- Thursday, May 02, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
HERE are news in brief on Indian economy and business for Wednesday, April 10, 2024:
India is benefiting from growing interest from multinationals, which see it as an alternative manufacturing base in the context of developed economies’ supply chain diversification strategies, a flagship report by the United Nations has said, underlining that investment in the country remains strong. The ‘2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing for Development at a Crossroads (FSDR 2024)’ launched Tuesday said that urgent steps are needed to mobilise financing at scale to close the development financing gap, now estimated at $4.2 trillion (£335 billion) annually, up from $2.5 trillion (£199 billion) before the COVID-19 pandemic. “India is benefiting from growing interest from multinationals, which see the country as an alternative manufacturing base in the context of developed economies’ supply chain diversification strategies,” it said, in an apparent reference to China.
Tata Group-owned Air India is planning to send a set of first officers who can operate the narrow body A320 family planes to Vistara, which is grappling with pilot woes, according to multiple sources. The pilots will be sent to Vistara on deputation, subject to getting necessary regulatory approvals. Air India and Vistara did not offer any comments. The sources told PTI that some first officers who can operate A320 family planes will be sent to Vistara on deputation. Two of the sources said the number of narrow body pilots likely to be deputed to Vistara could be a little over 30. One of the sources said it will be the first time that pilots from Air India will be deputed to Vistara for operating narrow body aircraft.
Tesla chief Elon Musk will visit India in the week of April 22 to meet Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, and is expected to reveal plans to start a new factory, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The report cited informed sources who said the meeting will take place in Delhi, and a separate announcement on Musk’s India plans will be made shortly. The news outlet had earlier reported that Musk planned to visit India in April with the intention of scouting sites for a manufacturing plant that would see the electric vehicle giant invest around $2 billion (£1.5 billion). Media reports have also emerged that Tesla is in talks with Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries as it looks for local partners to work with as it begins operations in India. The western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat are reportedly contenders for a potential factory site.
Fintech firm PhonePe on Wednesday said it has partnered with Nepal’s digital wallet service eSewa and the Hotel Association of Nepal Pokhara to promote digital payments through UPI on the Himalayan country’s payment processor Fonepay Network. The partnership is a part of the Fewa New Year Festival which will be held from April 11-14 in Nepal. Over 3,000 merchants will participate in the festival with more than 100,000 visitors expected to visit. PhonePe in a statement said it will run on-ground activation aimed at raising awareness about digital payments among local merchants while demonstrating the convenience of digital payments for customers.
Apple Inc. has manufactured iPhones worth $14 billion in India during fiscal year 2024, according to Bloomberg News. The US giant now makes as much as 14 per cent or about one in seven of its marquee devices from India, the report added, citing informed sources. While Foxconn assembled nearly 67 per cent of the India-made phones, Pegatron Corp made about 17 per cent of them, the Bloomberg report added. Wistron Corp’s plant in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, which the Tata Group took over last year, made the rest. Apple is increasingly looking to diversify its supply chain beyond China amid its geopolitical tensions with the US, even as the Asian nation remains the largest iPhone-making hub in the world.
(With agencies)
