Indian Economy : News,Discussions & Updates
- Thread starter Butter Chicken
- Start date
-
- Tags
- indian defence forum
Panasonic to Build New Wiring Device Factory in Southern India
The new factory is scheduled to start production in autumn 2021, responding to brisk demand in India
Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation announced today a plan that will expand its manufacturing footprint in India. Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt., Ltd., the Thane, Maharashtra-based manufacturing and sales arm of Panasonic's Life Solutions Company, will build a new factory to produce wiring devices, electrical wire and switchgear with an investment of 2,946 million rupees (approx. 4.6 billion yen). The new factory in Sri City Industrial Park in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh will be Panasonic's fourth electrical equipment material production base in the country, and is scheduled to start production in autumn 2021.
The Indian economy is expanding dramatically in recent years. With GDP forecast to grow 6% per year through 2030, not only big cities but also middle-sized cities are expected to grow in the coming years. In addition, India has the world's second-largest population following China and is projected to see a substantial population increase, particularly in the middle class(*1).
Under these circumstances, demand for electrical equipment materials such as switches, sockets and switchgears is increasing along with construction wave of office buildings, condominiums and housing. To respond to the brisk demand, Panasonic, faced with the urgent need to increase production capacity, decided to build a new factory.
In India, Panasonic has production bases in Haridwar in the north area and in Daman and Kutch in the west area, but has no production base in the southern area, which has strong purchasing power and great growth potential. The new factory in Sri City will provide the company greater access to this promising area.
The new factory is scheduled to start production of wiring devices in 2021, and add fans, switchgear and electrical wire sequentially. Panasonic will strive to expand sales by broadening the product lineup targeted at the middle class, which is expected to grow markedly in the future.
Panasonic will continue to offer electrical construction materials and equipment that deliver comfortable, safe and secure, and quality lifestyle to consumers in the world by utilizing technologies and expertise acquired over many years in business.
Panasonic to Build New Wiring Device Factory in Southern India | Headquarters News | Panasonic Newsroom Global
The new factory is scheduled to start production in autumn 2021, responding to brisk demand in India
Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation announced today a plan that will expand its manufacturing footprint in India. Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt., Ltd., the Thane, Maharashtra-based manufacturing and sales arm of Panasonic's Life Solutions Company, will build a new factory to produce wiring devices, electrical wire and switchgear with an investment of 2,946 million rupees (approx. 4.6 billion yen). The new factory in Sri City Industrial Park in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh will be Panasonic's fourth electrical equipment material production base in the country, and is scheduled to start production in autumn 2021.
The Indian economy is expanding dramatically in recent years. With GDP forecast to grow 6% per year through 2030, not only big cities but also middle-sized cities are expected to grow in the coming years. In addition, India has the world's second-largest population following China and is projected to see a substantial population increase, particularly in the middle class(*1).
Under these circumstances, demand for electrical equipment materials such as switches, sockets and switchgears is increasing along with construction wave of office buildings, condominiums and housing. To respond to the brisk demand, Panasonic, faced with the urgent need to increase production capacity, decided to build a new factory.
In India, Panasonic has production bases in Haridwar in the north area and in Daman and Kutch in the west area, but has no production base in the southern area, which has strong purchasing power and great growth potential. The new factory in Sri City will provide the company greater access to this promising area.
The new factory is scheduled to start production of wiring devices in 2021, and add fans, switchgear and electrical wire sequentially. Panasonic will strive to expand sales by broadening the product lineup targeted at the middle class, which is expected to grow markedly in the future.
Panasonic will continue to offer electrical construction materials and equipment that deliver comfortable, safe and secure, and quality lifestyle to consumers in the world by utilizing technologies and expertise acquired over many years in business.
- *1: Families with household income of USD5,000 to USD35,000 a year
- Name: Sri City Factory (tentative)
- Production items: Wiring devices, electrical wire, switchgear, fans, etc.
