CBI India Update February 2019

February has been an action-packed month in India with several incidents related to national security. Starting with the terror strike in India’s northern most state of Jammu and Kashmir which shares a border with Pakistan, tensions escalated after both countries traded air strikes on each other’s territory. The international community is urging both nations to de-escalate tensions and to give peace a chance.  With general elections in India barely over a month away, will the current tensions have an impact on election outcomes? Read the Economist view on the India-Pakistan tensions.

While nationalist sentiments run high in the country, the economic scenario seems a little sombre.  A general slowdown in farm and manufacturing has pushed GDP growth to 6.6%, a six- quarter low. Read more here. Foreign Direct Investment too fell by 7% to US$ 33.49 billion between April and December 2018.

Meanwhile, the Indian cabinet in February approved a slew of welfare measures, sweeteners for voters ahead of the general elections expected to commence next month.

India’s interim budget 2019 was announced on 1 February 2019.

Meanwhile, here are more highlights:

UK DELEGATIONS IN INDIA

• Aero India - Around 13 UK defence and aerospace companies attended the Aero India event, reflecting the importance of the UK-India defence relationship, on 20 and 21 February 2019.
• Petro Tech India - Around 11 leading oil and gas companies visited India between 10 and 12 February 2019 to participate in Petro Tech India.

POLICY

• Indian government’s e-commerce policy raises concerns - In a new set of guidelines on FDI by e-commerce majors, the Indian government has tightened the regulatory screws by banning sale of private labels, flash sales, deep discounts and mandated annual norm compliance submissions to the Reserve Bank of India. Find more more information on e-commerce policy.
• UK and Indian governments discuss future migration relationship - The UK Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes visited India in mid-January to discuss the UK-India future immigration relationship.

ELECTION RUN UP

• BJP stitches up two state level alliances for 2019 - Gearing up for the elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has forged two alliances with regional parties in two states. The first is with the ruling AIADMK party in the southern state of Tamil Naduand the second with Shiv Sena, in Maharashtra in a seat-sharing pact.

MEMBER NEWSMAKERS

• Equiniti’s new Bengaluru venture will create 350 new jobs in India - Equiniti has committed to create 350 new jobs in its new facility in Bangalore.
• Rolls Royce seeks to extend Indian partnerships - Rolls-Royce seeks to collaborate with more local partners in India, particularly in the manufacturing, MRO and airline sectors.
• Airbus sees India as a growth market
• India does not need 5G yet: Vodafone Idea
• M&S India Country Manager’s TED style talk for International Women’s Day - Watch M&S India Country Manager Nidhi Dua talk about wholistic gender equality at the work place in a TED style talk

ON THE RADAR

Read an analysis on the challenges faced by the country’s largest online retailers.