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President's Message
"
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel headed by PJ Nayak (Axis Bank fame) has finally lifted the lid on the Indian banking sector. The panel says that while the public sector banks suffer from undue interference from Government leading to poor decisions. The practice in many large Private Banks of ‘ever-greening’ bad loans but still continuing with hefty bonuses also exposes the banking sector to grave dangers. Both choke flow funds for investment. Panel’s recommendations that the government should divest its stake in state-owned banks to less than 50%, allow private equity houses to own 40% in distressed banks, and strip managers of private sector banks of their bonuses if caught ever-greening sticky loans, are path breaking. Indian MSMEs have a great stake: a competitive banking sector is much more in the interests of MSMEs than the policy of directed lending. "
The SAARC Trade Promotion Network- an international initiative to deepen intra-SAARC trade and cooperation and supported by GIZ, Nepal, held the meeting of SME Working group meeting at FISME Secretariat.
The working group members from Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka participated in the deliberations along with members from Pakistan and Bangladesh who joined in through Skype. Besides reviewing ongoing initiatives, the working group gave in principle approval to FISME for implementing a value chain development project for two sectors: Juices and Textiles & Garments as lead organization with member organizations in other SAARC countries.
Reserve Bank (Delhi Region), with the support of Federation of India Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), held its first town hall meeting on 2nd May 2014, with the Badli Industries Association which was chaired by the General Manager, Rural Planning and Credit Department (RPCD), RBI, Sonali Sengupta.
The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the grievances and feedback that the small entrepreneurs face with the public as well as private sector banks.
Most of the MSMEs face problems of finance in general and institutional funding in particular while entrepreneurs spend 70 to 80 per cent of their time in dealing with finance related matters, representatives of small industries in west Delhi area of Badli told RBI at the townhall meeting, an initiative of the central bank along with the industry body FISME.
A 12 member Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) delegation participated in Taipei Manufacturing Technology Show (MTDUO 2014) held from 8th to 11th of May 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. The delegation was coordinated by Taiwan External Trade Dev. Council and VTPC ( Government of Karnataka) provided support to Karnataka MSMEs. FISME delegation was led by Mr. Mohan Suresh, Past President of FISME.
The delegates had an exposure to some of the latest machines being produced in Taiwan which were not normally to be seen in other exhibitions. The live demonstration in progress at the venue gave a very clear picture of the machine could deliver.
A central theme in the entrepreneurial world is challenging the status quo and questioning conventional wisdom in search of new and better ways of doing things. After all, if you’re just going to follow the pack, you may as well just get a real job and call it a day.
That’s why nothing raises the hairs on the back of my neck more than everyone moving in lockstep to the same drumbeat. When a thousand shrill voices tell you to do the same thing, that’s a sure sign of groupthink. It’s also a good time to get some earplugs and do some critical thinking.
Today, there is a pervasive and nearly deafening mantra insisting that you quit your job and become an entrepreneur. The collective says you should do it today because every day you wait brings you closer to a life of poverty and regret.
But that’s simply not true. The idea that you can’t have a fulfilling career, be remarkably happy, and even get rich working for someone else is perhaps the most ludicrous, disingenuous, and irresponsible myth I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot.
Progress requires a deep commitment to restoring the centrality of markets in economic decision-making
Whatever the causes of India’s economic slowdown may have been, there is a widespread conviction that the leadership failed to steer the country in a productive direction. That leads inexorably to the question of what must be done to recover momentum when the new government takes office. This article is the first in a 10-part series, drawn from a new book prepared by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which tries to answer that question.
The global economy has shown signs of strengthening over the past few months and the emerging markets like India need to increase investments, especially in infrastructure, to revive growth, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.
Speaking at the first business session of the 47th Annual Meeting of ADB Board of Governors in Astana (Kazakhstan), Chidambaram also stressed upon the need to increase resources of the Asian Development Bank for lending, an official statement said.
"Policies to revive growth in most emerging markets, including India, will have to be rooted in increasing investments, particularly in infrastructure. As most emerging markets are resource constrained, it would be necessary to have recourse to foreign savings for investment," he said.
China's new import policy has hit India's cotton yarn exports significantly to the neighbouring country dealing a blow to the domestic industry.
Considering that the change in Chinese policy has come at a time when cotton consumption within the country is rising and when exports of finished yarn is on the rise, industry officials think the move would result in larger than the anticipated six per cent drop in export of raw cotton, media reports said.