- Location: Sri City Industrial Park, Andhra Pradesh, the Republic of India
- Start of production: October 2021 (planned)
- Land area: 133,546 square meters
- Total floor area: 35,000 square meters
- Number of employees: Approx. 600 persons (FY2022 ending March 2022)
- Production capacity: 8.6 million units per month (FY2021)
- Company name: Panasonic Life Solutions India Private, Limited
- Location of Headquarters: Thane, Maharashtra, the Republic of India
- Establishment: 1963
- Representative: Vivek Sharma
- Number of sales offices: 31 bases in the Republic of India
- Scope of business: Manufacturing and sales of wiring devices, switchgear, electrical wire, lighting fixtures, lamps, fans and others
- Number of employees: 9,166 persons (end of March 2019)
- Sales: 34.1 billion rupees (approx. 53 billion yen) (FY2019 ended March 2019)
- Capital: 4.43 billion rupees (approx. 6.8 billion yen) (end of March 2019)
Panasonic to Build New Wiring Device Factory in Southern India | Headquarters News | Panasonic Newsroom Global
RBI’s Operation Twist Sets Up an Apt Backdrop for Fiscal Expansion
By SOMNATH MUKHERJEE
Representative Image.
RBI announced its own contribution to (somewhat) unconventional monetary policy last week, proposing to sell short tenor, 2020 maturity bonds and buy ₹10,000 crore of 10-year bonds. Popularly referred to as Operation Twist, after a similar programme first introduced by the US Fed in 1961, this aims to be a precision-attack on elevated term spreads (spread between long-term and short-term interest rates). Typically, elevated term spreads result in higher cost of borrowing for long-term borrowers, causing anaemic credit growth and making it tougher for a growth-constrained economy to use lower interest rates to kick-start growth.
A little bit of historical perspective would be in order. The first instance of Operation Twist (OT) was in the US, in the bond purchase programme of the War Finance Corporation (WFC), a federal government entity set up with a mandate to stabilise prices of Liberty and Victory loan bonds, the primary vehicles to finance US participation in the First World War. While not given the moniker of OT, WFC’s market intervention ended up with a similar impact on yields – with yield curves of Liberty/Victory loan bonds somewhat flattening out as long as WFC’s market intervention was in place. A more formal introduction of OT was in 1961, when the Kennedy administration, fighting a slow economy amidst large current account deficit (CAD) and restrictions of the Gold Standard, got the US Fed to swap short-term bonds for long-term bonds in its open market operations (OMOs) in order to flatten the yield curve and get some growth back. It worked for a time, yield curve flattened and growth did pick up smartly in the ’60s, before inflation caught up in the latter half of the decade.
In India, the primary objective condition today is similar – despite a reasonably good set of macro stability indicators (CAD, fiscal deficit and inflation) – GDP growth has plummeted by a large 4% in nominal terms in about a year. While there have been some counter-cyclical responses – government has undertaken a modest fiscal expansion (perhaps of about 0.3-0.4% of GDP) and RBI has reduced policy rates by 135 basis points in 2019 – they are clearly nowhere close to being quite enough. One big reason for the that has been the elevated term spreads. Even as RBI cut policy rates aggressively, the transmission of the same has been restricted to the short-end of the yield curve. As a result, term spreads (as measured by the difference between 10-year and 1-year bond yields) are at near-decadal highs. Even medium term spreads (between 5-year and 1-year bond yields) are at multi-year highs. This despite a fall in bank credit growth, collapse in availability of NBFC credit post-IL&FS and surplus liquidity in the system. As a marker, the 10-year G-Sec, trading at 6.6-6.7%, is higher than the last nominal GDP growth print at 6%. Clearly, this does not create the right necessary conditions for a growth rebound.
What RBI has proposed to do is to address this issue directly. Today there is surplus liquidity in the system that is getting deployed only in short-term (tenor of 1 year and less) papers. By buying 10-year G-secs, RBI is directly influencing the prices of the longer-end, bringing yields down. To finance this purchase, RBI is going to sell shorter-tenor securities, but given the already surplus liquidity and strong buying interest in that segment, the expansion of short-term yields, if any, is likely to be modest. The net impact would be of a flattened yield curve that facilitates better transmission of lower rates to the private corporate sector.
