India-UK Deal to Allow More Flights to Boost Tourism and Trade for Global India & Britain

New Delhi: India and the UK signed a MoU to ease restrictions on the number of scheduled flights between the two countries, following successful talks in India this week. Limits on flights from key Indian cities including Chennai and Kolkata have been scrapped, allowing for a greater range of flights for passengers while providing a boost to trade and tourism for the UK and India. Building new links with important trading partners is a key part of the government’s plans for a Global Britain, opening up new export markets and creating jobs and economic growth. The agreement also opened all destinations in the UK for Indian carriers for code share flights, and reciprocally the UK carriers can also operate code share flights to any International Airport in India, through domestic code share arrangements.
The agreement was formally signed by Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, on behalf of India and Lord Ahmad of U.K. during a visit to India where he led a delegation of British companies for the 2017 CAPA India Aviation Summit.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, said “The increase in number of flights between the UK and India is encouraging news for our businesses and tourists. We already enjoy strong ties with the UK and we welcome such continued association which in the long run will not only encourage business activity, but also people-to-people contact. I am sure that this agreement will bring direct and indirect benefits to many sectors of the economies of our two countries”.
Tourism from India makes an important contribution to the UK economy. In 2015, there were 422,000 visits from India to the UK, bringing more than £433 million to the economy.
Aviation Minister of U.K., Lord Ahmad said: “India is one of our closest allies and key trading partners and this new agreement will only serve to strengthen this crucial relationship. We are unlocking new trade and tourism opportunities which will boost our economies, create new jobs and open up new business links. This is great news for both the UK and India and is yet another sign that we are open for business and ready to build and strengthen our trade links.”
India is a rapidly expanding and important market for aviation and the agreement signed today will allow airlines to develop new services and air routes. The final decision on additional flights between the UK and India is a commercial one for airlines.

EU, India keen to deepen strategic partnership

Brussels: The European Union and India underlined their desire on Thursday to strengthen strategic partnership and to boost cooperation in many sectors, including political, security, trade, economy, human rights and environment.
"India is one of our four strategic partners in Asia. We want to build our relationship further to reflect the strategic nature of this partnership. We have had some difficult years behind us," said Gunnar Wiegand, Managing Director, Asia and Pacific, in the EU foreign service, known as the European External Action Service.
He was speaking at a debate on EU-India relations, hosted by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels.
"The strategic partnership is currently being shaped in a very tangible and complex global and European environment," he said referring to the Brexit referendum and to the new US administration.
"...We have agreed on an ambitious EU-India Action Plan 2020 on a broad range of common issues," said Wiegand.
He called for more EU-India cooperation on key global issues in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and to strengthen trade and investment partnership, adding that the EU remains committed to a broad and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.
The top EU diplomat also called for more high-level visits from India to Brussels.
Addressing the debate, India's ambassador to the EU, Manjeev Singh Puri, said: "The EU and India are the largest bastions of democracy. We need to come together and work to make things better for ourselves and the world. I believe we have a vested interests with each other.
"The European Union and India have a joint and shared interest in multipolarity and have a shared and joint interest in discharging global responsibility," he stated.
Puri noted that the EU and India agreed on a strategic partnership in 2004 and underlined that the two sides are cooperating in several areas, including security and counter-terrorism.
The last EU-India summit was held in Brussels in March 2016, just a week after the horrendous terror attacks in the Belgian capital.
Puri said that the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Brussels last March was a very important sign to stress India's solidarity in the fight against terrorism.
He said the EU and India have been negotiating a broad-based trade and investment agreement for several years and recently high-level talks were held to re-launch these negotiations.
An EU-India summit is planned to be held in New Delhi later this year.
On his part, Geoffrey Van Orden, the chair of the European Parliament's delegation for ties with India, argued that "India, in spite of the fine words and cliches that we hear, is a much neglected country in terms of our EU relationship.
"Although there are strong bilateral relations, it is also neglected in terms of bilateral relations. There is so much more to be done."
He said talks are continuing to establish an EU-India friendship group in the Lok Sabha and said that members of the delegation will be visiting India shortly. Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament are also expected to visit India later this month.
Two British Members of the European Parliament of Pakistani origin, Afzal Khan and Amjad Bashir, raised the issue of Kashmir during the debate. In reply, the Indian ambassador stressed that "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India".
"My suggestion to you would be to tell the country of your birth to stop fomenting terror, stop being an epicentre of global terrorism and stop trying to export it across," added Puri.

