Indian exports to non-US markets increasing: Report

The focus of India's exports is shifting from the traditional US market to the UAE, a Dun & Bradstreet report said.

The US has traditionally been India's leading export destination. In FY 2007, US accounted for as much as 14.9 per cent of the total merchandise exports worth an estimated $ 18.9 billion, the report said.

Though US's share in India's merchandise exports declined from 20.7 per cent in FY 2003 to 14.9 per cent in FY 2007, in value terms the shipments increased from $10.9 billion to $18.9 billion.

"This is an indication of India's growing preference for trading with other emerging markets by diversifying its product group and improving its quality," the report added.

The UAE, the second-largest export market, accounted for 9.5 per cent of the country's total exports in FY 2007, while in FY 2003 it accounted for 6.3 per cent only, the report said.

The spurt in exports to the UAE can be largely attributed to a rise in shipments of mineral fuels, mineral oils and products, which constituted almost 30.4 per cent of total exports to the UAE, the report said.

UAE is also an important market for re-export in the entire Middle-East region. In 2005, the total re-export was as high as $26.4-billion.

India's exports to China have also seen a rapid growth from just 3.7 per cent in FY 03 to 6.6 per cent in FY 07.

India's export share to Singapore has gone up from around 2 per cent in FY 2001 to 4.8 per cent in FY 07.

Petrol | Diesel | Home LPG prices Up - Economic Updates

The government hiked petrol and diesel prices by Rs 5 and Rs 3 a litre respectively and that of LPG by Rs 50 a cylinder, while sparing poor man's fuel kerosene from any increase. The hike will be effective from midnight. The price of petrol, currently Rs 45.5 a litre in Delhi, will now cost Rs 50.5 or 11 per cent more, while diesel, which retails at Rs 31.5, will now cost 34.5 or 9.5 per cent more.

The Cabinet also reduced the customs duty on crude oil from 5 per cent to nil, and on petroleum and diesel from 7.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent. The customs duty on other petroleum products has been reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. Inflation following the fuel price hike may rise by 0.5-0.6%.

Customs duty on other petroleum products like ATF and Naphtha has been cut from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took a slew of measures to offset the surging global oil prices that had put the national oil companies under acute pressure. The increase in prices would be effective from midnight, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.

The price hike would help oil companies to earn Rs 21,123 crore more.

As part of measures, the government decided to take a burden of Rs 94,601 crore for which it will issue oil bonds to state-run BPCL, HPCL and IOC which were reporting a daily loss of over Rs 720 crore.

also read : Impact of increase in fuel prices on inflation

In addition, the oil producing PSUs like ONGC would shell out Rs 60,000 crore through discounts to state-owned oil refiners and marketing companies.

Despite all the measures, there would still be a gap of Rs 29,000 crore, Revenue Secretary P V Bhide told reporters briefing about the decisions taken at the Cabinet.

When asked whether states will also be told to cap sales tax on petrol and diesel, the Revenue Secretary said there is no move from the Finance Ministry side on this issue.

However, sources said the Prime Minister's address to the nation later in the day may carry appeal to states in this respect.

With the hikes, India joins other Asian nations like Indonesia and Malaysia that are raising regulated domestic fuel prices as they find they can no longer afford to shield their consumers from the full effect of record global prices.

Petrol and diesel prices were last raised in February when the Indian basket of crude oil was at 67 dollars per barrel. Today it is at 124 dollars per barrel.

State-run Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum were together projected to lose Rs 2,46,600 crore on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene in 2008-09 in absence of any price hike or duty cut.

Inflation above 8% mark - government helpless

Inflation touched 8% mark for first time in one year and government has said that it is helpless and inflation is going out of government control.

However inflation has now become a global problem and all the developing as well as developed countries are facing it.

Governments are pretending to respond. In the UK, Mr. Gordon Brown wants to assemble experts to debate solutions. The Indian finance minister says that western nations are diverting land for producing expensive bio-fuels to replace the expensive crude oil. Surely, that is part of the problem. But that does not explain the jump in the price of rice. Rice is not diverted to bio-fuel production.


In India, the response has been to reduce import duties, impose export caps and accuse manufacturers and distributors of collusion and cartel-like behaviour. Different ministers speak in different voices. Together, these pronouncements do not constitute a policy whole.
In simple terms, prices reflect the balance of supply and demand of something. When prices go up, it is a reflection – and not a consequence – of supply going down or of demand going up or both. When it happens for just one or few commodities, it is possible to blame middle-men of hoarding or manufacturers of cartel-like behaviour. When it happens in many commodities, it is futile to blame one industry or a few producers.


Usually, the source lies in some policy measures and their implementation. To make it clear, we are not dismissing the importance of factors like climate change, diversion of land for production of bio-fuels and more importantly, stagnation or even outright decline in agricultural productivity in countries like India and China. Again, they explain inflation in food and agriculture commodities. These factors do not explain inflation in crude oil and copper, for example.


If we have to identify a single or the most important explanation for the recent development in prices of many commodities, the answer lies in examining the behaviour of global central banks.
Of course, in any broad-brush analysis or conclusions, there is the risk that we miss the exceptions who behaved differently and correctly. For example, within the constraints imposed by the political system, Reserve Bank of India has done a very good job of trying to shield the Indian economy from the cycles of boom and bust. Similarly, if the Australian and New Zealand economies still face the risk of boom and bust, it is not because of their central banks but in spite of their best efforts.