The private sector response might take a bit of time, but in the immediate future, this sets up an apt backdrop for a coordinated fiscal expansion. RBI has about ₹70-80,000 crore of shorter-tenor bonds available on balance sheet to swap into longer-tenor bonds via OT. To the extent it executes this swap, it lightens the longtenor bond supply for the government and creates incremental budgetary space for a fiscal expansion. Of the four core pillars of the economy – Consumption, Exports, Investment and Government Expenditure – only one, the last, is amenable to a quick booster to pump prime the economy.
In 1965, Manna Dey gave voice to an all-time hit number, Aao Twist Karein (ATK), in the Hindi film Bhoot Bungla. It was somewhat unconventional for Manna Dey (generally known for his classical voice) to sing a pop-corny piece. But the song went on to catch the fancy of the younger generation then and remained a favourite of the foot-tapping genre for a long time. Operation Twist is an unconventional monetary policy intervention too, certainly by RBI’s standards (given how much RBI prefers to stick to the conventional book). But like Manna Dey and ATK, macro conditions today make OT not only potentially successful, but actually quite imperative for India to come out of the growth funk it is in.
(The author is managing partner at ASK Wealth Advisors. Views and opinions expressed in this article are personal.)
RBI’s Operation Twist Sets Up an Apt Backdrop for Fiscal Expansion - The Economic Times - Mumbai, 12/25/2019
By SOMNATH MUKHERJEE
Representative Image.
RBI announced its own contribution to (somewhat) unconventional monetary policy last week, proposing to sell short tenor, 2020 maturity bonds and buy ₹10,000 crore of 10-year bonds. Popularly referred to as Operation Twist, after a similar programme first introduced by the US Fed in 1961, this aims to be a precision-attack on elevated term spreads (spread between long-term and short-term interest rates). Typically, elevated term spreads result in higher cost of borrowing for long-term borrowers, causing anaemic credit growth and making it tougher for a growth-constrained economy to use lower interest rates to kick-start growth.
A little bit of historical perspective would be in order. The first instance of Operation Twist (OT) was in the US, in the bond purchase programme of the War Finance Corporation (WFC), a federal government entity set up with a mandate to stabilise prices of Liberty and Victory loan bonds, the primary vehicles to finance US participation in the First World War. While not given the moniker of OT, WFC’s market intervention ended up with a similar impact on yields – with yield curves of Liberty/Victory loan bonds somewhat flattening out as long as WFC’s market intervention was in place. A more formal introduction of OT was in 1961, when the Kennedy administration, fighting a slow economy amidst large current account deficit (CAD) and restrictions of the Gold Standard, got the US Fed to swap short-term bonds for long-term bonds in its open market operations (OMOs) in order to flatten the yield curve and get some growth back. It worked for a time, yield curve flattened and growth did pick up smartly in the ’60s, before inflation caught up in the latter half of the decade.
In India, the primary objective condition today is similar – despite a reasonably good set of macro stability indicators (CAD, fiscal deficit and inflation) – GDP growth has plummeted by a large 4% in nominal terms in about a year. While there have been some counter-cyclical responses – government has undertaken a modest fiscal expansion (perhaps of about 0.3-0.4% of GDP) and RBI has reduced policy rates by 135 basis points in 2019 – they are clearly nowhere close to being quite enough. One big reason for the that has been the elevated term spreads. Even as RBI cut policy rates aggressively, the transmission of the same has been restricted to the short-end of the yield curve. As a result, term spreads (as measured by the difference between 10-year and 1-year bond yields) are at near-decadal highs. Even medium term spreads (between 5-year and 1-year bond yields) are at multi-year highs. This despite a fall in bank credit growth, collapse in availability of NBFC credit post-IL&FS and surplus liquidity in the system. As a marker, the 10-year G-Sec, trading at 6.6-6.7%, is higher than the last nominal GDP growth print at 6%. Clearly, this does not create the right necessary conditions for a growth rebound.
