India Business Newsletter

September 01 - September 30, 2022

Greetings from Consulate General of India,

New York!

Welcome to the September 2022 edition of our newsletter, bringing you important policy and high-impact news.

We hope you find it useful.

PM Modi commissions India's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning commissioned the first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant in a ceremony at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi. Ahead of the commissioning, PM Modi received the Guard of Honour at the Shipyard recieved a Guard of Honour as he arrived for the Commissioning ceremony. Designed by the Indian Navy's in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India.

India will assume the presidency of the G20 from December and host the summit of leaders of the world’s twenty largest economies in New Delhi during September 9-10, 2023. The Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies. India will take over after twice swapping the presidency of the G20, first with Italy in 2021 and then with Indonesia in 2022.

India, Israel, UAE, US express commitment to deepen economic partnership

The I2U2 grouping of India, Israel, UAE and the US have expressed commitment to deepening their economic partnership and has taken stock of current projects in agriculture and clean energy and reviewed potential projects to help the group's objectives. Under Secretary of State Jose W. Fernandez met with his I2U2 Group counterparts in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly Meeting. The group expressed its commitment to deepening the economic partnership among the four countries. They took stock of current projects in agriculture and clean energy and reviewed potential projects to help further the group’s objectives. The group looks forward to building on the success of the Leaders’ Summit in July this year. The I2U2 Grouping was conceptualized during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries held in October 2021.  

Moody’s sees Quad bolstering India’s trade, investment flows

India’s membership of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue would give it an opportunity to benefit from greater trade and investment flows as economic ties are expected to deepen among members seeking to reduce their dependence on China, but the country’s protectionist stance and ‘weak’ business climate could constrain these gains, Moodys’ Investors Service said on Tuesday.

India may overtake Germany, Japan too after beating UK; to become world’s third largest economy

India reported double digit economic growth at 13.5 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal. At this rate, India is likely to be the fastest growing economy in the current fiscal, said SBI in a research paper. Seeing the path taken by India since 2014, India is likely to get the tag of 3rd largest economy in 2029, 7 ranks higher since 2014 when the country was ranked 10th. “India should surpass Germany in 2027 and most likely Japan by 2029 at the current rate of growth, a remarkable achievement by any standards.” the research paper said.

Apple begins making the iPhone 14 in India,

marking a big shift in its manufacturing strategy

Apple on Monday, September 26, 2022, said it is assembling its flagship iPhone 14 in India as the U.S. technology giant looks to shift some production away from China. Apple’s main iPhone assembler, Foxconn, is manufacturing the devices at its Sriperumbudur factory on the outskirts of Chennai. Apple will sell India-produced phones locally but also export them to other markets globally. Apple has been manufacturing iPhones in India since 2017 but these were usually older models. With the iPhone 14, Apple is producing the latest model in its lineup at the device’s launch.

Visit of Karnataka Delegation

A delegation led by Dr Murgesh Nirani, Hon’ble Miister of Large & Medium Industries, Karnataka along with Dr E.V.Ramana Reddy, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to Govt. of Commerce & Industries, Ms. Gunjan Krishna, IAS, Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director of Industries and Commerce, Ms. C. Meena Nagaraj, IAS, Director, Dept. of Information & Biotechnology,, Shri Gangadharaiah, Joint Director, Karnataka Industrial Area Development, Mr. H.N.Ravindra, Dy. Director, Invest Karnataka and Mr. Harsh Jaju, Consultant M/s Boston Consulting Group visited New York from September 5-7, 2022. A meeting for the Hon’ble Minister along with delegation was organized at the Consulate with Mr. Shailesh Upreti, Chairman of iM3N an international consortium dedicated to building the next generation of smart factories for the cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries. He is also the founder and President of C4V, a startup focused on the commercialization of next generation energy storage. Hon’ble Minister also visited the factory site of C4V and also met with Mr. Cliff Orlin, Chief Business Development at C4V. A roundtable organized by USIBC with Withum was attended by Hon’ble Minister and delegation and they met with Mr. Rajesh Tripathi and other officials of the company. 

Launch of Araku Valley Coffee Infused Chocolates

Consul General, Mr. Vikas Khanna, world renowned Indian Master Chef, and investment banker-turned-entrepreneur couple Mr. Kushal Choksi and Ms. Alak Vasa, Co-founders of Elements Truffles launched the ayurveda inspired Chocolates infused with Araku Valley Coffee, an ODOP item from the Alluri Sitharama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh in India. Famous Vegan Chef and TV host Ms. Priyanka Naik and CEO of Winked! Ms Ruchika Lal joined about 100 members from the industry, food sector, media, chambers of commerce, and the Indian American community. Consul General spoke of the Consulate’s efforts in promoting Indian coffee and other ODOP items in the United States and urged everyone to share Araku Valley’s unique story with their friends and business associates in America. He also thanked the Coffee Board of India for its support. This new flavor of chocolate is expected to contribute to popularizing Araku Valley coffee in the United States and beyond and help generate revenue and support employment to tribal farmers of a Araku Valley. 

Interaction of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Honorable Minister of State ( IC) for Science & Technology and earth Sciences with Indian American Academic & Scientific Community at the Consulate

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Honorable Minister of State (IC) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, interacted with the Indian American Academic & Scientific Community on September 23rd, 2022 in the Consulate, discussing on India’s roadmap in Science, Technology and Earth Sciences. Dr. Jitendra Singh spoke about Science and Technology and the space reforms in India engaging the private sectors for fabrication, manufacturing and joint development of space system and infrastructure. Hon'ble Minister interacted with community members on various other issues also like education, health sector in India, women empowerment, resolution of public grievances, etc. Consul General gave welcoming remarks. Deputy Consul General and Consul (Trade) also attended the event. 

Upcoming Events

• A Webinar on “ Experiential Travel in India” - October 8^th, 2022

• Tea Tasting Event with Janam Tea, October 26^th, 2022

• IACC Delegation Reception, November 3^rd, 2022

• BSM on Leather, November 16^th, 2022

• BSM on Jute, November 16^th, 2022

• US – India Jewelry Symposium, November 19^th, 2022