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  • Bit by Bit 31st Jan| As concerns over the trade imbalance increase, India aims to take action to limit Chinese imports || Flipkart to focus on assisted commerce initiatives, audiobooks in 2023 & more

Bit by Bit 31st Jan| As concerns over the trade imbalance increase, India aims to take action to limit Chinese imports || Flipkart to focus on assisted commerce initiatives, audiobooks in 2023 & more

January 31, 2023

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Good Afternoon Readers!  

 Here are:

"4 amazing stories in 4 minutes to make you future ready"

Happy reading!

MARKET UPDATE

  • NIFTY 50 : ₹17,648.95 (+0.95%)

  • BSE SENSEX : ₹59,500.41 (+0.29%)

  • NIFTY BANK : ₹40,387.45 (+0.10%)

  • USD/INR : ₹81.525 (+0.02%)

  • BRENTOIL : $84.43 (-2.28%)

  • MCXGOLD : ₹56,817 (+0.05%)

  • FII Net Cashflow : - ₹6793 crores

  • DII Net Cashflow : + ₹5513 crores

(Market Data as of 11:00 PM on 30/01/2022)

BFSI

The Story

As trade imbalances worry policymakers, India is considering a combination of tariffs and non-tariff measures to reduce imports of non-essential consumer and electronic goods, especially from China, two government officials and an industry source said.

Nearly a third of India's trade deficit is made up of imports from China, which is why up to 18 important departments, including the federal trade ministry, convened last week to finalize initiatives targeted at reducing these imports.

In its Economic Survey for the next fiscal year beginning on April 1, according to Reuters last week, the government may identify the expanding trade deficit as a significant downside risk to the Indian economy. The budget for February 1 is anticipated to provide some details about the steps the government will take to address the problem.

FMCG

Flipkart to focus on assisted commerce initiatives, audiobooks in 2023

Enhancing assisted commerce interventions like live commerce, video commerce and expanding its audiobooks library will be some of the focus areas for Flipkart in 2023, Kanchan Mishra, Business Head — FMCG, Home & General Merchandise, Flipkart told businessline.

Mishra added that a lot of assisted commerce tools can help the company unlock the next wave of digital shoppers in categories like FMCG, Home & General Merchandise, where customers usually have a lot of queries and require personalisation.

“Unlocking ecomm penetration is going to be a big segment for us this year. We are aiming to tap into the 200 million plus digital shoppers in the country beyond the already penetrated base. Our registered base is already upwards of 400 million, so how do we unlock the next 200 million customers and what are the interventions that will help them come on board will be our focus in 2023,” she said. 

Manufacturing

The Story :

India's solar module manufacturing capacity is expected to reach approximately 95 GW by the end of 2025, according to Mercom Capital. As of September last year, the solar module manufacturing capacity was 39 gigawatts (GW), the research firm said in its latest report and is expected to reach approximately 95 GW by the end of the calendar year (CY) 2025," the report titled 'State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India' said.

Indian PV (photovoltaic) manufacturers are strategically poised to expand their production capacities and adopt new technologies in the coming years on the back of government incentive programs, the report said.

It added that states promote domestic solar manufacturing through fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under industrial, electronics, and solar policies. In September 2022, the Cabinet approved a Rs 19,500-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme on a national program on high-efficiency solar PV modules intending to attract Rs 94,000 crore investment in the sector.  

TECH

The Story

The US Energy and Commerce Committee will hear testimony from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in March as lawmakers examine the Chinese-owned video-sharing app. Chew will give a testimony before the committee on March 23, which will be his first appearance before a legislative committee, according to a statement released on Monday by Republican panel chair Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers. The information comes as the House Foreign Affairs Committee prepares to vote on a measure next month that would prohibit the use of TikTok in the US due to security concerns. According to McMorris Rodgers, "ByteDance-owned TikTok has deliberately let the Chinese Communist Party to access American user data."

She said that Americans should be informed about how these activities affect their privacy and data security. Monday's TikTok confirmation Chew will give evidence. Calls for a complete ban on TikTok, according to the company, "take a piecemeal approach to national security and a piecemeal approach to broad industry issues like data security, privacy, and online hazards," TikTok stated on Friday. Republican congressmen like McMorris Rodgers have pressed TikTok for further details. In light of worries over hazardous content, they want to know how it affects young people and more information on any potential sexual exploitation of children on the site, according to the statement.

TikTok, which has more than 100 million U.S. users, has been attempting for three years to reassure Washington that the personal information of American people cannot be accessible by the Chinese Communist Party or anyone else under the control of Beijing, and that its content cannot be altered. Due to concerns that U.S. user data would be given to China's government, the powerful national security committee known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) ordered ByteDance to sell its TikTok shares in 2020. Since more than two years ago, CFIUS and TikTok have been negotiating to strike a national security agreement to safeguard the data of American TikTok users.