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President Message
RBI’s Financial Stability Report (Dec 2022) has been released. The report sketches a positive picture of economy. But the report also throws couple of important observations. Lending to MSMEs which picked momentum in later half of 2021-22 increased further in 2022-23. Lending by private sector banks was even more aggressive. I feel much of it has been because of credit extended under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). Under the ECLGS, an amount of Rs. 2.82 lakh crore has been disbursed till September 30, 2022 to more than 1.25 crore beneficiaries. The major sectors availing the ECLGS were services and traders, which were among the most impacted by the pandemic. While the micro enterprises has been major beneficiary category, in terms of quantum of disbursal, about a third was availed by businesses other than micro, small and medium enterprises, indicating the broad nature of stress related to the pandemic. That highlights undercurrent of stress in MSMEs even if numbers on growth sector are assuring. A large number of cases reported to FISME against prepayment charges also underscore that many MSMEs wanted to change the bank dissatisfied with lack of support during Covid. Therefore, we need to be mindful of precarious conditions of MSMEs and continue to seek support.
Entrepreneurship is a daily leap of faith. In times of economic uncertainty, that leap may feel like a dive off a cliff. We are in one of those times. It likely will take months to fully re-adjust to the forces that have pummeled the world's economy, and to entrepreneurs, months can feel like years.
With the right playbook, entrepreneurs can survive and thrive in whatever economic scenario. Here are five things you can do to propel your business ahead now and through the difficulties of business cycles for years to come.
Episodes of severe financial market turmoil in India have often had their origins in global events. Therefore, it is not surprising that the latest Financial Stability Report (FSR) of the Reserve Bank of India should contain dire warnings on the global shocks that are interacting with each other to create ‘harsh challenges’ for EMs (emerging markets).
To settle past concerns related to disagreement involving export obligation defaults, a dispute resolution scheme for exporters is likely to be announced in the upcoming union budget 2023-24.
A time frame of three to six months will be provided to exporters to come clean under the proposed scheme, reported Business Standard. Two people aware of the likelihood told Business Standard that it could lower the interest to one-third on delayed Customs duty payment and may even waive penalties.
Predicting a slight decline in India’s economic growth, the World Bank said that India will grow at 6.6 per cent in next financial year from an expected 6.9 per cent in 2022-23.
However it said that India is likely to remain the fastest growing economy of the seven largest emerging-market and developing economies (EMDEs). For 2024-25, the growth rate is projected at 6.1 per cent. “The slowdown in the global economy and rising uncertainty will weigh on export and investment growth,” it said.
The high duty on certain inputs for aluminium production should either be rationalised or removed completely to boost the domestic industry’s cost competitiveness, said Aluminium Association of India (AAI) on Tuesday.
With the demand for aluminium all set to rise exponentially in India from the current 4 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 10 MTPA by 2030, the industry body said an investment of nearly Rs 4 lakh crore would be required to scale up production capacities and adequately cater to the rise in demand.
The union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved Rs 2,600-crore incentive scheme to promote Rupay debit card and low-value BHIM-UPI transactions (person-to-merchant) in FY23.
In-line with the objective of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, the scheme will also promote UPI Lite and UPI 123PAY as economical and user-friendly digital payments solutions and enable further deepening of digital payments in the country, across all sectors and segments of the population.
For India to become a global outsourcing service centre, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has sought for a Jewellery Repair Policy for India.
The government organisation to promote the Indian jewellery industry has urged the central government for this, reported PTI. GJEPC said that if this policy is implemented the country’s share in the repair market will increase to 10-20 per cent. Currently, India holds only three per cent share in the global jewellery repair market with sales worth USD 196.8 million while the United States has captured around 30 per cent of the market, followed by China with 9.2 per cent share.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday approved three capital procurement proposals worth Rs 4,276 crore.
According to the ministry of defence statement, among these three proposals, two are of the Indian Army and one of the Indian Navy. The proposals are under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. "The DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of Helina anti-tank guided missiles launchers and associated support equipment which will be integrated to the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)," it said.
Stemming the colonial mindset in India’s business laws, the Jan Vishwas Bill tabled by the Government in the Winter Session of the Parliament proposes to remove 186 provisions for Jail sentences for non – compliance of the relevant sections from 42central Acts, largely concerned with Doing Business.
