MCCI NEWS | 1

More than eight years have passed since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007,yet the world economy is not out of the woods till now. Global growth, currently estimated at 3.1 p.c. in 2015, is projected at 3.4 p.c. in 2016 and 3.6 p.c. in 2017. The pickup in global activity is projected to be more gradual especially in emerging market and developing economies. In advanced economies, a modest and uneven recovery is expected to continue, with a gradual further narrowing of output gaps.

The inter-linkage of Indian economy with the rest of the world has been growing at a rapid pace, and therefore, global developments influence the Indian economy in a much bigger way than before. A recent IMF working paper on Price and Income Elasticity of Indian Exports has concluded that Indian goods exports are sensitive to external demand and to international relative price-competitiveness. The falling exports for a prolonged period coupled with fall in market shares from 1.7 in 2011 p.c. to 1.6 p.c. in 2015 is an issue that needs serious attention. Once oil prices start recovering, the challenge before the country would be to increase exports if the CAD has to be contained on a sustainable basis. Pulled down by manufacturing, industrial output fell for a third consecutive month, dipping by a quicker pace of 1.5 p.c. in January compared to - 1.2 p.c. in December. Meanwhile, The Union Budget 2016-17 has given too little emphasis on tax reform or tax revenue sources of financing.

Ahead of Assembly elections, West Bengal Finance Minister presented a vote-on-account, on 26 February 2016 & Interim Annual Financial Statement for 2016-17.The interim financial statement projects Rs 8 crore deficit for 2016-17.Gross Value Added in West Bengal is reported to have expanded at 12 p.c. against national growth of 7.3 p.c. which is encouraging. We have to wait till end of May for a stable situation as everybody in the state is busy with the election.

Please do write to us with your views and suggestions.

Vol. IV | No. 3 January-February 2016

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S

DESK

Dear Members,

Education Summit on ‘Restructuring Education to Generate Employment

& Higher Economic Growth’ on February 24, 2016 at the Park

Yours sincerely

Manish Goenka

MCCI News

Manish Goenka, President presenting a flower bouquet to H.E. Keshari Nath Tripathi, Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal. Hemant Bangur, Sr. V. P. looks on

H.E. Keshari Nath Tripathi, Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal addressing the members.

The Chamber organized an Education Summit at The Park. The Summit was inaugurated by Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal, H.E. Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi. Shri Ujjal Biswas, Hon’ble Minister in Charge of Technical Education and Training, Govt of West Bengal, Prof. Ajoy Ray, Director of Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, Shri Vivek Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education in West Bengal and Prof. Om Prakash Sha, Dean, Continuing Education, IIT Kharagpur were also present as Guests of Honour.

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H. E. Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi said that conducive learning environment should be the objective of every educational institution. Apart from textual knowledge, it is important to impart a sense of empathy, selflessness, morality, responsibility, respect and appreciation in the students. • He mentioned that student politics and education should not vitiate academic environment and thereby career of students. • Institutional autonomy requires a high degree of self-regulation. Teachers must provide safe spaces where students are seen, valued, cared for and respected. • Reforming pedagogy for making entire syllabus and education system more attuned to produce job ready and industry ready students is essential.

Ujjal Biswas, Hon’ble Minister mentioned that 10 thousand students have been enrolled in polytechnic institutions, 8 lacs students in higher education sector, 11 lacs appeared in Madhyamik exams and 170 ITIs have been set up. Utkarsha Bangla scheme is to be launched by the state government to provide vocational training to school dropouts

Vivek Kumar mentioned that West Bengal has a comparative advantage in education. From 2011 to 2015 the number of universities increased

which would help India to achieve this target such as –

• ‘Big ticket reforms like GST should be allowed’

• ‘India should achieve the top 50 position by 2020 in Ease of Doing Business Index’

• ‘Red-Tapism should be removed’,

• ‘Proper, reasonable and fair land-acquisition policy must be implemented’

• ‘Skilled work-force should be developed’.