What RBI has proposed to do is to address this issue directly. Today there is surplus liquidity in the system that is getting deployed only in short-term (tenor of 1 year and less) papers. By buying 10-year G-secs, RBI is directly influencing the prices of the longer-end, bringing yields down. To finance this purchase, RBI is going to sell shorter-tenor securities, but given the already surplus liquidity and strong buying interest in that segment, the expansion of short-term yields, if any, is likely to be modest. The net impact would be of a flattened yield curve that facilitates better transmission of lower rates to the private corporate sector.
The private sector response might take a bit of time, but in the immediate future, this sets up an apt backdrop for a coordinated fiscal expansion. RBI has about ₹70-80,000 crore of shorter-tenor bonds available on balance sheet to swap into longer-tenor bonds via OT. To the extent it executes this swap, it lightens the longtenor bond supply for the government and creates incremental budgetary space for a fiscal expansion. Of the four core pillars of the economy – Consumption, Exports, Investment and Government Expenditure – only one, the last, is amenable to a quick booster to pump prime the economy.
In 1965, Manna Dey gave voice to an all-time hit number, Aao Twist Karein (ATK), in the Hindi film Bhoot Bungla. It was somewhat unconventional for Manna Dey (generally known for his classical voice) to sing a pop-corny piece. But the song went on to catch the fancy of the younger generation then and remained a favourite of the foot-tapping genre for a long time. Operation Twist is an unconventional monetary policy intervention too, certainly by RBI’s standards (given how much RBI prefers to stick to the conventional book). But like Manna Dey and ATK, macro conditions today make OT not only potentially successful, but actually quite imperative for India to come out of the growth funk it is in.
(The author is managing partner at ASK Wealth Advisors. Views and opinions expressed in this article are personal.)
RBI’s Operation Twist Sets Up an Apt Backdrop for Fiscal Expansion - The Economic Times - Mumbai, 12/25/2019
Niti Aayog member bats for 2 GST slabs, says rates should not be revised frequently
By Arijit Barman, Saloni Shukla
PTI | Updated: Dec 25, 2019, 07.47 PM IST
Currently, there are four GST rate slabs -- 5 per cent, 12, per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent.
Besides frequent demand for reduction in the rates on various goods and services, there has also been clamour for a slash in the number of tax slabs.
Government think-tank Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand on Wednesday made a case for only two slabs under the goods and service tax regime as against the multiple slabs currently, and said rates should be revised annually if required.
The goods and services tax (GST), which replaced almost all the indirect taxes, came into force from July 1, 2017, and the rates on goods and services have been revised several times since then.
Currently, there are four GST rate slabs -- 5 per cent, 12, per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. Several items fall in exempt category or nil duty. Besides, cess is also levied on five goods.
Talking to PTI, Chand said that when a large taxation reforms like GST are brought in, there are always "teething problems" but soon they stabilise. He said most of the countries took long time for GST stabilisation.
The Niti Aayog member, who looks after the agriculture sector, is also strictly against frequent changes in GST rates as it leads to problems. The all-powerful GST Council, presided over by the Union finance minister and comprising state finance ministers, decides on rate for particular goods and services.
Besides frequent demand for reduction in the rates on various goods and services, there has also been clamour for a slash in the number of tax slabs.
"It has become tendency of every sector to ask for lower GST. I feel GST issues are much larger than asking for rates," Chand said.
And, "we should not fiddle with rates or change rates frequently... We should not have many rates. Have only two rates," he said.
Chand said the focus should be on steady increase in revenue collection from the new indirect tax regime rather than tinkering with rates. He prescribed that if at all rates need to be changed, it should be done annually.
On demands of lower GST on process food, like dairy products, Chand, an agri economist, said the 5 per cent GST on such products is "very very reasonable".
Chand said that while every sector is demanding lower rate, they should also understand governments need revenue to spend on development works. "We always ask from the government and forget to give back. This trend is not good. From where will the government get the money to spend for development," said Chand, who is also a member of the 15th Finance Commission.
