india economic news, july 2015, embassy of india, bangkok

INDIA ECONOMIC NEWS

Published by Embassy of India Bangkok July 2015

"Digital India”

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, described cyber-related risks as a global threat of "bloodless war," and called upon the nation's IT community to serve the entire world by building credible cyber-security systems. He was speaking at the launch of the Digital India week in New Delhi on 1 July 2015.

The Prime Minister also exhorted the captains of India's IT industry to boost production of electronic devices and goods in the country, as part of the "Make in India" initiative, to reduce dependence on imports. Shri Narendra Modi noted that it was not enough for India to say that it is an ancient civilization, and a country of 125 crore with favourable demography. He said modern technology needs to be blended with these strengths.

The Prime Minister reiterated his Government's resolve to not allow the Digital Divide to become a barrier between people. He outlined his vision of e-governance and mobile governance, where all important Government services are available on the mobile phone. "I dream of a digital India where High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation; 1.2 billion connected Indians drive innovation; technology ensures the citizen-government interface is incorruptible," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said that earlier, India was criticized for launching satellites, but now it was recognized that these satellites help the common man, for instance, farmers through accurate weather forecasting. Similarly, the Prime Minister said, the Digital India initiative was aimed at improving the lives of the common man. He said that India may have missed the Industrial Revolution, but will not miss the IT revolution.

The Prime Minister assured full support to young entrepreneurs who wished to launch Start-ups. He called upon the youth to innovate and said "Design in India" is as important as "Make in India."

The Prime Minister unveiled the "Digital India" logo and released policy documents related to Digital India. He also felicitated two women CSC village level entrepreneurs

NEWS ARTICLES (from the press)

PM Modi launches Digital India campaign; asks why can't Google be made in India

Source: The Economic Times, 1 Jul, 2015

Pitching India as the world's destination for the next big idea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked, "If Indians can work in Google. Why can't Google be made in India?"

Talking about his dream of digitally connecting India, PM Modi launched his ambitious Digital India project. The project aims to create a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

"Just like Make in India is important, design in India is also important. The world recognises India's IT talent," he said.

Stating that the Digital India scheme is meant to benefit the poor, Modi said, "It is government's duty to make rural India benefit from digital drive. People used to debate why does a poor nation like India need to send satellites? But, now that satellites forecast weather, it benefits the poor farmer."

"I am confident that all the citizens of this country will be able to fulfil their dreams through Digital India. We aim to change India's future. Demographic dividend needs digital strength," Modi said. "Digital connectivity is important. Digital divide can create big problems between the rich and the poor. The poor person will never be able to benefit from the opportunities that we are creating if he is not digitally connected," he added, while emphasising on the importance of the initiative.

India to become world's second largest smartphone market

Source: The Economic Times, 2 Jul, 2015

Buoyed by growing sales, India will overtake the US to become world's second largest smartphone market by 2017, says a report. According to international research firm Strategy Analytics, global smartphone sales are forecast to grow from 1.5 billion units in 2015 to a record 1.7 billion by 2017.

China, India and the US are the three big countries driving smartphone growth worldwide. "India will soon overtake the US

to become the world's second largest smartphone market by 2017 behind China, selling an impressive 174 million units," the report said. "We forecast global smartphone sales will grow from 1.5 billion units in 2015 to a record 1.7 billion in 2017," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics in a statement.

India is fast becoming the next major growth wave. "India's growth is being driven by low smartphone penetration, expanding retail availability of devices, wealthier middle-class consumers, and aggressive promotions from local smartphone brands like Micromax," added Linda Sui, director at Strategy Analytics.

According to the report, 118 million smartphones will be sold in India this year. Nearly 458 million smartphones will be sold in China in 2015, rising steadily to 505 million in 2017.

About 164 million smartphones will be sold in the US in 2015, climbing marginally to 169 million in 2017."No serious global hardware or software player can afford to ignore the huge Indian


smartphone market today," the report concluded.

Cabinet approves India's first national policy for skills development and entrepreneurship

Source: Firstpost, 3 Jul, 2015.

The government on 3 July 2015 said it has approved the first integrated national policy for developing skills and promoting entrepreneurship at a large scale with speed and quality.

"The policy aims to align supply with demand, bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement, operationalise a quality assurance framework, leveraging technology and promoting apprenticeship to tackle the identified issues," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters.

