The talks at the WTO’s ministerial conference ended with no decision on key issues such as finding a permanent solution to public food stockpile and on curbing fisheries subsidies that lead to over-capacity and over-fishing, sources said. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Despite hectic discussions, WTO MC13 ends with no deals on fisheries, agriculture

The talks at the WTO’s ministerial conference ended with no decision on key issues such as finding a permanent solution to public food stockpile and on curbing fisheries subsidies that lead to over-capacity and over-fishing, sources said. However, the members agreed to further extend the moratorium on imposing import duties on e-commerce trade for two more years, they said.

Yogi Adityanath meets U.P. Governor after Delhi visit, adds fuel to buzz over Cabinet expansion before Lok Sabha polls

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday met Governor Anandiben Patel in Lucknow adding fuel to the buzz of a State Cabinet expansion in the coming days ahead of parliamentary polls. Mr. Adityanath’s visit to the Governor’s house assumes significance as he attended the crucial Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meeting in New Delhi for the parliamentary polls a few hours earlier. The party said it is the prerogative of the Chief Minister to expand the Cabinet and it will be done accordingly. 

Organ failure has become a health crisis, says Union Health Minister in letter to CMs

Organ failure has become a health crisis in the country with a huge gap between available donors and patients requiring organ transplants, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare has said. 

In a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, he said to reduce the increasing demand for organs and waiting list, the people were being requested to come forward for organ donation and give hope of a new life to the people suffering from organ failure.

In major victory for labourers, Rajasthan extends urban jobs scheme to new municipal bodies

In a major victory for the villagers who lost employment opportunities after the conversion of village panchayats into urban local bodies, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan has agreed to launch the urban employment guarantee scheme in 42 newly created Municipal Councils. The decision came over the week-end after a month-long agitation at Bhim in Rajsamand district.

Unrestrained poaching plays a role in disappearance of Odisha’s leopards 

Odisha has witnessed a sharp decline in its leopard population — approximately one-fourth lost — primarily due to poaching between 2018 and 2022. The ‘Status of Leopards India’ released on Thursday presented a dismal picture of the big cat population in the State. “The leopard population in Odisha is estimated at 568, the population has significantly declined since the last countrywide estimate of 760. However, the leopard densities from both the tiger Reserves have increased significantly. This indicates the major efforts of recovery is restricted to tiger reserves,” says the leopard census. The drop of 192 leopards is estimated to be 25.26%.

Food Corporation to spend ₹15 crore in five States to buy foodgrain bags with PM Modi’s photo

In the run-up to the 2024 general election, the Central government is spending around ₹15 crore in five States, to procure bags with the logo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that would be used to distribute foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

Corporate tax cuts bringing in investments and jobs, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The government’s decision to slash corporate tax rates in late 2019 was a well-considered move to attract investments that has made a lot of difference, and a major transition is under way in the industry-labour relationship, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

TSCCB officials warn about surge in IPO scams

The Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau (TSCSB) have warned stock market investors about a significant rise in scams targeting Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).

Biden approves military air drops of aid into Gaza after Israeli firing left more than 100 dead

U.S. President Joe Biden said March 1 that the U.S. will begin air-dropping humanitarian assistance into Gaza, a day after more than 100 Palestinians were killed during a chaotic encounter with Israeli troops.

Has Dusan Vlahovic finally found his feet at Juventus?

When Dusan Vlahovic scored his second goal against Frosinone last weekend, creating space in the box by wrong-footing his marker before producing an exquisite finish to level the game at 2-2, the official Juventus social media handle exclaimed: “Dusan!! He just can’t stop scoring can he?!” It was a sentiment the Bianconeri fans ardently agreed with. This marked a change — in both the tone and mood in Turin — from much of 2022 and 2023, when Vlahovic’s reputation as one of Europe’s hottest talents was fast eroding. Juventus had acquired the Serbian hitman’s services during the January transfer window in 2022, beating serious competition from Arsenal and forking out €80 million. 

The Centre says it has taken measures to expedite clearances for projects under the PLI scheme. File
| Photo Credit: KAMAL NARANG

About ₹12,900 crore has already been invested in the domestic steel sector under the PLI scheme for specialty steel, an official statement said on February 14.

In March 2023, 57 memorandum of understandings (MoUs) were signed for generating an investment of about ₹29,500 crore in the sector by FY28. Besides, the scheme envisaged addition of 25 MT capacity for producing specialty steel grades and generating about 17,000 employment opportunities, Ministry of Steel said in an statement.

On the status of the scheme, the Ministry said “as of December 2023, the selected companies have already invested about ₹12,900 crore against an investment commitment of ₹21,000 crore up to the current financial year.” It is expected that another ₹3,000 crore will be invested by these companies during FY24.