Cotton importing countries around the world have been watching closely as the neighbouring giant has brought to an end a stockpiling scheme under which it has amassed more than 10 million tonnes of the fibre which is around 60 per cent of global cotton inventories.
The country's sugar production fell 3.45 per cent to 23.75 million tonnes in the first seven months of the 2013-14 season as output declined in key states, industry body ISMA said today.
The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) also said cane arrears are set to pile up to over Rs 12,000 crore this season due to falling prices and the government's delay in fixing the subsidy for export of raw sugar.
Mills produced 23.75 million tonnes of sugar till April of the October-September season compared with 24.6 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year, ISMA said.
The current sugar crushing season has almost come to an end and only about 80 of the country's 504 mills operated on April 30, it said in a statement.
To help pharmaceutical exporters meet numerous manufacturing and inspection requirements being put in place by buyer countries, India is considering joining a group of 41 countries that have good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards for drugs.
Eyes PICS
The Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PICS) — which includes Canada, Australia, European, African countries and the US — is an informal co-operative arrangement between regulatory authorities in the field of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) of medicinal products. “The Health Ministry and the Commerce Ministry are examining the option of joining PICS. We feel that the problems exporters face in terms of meeting different GMP and inspection procedures in different countries will be sorted out if we join PICS,” said PV Appaji, Director-General, Pharmexcil.
Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) mandated to promote SMEs sector which constitutes 90 percent of total enterprises, contributing 38 percent to GDP, 25 percent to exports and engaging 80 percent non-agricultural force, appears in a state of somnolence.
This is probably one of the reasons that the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) has come out strongly in favour of SMEs, suggesting that government should extend support to boost SMEs capabilities, in its proposed strategy for "Economic and Industrial growth of Pakistan" submitted to the government.
Most of the MSMEs face problems of finance in general and institutional funding in particular while entrepreneurs spend 70 to 80 per cent of their time in dealing with finance related matters, representatives of small industries in west Delhi area of Badli told RBI at a townhall meeting, an initiative of the central bank along with the industry body FISME.
The Reserve Bank (Delhi Region), with the support of Federation of India Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), held its first town hall meeting yesterday with the Badli Industries Association which was chaired by the General Manager, Rural Planning and Credit Department (RPCD), RBI, Sonali Sengupta.
Overwhelmed with increasing raw material cost and high inflation, India’s corrugated box industry, which has around 10-12 thousand micro and small units, is seeking price hike from their customers as many units especially in the northern and eastern part of the country which owing to highest raw material cost has shrunk the margin for the industry to almost nil.
“The corrugated box industry is a margin based industry where the profit margins are very thin and the industry is highly competitive. Increase in the raw material cost is killing the industry, especially in the northern part of India such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan etc, as the price increase is maximum in the range of Rs 4 - 4.50,” President of Federation of Corrugated Box manufacturers of India, Ramchand Arora told KNN.
Taking it too far, the Indian taxmen want to subject foreign nationals, earning their commission from Indian exporters in their overseas markets, to the TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) and then claim its refund from the Indian tax authorities, the EEPC India said here today urging the Commerce and Finance Ministry to remove uncertainty in this regard in the next foreign trade policy.
“Even though there is a High Court Judgement (that the TDS cannot be levied on the commission earned by foreign agents on exports), the situation is not clear because of certain circulars by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), causing a lot of inconvenience to the exporters who are finding it difficult to engage agents abroad in this backdrop,” EEPC India Chairman, Anupam Shah said in a statement here today.
Exporters are likely to enjoy a subsidy of up to 50 per cent on total freight charges paid on shipment of merchandise through ports outside Odisha.
The draft export policy says the state government will reimburse up to 50 per cent of the cost of transportation paid by exporters at ports outside the state provided ports within the state do not have facilities for handling such cargo.
Exporters would also get incentives for publicity and exposure of up to 50 per cent of the total cost subject to a ceiling of Rs 50,000. But such incentives will be allowed only in case of select reputed trade fairs. Besides, firms availing travel support from government of India under similar scheme will not be eligible for state incentive.
There is a need to propel manufacturing and focus on enhanced marketing, services exports, e-commerce, hi-tech products and merchanting trade, according to the exporters body, FIEO, which added that the new foreign trade policy should initiate measures for competitive manufacturing, both for augmenting exports and substituting imports.