The bulk of the blame has to be assigned to the American Federal Reserve and the People’s Bank of China. In the case of China as in the case of India and in many other developing countries, the central bank is not independent. It is subject to political influence. The Federal Reserve Board of America is, in some ways, a similar predicament. It is subject to the oversight and pulls and pressures of the democratically elected Congress members. Further, since it was founded by banks actually, it ends up coming to the rescue of banks sometimes to the detriment of the public.


In 2001-2003, it cut the Federal funds rate to 1.0%. It thus rescued the economy from the collapse of the technology bubble in 2000. Thus, it replaced the stock market bubble with a housing bubble. When the housing bubble appeared to be weakening, it refused to tighten regulations and allowed it to continue. Too many loans were made to people who should not have been lent. That is the root cause of the present problem.


In order to address the resulting loan defaults, stress on banks and their balance sheets, the Federal Reserve has allowed banks to borrow at cheap rates from it. Money is available to banks in the open market but at higher cost. Some of the banks might not have survived. But, that would have also left a lesson for other banks that they would not have forgotten for a long time. Excessive risk-taking would have been curbed. Instead, the cheap money is perhaps being channelled into speculation on commodities prices. After all, banks are not going to create more mortgage loans at least for quite some time.


Somewhat different has been the behaviour of China but it achieves the same result. China has kept its currency cheap. Keeping the currency cheap requires interest rates to remain low, in comparison to other countries but also in relation to economic growth. China has done that. Low interest rates means capital is plenty. So, capital-intensive growth has flourished. That has placed tremendous demand on resources worldwide such as crude oil, coal, steel and other industrial metals. It continues to import rising quantities of iron ore, copper and crude oil. Incidentally, it has also led to China supporting many tyrannical regimes in Africa including that of Zimbabwe. Recently, it sent a shipment of arms to Zimbabwe but faced an avalanche of protest and had to recall that shipment.


Perhaps, it is possible that American banks know that there won’t be any change in China’s demand for commodities in the near future, at least until the end of the Olympics. China may be reluctant to change course fearing unknown and uncertain consequences. If so, it argues for further rise in the price of commodities. Both their behaviour and bets might be feeding off each other. That is not good news for the rest of the world.


After all, we cannot influence the Federal Reserve. So, how should policymakers respond? Unfortunately, the answer is that they should respond differently from what they have done until now. Banning exports of agricultural commodities exposes the hollowness of farmer-friendly policies. Farmers should be allowed, with appropriate guidance, to sell to the highest bidder – local or global – and derive the maximum gains from the global shortage. Such a price signal would also encourage productivity improvement in farmland and hence boost crop production. More land would be brought under cultivation.


At the same time, poor households – rural or urban – could be directly subsidised with cash transfer to be able to pay the higher price.
The same principle can be extended to the price of hydrocarbon products such as petrol, cooking gas, diesel and kerosene. Consumers and producers should receive the price signal. Without that, their respective behaviours would not change and shortages or glut would persist.
At the same time, since supply of food and other commodities would take time to respond to price signals, central banks should be allowed to restrain demand in the short-run with tight monetary policy. That means higher cash reserve ratio or higher interest rates or both. That might be unpopular or politically unacceptable. But, effective medicines never taste sweet. Only placebos do.



The chances of such sound policies being pursued are close to nil particularly as many democratic governments, including India, approach elections soon. Authoritarian governments do not care much for public opinion.
Given such a low chance for sound economic decision-making, prospects for a sustained decline in inflation should be judged remote. That is not good news as it is a stealth tax on the public and erodes their purchasing power. Consequently, it reduces affordability for many assets. As demand drops, inflation affects revenues for companies and squeezes margins through cost pressures. That does not augur well for the stock market.



The stock market in India has performed well in recent times. Many other global markets have staged a similar recovery. That is due to misplaced optimism on the American economy. As discussed above, right policies would be missing and hence the anticipated quick economic turnaround in America would be elusive. Consequently, risky assets globally would retrace their recent gains. Therefore, Indian stocks would fail to build on their recent gains. On the other hand, the likelihood of continued high global and local inflation would result in a resumption of the uptrend in gold price that has been recently disrupted. Therefore, investors who do not expect inflation to recede know exactly what they should be selling and what they should be buying.

Indian economy not likely to slowdown - Lehman Brothers

Anti-inflationary measures are unlikely to turn India into a slow growing economy, while other Asian nations could face the situation of rising prices and economic stagnation, a latest report says. "We do not believe that India would be affected significantly in a stagflation scenario and growth would remain strong in relative terms...," global research firm Lehman Brothers said in a recent research report.

However, even as the economic growth is projected to remain strong, interest-rate sensitive stocks could be adversely impacted during stagflation situation in Asia. Stagflation refers to a situation when inflation is rising and the economic growth is simultaneously slowing down. The negative impact is likely be felt by interest rate-sensitive stocks or by companies that are not in a position to pass on cost pressures to consumers, Lehman said.

Further, investment spending is unlikely to witness a substantial slowdown primarily on account of significant shortages in key sectors such as steel and power. The report pointed out that risks out of a stagflation scenario would be high for the banking sector, infrastructure, automobile and cement firms. "The risks are significant for part of the banking sector, companies with a high proportion of fixed-price contracts and companies with high energy usage without the ability to pass on increased costs," it said.

Lehman noted that in India inflation would remain on the higher side for some more time due to the base effect -- which relates to the inflation data of the corresponding week in the previous year. Given particular prices in the current week, inflation would turn out to be higher, if it was a small number in the previous year, but would be less, if it was high a year ago. In addition, the report said that inflationary headwinds would lead to increased fiscal deficit and negatively impact the country's expansion plans. "One of the major reasons for India's premium expansion has been the reduction in fiscal deficit, a process which could be derailed in the short term due to inflationary headwinds," it added.