This is a significant initiative by the government which has been overlooked, Debashis Bandyopadhyay, retired industrial advisor to GoI told KNN India explaining that it would ‘civilise’ our business laws.
The Department of Commerce and Industries, Chhattisgarh on Friday signed two MoUs for setting up foodgrain-based industries in state.
The agreements were signed at Udyog Bhawan in the presence of Chhattisgarh Industries Minister Kawasi Lakhma. The first MoU was signed with Suruchi Foods Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, for nutritional supplements and fortified rice. Under this partnership, the company will invest Rs 111.7 crore and generate employment for 800 people.
With the aim to promote electric vehicles in the state, the Tamil Nadu government has extended 100 per cent exemption of road tax for EVs till December 31, 2025.
It has extended the relaxation for both transport and non-transport e-vehicles registered in the state, said a G.O. issued by K Phanindra Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Transport department on Friday. Earlier, the state government had granted 100 per cent relaxation between November 3, 2020 and December 31, 2022.
With the aim to develop a battery energy storage system (BESS) with the capacity of up to 250 MW/500 MWh, the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has inked an MoU with ONGC Tripura Power Company Limited (OTPC).
As per reports, the projects would be developed with an estimated investment of Rs 2,000 crore. The BESS project is expected to help Assam in improving power availability during peak load hours, improving integration of renewable energy generation with the electricity grid and enhancing grid reliability.
Andhra Pradesh’s first Liquefied Compressed Natural Gas (LCNG) station comes up at APIIC Industrial Park in Kadapa of YSR district. The LCNG Station that is set up by AG&P Pratham, one of the leading players in the Indian City Gas Distribution (CGD) industry, was inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Amzath Basha Shaik Bepari on Thursday. Member of Parliament, Kadapa, Y S Avinash Reddy, Abhilesh Gupta, Managing Director & CEO, AG&P Pratham and senior management of AG&P Pratham were present at the inaugural ceremony.
Significant amount of potential exists in further expanding India’s trade and economic cooperation with Guyana in sectors like textiles, engineering, transport and automobiles, pharma, AYUSH, IT, chemicals etc, said Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs on Thursday. Addressing the ‘Business Meeting in honour of the President of Guyana and the accompanying delegation’, organized by FICCI jointly with other business Chambers (CII, ASSOCHAM), he said, “Our growing collaboration over the years has been marked by strengthening of bilateral relations on several fronts.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai on Wednesday welcomed continued engagement on intellectual property (IP) and reiterated that the protection and enforcement of IP contributes to the promotion of innovation as well as bilateral trade and investment in IP-intensive industries. They were co-chairing the 13th Ministerial-level meeting of India – United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2023.
Finding Talent Remains the Single-Biggest Issue Facing Small Businesses. These Tips Can Help Find Your Next Great Employee
In its recent monthly jobs report, the National Federation of Independent Businesses revealed what many small businesses already know: finding quality labor is a challenge.
In fact, the report noted that filling open positions is the single largest issue facing small firms.
The Small Business Owner's Guide to Sending, Receiving, Saving and Protecting Funds
One discussion I have immediately with my new small business clients is that of how they plan to send, receive, save and protect their funds to make sure that all of their financial needs and goals will be met without delay or disruption to their daily operations. When broken down, this all falls into four categories: money in, money out, money held and money protected.
3 Overlooked Ways to Go the Extra Mile and Close More Sales
When you're trying to make the sale, your hard work doesn't end once you leave the meeting with your potential customer. You must remain in contact until they've decided to take the plunge and buy your product or service. I've noticed entrepreneurs often struggle with follow-ups to make a sale, but continuously following up with a contact is what will convert a lead into a customer at the end of the day.
AMFII urges govt to impose anti-dumping duty on viscose fibre
The Association of Man-made Fibre Industry of India (AMFII) in a letter to the Finance Ministry has urged the government to accept the recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) on levy of anti-dumping duty (ADD) on imports of Viscose Staple Fibre from Indonesia.
The import of VSF which is used in readymade garments, home, and industrial textiles, increased fivefold since the removal of ADD in August 2021.