He viewed that none of these will happen unless big projects entailing thousand of crores of investment are implemented and the government must take the lead and private sector can work as partner.

He stated that ‘Singur Issue’ has a ‘demonstration effect’ which acted adversely towards industrialisation in the State and also land acquisition on other parts of India. He felt pity on the ‘Ease of Doing business Index’ where law of contract is seldom enforced. At present in Singapore it takes 4-6 hours to clear a cargo, whereas in India it takes 4-6 days, which has resultant cost overrun effect. Hemant Bangur, Sr. Vice President, MCCI raised concern over the deteriorating investment climate in India over the last half decade and the country’s falling merchandise exports and Services exports which also have slowed markedly.

‘Status of the Indian Economy - Opportunities for accelerated growth’ with Dr. Chandan Mitra on January 13,2016

Dr. Chandan Mitra addressing the members. Hemant Bangur, Sr.VP (right) and S.S.Beriwala, Past President look on

The Chamber organised an Interactive Session with Dr. Chandan Mitra, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on ‘Status of the Indian Economy – Opportunities for accelerated growth’ presided over by Hemant Bangur, Sr. Vice President, MCCI.

Speaking on the current economic conditions, Dr. Mitra said that the country has the potential to grow at a rate of 8-9 p.c. per annum and achieve the double digit growth by 2019. He suggested few factors

from 13 to 28. From independence upto 2011, 31 government degree colleges were set up while in last three years 31 new colleges were established. Out of them, 15 are government aided. In last 3 years, 15 new universities came up and 8 of them are private.

Prof. Ajoy Ray mentioned that an analytical mind is required to be nourtured by the universities and educational institutions rather than traditional method of bookish learning. Innovation is required to make the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign successful. Students can be moulded and appropriate teaching methods can reap their potential optimally. Universities should have autonomy in decision making in certain crucial areas while government may have some control over financial aspects.

Prof. O.P. Sha, observed that the present system has evolved from teacher centric to knowledge centric learning. In the 21st century education should be outcome based and active participation from the industry is required. The experts from industries may come forward and share their experiences such that education may be industry specific and students may acquire appropriate skills.

Manish Goenka Prof Ajoy RoyUjjal Biswas Vivek Kumar Prof.O.P.Sha

MCCI NEWS | 3

‘Department’s Perspective on Issues on Service Tax Compliance’ with S.K. Panda, Chief Commisioner, Service Tax, Kolkata on January 15, 2016

Interactive Session with Ashish Kumar Goel, General Manager, South Eastern

Railway on January 19, 2016

Interactive Session on ‘Exploring Opportunities : India - Kazakhstan

Bilateral Trade’ on January 18, 2016

(L-R) Arun Agarwal, S.K.Panda, Ramesh Agarwal & Sushil Goyal

MCCI organized an Interactive Session with S. K. Panda, Chief Commissioner of Service Tax on ‘Department’s Perspective on Issues on Service Tax Compliance’.

Regarding the issue of notices simultaneously by Scrutiny and Audit Departments, S.K.Panda categorically informed that when scrutinies were undertaken and completed for a particular period, no audit compliance is required. In case any notice is issued by Audit Department, a simple intimation regarding compliance of the scrutiny may be given and no action will be taken by the department. As regards increasing number of cases coming up for adjudication, he agreed that due to lack of information with the Assessing officers, such adjudication cases are rising. Delay in adjudication are also caused due to non-submission of required information by the assesses, he added.

Sanjay Agarwal, Past President welcomes Ashish Kumar Goel with a bouquet. Lalit Beriwala looks on

(L-R) Vishal Jhajharia, H.E. Mr. Bulat Sarsenbayev, Hemant Bangur & Arpit Dhandhania

An Interactive Session was organised on ‘Exploring Opportunities : India-Kazakhstan Bilateral Trade’ with H. E. Mr. Bulat Sarsenbayev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to India. Hemant Bangur, Sr. Vice President of the Chamber presided.