The government has initiated fiscal and monetary measures to lessen the effects of inflation on consumers. However, according to the report, some of these measures does not reflect the "true market economics." "If the inflation period is prolonged, we expect the government to start passing on some of the suppressed price increases (especially those relating to crude oil and fertilisers) in small doses. However, we do not expect this anytime soon, given the proximity of the elections, the report pointed out.

- economic times

Weakening Indian Rupee -and Reason behind it

It has been noticed that indian national rupee(INR) is weakening and it is also clear that US dollar is weakening too!! so why is INR weakening????

This question might be arising in every economist mind and they might not be sure why there is decline in value of indian rupee??

Indian economy grew at nearly 10% last fiscal year but the growth rate of indian economy projected for this fiscal year would never be met and finance minister has to rethink about the growth rate percentage which he kept in mind while making the Union finance budget for year 2008-09 in february this year.

Last year the foreign direct investments(FDI) in India crossed every target and was in huge amounts, US $ was flowing into indian subcontinent as water due to which US $ was wandering at under 40 INR mark till february 2008. this was the time when USA was considering india as a potential country . Since at that time US $ was coming to india itself so the reserve bank of India(RBI) stopped purchasing the US $ to keep $ buffer (every country keeps US $ into it's buffer for controlling the economic conditions of that particular country.


When US companies felt that there were few countries in Asia and Africa which offered better oppurtunities then india so the companies which had invested in india started to take out their money for investing in other countries due to this action of the US companies the US$ inflow into india started declining and Indian rupee started weakening.


Now RBi had to come into action and had to purchase US $ on it's own for maintaining the buffer level of US $ in Indian subcontinent but this action of RBI can never match to the rate when US $ were being invested in Indian subcontinent by US companies directly so the INR started weakening as the reserve US $ in RBI's buffer declined and rupee weakened further.


Now indian rupee can become strong only in case the investment from US companies start pouring into india again at the same rate at which it was in previous fiscal years. Moreover tremendous increase in crude oil prices are also weakening the india rupee further as the oil import bill by indian companies has increased almost 50% and all are incurring losses.


We should also be prepared for huge rise in petrol and diesel retail prices in future , the rise in petrol would have been in order of INR 10/litre for the government if government passed whole burden onto the general population and similar increase would be there in case of prices of diesel. and it is evident that inflation would also increase further in coming future.

So government has increased commision on filling stations by INR 29/Kilolitre for petrol and INR 31/Kilolitre for diesel however retail prices has increased by INR 0.04 / litre so people have been effected to less extent with rise in petrol/diesel prices . However crude oil prices will touch $200 /barrel mark in this year itself so further rise in petrol and diesel prices is on the cards and inflation will rise further in near future.

Economy of India | Indian Economy Developments

A major factor that contributed to the second most-populous nation on the planet achieving this milestone, in April, was the sharp appreciation of the Indian rupee against the U.S. dollar. Whereas Indian currency has been gradually appreciating against the U.S. greenback over the last few years, what took many by surprise was the sudden and sharp appreciation during the months of March and April when the exchange rate came down drastically, from just under Rs 45 to the U.S. dollar to less than Rs 41 to the dollar or a change of roughly 8.5 percent in less than 40 working days.

By way of contrast, the rupee had appreciated by only 2.3 percent vis-a-vis the dollar between Apr. 1, 2006 and Mar. 31, 2007 (the Indian financial year). In this period, the Indian currency gained 2.7 percent against the Japanese yen but depreciated by 6.8 percent against the euro and by 9 percent against the British pound. The appreciation of the rupee has made Indian exports more expensive in markets where transactions are designated in U.S. dollars while making imports relatively inexpensive.

Analysts are of the view that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank and apex monetary authority, has consciously allowed the rupee to strengthen as part of a package of policies aimed at controlling domestic inflation. In recent months, inflation in India, as measured by the official wholesale price index, had threatened to cross the 7 percent mark and is currently hovering in the region of 6 percent. The Indian economy is currently one of the fastest growing in the world --it has grown by an annual rate of over 9 percent for two successive years and by an average of over 8 percent over the last four years, both for the first time since the country became politically independent 60 years ago.

At the same time, this growth has not been inclusive because it has bypassed large sections of the population and swathes of territory, mainly in the east and the north. One out of four of the 1.1 billion citizens of India live on less than one U.S. dollar a day. "The reason why the RBI is not intervening in the currency markets to depreciate the value of the rupee is because it wishes to cushion the economy from the imported variety of inflation at a time when international prices of crude oil are in the region of 65 dollars a barrel," explains Amitendu Palit, visiting fellow at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, a New Delhi-based think tank. India currently imports roughly three-fourths of its requirement of crude oil.

Palit told IPS that part of the reason why the rupee has strengthened against the dollar is because the U.S. currency has itself steadily weakened against hard currencies like the yen, the euro and the pound. He said that if the RBI purchased more dollars to keep its price up, it would increase domestic money supply and add to inflationary pressures. Palit is of the view that a strong rupee would have a negative short-term impact on the growth of "price-elastic' exports such as computer software, IT-enabled services (or business process outsourcing), garments and textiles. During financial 2006-07, India's merchandise exports touched 125 billion dollars, implying an annual growth of nearly 23 percent. Imports grew at a faster 25 percent with crude oil accounting for close to one-third of the total value of imports during the year.