Horticulture output to exceed foodgrain yield

New Delhi: India’s horticulture production, at around 287.32 million tonnes, will continue to outstrip that of foodgrain by a good margin in 2016-17 also, even as vegetables might see just a marginal decline.
Foodgrain production is projected to be more than 270 million tonnes.
Under horticulture, fruit production in 2016-17 is expected to be 91.72 million tonnes, against 90.18 million tonnes last year.
Vegetables production in 2016-17, according to the first advanced estimates, is expected to touch 168.59 million tonnes, against 169.06 million tonnes in 2015-16, a fall of less one per cent.
The other items include plantation crops, spices and flowers.
Horticulture production has been more than foodgrain output for the past few years even when the country faced back-to-back droughts in 2014 and 2015.
Kharif grain production, according to the first advanced estimates, was around 135.03 million tonnes, the highest ever, while rabi output could also be good on the back of a record rise in the wheat and pulses area.
Though India’s horticulture output has been growing steadily for the last few years, it is much less than that of China.
That apart, the processing of horticulture produce is low in India as compared to China.
A study by YES Bank a few years ago showed that India has only two per cent of the products in temperature-controlled conditions, while in China the corresponding figure is 15 per cent. In Europe and North America it is 85 per cent.
Cold storage facilities are available for just around 10 per cent of horticulture production in the country and 30-40 per cent of the annual production is wasted before consumption.
In 2009, China processed around 30 per cent of the food (fruit and vegetables), while in India it is far less.

Luxury brand Faberge enters India

New Delhi: It defined elegance at Russia’s last imperial court, added sheen to museums in continental Europe with its Easter eggs, and has long been at Her Majesty’s service. That bespoke service is now available in India, the latest market for London’s ultra-luxury jeweler for the super-rich, Faberge.
Owned by the world’s top emeralds and rubies-miner Gemfields Plc., Faberge is the latest in a swelling list of global luxury brands such as Burberry and Rolex to enter India, where economic expansion is spawning more billionaires than in Japan, the traditional bastion of ultra-rich in Asia. Delhi and Mumbai, India’s economic hotspots, will be Faberge’s beachhead in the country, where the jeweler will sell its products by select trunk shows for the uber-rich.
“India and other Asian markets have tremendous potential going by the reactions we got in the last few days. The relationship with Gemfields gives us a leg-up in our ability to deliver wonderful pieces. Asia has largely been an unexplored area for us and expect the next phase of growth to come from the region,” said Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Faberge.
The jeweler, which retails through 39 multi-brand outlets including Mayfair and Harrods will hold more such trunk shows in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Products sold in India include a selection of coloured gemstones, emeralds rubies, and sapphires, and timepieces including the award-winning Lady Compliquee peacock watch. Prices range from $5000 to $3 million.
Founded in 1842, Fabergé has been one of the most reknowned brands in the world of jewelry since Peter Carl Fabergé became the official goldsmith to the Russian Imperial Court.
In its quarterly report for the period ending December, Gemfields stated Faberge’s sales transactions for the period ending 31st December 2016 increased by 48% compared to the same period in 2015, while the average selling price per piece increased by 12% over the same period.
Faberge will open two new outlets this year. Gilbertson said the brand has not been as affected by the overall slowdown in the luxury market as it deals with a smaller clientele, and its average selling price is extraordinarily high compared with most other brands.

852 Solar PV based Projects Operational Under of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

New Delhi: A total of 852 projects (based on Solar PV) have been operational under Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) implemented by Ministry of Power as on 31.01.2017. This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, Mines New & Renewable Energy and Mines in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Budget 2017 seeks to revive public investments in agriculture: Nabard chief