The government has also approved common norms for Skill Development Schemes being implemented by the Centre as well as an institutional framework for the National Skill Development Mission.

The National Policy for Skill Development and

Entrepreneurship 2015 acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap for promotion of entrepreneurship as the key to a successful skills strategy.

The vision of the policy is to create an ecosystem of empowerment by skilling on a large scale at speed with high standards and to promote a culture of innovation-based entrepreneurship which can generate wealth and employment so as to ensure sustainable livelihoods for all citizens.

The policy has four thrust areas, an official statement said, adding that it addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with formal education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers.

India to be a parallel manufacturing hub to China: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Source: The Times of India, 3 Jul, 2015.

India will emerge as a parallel production hub to China for global markets in electronics manufacturing as the government shifts attention to boost the

making of sophisticated, high-technology products in the country, says telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. "There is a surge towards India as a manufacturing destination, and this will only grow,"

“We are aggressively pursuing the manufacturing of electronic goods in India because if this is not done now, we may stare at a huge foreign exchange bill in the coming years which can be catastrophic for the economy. India is buying electronic goods at a rapid pace and if we do not start manufacturing the products, the import bill by 2020 is forecasted to be alarming at $400 billion, which will be more than oil import bill.”

Government allows foreign retail investors to have more than one joint venture

Source: The Economic Times, 7 Jul, 2015.

Clarifying norms for single brand retail trading, government allowed foreign investors to conduct business through more than one joint venture in India. "Such non-resident entity or entities can undertake single brand retail trading


business through one or more wholly owned subsidiaries or joint ventures," the DIPP said.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) clarified this as there was a confusion whether the brand owner or non-resident entity/entities can undertake single brand retail trading of the specific brand through more than one company in India.

It has also clarified that the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy on single brand retail trading equally applies to Indian brands seeking foreign investment.

"A non-resident entity or entities, whether owner of the brand or otherwise, shall be permitted to undertake single brand product retail trading in the country for the specific brand, directly or through a legally tenable agreement with the brand owner for undertaking single brand product retail trading.

GAIL to offer foreign shipbuilders five years for making LNG carriers


State-run GAIL India will offer foreign shipbuilders

five years to make liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers in India, double the time allowed to deliver ships from their home shipyards — a concession it hopes will attract foreign firms to locally manufacture ships proposed to be chartered by the Indian gas company.

As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative, GAIL is insisting foreign shipbuilders to build in India at least a third of the 11 LNG carriers it plans to charter for about 20 years beginning 2017 to transport LNG from the US. GAIL plans to charter these carriers from one or more shipping lines, which will have to purchase LNG carriers from the shipbuilders that meet the local production criteria prescribed by the Indian firm.

GAIL had floated a tender for the purpose in February but scrapped it following no response from foreign companies reluctant to manufacture in India and transfer technology to local firms. To avoid a similar fate again, GAIL is now holding discussions with probable foreign bidders to address their concerns and make the proposition lucrative to them. The company is

likely to refloat the tender sometime this month.

After GAIL's initial bid failed in February, the Indian government took up the matter with the Korean government to persuade shipbuilders in that country to collaborate with Indian shipyards. Following negotiations between the government and the companies, an understanding has been reached between Samsung Shipyard and Cochin Shipyard; Hyundai Heavy Industries and L&T Shipbuilding; and Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Reliance's Pipavav shipyard. These three possible alliances will soon bid for multi-billion dollar contracts to build GAIL's LNG carriers.

The Modi government is pushing for the 'Make in India' initiative in the oil and gas sector and hopes its shipyards will gain competence and access to technology through GAIL's LNG carriers deal. This insistence of local production can potentially lead to more manufacturing activity in the ancillary sectors. But the company's inability to finalize contracts for LNG carrier quickly can potentially harm its


business plans to evacuate LNG from America in time.

For Investors, India's Solar Push Could Signal a Gold Rush

Source: Forbes, 7 Jul, 2015

India’s government has set a mammoth new goal to build a solar power capacity of 100 GW in an energy-starved-but-hungry country, permitting 100% foreign investment and offering a series of tax breaks for the fledgling sector. The audacious new target quintuples the previous goal of 20 GW and is about 30 times the country’s installed capacity (less than 3.7 GW). The flurry of investors is making solar energy sector seem like the new Gold Rush.

