Daily News - Friday, 13 June 2025

India plans curbs on overseas remittances, offshore deposits may be barred: Sources (The Economic Times)

The RBI is set to toughen its rules for outward remittances by resident Indians, closing a loophole that lets them park cash in offshore deposit accounts and fueling worries about passive capital flight. This policy change, meant to protect India’s forex reserves and ease pressure on the rupee, will prohibit the use of its Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for funding interest-bearing deposits abroad, while retaining the freedom to invest in stocks, funds, or real estate. The move comes after a sharp spike in deposits under the LRS in March and signals the RBI’s cautious approach toward growing financial outflows, reflecting its ongoing intent to keep a tight grip on the country’s capital account.

Goyal discusses trade, FTA prospects with Sweden in push to deepen economic ties (mint)

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is strengthening India’s economic ties in Europe, holding high-level meetings with Swedish officials and industry leaders in Stockholm to boost trade, investment, innovation, green technologies, and resilient supply chains. Goyal co-chaired the 21st India–Sweden Joint Commission alongside key stakeholders, including LeadIT, Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency, and Business Sweden, reflecting a growing strategic partnership between the two nations. His tour follows the recently secured free trade deal with EFTA, which involves a $100 billion investment and the creation of a million direct jobs, and ongoing negotiations for a long-pending agreement with the EU, signaling a major push toward integrating India further into European markets.

After US' 50% tariff blow, India now faces EU heat on steel quotas (mint)

The European Union’s new move to pool India’s steel export quota alongside heavyweights like China and Vietnam, instead of retaining its separate country-specific quota, is adding pressure to a sector already battling high US tariffs and growing competition for limited market access. This policy change, which comes into force on 1 July and runs until 30 June 2026, means a large exporter from any country in the pool could exhaust the quota quickly, triggering additional 25% duties for the rest, even as India’s annual steel-related exports to the EU stood at $1.83 billion in FY25. While there’s a small opening for continued market access under this residual quota, industry leaders like Pankaj Chadha from the Engineering Export Promotion Council and Corona Steel’s Arun Kumar Garodia warn it leaves India vulnerable, fueling its ongoing diplomatic push for full, quota-free access amid free trade agreement negotiations with the EU.

India plans $15-million satellite map to bolster national security (mint)

The defence ministry is finalizing a multiyear, ₹150 crore per year contract to deploy a homegrown network of surveillance satellites by the end of 2026, a move aimed at strengthening India’s ability to track and respond to potential space surveillance by other nations. This new project, to be implemented by a team of technical experts from a private space startup, is designed to aid ISRO’s Netra initiative — which currently focuses on space debris and satellite positions — by adding a sophisticated layer of surveillance against growing space-related threats. While this marks a significant step forward for India’s space and strategic capabilities, policy experts like Chaitanya Giri say its true impact will become clear only after the new system is up and operational, reflecting both the growing role of space in securing the country’s future and the ongoing competition for influence in Earth’s orbits.