According the trade data released yesterday, India's exports grew 5.26 per cent in dollars terms in April 2014 from a year ago period, reversing two months of decline.
Imports declined 15 per cent in dollar terms, clearly indicating that industrial recovery remained elusive.
Hyderabad headquartered infrastructure engineering and supply chain management firm Lalitanjali Group is planning to set up the country’s first steel industrial park in Vishakhapatnam which will house 15 to 20 ancillary units guided by a pilot company, and facilities like an effluent treatment plant, water treatment plant etc.
The overall capacity of the upcoming industrial park will be approximately 7-8 lakh tonnes, with captive power of over 25 mw, according to the company’s statement here yesterday.
“This offers a huge business opportunity for companies in India, as the landing costs of raw materials from other countries is cheaper by USD 5-6 in Vizag compared to other states,” said CEO of Lalitanjali Group, Rahul Rao.
The economic slowdown and power shortage have taken a toll on small firms in Chennai – a fifth of micro, small and medium units in and around Chennai have shut down, according to S Sivagnanam, Additional Industry Advisor, MSME Development Institute.
“There has been a drop in demand for their products and lower production capacities due to power cuts are hurting,” he said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Friday.
A majority of the firms were auto component suppliers while units engaged in manufacture of chemicals, plastics and leather products have also fallen to the tough business environment.
While the overall pharma exports from the country is likely to miss target, exports from Gujarat has, however, managed to clock double digit growth last fiscal.
According to latest data from the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA), India has exported pharmaceutical products including bulk drugs and formulations of Rs 90,649.90 crore during 2013-14, which falls short of the government export target of $25 billion (around Rs 1.5 lakh crore). As per a Ministry of Commerce strategy paper, "As against a target of $25 billion for 2013-14, it is estimated that only $ 17 billion can be achieved - i.e. nearly 70 per cent of the target."
Power consumers in Karnataka today expressed strong disappointment over revision in tariff by the regulator. The state consumers, particularly the small industries continue to suffer load shedding and voltage fluctuations while the regulator has allowed revision in the power rates.
“It is unfortunate that in spite of the repeated plea of small industries, the KERC has not responded to the demands of the small industries in deferring the increase in the tariff rate without improving the environment in which the energy is being supplied,” Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) today said in a press statement.
Normalisation of trade relationship between India and Pakistan could be a game changer in regional connectivity and integration, Obama Administration's point person for South and Central Asia has said.
"Clearly one of the biggest obstacles to regional connectivity is India and Pakistan. Trade normalisation between these two historic rivals could be a game-changer," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing yesterday.
"We have been encouraged by positive signs from Islamabad and New Delhi that things may be moving in the right direction. We are hopeful that we will see strong leadership from both governments following India's election," she said.
Taking a strong stance, India has warned Switzerland that reluctance to share tax related information may impact economic co-operation between the two countries.
India is pursuing Switzerland to share information on certain accounts held by some Indians in HSBC’s Swiss bank branches. These were account details of those against whom cases of ‘incriminating evidence of tax evasion’ have been found here.
But, the Swiss authorities have been reluctant to share information. This led to the Finance Minister P Chidambaram writing a strongly worded letter to the Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer Schlumpf.
India and Bangladesh need to formalise bilateral trade in rice seeds as local farmers on both side of the border are using them for cultivation through illegal channels, says a study.
"At present, the cooperation between India and Bangladesh in the area of rice seed is almost negligible. Despite several instances of informal movement of high yielding variety (HYV) rice seed across the border, formal trade is conspicuous by its absence," said the Cuts International study.
The availability and accessibility of rice seeds can be significantly improved through cooperation between the two countries, it said.
Indian chilli has been banned in Saudi Arabia, the fifth-largest importer of fresh vegetables from India, citing the presence of high pesticide residues in it.
"We have been informed about the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture's decision to ban chilli pepper beginning May 30," said Surinder Bhagat, second secretary of politics and commerce at the Indian Embassy. "We are in touch with the Saudi authorities to resolve the issue," he told PTI today over phone.
An official at the Ministry of Agriculture said that the decision to ban the import of chilli peppers was made after a sample testing from the Indian shipment showed the presence of high levels of pesticides.