Exports have doubled over the last three years. India's share of world trade, however, still remains negligible, growing from 0.76 percent in 2003-04 to over one percent at present. During this period, inflows of foreign direct investment have jumped from 2.2 billion dollars to 16 billion dollars (and this amount excludes retained earnings that have been reinvested). "I expect the rupee to continue to appreciate gradually, not suddenly, over the next year or so and the dollar to go below the level of Rs 40," says Manoj Pant, professor of economics at New Delhi's prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University. He told IPS in an interview that the government and the RBI wanted to "send a clear message to exporters that they could not expect to continue receiving preferential treatment".

While there is considerable concern among economists that the Indian economy is "over-heating" and that the benefits of economic growth have not been evenly distributed among all sections of the population, others are optimistic about the country's "growth story". A report prepared by Credit Suisse bank pointed out that over a year after their economies crossed the one trillion dollar mark, eight out of ten countries witnessed bullish trends in their stock markets.

The report added that the combined wealth of the estimated 20 million non-resident Indians is currently more than one trillion dollars, which is the gross domestic product of the entire Indian economy. The recent rise in the rate of growth of the Indian economy has been fuelled by a sharp rise in manufacturing output and the services sector. Among the services that have been growing very fast are IT-enabled services and computer software. These are the segments of the economy that are now likely to be adversely impacted by the appreciation of the rupee.

"Companies that were exporting software and IT-enabled services were shocked by the sudden rise in the value of the rupee vis-à-vis the dollar because the bulk of their business was designated in dollars," points out D.K. Joshi, director and principal economist, CRISIL Ltd. (earlier known as Credit Research and Investment Services of India Ltd.). In an interview with IPS, Joshi added that the "profit margins of companies exporting IT services would be squeezed and they would certainly fight back by increasing their billing rates in dollar terms." Even if the rate of growth of computer software and IT services exporting firms slows down, analysts IPS spoke with were reasonably optimistic that the deceleration brought about by the sudden strengthening of the rupee in relation to the dollar would be a passing phenomenon.

India's commerce minister Kamal Nath has set ambitious export targets of 160 billion dollars and 200 billion dollars respectively for the country over the next two years. He told journalists on Apr. 19 that the Indian government had taken into account the likely slowdown in the U.S. economy while setting these targets. India's trade basket, he said, was quite wide, claiming that the expected slowdown in the U.S. economy would not have a major impact on the country's exports.

Crude Price on all time high

Global crude oil prices are on a all time high of US $ 125 per barrel and is adversly effecting the balance sheet of indian economy, probably it is also a reason of depreciating value of indian rupee when compared with US $ .

Crude prices could reach higher levels over the next few months as the winter season in the northern hemisphere gets under way.
Although the price of the basket of crude relevant for India is ruling at a much lower level than $55, the effect of higher crude prices is bound to affect the profitability of a swathe of companies, especially in the manufacturing sector, as costs of energy, fuel and transportation could start to spiral.

Even if the Government decides to limit the price increases by seeking recourse to further cuts in excise and customs duties, and requiring oil companies to bear an even greater part of the burden, profitability and growth rates could be affected as growth rate of the global and the Indian economy slows down. Market sentiment could also be influenced in a negative manner if liquidity in global markets dries up and a flight to safe assets and safer currencies set in.
Investors as such should consider adopting a cautious approach to buying equities, by staggering investments over a period of time, and partial profit booking on deep-in-the-money positions, may be appropriate. This could mitigate any downside risk that could envelop the markets due to the bullish trend in crude prices that is driven by a combination of robust demand and speculative activity.

The positive aspect of the crude prices story is the likely boom in construction activity in the Gulf countries. This could be an opportunity for companies such as Larsen & Toubro and Voltas, which have executed several projects in the region that could serve as a reference point for bagging more orders, and Gujarat Ambuja Cements, which appears well set to capitalise on the sharp spurt in cement prices in export markets.

The latter's earnings numbers for the July-September quarter have been buoyant with a fillip from exports as well as higher domestic prices, and there could be a further scaling up over the next few quarters. There are others that could benefit from the anticipated construction boom.
For now, we prefer the stocks of these companies, which have an established presence, higher efficiency levels that could compensate partially for rise in input costs and limited downside risks as large-cap stocks. Stock-specific recommendations of Business Line, however, will take precedence over this broad-investment strategy.
- Hindu Business line

Economy of India | Indian Business | Financial News of India: Global Acquisitions by indian firms puts India firmly on major economies

Economy of India | Indian Business | Financial News of India: Global Acquisitions by indian firms puts India firmly on major economies

Economy of India Growth Pattern - Latest Updates

It has been predicted that by 2035 there would be three major economies of world - US economy, Indian Rupee, Chinese Economy. and the growth rate of indian economy for makin this prediction correct has somewhat slowed down in this fiscal year due to global economic woes. Indian economy is a diversified economy with agriculture sector still the greatest job provider.

Indian INC's are making global impact and every second day we can listen news
about indian company's acqisition of some other company. Global Acquisitions by Indian companies are making the impact of indian economy on a global scale.

India's economy is on the fulcrum of an ever increasing growth curve. With positive indicators such as a stable 8-9 per cent annual growth, rising foreign exchange reserves, a booming capital market and a rapidly expanding FDI inflows, India has emerged as the second fastest growing major economy in the world.

The economy has been growing at an average growth rate of 8.8 per cent in the last four fiscal years (2003-04 to 2006-07), with the 2006-07 growth rate of 9.6 per cent being the highest in the last 18 years. Significantly, the industrial and service sectors have been contributing a major part of this growth, suggesting the structural transformation underway in the Indian economy.