Bhubaneswar-based healthtech startup is enabling affordable healthcare at remote locations
COVID-19 revealed the glaring inequality in healthcare services across India. While people in metropolitan cities and urban centres headed to multi-speciality hospitals, their rural counterparts, who comprise a whopping 65% of India’s population, struggled to access quality healthcare. Witness to the gap and the growing demand for doorstep healthcare services, Priyadarshi Mohapatra, Shobhan Mahapatra, and Sanjay Swain decided to launch health tech startup CureBay to focus on medically underserved areas.
How this engineer-turned entrepreneur is popularising folktales through kids clothes
It’s interesting how living in a joint family and hearing traditional folktales passed down through generations can generate a startup idea. And, that’s precisely how Krishna Siddhapura and her artist husband Bhautik started Story Tailor, a comfortable, eco-friendly clothing brand for children, hand-printed with designs inspired by stories of the Panchatantra.
The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Base 2012=100 and corresponding Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for Rural (R), Urban (U) and Combined (C) for the month of December 2022 (Provisional).
FISME regularly receives monthly reports on the economies of various countries from their missions in India. These reports provide information on key economic parameters, trade related information and all news relevant for importers and exporters. In this edition you can take a look at reports on:
Write your comments on the FISME Factor. Share your views and suggestions on MSME issues. Win prize! The best mail will get a special book every fortnight.
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RBI’s Financial Stability Report (Dec 2022) has been released. The report sketches a positive picture of economy. But the report also throws couple of important observations. Lending to MSMEs which picked momentum in later half of 2021-22 increased further in 2022-23. Lending by private sector banks was even more aggressive. I feel much of it has been because of credit extended under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). Under the ECLGS, an amount of Rs. 2.82 lakh crore has been disbursed till September 30, 2022 to more than 1.25 crore beneficiaries. The major sectors availing the ECLGS were services and traders, which were among the most impacted by the pandemic. While the micro enterprises has been major beneficiary category, in terms of quantum of disbursal, about a third was availed by businesses other than micro, small and medium enterprises, indicating the broad nature of stress related to the pandemic. That highlights undercurrent of stress in MSMEs even if numbers on growth sector are assuring. A large number of cases reported to FISME against prepayment charges also underscore that many MSMEs wanted to change the bank dissatisfied with lack of support during Covid. Therefore, we need to be mindful of precarious conditions of MSMEs and continue to seek support.
To settle past concerns related to disagreement involving export obligation defaults, a dispute resolution scheme for exporters is likely to be announced in the upcoming union budget 2023-24.
A time frame of three to six months will be provided to exporters to come clean under the proposed scheme, reported Business Standard. Two people aware of the likelihood told Business Standard that it could lower the interest to one-third on delayed Customs duty payment and may even waive penalties.
Predicting a slight decline in India’s economic growth, the World Bank said that India will grow at 6.6 per cent in next financial year from an expected 6.9 per cent in 2022-23.
However it said that India is likely to remain the fastest growing economy of the seven largest emerging-market and developing economies (EMDEs). For 2024-25, the growth rate is projected at 6.1 per cent. “The slowdown in the global economy and rising uncertainty will weigh on export and investment growth,” it said.
The high duty on certain inputs for aluminium production should either be rationalised or removed completely to boost the domestic industry’s cost competitiveness, said Aluminium Association of India (AAI) on Tuesday.
With the demand for aluminium all set to rise exponentially in India from the current 4 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 10 MTPA by 2030, the industry body said an investment of nearly Rs 4 lakh crore would be required to scale up production capacities and adequately cater to the rise in demand.
The union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved Rs 2,600-crore incentive scheme to promote Rupay debit card and low-value BHIM-UPI transactions (person-to-merchant) in FY23.
In-line with the objective of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, the scheme will also promote UPI Lite and UPI 123PAY as economical and user-friendly digital payments solutions and enable further deepening of digital payments in the country, across all sectors and segments of the population.
For India to become a global outsourcing service centre, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has sought for a Jewellery Repair Policy for India.
The government organisation to promote the Indian jewellery industry has urged the central government for this, reported PTI. GJEPC said that if this policy is implemented the country’s share in the repair market will increase to 10-20 per cent. Currently, India holds only three per cent share in the global jewellery repair market with sales worth USD 196.8 million while the United States has captured around 30 per cent of the market, followed by China with 9.2 per cent share.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday approved three capital procurement proposals worth Rs 4,276 crore.