The mandate of 2014 General elections ...clear majority
According to the FISME Factor, 61 per cent of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), think that mandate of 2014 General elections will be clear majority
Senior managers are often looked upon as the driving force of a company. They are considered visionaries who push the business ahead cohesively, motivate employees and create cross-functional dialogue to align goals and targets. Despite the pivotal role played by them in shaping an organisation, little attention is paid to the needs of senior leadership from an HR perspective. This conundrum arises not from the lack of recognition of such needs, but from the absence of a structure to address these requirements.
All about non-banking financial company-micro finance institution (NBFC-MFI)
Non Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institution (NBFC-MFI) is defined as a non-deposit taking NBFC (other than a company licensed under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956) with Minimum Net Owned Funds of Rs 5 crore (for NBFC-MFIs registered in the North Eastern Region of the country, it will be Rs 2 crore) and having not less than 85 per cent of its net assets as “qualifying assets”.
It’s been one of the most cited marketing successes of 2013. Deodorant brand Fogg, a rank outsider in the category, toppled established brands such as Axe to become the market leader. But there are some partners who claim to have played a role in getting Fogg the success that came its way. It’s the cable channels that we are talking about.
For those who tuned into televisions only in the satellite television era, cable channels are the first entertainment options that came to television viewers in India when state broadcaster Doordarshan ruled the airwaves. Then came the slew of satellite channels and cable channels faded away from memory, at least in the big cities.
Why failed entrepreneurs can't legally close startups in India and start afresh
For nearly three years now, Ashok Segu has been on a fruitless quest. The 52-year-old technology entrepreneur who is trying to wind down a failed venture is being held back by red- tape that makes it impossible to formally close a business swiftly in India. Segu's software outsourcing firm Zen Sutra has been dormant ever since the cofounders exited the venture eight years ago.
Eager to start anew, he decided to complete legal formalities for the closure of the firm in 2011. That's when his troubles began. Efforts to delete Zen Sutra from the listing in the Registrar of Companies have remained unsuccessful so far, while it took nearly three years to complete formalities to close tax accounts in the company's name.
West Delhi's steel units blame civic bodies for pollution mess
Lack of proper space to dispose the sludge, residual from industrial wastewater, is the root cause for closure of stainless steel pickling units in the Wazirpur area of the national capital, said the steel associations in the area, blaming the civic authorities for the problem.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has ordered the closure of 112 stainless steel pickling units at the Wazirpur Industrial area with immediate effect after they were found releasing untreated acidic discharge into the sewers.
How Sandeep Sabharwal built a Rs 1,100 crore commodity management firm
My family ran a food processing business in Pakistan before migrating to India during the Partition. In 1961, my father set up a facility in Delhi to process pulses. I joined him in 1995 after completing my MBA from Delhi University. After working for over a decade with my father, I realised that apart from processing and trading, ancillary services, such as storage, preservation and assaying, were virtually non-existent in the warehousing facilities across the country.
It was then that I decided to bring in the much-needed change—efficient management of the post-harvest agricultural services market. I conducted research for two years and learnt that India lost over 10% of its agro produce, valued at around Rs 60,000 crore, to poor and inefficient storage practices every year.
Buy our one-of-a-kind guide to all industrial testing laboratories in India. Find the one most convenient for getting your products tested and certified. An invaluable compendium for all industrial units and exporters.
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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:
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"
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel headed by PJ Nayak (Axis Bank fame) has finally lifted the lid on the Indian banking sector. The panel says that while the public sector banks suffer from undue interference from Government leading to poor decisions. The practice in many large Private Banks of ‘ever-greening’ bad loans but still continuing with hefty bonuses also exposes the banking sector to grave dangers. Both choke flow funds for investment. Panel’s recommendations that the government should divest its stake in state-owned banks to less than 50%, allow private equity houses to own 40% in distressed banks, and strip managers of private sector banks of their bonuses if caught ever-greening sticky loans, are path breaking. Indian MSMEs have a great stake: a competitive banking sector is much more in the interests of MSMEs than the policy of directed lending. "
The SAARC Trade Promotion Network- an international initiative to deepen intra-SAARC trade and cooperation and supported by GIZ, Nepal, held the meeting of SME Working group meeting at FISME Secretariat.
The working group members from Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka participated in the deliberations along with members from Pakistan and Bangladesh who joined in through Skype. Besides reviewing ongoing initiatives, the working group gave in principle approval to FISME for implementing a value chain development project for two sectors: Juices and Textiles & Garments as lead organization with member organizations in other SAARC countries.