For example, industrial and services sectors have logged in a 10.63 and 11.18 per cent growth rate in 2006-07 respectively, against 8.02 per and 11.01 cent in 2005-06. Similarly, manufacturing grew by 8.98 per cent and 12 per cent in 2005-06 and 2006-07 and transport, storage and communication recorded a growth of 14.65 and per cent 16.64 per cent, respectively.

Another significant feature of the growth process has been the consistently increasing savings and investment rate. While the gross saving rate as a proportion of GDP has increased from 23.5 per cent in 2001-02 to 34.8 per cent in 2006-07, the investment rate-reflected as the gross capital formation as a proportion of GDP-has increased from 22.8 per cent in 2001-02 to 35.9 per cent in 2006-07.

The growth pattern for this year has been robust with every sector's growth seen in green colour. some of the details about sectoral growth patterns is as follows :

The process continues in the current fiscal year. On the back of 9.9 per cent growth in the first half of 2006-07, GDP grew by 9.1 per cent during April-September 2007.

* While overall industrial production grew by 9 per cent during April-December 2007, importantly capital goods production rose by 20.2 per cent compared to 18.6 per cent during same period in 2006.
* Services grew by 10.5 per cent in April-September 2007, on the back of 11.6 per cent during the corresponding period in 2006-07.
* Manufacturing grew by 9.6 per cent during April-December 2007, on the back of 12.2 per cent growth during same period in 2006-07.
* Core infrastructure sector continued its growth rate recording 6 per cent growth in April-November 2007.
* While exports grew by 21.76 per cent during April-December 2007, imports increased by 25.97 per cent in the same period.
* Money Supply (M3) has grown by a robust 22.8 per cent growth (year-on-year) as of December 21, 2007 compared to 19.3 per cent last year.
* The annual inflation rate in terms of WPI was 3.5 per cent for the week ended December 29, 2007 as compared to 5.89 per cent a year ago.
* Fiscal and revenue deficit decreased by 11 per cent and 17.2 per cent, respectively, during April-November 2007-08 over corresponding period last year.

With such a robust growth rates, the advance estimates of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) expects the economy to grow by 8.7 per cent in 2007-08.

Highlights of Indian economy for present fiscal year are as follows :

Reflecting the favourable prospect of growth rate of Indian economy, the orders received Indian companies have increased by a whopping 68.6 per cent to US$ 32.48 billion during January-October 2007 compared to US$ 19.26 billion in the same period last year.

* India is among the five countries sharing 50 per cent of the world production (or GDP).
* FDI inflows have jumped by almost three times to US$ 15.7 billion in 2006-07 as against US$ 5.5 billion in 2005-06.
* The aggregate income of the top 500 companies rose by 28.4 per cent in 2006-07 to total US$ 469.51 billion.
* India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) ranks first in the stock futures and second in index futures trade in the world.
* Twenty Indian firms have made it to the list of Boston Consulting Group's 100 New Global Challenger Giants list.
* According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), India's consumer market will be the world's fifth largest (from twelfth) in the world by 2025.
* The number of companies incorporated has increased at an annual average of 55,000 companies in the last two years to 865,000, from 712,000 companies at the end of 2005.
* Four Indians and seven Indian microfinance companies make it to the Forbes list of Top10 world's wealthiest CEOs World's Top 50 Microfinance Institutions, respectively.
* India has the most number of private equity (PE) funds operating amongst the BRIC markets.
* Mumbai has been ranked tenth among the world's biggest centres of commerce in terms of the financial flow volumes by a survey compiled by MasterCard Worldwide.

Another significant aspect has been the broad-based nature of the growth process. While new economy industries like Information Technology and biotechnology have been growing around 30 per cent, significantly old economy sectors like steel have also been major contributors in the Indian growth process. For example, India has moved up two places to become the fifth largest steel producer in the world.

And with its manufacturing and service sectors on a searing growth path, Lehman Brothers Asia estimates India to grow by as much as 10 per cent every year in the next decade.

It is seen that the per capita income of india is on a rise the following report sums up the per capita income growth trends:

Along this significant acceleration in the growth rate of Indian economy, India's per capita income has increased at a rapid pace, exceeding an earlier forecast made by Goldman Sachs BRIC report which estimated India's per capita to touch US$ 800 by 2010 and US$ 1149 by 2015.

Per capita income has increased from US$ 460 in 2000-01 to almost double to US$ 797 by the end of 2006-07. In 2007-08, India's per capita income is estimated to be over US$ 825.07, according to the advance estimates of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). Further, India's per capita income is expected to increase to US$ 2000 by 2016-17 and US$ 4000 by 2025. This growth rate will, consequently, propel India into the middle-income category.

Global Acquisitions by indian firms puts India firmly on major economies

Tata Motors came into global limelight as an automobile major in early 2007 or even earlier when news of the cheapest world car was out of the tata's stable, Launch of tata nano (the $ 2500 car) turned all heds towards the tata motors and every major auto maker now want to replicate the same model but will never able to make a car even cheaper then the Tata's nano due to the cheapest input cost of nano, and the advantage with tata's is that they can use their own homemade steel for making the chasis of their vehicles which other companies have to purchase from other steel companies.
The launch of Tata Nano was much hyped so that the whole world notices the nano and Tata as a global automobile major with a surprise to come later in the year. the world never knew that the year 2007 was year of Tata Motors's brand acquisitions of the JAGUAR and LAND ROVER the iconic british car brands famous through out the world for their excellent cars in luxury car market.

