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Policy & Economy News |
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Forex reserves jump over $4 bn amid high liquidity, fund flow M&As jump over 17 pc to USD 25.3 bn in Q1: Report |
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Business News - The India Boom Factor |
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Palm oil imports up in first five months of oil year Exports surge in first fortnight of new fiscal Soybean meal exports looking up Agri exports & imports up despite pandemic |
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Shipping News |
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APM Terminals Pipavav announces new weekly service from its port to Jebel Ali BPCL ships first Coastal consignment of Tank Container from Kochi to Hazira Port on SSL |
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Logistics News |
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Flipkart enter into a strategic partnership with Adani to better serve the MSME ecosystem Gateway Rail Freight, Maersk jointly flag automotive express service VSEZ approves new expansion projects worth Rs 780 crore (Rs.7.8 billion) | ||
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Indian Port News |
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Chennai Port again berths VLCC Cochin Port forays into seaplane bunkering business Cargo lightening charges for Capesize vessels carrying coal at Dhamra Port (part cargo |
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Policy & Economy News |
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Forex reserves jump over $4 bn amid high liquidity, fund flow The Indian Express – New Delhi, April 18 Top |
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Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its growth forecast for the Indian economy by 100 basis points to 12.5 per cent for 2021-22. After declining for two consecutive weeks, the forex reserves jumped by $4.34 billion to reach $581.21 billion during the week ended April 9, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The rise in forex reserves comes alongside the continuing high global liquidity and fund flow into the economy, which is likely to see a relatively higher growth. Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its growth forecast for the Indian economy by 100 basis points to 12.5 per cent for 2021-22. In the previous week ended April 2, the reserves had fallen by $2.42 billion to $576.86 billion. During the week ended March 26, they had dropped by $2.99 billion to $579.28 billion. The foreign exchange, or forex, reserves had hit an all-time high of $590.18 billion in the week ended January 29. During the reporting week of April 9, a rise in foreign currency assets (FCA) — a major component of the overall reserves — fuelled the rise in the forex kitty. FCA increased by $3.02 billion to $539.45 billion, the RBI data, released Friday, showed. Expressed in dollar terms, the FCA include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as euro, pound and yen held in the overall reserves. Gold reserves, meanwhile, rose by $1.30 billion to $35.32 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed. The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the IMF rose by $6 million to $1.49 billion during the week ended April 9. India’s reserve position with the IMF increased $24 million to $4.95 billion in the reporting week, as per the data. The rising forex reserves could bring some comfort to the government and the RBI in managing the nation’s external and internal financial issues at a time when the economy is facing Covid stress once again and it could have an impact on the GDP growth rate in FY22 as states are announcing lockdowns. It is a big cushion in the event of any crisis on the economic front and enough to cover India’s import bill for a year. The rising forex kitty could also help strengthen the rupee against the US dollar. Higher reserves could bring confidence to markets that a country can meet its external obligations, demonstrate the backing of domestic currency by external assets, assist the government in meeting its foreign exchange needs and external debt obligations, and maintain a reserve for national disasters or emergencies. The RBI functions as the custodian and manager of forex reserves, and operates within the overall policy framework agreed upon with the Centre. It allocates the dollars for specific purposes. For example, under the Liberalised Remittances Scheme, individuals are allowed to remit up to $2,50,000 every year. The central bank uses its forex kitty for the orderly movement of the rupee. It sells the dollar when the rupee weakens and buys dollar when the rupee strengthens. |
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M&As jump over 17 pc to USD 25.3 bn in Q1: Report Press Trust of India - Mumbai, Apr 22 Top |
