Tag: COVID-19 pandemic in India

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E-Commerce

India’s Processed Food Products Exports Grow 26.51% During April-February FY 20-21 Despite Challenges Posed by COVID-19 Pandemic

India's processed food products (Photo Credits:Pexels)

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s export of processed food products has witnessed a growth of 26.51%in the Rupee term during April-February (2020-21), compared to the same period during the previous year (2019-20). According to official data by the government, the total value of export of processed products was Rs 43,798 crores during April-February 2021 as per the quick estimates.

The data further informed that major processed food products exported from India include pulses, processed vegetables, processed fruits and juices, groundnuts, guar gum, cereals preparations, milled products, alcoholic beverages, and oil meals. Moreover, the value added products such as processed vegetables, alcoholic beverages, and milled products have witnessed a robust growth of more than 40% in April-Feb (2020-21) compared to same period in the previous fiscal (2019-20).

The export of miscellaneous processed items including Indian snacks, sauces, starch products, vegetable flours, malt products etc and pulses grew by 36% and 33% respectively in the first 11 months of the current financial year (2020-21). Considerable exports growth was achieved for the cereals-based products (18%), processed fruits and juices (12%) and Groundnut (7%). The export of oil meals rose by 96% in current fiscal (April-Feb).

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted trade around the world, the overall growth of 26.51% achieved in export of processed food products of APEDA scheduled products due to concerted efforts and initiatives taken to facilitate export from India.

According to Dr M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, this trend of increasing exports of processed food products is likely to continue in the next financial year (2021-22).  An increase in demand of Pulses, Processed fruits and vegetables, Milled products, cereals preparations and other processed items is seen especially from Middle East, Far East, USA and UK markets.

For boosting agricultural and processed food products exports, APEDA initiated series of measures including virtual buyer seller meet, product promotion meeting, webinars, creation of products specific export promotion forums, ensuring market access through organizing exports promotion activities, MOUs with key stakeholders, extending financial assistance for exports promotion and promotion of GI products.

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Finance

Union Budget 2021 Should Focus More on Growth Recovery; Fiscal Deficit May Fall to 6.2 Percent in FY22, Says Report

budget 2021-2022

Mumbai, January 28: The annual Union Budget is round the corner. The Union Budget is slated to be presented on Monday, February 1, 2021 while the Economic Survey will be tabled on Friday, January 29, 2021. All eyes will be on the forthcoming Union Budget as it is expected to focus more on putting the economy back on track. According to a report by India Ratings, the focus of the budget will be to get back things to normalcy and not too much on arresting fiscal deficit, which is seen at 6.2 percent in 2021-22, down from 7 percent this year.

The Union Budget 2020-21 had estimated fiscal deficit at Rs 7.96 lakh crore or 3.5 percent of GDP but India Ratings sees it printing in at Rs 13.44 lakh crore or 7 percent if the government cleared its payables and roll over some portion of expenditure to 2021-22.

India Ratings Chief Economist Devendra Pant said that the 2021-22 budget is likely to project a fiscal deficit of 6.2 percent but that will be achievable if nominal growth comes in around 14 percent and real growth prints in at 9.5-10 percent. The study pegged growth at 9.6 per cent for 2021-22 and (-)7.8 per cent for the current financial year 2020-21.

The report said that the fiscal impact of the economic packages worked out to be about Rs 3.5 lakh, or 1.8 percent of GDP. Even without this package, Ind-Ra had estimated that FY21 will witness a revenue shortfall of Rs 60,000 crore due to aggressive estimation of revenue receipts, it added. The government adopted a lose fiscal policy due to the coronavirus pandemic and announced a number of policy measures under Atmanirbhar Bharat packages to support the economy. The report adds that as per the grant-wise expenditure trend, the report estimates revenue expenditure in 2020-21 to be Rs 26.65 lakh crore as against a Budget Estimate of Rs 26.30 lakh crore.

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Startup

Home Business Ideas: 4 Brilliant Work From Home Ideas That You Should Consider Taking Up

Home Business Ideas (Photo Credits: Pexels)

At a time when the world is battling the coronavirus pandemic, people have been forced to work from hone than ever. Whiles some are working remotely, some have started their own small businesses amid the crisis. Staying productive and maintaining a balance between professional and personal life is the only way out to survive the crisis. Amid the crisis, employers are encouraging or requiring people to work from home for an indeterminate amount of time. If you are planning to start a home-based business, you need to first understand what interests you and what you are good at!

Remember, a business will survive if there is a need of your product in the market. The struggle comes when you have to create a demand for your product, which takes a great deal of time, efforts and funding. Of course, there are pros and cons to consider when deciding whether a home-based business is right for you. If you’re new to the work-from-home lifestyle, you will have to change some of your routine habits to make working from home a success.

Buy products in bulk to sell

If you want to start with a small business, this hack can work wonders! Amid the pandemic and COVID-19 restrictions, people avoid venturing out to buy things. If you have good contacts, you can buy products in bulk and sell them in your circle, neighbourhood and among your pals. These products can be really simple ones, like cups, mugs, coasters or maybe other daily essential items. Maybe you know of some unique products that aren’t readily available in your market despite a demand for them.

Sell homemade products

Be your own boss and sell what you make. There is no other joy that creating something of your own and selling your own handmade products. If you are the maker yourself, you can consider turning your hobby into a business. If you like making candles, cushion covers, curtains, dresses, or anything else, you can create your products and make it commercial. You can also sell gift baskets, handmade jewellery, sweets, homemade cookies, personalized gifts, etc. The only thing you should focus on is to promote and make it reach large audience via social media. As home business idea, there are plenty of opportunities for designers to create and sell their own clothing from home.

Baker

If you enjoy cooking, especially baking, and you can spend a great deal of time baking in order to create enough goods to sell, taking up baking as a profession is meant for you! It is rewarding which fetches you decent income. With too much competition in the market, it is tough to stand out in the crowd. To take up baking business, buy some equipment and set up a commercial kitchen at home. You can sell your products to local shops or businesses or sell products online. Read up on regulations to be compliant!

Freelance Writer

If you are fond of writing and can play with words, it has huge potential to be one of the most profitable business ideas. Freelance writing is the perfect job for people planning to set up their own blog or digital content firm. You don’t need any formal training to become a freelance writer.

Categories
Startup

Startups in India Bagged $9.3Bn Investments in 2020 Despite COVID-19 Challenges: Report

Startup
Startup (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the startups have been hit hard but have managed to emerge successful in attracting investments this year. According to data from consultancy firm Tracxn, Indian startups received investments to the tune of $9.3 billion in 2020 despite the coronavirus challenges. The report reveals that fortunes for the Indian startups turned significantly in the second half of the year. The study reveals that startups raised just $4.2 billion in the first half of the year from about 461 deals while the year saw 11 Indian startups including RazorPay, Glance and Unacademy becoming a unicorn.

According to a report by IANS, the figure is much lower than the record $14.5 billion raised by Indian startups last year as the number of deals this year reached 1,088 from 1,185 last year, TechCrunch reported on Monday. Reports inform that there were 20 funding rounds with dealsize $100 million or larger in 2020 compared to 26 in 2019. Similarly, rounds with dealsize $50 million to $100 million fell to 13 in 2020 from 27 last year. Moreover, the figures exclude the funds rasied by Jio Platforms, which alone bagged over $20 billion investments this year.

The Tracxn report further adds that global technology giants like Google, Microsoft and Facebook wrote checks for Indian startups, while Chinese giants such as Alibaba and Tencent made fewer investments amid border tensions with India.