- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Here are news in brief related to Indian economy and business for Tuesday, November 15, 2022:
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the UK is expected to be closed by March 2023, a source from the South Asian nation’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday, Asian News International reported. The talks were supposed to be finished by October, but got delayed. A trade agreement between India and Britain that aims to double bilateral trade by 2030 could not be done by late October, the initial target for concluding the talks. Whether these discussions will take place at the ministerial level or the secretarial level will soon be decided. Recently, Mayor of West Midlands Andy Street, a member of Britain’s governing Conservative Party, said India should prioritise reducing tariffs on manufactured goods to benefit sectors like the automotive industry.
The US has ordered Tata-group owned Air India to pay a whopping $121.5 million (£102.3 million) as refunds and $1.4 million (£1.1 million) as penalties for extreme delays in providing refunds to passengers due to the cancellation or change in flights, mostly during the pandemic, officials said, Press Trust of India reported. Air India is among the six airlines that have agreed to cough up a total of over $600 million (£505.6 million) as refunds, the US Department of Transportation said on Monday (14). Air India’s policy of ‘refund on request’ is contrary to the Department of Transportation policy, which mandates air carriers to legally refund tickets in the case of cancellation or change in flight, officials said.
India’s merchandise trade deficit in October widened to $26.91 billion (£22.6 billion) as exports crashed by 17 per cent year-on-year to $29.78 billion (£25 billion), data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday showed, Moneycontrol reported. Imports, on the other hand, rose by six per cent. In October last year, the trade deficit was $17.91 billion (£15 billion). For April-October as a whole, the merchandise trade deficit was $173.46 billion (£146.1 billion) — nearly twice as high as it was in the first seven months of FY22.
India’s largest airline by number of aircraft — IndiGo — has commenced operations of its first A321 freighter aircraft between Delhi and Mumbai, ANI reported. The cargo aircraft services started on Tuesday. The airline said the aircraft, converted from a passenger jet into a full-freighter configuration, would be used for general freight on the inaugural Delhi-Mumbai flight, while carrying general and e-commerce cargo — CarGo — on the return leg. The inaugural flights would carry a payload of more than 20 tonnes on each leg, it added. IndiGo welcomed its first 321F aircraft last month.
Associates from Russia’s biggest innovation institution, the Skolkovo Innovation Center are in India on a business mission to further enhance long-term cooperation between Skolkovo and and Indian counterparts, promote technological transfer, and support startups in developing high-tech products and finding potential partners on the local market, ANI reported. The business mission that began on Monday (14) will go on till Friday (18). The business mission is conducted to encourage cross-border cooperation for stimulating innovation and mark the emergence of a Skolkovo representative in India, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in India said in a statement on Sunday (13).
SKF India, the country’s leading technology and solutions provider of bearings and services, will showcase innovative products and solutions for railway industry at InnoRail India 2022 scheduled for November 17-19 at Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO), in Lucknow, ANI/NewsVoir reported. Aiming to help railway freight operators and rolling stock manufacturers improve fleet efficiency, increase reliability and reduce the total cost of ownership, SKF will be showcasing a wide range of ‘Made in India’ solutions for the rail industry. Sujeeth Pai, director – Industrial Market, SKF India and Southeast Asia, said, “We have proven experience of partnering with Indian railways, OEM manufacturers, and metro train operators in the country to develop innovative solutions and are excited to showcase “Made in India” solutions at InnoRail India. Additionally, we will leverage this platform to engage with our customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders to further support the modernization of the Indian railway industry.”