New Delhi: The budget has tasked the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), India’s apex bank for rural finance, with supporting irrigation and dairy schemes totalling Rs35,000 crore. According to Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, chairman of Nabard, these measures will revive public investments in agriculture, and rejuvenate the dairy sector where processing infrastructure is outdated. Edited excerpts from an interview:
How do you perceive this year’s budget announcements for the rural and agriculture sector?
For the rural and agriculture sector, the budget is futuristic. For several years, public investment in agriculture was going down. It used to be very high during the Green Revolution years (in the 1960s), but recent estimates suggest nearly 80% of it is private investment (by farmers or rural entrepreneurs). This year, lots of public investment in irrigation and dairy is a positive sign. While the long-term irrigation fund (Rs 40,000 crore corpus announced in the past two budgets) will make available large volumes of water, the micro-irrigation fund (Rs 5,000 crore) will help in efficient use of that water.
From a farmers’ income point of view, dairy will play a critical role. Our dairy processing infrastructure is outdated and requires rejuvenation. India is the largest producer of milk but only 20% of it goes for organized processing. We require larger processing capacities and whatever exists now is Operation Flood investments from 1970s and 1980s. So, the dairy processing fund announced in the budget (Rs 5,000 crore under Nabard) is a timely move.
For small and marginal farmers, a model law on contract farming (proposed in the budget) will allow for collectivization of cultivation so that scale of operations (farming) can go up and investments are made.
The budget tasked Nabard with schemes totalling Rs 35,000 crore for irrigation, dairy and cooperative banks. How will these take off ? Last year’s budget gave Nabard charge of a Rs 20,000 crore long-term irrigation fund. How much did you borrow and allocate to states?
Most of the funds will be raised from the market and advanced as loans to states and central government agencies. The idea is to make large funds available upfront, than say, allocate Rs 4,000 crore every year, for the next few years. This will help finish pending irrigation projects on time. The centre will service the interest on these market borrowings and repay the principal amount (for its share) to Nabard. States will allocate the funds they borrow from us directly to complete the projects. They will have to repay the borrowed funds within 15 years.
We have raised and disbursed Rs 5,600 crore to state governments for the long-term irrigation fund, and expect it to reach Rs 12,000 crore by year end (March 2017) depending on how projects are progressing.
Will Nabard also monitor progress of these projects?
Nabard does milestone-based funding. This means instalments are made available on satisfactory progress based on previous allocations. We have a monitoring arrangement and that’s why completion rates of projects that we are funding are higher.
That’s a lot of responsibility. Do you think the budget has entrusted Nabard with more tasks, than say, the agriculture ministry?
Nabard cannot do anything on its own. We work with state and central government departments. They need us for fund-raising upfront as there is a limitation on raising resources within one year. We are as much a part of the government as the department of agriculture is.