He said that in the agriculture sector alone, the central government is providing a subsidy of Rs 1.2 lakh crore and the states put together spend about Rs 1 lakh crore.
Niti Aayog member bats for 2 GST slabs, says rates should not be revised frequently
By Arijit Barman, Saloni Shukla
PTI | Updated: Dec 25, 2019, 07.47 PM IST
Currently, there are four GST rate slabs -- 5 per cent, 12, per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent.
Besides frequent demand for reduction in the rates on various goods and services, there has also been clamour for a slash in the number of tax slabs.
Government think-tank Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand on Wednesday made a case for only two slabs under the goods and service tax regime as against the multiple slabs currently, and said rates should be revised annually if required.
The goods and services tax (GST), which replaced almost all the indirect taxes, came into force from July 1, 2017, and the rates on goods and services have been revised several times since then.
Currently, there are four GST rate slabs -- 5 per cent, 12, per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. Several items fall in exempt category or nil duty. Besides, cess is also levied on five goods.
Talking to PTI, Chand said that when a large taxation reforms like GST are brought in, there are always "teething problems" but soon they stabilise. He said most of the countries took long time for GST stabilisation.
The Niti Aayog member, who looks after the agriculture sector, is also strictly against frequent changes in GST rates as it leads to problems. The all-powerful GST Council, presided over by the Union finance minister and comprising state finance ministers, decides on rate for particular goods and services.
Besides frequent demand for reduction in the rates on various goods and services, there has also been clamour for a slash in the number of tax slabs.
"It has become tendency of every sector to ask for lower GST. I feel GST issues are much larger than asking for rates," Chand said.
And, "we should not fiddle with rates or change rates frequently... We should not have many rates. Have only two rates," he said.
Chand said the focus should be on steady increase in revenue collection from the new indirect tax regime rather than tinkering with rates. He prescribed that if at all rates need to be changed, it should be done annually.
On demands of lower GST on process food, like dairy products, Chand, an agri economist, said the 5 per cent GST on such products is "very very reasonable".
Chand said that while every sector is demanding lower rate, they should also understand governments need revenue to spend on development works. "We always ask from the government and forget to give back. This trend is not good. From where will the government get the money to spend for development," said Chand, who is also a member of the 15th Finance Commission.
He said that in the agriculture sector alone, the central government is providing a subsidy of Rs 1.2 lakh crore and the states put together spend about Rs 1 lakh crore.
Niti Aayog member bats for 2 GST slabs, says rates should not be revised frequently
No, the credit for our stellar labour force participation rate, which helped us beat pakistan, is entirely to the north.....
People from Kerala would no doubt have preferred to build India's slum capital ,rather than the Manal Nagarams of Gulf, except that our nationalists ruling the roost in the slumdog city were busy hounding out our people with quite colorful slogans...
A Tale of Two Cities: Reconstructing the ‘Bajao Pungi, Hatao Lungi’ campaign in Bombay, and the Birth of the ‘Other’
A Tale of Two Cities: Reconstructing the ‘Bajao Pungi, Hatao Lungi’ campaign in Bombay, and the Birth of the ‘Other’
Ask me. The brunt of this tirade was borne by the Bunts. The ethnic group to which I belong. They gave the SS equal battle. And the number of Kannadigas in Bombay as compared to Malayalis or Tamils or any of the Andhraites is always more or more than equal to their combined population. We've no love lost for the SS. We can still deal with them on their terms & they know that.
Yes what you say is true, still disappointed to see you blow the 'Pungi' for the proverbial others and show disdain for your fellow lungiwallahs.......anyway lets leave it here, no profit from this tirade.
I would love to see NDTV bring in someone like Ramdeo Agarwal and launch their tirade of Economy in doldrums, remember how the BigBull Jhunjhunwala Chewed up NDTV on their own show.
