This year’s budget is getting mixed reactions from various industry verticals. SupportBiz attempts to find out the views of some financial institutions on the budget.
SMEs drive growth and contribute to the industrial output in the country. They are also one of the biggest consumers of resources. Today, when depleting natural resources is a worldwide concern, SMEs should adopt green technology and environment-friendly practices.
The advertising industry has witnessed a great revolution over the past decade or so. First mobile internet and, now, a rich media experience on mobile phone are some trends that have influenced advertisers to seriously consider the cellphone as a preferred platform.
Mumbai-based Matsya is a social-entrepreneurship, committed to the preservation and proliferation of the arts and crafts of India. Started by crafts veteran Neha Gandhi in 2009, Matsya is now a name to reckon with.
The government has directed public-sector banks to restructure loans worth INR35,000 crore to textiles firms, which are facing financial problem, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said. "The government has advised all public-sector banks to set up a separate window for considering restructuring proposals from eligible borrowers in the textile industry on case-to-case basis," Meena said in written reply to a question in the Parliament.
Tea production in the organised sector in declining in India due to ageing bushes and little investment and the country may have lost 50 million kg of tea in the past 10 years. At the same time, it is rising in small holdings which account for nearly 28 percent of the total tea cultivation area and 26 percent of the country's total production.
With the worst power blackout in India affecting almost half the country and causing business losses of thousands of crores of rupees, India Inc. called for raising capacity in the power sector on a war footing. "Availability of coal and gas is a pre-requisite for spurring investments in the power sector. Reforms that would help make coal and gas available as per the nation's requirements must no longer be held back," said RV Kanoria, FICCI President.
Information technology (IT) trade association Nasscom is expecting an 11-14 percent growth for the current year, its president Som Mittal said. "The growth is contributed by mid and small companies that are growing around 20 percent," he said, adding that the projections will be reviewed in October.
The Union Cabinet has approved a special incentive package to promote large-scale manufacturing in the electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) sector. The scheme, called the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS), provides subsidy for investments in capital expenditure - 20 percent for investments in special economic zones (SEZs) and 25 percent in non-SEZs.
India is seeking to invest in Ghana's oil and gas sector and double trade with West Africa to USD40 billion by 2015, as part of its growing efforts to play a larger role in the development of Africa as a whole. "We have a keen interest in Ghana's developing hydrocarbon sector, and would discuss this and other sectors for close cooperation," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said after opening a Indian trade expo in Accra recently.