Some still think that tats'a have played much bigger then they can by acquiring JAGUAR and ROVER car companies which were owned by the ford motor company of United states of America.

It may also be recalled that in 2007 the Toyota Motor Corporation surpassed General Motors to become World's number 1 automobile company. Now every car maker want to replicate the Toyota model to make their car company's revenue much larger and Tata's are no exception.

It took 3 decades for the japanese auto maker to enter into the luxury car market .

Toyota is the gold standard that aspiring auto-makers look to. Synonymous with Japanese quality, Toyota got to its premier position in the world auto stakes by a combination of production efficiency, high quality and delivering unsurpassed value to the customer. Toyota fans call a Honda, “a fake Toyota”, seemingly referring to Honda following in Toyota’s footprints and achieving similar status in terms of quality and value. Similarly while a growing company like Hyundai benchmarks its cars against Toyota competitors, a relatively “old-world” company like Volkswagen re-designed its production process based on inputs from Toyota engineers.

Still Toyota did not move beyond its economy and hence cheap image in the Western world till the introduction of its luxury brand, the Lexus. The strategy was such a success that other Japanese auto makers quickly jumped onto the bandwagon. The Lexus strategy had a curious side-effect on the overall Toyota bouquet of products. Unlike how the European companies built their luxury cars, Toyota continued to use the production line using strict quality control to drive efficiency. As a result the luxury cars did not cost significantly more than the regular line-up. While this revolutionized the luxury car market, it also worked wonders for its non-luxury line-up as the superior styling and finish of the luxury models began to rub-off on the rest of the portfolio.

Tata Motors has only taken baby steps towards becoming a global automaker. But the newly-acquired the availability of true luxury brands within the stable allows the company to learn what it takes to give its cars the aspirational value they need to succeed in the Western markets.

In addition to taking design lessons, Tata Motors can also benefit from the world-class R&D facilities, and an established global marketing network. Also while the Jaguar-Land Rover brand image will work wonders for Tata Motors’ own image, there is a danger that it would dilute the value of the British brands. So if the Tatas make it clear that they will treat the new companies as prized possessions that they will take pains to nourish and grow, while also using them as a huge opportunity to learn, then that should allay fears of brand dilution, while keeping the existing jobs and helping the Tatas as they build up their portfolio of vehicles to fill the gap between the SUVs and the luxury vehicles, in terms of both products and aspirational value.

So keep your fingers crossed and wait 2-3 years to see the technology of jaguar and rover brand embedded into indian made tata cars.

Diversified Indian Economy - Different Sectors of economy of India

A lot have changed in indian economy from the time since it got independence from the colonial rule in 1947. earlier much of the economic activities were controlled by the government itself and no major reforms were introduced in first 45 years of independence. However changes were made in early 90's under the government of Rajiv Gandhi and followed by Late PV narsimha Rao's Finance Minister Manmohan Singh(now Prime minister of India). This was time when liberalisation policies were introduced in indian economy and indian markets were opened for the foreign MNC's. since then there is no looking back for indian economy.

India's economy is diverse, encompassing agriculture, handicrafts, textile, manufacturing, and a multitude of services. Although two-thirds of the Indian workforce still earn their livelihood directly or indirectly through agriculture, services are a growing sector and play an increasingly important role of India's economy.

The advent of the digital age, and the large number of young and educated populace fluent in English, is gradually transforming India as an important 'back office' destination for global outsourcing of customer services and technical support. India is a major exporter of highly-skilled workers in software and financial services, and software engineering. Other sectors like manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, nanotechnology, telecommunication, shipbuilding, aviation , tourism and retailing are showing strong potentials with higher growth rates.

However, since the early 1990s, India has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing government controls on foreign trade and investment. The privatisation of publicly owned industries and the opening up of certain sectors to private and foreign interests has proceeded slowly amid political debate.

India faces a fast-growing population and the challenge of reducing economic and social inequality. Poverty remains a serious problem, although it has declined significantly since independence.

Infrastructure Sector, Finance Sector Updates | Indian Economy Updates | India Economic News

Indian Economy Latest Updates :

April 2008 Infrastructure Sector Latest Updates:

• Tata's Nano model for apparel may see $ 3bn take rural roads - (19/4/2008)
• Greaves Cotton inks deal with German co - (19/4/2008)
• Arunachal Pradesh set to have world-class infrastructure - (17/4/2008)
• Trucking sector may attract Rs 2 tn investments by 2010 - (17/4/2008)
• Policy on greenfield airports soon: Patel - (17/4/2008)
• 3i beats target to raise $1.2 bn for India Infrastructure Fund - (17/4/2008)
• Korean cos keen to set up hub in Haryana - (16/4/2008)
• World's 2nd discovery park to come up in India - (15/4/2008)
• MMTC to set up chain of warehouses, gems, jewellery SEZ - (14/4/2008)
• GVK may spin off energy business into separate co - (14/4/2008)
• India-Oman plan JV for core projects - (14/4/2008)
• Indus to buy Rs 206 crore equity in Uppal SEZs - (14/4/2008)
• Govt expects exports from SEZs to touch Rs 125,000 cr in FY'09 - (11/4/2008)
• J & K govt spends Rs 15 crore on road upgradation project - (11/4/2008)
• Govt to set up regulator for construction industry - (10/4/2008)
• Delhi govt approves 3-level grade separator on NH-4 - (8/4/2008)
• Mantri, IL&FS to develop IT SEZ at Nagpur - (7/4/2008)
• No takers for Rs 4,000-cr government aid
• Nagaland signs 2 pacts with Korean co
• Core sector grows by 8.7% in February
• Chopper Class: Govt plans airports for helicopters
• Green tilt in energy balance
• Nagarjuna, Maytas Infra to develop Karnataka airports
• IVRCL bags orders worth Rs 484 cr
• India set to sign transport project agreement with Myanmar

