.

TOBACCO – India earned a foreign exchange of Rs.2,022.78 crore and Rs.10,271.55 crore as excise revenue in the year 2007- 2008. The exports of tobacco and tobacco products during 2007- 2008 were valued at Rs.2022.78 crore. During April-October 2008, exports of tobacco and tobacco products were valued at Rs.1952.43 crore. During April-October 2008, unmanufactured tobacco exports were valued at Rs.1623.10 crore and exports of tobacco products were valued at Rs.329.33 crore. Going by the current trend exports of tobacco and tobacco products are expected to cross US $ 600 million during 2008- 2009.

Prospects of the Doha Round

India continues to believe in strengthening the multilateral trade rules of the WTO. The full liberalisation through the WTO secures the economic and commercial gains necessary in the goods and services sectors and modes of supply of interest to developing countries. India has reiterated the need for a serious discussion on the expectations of WTO Members regarding other issues. The developing countries want to have progress in some of these issues such as the TRIPS-CBD issue. The WTO Ministers will raise issues that they consider important and it would therefore be prudent to prepare for this so that the discussions in the Ministerial Conference can be held in a constructive environment and lead us to a successful conclusion.
Further, progress needs to be made in other areas of negotiations as well, that are of great interest to the developing countries. Our focus is on the bankable commitments from our major trading partners in areas where we have relative strengths and which would provide certainty and value to trade in Services. India has made it known that without bankable commitments from the major developed countries in Services, it may be difficult for India to agree to the modalities on Agriculture and NAMA. India needs to have clear information on the important elements which are required for completion of Services’ negotiations too.
India has been engaging constructively and actively with other fellow Member countries of the WTO towards this end. For India, it is important that the Doha Round negotiations are brought to a successful conclusion. Such a conclusion can only be possible if we are faithful to the mandate and the outcome reflects a clear balance between market opening and the development needs of the majority of the membership. India is ready to show the necessary flexibility to achieve such an outcome but the onus for movement lies largely with the developed countries.

SEBI smells ulterior motive behind forged letter to Pyramid Saimira

SEBI issued the following clarification on news reports relating to Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd.

"It has been widely reported in the media that SEBI has vide order dated December 19, 2008, directed Mr. P S Saminathan, the CMD of Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd. (PSTL), to make an open offer for acquisition of shares of the Target Company (PSTL) at a price of not less than Rs. 250/-. A copy of the letter purported to have been issued by SEBI was also flashed on some TV Channels today.

"It is hereby clarified that no order or letter has been issued by SEBI to Mr. P S Saminathan on 19.12.2008. It appears that the said letter is being circulated with ulterior motives.

"SEBI is separately investigating into the matter including the origin of the letter. SEBI is also separately inquiring into the dealing in the scrip following the press report including alleged violation of SEBI (SAST) Regulations, 1997.

Mumbai

December 23, 2008"

Why the worst of times can also be the best of times

What are the learnings for the Indian economy and corporates from the pngoing global financial crisis? Here is an expert view by Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Director & CEO, Reliance Money

The world has changed. After years of benign economic conditions, the four horsemen of financial apocalypse – credit crunch, recession, volatility and uncertainty – are blazing a trail across the horizon. Executives must now reassess their organisation’s agenda and communicate it clearly. If history is a guide, most will frame the current conditions as a threat and take action to protect what they have. Mitigating threats in tough markets is prudent, but companies that adopt a defensive position ignore a counter-intuitive truth: the worst of times for an economy as a whole can be the best of times for individual companies to create value.These are probably occasions when a company can create value significantly in excess of the cost of the resources required to seize an opportunity, whether by acquisition, innovative product launches, expanding in new markets or buying resources.

Golden opportunities do not come along every day, and most people think they are more likely to arise when the good times are rolling. In fact, the moment when you can transform your fortunes often emerges during the toughest times. Companies can also use difficult trading conditions to drive a hard bargain on tangible assets. Emirates purchased Airbus A380s on favourable terms one month after the September 11 attacks, at a time when many airlines were reluctant or unable to make large commitments.

