India Economic News Consulate General of IndiaOctober 2015 Munich

India faces lesser global risks: Moody's:

According to Moody, international rating agency, India is less exposed to global risks because of resilient economic growth and impact of positive policy reform momentum. Multilateral agencies and economists say India is a bright spot amongemerging economies, given the growth potential of the economy. The government expects growth in the current fiscal to be in the 7.5-8% range, while the RBI has forecast 7.4% GDP growth for the current fiscal. As per IMF assessment, Indian economy is expected to grow faster than other major emerging economies projecting a growth rate of 7.5 per cent for India in 2016 as against

China's 6.3 per cent.

Modi, Merkel visit Bosch facilities in Bengaluru:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German chancellor Angela Merkel visited facilities of Bosch in Bengaluru during later’s visit to India, to get an overview of how the auto parts supplier trains young people in the country for technical trade. At Bosch, the two leaders toured the company's RBEI (Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions) and Bosch Vocational Centre (BVC) facility. The BVC, which was set up in 1961, has trained over 2,500 apprentices in nine trades and is recognized by the government's National Council for Vocational Training. Bosch's vocational

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training module has also been adopted by the governments of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan at their respective ITI and Diploma colleges over the past one year. Bosch has reiterated thatthe company's plans to invest more than 100 million euros (over Rs 650 crore) in 2015.

Tax reforms: Govt sets up panel to simplify I-T laws:

The government has set up a 10-member panel to simplify the over 50-year-old Income Tax Act, a move aimed at ensuring certainty in tax policy for ease of doing business. The government is likely to include some of the initial recommendations of the panel in the 2016-17 budget.

FIIs turn big buyers after 7 months, invest $3.2bn in Oct:

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have been shying away from the Indian markets over the past few months due to a host of factors have turned buyers yet again. As per data, FIIs have made net investments of about $3.2 billion or Rs. 20,553 crore so far in October in equity and debt markets, the highest

since March. They have made net investments of nearly $900 million or Rs. 5,814 crore in equity markets in October (till 26th), the highest since April. According to Market observers, Foreign institutional investors started buying into Indian equities and fixed income securities after RBI's higher than expected rate cut and positive macro-economic numbers.

Mercedes-Benz India sales up 34% in Jan-Sept 2015 period:

German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has reported a 34 per cent increase in sales in India during the January-September period at 10,079 units. Newly appointed MD & CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, Mr. Roland Folger attributed the success of the first three quarters to its customer centric approach. The company has introduced 12 new products so far this year besides opening 13 new outlets taking its network reach to 80 outlets across 39 cities.

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India fastest growing air travel mkt globally: IATA:

Thanks to low fares and increase in capacity with launch of new airlines, India is now witnessing the highest growth in domestic air traffic globally. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Thursday said India's domestic passenger traffic demand grew the fastest among seven major aviation markets of the world —Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Russian Federation and the US. "India's domestic demand surged 18.3% in August (2015) compared to a year ago, largely reflecting increases in service frequencies and economic strength," IATA said. India's domestic capacity in the month under review rose 8.4% compared to August 2014.

Changes in policies improved India's investment regime: Report of US International Trade Commission:

According to a report by US International Trade Commission, India has made

significant changes to some of its policies, including FDI, tariffs and customs procedures, since May, "improving" access for US trade and investment to the Indian market. In a report prepared at the request of the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance, USITC said since May 2014 India has raised FDI equity caps in the insurance and defence industries, removed the requirement for pre-investment authorisations in several industries and permitted FDI in certain segments of the railway industry thereby improving India’s overall investment regime.

Punjab to train 100,000 youth in construction industry:

The Punjab government has announced its decision to train over 100,000 youth in the construction industry. It also signed a deal with online taxi giant Uber to train an equal number of people in driving as part of its initiative to impart skill development training among youth. For the purpose, Vardhman and Tata

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groups have set up full-fledged training centres n the state. In addition, Centrum, Genesis and Nasscom are working with the government in a comprehensive manner.

Tesla plans battery plant in India: Elon Musk:

While Tesla is looking at the possibility of building a car factory in China, the California-based electric car maker might consider a car battery factory in India, according to a tweet by Founder and CEO of Tesla. PM Narendra Modi had visited the Tesla factory while on his Silicon Valley visit last month. Electric cars use lithium ion batteries and a manufacturing facility for such batteries is called Gigafactory.Incidentally, Prime Minister Modi's Tesla visit in September was primarily focused on the company's Powerwall battery packs, with an eye towards procuring off-gridelectric power technology for India. The fundamentals arise from Tesla's work on its highly-rated electric cars.

Amazon continues to invest 'very heavily' in India:

Global e-commerce giant Amazon continues to invest "very heavily" in the Indian market, encouraged by its strong sales numbers and expanding seller base, according to a top company executive. The online retail giant had announced an investment of USD 2 billion to expand its operations in India last year that including investment into setting up warehouses across the country to speed up delivery and efficiency. Amazon operates under a marketplace model here as regulations in the country do not allow foreign capital in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce.According to a report, the e-commerce industry in India is expected to touch USD 60-70 billion by 2019 from USD 17 billion in 2014.

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***DISCLAIMER

This newsletter is a compilation of news articlesfrom various business e-newspapers and in no

way is an endorsement or reflection ofviews of Consulate General of India, Munich.

For queries contact:

Mr. Asheesh Gupta, Consul (E & C), Consulate General of India, Widenmayer Strasse 15, 80538 Munich, Germany. Email: cpic@cgimunich.com , Web: www.cgimunich.com