Reserve Bank (Delhi Region), with the support of Federation of India Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), held its first town hall meeting on 2nd May 2014, with the Badli Industries Association which was chaired by the General Manager, Rural Planning and Credit Department (RPCD), RBI, Sonali Sengupta.
The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the grievances and feedback that the small entrepreneurs face with the public as well as private sector banks.
Most of the MSMEs face problems of finance in general and institutional funding in particular while entrepreneurs spend 70 to 80 per cent of their time in dealing with finance related matters, representatives of small industries in west Delhi area of Badli told RBI at the townhall meeting, an initiative of the central bank along with the industry body FISME.
A 12 member Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) delegation participated in Taipei Manufacturing Technology Show (MTDUO 2014) held from 8th to 11th of May 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. The delegation was coordinated by Taiwan External Trade Dev. Council and VTPC ( Government of Karnataka) provided support to Karnataka MSMEs. FISME delegation was led by Mr. Mohan Suresh, Past President of FISME.
The delegates had an exposure to some of the latest machines being produced in Taiwan which were not normally to be seen in other exhibitions. The live demonstration in progress at the venue gave a very clear picture of the machine could deliver.
A central theme in the entrepreneurial world is challenging the status quo and questioning conventional wisdom in search of new and better ways of doing things. After all, if you’re just going to follow the pack, you may as well just get a real job and call it a day.
That’s why nothing raises the hairs on the back of my neck more than everyone moving in lockstep to the same drumbeat. When a thousand shrill voices tell you to do the same thing, that’s a sure sign of groupthink. It’s also a good time to get some earplugs and do some critical thinking.
Today, there is a pervasive and nearly deafening mantra insisting that you quit your job and become an entrepreneur. The collective says you should do it today because every day you wait brings you closer to a life of poverty and regret.
But that’s simply not true. The idea that you can’t have a fulfilling career, be remarkably happy, and even get rich working for someone else is perhaps the most ludicrous, disingenuous, and irresponsible myth I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot.
Progress requires a deep commitment to restoring the centrality of markets in economic decision-making
Whatever the causes of India’s economic slowdown may have been, there is a widespread conviction that the leadership failed to steer the country in a productive direction. That leads inexorably to the question of what must be done to recover momentum when the new government takes office. This article is the first in a 10-part series, drawn from a new book prepared by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which tries to answer that question.
The global economy has shown signs of strengthening over the past few months and the emerging markets like India need to increase investments, especially in infrastructure, to revive growth, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.
Speaking at the first business session of the 47th Annual Meeting of ADB Board of Governors in Astana (Kazakhstan), Chidambaram also stressed upon the need to increase resources of the Asian Development Bank for lending, an official statement said.
"Policies to revive growth in most emerging markets, including India, will have to be rooted in increasing investments, particularly in infrastructure. As most emerging markets are resource constrained, it would be necessary to have recourse to foreign savings for investment," he said.
China's new import policy has hit India's cotton yarn exports significantly to the neighbouring country dealing a blow to the domestic industry.
Considering that the change in Chinese policy has come at a time when cotton consumption within the country is rising and when exports of finished yarn is on the rise, industry officials think the move would result in larger than the anticipated six per cent drop in export of raw cotton, media reports said.
Cotton importing countries around the world have been watching closely as the neighbouring giant has brought to an end a stockpiling scheme under which it has amassed more than 10 million tonnes of the fibre which is around 60 per cent of global cotton inventories.
The country's sugar production fell 3.45 per cent to 23.75 million tonnes in the first seven months of the 2013-14 season as output declined in key states, industry body ISMA said today.
The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) also said cane arrears are set to pile up to over Rs 12,000 crore this season due to falling prices and the government's delay in fixing the subsidy for export of raw sugar.
Mills produced 23.75 million tonnes of sugar till April of the October-September season compared with 24.6 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year, ISMA said.
The current sugar crushing season has almost come to an end and only about 80 of the country's 504 mills operated on April 30, it said in a statement.
To help pharmaceutical exporters meet numerous manufacturing and inspection requirements being put in place by buyer countries, India is considering joining a group of 41 countries that have good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards for drugs.
Eyes PICS
The Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PICS) — which includes Canada, Australia, European, African countries and the US — is an informal co-operative arrangement between regulatory authorities in the field of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) of medicinal products. “The Health Ministry and the Commerce Ministry are examining the option of joining PICS. We feel that the problems exporters face in terms of meeting different GMP and inspection procedures in different countries will be sorted out if we join PICS,” said PV Appaji, Director-General, Pharmexcil.