A crisis marks a clean break with the past and creates an external rationale to make unpopular but necessary changes. In a downturn, investors and Boards are more forgiving of short-term earnings dips that might result from actions to improve the organisation in the long term. Kun-Hee Lee, Samsung’s chairman, for example, welcomed the currency crisis that roiled Asian markets in the late 1990s. A decade earlier, Mr Lee had initiated a set of changes to transform Samsung from a competent Korean player to a global leader. Mr Lee harnessed the energy unleashed by the external crisis to reinvigorate the internal changes.

Many companies alternate between growth binges and periods of sober cost cutting. The better approach is to maintain cost discipline throughout the economic cycle. When considering cost cuts, managers should ask themselves how the process will help to maintain cost discipline in the future. The worst of times can be the best of times to create value for leaders alert enough to spot opportunities and courageous enough to seize them

India invites Russian investment in energy

NEW DELHI:Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Kamal Nath has said that there is immense possibility for joint investments between INdia and Russia in areas like banking, information technology, telecommunications, high-technology sectors, power, pharmaceuticals and textiles.

Addressing the India-Russia CEOs Council Meeting here today,Mr Kamal Nath said that India and Russia have managed to sustain strong business vibes in recent years and added that the India-Russia Forum on Trade & Investment has underscored the need for investment cooperation in a large number of sectors.

“Indian companies are quickly establishing themselves in Russia and the cumulative Indian investments in the Russian economy amounted to US $ 744.1 million as of March 31, 2008”, he said. The meeting was also attended by Shri G.K. Pillai, Commerce Secretary Ajai Shankar, Secretary (IPP) apart from CEOs from both the countries. During the occasion, the Minister also launched the IBEF Website in Russian language.

Mr Nath said there is a strong case for Russian companies to invest in India, especially in power sector, as Russia is energy rich and India's energy requirements are going to increase manifold over the next 10-15 years.

The Minister emphasised that critical sectors of the economy, like agriculture, have started a process of revival by growing at a rate of close to 4%. This growth rate is a significant contribution to inclusiveness, which is vital for India as it helps sustain domestic consumption, which will sustain our growth story in the short, medium and long term, he added.

Bilateral trade between India and Russia during 2008-09 (April-July) was to the tune of US $ 1613.56 million. Major items of export are drugs, pharmaceuticals & fine chemicals, RMG cotton including accessories, tea, coffee, tobacco un-manufactured, processed minerals, plastic & linoleum products, machinery & instruments, transport equipments, electronic goods etc. Major items of import are iron & steel, non-ferrous metals, coal, coke, newsprint, silver, synthetic & reclaimed rubber etc.

Cumulative FDI inflows from Russia till August 2008 were US $ 144 million. The top sectors that attracted FDI inflows were medical & surgical appliances, hotel & tourism, food processing industries etc.

Undue favours to new telecom players? DoT says No!

Are the new entrants to telecom field being unduly favoured by the telecom Ministry?

An adage which is much older than the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 says that you cannot compare an apple with an orange. Even in telecom, an Orange (pun unintended!) has to be compared with an orange. That is what level playing field is all about, says a top telecom ministry official.

Asked to comment on the widespread allegations that certain new telecom players like Swan and Unitech have been unduly favoured as they secured spectrum on the basis of fee pegged in 2001, the official explained that the price has not yet been changed ever since deliberately.

“One has to keep in mind the government’s overall objective of growth, affordability and even penetration of wireless service in small towns and rural areas,” he said and pointed out that even TRAI does not favour any change in the fee structure and auction for spectrum.

The unchanged license fee also serves as incentive to telecom players to extend their networks to relatively low-revenue semi urban and rural areas. Otherwise, the government would have to subsidise the rural network expansion, the official said.