H.E. Mr. Bulat Sarsenbayev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to India said that India and Kazakhstan share very good relations and have many common international interests. He mentioned that his country has supported the move of India’s membership in UN Security Council. He informed that out of the 26 projects identified between India and Kazakhstan in July 2015, MoUs had been signed for 9 projects and 23 were under negotiation. He expressed his country’s interest to promote business ties with Bengal. Kazakhstan is keen on getting the State’s support in development of technology especially in Solar energy. West Bengal can become a vital tourist destination for Kazakhstan, if proper awareness is created.

Chamber organized an Interactive Session with Ashish Kr. Goel, General Manager of South Eastern Railway where other senior officials of SER were also present. Sanjay Agarwal, Past President of the Chamber chaired the session.

SER carries 12 p.c. of Indian Railways freight traffic with 4 p.c. of its total track km and around 85 p.c. of SER Route km is electrified. 83 p.c of freight payment is done electronically (online).On January 8, 2016, SER crossed 100 MT freight loading which represents a rise of 7.4 p.c. over the same period of last year. SER reached above 93 p.c. punctuality over 2015-16 (upto Dec). Major industries served by SER are Haldia Port, steel plants at Tatanagar, Bokaro and Rourkela, 6 cement plants, 11 coal washeries, aluminum plant at Muri, 34 Iron Ore loading sidings, 4 power houses and fertilizer plant at Durgachak. Due to slowdown of the economy railway is affected seriously as SER has a capacity to load 75 wagons for day but in practice hardly 50 wagons could be loaded. Satragachi and Shalimar have been identified for upgradation and modernization to world class standard with respect to parking, connectivity for entry and exit, car communication, toilets, waiting hall, and ticket counters etc. The work has been entrusted to IRCON and an amount of Rs. 200 crore has been allocated to each station.

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Interactive Session on ‘Doing Business with Vietnam’ on January 25, 2016

An Interactive Session on ‘Doing Business with Vietnam’ was organized with H. E. Mr. Ton Sinh Thanh, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to India. Mr. P. Kamalakanth, Executive Director, WBIDC also addressed the Session. Mrs. Bach Thanh Binh, Counsellor, Head of Political & Cultural Section and Mr. Trinh Ngoc Anh, Third Secretary of the Embassy of Vietnam and Mr. Do Huy Binh, Bureau Chief of the Vietnam News Agency (Representative Office in India) were also present at the Session. Mr. Arun Kr. Saraf, Immediate Past President, MCCI chaired the session.

‘Vietnam is looking at India as a source of raw material and India should look at Vietnam as a source for quality-cost-efficient goods’ – said H.E. Mr. Thanh. Vietnam has a strong demand in chemical products, raw

(R-L) P. Kamalakanth, Arun Kr. Saraf, H. E. Mr. Ton Sinh Thanh, Surendra Keyal & M.C.Dasmaterials such as cotton yarn and pharmaceutical products which are the strength of India. In terms of FDI, Till now, India has 118 projects with an investment of US$ 491 mn, ranking 28th among 110 countries investing in Vietnam. India had always trade surplus with Vietnam. In 2014, India exported US$ 3.1 bn worth of goods to Vietnam and imported only US$ 2.5 bn.

Mr. P. Kamalakanth, emphasised on the close bonding of the business entities of West Bengal and Vietnam. Speaking about the business environment of West Bengal which offers great opportunities for investment in sectors like Food Processing, Steel, Aquaculture, Agriculture etc. He invited Vietnam’s presence in the next Bengal Global Business Summit.

