Sugar industry asks for lower duty on sugar in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
The Dollar Business Bureau As India’s sugar output is estimated to be at record level in the 2018-19 marketing year, expected to result in a surplus, industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Thursday requested the Government to seek preferential import duty structure from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “India’s sugar production may exceed in 2018-19 marketing year than 251 lakh tonnes estimated for the current year. So we may have surplus sugar for exports in 2018-19,” said Abinash Verma, Director General, ISMA, while speaking at the industry body’s 83rd annual general meeting. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the two major sugar importers, levy high import duty at $150 per tonne and $100 per tonne on sugar, respectively. The two Asian neighbours procure around ...
Sri Lanka and Singapore FTA to finalise this year
The Dollar Business Bureau In order to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the two countries, Sri Lanka and Singapore are to formalise the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) later this year, said Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake on Tuesday. The Sri Lankan Minister said that during a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who is on a visit to the island nation, particular emphasis was given on finding ways and means to further bolster bilateral trade and investment between the two nations. The proposed FTA between Sri Lanka and Singapore is likely to be finalised in the latter part of this year, reported the Chinese official news agency Xinhua. Addressing the media, Karunanayake said that both the countries enjoy robust and strong bilateral ties that have been ...
Continuous exports growth gives confidence to exporters on easy sailing with GST
The Dollar Business Bureau Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) on Friday said that the continuous growth in exports gives confidence to the exporters in India on easy sailing with GST. The new regime of Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will subsume most of the indirect taxes, is expected to be rolled out from July 1, 2017. “The exports data for the month of May, 2017 showed yet another consecutive and positive growth depicting the strength and competitiveness of Indian industry,” said Dr A Sakthivel Regional Chairman FIEO Southern Region. India’s exports have surged 8.32% to $24 billion in the month of May, keeping the growth trajectory for straight eight months, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Commerce. Dr Sakthivel ...
Industry not happy with cement placed in highest slab under GST
The Dollar Business Bureau With cement coming under the 28% tax rate structure under Goods and Services Tax (GST), the industry is not happy with the government slotting it under the highest tax structure as the sector is already struggling with low demand. The Government has failed to take an advantage to spur growth in the already struggling housing and cement sector by placing the commodity in the uppermost tax bracket of 28% under the GST, the industry body Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) said reacting to the announcement. The industry body has also lamented that the taxation on cement, the highest in the Asia Pacific region, has impacted the health of the sector that is seeing just 70% of its capacity utilisation because of low demand. “On a 50 kg bag ...
EXIM to raise $3 billion from foreign markets in 2017-18
The Dollar Business Bureau David Rasquinha, MD, Export Import Bank of India, revealed that the premier export-promoting body aims to raise $2.5 billion – $3 billion from overseas markets in the current fiscal year. In 2016-17, EXIM had successfully raised an amount of over $2 million from foreign markets. Even if the deployment of these funds doesn't take place right away, it helps secure liquidity and enhances long term investment opportunities up to 20 years, the MD said. EXIM promotes Indian investment in Africa in the sectors of power, roads, railways, renewable energy, and agriculture. Of all its annual funding, about 50% goes towards countries in Africa. The export promotion agency supports long-term projects predominantly in SAARC, Africa, and the far east region. It sees potential for financial lending in the neighbouring countries of ...
Coca-Cola to set up plant in Sri Lanka
The Dollar Business Bureau The American beverages leader Coca-Cola has expressed its intention of setting up a production unit in Sri Lanka in order to cater to the high demand of the Indian market, according to the information provided by the Sri Lankan finance ministry on Monday. The plans of the company were revealed during the country visit of its Asia Pacific chiefs who met the Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake over the weekend. According to the officials, Sri Lanka has the potential to be turned into a production hub to re-export their products to India. The Indian market has the highest demand for Coca Cola products in the South Asian region. The Atlanta-based company has an array of offerings including Sprite, Thums Up, Coca-Cola, Limca, Fanta, and ...
Aditya Birlas Peter England forays into Sri Lanka
The Dollar Business Bureau Peter England, the clothing brand of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, announced its entry into Sri Lanka’s market with an exclusive retail outlet in the country’s capital city, Colombo. “Peter England announced its successful foray into Sri Lanka. Peter England has successfully grown as one of the most popular Menswear brands in India. The brand is betting on the fastest growing retail sector in Sri Lanka,” the company said in a statement. The company has launched the outlet in partnership with Sri Lanka's Softlogic Holdings. Ashish Dikshit, Business Head - Madura F&L, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd said, according to our thorough market research, apart from witnessing a growing market for retail, the island nation of Sri Lanka ...
India to move at Lanka's desired pace on ETCA
The Dollar Business Bureau India said on Thursday that it is ready to move at the pace at which Sri Lanka is capable in the proposed ETCA (Economic and Technology Cooperation Framework Agreement), which would highly benefit the island nation in sectors such as technology, IT, vocational training and tourism. While addressing the 8th annual general meeting of Indo-Lanka Chamber of Commerce in Colombo, YK Sinha, High Commissioner of India said that the first round of talks would start soon.“India was prepared to move at a pace which Sri Lanka is comfortable with and address Sri Lankan concerns as well as take measures to facilitate Sri Lankan exports to India,” Sinha said. Sinha said, “As proposed by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, ETCA would put emphasis ...