Believe me, I've many Malayalis friends since Childhood and school & college days, but out there in the gelf, Malayalis are hated by non Malayalis. They're clannish & political. Over a period of time they get their own folk aboard by eliminating everyone else especially other Indians.It's been my experience there in the 4 years I was there including almost one year in Pakistan. The Muslims from Pakistan & Bangladesh had the same views .In fact they stated this.Hindu Malayalis or Mopahs. Same strategy.It's either our way or the highway. Don't know of Moplahs in KSA. Apparently they're a different breed. But you'd know of it.
Very sorry. I can't identify with Malayalis or dumeels & Soriyars. @Sathya
why do ppl in the northern part of karnataka choose to move to mumbai when bangalore is more closer ?
Special economic zone in Tripura and Prospects of rubber cultivation in India’s Northeast
By Vivek Sahai, Sanket Sudhir Kulkarni
Dec 26 2019
Northeast Region of India (NER) has been a troubled spot ever since 1947, when India became free from foreign domination. One of the primary reasons for this disquiet in the NER has been the lack of basic infrastructure connecting the region to its main markets and trade gateways – both within India and the neighbourhood – leading to its economic insulation and the consequent constraints on its economic growth. Post partition of the Indian subcontinent, the NER lost the integration that it enjoyed with undivided Bengal, part of which, became East Pakistan, and also with the then Burma.
For the last few years, the Government of India has been striving hard to develop infrastructure, especially the abysmal transport linkages and connectivity that have sequestered and isolated the region not only from the rest of the country and the world, but also within itself. Agartala, the capital of the state of Tripura is now connected to the rest of Indian states by a direct, broad gauge railway line and it now boasts of a Rajdhani Express too. The premium train service gives Agartala affordable and seamless connectivity to markets in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh etc. through rail and road linkages. As several connectivity projects are underway in NER, the economic landscape of the region is expected to change dramatically.
In what could give a further fillip to national efforts towards the economic development of NER, the Government of India has provided its in-principle approval to establish a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tripura at Sabroom, with a focus on agro-products. The in-principle approval to establish SEZ in Tripura should be linked with developments occurring in the natural rubber segment in India. Tripura is one of the prominent producers of natural rubber in the country. In the year 2018-19, Tripura accounted for a production of nearly 53,050 tonnes of natural rubber (about 8 percent of total production in the country). For the last few years, the state of Tripura has consciously provided policy efforts to develop the rubber cultivation in the state.
For some years now, the Government of India has been making efforts to enhance the domestic production of natural rubber in the country. Given its all-encompassing, cross-sectoral usage in the industry, rubber consumption, as correctly mentioned in the National rubber Policy 2019, is indeed representative of rubber-based industrial activity in the country. According to a report, the production-consumption deficit of natural rubber in the country rose to the tune of 463,000 tonnes between April 2018-January 2019. The Government of India and its agencies have therefore been seeking to increase the number of cultivated areas for rubber plantation in traditional and non-traditional areas. Additionally, the National Rubber Policy 2019 has provided a very comprehensive policy thrust to cater to the needs of Indian industry. The Policy mentions about “integrated strategies” between Centre and State, which essentially can be interpreted as coordinated efforts to augment natural rubber production. It was also reported that in lieu of the decline in domestic production from traditional areas, a study team from Auto Tyres Manufacturing Association (ATMA) had visited Tripura to explore possibilities for the state to enhance its production.
Source : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1578142
Additionally, over the last few years, constant efforts are being made by Government of India to improve the connectivity within India’s NER. Under the Bharatmala Pariyojana and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, plans are afoot to develop an economic corridor in the NER. Central funds are also being sanctioned to the state of Tripura to particularly expand the scope of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The second author of this article had a chance to travel within a few districts in Tripura in the year 2017. He saw first-hand, the well-constructed and maintained roads in the state. As these infrastructure projects in the coming years begin to bear fruition, it would further enable ease of conducting the agro-based and natural resources businesses in the state and the region. The setting up of smooth roads and railway connectivity will indeed enable other states in NER such as Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram also to transport their natural rubber to Sabroom from where the same can be shipped to different destinations. In addition to the transport and connectivity projects, setting up the SEZ in Sabroom makes sense given the fact that the Palatana power plant in Tripura can enable availability of energy to support any energy-intensive commercial activity in the proposed SEZ.