Interactive Session and Road Show on Happening Haryana Global Investors’

Summit 2016 on January 30, 2016

Meeting with Mr. Mehmet Ali Seker, Vice President of Turkey Indian Cham-bers of Commerce on January 07, 2016

S.S. Beriwala, Past President of MCCI (right) presenting a Memento to Manohar Lal, Hon’ble Chief Mnister of Haryana

MCCI participated in an Interactive Session with Manohar Lal, Chief Minister of Haryana at The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata. The Session was organised by the Haryana Government as a pre-event activity for the : ‘Happening Haryana Global Investor’s Summit 2016’ to be held on 07-08 March 2016 in Gurgaon. Other speakers at the Session were Capt. Abhimanyu, Finance & Industries Minister of Haryana and Shri Devender Singh, Principal Secretary of Govt. of Haryana, Industries Department. S.S. Beriwala, Past President, MCCI addressed the session and presented a memento to Hon’ble Chief Minister.

Mr. Mehmet Ali Seker, Sr. Vice President along with Mr. Bulent Acikgoz, Vice President, Mr. Sinan Karadas, Regional Director, Mr. Harun Kara, Director and Mr. Osama Mohammed, Secretary, Turkish Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry visited MCCI and had a meeting with Surendra Keyal, Hony. Secretary of the Chamber. Piyush Keyal, Hindustan Produce Ltd., Ankit Keyal, Alloys & Metals (India), Suresh Agarwal, Kriday Traders Pvt. Ltd., Rahul Balasaria, Oriental Power Electrical Pvt. Ltd were present. Mr. Mehmet gave a brief introduction about the activities Tuskon which is the Confederation of businessmen and industrialists of Turkey with 50.000 members, 212 business associations and 7 business federations. Tuskon helps their members and partners to meet the new emerging markets and facilitate strong partnership opportunities via Trade Bridge Events, Investment Delegations, and participating international summits.

Meeting with the Turkish Delegation

MCCI NEWS | 5

‘Income Tax Settlement Commission-Provisions & Procedures’ with M.K.

Mirani, Chairman on February 4, 2016 at The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata

‘Brainstorming Session on GST’ on February 5, 2016

‘Doing Business with Senegal’ with H.E. Mr. Elhadj Ibou Boye, Ambassa-dor of the Republic of Senegal to India

on February 12, 2016

Chamber organized an interactive session with M.K. Mirani, Chairman, Income Tax Settlement Commission at the Oberoi Grand with EIRC-Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Associations of Corporate Advisers & Executives and Direct Tax Professionals Association. Ramesh Agarwal, Vice President, MCCI delivered the welcome address.

M.K. Mirani in his address gave details of the powers and functions for the Commission, which serves as an Alternate Dispute Resolution Body and acts as an independent quasi-judicial authority. Its objective is to allow tax offenders to come clean once in a lifetime and the orders of the Commission are final and conclusive. However, the orders of the Commission can be challenged in court of law by filling a writ petition when Principles of Natural Justice are violated and/or Mandatory procedural requirements of law were not complied with. The Commission can reject the application, if the applicant does not satisfy the essential condition mentioned in Sec. 245C. An applicant whose application has been rejected under section 245D(1) can still file another application for settlement.

‘Brainstorming Session on GST’ was organized and it was addressed by Sunil Mitra, Former Revenue and Finance Secretary, Govt. of India, Jai Kumar Mittal, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court & Eminent Tax Consultant, Pulak Kumar Saha, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, Khalid Aizaz Anwar, Joint Commissioner, Directorate of Commercial Taxes, West Bengal, Arun Kumar Agarwal and Sushil Kumar Goyal, Chairman & Co-Chairman of MCCI Standing Committee on Indirect Taxes & GST. S.S. Beriwala, Past President , MCCI chaired the session.

Sunil Mitra strongly advocated for passing The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 on GST saying that the all aspects of introducing GST have been adequately dealt with by various Committees and the ground work have been prepared in consultation with all the stake holders. J.K. Mittal apprehended as the rules applied to goods cannot be applied to service, the concept of service would remain as a source of dispute. Since there will be multiplicity of jurisdiction, deputes will arise in valuation which is not properly defined in the GST.

