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Consumers are likely to witness high memory prices, as no significant capacity addition is in the pipeline over the next 12-18 months, a top official of industry body IESA said on Wednesday. India Electronics and Semiconductor Association President Ashok Chandak, on the sidelines of Bharat Digital Infrastructure Association event, told reporters that setting up a memory plant will take time to get established. "Memory makers can not set up a plant in a few days. We are not seeing any significant capacity coming up in the next one and a half years. There will be a price rise due to high demand, and consumers will need to bear the burden," Chandak said. The price of devices, especially smartphones, has gone up by 20-30 per cent in the last six months. The entire memory capacity of memory chip maker Micron in India has been booked due to high demand. Chandak said the ongoing crisis in West Asia is impacting the entire economy, and there is some impact on electronics also. "The criti
An association of central government employees on Wednesday asked the Centre to issue guidelines on work from home, online meetings and virtual conferencing. The move came following a call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on cutting down avoidable expenditure due to the West Asia crisis. "The visionary leadership of hon'ble Prime Minister and the dedicated government workforce will definitely give the fruitful results of this initiative," the Central Secretariat Service (CSS) Forum said. The forum is a representative body of CSS officers, who form the backbone of the central secretariat's functioning. "CSS Forum urges the #DoPT to issue comprehensive guidelines on Work From Home for Government offices, as Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi has encouraged a revival of Work From Home (WFH), online meetings, and virtual conferencing for both government and private sectors," it said in a post on X. A balanced and structured framework can enhance productivity, employee well-being, dig
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday asked for taking the country's goods and services exports to USD 1 trillion this fiscal year. In 2025-26, exports reached an all-time high of USD 863.11 billion, registering an increase of 4.6 per cent year-on-year, despite global economic uncertainties, including high US tariffs, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the West Asia crisis, he said. Merchandise exports grew 0.93 per cent to USD 441.78 billion in the last fiscal year from USD 437.70 billion in 2024-25. Services shipments too surged to an all-time high of USD 421.32 billion in 2025-26, compared to USD 387.55 billion in 2024-25, recording a growth of 8.71 per cent. "This year, let's aspire for a USD 1 trillion exports target. It's possible," he said at an event here. The minister said that taking from USD 863 billion to USD 1 trillion needs USD 137 billion, which is a 16-17 per cent growth. The minister added that India is opening doors and is providing preferenti
Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) on Wednesday urged the government to remove the 11 per cent import duty on cotton as rising input costs are impacting the textiles industry. AEPC Chairman A Sakthivel met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh, along with a delegation from the apparel industry and submitted representations seeking the duty cut. They have sought "reduction of import duty on cotton from the existing 11 per cent to 0 per cent", the council said in a statement. During the discussions, the delegation highlighted challenges being faced by the apparel and textile industry due to high cotton prices and rising input costs, it said. The industry representatives emphasised that India has recently entered into several free trade agreements, creating significant opportunities for growth in textile and apparel exports. "However, competing apparel exporting nations are able to access cott
The commerce ministry is preparing granular plans to boost the utilisation of free trade agreements (FTAs) by Indian industry, including sending 500 delegations abroad, training 1,000 people, and engaging with 1,600 industry chambers, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. The commerce and industry minister asked the Indian industry to increase utilisation of these pacts as it will help boost exports and attract investments at a time when the global economy is facing challenges. "We are making very granular plans on how we can leverage all these FTAs and convert the global crisis into a golden opportunity," he said at the CII annual business summit here. Since 2021, India has finalised trade deals with Mauritius, the UAE, Australia, Oman, New Zealand, EFTA bloc, UK and the EU. Goyal said that countries such as Switzerland, the United States and nations in the European Union have much higher per capita incomes and cannot manufacture products at a cost lower than India. The ..
Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said the country's wheat production in the ongoing 2025-26 crop year (July-June) is likely to surpass last year's 117.94 million tonne despite localised damage caused due to unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms. "We believe wheat production to be better than last year," Chouhan told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. The crop is good and there would be a record procurement, he added. Harvesting of wheat -- the main rabi (winter) crop - is almost completed in major growing states. Its procurement is in full swing. The agriculture ministry had projected a wheat production of 120.21 million tonnes in 2025-26 prior to unseasonal rains, higher than last year's actual output. However, the Roller Flour Millers' Federation of India (RFFI) projected on April 14 that output would decline marginally, factoring in recent weather damage. Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra sought to bridge the gap between the two estimates. "While the ...
The government is working with industry to identify about 100 products -- including those from the auto sector -- that are either not produced or manufactured inadequately in India, as part of efforts to boost domestic production, according to a top official. Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Amardeep Singh Bhatia, said a set of "unique and interesting" products has already been identified, including items from the auto sector such as axles and motorcycle components. Talking about a series of steps taken by government to make manufacturing competitive in India, he said the "another area where we have been working is to bring in another 100 products which are either not getting manufactured in India as of now or which are not sufficiently being manufactured at the moment". The objective is to expand manufacturing for both domestic and global markets. "We are working closely with the industry (on that)," he said adding "lot of things no
The Indian industry needs to leverage and utilise the free trade agreements (FTAs) that India is finalising, as they provide huge opportunities for both trade and investments, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday. The secretary said that the track record of the country fully utilising and leveraging FTAs is "not great". He also said that the country's industrial policy should complement its trade policy, as trade is also a function of how India invests and produces. "...FTA utilization is something we are questioned again and again. What is the benefit that FTAs are actually leading to?," he said here while addressing a session on free trade agreements. India has implemented trade pacts with a number of countries and groupings including Singapore, Japan, Korea and Asean. Agrawal said these pacts have led to increase in bilateral trade, but India's exports have grown at a slower pace than imports. Talking about the trade pacts with Mauritius, the UAE, Australia, the EU
Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) 'Achal' on Saturday was commissioned into the Indian Coast Guard, bolstering the maritime force's operational capabilities, officials said. 'Achal' is the fifth one in a series of eight FPVs being constructed by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) for the coast guard. The new-generation Adamya-class fast patrol vessel was commissioned into the ICG at Goa Shipyard Limited, marking a "significant capability enhancement", a spokesperson of the force said. The ship was formally commissioned into service by A Anbarasu, additional secretary and director general (acquisition), in the defence ministry, in the presence of Inspector General Tekur Sashi Kumar, Commander Coast Guard Region (North West), senior officials of the central and state governments, and representatives from the GSL. The ship will be stationed at Vadinar, Gujarat, operating under the administrative and operational control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (North West), the spokesperson said. The vessel w
US-based business consulting firm EisnerAmper is aiming to increase its headcount at its Global Capacity Centre (GCC) by 10 per cent over the next three years to serve its worldwide clientele. The firm recently opened its second Mumbai office and has committed over USD 5 million over the next three to five years toward office space in the city, in addition to its existing investments. "Our annual spend in India continues to grow and will scale alongside headcount expansion. Ultimately, our primary investments are in people, office infrastructure, and technology," EisnerAmper Managing Partner Hiren Modi told PTI. With the expansion, Modi said EisnerAmper aims to double its global revenue to USD 2.4 billion in the next 4-5 years from USD 1.2 billion at present. On the GCC side alone, he said, "India currently represents about 20 per cent of our global workforce. We expect that to grow to approximately 30 per cent over the next three-plus years. In absolute numbers, that could transla