Textile sector still far from recovery: Assocham

August 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government should announce subsidies to the crisis-hit exporters in the forthcoming foreign trade policy to make India's exports sector more competitive, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has said. "Subsidies need to be extended to Indian exporters by substantially reducing excise and local levies and other export duties," Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said in a paper submitted to Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

July 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Buoyed by the recent surge in capital markets, India Inc is planning to raise Rs.16,000 crore ($3.3 billion) through initial public offerings (IPOs) this fiscal, an industry lobby report said Thursday. "The companies are weighing higher expectations from renewed investor's sentiments to raise funds from the primary market," Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) wants the government to set up a Rs.7,500-crore ($1.5-billion) corpus fund for the meat and fish processing industry. The fund could be used to infuse new technologies and skills into the food processing sector in order to increase the production of meat, fish and poultry by 25 percent in two years, the chamber said in a statement Wednesday.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The share of manufactured goods in India's exports declined from 81 percent in 1999-2000 to 63 percent in 2008-09, according to an industry lobby survey released here Monday. However, India's project exports - setting up infrastructure projects overseas - increased by over 25 percent during the same period, the report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said.

June 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The banking sector, which hired 16,200 people in the first quarter this fiscal, remained the biggest job provider in the country during the period, an industry lobby survey said. The country's largest lender, State Bank of India, alone created 13,000 jobs, while Danalakshmi Bank and Andhra Bank recruited 1,300 and 900 people respectively, the survey by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said.

June 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government can raise about Rs.80,000 crore ($16.6 billion) by divesting stake in public sector units, says an industry lobby report. "Dilution of stake in leading public sector units alone could fetch at least Rs.80,000 crore," the report by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said, adding that this amount could be used to bring down the fiscal deficit burden.

June 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government will spend Rs.1,100 crore (Rs.11 billion) annually till 2012 to provide subsidies and upgrade technology to the textile sector, Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran said here Wednesday. The Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), which was launched to improve competitiveness and overall long term viability of the industry, has been extended till March 31, 2012.

June 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government will exempt the slowdown-hit textile sector from service tax as part of its short-term strategy to bail out the industry, Minister for Textiles Dayanidhi Maran said here Friday. As part of our short-term strategy for the textile industry, we will try to rationalise fiscal structure, exempt service tax, reduce interest rates on pre and post-shipment credit and facilitate faster clearance of arrears, Maran said here while releasing a report on the effects of the slowdown on the textile sector.

June 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) Wednesday called on the government to bring down tax on household purchases to less than 20 percent from over 45 percent now to spur domestic demand. "Although the annual income of an average Indian is growing significantly, it is not resulting in increased savings because the government takes away over 45 percent on household purchases in terms of indirect taxes alone," Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said in a statement.

June 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The chemical industry undertook the maximum number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives during 2008-09, according to an industry lobby report. The study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said out of 300 Indian companies across 18 broad sectors spending on social initiatives last fiscal, 74 were from the chemical sector.

June 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) Friday urged the government to provide industry status to the organised retail sector, which is expected to grow to 20-22 percent of the total retail market by 2010. In a note submitted to the ministries of commerce and industry and consumer affairs, Assocham president Sajjan Jindal has said providing industry status is the first basic step needed for reforming the Indian retailing sector.

May 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's realtors believe the sector will see signs of recovery in the next three months, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). A survey report by the industry lobby said 88 percent of chief executives of real estate firms see a quick revival within the next three months as developers shift towards affordable housing and property prices undergo significant correction.

April 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has urged the government to set up a 'separate infrastructure financing fund' worth $90 billion to finance infrastructure projects in the next three years. In a note submitted to the Planning Commission and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Assocham secretary general D.S.

April 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Corporate India's budget for brand promotion and entertainment will fall by nearly 32-35 percent in 2009-10 on account of the current meltdown, an industry lobby said in a report released Thursday. An internal assessment of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), which involved nearly 300 companies, said a 'vast majority' of private sector firms were yet to make their promotional budget public.

January 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Job creation dipped 38 percent in three critical sectors in the quarter ended December 31, 2008, an industry lobby report released Thursday said. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said job creation in the financial services, IT and hospitality sectors dipped 38 percent between October-December 2008, compared to the previous quarter, and predicted the situation would continue to be 'bleak' in 2009.