Ramesh Agarwal, V.P., presenting a memento to M.K. Mirani, Chairman, Income Tax Settlement Commission

(L-R) A.K.Agarwal, Khalid Aizaz Anwar, Sunil Mitra, S.S.Beriwala, Jai Kumar Mittal, Pulak Kumar Saha & Sushil Goyal

He mentioned that at present more than 50 p.c. of the disputes are in the service tax category. Pulak Kumar Saha spoke on Issues on Compliances- Registration & Payment and on Impact on ongoing contracts. He said that although under GST a separate registration is required for each business verticals but credit will be available in one vertical and cannot be used by the other. But demand from one vertical can be recovered by the government from all other verticals which is discriminatory.

Khalid Aizaz Anwar who was also member of the Joint Committee on Business Processes constituted by the Empowered Committee of the State Finance Ministers nullified all such apprehensions. He informed that Joint Committee always desired that GST Law should be clear, un-ambiguous so that litigations are minimized and easy to apprehend. On registration, he categorically said that single registration is only required and if no information is given to the dealer, the system will generate automatic registration. While Arun Kumar Agarwal made the theme presentation, Sushil Kumar Goyal spoke on the occasion.

(R-L) Demba Camara,Ramesh Agarwal, H.E. Mr. Elhadj Ibou Boye, A. Dhandhania & M.C.Das

An Interactive Session was held on ‘Doing Business with Senegal’ with H.E. Mr. Elhadj Ibou Boye, Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal to India. Mr. Demba Camara, Trade and Economic Counsellor, Embassy of the Republic of Senegal also addressed the session. Mr. Ramesh Agarwal, Vice President, MCCI chaired the session.

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H.E.Mr. Boye invited India’s cooperation in the areas such as agriculture, tourism, mining & manufacturing, education, health, development of integrated SEZ and Business Park etc.. To achieve a target of 1000 MW of power generation, he invited India’s strong expertise in the R & D of energy sector including renewable energy in Senegal. While explaining the possibilities of cooperation in iron ore mining, he said that Senegal is looking for investment in the development of US$ 202 mn Integrated Faleme Iron & Steel project which has a production target of 15 to 25 million tons of iron ore per year. Mr. Demba Camara made a detailed presentation informing about 27 major projects which were part of the ‘Senegal Emerging Plan’. This plan is aimed at creating 500,000 new jobs with GDP growth of 7 p.c.

Interactive session with H.E. Mr. Hatem Tageldin, Ambassador

of the Arab Republic of Egypt to India on February 16, 2016

‘Trade & Investment Opportunities in Mali’ with H.E. Mr. Niankoro Yeah SAMAKE, Ambassador of the Republic of Mali to India on

February 17, 2016

(R-L) Sanjeev Chopra, IAS, Arun Kr. Saraf, H.E.Mr. Hatem Tageldin, Mongy Aly Badr & A.Dhandhania

An Interactive Session was organized with H.E. Mr. Hatem Tageldin, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to India on ‘India-Egypt Economic Bilateral Relations and Trade, Services & Investment opportunities’. Mr. Sanjeev Chopra, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal and Mr. Mongy Aly Badr, Minister Plenipotentiary, Head of the Commercial Office in Delhi, Embassy of Arab Republic of Egypt also addressed the Session. Mr. Arun Kr Saraf, Immediate Past President, MCCI, presided. H.E. Mr. Hatem Tageldin, emphasized that there are many high potential sectors like textiles, ICT, renewable energy mainly wind and solar energy, finance, logistics, tourism, agriculture, medical tourism, retail, construction and education in Egypt which Indian investors can explore. Governments of both the countries are exploring the possibilities of starting a direct flight to New Delhi. From 2014 to 2015, tourist flow from India to Egypt has been increased by 28.3 p.c. but it is not enough as the potential is much higher.The Ambassador said that the country was also looking at Indian hospitals to set up their units in Egypt as a number of Egyptian patients come to India for treatment. Mr. Mongy Aly Badr, informed that Egypt has proposed 6 agreements to facilitate trade with India and if these are signed then trade between the two countries would reach 7 to 8 billion dollar in next 3-4 years. Sanjeev Chopra, emphasised on signing Egypt-India MOU in agriculture sector which has been pending for long. He urged the Ambassador to give due focus to Eastern Region especially West Bengal.