According to the ministry of defence statement, among these three proposals, two are of the Indian Army and one of the Indian Navy. The proposals are under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. "The DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of Helina anti-tank guided missiles launchers and associated support equipment which will be integrated to the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)," it said.
Stemming the colonial mindset in India’s business laws, the Jan Vishwas Bill tabled by the Government in the Winter Session of the Parliament proposes to remove 186 provisions for Jail sentences for non – compliance of the relevant sections from 42central Acts, largely concerned with Doing Business.
This is a significant initiative by the government which has been overlooked, Debashis Bandyopadhyay, retired industrial advisor to GoI told KNN India explaining that it would ‘civilise’ our business laws.
The Department of Commerce and Industries, Chhattisgarh on Friday signed two MoUs for setting up foodgrain-based industries in state.
The agreements were signed at Udyog Bhawan in the presence of Chhattisgarh Industries Minister Kawasi Lakhma. The first MoU was signed with Suruchi Foods Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, for nutritional supplements and fortified rice. Under this partnership, the company will invest Rs 111.7 crore and generate employment for 800 people.
With the aim to promote electric vehicles in the state, the Tamil Nadu government has extended 100 per cent exemption of road tax for EVs till December 31, 2025.
It has extended the relaxation for both transport and non-transport e-vehicles registered in the state, said a G.O. issued by K Phanindra Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Transport department on Friday. Earlier, the state government had granted 100 per cent relaxation between November 3, 2020 and December 31, 2022.
With the aim to develop a battery energy storage system (BESS) with the capacity of up to 250 MW/500 MWh, the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has inked an MoU with ONGC Tripura Power Company Limited (OTPC).
As per reports, the projects would be developed with an estimated investment of Rs 2,000 crore. The BESS project is expected to help Assam in improving power availability during peak load hours, improving integration of renewable energy generation with the electricity grid and enhancing grid reliability.
Andhra Pradesh’s first Liquefied Compressed Natural Gas (LCNG) station comes up at APIIC Industrial Park in Kadapa of YSR district. The LCNG Station that is set up by AG&P Pratham, one of the leading players in the Indian City Gas Distribution (CGD) industry, was inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Amzath Basha Shaik Bepari on Thursday. Member of Parliament, Kadapa, Y S Avinash Reddy, Abhilesh Gupta, Managing Director & CEO, AG&P Pratham and senior management of AG&P Pratham were present at the inaugural ceremony.
Significant amount of potential exists in further expanding India’s trade and economic cooperation with Guyana in sectors like textiles, engineering, transport and automobiles, pharma, AYUSH, IT, chemicals etc, said Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs on Thursday. Addressing the ‘Business Meeting in honour of the President of Guyana and the accompanying delegation’, organized by FICCI jointly with other business Chambers (CII, ASSOCHAM), he said, “Our growing collaboration over the years has been marked by strengthening of bilateral relations on several fronts.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai on Wednesday welcomed continued engagement on intellectual property (IP) and reiterated that the protection and enforcement of IP contributes to the promotion of innovation as well as bilateral trade and investment in IP-intensive industries. They were co-chairing the 13th Ministerial-level meeting of India – United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2023.
According to the FISME factor, 100% of MSMEs think that 2023 will be a challenging year.
The Association of Man-made Fibre Industry of India (AMFII) in a letter to the Finance Ministry has urged the government to accept the recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) on levy of anti-dumping duty (ADD) on imports of Viscose Staple Fibre from Indonesia.
The import of VSF which is used in readymade garments, home, and industrial textiles, increased fivefold since the removal of ADD in August 2021.
COVID-19 revealed the glaring inequality in healthcare services across India. While people in metropolitan cities and urban centres headed to multi-speciality hospitals, their rural counterparts, who comprise a whopping 65% of India’s population, struggled to access quality healthcare. Witness to the gap and the growing demand for doorstep healthcare services, Priyadarshi Mohapatra, Shobhan Mahapatra, and Sanjay Swain decided to launch health tech startup CureBay to focus on medically underserved areas.
It’s interesting how living in a joint family and hearing traditional folktales passed down through generations can generate a startup idea. And, that’s precisely how Krishna Siddhapura and her artist husband Bhautik started Story Tailor, a comfortable, eco-friendly clothing brand for children, hand-printed with designs inspired by stories of the Panchatantra.
“ The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough ”
