India’s free-market oasis, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City or GIFT City in Gujarat is ready to face global financial hubs such as Singapore and Dubai. The financial hub occupies 886 acres between Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar, and its biggest city Ahmedabad. It has the presence of companies such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc with a combined employee base of 20,000. Being located in the city brings the companies exemption from many rules and taxes that hinder business and trading in the rest of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi began planning t
Bilateral trade for India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to exceed $88 billion this year. This will make the UAE India’s third largest trading partner after the United States and China. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, was recently in India for a two-day official visit to advance relations between the two nations. The UAE Foreign Minister on Tuesday met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two nations. The leaders published a Joint Vision Document, wh
HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh has said that India is not separate from the world and will face some economic slowdown, but will still continue to be among the fastest growing world economies. Addressing The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India 21st World Congress of Accountants on Monday, Parekh said that India’s GDP growth for 2022 may be slightly lower than 7 per cent, but what is important to note is the inherent resilience that is now embedded in its economy. He believed that India can grow from a $3.4 trillion economy to a $7.5 trillion economy within the next five years. Ci
India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are expected to launch negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) on Thursday, November 24, to boost economic ties between the two regions. The two sides are likely to discuss issues related to food security, logistics and regulatory measures. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. India has already implemented a free trade pact with the UAE in May this year. The talks would be a kind of resumption of FTA talks after two rounds of negotiations held in 2006 and 2008 bet
Led by high-frequency indicators and economic prediction models, an article in Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monthly bulletin envisaged that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow between 6.1 per cent and 6.3 per cent in the June-September quarter of financial year 2022-23. “If this is realised, India is on course for a growth rate of about 7 per cent in 2022-23,” said the article in the State of the Economy report. The RBI bulletin reasoned that supply responses in the economy are gaining strength. The cumulative procurement of rice during this kharif marketing season has alre
India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $14.721 billion to $544.715 billion in the week ended November 11, said Reserve Bank of India data released on Friday. The increase marks the fastest pace of growth registered in the country’s foreign exchange reserves since August 2021. The sharp rise was mainly due to an increase of $11.8 billion in the central bank’s foreign currency assets to $482.53 billion. Last week, the rupee strengthened sharply against the dollar, appreciating 2 per cent. The analysts cite this as a reason for the increase in the RBI’s reserves. It was a g
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that his government remains committed to working “as quickly as possible” for the successful conclusion of the free trade agreement (FTA) with India, as most of the substantive negotiation conversations were completed at the end of last month. At a House of Commons session on the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Thursday, the leader updated Parliament that he reviewed progress on the FTA during his first meeting with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, since taking charge as the UK Prime Minister. He was questioned by Opposition Labour Party
India’s economy is positioned positively compared to other Asian emerging markets such as Korea and Taiwan and set to surpass Japan and Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027, said Jonathan Garner, Chief Asia and Emerging Market Equity Strategist, Morgan Stanley, in an interview. The expert added that India will have the third-largest stock market by the end of this decade. The expert called India to be one of the most expensive markets and has enjoyed earnings growth in the current financial year, while Korean and Taiwanese economies have suffered blows due to sem
India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Saturday advanced their relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, vowing to augment cooperation in diverse areas, including maritime, cyber security, and interoperability of digital financial systems. Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar led the Indian delegation to the Asean-India Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The delegation included Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Under maritime cooperation, India and Asean will work on maritime security, countering piracy, search and rescue operati
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed energy and trade ties with Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during a visit to Hanoi on Sunday. On the first visit of a German leader to Vietnam in more than a decade, Scholz stopped in Vietnam before visiting the G20 leaders' summit in Indonesia. The visit underlined Vietnam's rising role in global supply chains and interest of German firms to take their manufacturing operations beyond China in Asia. Speaking at the joint news conference with Pham Minh Chinh, Scholz called for deeper trade relations with Vietnam and committed to help the A