News on Indian Economy
The finance ministry has approved 8.5% rate of interest on provident fund deposit for 2020-21 paving way for the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation to credit the interest in accounts of >60 million beneficiaries.
According to a Government official, after an eight year pause, India and the European Union (EU) are set to continue talks for a Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) by December. Another official termed the India-EU connectivity partnership, announced in May, as a “counterfoil” to other such initiatives in an indirect reference to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
India’s overall demand stood at 94.6 tonnes during the September quarter of 2020, the WGC’s Q3 Gold Demand Trends 2021 report stated, including that in terms of value, India’s third quarter gold demand surged by 37% to Rs. 59,330 crore (US$ 7.92 billion), compared to Rs. 43,160 crore (US$ 5.76 million) last year.
India is likely to spend US$ 316 billion (~Rs. 23 lakh crore) in the decade to 2030 towards de-carbonisation, with a great amount of the financing to be earmarked to renewable sources of energy, according to a foreign brokerage. The financing will be on top of the estimated Rs. 6 lakh crore (US$ 84 billion) previously spent since the country joined the Paris climate accord in 2015, Bofa Securities stated.
Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation said, “Krishi UDAN 2.0 is an example of this government’s collaborative approach towards policy making. This scheme will open up new avenues of growth for the agriculture sector andhelp attain the goal of doubling farmers’ income by removing barriers in supply chain, logistics and transportation of farm produce.”
Wise, the global technology company operating in global money transfer ecosystem, released a new study revealing that Indians paid over Rs. 263 billion (US$ 3.50 billion) on foreign exchange fees in 2020, out of which ~Rs. 97 billion (US$ 1.29 bilion) were charged as hidden exchange rate markups on currency conversions, payments and card purchases. The outstanding Rs. 166 billion (US$ 2.21 billion) were spent on transaction fees.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday said that the Indian Armed Forces guarding the country’s borders at the Line of Actual Control will soon get the 4G network services so that they can easily connect with their near and dear ones back in their homes.
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) launched the first-of-its-kind and the largest ‘Impact Bond’ for skilling in India in partnership with global partners, involving a US$ 14.4 million fund which will help 50,000 youth by making them job ready.
According to a report published by London & Partners and Dealroom.co, India ranks at the ninth spot globally for climate tech investment, with the country’s climate tech businesses receiving US$ 1 billion in venture capital funding between 2016 and 2021.
Eighteen major airports in India will get additional meteorological instrumentation support, output from which will enhance the overall safety of flight operations and contribute towards the smooth functioning of airports round the year.