“If the government removes bottlenecks and gets regional administrations to offer incentives, solar could be a long-term play for investors,” said Amol Kotwal, director, energy & environment practice at consultancy firm, Frost & Sullivan. “It could turn out to be a Gold Rush.”

Strategic, innovative players could build a very exciting business as the market potential is huge with room for established

companies as well as entrepreneurs, said Tobias Engelmeier, director & founder, Bridge To India, a renewable energy consultancy. India has the potential to become the world’s leading solar markets as its location near the equator and low solar park construction costs coupled with plunging costs of solar energy in recent times (now only marginally higher than cost of producing conventional energy) are all aligning with India’s ambitions. “Our estimate is that, in the next 15 years, solar in India could be a 1,000 GW opportunity,” said Engelmeier.

The government’s unprecedented push has already attracted a pack of investors. Japanese telecom multinational SoftBank, India’s biggest wireless telecom provider Bharti Enterprises and Taiwan’s technology manufacturer Foxconn Technology have together announced a $20 billion joint venture, SBG Cleantech, to bid for contracts to develop solar energy plants across the country. SunEdison, the Missouri, U.S.-based renewable energy firm said it intends to invest $15 billion by 2022. It also

announced that it would put $2 billion into a joint venture with billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani Group to manufacture photo voltaic modules. China’s Trina Solar has unveiled plans to invest $500 million in a plant to make panels in a joint venture with India’s Welspun Energy.

“From what we see happening in the past few weeks, the government’s target does not seem like an empty goal. It is plausible that India may meet at least 50% of its ambitious target in the next seven years,” said Narasimhan Santhanam, cofounder and director of alterantive energy consultancy firm, Energy Alternatives India.

India is among the world’s top five largest energy consumers and is projected to become the third-biggest, after China and the United States, in the next decade-and-a-half. But the country faces an acute scarcity – thousands of villages are still unlit, supply is rationed in towns and blackouts are common even in the biggest cities. In fact, the 100 GW additional solar capacity that India is building will meet less than 5-6% of its


overall energy needs by 2022, experts said. The hope is that solar energy output can serve the country’s remote regions where even two hours of power supply can change lives.

Foreign investors and their money are critical for the government to meet its grand solar target. A 100 GW of solar capacity will require upwards of $100 billion (at an estimated $1 billion per GW) in investment. Given the cost of money in India and Indian banks’ over exposure to the infrastructure sector, foreign capital will help greatly.

However, investors will face stiff challenges. Solar energy is land intensive – an estimated 4-5 acres are required to produce 1 MW of solar power – and the government’s attempts to pass a land acquisition bill have got caught up in a political deadlock. Even if large tracts of land are made available to investors to produce solar power, the lack of grid infrastructure is a hindrance. The government will have to focus on building up the grid to support the level of solar capacity addition that is being planned.

At the other end, power utilities (distribution companies or Discoms) operate in a highly-regulated market. Utilities in 20+ of India’s 29 states are in a bleeding financial mess as they sell power far below cost. Populist pressure keeps energy prices low and affordable to millions of poorer Indians.

Yet, India’s solar energy market represents a robust opportunity for foreign investors, given that China’s market has proved impenetrable. China adds 14-15 GW a year, and this capacity is mostly built by domestic firms and joint ventures. “With the aggressive capacity addition that the government has outlined, India is the next destination for global players,” said Kotwal of Frost & Sullivan.

Commerce Ministry launches e-payment facility to improve ease of doing business


The Commerce Ministry launched the facility for online payment of application fees through credit or debit cards and other electronic fund transfers. The move is

aimed at improving ease of doing business for exporters and importers.

Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said that the step will help in exporters and importers in terms of facilitating the country's trade and reducing their transactions cost. Teaotia added, this is also part of the initiative to streamline procedures and enhance transparency.

Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Pravir Kumar said that with the launch of this new facility, applicants can now pay fees online to DGFT through their credit or debit cards or through net banking 24x7.

"This facility would also make the field offices of DGFT paperless to a large extent and enable them to function in a 24x7 environment, while saving extra expenditure on storage space," he added.

It would also ensure transfer of the fee amount into government account on T+1 working day, avoiding undue delay in deposit of bank drafts, he added.

DGFT has signed an agreement with the Central Bank of India that will provide payment gateway


services to the online portal of DGFT to enable applicants, exporters, importers to pay their application fees through credit or debit cards or through net banking.

The Central Bank of India will provide e-challans, banks scrolls, transaction IDs for all successful transactions; refund amount to the applicant within 3 days and in case of failed transactions.