As many as 5 units set up as part of the PLI scheme have begun production, and 9 more units are expected to begin production in this quarter, it said.

The Ministry envisages an investment of ₹10,000 crore in FY25. It further said that investments in the steel sector have a long gestation period and depend on factors like procurement of various equipment, many of which are sourced from abroad. Delays due to unavoidable circumstances in the projects include supply chain delays due to geopolitical issues, unforeseen events, natural disasters and changed market, among others.

The Ministry along with other relevant Government departments, has been proactively engaging with the PLI beneficiaries to resolve issues faced by companies and facilitate them to meet their commitments. Measures have been taken to expedite clearances for projects, issue standard operating procedures for Indian visa for experts, and to address the concerns of the participating companies by continuous engagement with stakeholders.

New Delhi:

India is planning to offer incentives of up to Rs 18,000 Crore ($2.2 billion) to spur local manufacturing in six new sectors including chemicals, shipping containers and inputs for vaccines, two government officials said.

The proposal is part of the country’s 1.97-trillion-rupee production-linked incentive scheme (PLI), launched in 2020 which currently targets 14 sectors ranging from electronic products to drones, but has been successful only in a handful of them.

A fraction of the PLI incentives has been claimed so far, prompting the government to allocate unused funds to new sectors.

Limited payouts under the scheme could lead to “large” savings which may be redirected to new sectors, the two government officials with knowledge of the plan said.

They did not wish to be named as details of the plan have not been made public. India’s federal trade ministry that oversees the scheme’s implementation did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The six new sectors that could join the PLI scheme also include toys, bicycles, leather and footwear, the officials said. These sectors will share the Rs 18,000 Crore (180-billion-rupee) allocation that is being carved out from the scheme’s original outlay, they added.

India sees the PLI scheme as crucial to boosting the broader Indian economy which has been starved of private investment for nearly a decade and is struggling to create adequate jobs, particularly in manufacturing.

Total incentives worth nearly 29 billion rupees were paid out in the fiscal year that ended in March. Little has been paid to businesses in sectors including speciality steel products, solar modules, and car components, according to a government report seen by Reuters.

In the fiscal year that started in April, the disbursements could rise to nearly 11,000 Crore rupees and to 40,000 Crore rupees by fiscal year 2024/25, one of the two officials said, citing an internal analysis by the government.

“The disbursements should be better than this estimate after some tweaks to the scheme,” the official said, adding such tweaks would help speed up payouts and some sectors may get an additional year or two under the scheme.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 27 said the government will consider the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Chemicals and Petrochemicals sector to make India a manufacturing hub for such products.

In view of stringent pollution control regulations and rising labour cost, she said, global manufacturers in the chemical industry are looking at diversifying their products and production capability and India stands out as an alternative destination for manufacturing.

Besides, India offers a large domestic market, she said while addressing the third edition of the summit on ‘Global Chemicals and Petrochemicals Manufacturing Hubs in India’.

“If viable options exist, it exists in such markets where there is a domestic buffer and beyond which there is an export potential. So that is where the government’s policies have been facilitating,” she said.

“We are in favour of having India becoming a manufacturing hub and therefore of course we will consider the PLI also for the chemicals and petrochemicals,” she added.

She emphasised that the industry which has great potential should create manufacturing capacity keeping in mind sustainability, carbon emission, general pollution and groundwater pollution etc.

“We should remember that India has set its sights on becoming energy independent by 2047 and achieving net zero by 2070. So net zero cannot be achieved unless each industry and each sector contributes to it.

“We are very focused on green growth. Carbon intensity has to be reduced and therefore each one of the sectors will have to contribute to this,” she said.

Energy efficiency and renewable energy commitments of India are also very important, she said, adding, India Inc. should keep that in mind the Net Zero goal of India and 500 gigawatts of installed electricity capacities from non fossil fuel sources.

The Hydrogen Mission is also something which she urged industry to keep in mind.

The government has approved a ₹19,744-crore incentive plan to promote the manufacturing of green hydrogen in the country in a bid to cut emissions.

The National Green Hydrogen Mission seeks to promote development of green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW in the country by 2030.

Highlighting four challenges — sustainability, recycling or becoming circular economy, skilling and technology adoption, she said, if Indian manufacturers focus on these issues, global investors would actively look at parking their money or forging joint ventures with Indian partners in chemicals and petrochemicals industry.

With regard to the industry’s task of addressing the issue of inverted duty structure on some of their items, the finance minister said, inversion on an item if corrected can have collateral somewhere.

Inversion of duty is a great concern for industry but it should be in a holistic fashion, she said, adding, she would welcome suggestions in this respect and the ministry will look at them.