The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence hosted a discussion by some of India’s sharpest minds. The subject: Private Sector Capex Revival: Key to 8% Growth. On the panel were Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 sherpa; Uday Kotak, CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank; Sajjan Jindal, chairman of the JSW Group; Preetha Reddy, vice chairperson of Apollo Hospitals; and Sanjiv Mehta, CEO of Hindustan Unilever. Edited excerpts:
We have grown beyond what gender budgeting of 2000, 2001-02 had to say. We are now looking at women-led policies," Sitharaman said.
Besides expediting the implementation of infrastructure projects, such mapping will aid data consistency, better planning, and prevent time and cost overruns, officials said.
Farmers have been using drones over the past 20 years mainly for aerial imaging - scanning farms from the sky with cameras to map where crops are thriving and failing. Now drones are being designed for hands-on crop management.
The meeting, co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russia Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, also agreed to explore the possibility of interaction of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of National Payment Corporation of India and the Faster Payments System (FPS) of the Bank of Russia.
Footwear in India is mainly imported from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. China is the largest supplier, with a 38.2 per cent share in India's imports. Imports from Vietnam rose fast, from USD 76.6 million in 2017 to USD 267.3 million in 2022.
The reliance of Europe on Indian crude oil products has surged. This increase can be linked with the ban on Russian oil. The data also showed that Europe's refined fuel imports from India are set to surge above 360,000 barrels a day, edging just ahead of those of Saudi Arabia.
Free trade agreements with the UAE and Australia would provide a huge platform to boost exports in those markets. Ludhiana-based engineering exporter and Hand Tools Association President SC Ralhan said there are healthy signs of economic growth in the US, which accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total outbound shipments.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also lowered India's economic growth projection for the current fiscal to 5.9 per cent from 6.1 per cent earlier. Yet, India will continue to be the fastest-growing economy in the world.