Major emerging-market economies around the world are slowing, for reasons both shared and unique. Hardest to understand, though, is why India, where annual GDP growth has fallen by five percentage points since 2010, is underperforming so much relative to its potential.
India could be the first BRIC nation to lose its investment grade, said credit ratings agency Standards and Poor who cited disappointing growth, policy paralysis and corruption as the main risk factors.
In the report Will India be the First BRIC Fallen Angel, S&P said the Indian government’s reaction to potentially slower growth and greater vulnerability to economic shocks will largely determine whether the Asia’s third largest economy remains within the investment band, or becomes the first “fallen angel” of the BRIC nations.
India’s Planning Commission, a government entity responsible for plotting the country’s economic future, came under fire from opposition leaders and the public on Wednesday, after reports emerged that they had spent over 3.5 million rupees ($63, 146) to renovate two toilets in its office, which are believed to be reserved for just 60 “very high dignitaries”.
The multi-billion dollar shale energy industry in the U.S. is indirectly triggering a massive rush to harvest guar beans in India, claimed a report by Reuters on Monday, as thousands of farmers seek to capitalise on what is now a key ingredient in the U.S. hydraulic fracturing process.
Officials at India’s top drug regulatory agency have been accused of colluding with major international pharmaceutical companies in order to bring in medication that had been previously banned overseas.
The Indian government has decided to lift its restrictions on fresh cotton exports, after unexpectedly announcing a ban on March 5th this year following concerns over the domestic supply.
According to a report by Reuters, 1.5-2 million bales of cotton will be allowed for export for the current year ending September 30, which before the ban had already seen a record 11.5 million bales sold overseas.
The Indian government will make a decision this week on whether to allow foreign airlines to purchase stakes in Indian carriers, said a report by the Times of India on Wednesday.
The move is one which could potentially provide a lifeline to cash-strapped carriers such as Kingfisher Airlines, with Indian carriers now facing an accumulated debt of $16 billion and cumulative losses of over $8.5 billion.
International trade groups, along with other foreign government officials, have advised the Indian government to reconsider their proposal to retroactively tax corporations for prior overseas deals, said a report by Reuters on Monday, as concerns grew over the overall investment confidence in Asia’s third largest economy.
The Indian government, the world’s second largest producer of cotton behind China, has unexpectedly announced an immediate ban on all of its nation’s cotton exports – a move that has stunned the global markets and enraged shippers, sellers and growers in the country.
After being in denial for years, India’s Department of Atomic Energy finally admitted last month that the deaths of some employees and their dependents at the Kalpakkam nuclear site were caused by multiple myeloma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer linked to nuclear radiation. Will this news put a damper on India’s plans to broaden their nuclear power capabilities?