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Merger and acquisitions surged 17.4 per cent in the March quarter to USD 25.3 billion across 97 deals, according to a report. According to the report collated by Mergermarket, relaxation in the pandemic restrictions as well as investor optimism due to vaccines roll-out and government stimulus have helped the delay activities. But, it is unlikely to sustain into the second quarter given the ferocity of the second wave, even though pharma and technology firms are expected to continue to attract investments, it added. Though the deal value jumped 17.4 per cent to USD 25.3 billion across 97 deals, over USD 21.6 billion across 122 deals, which means the deal volume is down 20.5 per cent during the same period over the same period last year, Mergermarket said in the report. This is the second highest quarterly deal value since 2019 when it had scaled to USD 26.8 billion across 122 deals. Pharma, technology, real estate, consumer and energy were active sectors compared to same period in 2020, it added. At USD 15.4 billion across 43 deals, inbound deals led the M&A activity chart hitting its fourth highest quarterly deal value, logging in a dull 119 per cent growth over the same period in 2020 when it was only USD 7 billion across 52 deals. The biggest inbound deal was the acquisition of energy company ReNew Power by RMG Acquisition Corp for USD 7.2 billion. Investments from the US rose seven times in value to USD 9.9 billion across 17 deals over the same period in 2020 when it was only USD 1.5 billion across 16 deals. However, domestic M&As plunged 1.5 per cent in value to USD 9.9 billion across 54 deals, over USD 14.5 billion in 70 transactions. The largest domestic transactions were the acquisition of 64.3 per cent stake in Supermarket Grocery Supplies by Tata Group for USD 1.3 billion, and 58.53 per cent stake acquisition of Numaligarh Refinery by Engineers India and Oil India for USD 1.28 billion. Outbound deal value rose by 119 per cent to USD 1.54 billion across 13 deals compared to USD 705 million across 14 deals a year ago. PE buyouts doubled to USD 3.8 billion in 28 transactions over USD 1.9 billion across 31 deals. Technology companies accounted for almost 35 per cent of total PE buyouts 11 deals worth USD 1.3 billion, while PE investments in pharma companies jumped more than 3 times to USD 227 million in value compared to USD 61 million a year ago. On the other hand, PE exits soared 260 per cent to USD 11.7 billion across 22 deals as against to USD 3.2 billion in seven deals, led by energy, technology and business services, representing as much as 87 per cent of the total PE exits. Transportation and construction recorded the lowest deal value. PTI BEN HRS hrs |
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Business News - The India Boom Factor |
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Palm oil imports up in first five months of oil year
Exim News Service: Mumbai, April 18 Top |
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According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India, palm oil imports increased 7.10 per cent but those of soft oils declined by 14.38 per cent in the first five months of the oil year 2020-21. SEA said the country imported 30.90 lakh tonnes of the palm group of oils - crude palm oil, RBD palmolein and crude palm kernel oil - during November 2020 to March 2021, against 28.85 lakh tonnes in the same period a year ago. Import of crude palm oil increased to 29.9 lakh tonnes during the period from 24.6 lakh tonnes. Import of soft oils such as soybean and sunflower decreased to 21.49 lakh tonnes from 25.10 lakh tonnes, said a report. |
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Exports surge in first fortnight of new fiscal Exim News Service: New Delhi, April 19 Top |
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On account of a healthy growth rate in sectors such as engineering and gems and jewellery, India’s exports have continued to increase, now to a value of $13.72 billion during April 1-14 this fiscal, according to the provisional data of the Commerce Ministry. Outbound shipments during the said fortnight last year were aggregated at just $3.59 billion. Imports during the period under review too swelled to $19.93 billion as against $6.54 billion, the data showed. The final figures for April 2021 will be released by mid-May, it is learnt. Exports had surged by 60.29 per cent to $34.45 billion in March, even as there was an overall contraction by 7.26 per cent during the full 2020-21 fiscal to $290.63 billion, as per a report. |
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Soybean meal exports looking up Exim News Service: Indore, April 19 Top |
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As global demand is very strong, India’s export of soybean meal is likely to cross the 18-lakh-tonne mark this season, according to Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA). A sharp rise has been seen compared to the previous year. Production of soybean meal between October 2020 and March 2021 rose to 46.69 lakh tonnes, against 26.21 lakh tonnes last year. Similarly, soybean meal exports this year till March (in the first nine months) rose to 15.9 lakh tonnes, against 4.23 lakh tonnes during the same period last year, said a report. |
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Agri exports & imports up despite pandemic Exim News Service - Delhi, April 22 Top |
