Open to join RCEP in future if we get favourable offers: Govt

Piyush Goyal said India was exploring trade agreements with the United States and the European Union to allow manufacturing and services sectors to benefit from access to large developed markets

A day after opting out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal, the government on Tuesday said it was open to being part of the grouping in the future if it got favourable offers addressing India’s concerns.

“Every government is always open to discussions and negotiations, but at present, the final decision is to stay out of RCEP,” Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. “Should the other countries come up with better offers in the interest of India’s industry and people, we will discuss it and do what is good for our farmers, industry, and the services sector.”

Goyal also said India was exploring trade agreements with the United States and the European Union to allow the manufacturing and services sectors to benefit from access to large developed markets. “We always talk to countries. The doors never shut for anybody,” he said, referring to RCEP.

He said reconciliation would follow if the 15 RCEP nations made sincere efforts to address India’s concerns, gave it confidence, and helped it balance this trade inequality. “At present, the final decision is to stay out of RCEP...(We will) do what is good for our farmers, industry and services sector”- Piyush Goyal

While the other RCEP nations have gone ahead with the deal after concluding the talks in Bangkok, they have also left the door open for India — the largest untapped consumer and industrial market. Negotiations, which started in 2012, will now culminate in a final deal being signed by 2020.

Bajaj Finance launches qualified institutional placement of Rs 8,500 crore

JM Financial, Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, and Nomura are advising the company on the share sale.

Bajaj Finance on Monday launched its Rs 8,500-crore qualified institutional placement (QIP). The shares will be offered in the range between Rs 3,860 and Rs 3,900 apiece. The share sale will help Bajaj Finance expand its lending at a time when non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) sector is plagued by a liquidity crisis.

The shares of Bajaj Finance ended Monday’s session at Rs 4,116. The offer price is at a discount of 5.2 to 6.2 per cent to the closing price on Monday. The share price of Bajaj Finance rose 55 per cent since the beginning of 2019, while the benchmark Sensex rose 11.8 per cent during the same period. In 2019, eight companies have raised Rs 22,312 crore through QIPs, against 25 that had raised Rs 16,587 crore in the previous year.

JM Financial, Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, and Nomura are advising the company on the share sale. The QIP would make valuation reasonable with the rise in book value...

What’s the RCEP and what does India’s exit mean for the trade deal?

India pulled out of the deal saying it wanted to protect service workers and farmers

When it comes to sweeping global free-trade agreements, President Donald Trump isn’t the only party-pooper. Two years after Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 12-nation deal known as the TPP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pulled India out of a 16-nation grouping led by China known as the RCEP. In both cases, protectionism played a part; in both cases, the show goes on.

1. What is the RCEP?

What began in 2012 as a routine harmonizing of agreements between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, turned into a deal creating potentially the world’s biggest free trade bloc. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, to give its full name, is aimed at strengthening trading ties among China and others with Asean members. Broadly speaking, it would lower tariffs and other barriers to the trade of goods among the 16 countries that were in, or had existing trade deals with, Asean.

2. But that’s now down to 15 nations?

Correct. India pulled out in November saying it wanted to protect service workers and farmers. There were also worries the country would be flooded by cheap goods from China. Modi had pushed the other nations to address concerns over deficits and to open their markets to Indian services and investments.

3. Is India’s loss a big deal?

It would have been the third-biggest economy in the RCEP, so yes. On the other hand, China has been seeking to tie up the deal expeditiously as the country faces slowing growth from a trade war with the U.S. It is also looking to further integrate with regional economies just as the Trump administration urges Asian nations to shun Chinese infrastructure loans and 5G technology. China says India is welcome to come back aboard whenever it’s ready…

‘We have to stop RCEP’: Farmers plan nationwide protest against trade deal

The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee said that they will burn effigies depicting the China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP, to mark their protest

Farmers’ organisations have planned a nationwide protest on November 4 to demand that the government keep agriculture out of a 16-nation trade agreement currently being negotiated in Thailand.

The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, an umbrella organization of about 250 farmers unions from across the country, said that they will burn effigies depicting the China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP Deal, to mark their protest and warn the government. Farmers won’t be able to compete should the country agree to cut duties for agricultural and dairy products in the proposed trade pact, said V.M. Singh, a convener of the the farmers’ group.

Imports of dairy and agricultural products including wheat, cotton and oil seeds would affect the livelihood of millions of Indian farmers, he said. The government should defer signing of the agreement and hold consultations with farmers, state governments and other stake holders before taking a final decision, said Singh.

“We have to stop RCEP,” he said. It is not clear yet what terms India will agree to in order to join what could become the world’s largest trade deal. The final stage of negotiations have begun in Bangkok and Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal will travel for the ministerial meeting there on November 1. The nations are seeking to conclude the negotiations by November end...

Spruced up Mamallapuram ready for second Modi-Xi informal summit

The two leaders will engage in one-on-one talks during the meeting and are expected to discuss expanding economic and development ties apart from the Kashmir issue and the CPEC

The stage is set for the second ‘informal’ summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, to be held in the coastal and heritage town of Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram). The two-day meet starts tomorrow.

The meeting comes at a critical time for the neighbours with China recently criticising India’s decision to scrap Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy and bifurcate the state into two Union territories, its Foreign Minister Wang Yi raising the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly last month and New Delhi responding by saying it did not welcome comments on its internal matters. India also remains opposed to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

“At the regional level, we should resolve disputes peacefully through dialogues and consultations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability,” said Sun Weidong, Beijing’s ambassador to New Delhi. The two leaders will engage in one-on-one talks during the meeting and are also expected to discuss expanding economic and development ties.

After winning his second term, Modi formally extended an invitation to Xi in June at the Bishkek summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which the latter accepted. This is the second informal summit between the two leaders, after Wuhan, which was held in April, 2018, in China. Notably, China has been importing rice and sugar from India following a request from the Prime Minister in the first informal summit…

Read More: Modi-Xi informal summit