Another reason that enables creation of such an agro-based SEZ is the fact that in the last one decade or so, Tripura has witnessed peace and stability due to reduction in insurgency. Recently, about 88 cadres of an insurgency outfit in Tripura are believed to have surrendered, thereby further boosting its credentials as a peaceful state. The setting up of an SEZ in Tripura, apart from carrying an economic message also has a symbolic value. It sends across a clear signal that genuine and credible efforts towards peace and early resolution of insurgencies and conflict in Northeast India and elsewhere would be rewarded with initiatives that will enable employment generation and development.
The state of Tripura, however, needs to now concentrate on a couple of important issues. To begin with, there is a need to substantially increase the number of skill development centres and improve the quality of educational institutions to enable gainful employment of the local youth. In order to augment Tripura’s production of natural rubber, Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Deb has encouraged his people involved in rubber cultivation to incorporate the processes used by Kerala for rubber cultivation. Data available on rubber cultivation in India during 2018-19 indicates that the state of Kerala has accounted for 76 percent of India’s rubber production. If the production of other two southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is added, the southern region produces 85 percent of India’s rubber. Tripura’s contribution to natural rubber production comes to about 8 percent, while the rest of Northeast India contributes 6 percent. The SEZ at Sabroom will surely facilitate and catalyse the growth of India’s natural rubber production.
The focus of some of Government of India’s Skill Development initiatives in the NER could be directed to harmonise their efforts towards enabling creation of an adequate and skilled labour force to support the development and operationalisation of the proposed SEZ in Sabroom. The National Rubber Policy of 2019 mentions several plans for boosting skill development, particularly of tappers, in the rubber cultivation segment. The state of Tripura must coordinate its efforts with the Central Government in this regard to quantitatively and qualitatively enhance rubber cultivation in the state.
Special economic zone in Tripura and Prospects of rubber cultivation in India’s Northeast | ORF
By Vivek Sahai, Sanket Sudhir Kulkarni
Dec 26 2019
Northeast Region of India (NER) has been a troubled spot ever since 1947, when India became free from foreign domination. One of the primary reasons for this disquiet in the NER has been the lack of basic infrastructure connecting the region to its main markets and trade gateways – both within India and the neighbourhood – leading to its economic insulation and the consequent constraints on its economic growth. Post partition of the Indian subcontinent, the NER lost the integration that it enjoyed with undivided Bengal, part of which, became East Pakistan, and also with the then Burma.
For the last few years, the Government of India has been striving hard to develop infrastructure, especially the abysmal transport linkages and connectivity that have sequestered and isolated the region not only from the rest of the country and the world, but also within itself. Agartala, the capital of the state of Tripura is now connected to the rest of Indian states by a direct, broad gauge railway line and it now boasts of a Rajdhani Express too. The premium train service gives Agartala affordable and seamless connectivity to markets in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh etc. through rail and road linkages. As several connectivity projects are underway in NER, the economic landscape of the region is expected to change dramatically.
In what could give a further fillip to national efforts towards the economic development of NER, the Government of India has provided its in-principle approval to establish a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tripura at Sabroom, with a focus on agro-products. The in-principle approval to establish SEZ in Tripura should be linked with developments occurring in the natural rubber segment in India. Tripura is one of the prominent producers of natural rubber in the country. In the year 2018-19, Tripura accounted for a production of nearly 53,050 tonnes of natural rubber (about 8 percent of total production in the country). For the last few years, the state of Tripura has consciously provided policy efforts to develop the rubber cultivation in the state.