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India has consistently maintained trade surplus in agricultural products over the years. India’s agricultural and allied exports during 2019-20 were valued at Rs 2.52 lakh crore (Rs.2.5 trillion) and imports at Rs 1.47 lakh crore (Rs.1.47 trillion). Even during the difficult time of the pandemic, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export. The export of agri and allied commodities during April 2020 to February 2021 were valued at Rs 2.74 lakh crore (Rs.2.7 trillion) as compared to Rs 2.31 lakh crore (Rs.2.3 trillion) in the same period of the previous fiscal, indicating an increase of 18.49%, highlighted a release. The commodities that posted significant positive growth in exports were wheat, other cereals, rice (other than Basmati), soymeal, spices, sugar, raw cotton, fresh vegetables, processed vegetables, alcoholic beverages, etc. Wheat and other cereals posted huge growth over the previous year, increasing from Rs 425 crore (Rs.4.2 billion) to Rs 3,283 crore (RS.32.8 billion) and Rs 1,318 crore (Rs.13.1 billion) to Rs 4,542 crore (Rs.45.4 billion), respectively. On specific demand from countries, NAFED exported 50,000 MT of wheat to Afghanistan and 40,000 MT of wheat to Lebanon under G2G arrangement. India witnessed tremendous growth of 727% in wheat export. There was also significant growth of 132% in the export of (non-Basmati) rice, from Rs 13,030 crore (Rs.130.3 billion) in 2019-20 to Rs 30,277 crore (Rs.302.7 billion) in 2020-21. This is attributed to multiple factors, but the main being India capturing new markets like Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Chile and Puerto Rico. Exports were also made to Togo, Senegal, Malaysia, Madagascar, Iraq, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Vietnam, Tanzania Rep and Madagascar. India also enhanced export of soymeal by 132%, from Rs 3,087 crore (Rs.30.8 billion) in 2019-20 to Rs 7,224 crore (Rs.72.2 billion) in 2020-21. Some of the other commodities in the agri and allied basket that saw noteworthy increase in export during April 2020 to February 2021, as compared to the corresponding period in 2019-20, were spices (Rs 26,257 crore (Rs.262.5 billion) vs Rs 23,562 crore (RS.235.6 billion); growth 11.44%), sugar (Rs 17,072 crore (Rs.170.7 billion) vs Rs 12,226 crore (Rs.122.2 billion); growth 39.64%), raw cotton (Rs 11,373 crore (Rs.113.7 billion) vs Rs 6,771 crore (Rs.67.7 billion); growth 67.96%), fresh vegetables (Rs 4,780 crore (Rs.47.8 billion) vs Rs 4,067 crore (Rs.40.6 billion); growth 17.54%) and processed vegetables (Rs 2,846 crore (Rs.28.4 billion) vs Rs 1,994 crore (Rs.19.9 billion); growth 42.69%), among others. Imports of agri and allied commodities during April 2020 to February 2021 were valued at Rs 1,41,034.25 crore (Rs.1.4 trillion) as compared to Rs 1,37,014.39 crore (Rs.1.3 trillion) in the same period last year, a slight increase of 2.93%. Thus, despite Covid-19, the balance of trade in agriculture has favourably increased during April 2020 to February 2021 to Rs 1,32,579.69 crore (Rs.1.3 trillion) as against Rs 93,907.76 crore (Rs.939.9 billion) in the same period of 2019-20, the release said. |
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Shipping News |
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APM Terminals Pipavav announces new weekly service from its port to Jebel Ali
India Seatrade News – April 19 Top |
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APM Terminals Pipavav on Monday announced a new weekly service PIC2 from its port to Jebel Ali, marking seamless connectivity to the Dubai”s commercial port and business hub. The new service is scheduled to reach Pipavav on every Wednesday through the ports of Jebel Ali, Kandla, Chennai, Tuticorin and Cochin, APM Terminals Pipavav said in a release. “This is another step-in course to enhance our connectivity. Marking this milestone, we will be able to cater to more markets and ensure faster, efficient and safe transit of cargos. We are happy to have PIC2 and we are confident that with our current infrastructure and skilled manpower, we will be able to operate this service in the most efficient manner, thereby ensuring efficient service to exporters and importers,” said APM Terminals Pipavav Managing Director Jakob Friis Sorensen. The cargoes that will be carried for import and export will include agricultural products, scrap material, bitumen, B.Meat, white goods, among others, the private port operator said in the release. “We are delighted to partner with APM Terminals Pipavav in our weekly service. We believe that the port Pipavav with its excellent connectivity to the hinterland will be able to cater to the export-import customers competently. “We are certain that our customers will be able to benefit immensely through service offering of APM Terminals Pipavav and their quality infrastructure. This will be a mutually beneficial covenant towards marking greater business relations,” said Ashish Chauhan, Chief Operating Officer, Shreyas Shipping. |
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BPCL ships first Coastal consignment of Tank Container from Kochi to Hazira Port on SSL Visakhapatnam
Daily Shipping Times – Kochi, April 22 Top |
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The first coastal consignment of two Tank Containers carrying acrylic acid from BPCL-Kochi Refinery to Hazira Port, Gujarat, were loaded on board SSL Visakhapatnam from the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), Vallarpadam, recently. The Coastal Shipping of hazardous cargo like acrylic acid marked a shift in transportation of tank containers from road to sea mode, said a press release here on Monday. It is a major step towards promotion of coastal shipping being encouraged by the Ministry of Ports under the Sagarmala programme. The consignees are Visen Industries, Silvassa and Rossari Biotech. Avana Logistek, a Transworld Group company, was the logistics partner, the press release added. |
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Logistics News |
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RoPax jetty project to come up on Odisha’s Dhamra River Exim News Service: New Delhi, April 18 Top |