Indian Economy - Finance Updates April 2008 :

• PE deals fall apart in M&A Street
• MBGB exceeds Rs 2 cr business per employee target: CMD
• Azad takes up sop exemption issue with PM
• CRR hike would put upward pressure on interest rates: PHDCCI
• Punjab, Haryana project Rs 650 cr loss due to CST cut
• J&K to sanction Rs 207 lakh subsidies to 32 industrial units
• FDI outflow doubles to $18 bn during Apr-Dec
• Home, retail loan rates likely to rise following CRR hike
• Bankers to wait till RBI policy before taking call on rates
• RBI hikes CRR by 0.5 per cent to control inflation
• India's FY-08 indirect tax receipts at Rs 2.79 tn
• FIIs cut exposure in Indian equity markets
• US Eximbank approves $2.2 billion program for India
• I&B ministry gets Rs 1,910 crore for the current fiscal
• A repo rate hike by RBI likely, says BoI chief
• Fertiliser subsidy bill to rise to Rs 1 lakh crore: Paswan
• Haryana collects Rs 10,000 crore as taxes last fiscal
• Banks in a spot as govt sits on crop-loan interest subsidies
• Capital goods sector earnings may slowdown in Q4: Analysts
• Banks board slow coach as credit growth slips to 24% in 2007-08
• Coal India pays Rs 1,705.42 cr dividend to govt
• Direct tax collections surpass target in West Bengal region
• Overseas borrowings drop to less than $1 bn in February - (9/4/2008)
• NABARD Focus paper estimate credit flow of Rs.37,546 crores - (8/4/2008)
• Finance Ministry approves new Rs 50,000 cr APDRP scheme - (8/4/2008)
• Foreign fund restrictions to boomerang: Raghuram panel
• Grant Rs 5,000 cr for setting up SEZs in JK: Assocham
• CRR hike may leave banks with little to lend
• 10 lakh backward class families benefit from NBCFDC loans
• JPMorgan's John Coyle joins Permira
• Indian investors get more room to diversify abroad
• WB, ADB may lend directly to urban bodies
• India raises overseas investment limit for funds
• 'India needs $500 nn investment to sustain growth'
• Centre releases Rs 65 cr to revive lakes in J&K
• Refund claims may rise on derivatives losses
• 'India important source of FDI in US'
• Microcredit raises hopes for farm widows
• Retail sector may get service tax relief
• BJP seeks Rs 1,000 cr relief package from Centre
• CST phaseout to miss deadline
• Repo rate, CRR hike on cards
• DA announced for Punjab employees

Indian Economy Updates | Latest agriculture / trade News

April 2008 Indian Economic Updates :

Agriculture April 2008 Latest Updates :

• Mizoram govt distributes paddy seeds to farmers free of cost - (18/4/2008)
• Govt pressed to compensate farmers - (17/4/2008)
• Karuturi Global to buy Dutch firm Florinex - (17/4/2008)
• Rs 25kcr plan to boost farm output: Pawar - (16/4/2008)
• Poll-bound states likely to put stock limits on wheat - (16/4/2008)
• Rain & hail may set wheat prices on fire - (15/4/2008)
• Agriculture needs investments to handle supply issues: IDBI - (15/4/2008)
• Govt may meet wheat target as pvt players shy away from buying - (14/4/2008)
• 20 farm suicides in three days in Vidarbha - (13/4/2008)
• Need to raise loan waiver upto 10 hectares farm land:Coop body - (13/4/2008)
• Potato farmers struck by distress sale - (13/4/2008)
• Expert expects potato prices to stabilise at Rs 5-6 a kg - (13/4/2008)
• Maharashtra's sugar output to dip by 6%, export up by 42% - (13/4/2008)
• Efforts being made to get more rice from central pool, AP - (12/4/2008)
• Haryana to launch campaign for seed treatment - (12/4/2008)
• Cashew corp to launch health drink, soup - (12/4/2008)
• Govt may allow premium non-basmati exports: Exporters - (11/4/2008)
• Country needs higher pulses imports in FYO9: Trader - (11/4/2008)
• Basmati seen steady in tight market - (11/4/2008)
• World sugar prices seen at 12-15 cents/lb: ISO - (11/4/2008)
• Big cos may prefer MP, Rajasthan to Punjab for wheat lifting - (10/4/2008)
• NABARD gears up to start farmers' loan waivers by June - (9/4/2008)
• Rs 393.33 cr in crops lost due to Kerala rains - (8/4/2008)
• 2008 wheat output to top 75 mn tonnes - (8/4/2008)
• Govt not to raise wheat procurement price: Pawar - (7/4/2008)
• Orissa govt to soon declare new agriculture policy - (7/4/2008)
• Untimely rains may hit mango production, price rise likely - (6/4/2008)
• Wheat crop under threat as widespread rain lashes region - (6/4/2008)
• FAO predicts increased rice production in Asian countries - (3/4/2008)
• Soaring food prices to help farmers - (2/4/2008)
• Non-basmati export ban decision hasty: Exporters - (2/4/2008)
• Higher wheat crop globally to check prices - (2/4/2008)
• Changing food habits fuelling demand for wheat: Pawar - (1/4/2008)
• MNRE submits draft composition for National Biofuel Dev Board - (1/4/2008)
• Punjab govt announces Rs 16.35 crore relief for farmers - (1/4/2008)
• Mango production to go up 12 pc this year- (31/3/2008)

