- Friday, February 28, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
HERE are news in brief related to Indian economy and business for Monday, June 26, 2023:
India’s civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has reportedly sent letters to the chief ministers of the three non-Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states of Tamil Nadu, Bihar and West Bengal, requesting them to lower the value-added tax (VAT) on air turbine fuel (ATF). The ministry also plans to approach Assam and Delhi NCT regarding the reduction of tax on aviation fuel. Scindia urged the states to decrease VAT to a range of 1-4 percent, as these three states currently impose VAT rates between 23.65-29 per cent on aviation fuel. The minister emphasized the immediate need for a reduction in VAT/Sales Tax on ATF at all airports. Earlier, similar letters were sent to various states to reduce VAT on ATF, with some states complying and others yet to decide. The letter comes amidst high airfares observed on certain routes, potentially influenced by the grounding of Go First operations after filing for insolvency in May. The ministry has been consistently urging airlines to lower airfares.
Lulu Group, based in the UAE, plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore (£958.7 million) in India over the next three years, according to its Indian-born chairman Yusuff Ali MA. The conglomerate has already invested over Rs 20,000 crore (£1,917.4 million) in the country and aims to provide employment to 50,000 people. As part of their investment plans, the Lulu Group has committed about Rs 3,500 crore (£335.5 million) for projects in the southern state of Telangana, including the development of Destination Shopping Malls in Hyderabad and other cities. Yusuff Ali also mentioned the construction of shopping malls in Ahmedabad and Chennai, as well as upcoming food processing plants in Noida and Telangana. The investments reflect the liberalised NRI investment laws, treating non-resident Indian investments as domestic, for which Yusuff Ali praised prime minister Narendra Modi. Additionally, the opening of a Lulu Mall in August and the establishment of a modern meat processing plant and a state-of-the-art Destination Mall are part of the group’s expansion plans.
Indian information technology giant Infosys on Monday signed a mega contract worth $454 million (£356.8 million) with Danske Bank in Denmark and it came at a time when the broader sector is facing a slowdown in the global economy, Reuters reported. The IT company said in a regulatory filing that it will help digitise the lender’s core business and add more cloud and data facilities to it, including Infosys acquiring Danske Bank’s IT centre in India. The contract is for five years. There is also an option to renew it for one more year for a maximum of three years. Infosys’s contract comes days after its bigger rival TCS inked a deal worth £840 million with British pension scheme Nest, for a starting tenure of a decade.
The Urban20 (U20) Mayoral Summit is scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat on July 7-8. The summit aims to bring together mayors and city leaders from G20 nations, along with delegates representing various cities, knowledge partners, organizations, and dignitaries from the central and state governments. As part of India’s G20 presidency, U20 is a city diplomacy initiative that highlights the role of cities in sustainable development through collaboration. Ahmedabad, serving as the U20 Chair for the current cycle, is supported by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA). The summit will include deliberations among mayors, thematic sessions focusing on U20 priorities, release of white papers, a round table on climate finance, spotlight sessions on urban resilience, investments, inclusion, circular economy, and data-driven governance.
India has been ranked 40th in the latest world competitiveness ranking by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Moneycontrol reported. Although the country has slipped three spots from last year, it still performs better than its 43rd position in 2019-21. The IMD’s World Competitiveness Centre (WCC) report highlights India’s progress in government efficiency but identifies areas of concern such as business efficiency, infrastructure and economic performance. Factors contributing to India’s score include exchange rate stability, compensation levels and advancements in pollution control. The report also outlines challenges for India in 2023, including sustaining high GDP growth, managing financial market volatility, controlling inflation and fiscal deficit, accelerating digital transformation, and mobilising resources for infrastructure development. Denmark, Ireland, and Switzerland secured the top three positions in the ranking, followed by Singapore, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sweden, the US, and the UAE in the top 10.
The Indian Army has been adjudged as the best organisation in the ministry of defence for procurement on Government e-Marketplace (GeM) for the financial year 2022-23, officials said on Monday. Vice chief of army staff Lieutenant General M V Suchindra Kumar received the prestigious award on behalf of the army on Monday. Approximately 16,000 buyers (in the context of the Army) are registered on GeM, the officials said, adding that on an average, 60,000-80,000 transactions take place every month. The maximum of up to two lakh transactions took place in March in 2022-23, they said. The Army took to Twitter to share the information.
Former director of the CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, P K Singh, and chief scientist A K Singh have been booked by India’s elite Central Bureau of Investigation for alleged corruption in the distribution of intellectual fees amounting to Rs 137 crore (£13.1 million) for coal-sampling projects. The agency has accused them of paying ineligible individuals, such as librarians, MBBS doctors, and technical officers, without their contribution as innovators and principal contributors. P K Singh allegedly received Rs 15.36 crore (£1.4 million), while A K Singh received Rs 9.04 crore (£866,705) in violation of CSIR Guidelines for Technological Transfer and Knowledge Base, 2005 and 2017.
(With ANI, PTI inputs)