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The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways has accorded administrative approval for sanction of Rs 50.30 crore (Rs.503 million) for developing all-weather RoPax (Roll-on/Roll-off Passenger) jetties and allied infrastructure connecting Kaninali in Bhadrak district and Talachua in Kendrapara district, Odisha under the Sagarmala initiative. The Government of Odisha will fund the other 50% cost of the project. The total capital cost of the project is Rs 110.60 crore (Rs.1.1 billion) which includes construction of RoPax jetties at Kaninali and Talachua, utility infrastructure such as parking area development, navigational aids and dredging. This project will reduce travel time from 6 hours by road to 1 hour by waterway. The development of the existing ghat with all-weather RoPax jetties is being carried out with the intent of accommodating boats, launches and other vessels as well as to ply vessels having capacity to carry 10 light motor vehicles, 20 motorbikes along with 60 passengers at a time, simultaneously ensuring safety of all passengers and vehicles. Kaninali in Bhadrak district and Talachua in Kendrapara district are located on the northern and southern banks of River Dhamra, respectively. The people of Talachua and nearby villages largely depend upon Dhamra Port for their livelihood, which is approximately 4 km from Kaninali Ghat. This project will enhance the safety of passengers and vehicles with state-of-the-art utility infrastructure. The connectivity is also expected to increase commercial and business activities and uplift the socio-economic status of the surrounding region, said a release. |
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Gateway Rail Freight, Maersk jointly flag automotive express service India Seatrade News - April 20 Top |
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Gateway Rail Freight and Maersk have jointly flagged their first automotive express service from Gurugram to APM Terminals Pipavav (Gujarat Pipavav Port). The train started from GatewayRail’s flagship terminal its Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Gurugram on Tuesday. This terminal is connected to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. “This will be an exclusive Maersk service to cater to the automotive sector in the National Capital Region (NCR) by providing assured connection to the westbound MECL Service of Maersk from APM Terminals at Pipavav Port,” a statement from GatewayRail said. The westbound MECL Service of Maersk is a shipping line originating from Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates to Houston in the United States of America. It has stoppages in Pakistan, India, Oman, and Spain, among others, on the way. “In the return direction, GatewayRail will also provide ‘Ship to Rail Service’ for Maersk import containers to GatewayRail’s ICDs at Gurugram, Faridabad and Ludhiana,” the statement added. Currently, GatewayRail has been operating four weekly dedicated Maersk import services for its ICD at Gurugram, Faridabad, Ludhiana out of which three are from APM Terminals Pipavav and one is from Mundra Port. GatewayRail also operates a weekly dedicated Maersk export service from its ICD Faridabad to APM Terminals Pipavav. Gateway Rail Freight is a subsidiary of Gateway Distriparks. It a private intermodal operator. It provides intermodal logistics solutions from its rail-linked Inland Container Depots (ICD) based at Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ludhiana and Viramgam and a Domestic Container Terminal in Navi Mumbai. The Indian Railways had surpassed 2019-2020’s freight loading numbers in financial year 2020-21. This was on the back of an increase in the ferrying of non-traditional commodities by rail. According to Rail Ministry data, automobile freight had grown by 84 per cent over the comparable period. Chairman Railway Board Suneet Sharma had also told Business Standard that transporting cars through rails will be one of the new revenue streams the railways will harness. In a separate statement on Tuesday, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) said that the company has been progressively increasing use of railways for its vehicle transportation. “The transportation by rail exceeded 180,000 vehicles in 2020-21, which accounts for nearly 13 per cent of total sales in the same period,” a MSIL statement said. Maruti Suzuki said that it is the first auto manufacturer in the country to obtain Automobile Freight Train Operator (AFTO) license. This allows private firms to fabricate and operate high speed, high capacity auto-wagon rakes on the Indian Railway’s network. At present, Maruti Suzuki utilises five loading terminals. These are in Gurgaon, Farukhnagar, Kathuwas, Patli and Detroj. Their vehicles are bound for 15 destination terminals namely Bangalore, Nagpur, Mumbai, Guwahati, Mundra Port, Indore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, NCR, Siliguri, Coimbatore, Pune, and Agartala. “With the addition of Agartala, the reach of rail mode has extended to North East. It has also helped to reduce the transportation time to states in East India by nearly half,” MSIL added. |
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VSEZ approves new expansion projects worth Rs 780 crore (Rs.7.8 billion) India Seatrade News - April 23 Top |