Fifty three public and private sector banks which is providing these facilities include Allahabad bank, Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank, State bank of India and Deutsche Bank.

Centre eyes to set up green energy corridors

Source: Business Standard, 13 Jul, 2015.

The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas is mulling to develop green energy corridors across the country. The ministry is planning to have corridors in Northern region namely Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Haridwar and Delhi-Agra. Similar type of green corridor is proposed for Allahabad-Kanpur-Varansi, Banglore-

Mumbai-Pune and Andhra Pradesh. The union ministry is planning to extend the network of green fuels like Compressed natural gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to these cities.

“We are planning to promote green energy in an aggressive manner and planning to make green energy corridors across the country. We are planning to have one in Northern region spanning across Delhi, Chandigarh, Agra and Haridwar. Also, we have plans to extent green energy network to Allahabad-Kanpur-Varanasi in Eastern region besides Banglore- Mumbai- Pune. Similar kind of corridor proposed in Andhra Pradesh, as the state government has shown keen interest in setting up,” said ’ Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of state(I/C), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas on the sidelines of a seminar ‘Bio-Fuel Programme in India-The Way Forward.

He further added that the Union government is planning to extend CNG and PNG network across these corridors in near future with Bio-Fuel as also one of the composition of the corridor.

Earlier addressing the conference, he said, “ We have not achieved the desired result as far bio-fuel blending is concerned. As far blending of bio-diesel with diesel is concerned, it has not started. In case of blending of petrol with bio-ethanol it is only 3 per cent because of several reasons. We need to increase their consumption and production to reduce the import bill. Our government is focused towards promoting bio-fuel blending and will do every possible steps so that their consumption of Bio-Fuel is increased and to reduce dependence on import of crude oil.”

On being asked the other measures, he added that the centre is also planning to equip the smart cities with green energy. “I personally think that the smart city should have smart energy and the gas based energy like CNG and PNG is preferred choice. So, we are planning to extend green fuel to upcoming green cities proposed by the centre government, “he added. He also informed that his ministry is planning to introduce policy for Green Cooking Energy.


In addition to this for boosting the use of clean fuel, he informed that the ministry is planning to triple the number of CNG station in Delhi in next two-three years for boosting the use of clean fuel and petroleum.

At present around 300 CNG stations have been commissioned in Delhi. During the peak hours, vehicle owners have to wait in queues at the CNG stations, as the time taken to fill CNG into vehicles is comparatively more than that in case of Liquid fuels.

Nod to composite cap on foreign investment

Source: Business Standard, 17 Jul, 2015.

The Cabinet on Thursday allowed composite foreign investment caps, merging those on foreign direct investment and portfolio investment. The move will benefit companies in single-brand retail, credit information business and commodity and power exchanges; it isn’t applicable to banks and defence companies.

Bankers, however, claimed they would benefit from the move, leading to confusion on the matter.

Besides, a clause in the proposal, mooted by the

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) — portfolio investment up to an aggregate of 49 per cent be allowed without being subject to government approval and sectoral norms — has resulted in various interpretations, with some experts saying foreign portfolio investment (FPI) of up to 49 per cent could be allowed in the print media.

Foreign investment of up to 100 per cent through the automatic route is already allowed in a vast majority of sectors. Briefing reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “From now, all FIIs (foreign institutional investors), NRIs (non-resident Indians) and other foreign investments will be clubbed…It will be constituted as a composite cap.”

However, a board resolution would still be needed from the company concerned to increase FPI beyond 24 per cent, but that level could now be increased to the sectoral caps.

“Currently, companies require board resolution to increase FII limits beyond 24 per cent. It seems a

resolution will still be required to increase it beyond 24 per cent. But now, it could be increased till the sectoral limit, against a separate FPI limit, as is the case in some sectors now,” said Punit Shah of Dhruva Advisors LLP.

The Cabinet decision will allow FPI investment up to an aggregate of 49 per cent without the government’s approval or compliance with sectoral conditions if such investments do not result in transfer of ownership or control of Indian entities from resident Indians to non-resident ones.

Draft IPR Policy under inter-ministerial consultation: Nirmala Sitharaman


The Commerce and Industry Ministry would send the draft National IPR Policy for Cabinet's approval after getting inputs from different departments, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.