Most of the MSMEs face problems of finance in general and institutional funding in particular while entrepreneurs spend 70 to 80 per cent of their time in dealing with finance related matters, representatives of small industries in west Delhi area of Badli told RBI at a townhall meeting, an initiative of the central bank along with the industry body FISME.
The Reserve Bank (Delhi Region), with the support of Federation of India Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), held its first town hall meeting yesterday with the Badli Industries Association which was chaired by the General Manager, Rural Planning and Credit Department (RPCD), RBI, Sonali Sengupta.
Overwhelmed with increasing raw material cost and high inflation, India’s corrugated box industry, which has around 10-12 thousand micro and small units, is seeking price hike from their customers as many units especially in the northern and eastern part of the country which owing to highest raw material cost has shrunk the margin for the industry to almost nil.
“The corrugated box industry is a margin based industry where the profit margins are very thin and the industry is highly competitive. Increase in the raw material cost is killing the industry, especially in the northern part of India such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan etc, as the price increase is maximum in the range of Rs 4 - 4.50,” President of Federation of Corrugated Box manufacturers of India, Ramchand Arora told KNN.
Taking it too far, the Indian taxmen want to subject foreign nationals, earning their commission from Indian exporters in their overseas markets, to the TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) and then claim its refund from the Indian tax authorities, the EEPC India said here today urging the Commerce and Finance Ministry to remove uncertainty in this regard in the next foreign trade policy.
“Even though there is a High Court Judgement (that the TDS cannot be levied on the commission earned by foreign agents on exports), the situation is not clear because of certain circulars by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), causing a lot of inconvenience to the exporters who are finding it difficult to engage agents abroad in this backdrop,” EEPC India Chairman, Anupam Shah said in a statement here today.
Hyderabad headquartered infrastructure engineering and supply chain management firm Lalitanjali Group is planning to set up the country’s first steel industrial park in Vishakhapatnam which will house 15 to 20 ancillary units guided by a pilot company, and facilities like an effluent treatment plant, water treatment plant etc.
The overall capacity of the upcoming industrial park will be approximately 7-8 lakh tonnes, with captive power of over 25 mw, according to the company’s statement here yesterday.
“This offers a huge business opportunity for companies in India, as the landing costs of raw materials from other countries is cheaper by USD 5-6 in Vizag compared to other states,” said CEO of Lalitanjali Group, Rahul Rao.
The economic slowdown and power shortage have taken a toll on small firms in Chennai – a fifth of micro, small and medium units in and around Chennai have shut down, according to S Sivagnanam, Additional Industry Advisor, MSME Development Institute.
“There has been a drop in demand for their products and lower production capacities due to power cuts are hurting,” he said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Friday.
A majority of the firms were auto component suppliers while units engaged in manufacture of chemicals, plastics and leather products have also fallen to the tough business environment.
While the overall pharma exports from the country is likely to miss target, exports from Gujarat has, however, managed to clock double digit growth last fiscal.
According to latest data from the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA), India has exported pharmaceutical products including bulk drugs and formulations of Rs 90,649.90 crore during 2013-14, which falls short of the government export target of $25 billion (around Rs 1.5 lakh crore). As per a Ministry of Commerce strategy paper, "As against a target of $25 billion for 2013-14, it is estimated that only $ 17 billion can be achieved - i.e. nearly 70 per cent of the target."
Power consumers in Karnataka today expressed strong disappointment over revision in tariff by the regulator. The state consumers, particularly the small industries continue to suffer load shedding and voltage fluctuations while the regulator has allowed revision in the power rates.
“It is unfortunate that in spite of the repeated plea of small industries, the KERC has not responded to the demands of the small industries in deferring the increase in the tariff rate without improving the environment in which the energy is being supplied,” Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) today said in a press statement.
Normalisation of trade relationship between India and Pakistan could be a game changer in regional connectivity and integration, Obama Administration's point person for South and Central Asia has said.
"Clearly one of the biggest obstacles to regional connectivity is India and Pakistan. Trade normalisation between these two historic rivals could be a game-changer," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing yesterday.
"We have been encouraged by positive signs from Islamabad and New Delhi that things may be moving in the right direction. We are hopeful that we will see strong leadership from both governments following India's election," she said.
