New foreign trade policy to promote exports through e-commerce, batteries, farm equipment

The new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, announced recently, will help in promoting exports of sectors from e-commerce, batteries for electric vehicles and farm equipment. India on March 31 came out with the new policy which aimed at pushing rupee trade, increasing outward shipments to $2 trillion by 2030, and promoting e-commerce exports, amid global uncertainties.

Rumki Majumdar, Economist at Deloitte India, said that the policy emphasises on the manufacturing and export sectors with a long term view. Sectors such as batteries for EVs, green hydrogen, and garment, amongst others will benefit from the policy, she said, adding that with over 80 per cent of trade being done in the USD, encouraging trade in Indian rupee will be a relief. “It will also add to its resilience to external shocks and improve negotiating capabilities in international trade,” Majumdar said.

Shashi Mathews, Partner at IndusLaw, said that through the policy, the government’s focus is to digitise and re-engineer the processes to make it more business-friendly and less time-consuming.

“Some key focus areas which will reap the benefits are e-commerce, merchanting trade, green technology products like EV, farming equipment, etc,” Mathews said.

The new policy would rekindle business sentiment to achieve India’s aspirational target of being a global leader in exports, Sanjay Budhia, Chairman of CII National Committee on Exports and Imports, said. “Reduction of export performance threshold in the new FTP is a welcome step as this will enable more exporters to achieve higher status and reduce transaction cost for exports. The policy has a strong emphasis on reduction of transaction costs, internationalisation of INR and e-commerce exports which could be a game changer to put India at a leadership position in the global exports map,” Budhia added.

JSW Steel USA Ties Up With Intesa Sanpaolo And Banco BPM For $182 Million Finance

JSW Steel USA, a subsidiary of JSW Steel Limited has secured long-term funding for its Plate Mill modernization project in Baytown, Texas from two Italian financial institutions, Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPM. The company stated that $70 million of the overall finance is covered under the SACE guarantee, while the remaining $112 million is a term loan. The finance was arranged by SACE’s Export Finance Division, with assistance from the SACE office in Mumbai, which has a long history with JSW Steel. The SACE guarantee is issued in order to promote Italian exports.

Intesa Sanpaolo (IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division) served as SACE Agent and commercial tranche coordinator. Both Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPM served as the facilities’ Bookrunners and Mandated Lead Arrangers.

JSW Steel USA’s Plate mill modernization project includes supplies from Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.p.A, Danieli Automation S.p.A, and Danieli Taranis LLC, all of which are Danieli Corporation Inc. subcontractors for a cutting line, rolling mill, and ACC/DQ.

The project also comprises Sideridraulic supplies for water treatment and cooling systems, as well as Tenova supplies for grinding equipment for the new rolling mill and related engineering services. These vendors’ total value of equipment and related engineering services exceeds $100 million.

Larsen & Toubro bags multiple contracts worth over Rs.7,000 cr in Middle East

Construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged multiple contracts of worth more than Rs.7,000 crore in the Middle East region. The scope of work comprises engineering, procurement, construction and installation for various new offshore facilities and integration with existing installations

Kilburn Engineering Limited executes MoU with Idreco S.A.

Kilburn Engineering Limited has executed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with M/s. Idreco S.A. (a Switzerland based company, engaged in Flue gas cleaning, Industrial Plants, Water treatment & Waste water treatment), for mutual collaboration in development and sale of engineered equipments for various applications, by both the companies, across various geographies.

This is in line with the company’s objective to provide a wide range of technologically advanced equipments to its customers, across the globe. We believe this initiative will help the Company achieve a higher level of order book and turnover in the coming years.

Anupam Rasayan secures Rs.1,500-cr worth overseas contract

Anupam Rasayan India signed a letter of intent (LoI) worth $182 million (about Rs.1,500 crore) of order with a Japanese firm, towards manufacturing and supply of three high-value speciality chemicals over the next seven years. The three molecules, which will be used as advance intermediates for highly specialised polymers and liquid crystals, will be manufactured at the company’s existing facilities. Anupam Rasayan will be the exclusive supplier for these molecules outside of India, which is in line with its expansion strategy in fluoropolymer and electronic segments and manufacturing high-value molecules. Earlier, the company had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Gujarat for setting up new plants in Jhaghadia and Sachin, primarily for manufacturing fluorochemicals for the agrochemical, polymers and pharma sectors in Japan, Europe and America. The plants, which are likely to be commissioned before 2025.

Samvardhana Motherson acquires assets of Alabama-based Bolta US

Samvardhana Motherson Automotive Systems Group has acquired the assets of Alabama-based Bolta US Ltd. The acquisition has been done through its subsidiary SMP Automotive Systems Alabama Inc., USA. SMP Alabama has purchased $35.7 million worth of Bolta’s fixed assets (including $31.8 million of tangible assets and $3.9 million of the intangible assets) and $4.7 million of its inventory for $16.002 million, free and clear from all liens. Bolta is the only approved chrome part supplier to a leading German OEM in the US.

Godrej Security Solutions to scale export business in US and Europe

Godrej Security Solutions, part of Godrej & Boyce, plans to focus on expanding the market for its exports in the US and Europe. Currently, exports make up around 12 per cent of the company’s exports, which the company plans to scale up to 20 per cent in 2–3 years.