Even when the Cabinet decided on pricing for the fourth operators in 2003, it was based on TRAI recommendation and the same principle was applied last year when the new entrants were given licenses.

The government fully respected the telecom industry’s argument for a level playing field for all players and hence did not impose any restrictions for its growth. “This has also immensely contributed to the country emerging as the world’s fastest growth telecom market, adding over 8 million subscribers every month,” the official explained.

The country wireless subscriber base is 300 million strong today and is expected to double to 600 million mark in the next four years.

Any increase in the fee or allowing spectrum to be auctioned would in effect mean injustice to new players as it could jeopardize the tariff structures. With the telecom market witnessing immense tariff war, the new players would have been put to disadvantage visa-vis the existing players and this would have gone against the principles of level playing field, the official said.

DoT has been maintaining that the new licenses have been issued as per TRAI policy guidelines.

Inflation declines to 8.9%

Annual rate of inflation, year on year as conventionally measured, declined to 8.90 per cent for the week ending November 8, 2008 compared to a rate of 8.98 per cent reported in the previous week, the Finance Ministry has reported.

The Wholesale price index in the current week declined by 0.21 per cent, from 235.5 as on November 1, 2008 to 235.0 on November 8, 2008. For the second week in a row inflation continues to be in single digit, though the significant decline of 174 basis points witnessed last week has been moderated to 8 basis points. In the previous year, on November 10, 2007 inflation at 3.20 per cent was significantly lower.

In the ‘primary articles’ group, the annual point-to-point inflation increased to 11.66 per cent, as compared to 11.01 per cent reported last week. Out of a total of 98 articles, 14 articles have shown a decline in prices in the current week as compared to November 1, 2008. These included among others, jowar, maize, ragi, tea, brinjal, black pepper, linseed, coconut fresh, papaya, rape and mustard seed, raw cotton, banana, fire clay and gypsum. A total of 55 articles have shown no increase in prices.

In the commodity group ‘fuel and power’, the rate of inflation declined further to 8.21 per cent in the current week compared to an inflation of 9.22 per cent reported in the previous week. Prices of 4 commodities declined and, for other 14 commodities, it remained unchanged. Prices of bitumen, continues to increase by 1.24 per cent in the current week.

In the case of ‘manufactured products’, rate of inflation in the current week declined marginally to 8.02 per cent, as compared to 8.06 per cent in previous week. Out of 318 commodities, a large number, 287 in all, have shown no increase in prices over the last week. For 21 commodities, there has been a decline in prices. These commodities included among others, sugar, gur, bar and rods, imported edible oils, deoiled cake, rape and mustered cake, groundnut cake and oil, rice bran oil, synthetic yarn, texturised yarn, zinc ingots, bright bars, P.V.C. resins and benzene. Only 9 products, particularly fluorescent tubes, cotton yarn and cotton cloth, bicycles, GLS lamps and mustered oil witnessed an increase in prices.

Inflation of 30 essential commodities declined marginally to 7.60 per cent as of the week ending November 8, 2008 from 7.74 per cent reported in the earlier week. There was a however, an increase in the prices of primary essential commodities including pulses such as urad, moog, gram, arhar, masoor, and cereals like wheat, rice, and bajara . There was also an increase in the prices of onions. The prices of other essential commodities moderated or declined over previous week.

The monthly deseasonalised inflation rate has been negative during September and October, suggesting a continuing moderation in WPI inflation in the coming months. For the month of October 2008, the deseasonalised inflation for primary food showed some increase, though there was significant decline in inflation rate of manufactured food. The overall monthly deseasonalised inflation in manufactured products shows a continuing decline since September 2008.