A government-appointed think-tank on IPR is preparing the draft policy, which seeks to encourage innovation by providing


tax incentives and modifying intellectual property rights (IPR).

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said different people, countries and organisations have already given their inputs on the draft policy.

"After adopting a transparent process of drafting this policy, it is now being with the government for a month or two. It has gone to all the ministries, which is a necessary process, for inter-ministerial consultation.

"We shall take inputs from various ministries and post that, (we) will give the final version to the Cabinet," she said. The minister was speaking at a seminar on Protecting Brands Abroad with the Madrid System and felicitation of 1.25 th million international trademark to Micromax. It was organised by FICCI.

The National IPR Policy has been formulated with the mission to foster innovation, accelerate economic growth, employment and entrepreneurship besides protecting public health, food security and environment, among other

areas of socio-economic importance.

Further, she said that the country's IPR regime is compliant to international laws and norms. "Indian patent rights, GIs (geographical indicators), copyrights... everything we are doing, the Acts which we have in front of us are TRIPS compliant, so there is no need for apprehension in any corner of the world as to what is India's patent regime like. Lets be sure, we are TRIPS compliant," she said.

Developed countries like the US have raised concerns over India's IPR laws particularly related for solar and pharmaceutical sector.

The minister said that the ministry is also engaged in several things in order to reduce pendency of applications and improve functioning of patent offices. She said that 459 patent examiners have being already recruited to fast track the process of patent.

"We are trying to get enough qualified people. We will train them so that applications do not have to wait for years to get

cleared. Government is working on that.

"We are also ensuring that patent offices are updated with new technologies so that they are not going to sit on tonnes of paper. Most of the offices are non-manual in nature of functioning. Everything happening online like payment and queries too are answered online. It will help in reducing manual interface," she added.

Sitharaman said that after India joining the Madrid Protocol, which enables domestic companies and entrepreneurs to obtain cost effective global trademark registration, there has been a huge jump in registration of applications for trademarks.

Cabinet extends, expands sops for electronics makers

Source: Business Line, 22 Jul, 2015.

The government has extended the modified special incentive package scheme (MSIPS) — an inducement programme providing capital subsidy to units engaged in electronics manufacturing — for a period of five years, beyond July 26, 2015.


The scheme, which will now be available till 2020, has also been expanded to cover 15 new product categories, including refrigerators and microwaves, electronic product design, optical fibres, raw materials for electronic products, capital equipment for electronics manufacturing, smart cards and liquid crystal modules.

The decision was taken by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday in a bid to promote manufacturing of electronics in the country, an official release said. The MSIP scheme provides a capital subsidy of 20 per cent to electronics manufacturing units located in Special Economic Zones and 25 per cent to units outside the zones.

55 solar cities to be developed across 27 states in India: Piyush Goyal


As many as 55 cities in 27 states and union territories are currently being developed as solar or green cities, Parliament was told on Thursday.

So far, 55 existing cities in 27 states/UTs are being

developed as solar cities in the country under 'Development of Solar Cities programme', Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The new and renewable energy ministry has been implementing the programme under which a total of 60 cities and towns are proposed to be supported for development as "solar or green cities".

Mahabubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir have only got in-principle approval till date, said Goyal.

The criteria set by the ministry for the identification of cities include a city having population between 50,000 to 50 lakh (with relaxation given to special category states including northeast states), initiatives and regulatory measures already taken along with a high level of commitment in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Ministry allows filing of ‘unaudited’ accounts of foreign subsidiaries with Registrar of Companies

Source: Business Line, 25 Jul, 2015.

The Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) has relaxed the norms requiring Indian companies with overseas subsidiaries to file ‘audited’ financial statements of such foreign subsidiaries with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) in India.

After consulting with the CA institute, the Ministry has now clarified that even ‘unaudited’ financial statements of foreign subsidiaries can be filed with the RoC and will be treated as due compliance of Indian company law.

This dispensation will be allowed in case of a foreign subsidiary which is not required to get its financial statements audited as per legal requirements prevalent in the country of its incorporation, and which does not get its financial statements audited.

The Ministry has also clarified that unaudited accounts will need to be translated in English, if the


original accounts are not in English.

Moreover, the format of financial statements of foreign subsidiaries should be, as far as possible, in accordance with the Companies Act 2013.

In case this is not possible, a statement indicating the reasons for deviation may be placed/filed along with such financial statements, the Ministry has said.