Taking a strong stance, India has warned Switzerland that reluctance to share tax related information may impact economic co-operation between the two countries.
India is pursuing Switzerland to share information on certain accounts held by some Indians in HSBC’s Swiss bank branches. These were account details of those against whom cases of ‘incriminating evidence of tax evasion’ have been found here.
But, the Swiss authorities have been reluctant to share information. This led to the Finance Minister P Chidambaram writing a strongly worded letter to the Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer Schlumpf.
India and Bangladesh need to formalise bilateral trade in rice seeds as local farmers on both side of the border are using them for cultivation through illegal channels, says a study.
"At present, the cooperation between India and Bangladesh in the area of rice seed is almost negligible. Despite several instances of informal movement of high yielding variety (HYV) rice seed across the border, formal trade is conspicuous by its absence," said the Cuts International study.
The availability and accessibility of rice seeds can be significantly improved through cooperation between the two countries, it said.
Indian chilli has been banned in Saudi Arabia, the fifth-largest importer of fresh vegetables from India, citing the presence of high pesticide residues in it.
"We have been informed about the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture's decision to ban chilli pepper beginning May 30," said Surinder Bhagat, second secretary of politics and commerce at the Indian Embassy. "We are in touch with the Saudi authorities to resolve the issue," he told PTI today over phone.
An official at the Ministry of Agriculture said that the decision to ban the import of chilli peppers was made after a sample testing from the Indian shipment showed the presence of high levels of pesticides.
According to the FISME Factor, 61 per cent of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), think that mandate of 2014 General elections will be clear majority
Senior managers are often looked upon as the driving force of a company. They are considered visionaries who push the business ahead cohesively, motivate employees and create cross-functional dialogue to align goals and targets. Despite the pivotal role played by them in shaping an organisation, little attention is paid to the needs of senior leadership from an HR perspective. This conundrum arises not from the lack of recognition of such needs, but from the absence of a structure to address these requirements. 
Non Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institution (NBFC-MFI) is defined as a non-deposit taking NBFC (other than a company licensed under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956) with Minimum Net Owned Funds of Rs 5 crore (for NBFC-MFIs registered in the North Eastern Region of the country, it will be Rs 2 crore) and having not less than 85 per cent of its net assets as “qualifying assets”. 
It’s been one of the most cited marketing successes of 2013. Deodorant brand Fogg, a rank outsider in the category, toppled established brands such as Axe to become the market leader. But there are some partners who claim to have played a role in getting Fogg the success that came its way. It’s the cable channels that we are talking about.
For those who tuned into televisions only in the satellite television era, cable channels are the first entertainment options that came to television viewers in India when state broadcaster Doordarshan ruled the airwaves. Then came the slew of satellite channels and cable channels faded away from memory, at least in the big cities.
For nearly three years now, Ashok Segu has been on a fruitless quest. The 52-year-old technology entrepreneur who is trying to wind down a failed venture is being held back by red- tape that makes it impossible to formally close a business swiftly in India. Segu's software outsourcing firm Zen Sutra has been dormant ever since the cofounders exited the venture eight years ago.
Eager to start anew, he decided to complete legal formalities for the closure of the firm in 2011. That's when his troubles began. Efforts to delete Zen Sutra from the listing in the Registrar of Companies have remained unsuccessful so far, while it took nearly three years to complete formalities to close tax accounts in the company's name.
Lack of proper space to dispose the sludge, residual from industrial wastewater, is the root cause for closure of stainless steel pickling units in the Wazirpur area of the national capital, said the steel associations in the area, blaming the civic authorities for the problem.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has ordered the closure of 112 stainless steel pickling units at the Wazirpur Industrial area with immediate effect after they were found releasing untreated acidic discharge into the sewers.
My family ran a food processing business in Pakistan before migrating to India during the Partition. In 1961, my father set up a facility in Delhi to process pulses. I joined him in 1995 after completing my MBA from Delhi University. After working for over a decade with my father, I realised that apart from processing and trading, ancillary services, such as storage, preservation and assaying, were virtually non-existent in the warehousing facilities across the country.
It was then that I decided to bring in the much-needed change—efficient management of the post-harvest agricultural services market. I conducted research for two years and learnt that India lost over 10% of its agro produce, valued at around Rs 60,000 crore, to poor and inefficient storage practices every year.
" This defines entrepreneur and entrepreneurship - the entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. " 
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