India turns Global telecom playground

A Corporate Radar excluisive

Why is the Indian telecom market becoming such an active playground for foreign investors? What is the reason for such an inflow of FDI, despite the global financial crisis? Corporate Radar asked Mr. Bundeep Singh Rangar, Chairman of IndusView Advisors Ltd, for his views. IndusView advises multinational companies on business opportunities emanating from India’s fast growing economy. Mr Rangar’s response:

1. Post Etisalat etc., do you think more FDI will flow into Indian telecom?
Ans: The current dynamics of the Indian telecom market should be seen from two perspectives, which also explains the evolutionary cycle the sector has seen over the last two decades:
• A very basic realization among the masses about the need to remain connected – The first phase
• To remain connected and also harness the immense potential of the value added services and innovative applications – The second phase

While the first phase has seen the tele-density of the country jump from less than 1% in the '80s to about 30% now; the second phase is witnessing the numerous applications and value added services like music and movie clips downloads, innovative ring tones, among others.

But, that is not enough ... there is still a large population that needs to be offered the benefits of the basic communication services – that is how the target of achieving a tele-density of about 45% is set for the next five years by the government of India. The service providers – both the state owned and the private sector – would be aiming to surpass that target and garner the maximum possible chunk of that potential subscriber base.

The race among mobile telecommunication service providers translates in to a growing opportunity estimated at more than 700 million by 2012 from the current 300 million, at a CAGR of 21%.

Apart from the vanilla voice and sms services that the mobile services are widely associated with, the advent of next generation platforms like 3G and progressively 4G, will exponentially accelerate the possibilities of innovative applications that can be bundled on to the networks and delivered at the subscribers' finger tips in the hi-tech mobile handsets.

Such subscriber growth targets and evolving technology landscape calls for corresponding high capital investments which is pegged at about $73 billion over the next five years. And, a major chunk of the investment is expected to be realized through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), particularly in the area of mobile communication.


2. Why do you think Indian telecom market is becoming so attractive for foreign players?

Ans: As mentioned above, the incumbent mobile telecommunication service providers in India currently add more than nine million subscribers a month with a potential of taking the total tally of subscribers up to 700 million in the next five years. In terms of expected revenues that translates in to overall mobile services revenues likely to be more than $37 billion by 2012 growing at a CAGR of 18%. Such growth potential in the segment offers enough incentive to overseas service providers to vie for their share of the pie. And investor friendly regulations by the government, allowing up to 74% stake holding in a domestic entity by foreign player is an icing on the cake.

The potential of a profitable exit opportunity is another reason. For instance, the stake of 26% in Tata Teleservices by Japanese telecom services provider NTT DoCoMo at $2.7 bn (Rs 12,770 crore) values Tata Teleservices at Rs 50,270 crore. Even in the current market conditions the valuations are still moving north. In early 2006, Temasek picked up a 9.9% stake in Tata Teleservices for Rs 1,500 crore valuing the company at around Rs 15,000 crore. The NTT DoCoMo deal values Tata Teleservices at more than three times that in less than three years.

3. Given current global crisis, do you think the telecom market, particularly in india, will withstand the turmoil and witness the same pattern of growth as seen in the recent times?

Ans: The recent string of investments in Indian telecom companies, including, Tata Teleservices Ltd by NTT DoCoMo, Inc; Unitech Telecom, the telecom arm of India's second largest real estate developer Unitech Ltd by Norwegian telecom firm Telenor ASA, world's seventh largest telecom service provider at $1.36 billion; and Swan Telecom, a start-up GSM telecom service company of a Mumbai-based real estate developer Dynamix Balwas Group by Dubai-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) at $900 million; or, South Africa's largest telecom company MTN Group's attempts to enter the Indian market are examples of overseas companies that have exhibited confidence in the potential of the Indian market.

Communication is a necessity. The related costs of owning a handset and usage charges (tariffs) in India are among the lowest in the world. To add to that, the service providers are offering innovative tariff packages even while touching the lowest band and are willing to further lower the packages to bring new subscribers in to their fold.

Such customer friendly posture will go a long way in ensuring the market remains an active playground.