We should see early revival of pvt investment: Uday Kotak, Kotak Mahindra Bank

New Delhi: India presents probably the best opportunities among global markets, but the risks to those materialising are high because of the changes in the West that are undermining liberal economic and political values, Uday Kotak, executive vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, tells ET. Kotak was speaking at Kotak Institutional Equities, annual global investor conference — Chasing Growth 2017. Edited excerpts.
How are you reading the change in policy stance by the central bank?
I think the most important point, as I see in the monetary policy, is that we are moving to a neutral position. I think that is even more important and reflective than the fact that there has been no decrease in repo rates. A neutral position in my mind has important characteristics, one is the rate itself which can, from here on, go up or down and the second is liquidity. If the total liquidity in the system is about Rs 6.5 lakh crore, some of that will go out by increase in currency in circulation. Now, we have roughly Rs 10 lakh crore; if currency in circulation goes up to Rs 12-13 lakh crore, that reduces surplus liquidity. But what does neutral stance mean for liquidity? Does it mean surplus liquidity of not more than Rs 1,00,000 crore, or Rs 50,000 crore, and what is the implication of that? I think there has been a lot of focus on neutral position from the point of view of ability to move interest rates in either direction, but the thing that we would really watch out for is also what neutral position means from the point of view of system-level liquidity. Because it has equal, if not more, implications on where interest rates in the money markets stabilise. And some of that is having an impact on the yields as well.
What is the impact on growth?
You have to look at growth in a slightly different context. The key issue on growth in my mind is about private investment and that is where our challenge is. As long as interest rates are in reasonable control, private investment in my view will start picking up once you see better capacity utilisation. And, my personal view is that by the end of the calendar year, we should see early revival of private investment, provided interest rates are under reasonable control.
From an equity investor point of view, how should they view India?
India is relatively, from an equity investor point of view, in a sweet spot. Our macro is in good shape, we are less dependent on the world other than IT and pharma. We are much more a domestic economy and investors like that. I believe formal domestic savings plus global savings should be in India’s favour.
With Trump taking charge, do you believe that the established world economic order is changing?
If you see post-World War II, the first mega trend you saw for a period of 35-40 years was the Socialist-Communist model and that model peaked in the 60s. In the early 70s, the world started seeing early trouble with this mega trend. And by the end of 70s, countries began to move away from that model. The second mega trend started in 1985, where marketbased economy, economic liberalism and globalisation became the mega trend — from mid-80s to 2015. People, who saw the second mega trend, know that the Communist-Socialist order doesn’t work in the real world, because as you focus disproportionately on distribution of cake, you’re destroying the growth of the cake. The question now is if 2016 is a turning point for the next mega trend?
What is the next mega trend?
The mega trend is back to protectionism and anti-globalisation. Therefore, whether it’s Brexit, whether it’s Trump or what you see in Europe is that the beginning of a mega trend, which is the mega trend 3. The biggest discussion at Davos (World Economic Forum) was about this mega trend 3. At this stage, the world view is that this is noise and not the mega trend 3. People are saying this is 3-4 years of noise, but ultimately, people will realise that the mega trend 1actually did not lead to prosperity. Now, this is hope. You know when a trend starts gaining momentum, it’s not controllable.
How do you think India should handle US President Donald Trump?
I am sure that India has got a strategy for it … But I have heard that companies like (Chinese ecommerce giant) Alibaba went and met Trump with some of its advisers who had deep relations in the US and who they had hired well before. I believe (Alibaba’s chairman) Jack Ma met Trump on January 9th … India is doing governmentto-government dialogue. India really needs to get the right set of private sector — may be non-resident Indians who may already have linkages and have supported him. That could be a good route.
You spoke about investments returning by the end of the year, but the RBI and even the Economic Survey talked about the twin balance sheet problem (stress on both banks and companies). So, how does it change by the end of the year?
One of the biggest challenges in India continues to be how you manage the issue of stress on bank balance sheet which has been there for a long time. We have talked about it year after year and it has not improved. My view is that as regards to stress, whatever has got into the ditch is remaining in the ditch. It is further complicated by some of the situations which is slowing down decision-making at PSU banks. If decisions don’t get taken and there is always a lot of fear … and if something is in the ditch, how do you get it out?
There have been reports about a possible merger with Axis Bank. Is it on the cards?
First, let me say that as a policy we do not comment on rumours and speculation. The core of any company is to focus on value creation and the ability to say ‘yes’ when there is a value-creating opportunity and ‘no’ when there is not a value-creating opportunity. Our approach to looking at anything is does it make sense for our shareholders, does it add value, is it sustainable and can we deliver superior returns to our stakeholders. That is how we think about any opportunity and obviously it goes without saying that if there is something which makes sense for us we will always keep an open mind and if there is something we need to disclose to the market we will be out there disclosing it at the right time. We are evaluating a variety of options as a bank. At this stage, there is nothing which we have come to a point where we think we should be coming out and telling you, ‘listen here is something really great’. We are looking at various options across financial services and we are looking at various options for creation of value for our stakeholders in whatever shape or form it comes.
How are you viewing the financial services sector in India?
I am very optimistic about financial services in India. I believe there is significant growth. The financial services industry in India is a huge beneficiary of the formal financial sector growth at the cost of real estate and gold. I am optimistic about financial services across the board — banking, asset management, life insurance, securities and investment banking. This is driven for two reasons. First, movement of household savings now into financial savings and second, deepening of Indian markets. For a mutual fund industry, which is growing at 30%, it is a phenomenal growth.

