Despite global trade uncertainties, India's exports are charting a new course, venturing into uncharted territories in Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia. This expansion is driven by a surprising surge in exports of cars, motorcycles, and precious metals, highlighting a strategic shift beyond traditional commodities like textiles and spices.

 

India's export growth story is about more than just established players. The key driver lies in its remarkable success in penetrating 'absolutely new markets.' These regions, previously uncharted by Indian exports, have witnessed a significant influx of $234 million worth of goods, including cars, two- and three-wheelers, and precious metals, during the April-December 2023 period. This translates to a 5% growth in exports for key sectors.

 

The focus on new markets extends beyond just value. Geographically, India is witnessing a significant expansion. Previously on the periphery of India's export map, regions like Central Asia, Africa, and parts of the Americas are now contributing 5% of the country's total exports. This reduces dependence on traditional markets and fosters stronger trade partnerships and economic cooperation across continents.

 

Challenges & outlook

 

The ongoing Red Sea crisis, which has disrupted traditional shipping routes, presented a unique challenge. However, India has cleverly turned this adversity into an opportunity. By embracing longer routes via the Cape of Good Hope, new markets in Africa and the Americas are being unlocked.

 

India's export trajectory is undeniably positive. The proactive market diversification strategy, coupled with a focus on innovation and adaptability, positions India as a strong contender in the global trade arena. With a shrinking trade gap, rising exports, and a growing global presence, India's export story transcends mere economic figures. It embodies resilience, strategic foresight, and the potential to reshape the global trade landscape in the times to come.

Indian Culinary Forum (ICF) announced that the 16th edition of Culinary Art India (CAI) is scheduled to take place alongside the 38th Edition of AAHAR International Fair from 7th March to 11th March 2024 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. This prestigious event is brought to you by ICF and organized by ITPO (India Trade Promotion Organisation) and Hospitality First. With technical guidance from ICF, the event promises to be a platform of culinary innovation and excellence.

 

With the addition of new competition categories featuring a total of 18 categories, Culinary Art India 2024 is set to attract over 500 national-level participants, featuring senior and apprentice chefs from across India competing on an internationally modelled stage. The primary objective of CAI is to provide a professional platform where culinary professionals can showcase their individual and collective skills, creativity, and expertise, while also fostering learning, sharing experiences, partnerships, and networking in a competitive environment.

 

Speaking about the event, Davinder Kumar, President, ICF, said, 'We are proud to present the expanded lineup of competition categories for Culinary Art India 2024. This event is not just a competition but a celebration of culinary artistry and skill. In today’s world where new technologies have accelerated the way we live, communicate & eat, Culinary Art India provides a platform to demonstrate culinary skills and adapt to evolving trends in the hospitality industry.'

 

Vivek Saggar, General Secretary, ICF, said, 'Indian Culinary Forum’s mission is to encourage and inspire junior chefs through training and competition, to raise the culinary standards in India, and to serve as a platform to leverage the development of Indian culture and cuisine on a global scale. ICF’s dedication to fostering excellence in the culinary profession is evident in events like Culinary Art India, where chefs can learn, compete, and inspire each other. We look forward to witnessing the creativity and talent of all participants as they compete on this prestigious stage.'

 

Featuring a total of 18 categories, the competition will encompass a diverse range of culinary skills and expertise, including 3-Tier Wedding Cake, Artistic Pastry Showpiece, Artistic Bakery Showpiece, Fruit & Vegetable Carving, Plated Appetizers, Petit Fours or Pralines, Three Course Set Dinner Menu, Desserts, Authentic Indian Regional Cuisine, Contemporary Sushi Platter, Live Cooking Competition – 2 Course, 45 Minutes, One Dish – RICE, Enthusiastic Hobby Cooks, Egg Benedict, Chocolate Mania, Cake Decorating – Dress the Cake, Mocktails Competition, and Live Sandwich Making Competition.

 

The culinary challenge will be judged by WACS-certified jury members from India and abroad. Gautam Sethi, Cluster Chef, Accor group of hotels, Phuket, Thailand is the chairperson of this year’s jury.

India and Oman are close to concluding talks on a trade deal that will allow easier access of goods and services into each other’s markets, officials familiar with the matter said, further cementing the South Asian nation’s presence in the Gulf region.

 

The two sides have reached consensus on a majority of the issues in the comprehensive economic partnership agreement and the talks are likely to conclude soon, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. A deal could be finalized as early as March, one of the people said.

