Oct. 29 – President Barack Obama will be accompanied by over 200 senior American businessmen and women on his India visit next month, including.
Among the business delegation will be Indra Nooyi (Pepsico’s India-born CEO), David Cote (CEO of Honeywell), Terry McGraw (CEO of McGraw Hill), Louis Chênevert (CEO of United Technologies Corp.) and Ellen Kullman (chief executive of DuPont). Continue reading
Oct. 27 – Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh officially agreed on Monday to support a bilateral free trade agreement, signaling intentions by Japan to wean itself off of imports from China as well as an expansion of India’s role in the region.
After recent territorial disputes and rumored Chinese government-imposed bans on rare earths exports, Japan may be seeking to develop closer ties with the region’s other rapidly growing economy. Continue reading
Oct. 26 – Indian exports totaled US$103.3 billion in the April-September period, marking a 27.6 percent increase over the same period last year. Meanwhile, the country’s merchandise shipments rose at their fastest rate in two years, surging 23 percent, or about US$18 billion, in September.
Imports have also surged over the same time frame and have outpaced exports to stir concerns over a widening trade gap. Continue reading
Oct. 26 – The Reserve Bank of India has asked the Indian government to impose new regulations to prevent a domestic real estate bubble.
The central bank fears that funds being brought into India under the pretext of hotel and tourism investments are not being adequately monitored and are being used to purchase immovable property – a violation of the nation’s FDI rules which is causing asset prices to rise.
Currently, investments in the hotel and tourism sector can be wholly owned by foreign entities without prior government approval. The new rules would impose a lock-in period for such investments, and are aimed at preventing foreign investors from immediately selling off their assets and diverting their money elsewhere, such as into domestic real estate. Continue reading
Oct. 25 – A proposal by the Reserve Bank of India to reduce the cap on aggregate foreign holdings in banks to 50 percent, down from the current 74 percent, was shot down by India’s Ministry of Finance in a recent meeting.
The proposal was submitted by the RBI in August, but officials at the MoF’s Department of Economic Affairs found that the institution of such a policy would be inconsistent with India’s overall policy of foreign holdings in domestic equities. Continue reading
Oct. 21 – The Indian government has decided to exchange its current employment visa policy regarding the number of foreign residents a company may employ in favor of a new one.
Taking into account domestic complaints of unskilled laborers flooding in from neighboring countries like China on employment visas, India last year imposed a 1 percent cap on the total people legally allowed to be employed by a company on its projects. Under this policy, most companies could hire a minimum of five foreign individuals and a maximum of 20. Continue reading
Oct. 20 – India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just revamped and clarified a number of outstanding points concerning the issuing of business and work visas to nationals of other countries.
We are pleased to be able to provide details of the ministry’s guidelines and comments in this India Briefing complimentary download.
For further advice over India business, establishment, tax planning and compliance please contact Dezan Shira & Associates at india@dezshira.com. The practice provides foreign direct investment advice into India and maintains full serviced offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai.
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Oct. 19 – Quarterly profits surged for India’s banks thanks to credit growth and easy money, but higher interest rates may pose a threat in the future.
The International Monetary Fund has forecast that demand for loans in India would expand 9.7 percent in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Continue reading