MCCI organised an Interactive Session with H.E. Mr. Niankoro Yeah Samake, Ambassador of the Republic of Mali on ‘Trade & Investment Opportunities in Mali’. Mr. Gaurav Goenka, Hony. Consul Republic of Mali, in Kolkata was also present and addressed the Chamber. Mr. Arpit Dhandhania, Standing Committee on Foreign Trade, MCCI presided.

Mr. Niankoro Yeah Samake said that Mali’s Investment Code guarantees full rights and protection for investors. Its main featuresr- non-discrimination of foreign investors, repatriation of funds, foreign ownership, guarantee against expropriation, dispute resolution and investment guarantee. Furthermore, foreigners can set up companies in just 72 hours in Mali. While Americans and Europeans are risk averse to doing business in Africa, the Chinese are doing brisk business. There are already many Indian brands operating in Mali and it is up to Indian firms to discover Africa. Mr. Gaurav Goenka said that H.E. Mr. Samake ran for the President’s post in his country a few years back. Africa is the new frontier for business-he added. Mail has potential in mining activities including gold.

‘Doing Business with Turkey’ 2016 with Mr. Ersin Karaoglan,

President Turkish Indian Chambers of Commerce &

Industry on February 18, 2016MCCI organised an Interactive Session on ‘Doing Business with Turkey’ with Turkish Indian Chambers of Commerce (TICCI). Mr. Ersin Karaoglan, President and Mr. Bulent Acikgoz, Vice President, TICCI along with a business delegation from Turkey attended the session. On this occasion, MCCI signed a MoU with TICCI to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

‘Turkey is keen to cooperate with Indian companies in joint venture projects in areas of tourism, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and automotive

(L-R) Gaurav Goenka, H.E. Mr. Niankoro Yeah Samake & A.Dhandhania

MCCI NEWS | 7

‘Doing Business with Czech Re-public’ with H.E. Milan Hovorka,

Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India on February 25, 2016

An interactive Session on ‘Doing Business with Czech Republic’ was held with H.E. Mr. Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India. Mr. Vladimir Bomberovic, Project Manager, Export Strategy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic and Mr. Milan Tous, Head of Economic Section, Embassy of Czech Republic also addressed the session. Mr.Ramesh Agarwal, Vice President, MCCI chaired the session. H.E.Mr. Hovorka identified few sectors viz. mining, energy, infrastructure development, civil aviation and public transport

MOU signing with TICCI. (R-L) Ersin Karaoglan, Surendra Keyal, Bulent Acikgoz, A. Dhandhania, & M. C. Das

components’’ - said Mr. Ersin Karaoglan. He invited Indian companies to produce jointly with Turkey and capture the African market together. Turkey’s most attractive sectors are finance & insurance services, real estate, manufacturing, energy, ICT, wholesale & retail trade, transportation & storage, mining & quarrying, etc.

Mr. Bulent Acikgoz informed that Turkey offers lucrative export opportunities for Indian firms in the surrounding markets as the country is already in the Custom Union of EU and has Free Trade agreements with 25 countries in the world. In order to improve its investment climate, Turkey has embarked on a comprehensive reform programme.

where the know-how of CR could be utilised and West Bengal and CR can work together. Public transport is an important area where Czech Republic can contribute significantly. As the new civil aviation policy of India proposes to connect remote areas of the country, he added that CR has expertise in production of price competitive 90-seater aircrafts which can be used as passenger carriers for connecting remote areas of India. In water-treatment and water management, Czech Republic is ready to extend its hands to West Bengal. In energy sector CR has built a number of power plants in India and would like to collaborate more in this area, especially in renewable energy. Automobile industry also has good prospect to collaborate. H.E. was keen to open Visa Application Center in Kolkata soon. He further informed that CR offers incentives to attract foreign films to shoot in the country and many Hollywood films were shot in CR. He said that the time has come to use cinema as an important tool to promote tourism between India and CR. H.E.Mr. Hovorka also requested MCCI to mount a Business Delegation to CR in the coming days.