Currently, the Indian company law stipulates that a company should, along with its financial statements to be filed with the RoC, attach the financial statements of its subsidiary or subsidiaries that have been incorporated outside India.

The Ministry has also clarified that a company holding a general meeting after giving a shorter notice (as provided under Section 101 of Companies Act 2013) may also circulate financial statements (to be laid/considered in the same general meeting) at such shorter notice.

Reacting to the clarifications, professional services firm KPMG said in a note that these indicate that the Ministry is

committed to address the practical challenges faced by corporates while implementing the requirements of the Companies Act 2013.

“These clarifications are a step in the right direction and echo the Ministry’s efforts to nurture a supportive regulatory environment”, the KPMG note said.

Modi government overhauling sister-city partnerships to attract foreign investment


The Modi government, with an eye on attracting foreign investment, is overhauling the sister-city arrangement that Indian cities have to add more teeth to the initiative and leverage partnerships for economic gains.

India has over 100 sister-city partnerships that have developed over the decades and remained largely ornamental, except for helping to foster closer cultural bonds. The BJP-led government, which has put the economy at the top of its foreign policy endeavours, hopes to transform these arrangements into tools for attracting investment,

officials well-versed with the initiative told ET.

"What hitherto remained an arrangement for cultural exchanges and peopleto-people contacts will now be leveraged for economic goals," Gopal Baglay, joint secretary in charge of the ministry of external affairs' newly formed states division, told ET.

"The idea is to leverage sister-cities and sister-state partnerships and arrangements to bring investments, ideas for urbanization and also find markets for products and businesses of respective cities and states. It is a work in progress and the effort is to provide a platform so that Indian states and cities can leverage twining arrangements for optimum benefits."

The states division in the ministry is at the forefront of forming ideas and implementing the sister-city and sister-province arrangements. Over the past year, new sister-city arrangements have been launched with China, Japan and Nepal. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China last May, agreements were signed for three sister-city


partnerships: ChennaiChongqing, Hyderabad-Qingdao and Aurangabad-Dunhuang.

It was also decided to establish state-level ties between Karnataka and the Chinese province of Sichuan. India also launched its maiden state leader's forum with China. Such a forum will be formed with countries in Europe and Asia in the near future in the second stage of the initiative. Last year, Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi entered into a sister-city cooperation agreement with the Japanese city of Kyoto with the aim of upgrading facilities of this major pilgrimage town.

Japan is actively involved in an industrial partnership with the town of Neemrana in Rajasthan. Recently, Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel led a business delegation to China to strengthen state-level partnerships.

Punjab is contemplating closer business ties with Chinese provinces. To boost the economy in the landlocked northeast, the plan is to pair cities in those states with cities in Myanmar. Officials described this state-level

partnership in the spirit of cooperative federalism.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India last September, an agreement was signed to establish a sister-city relationship between Ahmedabad and Guangzhou. Gujarat and Guangdong became sister-provinces. In October 2013, three metros of India found sister-cities in China.

The pairs were Delhi-Beijing, Bengaluru-Chengdu and Kolkata-Kunming. Officials pointed out that China has mastered the sister city and sister-province initiatives and leveraged it to the optimum for economic benefit. It's learnt that China has over 2,000 sister-city arrangements with several countries.

The Indian medical device industry is expected to grow from US$ 4.4 billion currently to US$ 7 billion by 2016, as per US-India Business Council (USIBC).

Source: IBEF, 27 Jul, 2015.

According to the US-India Business Council (USIBC), the Indian medical device industry, currently the

fourth largest in Asia, has the potential to grow from US$ 4.4 billion to US$ 7 billion by 2016 at a growth rate of 10-15 per cent annually. The USIBC also sees India having strong potential in developing innovative industries in the medical devices sector, thereby attracting investments and talent into the sector. Mr Maulik Nanavaty, Senior Vice President and President for Neuromodulation at Boston Scientific (one of leading medical devices manufacturer) expects India's engineering talent, experience in IT innovation and government's 'Make in India' focus to lead to creation of a proper ecosystem for medical device innovation. He also hoped the government would pass legislation providing specific regulations for medical devices, which are currently treated as pharmaceuticals under India's Drug & Cosmetics Act. According to USIBC Director and Legal Policy Council Ms Amy Hariani, the industry is expected to grow at a higher rate as health insurance becomes more widely available and Indian consumers continue to demand better healthcare services.

india economic news, july 2015, embassy of india, bangkok

Documents