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Foreign
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02. TRADE AND ECONOMY |
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Government to Promote
mega food parks with SEZ status |
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"The Government
of India will enact the Integrated Food Law in the next parliamentary
session to give a policy thrust to promote the Indian Food Processing
Sector and make it globally competitive. The Government will
also set up Mega Food Parks across the country with special
economic zone privilege," said Mr Subodh Kant Sahai, Union Minister
of State (Independent Charge) for Food Processing Industries,
Government of India. |
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Inaugurating the
Foodpro 2005 Conference - "From the Farm Gate to the Dinner
Plate - The Way Forward for India's Food Business" organized
by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chennai Mr
Sahai said that the government is keen on evolving a blueprint,
with inputs from the industry, to double the growth rate of
the Indian agriculture sector by the end of the Tenth five year
plan. Inviting the foreign players to the Indian food industry,
the Minister said that India is a big market for food products
with people spending an average of over 52% of their earnings
on food. |
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Around
half of the country's population is becoming middle-class. Delivering
the keynote address, Mr Y C Deveshwar, integration of hardware
and software President, CII & Chairman, ITC Ltd said, "The Indian
food sector has the potential to attract Rs. 1,50,000 crore
investment in the next ten years and create 10 million jobs
annually at least for the next ten years. The food-processing
sector carries the potential to raise the growth trajectory
of the Indian economy well above the current 7% per annum."
He pointed out that the Planning Commission estimates that 10
million jobs need to be created |
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annually
over the next decade. In the last 4 years the food industry
has grown at a very good rate by 6.1% per annum. This is likely
to go upto 9% per annum over the next five years. He said that
Indian dinner plate is surely changing from being cereal dominated
to meat, milk, fruit and vegetables.
Over 63% of all Indian households are now buying at least three
categories of processed foods with 28% buying five types of
processed food. Mr Harsh Bahadur, Chairman, Foodpro 2005 Conference
also spoke at the Inaugural Session of the Conference. |
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India's Economic Engagement
with the world to exceed US$450 billion this fiscal: Kamal
Nath |
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India's economic engagement
with the world during the current financial year 2006-07
will exceed US$450 billion, if export and import of goods
as well as services are combined, Shri Kamal Nath, Minister
of Commerce & Industry, indicated in his inaugural address
at Conference in Brussels "Exports are growing at a healthy
growth averaging 25% per annum over the last three years.
We crossed the $100 billion threshold last year, and during
the current year we are poised to export 125 billion dollars
worth of goods and 75 billion dollars worth of Services.
Our imports too have risen commensurately", he said. |
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| Underlining
to India's position as the newly emerging power
both in services and manufacturing, Shri Kamal Nath
pointed out that while in India's strengths in services
was long proven, the resurgence of India's manufacturing
sector has now been established. "The service |
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sector
- which now makes up 54 per cent of the economy,
contributed more than half the total growth in the
economy in the 1990s. But we are also now among
the world's most competitive producers of steel,
automotive components, pharmaceuticals and |
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chemicals
offering an unbeatable combination of low cost and
high value. India is now emerging as a hub for mission-critical
R&D for a range of industries - from life sciences
to hardware and engineering", he stressed. |
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India on sustained growth path
IMF The
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given India's economic policies
a thumbs-up and projected the gross domestic product to grow at 8.2%
in 2006-07. The IMF estimate is higher than that of the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI), which expects the economy to grow at 8% this fiscal.
The economy grew at 8.9% and 9.2% in the April-June and July-September
quarters, respectively. According to the IMF, prospects looked good
for a sustained and robust expansion of the economy in the medium
term.
"India appears to be in the beginning phase of a long-run takeoff
that began in the mid-1990s on the heels of structural reforms," the
Fund stated in its assessment of the Indian economy as part of the
Article IV consultation process. The IMF estimated India's per capital
real income to double in 13 years if India grew at an estimated 7.5%
a year. The four main challenges, it said, were: achieving fiscal
sustainability while financing development, managing price and financial
stability, fostering a deeper and broader financial sector and promoting
more job-intensive, inclusive growth.
In the short-term, the IMF has raised concerns over rising inflation,
which the IMF-like the RBI - predicts to be around 5-5.5%. Rapid growth
in the first two quarters has stoked a rise in prices, touching 5.45%
for the week ended November 18, and dropping to 5.3% in the subsequent
week. It has asked the government and the RBI to take steps to contain
inflation.
The IMF says robust economic growth is pushing Indian companies to
integrate with global economies. Growing corporate profits are funding
ambitious expansions abroad, which are aimed at achieving scale, competitiveness,
technology and access to market. In the first three quarters of 2006-07,
Indian companies spent about $7.2 billion buying overseas companies,
it said.
30 percent growth in IT Sector
Through 2006, the IT sector stayed well on course, achieving high
double-digit growth and an estimated $39-$40 billion in revenues and
more than 30% growth. The total software and ITeS exports from India
are estimated at $ 23.4 billion during the year 2005-06. Software
and services exports have grown at 32% in dollar terms during the
year 2005-06. The export numbers soared in 2006, the surge in domestic
buying also added to the momentum.
Indian companies among 'Technology Pioneers'
The World Economic Forum has named Indian companies - Strand Life
Sciences and Drishtee as 'visionary' firms worldwide selected by as
'Technology Pioneers 2007' for their life-changing innovations. The
Technology Pioneers are nominated by the world's leading venture capital
and technology companies and are recognised for their innovations
that have the potential for long-term impact on business and society.
Strand Life Sciences develops algorithms and solutions in the area
of bio-informatics. It helps in accelerating the drug discovery process
by developing a suite of products for genomics, proteomics and silico-biology.
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