The Road Ahead

As we move towards the last days of 2020, reeling and recovering from the pandemic’s stress, hope and growth can be seen on the horizon with fresh optimism. The sustainable revival of the Indian economy is taking a front row in the forthcoming union budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised a vibrant budget that sustains the momentum of public spending in infrastructure and the revival of the economy.

According to recent trade released by the Ministry of Commerce, merchandise exports contract by 8.7%. The fall was largely led by petroleum goods, leather, marine products, and engineering goods. Essential commodities such as rice, cereals, fruit & vegetables, meat & poultry, spices, and pharmaceutical products continue to fare well amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The fine print of recent trade data shows labor-intensive exports are starting to recover.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman promises a vibrant Budget 2021

The forthcoming Union budget will “definitely sustain the momentum of public spending in infrastructure” and have a “vibrancy” to ensure sustainable revival of the economy, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. Also, the disinvestment activity will soon pick up the pace, she added. The government will likely present the budget for the next financial year on February 1.

Agriculture, pharma exports grows during Covid19 pandemic: Commerce secretary

Exports of sectors such as agriculture and pharmaceuticals have recorded significant growth even during Covid19 pandemic, and there is a need to sustain this, commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan said on Thursday. He said that all the signs are there which reflects that India will come back to pre-Covid levels.

Exports plunge 8.7 percent, trade deficit narrows in November

The ongoing pandemic continues to drag India’s merchandise exports, which contracted by 8.74 percent in November to $23.52 billion from $25.77 billion in the same month last year. According to the official data released on Tuesday, the cumulative value of exports for the April-November period of the current financial year was $173.66 billion as against $211.17 billion last year, falling by 17.76 percent in dollar terms.

Indian home textile exporters weave their way out of downturn, and how!

Higher in-home consumption due to increased stay-at-home period and a sharper focus on health and hygiene amid the pandemic are helping Indian home textile exporters weave their way out of the downturn faster than other textiles segments, according to a Crisil report. Revenue de-growth for home textile exporters will be limited to 10-12 per cent this fiscal compared with 30-35 per cent for the overall textile sector, indicates a Crisil analysis of 50 companies that account for over 60 per cent of India’s home textile exports.

New Far East service from PSA-run terminal at JNPT shows pick-up in EXIM trade

A consortium of six container lines has launched a new service from the Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals (BMCT) in Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) to the Far East in a move that signals renewed confidence in the volume recovery of India’s export-import (EXIM) trade in the wake of the pandemic.