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Unit Approval Committee (UAC) of VSEZ, chaired by its Development Commissioner A Rama Mohan Reddy convened a meeting virtually approved setting up of SEZ units and expansion of existing IT/ITES based units in Telangana state. The meeting approved setting up of 2 new units namely M/s Charnham India Private Limited, M/s Cognizant Mortgage Services Corporation both in M/s Sundew Properties Ltd SEZ in Ranga Reddy district of Telangana both under IT/ITES sector. Similarly, 3 units sought for expansion of existing IT/ITES are M/s Wipro Ltd, M/s HCL Technologies Ltd, and M/s Salesforce.com in M/s Sundew, Phoenix, and Divyasree NSL SEZs all located in RR district. Setting up of these new units as well as expansions will attract investment of Rs 787 crore (Rs.7.8 billion) and will generate employment to 6,088 and will achieve exports to the tune of Rs 4,974 cr (Rs. 49.7 billion) over a period of 5 years. The meeting was attended virtually by all the senior officials, the members of UAC, representative of DGFT, revenue, excise, customs, drug controller and TS IT, besides the units and developers, JDC, DDC and customs officials of VSEZ. During 2020-21, the VSEZ made exports to the tune of Rs 1,13,975 crore (Rs.1.1 trillion) out of which exports from Telangana were to the tune of Rs 83,525 crore (Rs.835.2 billion) and recorded an overall growth in the exports to the tune of 15% so far, compared to last year. |
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Indian Port News |
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Chennai Port again berths VLCC Exim News Service: Chennai, April 18 Top |
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The second Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) on account of Chennai Petroleum Corporation, MT Bright Pioneer, with a length of 333 m, beam of 60 m and DWT of 3 lakh tonnes, was berthed at Chennai Port’s Bharathi Dock III earlier this month for discharging crude oil. Chennai Port was the first Major Port in India to berth a VLCC at alongside berth when it handled MT New Diamond on August 31, 2018, informed a release. |
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Cochin Port forays into seaplane bunkering business India Seatrade News - April 19 Top |
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From being the leader in bunkering ocean going crafts, Cochin Port Trust has now forayed into seaplane bunkering business by enabling refuelling of a seaplane enroute Maldives. According to officials, the port has facilitated first ever seaplane bunkering when a SpiceJet seaplane berthed at the port for refuelling enroute Maldives. This paves the way for the port to position itself as a seaplane bunkering port. The seaplane which arrived from Goa, left for Maldives after bunkering 975 litres of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), besides stocking essential items on board. Indian Oil Aviation supplied the bunker (ATF) for the seaplane. Likewise, the port recently loaded first coastal tank containers from BPCL-Kochi Refinery to Hazira in Gujarat. The first coastal consignment of two tank containers carrying acrylic acid from BPCL-Kochi Refinery for Hazira port, Gujarat were loaded on board MV SSL Vishakhapatanam from ICTT Vallarpadam. The coastal shipping of hazardous cargo like acrylic acid, marks the modal shift of transportation of tank containers from road to sea mode. This is a major step towards promotion of coastal shipping being encouraged by Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways under the Sagarmala scheme. The consignees are Visen Industries – Silvasa and Rossari Biotech – Bharuch, Gujarat. Avana Logistek Ltd, a Transworld Group company, was the logistics partner. Cochin Port was, incidentally, the first major port in India to start LNG bunkering in February 2015. With this, the port firmly establishes itself as an integrated logistics service provider with capabilities to serve road, sea and air mode of transportation, the officials added. |
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Cargo lightening charges for Capesize vessels carrying coal at Dhamra Port (part cargo discharge) Exim News Service: Dhamra, April 21 Top |
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Cargo lightening charges at Dhamra Port as per Adani Ports and Logistics Circular No. DPCL/TRADE/05/2021 dated April 20, 2021. The cargo lightening charges are $3 per MT for the full B/L quantity of cargo carried. Conditions for applicability of above charge: * Applicable to only Capesize vessels carrying coal as cargo having two or more port discharge, with Dhamra Port not being the last port of discharge. * Applicable to the entire cargo as per B/L brought to the port. If any Capesize vessel is discharging full amount of coal cargo at DPCL, then normal charges will be applicable as per BPTS. Cargo lightening charges for any vessel other than Capesize will be charged as per the existing charges in the published BPTS. The above charges will become applicable from 0001 hours of April 22, 2021 for all ships which arrive at Dhamra Port on or after 0001 hours of April 22, the communiqué informed. |
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Disclaimer:
Above information is only indicative and given in good faith. We have collected the above information from various secondary sources. We have tried our best to be as correct as possible. However, we cannot guarantee 100 % accuracy in the above data. Our company / group will not be responsible for any mistakes / inaccuracies which might have crept in inadvertently. |