 

Although a small economy, Oman is crucial to India given its location in the region. Oman sits alongside the Strait of Hormuz, an important oil transit chokepoint through which most of Asia’s crude oil moves. Oman also has the fifth-largest population of Indians working overseas.

 

New Delhi wants lower tariffs on exports to Oman ranging from rice and pharmaceuticals to petroleum and steel products, the people said. It’s also negotiating with Oman to ease access for Indian professionals such as doctors, nurses, engineers and other workers.

 

Oman wants better access for goods such as downstream petroleum products, fertilizer and iron and steel products among others, the people said.

 

A spokesperson for India’s trade ministry didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for further information. Omani government officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

 

The two sides started talks on the trade pact just three months ago, and their haste in completing the deal shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s determination in building stronger links with the Middle East. India has already signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates and is in talks with the Gulf Cooperation Countries on a trade deal.

 

Oman is India’s third-largest trade partner among the GCC nations. Two-way trade stood at $12.38 billion in 2022-23, according to India’s trade ministry.

 

Sultan Haitham bin Tarik became the first Omani ruler to visit India in over two decades in December. After the trip, Oman allotted New Delhi an exclusive zone at the strategically-located Dqum port for its commercial cargo and to dock warships.

 

Modi’s government has expedited trade talks with several major trading partners recently, including the UK, European Union and the European Free Trade Association, which comprises Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

 

India on Tuesday strongly conveyed to the WTO members that the focus of talks on agricultural issues should not be narrowed down to the trade interests of agri-exporting countries only.

 

During the WTO negotiation session on agriculture here, India also said that without a permanent solution on the public stockholding issue, the most critical and long- pending mandated issue at the WTO (World Trade Organisation), developing countries' fight against hunger cannot be won.

 

'In this session, India made a strong and compelling argument to finalize the permanent solution to Public Stockholding (PSH) and deliver this outcome at MC13, as this has been pending for 11 years,' the commerce ministry said.

Indonesian state purchasing agency BULOG has issued an international tender to buy some 300,000 metric tons of rice, European traders said on Tuesday.

 

The deadline for registration for tender participation by trading houses is also Tuesday, Feb. 27.

 

The Indonesian government has allocated an additional rice import quota of 1.6 million metric tons for 2024, after shipping in near record volumes in last year, as dryness linked to the El Nino weather pattern delayed Indonesia's harvest.

 

The latest import quota, which is on top of 2 million tons previously approved for 2024, comes amid expectations the country's January-March rice harvest will be lower than last year due to below normal rains in Java - the country's key rice growing region.

 

Indonesia in December ordered its army to help farmers plant rice as severe drought has reduced output of the staple in Southeast Asia's most populous country, lifting prices, requiring increased imports and threatening food security.

 

The new tender seeks white rice of 5% broken grade, European traders said. It should be sourced from the 2023/2024 crop year and should have been milled no longer than six months ago.

 

In a previous import tender reported on Jan. 31, BULOG is believed to have purchased about 500,000 tons of rice.

 

Traders said this week that Indonesian rice buying has helping to driving global prices higher.

 

Asia rice prices have been near 16-year highs after India, the world's top supplier, restricted exports last year.

The WTO negotiation session on Agriculture took place in the afternoon of 27 February in the ongoing Abu Dhabi Ministerial Conference-13.

 

In this session, India made a strong and compelling argument to finalize the permanent solution to Public Stockholding (PSH) and deliver this outcome at MC13, as this has been pending for 11 years. India recalled the three mandates on PSH from the Bali Ministerial of 2013, the General Council decision of 2014 and the Nairobi Ministerial decision of 2015.

 

India argued that the focus should not be narrowed down to the trade interests of exporting countries only, the real concern is the food security and livelihood of people.  India emphasized that without a permanent solution on PSH, the most critical and long-pending mandated issue at the WTO, developing countries’ fight against hunger cannot be won.

 

India highlighted that the significance this issue was so high that more than 80 countries representing more than 61% of the world’s population from the G33 group of countries, Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) and the African Groups have co-sponsored a proposal on this subject.

 

India also recalled the vast differences in the actual per-farmer domestic support provided by different countries, as notified to WTO. Some developed countries provide subsidies which are 200 times than the subsidies provided by the developing countries. It was the membership’s duty to ensure a level playing field in international agriculture trade for millions of low-income or resource-poor farmers.