Ramesh Agarwal, Vice President, MCCI in his welcome address suggested that since India is trying to build new capacities in the nuclear sector and Czech has abundant thorium at its possession, it’s imperative that India and Czech begin to cooperate on this front.

(R-L) Mr. Vladimir Bomberovic, Milan Tous, Ramesh Agarwal, H.E. Mr. Milan Hovorka & A. Dhandhania

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

INTERACTIVE SESSION with Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, IAS, Revenue Secretary, Govt. of India jointly with Indian Chamber of Commerce on 09 April 2016

CORPORATE MANAGEMENT QUIZ 2016CORPORATE MANAGEMENT QUIZ 2016 with Calcutta Club in association with The Telegraph on 09 April 2016

INTERACTIVE SESSIONon ‘Non Life Insurance - Prospects and Challenges’.with K. Sanath Kumar, CMD, National Insurance Company Ltd. & Sarad Mathur, Sr.VP & National Head, Agency, Digital & Alternate Channel of SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd. on 16 March 2016

INTERACTIVE SESSIONwith H.E. Mr. Petko Doykov, Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to India & Mr. Vishambhar Saran, Honorary Consul of Bulgaria in Kolkata on ‘Doing Business with Bulgaria’ on 11 March 2016

AwARENESS PROGRAMMEon ‘Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme under National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme’ with Dr. S. N. Nandi, Consultant of Quality Council of India on 09 March 2016

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2.8

4.9

2.13.0

2.5

4.2 4.1

6.3

3.8

9.9

-3.4

-1.2 -1.5

2.7

Jan'15 Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan'16 Apr-Jan

Index of Industrial Production

Published by Shri M. C. Das Dy. Director General, MCC Chamber of Commerce & Industry, 15B, Hemanta Basu Sarani, Kolkata - 700 001 Tel.: 91 33 2248 1502/6329/3123/2262 5070-74, Fax: 91 33 2248 8657, Email: mcciorg@gmail.com, mcciorg@mcciorg.com, Website: mcciorg.com

Editor : M. C. Das, Dy. Director General. Contact Person : S Roy, Asst. Director GeneralPrinted & Designed at : CDC Printers Pvt. Ltd., Tangra Industrial Estate-II, (Bengal Pottery) 45, Radhanath Chowdhury Road, Kolkata - 700 015

For Private Circulation only.

Pulled down by manufacturing, industrial output fell for a third consecutive month, dipping by a quicker pace of 1.5 p.c. in January compared to -1.2 p.c. in December. This may prompt the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut the interest rate next month as the Centre has kept its fiscal consolidation road map.The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had contracted by 3.4 p.c. in November, the sharpest in past four years. Industrial output had risen 2.8 p.c. in January 2015. The cumulative industrial growth in the first 10 months of the current financial year was unchanged at 2.7 p.c. over the corresponding period last year. In terms of industries, 10 out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth in January 2016,” said an official statement. Within manufacturing, capital goods, considered a proxy for investment demand, continued to contract sharply, declining 20.4 p.c. in January after a 19.7 p.c. slide in the preceding month. This clearly substantiated the concerns that investment cycle is yet to revive. Within capital goods, electrical machinery fell by the largest rate at 50.3 p.c. in January. Office, accounting and computing machinery registered the highest growth rate at 41 p.c., followed by radio, TV and communication equipment at 22.4 p.c.

IIP contracted in January for third month in a row