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India Gazette
07-07-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
India negotiating US trade deal from position of strength
New Delhi believes an agreement with Washington should help it gain greater market access for labour-intensive goods India will negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the US from a position of strength, keeping New Delhi's national interests in mind, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said, according to the Hindu BusinessLine newspaper. Washington and New Delhi are engaged in negotiations for a trade agreement and are racing to meet a July 9 deadline set by US President Donald Trump, in order to avoid reciprocal tariffs. "Today, India negotiates from a position of strength," Goyal said at a summit on Saturday, according to the report. "We are self-confident and can compete with anybody in the world." The minister said India did not negotiate under deadlines. "We negotiate keeping national interest in mind, and national interest is paramount in all our global engagements," he added. Since returning to office in January, Trump has launched a tariff campaign aimed at protecting US manufacturers. It culminated on April 2 with a set of measures on what he called 'Liberation Day', including a blanket 10% tariff and up to 70% on countries he accused of treating the US most "unfairly." "India wants a trade deal where it would get market access in its areas of interest, including labor-intensive goods, and it should have sustained preference over other countries in these areas," a source familiar the matter told the Hindu BusinessLine. Some Indian media outlets have reported that a trade deal with the US is in its conclusion phase, while others said an agreement would be finalized in stages. "India has already offered to bring down tariffs in a number of sectors for American goods while insisting that its red lines in sensitive areas, including agriculture and dairy, be respected," the Times of India cited a source as saying. Last week, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Financial Express that the country could not do anything that would weaken its agriculture or the positions of its farmers. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, bilateral trade between India and the US touched $131.8 billion, with a trade surplus of $41.18 billion for New Delhi, according to the Indian Commerce Ministry. In Trump's second term, the US has signed new trade deals with the UK and Vietnam. Washington has also reached a temporary deal with Beijing to limit tariffs at 30% - after hiking them to 145% in a series of tit-for-tat increases earlier this year.
India.com
17-06-2025
- Business
- India.com
Adani's port, India's peril? New fronts in the Mideast conflict
Adani's port, India's peril? New fronts in the Mideast conflict As the Israel-Iran conflict worsens, India faces a growing threat of indirect economic damage. The country's energy security, trade routes, and important business interests are becoming more uncertain. In response to the rising tensions, the government needs to quickly assess the risks to its energy supply, explore new sources for crude oil, and make sure the country's emergency fuel reserves are strong enough, according to a statement from the think tank GTRI on Sunday. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has warned that the ongoing war is putting India at greater risk of indirect economic damage. The country's energy supply, shipping routes, and major business interests are becoming more uncertain as the conflict continues. According to GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava, the growing violence and increasing tension in the region are directly affecting India's important economic and strategic ties with West Asia. He explained that India trades a lot with both countries involved in the conflict, which puts its trade and economic interests at risk, reported Hindu Business Line . In 2024-25, India exported goods worth $1.24 billion to Iran and imported items worth $441.9 million from the country. Trade with Israel was even larger, with $2.15 billion in exports and $1.61 billion in imports. However, what matters even more than trade with these two countries is India's heavy dependence on the region for energy. Almost two-thirds of India's crude oil and around half of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports travel through the Strait of Hormuz—a route that Iran has now threatened to block. This narrow waterway, just 21 miles wide at its tightest point, is crucial because it carries nearly 20% of the world's oil supply. For India, which imports more than 80% of its energy needs, the Strait of Hormuz is vital. The situation became more serious on June 15, when Iran launched missiles at Israel's Haifa port. This port is very important as it handles over 30% of Israel's imports. What makes it more concerning for India is that Adani Ports, an Indian company, owns 70% of this port, explained Srivastava. According to Srivastava, early reports suggest that the missile attack damaged parts of the port and nearby oil refineries. This has raised concerns that shipping and goods movement could be disrupted, and that the conflict might start affecting Indian business interests in the area. At the same time, Israel's airstrikes on June 14-15 targeted Houthi military leaders in Yemen, further increasing tensions in the Red Sea. This is worrying because Houthi forces have already attacked cargo ships in the region, putting international trade at risk. For India, this is a major concern. Almost 30% of India's exports heading west—to places like Europe, North Africa, and the eastern coast of the United States—pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Srivastava pointed out. This narrow waterway lies between Yemen and the Horn of Africa and connects the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea. It's an important route for global shipping, especially for countries like India. With the area now under threat due to rising tensions and attacks, there is a real risk that Indian exports could face delays, higher transport costs, or even disruptions. He explained that if ships are forced to avoid the Red Sea and take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, delivery times could increase by up to two weeks. This longer journey would also make shipping much more expensive. As a result, India's exports—especially items like engineering products, textiles, and chemicals—could face serious delays and higher costs. At the same time, it would also make some imported goods more expensive for India, since the cost of bringing them in would go up. Although India is not directly involved in the conflict, it cannot afford to stay relaxed, he warned. The government needs to quickly assess the risks to its energy supply, look for more diverse sources of crude oil, and make sure the country has enough fuel stored in its emergency reserves. ( Girish Linganna is an award-winning science communicator and a Defence, Aerospace & Geopolitical Analyst. He is the Director of ADD Engineering Components India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. Contact: girishlinganna@ )
Mint
30-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Investment of mutual funds in NSE firms touches a record high of 10 per cent: Report
The ownership of mutual funds (MFs) in listed companies scaled a record high of 10 per cent in fiscal 2025 and indicated the first double digit reading. In the March quarter, mutual funds infused ₹ 1.9 lakh crore into equities, contributing to a record annual net inflow of ₹ 6.1 lakh crore, reported Hindu Business Line. Passive funds within mutual funds also hit a peak share of 2 per cent. Individuals' holding, directly and through mutual funds, remained steady at a record high of 18 per cent of the market with a current holding of ₹ 74.5 lakh crore, a compounded annual growth rate of 17 per cent over five years, according to the NSE Market Pulse report released on Thursday. However, individual investors' direct ownership dipped to 9.5 per cent, suggesting growing popularity of MFs as a preferred vehicle for equity investment by retail investors. Akshat Garg, AVP, Choice Wealth, said individual investors are increasingly channelling incremental money into mutual funds and the shift has been structural, not cyclical, wrote Business Line. The surge in SIP flows, especially from tier-II and -III cities, reflects growing investor maturity, but at the same time, direct equity investing has become more volatile and time-consuming, prompting retail investors to delegate that complexity to fund managers, he added. Strong performance of Indian equities, coupled with rising participation, has resulted in a significant increase in household wealth over the last few years. 'Our estimates suggest that the household wealth in Indian equities increased by over ₹ 46 lakh crore in the last five fiscal years,' said the report. Since June 2021, with a strong SIP-led inflows, MF ownership in NSE-listed firms has climbed steadily, reaching all-time highs. Meanwhile, investors pumped money into debt mutual funds in April as they sought lower-risk options to ride out the market volatility and to rebalance their portfolios at the start of the financial year, taking net inflows into these funds to the highest in over two decades. Net inflows into debt-oriented open-ended mutual fund schemes were at ₹ 2.19 trillion in April—the highest since January 2005, from when this data is available. The net inflows marked a sharp reversal from March, when debt-oriented schemes witnessed outflows of ₹ 2.02 trillion. For all personal finance updates, visit here