 

In the overall reform process, India reiterated the preference for adopting a sequential approach. First and foremost, the permanent solution to the PSH has to be delivered. After that, it is important to protect the treaty-embedded Special and Differential Treatment provision in the Agreement on Agriculture. India stated that any derogation in this regard would be unacceptable. After that, if any discussion on reduction of domestic support commitments take place, the process should start with eliminating subsidies for countries who provide massive subsidies on a per capita basis.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal said that with the triple track of strong macroeconomic fundamentals, huge thrust in infrastructure creation and social welfare push India has been at the forefront of global growth for the past decade. During his address at the ‘Viksit Bharat@ 2047 Conclave’ organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi today, the Minister said that the Government is undertaking various initiatives to promote manufacturing in the country.

 

Shri Goyal urged the gathering to contribute to the holistic and comprehensive vision of expanding the domestic manufacturing footprint in the world and make India a Viksit Bharat by 2047. He urged them to become a ‘Viksit Bharat’ ambassador by engaging with the local industries and contributing to the end-to-end value chain. The Minister further urged the group to be ‘vocal for local’ and be a part of job creation, giving impetus to the service sector and tourism in the country.

 

The Minister said that the thrust of increased foreign investments coupled with the nation’s contribution of a 3D vision of democracy, demography and demand, India’s economy is on fast track. The Minister added that the projected earnings from exports that the government expects from the manufacturing sector in the coming years will also help boost the economy.

 

The Minister said that India is one of the preferred destinations both for investment and as a sourcing hub to cater to the world demand. He further said that the aspirational India is a big demand aggregator and also acts as a booster for the manufacturing industry.

 

India has become an important player in the renewable energy manufacturing sector, said Shri Goyal. He emphasised that India has stepped up automobile manufacturing and will double its manufacturing capacities in the construction sector too. He also said that India is a leader in the electrical manufacturing space and with the inclusion of women and youth in the workforce, the consumption of fast moving goods and electronic products have seen a rapid increase giving a leg up to the electronic manufacturing industry. Shri Goyal said that the auto component industry has become a pride of the nation exporting $20 billion of goods with an aspiration target of $100 billion by 2030. He added that the government has set its focus to develop a semiconductor industry and is also looking to promote ship building and tourism industry in the country providing impetus to increase in goods manufacturing in the country.

 

Shri Goyal said that India has an important role to play in global value chains that provides a fillip to add to the manufacturing investments and capacities of the nation. He further added that due to its high quality and affordable production, India has the potential to serve the needs of the world.

Exports of poultry products such as eggs and egg products, which crossed the Rs.1,000 crore mark in the first nine months, are set to scale to hit a new record of Rs.1,200 crore to Rs.1,400 crore in the current financial year 2023-24 on strong demand from countries such as Oman and Sri Lanka among others.

 

India’s poultry exports had touched a high of Rs.1,081 crore ($134.04 million) during 2022-23, doubling over the previous year’s Rs.529.8 crore ($71 million) on rising demand for eggs and egg products among others. In the first nine months of the current fiscal, the poultry exports stood at Rs.1,074 crore ($134.02 million).

 

Shipment volumes till end of December stood at 8.56 lakh tonnes over previous financial year’s 6.64 lakh tonnes.

 

Exports of eggs to Sri Lanka have witnessed more than a 100 fold increase in value terms in the first nine months with the neighbouring nation emerging as the second largest buyer of Indian poultry products. Value of poultry products exported to Sri Lanka stood at Rs.117.19 crore till December end in the current fiscal as compared to Rs.98 lakh during 2022-23. In volume terms, the shipments to Sri Lanka stood at 1.69 lakh tonnes till December end in current fiscal over previous year’s 1,416 tonnes.

 

Exports to Oman, the largest buyer of Indian poultry products stood at Rs.293.90 crore in the current fiscal till December as compared to Rs.277 crore in 2022-23. Other countries that saw an increase in poultry shipments till end-December include Japan at Rs.82.91 crore (Rs.57.77 crore in 2022-23) and Qatar at Rs.63.38 crore (Rs.51.60 crore) among others.

 

Valsan Parameswaran, Secretary, All India Poultry Exporters Association, said robust demand from countries such as Sri Lanka and Oman among others is driving the exports. 'We expect the overall exports this year to be between Rs.1,200 crore to Rs.1,400 crore,' Parameswaran said.

 

Besides robust demand, the growing quality awareness among the farmers and the trade is also contributing to the growing trend, Parameswaran said, while stressing upon the need for creating additional infrastructure such as a dedicated quality laboratory in the main producing region of Namakkal in Tamil Nadu.