For some years now, the Government of India has been making efforts to enhance the domestic production of natural rubber in the country. Given its all-encompassing, cross-sectoral usage in the industry, rubber consumption, as correctly mentioned in the National rubber Policy 2019, is indeed representative of rubber-based industrial activity in the country. According to a report, the production-consumption deficit of natural rubber in the country rose to the tune of 463,000 tonnes between April 2018-January 2019. The Government of India and its agencies have therefore been seeking to increase the number of cultivated areas for rubber plantation in traditional and non-traditional areas. Additionally, the National Rubber Policy 2019 has provided a very comprehensive policy thrust to cater to the needs of Indian industry. The Policy mentions about “integrated strategies” between Centre and State, which essentially can be interpreted as coordinated efforts to augment natural rubber production. It was also reported that in lieu of the decline in domestic production from traditional areas, a study team from Auto Tyres Manufacturing Association (ATMA) had visited Tripura to explore possibilities for the state to enhance its production.
Source : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1578142
Additionally, over the last few years, constant efforts are being made by Government of India to improve the connectivity within India’s NER. Under the Bharatmala Pariyojana and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, plans are afoot to develop an economic corridor in the NER. Central funds are also being sanctioned to the state of Tripura to particularly expand the scope of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The second author of this article had a chance to travel within a few districts in Tripura in the year 2017. He saw first-hand, the well-constructed and maintained roads in the state. As these infrastructure projects in the coming years begin to bear fruition, it would further enable ease of conducting the agro-based and natural resources businesses in the state and the region. The setting up of smooth roads and railway connectivity will indeed enable other states in NER such as Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram also to transport their natural rubber to Sabroom from where the same can be shipped to different destinations. In addition to the transport and connectivity projects, setting up the SEZ in Sabroom makes sense given the fact that the Palatana power plant in Tripura can enable availability of energy to support any energy-intensive commercial activity in the proposed SEZ.
Another reason that enables creation of such an agro-based SEZ is the fact that in the last one decade or so, Tripura has witnessed peace and stability due to reduction in insurgency. Recently, about 88 cadres of an insurgency outfit in Tripura are believed to have surrendered, thereby further boosting its credentials as a peaceful state. The setting up of an SEZ in Tripura, apart from carrying an economic message also has a symbolic value. It sends across a clear signal that genuine and credible efforts towards peace and early resolution of insurgencies and conflict in Northeast India and elsewhere would be rewarded with initiatives that will enable employment generation and development.
The state of Tripura, however, needs to now concentrate on a couple of important issues. To begin with, there is a need to substantially increase the number of skill development centres and improve the quality of educational institutions to enable gainful employment of the local youth. In order to augment Tripura’s production of natural rubber, Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Deb has encouraged his people involved in rubber cultivation to incorporate the processes used by Kerala for rubber cultivation. Data available on rubber cultivation in India during 2018-19 indicates that the state of Kerala has accounted for 76 percent of India’s rubber production. If the production of other two southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is added, the southern region produces 85 percent of India’s rubber. Tripura’s contribution to natural rubber production comes to about 8 percent, while the rest of Northeast India contributes 6 percent. The SEZ at Sabroom will surely facilitate and catalyse the growth of India’s natural rubber production.
The focus of some of Government of India’s Skill Development initiatives in the NER could be directed to harmonise their efforts towards enabling creation of an adequate and skilled labour force to support the development and operationalisation of the proposed SEZ in Sabroom. The National Rubber Policy of 2019 mentions several plans for boosting skill development, particularly of tappers, in the rubber cultivation segment. The state of Tripura must coordinate its efforts with the Central Government in this regard to quantitatively and qualitatively enhance rubber cultivation in the state.
Special economic zone in Tripura and Prospects of rubber cultivation in India’s Northeast | ORF
Well i don't hold a brief on Malayalees absolute moral compass, but malayalees do tend to promote their fellow malayalees in Gulf for the same reason why Punjabis help their fellow punjabis( or Gujjus) get settled down in canada or UK. Not offering a defence, but malayalees to think that people from other states are Kaamchor, do not put in longer hours at work and have a penchant for getting on the wrong side of the law( which is a big deal in Gulf). These might be cultural stereotypes, however because of these things Malayalee entrepreneurs in Gulf prefer to employ a known entity, than risk upsetting their local sponsor by bringing in unknown folks. This is just pure human instincts, just like a new manager at an organization brings in his own team of subordinates who he has previously worked with and temperamentally very much like him...