April 2008 Trade with Foreign Updates :

• India wants better connectivity with Bangladesh - (20/4/2008)
• Trilateral alliance not aimed at creating power bloc: India - (19/4/2008)
• Canada calls for stronger economic ties with India - (19/4/2008)
• India wants two-way trade with US: Ronen Sen - (19/4/2008)
• US small business agency to promote exports to India - (19/4/2008)
• US housing slump hits India's furniture exports - (19/4/2008)
• India to import 80 lakh tons of urea this year: Paswan - (18/4/2008)
• India, Mexico sign agreements in civil aviation, energy - (18/4/2008)
• WTO ministerial on May 19 to help wrap up Doha talks - (18/4/2008)
• India questions US legislation on scanning all imports - (17/4/2008)
• Indo-US business unaffected by rupee rise, sub-prime crisis - (10/4/2008)
• Indo-Malaysia trade opportunities galore - (10/4/2008)
• Schemes to be launched for promoting ornamental fish export - (9/4/2008)
• India, UK SMEs eye tie-ups ahead of Commonwealth, Olympics - (9/4/2008)
• Russia seeks enhanced economic ties with India - (9/4/2008)
• India to export about 2.1 mlnT of corn by May '08 - (9/4/2008)
• Oilmeals export earning jumps 65% to Rs 7,109 cr in FY'08 - (8/4/2008)
• India, Kazakhstan to get into projects-specific mode in oil sector - (8/4/2008)
• There's tremedous potential for growth of US-India trade: US - (8/4/2008)
• India's ties with Africa distinct from others - (7/4/2008)
• EU, US renew pressure on India's import ban on animal products - (7/4/2008)
• India-Africa trade can touch $50 billion by 2012: FICCI survey - (7/4/2008)
• Govt to facilitate cement import from Pakistan - (7/4/2008)
• Cross-border Indo-Pak trade along LOC on the anvil - (7/4/2008)
• Exporters should change biz models,cut dependence on govt: Survey - (6/4/2008)
• Seafood exports from India registers 12 pc fall - (5/4/2008)
• WTO calls off Doha trade meeting planned for April - (5/4/2008)
• Qureshi hints at reassessing no-Indian investment policy - (4/4/2008)
• CSEZ achieves 70 per cent growth in exports - (4/4/2008)
• 'India-Africa summit will boost South-South cooperation' - (4/4/2008)
• Govt withdraws sop on basmati rice export to check inflation - (4/4/2008)
• India, Myanmar inks double taxation avoidance treaty - (3/4/2008)
• US embarking on global energy ties with India - (3/4/2008)
• India agrees to supply rice to crisis ridden Sri Lanka - (3/4/2008)
• India asks developed nations to end protectionism - (3/4/2008)
• India sugar exports to fall in next crop year: LMC - (3/4/2008)
• India-Australia tie-up on cards for flexible GI shield - (3/4/2008)
• Sugar exports to dominate trade conference - 1/4/08

Inflation to soar further, likely to touch 7.5 % mark

ASSOCHAM on Saturday predicted that it would continue to soar for next three to four months, and may even touch the 7.5 per cent mark.

"The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation rate which is already at the highest in the last three years, could even surpass the 7.5 percent mark," predicts ASSOCHAM President Venugopal Dhoot.

In order to check inflation, the Cabinet Committee on Prices (CCP) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, decided to abolish import duty on all crude edible oils, including palm and soya, and banned the export of non-basmati rice and pulses to contain inflation.

The Central Government also decided to raise the Minimum Export Price of basmati rice to 1,200 dollars per ton from 1100 dollars, to balance the demand " supply in the domestic market and to cut import duty on butter and clarified butter (ghee) from 40 per cent to 30 per cent, besides, the 15 per cent import duty on maize was abolished, applicable on import of up to five lakh tons.

The CCP also advised states to impose limits on stocks of commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, besides asking steel producers not to raise prices.

The study done by the business conglomerate also reveals that the Central Government's efforts to contain inflation will come start-yielding results by August when inflation is likely to fall at of four per cent.

Experts believe that after all possible measures taken by the government, now, everyone is waiting for Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) annual credit policy that will be revealed on April 29.

The industry body has asked the RBI to increase the interest rates, specifically the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to restrain liquidity.

The problem of inflation doesn't seem to be India-centric with China too struggling with a rising inflation rate of over nine percent.

According to analysts, the announcement of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, and provisions for enhanced expenditure on social sectors in the Budget 2008-09 coupled with rising crude oil prices have also raised expectations about high inflation.

Indian Economy - Rupee v/s US $ daily trends - April 2008

Daily rupee trends against US $ date wise for april 2008 (at stock market closing time):

24/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.95 - Down(-0.01)

19/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.96 - Down(-0.17)

17/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.79 - Up^0.16

16/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.95 - Down(-0.11)

15/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.84 - (No change)

14/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.84 - Up^0.10

11/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.94 - Down(-0.10)

10/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.84 - Up^0.18

9/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 40.02 - Up^0.09

8/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 40.11 - Down(-0.14)

7/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.97 - Up^0.06 (wrt 6/4/08 rates)

4/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.97 - Up^0.11

3/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 40.08 - Down(-0.09)

2/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.99 - Down(-0.02)

1/4/2008 : (Rs v/s US $) - 39.97 - Up^0.14