Page 28 - Piyush Goyal

Fadnavis to negotiate with allies for Maha polls: BJP Mumbai unit chief

The BJP announced on Sunday that its senior leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will take the decisions over seat-sharing and negotiations with allies for the upcoming assembly polls in the state. BJP's Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar told reporters, The core committee (of the state unit) convened in Mumbai to delegate all decision-making powers concerning seat-sharing and the selection of assembly constituencies to Fadnavis. The move aims to prevent undesired delays by streamlining the preparations for the assembly elections due in a few months, he said. Party observer and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav, BJP national secretary Vinod Tawde, Union minister and Mumbai North MP Piyush Goyal also attended the meeting in Mumbai. Of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra, the BJP had won 104 in 2019. Shelar confirmed the finalisation of the formula for winning besides the planning and seat-sharing arrangements with the allies. Fadnavis has been granted full authority in t

Goyal states restoring Diamond Imprest Licence for gems, jewellery sector

Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Saturday announced restoration of Diamond Imprest Licence, which allows import duty exemption on cut and polished diamonds up to a specified limit. The gems and jewellery exporters were demanding for this licence. In the absence of this licence, the cut and polished diamonds were getting imported in Dubai and getting assorted there and re-exported, impacting India's exports and jobs in the sector. The minister announced the restoration of the licence during a session at the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) 2024 here. It was organised by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). "Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry announced the introduction of the Diamond Imprest Licence," the GJEPC said in a statement. The licence allows eligible exporters to import cut and polished diamonds, including semi-processed, half-cut, and broken diamonds. Exporters can import diamonds up to 5 per cent of their average turnover

India always cares for, looks after interests of Global South: Piyush Goyal

India has always looked upon itself as a responsible nation, which cares for and looks after the interests of the Global South, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. He also said that the welfare of all the people of the world is a collective responsibility of every nation. The Global South broadly includes developing and least developed countries of regions such as Africa and Asia. "We do believe that we would like to be a friend to every country in the world, more so the member states of BIMSTEC, the seven nations who collectively make up a very large number of people, almost 22 per cent of the world population," Goyal said. The minister was speaking at CII's BIMSTEC Business Summit 2024 here. The remarks assume significance as India's neighbouring country Bangladesh is facing political turmoil. "We are all deeply concerned about the evolving situation in Bangladesh and we wish the people of Bangladesh well. We will all collectively convey our best wish

Piyush Goyal suggests Bimstec group members to relook proposed FTA

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday suggested the seven member countries of the BIMSTEC bloc to relook at the progress of Free Trade Agreement talks which are moving at a very slow pace. He said that the members can think of negotiating a preferential trade agreement instead of a full-fledged free trade pact. BIMSTEC stands for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Its seven members are five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka) and two Southeast Asian countries (Myanmar and Thailand). The bloc has been negotiating a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2004. So far over 20 rounds of talks have been held. The last one was held in 2018. "I would like to raise a few fundamental issues about where we stand and what are the possibilities of making this FTA a reality," Goyal said here at CIIs BIMSTEC Business Summit 2024. He said that so far 22 rounds of talks have been held for t

Goyal shows hope, says right steps would make India $55 trn economy by 2047

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday expressed hope that steps such as focus on self-sufficiency, technology, stronger currency and fundamentals would help India become a USD 55-trillion economy by 2047. He said that the government is also focusing on areas such as moving from oil to electric vehicles and bringing quality in the manufacturing. He was replying to a question about feasibility to reach USD 55 trillion economy by 2047, which is the theme of K V Subramanian's book Bharat@100: Envisioning Tomorrow's Economic Powerhouse. "All this will collectively help us and a stronger currency...stronger fundamentals of economy from where we are today and hopefully will help us to (reach) USD 55 trillion economy," he said. Goyal added that EV focus, and reduction in imports of goods, oil seeds, rubber and pulses would help further strengthen the domestic currency.

