Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said the government is making efforts to boost the production and consumption of millets. He was speaking after inaugurating the 'Millets Experience Centre (MEC)' at Dilli Haat, INA, in the national capital.
"Year-on-year inflation for the month stood at 5.79 per cent compared to 6.16 per cent for the previous month (February 2023) and 5.35 per cent during the corresponding month (March 2022) a year before," an official statement said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said private investment is turning the corner and would have gained further traction but for the twin blows of the pandemic and the Ukraine war. The government had slashed the corporate tax rate substantially in September 2019 to 15% for new manufacturing units but the pandemic broke out in early 2020 and the Ukraine war followed.
Sanyal said he is personally looking at drafting the urgently needed legislative changes as what is of critical importance is reforming the very process, and also fixing the legal metrology provisions, which now is a really cumbersome process, and "I am personally working on this now." He said while over the past few years the efficiency of the system at the examiner level has gone up really high, at the more critical controller level it is stuck leading to massive pendency of applications which is around 1.7 lakh now.
The index of eight core industries measures the output of key infrastructure sectors - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity. These sectors have a 40 per cent weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), suggesting industrial growth may also trend lower in March.
India's foreign exchange reserves saw a dip of $2.165 billion to $584.248 billion as on April 21, 2023, Reserve Bank of India data showed on Friday. India's forex reserves have dipped after gaining for two consecutive weeks. The RBI noted in its monthly Bulletin that global economic conditions are beset by heightened uncertainty as financial conditions remain volatile and financial markets are on edge.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 11, released its latest World Economic Outlook report, projecting that the Indian economy will grow by 5.9 per cent in the current fiscal year, making it the fastest-growing economy in the world. Nonetheless, the organization also warned that disruption in the financial system could have a detrimental effect on overall global growth.
For centuries, Indian textiles used to go offshore, contributing significantly to the GDP. Even in the colonial period, textile mills served as tailors to the world. During 2022-23, India's electronic goods exports rose from worth USD 15.66 billion to USD 23.57 billion, whereas readymade garments were largely steady at about USD 16 billion, shows official data released on Friday.
Last fiscal, India had imported 850,000 tonnes of tur (pigeon peas) to meet domestic demand. The Centre has also extended the import of tur and urad pulses under the ‘free category’ till March 31, 2024. "We have urged the government to float tender for 5 lakh (500,000) tonnes for other pulses,†Bimal Kothari, chairman of IPGA, said. “Now the government only floats tender for tur pulses for its mid-day meal scheme. If this happens then prices of tur will soften."