- Wednesday, March 05, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Here are news in brief related to Indian economy and business for Wednesday, December 28, 2022:
The interim free trade agreement between India and Australia is set to come into force on Thursday (29), providing duty-free access to thousands of domestic goods such as textiles, and leather in the Australian market, PTI reported. The agreement will help almost double the bilateral commerce to $45-50 billion (£37.4-41.5 billion) in around five years, according to exporters and industry players. The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was signed on April 2, would provide duty-free access to Indian exporters of over 6,000 broad sectors, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery in the Australian market.
India is aiming to double the size of its automobile industry to Rs 15 lakh crore (£150.3 billion) by the end of 2024, making it one of the world’s top countries in this sector, the country’s road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday, PTI reported. He also said that his ministry will carry out project works worth Rs 5 lakh crore (£50.1 billion) next year, of which Rs 2 lakh crore (£20 billion) will come from the government and the rest will be raised from the capital market. “Currently our automobile industry is Rs 7.5 lakh crore (£75.1 billion) and we want to take it to Rs 15 lakh crore by the end of 2024, making it one of the largest automakers in the world, creating huge job opportunities,” Gadkari said at a virtual session of Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
India’s Hetero said on Tuesday that its generic version of Paxlovid, an antiviral treatment for Covid-19 developed by Pfizer Inc, was added to the World Health Organisation’s prequalification list, which serves as a benchmark for procurement of medicines by developing countries, Reuters reported. According to Hetero, it had entered into a licensing agreement with the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool to manufacture and sell the generic version of the drug in low- and middle-income countries. The treatment bundles two nirmatrelvir pills and one ritonavir pill and will be manufactured at Hetero’s plants in India, where the drug has emergency use authorization from the country’s drugs controller general.
As part of its corporate Social responsibility (CSR), the Indian Oil Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central TB Division (CTD) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to undertake intensified Tuberculosis elimination project, ANI reported. The MoU was signed in the presence of Indian health minister Mansukh Mandaviya and petroleum and natural gas, and housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri. Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh share the highest burden of TB cases among large states in India.
Reliance Jio on Wednesday announced the largest launch of its 5G services across 11 cities across India, ANI reported. The cities are Lucknow, Trivandrum, Mysuru, Nashik, Aurangabad, Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Zirakpur, Kharar, and Derabassi. Jio users in these cities will be invited to the Jio Welcome Offer, to experience Unlimited Data at up to 1 Gbps+ speeds, at no additional cost, starting the same day. Reliance Jio said it has become the first and the only operator to launch 5G services in Trivandrum, Mysuru, Nashik, Aurangabad, Chandigarh Tricity, including areas of Mohali, Panchkula, Zirakpur, Kharar, and Derabassi. “We are proud to roll out Jio True 5G in these 11 cities and make it one of our largest launches since we started rolling out True 5G services. This is a tribute to the millions of Jio users in these cities who will now commence 2023 by enjoying the transformational benefits of Jio True 5G technology,” a Jio spokesperson said in a statement.
Lifestyle furniture brand Commune has made an entry to India with its first store launch in Bangalore, ANI/GPRC reported. The brand has collaborated with Bangalore-based Bauhaus Designs to retail and showcase its products to Indian consumers. The concept of Commune is born out of the desire to surpass everyday norms; to embody passion in both design and service. As a brand, Commune encapsulates quiet modernity; unifying function with effortless form and intelligent craftsmanship. Aspiring to become more than just a furniture brand, Commune aims to create a new lifestyle that brings people together in style and comfort. The designs at Commune are human-centric, with beauty and the needs of the modern individual.