 

Mahesh P S, Joint Commissioner and Director, Centre of Excellence for Animal Husbandary, Bengaluru, said going forward, the poultry exports will increase both in chicken meat and eggs.

 

'The focus on quality poultry products at competitive prices will increase the pie. New states joining the bandwagon of South India’s poultry hub are West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Punjab etc. India being driven by primary choice in the global arena in this millennium, finds partners for poultry too and next year’s target may be Rs.2,000 crore,' Mahesh said.

 

Parameswaran said the Indian exporters are also witnessing demand from African countries, but transportation and realisations were an issue. Also there is a rare opportunity from Russia that’s likely to open up for the Indian products, he said.

 

Indian poultry exports, which stood at Rs.768 crore ($117.42 million) in 2015-16 had subsequently touched a six year low of Rs.435 crore ($58.70 million) during 2020-21 only to rebound in the past three years.

Vietnam has imported husked brown rice from India for the first time in decades to process the grain and export the refined, white variety, trade and government sources said, as Hanoi tries to cash in on strong global demand for the staple.

 

Vietnam, the world's third biggest rice exporter, has imported at least 200,000 metric tons of husked brown rice from India between December and February, the sources said.

 

Vietnam is receiving brisk export orders for rice after India, the world's biggest exporter, imposed a ban on white rice exports in 2023.

 

Rice shipments from Vietnam surged to a record 8.3 million metric tons in 2023.

 

Surging exports have led to a drawdown in stockpiles in Vietnam, which is still keen to meet rising global demand, said an exporter in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.

 

Since rice paddy was not available in Vietnam for milling, some traders imported husked rice from India and made a good profit by processing and exporting the grain, he said.

 

Soon, other traders followed suit, the exporter said.

 

While India's husked brown rice was offered at around $500 per metric ton on a free-on-board (FOB) basis on the east coast, Vietnamese dealers sold the polished grain at over $600, the sources said.

 

Vietnam started buying husked brown from India only recently, and it now accounts for around 95% of India's total husked brown rice exports, they said.

 

Hanoi is currently importing around 70,000 metric tons of husked brown rice from India every month, said a government official, who declined to be identified, as he's not authorised to talk to the media.

 

Although the new season's supplies have started trickling in in Vietnam, Indian rice is still cheaper, the Kolkata-based exporter said.

 

Before India imposed the rice export ban, Vietnam imported 100% broken white rice to make animal feed and beer.

 

The Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Malaysia are leading importers of rice, and they depend on exports from India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Myanmar.

 

India currently allows exports of only parboiled and premium basmati rice varieties. 

Austria, an export-oriented economy, is increasingly targeting South Asia and SE Asia with India topping the list to export its products including machinery, chemical and pharmaceutical products, automobile related items, said Martin Kocher Austrian Minister for Labour and Economy.

 

'Austria is focusing on South Asian and SE Asian markets in a big way since the Russian market has been closed following the war. India is of special interest to Austria given its complementarities in the field of economy. Austria also serves as the gateway to the German speaking markets of Europe,' Martin Kocher Austrian Minister for Labour and Economy told ET during his weeklong visit to India for the Raisina Dialogue.

 

According to Kocher, there are excellent business opportunities in industrial modernisation, automotive, transport infrastructure, energy and smart city (urban & environmental technologies).

 

During Kocher’s visit, India-Austria Startup Bridge was launched in the backdrop of growing Startup ecosystems in the two countries.

 

The Austrian startup ecosystem, known for its innovation and dynamic spirit. With a strong emphasis on research and development, Austria has cultivated a fertile ground for startups to thrive, particularly in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, and information technology.

 

Vienna, Graz, and Linz are among the key cities driving this ecosystem, boasting vibrant startup communities, incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces.

 

'As Austria continues to nurture its startup ecosystem the partnership between the Austrian startup ecosystem and India is poised to create significant opportunities for collaboration and mutual growth in the years to come,' Kocher pointed out.

 

The Minister pointed out that Austria is also becoming an attractive destination for the Indian Film industry to shoot their movies as good incentives are being provided.

 

Austria, one of the richest countries in the European Union, is an important link for India in its relationship with Europe, especially with countries of central and Eastern Europe. India-Austria economic and commercial cooperation constitutes an important dimension of the bilateral relationship. In 2022, the bilateral trade is USD 2.84 billion with an increase of 14.97 % over the 2021 levels, according to the MEA factsheet.

 

Many Austrian companies in India are active in smart transportation and signalling systems, hydro-electric power plants, tunnelling, parts for steel plants, robotics, water purification/desalination