No rethinking on support for Chinese for investments in India: Piyush Goyal

European Union has suggested India devise its own mechanism instead of paying carbon tax for imports, says Commerce Minister

Goyal says industry's demand for protection may derail UK, EU FTA talks

India and the UK have been negotiating a trade agreement for over two-and-a-half years

Will consider EU suggestion; come up with whatever good for industry: Goyal

The EU has suggested that India can devise its own mechanism instead of paying the carbon tax to the European Union, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. Goyal said the ministry would consider the EU's suggestion and come up with whatever is good for the Indian industry and for the people. He added India is in dialogue with the European Union (EU) on the tax or Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The minister said he feels the CBAM will hurt the EU "very" badly, as infrastructure, cost of living, industrial and consumer products will become expensive. The EU's economy will also face further distress that is "my reading of CBAM", Goyal said. "They (EU) are very keen to pursue that and they have offered that India could instead of paying CBAM tax to the EU, devise its own mechanism. We will consider their suggestion and come up with whatever is good for the Indian industry and for the people of India," he told reporters here. As per reports, an EU ...

No rethinking on supporting Chinese investments in India: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said there is no rethinking in the government to support foreign direct investments (FDI) from China as was pitched by the Economic Survey recently. He said it was a report that always speaks about new ideas and gives out their own thinking. The Survey, he said, is not at all binding on the government and there is no thinking on supporting Chinese investments in the country. "There is no rethinking at present to support Chinese investments in the country," the minister told reporters here. In 2020, the government made its approval mandatory for FDI from countries that share landed border with India. Countries which share land borders with India are China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. The minister was responding on a pitch made by the pre-Budget Economic Survey on July 22 for seeking FDI from China to boost local manufacturing and tap the export market. As the US and Europe are shifting their

Hike in capital gains taxes won't adversely impact market sentiment: Goyal

The Commerce minister termed the criticisms against the hike in capital gains tax and securities transaction tax in derivatives trading as fear-mongering

India has highest trade deficit with China, gap narrowing: Piyush Goyal

India has the highest trade deficit with China in goods but the gap expanded at a lower pace during 2014-15 to 2023-24 as compared to the previous 10 years, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said that the trade deficit has increased by compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42.85 per cent during 2004-05 to 2013-14, while the same has come down to 6.45 per cent during 2014-15 to 2023-24 which clearly indicates the success of the government in containing rate of growth of excessive import growth from China during the past ten years. It may also be noted that from 2004-05 to 2013-14, trade deficit grew by approximately 24.8 times while it grew only by 1.75 times from 2014-15 to 2023-24, he said. "India has the highest merchandise trade deficit with China," Goyal said. India's exports to China in 2023-24 stood at USD 16.65 billion, while imports aggregated at USD 101.75 billion, leaving a trade .

Panel of secretaries working on simplification of FDI rules: Piyush Goyal

A reduction in the basic customs duty of gold to 6 per cent (from 15 per cent) will reduce smuggling, said Union minister Piyush Goyal

Cut in gold import duty will curb smuggling, boost jewellery exports: Goyal

The announcement in the Budget to cut import duty on gold will help boost domestic manufacturing and promote jewellery exports, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. He also said that the decision for the removal of angel tax will further strengthen the startup ecosystem in the country. "The gold import duty cut to 6 per cent will promote the manufacturing of gold and silver jewellery. It will also contain smuggling," Goyal told PTI. He added that the gold prices are high and the marriage season is coming and this move would help the people. Presenting the Union Budget 2024-25 on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that to enhance domestic value addition in gold and precious metal jewellery in the country, the government has proposed to reduce customs duties on gold and silver to 6 per cent and that on platinum to 6.4 per cent. Giving a big relief to startups, the government on Tuesday announced the removal of angel tax for all classes of inves

Goyal cites ease of doing, other steps to attract US investors to India

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday appealed to the Indian diaspora of the US to help promote the country as a preferred investment destination, highlighting the vast opportunities available in various sectors. He said that the government has taken a series of measures to attract investments and those steps include promoting ease of doing business, reducing compliance burden, opening sectors like space and efface for foreign direct investments. Goyal also asked the diaspora to participate in making India a developed nation by 2047. "Help promote brand India as a premium investment destination. Investing in India has tremendous growth potential and we saw NRI deposits (increasing to) USD 3 billion between April and May, and that is four times what it was last year. I am sure many of you would be looking at investments in the Indian stock market, bond market, banking systems, fixed deposits, depending on your appetite for risks," he said while virtually interacting