Tesla may enter India this summer: Elon Musk

New Delhi: Electric car maker Tesla Inc. is likely to introduce its products in India sometime in the summer of 2017, its chief executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday.
“Hoping for summer this year,” Musk said about his company’s expected launch in India, responding to a query on Twitter.
Tesla’s much anticipated Model 3, which is positioned as a mass-market, affordable car, will be retailed at $35,000 in the US. Some Indians have also booked it by paying an advance of $1,000. The Economic Times newspaper reported in April that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of mobile wallet company Paytm; venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy; Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO of wearable and fitness technology company GOQii; and Sujayath Ali, CEO of online fashion platform Voonik, were among those who tweeted about booking the Model 3.
Sales of electric vehicles in India rose 37.5% to 22,000 units in the year ended 31 March 2016, according to industry lobby group Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles. Just 2,000 units were electric cars. To put that in perspective, non-electric car sales rose 7.87% from the previous year to 2.025 million units in the year ended 31 March 2016, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
At these levels, India has far to go from the six-million by 2020 target set under National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 and FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles).
An electric vehicle consortium formed by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Tata Motors Ltd and Ford India Pvt. Ltd has collapsed with Maruti and Ford pulling out of it.
The coming of Tesla will not prop up sales of electric vehicles in India, but it will create an aura that will augur well for the electric vehicles industry, said Abdul Majeed, partner and national auto practice leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

AccorHotels plans to add close to 550 rooms in eastern India

Kolkata: AccorHotels plans to add close to 550 rooms in eastern India as the company expands its footprint in Guwahati and Kolkata. The expansion is likely to take place over the next three years.
To start with, Novotel, a sub-brand of the company , will debut with its Guwahati property. Targeting a mid-year launch, it is likely to have 122 rooms. This would be followed by IBIS and Formule1 in Kolkata by 2018.
Talking about the eastern India hospitality scenario, Arif Patel, vice-president of sales, marketing, distribution and loyalty at AccorHotels India, said: "The potential in the east India market remained untapped for years and it has just started getting its share of branded hotels. Accor is attempting to give the east an option to choose from a chain of luxury hotel to branded budget rooms." The company is likely to double its Kolkata portfolio to four hotels.
Accor is likely to launch subbrands IBIS and Formule1 in Kolkata, adding to the 500 rooms in the city from Novotel and Swiss Hotel. The entry of these brands into the eastern market will add another 316 keys to the city. The 129-room Formule1, according to Patel, would be the cording to Patel, would be the first new-generation hotel from the sub-brand in the country.
"Travellers are getting younger and hence new products constantly need to be added to the offerings one has.The new generation Formule1 would be targeting a younger crowd between the 22 years and 35 years age group, and will be having an all new décor as well as food and beverage offerings.Everything will be designed according the tastes and pockets of the age group," said Patel.
Accor is expecting an 8-10% growth in average room rentals and 4-5% growth in occupancy. The company is bullish on the wedding market.
"There is a lot of demand for high budget weddings in the east and due to lack of branded options a lot of them move abroad to locations like Thailand and Singapore. The city can now get back these businesses lost to such locations for weddings," said Patel. Another set of customers for the group would be medical tourists, mostly from Bangladesh.
AccorHotels, that has 46 hotels in India across various categories, is targeting to touch 10,000 keys from its present inventory of 8,000 keys. The group also plans to expand its presence to 25 other cities across India.

Cabinet approves 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' for covering 6 crore rural households

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate. The outlay for this project is Rs.2,351.38 crore to usher in digital literacy in rural India by March,.2019. This is in line with the announcement made by Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2016-17.
PMGDISHA is expected to be one of the largest digital literacy programmes in the world. Under the scheme, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in the FY 2016-17; 275 lakh in the FY 2017-18; and 300 lakh in the FY 2018-19. To ensure equitable geographical reach, each of the 250,000 Gram Panchayats would be expected to register an average of 200-300 candidates.
Digitally literate persons would be able to operate computers/digital access devices (like tablets, smart phones, etc.), send and receive emails, browse internet, access Government Services, search for information, undertaking cashless transactions, etc. and hence use IT to actively participate in the process of nation building.
The implementation of the Scheme would be carried out under the overall supervision of Ministry of Electronics and IT in active collaboration with States/UTs through their designated State Implementing Agencies, District e-Governance Society (DeGS), etc.
Background:
As per the 71st NSSO Survey on Education 2014, only 6% of rural households have a computer. This highlights that more than 15 crore rural households (@ 94% of 16.85 crore households) do not have computers and a significant number of these households are likely to be digitally illiterate. The PMGDISHA being initiated under Digital India Programme would cover 6 crore households in rural areas to make them digitally literate. This would empower the citizens by providing them access to information, knowledge and skills for operating computers / digital access devices.
As the thrust of the Government is on cashless transactions through mobile phones, the course content would also have emphasis on Digital Wallets, Mobile Banking, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS), etc.