April May 2022

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Dear Industry Members,

Business travel is taking off again, as Covid-19 cases are at a two-year low and companies are gradually reopening offices, many corporates have resumed business travel, but only when it is essential and with strict safety protocols in place.

India will be central to the world’s development in the next twenty-five years. The world’s development, in turn, will be in large part determined by collective action to reduce the damage of climate change. So, India will be an essential element of the world’s sustainable future. India has already made huge strides on climate action – quadrupling wind and solar capacity in the last decade as well as launching the National Hydrogen Mission. With most of the infrastructure that India will need for energy and other needs by 2040 yet to be built, it can lead the world in pioneering a clean development path.

An accelerated and more ambitious shift to clean energy, including solar and wind deployment, provides the most effective route to ensuring climate and energy security, and improvements to our everyday lives. This shift will act to reduce emissions, wind down our dependence on fossil fuels and protect consumers and businesses from price volatility. Furthermore, it will provide new local job opportunities, energy access and cut the costs of living.

The ministry of electronics and information technology has formed an advisory board headed by a joint secretary on making India a $300 billion electronics manufacturing hub by 2026. Called the “Digital India Electronics Mission $300 Billion”, the board is composed of members from major local and multinational electronics brands and industry bodies. It succeeds a fast-tracked task force set up in December 2014 that focused only on smartphone manufacturing. With the new group, the ambit has been expanded to include other categories like IT hardware, wearables, LED Lights, etc.

The Government is considering some more short to medium term measures that can dampen inflation further after cutting excise duty to bring down prices of petrol and diesel. The measures under consideration include a reduction in customs duty for essential items such as edible oil and other imported raw materials for industries. A cut in the Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC) – levied on some imports is also under deliberation. The Government is keen to help with inflation management so that monetary tightening is kept to the minimum, as a sharp rise in interest rates can derail the economic recovery. The target is to reduce inflation by 60-70 basis points and there can be another round of duty cuts, retail inflation hit an eight year high of 7.79% in April 2022. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

India has emerged as a strong, resilient and responsible democracy where a people led governance model has led to delivery efficiencies, the record inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country reflected the confidence of the world in India’s economic potential, Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi during his two-day trip to Tokyo called on Japanese companies for greater participation in the India market.

Questioning the ‘shadow ban’ on cryptocurrencies, leading banks have asked the umbrella institution National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to spell out in a formal directive the curbs on the use of the popular money transfer tool “Unified Payment Interface” to buy and sell the virtual digital assets (VDAs). Several banks have grudgingly blocked UPI for trading of cryptos following “verbal instructions’ from NPCI which operates retail payments and settlement systems in the country.

Russia’s e-commerce platforms Ozon and Yandex Market, food supplements firm Pharmstandard, dental products distributor Simkodent, largest food retailer X5 Retail Group and confectionery major UNICONF are among several Russian companies that have reached out to India for business ties amid Moscow’s conflict with Kyiv. Due to the conflict and the sanctions on Russia, many European and American brands have stopped supplying their goods including consumer electronics, and apparel to Russia. Many Russian companies have approached as they have great interest to do business with India but there is apprehension on both sides especially about the payment.

Yandex Market, involved in imports, logistics, customs clearance, storage and distribution of goods, is exploring the possibilities of sourcing apparel and fashion, kids toys, bed linen, home décor, textile fabrics, consumer electronics, kitchen items, tea and leather products from India.

Food retailer X5 is interested in expanding its cooperation with India suppliers of drinks, seafood, tea, coffee, chicory, rice, canned food, kitchenware and fresh grapes, among others.

Electric vehicles In India may soon have the opportunity to go carbon –free in operations as the Government endeavours supply of renewable energy to charging stations in a coal- driven economy, a first of its kind initiative in the world.

Though EVs have no tailpipe emissions, they draw criticism from various sections on the use of fossil fuel for generating the electricity used to charge them. Coal contributes to 76% of electricity generation in India, and renewables including hydro19%.

A policy directive enabling any consumer above 100k W hour load, including residential societies, commercial complexes or charging stations, to source green electricity from any source other than the local distribution supplier has been announced by the Government. Sources in the Government said the rules are at the stage of final legal vetting. The Draft Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules,2021 were issues in last August.

Coming to our home state Kerala, Kerala has made a remarkable stride in the Ease of Doing Business Index based on the business environment. The state has been positioned with 15th rank in EoDB as per the State Business Reform Action Plan 2020 (SBRAP- 2020) compared with 28th in 2019 based on the implementation and feedback scores.    According to the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Kerala with a score of 75.49% has been placed 15th in the country. The ranking is based on the implementation score and feedback score obtained from the beneficiaries.

The recognition is attributed to the achievement of the proactive measures taken by the state government to stimulate the state’s business environment. It included policy reforms and business re-engineering processes. The holistic approach focusing on investment with sustainable development has helped the state to make rapid gains as a preferred investment destination. The government aims to get ranked within the first ten states in the upcoming years.

We whole heartedly support the effort taken by the Kerala Government in improving the Ease of Doing Business ranking of Kerala.

Moving on as part of the chamber’s India Forward Talk Series, I am happy to inform you that for the April edition of the India Forward Series we hosted, Shri. Subash Chandra Garg Former Economic Affairs Secretary and Finance Secretary of India as the Guest Speaker on 09 April 2022 through video conference, his talk was based on ” India Forward – $ 10 Trillion Dream”.

The Second meeting of the 8th edition of the CEO Forum networking breakfast meeting 2022 was initiated on Friday 22 May 2022 at Hotel Crowne Plaza, Kochi, wherein Dr. Mathew Abraham, Senior Consultant (Neourology), Aster DM Healthcare was the Guest Speaker. He spoke on the topic: “Leadership and the Art of Communication – Learning from the Great Masters”. Dr. Mathew Abraham showcased examples of several historic and contemporary leaders and their leadership strategies and communication skills to overcome their challenging situation and getting their name enrolled into the pages of history. This session was very well received and appreciated by the CEO Forum members.

The Chamber also did an online interactive session with Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL)  on Saturday, 28 May 2022.  Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe spoke on the topic “Inflation a solution – not a problem”. In this session Dr. Weerasinghe discussed the current economic crisis of Sri Lanka and way forward strategies of Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to overcome it. This session enlightened about the errors in economic policy and political dichotomy of the country.

Thank you, and Stay Safe.

RECENT UNION CABINET DECISIONS:

Recent Union Cabinet decisions

April 2022 

May 2022

FORTHCOMING EVENTS: 

  • An Exclusive Virtual Interaction with Dr. Thomas Issac, Former Finance Minister, Government of Kerala – 15.06.2022

  • India Forward Talk Series with Hon’ble Minister, Shri. Nitin Jairam Gadkari-30.06.2022

  • CEO FORUM Breakfast Meeting with Dr. Jose Paul, Former Chairman, Mormugao Port Trust (Goa) – 23.07.2022

Recent Events:

  • India Forward talk Series – “$ 10 Trillion Dream.” with Mr. Subash Chandra Garg , Indian Economist and Former Finance Secretary of India – 09.04.2022

  • CEO FORUM Breakfast Meeting with Dr. Mathew Abraham, Senior Consultant (Neurology), Aster DM Healthcare Ltd. – 20.05.2022

  • An Exclusive Interaction with Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) on the Topic “Inflation a Solution – not a Problem” – 28.05.2022

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