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Trade talks between India and U.S. ‘positive’, says Commerce Secretary

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Trade talks between India and U.S. ‘positive’, says Commerce Secretary


Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

India and the U.S. are “proactively engaged” in boosting trade between the two countries, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Monday (March 17, 2025).

“We are proactively engaging with the U.S., and discussing mutually beneficial issues which can increase the trade between the two countries,” Mr. Barthwal told presspersons on Monday in response to questions on U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2. He described the talks as “positive”.

Senior government officials said that these talks were taking place within the framework of “Mission 500”, which aims to increase trade between the two countries from $200 billion to $500 billion, besides negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement which he said will be multi-sectoral.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in Washington DC between March 4 and 6 where he met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Mr. Barthwal said these were “positive talks. And these positive talks will continue”.

The Commerce Secretary declined to comment on the specific issue of tariffs on premium electric cars from the U.S., such as those made by Tesla, and the status of the revised import policy announced last year to woo the American automaker. He also declined comment on whether tax sops would be extended for Tesla beyond the export policy as it has not yet come forward to express interest in domestic manufacturing to avail the benefits of the policy.

The Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars (SPMEPC) in India was notified in March 2024. The SPMEPC offers a lower custom duty of 15% instead of 70% for a period of five years subject to a manufacturer setting up production facility in India within a three-year period involving a minimum investment of ₹4,150 crore. The applicant will have to achieve a domestic value addition of minimum 25% by the end of three years and 50% by the end of the fifth year.

U.S. President Donald Trump had said that if Tesla were to build a factory in India to circumvent tariffs, it would be “unfair” to the U.S. Mr. Trump had also called out India’s high duty on cars during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. last month but agreed to work towards an early trade deal and resolve their stand-off over tariffs.



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ICAI to review Gensol and BluSmart financial statements – Times of India

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ICAI to review Gensol and BluSmart financial statements – Times of India


The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has decided to review the financial statements of Gensol Engineering Ltd and BluSmart Mobility Pvt Ltd for the financial year 2023–24, following serious allegations of financial misconduct and governance lapses involving the two companies.
The move was confirmed by ICAI president Charanjot Singh Nanda, who said the decision was taken during a board meeting of the Financial Reporting Review Board (FRRB) on Wednesday.
Nanda told PTI that the FRRB decided to undertake a review of the financial statements and the statutory auditor’s report of Gensol Engineering and BluSmart Mobility for the financial year 2023-24.
The FRRB’s mandate includes assessing compliance with accounting standards, standards on auditing, and schedules II and III of the Companies Act, 2013. It also evaluates adherence to various guidance notes and RBI-issued master directions.
Gensol Engineering recently came under regulatory scrutiny after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued a market ban on the company’s promoters, Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi. The order, issued on April 15, alleged that the promoters siphoned off loan funds from the publicly-listed firm for personal gain, raising serious concerns about corporate governance and potential financial misconduct.
BluSmart Mobility, which operates a ride-hailing service, is also promoted by Anmol Singh Jaggi.
In case the FRRB identifies significant accounting irregularities during its review, the matter will be referred to ICAI’s Director Discipline for a detailed investigation. The findings may also be shared with relevant regulatory authorities.
Meanwhile, the ministry of corporate affairs said on April 21 that it will consider taking appropriate action against Gensol Engineering after examining Sebi’s order.
Under the Companies Act, 2013, the ministry has powers to act on corporate violations, which may include inspections by the Registrar of Companies or a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in more serious cases.





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Ola Group surges in deep-tech, owns majority of patents granted to 117 unicorns

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Ola Group surges in deep-tech, owns majority of patents granted to 117 unicorns


Ola Founder Bhavish Aggarwal.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Ola Group, spanning ride-hailing, electric vehicles, and AI, now holds over 50% of all patents filed by India’s 117 unicorns.

India’s unicorns collectively hold only 229 patents, with Ola Group owning more than half, according to data from the Indian Patent Advanced Search (IPAS) System.

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Ola Founder Bhavish Aggarwal shared, “Happy that Ola group @OlaElectric @Olacabs and @Krutrim have half of all granted patents for all Indian unicorns put together. Not happy with our number of 650 applied patents though. We will accelerate much much more in coming years!”

Sources close to Ola confirmed that the group has filed over 650 patent applications, with 180 already granted. This includes filings by Ola Electric, Ola Consumer, and Krutrim, with Ola Electric accounting for the lion’s share of about 70-80% of the total.

The report reveals that 101 of India’s unicorns have filed zero patents, spotlighting a heavy tilt in the startup ecosystem toward valuation and market capture rather than technology creation.

In this context, Ola Group’s IP portfolio stands out as an example of deep-tech commitment. Ola Electric, the EV arm, filed 205 patents in FY23 alone, making it India’s top patent filer in the electric vehicle sector. These patents span battery innovation, vehicle software, AI, safety systems, and more.

In FY23 alone, Ola Electric invested ₹507 crore in R&D, representing 19.3% of its annual revenue, a sharp rise from ₹175 crore the previous year. The company is set to further ramp up innovation spending, earmarking ₹1,600 crore for R&D between FY25 and FY27.

As stated in its IPO prospectus, “R&D and technology form the backbone of our business model.”

The group’s filings also extend globally, with patents granted and pending in the U.S., U.K., Japan, China, and Australia, positioning Ola as a global tech-driven company.



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FY25 new business of life insurers rose 5% to ₹3.97 lakh cr. 

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New business premium of life insurance companies in India increased 5.13% for the fiscal ended March to ₹3,97,336.78 crore compared to ₹3,77,960.34 crore a year earlier.

Ending a fourth month decline streak, in March the life insurers clocked a little over 2% increase in the premium to ₹61,439.11 crore (₹60,213.62 crore), the business figures released by Life Insurance Council showed.

Private life insurers fared better with 9.80% increase in the premium to ₹1,70,666.87 crore (₹1,55,437.34 crore). In March, their premium rose to ₹24,531.79 crore (₹23,913 crore).

For the fiscal market leader, the State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported a 1.86% increase in new business ₹2,26,669.91 crore (₹2,22,522.99 crore). In March, the premium rose 1.67% to ₹.36,907.33 crore (₹36,300.62 crore). LIC sold 1.78 crore new policies in the year, which saw introduction of new surrender value norms in October 2024.

The new business of LIC during the fiscal included ₹62,404.58 crore from individual new business. Individual new business premium for FY25 registered a growth of 8.35% year on year.

The Council said for the individual new business premiums of the life insurers during 2024-25 went up 11.17% to ₹1,66,590.81 crore (₹1,49,851.67 crore).

It said the “strong performance” during the fiscal is on account of the life insurers focus on encouraging first-time buyers to secure comprehensive financial protection, resulting in a 4.47% growth in combined individual premium collections for March 2025.

In the group policy segment, single premiums reached ₹33,543.21 crore, with the category registering a 0.46% growth in premiums collected during March 2025. The insurers efforts to expand access was complemented by significant agent additions —over 11,15,661 new individual life insurance agents were added in 2024-25 — leading to a 7.88% growth in the cumulative agent count.



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