G7 trade ministers' meet: Union min Goyal discusses FTA with UK, EU

Goyal was attending the G7 Trade Ministers' meeting in Italy to discuss ways to enhance global trade relations and economic cooperation

Regulatory framework to push exports via e-comm likely by Sep: Comm secy

A regulatory framework to push the country's exports through e-commerce medium is expected to be ready by September, a top government official said on Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that at present India's exports through this medium are only about USD 5 billion as compared to China's USD 300 billion, annually. He said there is a huge potential to boost these exports. In this regard, a meeting was held in the ministry on Tuesday with concerned departments such as revenue and industry representatives from areas like logistics and marketplace platforms. "We are working on setting up e-commerce export hubs in the country. We discussed on its framework. It is in our 100-day agenda," Barthwal told reporters here. When asked about the timeline for the framework to be ready, he said by September. There is a potential to take it to USD 50-100 billion in the coming years. Through these hubs, small producers will be facilitated to sell to aggregators and then that aggregat

'Huge potential': Piyush Goyal asks Swiss firms to invest in India

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has asked Swiss companies to invest in India as several sectors hold huge potential, an official statement said on Tuesday. The minister was on an official visit to Switzerland at the invitation of his Swiss counterpart Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin. "The two ministers had engaging and fruitful discussions with prominent Swiss and Indian captains of industry over the breakfast meeting on July 15," the commerce ministry said. He encouraged Swiss companies to become part of India's growth story and invest in its growing and dynamic market. A 12-member Indian business delegation also had networking opportunities with Swiss entrepreneurs. The key objectives of the visit were to discuss next steps for the implementation of the historic India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) which was signed on March 10. Switzerland ranks as India's 20th largest trading partner globally with bilateral trade of USD 21 billion in 2023. It

Huge investment opportunities in India: Piyush Goyal to Swiss investors

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday held discussions with potential investors in Zurich and informed them about huge investment opportunities in India. The minister is in Switzerland regarding implementation of the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). On March 10, India and EFTA signed a free trade agreement under which New Delhi received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Goyal engaged in a series of meetings, highlighting India's growth story and met leading business figures and potential investors, including representatives from MSC Cargo, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement. They discussed potential collaborations and investment opportunities in various secto

Exports positive in April-June quarter despite challenges: Piyush Goyal

India's exports have recorded healthy growth in May and remained in the positive zone in June and the first quarter of the current fiscal despite global challenges, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. He also said that growth in the services sector is helping the country's outbound shipments to register positive growth rates. "In May, exports were positive, the figure for June is also positive. The first quarter is also in the positive territory," Goyal told PTI. India's merchandise exports rose 9.1 per cent to USD 38.13 billion in May. During April-May this fiscal, the outbound shipments grew by 5.1 per cent to USD 73.12 billion. The commerce ministry will officially release the export data for June on July 15. "Despite the ongoing two wars (Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas), the Red Sea crisis, and container shortage issues, our exports are in a positive zone. One more advantage that we have is the fast pace growth in the services exports," the minister said. H

Piyush Goyal to hold meetings with G7 trade ministers in Italy next week

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will hold bilateral meetings at Reggio Calabria in Italy next week with his counterparts from G7 nations and discuss ways to boost trade and investments, an official statement said on Saturday. Reggio Calabria is a coastal city in southern Italy. The Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US. These meetings aim to explore new avenues for trade and investment, resolve bilateral trade issues, and deepen economic cooperation, it said. Goyal will hold these deliberations on the sidelines of the outreach session of the G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting (July 16-17) in Italy. "During this visit, Goyal will also engage in bilateral meetings with the trade ministers of G7 countries and other participating nations in the outreach session, reinforcing India's commitment to global trade and investment partnerships," the commerce and industry ministry said. It added that India would showcase t