NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The cabinet has put on hold a proposal pending for years to raise the limit on foreign direct investment in insurance firms, possibly until after the 2014 elections, dashing the hopes of foreign insurers to spread their wings in a promising emerging market.

Domestic and foreign insurers, which have invested billions of dollars in India over the last decade, have been lobbying the government for years to raise the FDI limit to 49 percent from 26 percent.

NEW DELHI, May 11 (Reuters) – India has put on hold a
proposal pending for years to raise the limit on foreign direct
investment in insurance firms, possibly until after the 2014
elections, dashing the hopes of foreign insurers to spread their
wings in a promising emerging market.

Domestic and foreign insurers, which have invested billions
of dollars in India over the last decade, have been lobbying the
government for years to raise the FDI limit to 49 percent from
26 percent.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s exports picked up in April after falling in March but only grew 3.2 percent from a year earlier and garment, gems and jewellery shipments shrank, highlighting the challenge facing Asia’s third-biggest economy in the face of weak global demand.

India’s foreign trade has slowed sharply from levels a year ago when exports jumped nearly 32 percent in April from a year earlier, and the country’s trade secretary said on Thursday that the country would be “lucky” to achieve 10-15 percent export growth this fiscal year.

NEW DELHI, May 10 (Reuters) – India’s exports picked up in
April after falling in March but only grew 3.2 percent from a
year earlier and garment, gems and jewellery shipments shrank,
highlighting the challenge facing Asia’s third-biggest economy
in the face of weak global demand.

India’s foreign trade has slowed sharply from levels a year
ago when exports jumped nearly 32 percent in April from a year
earlier, and the country’s trade secretary said on Thursday that
the country would be “lucky” to achieve 10-15 percent export
growth this fiscal year.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India delayed by a year the rollout of measures to crack down on tax evasion, mollifying overseas investors rattled by uncertainty over proposals that had spurred an exodus of funds and battered the rupee.

The postponement on the so-called general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) is the latest in a string of delays and reversals by an embattled government that has struggled to seize the policy initiative.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India delayed by one year the introduction of measures to crack down on tax evasion on Monday, moving to mollify overseas investors whose panic has led to a dramatic exodus of funds and hammered the rupee.

The proposals aim to target tax evaders through a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR), cracking down on the abuse of tax havens.

NEW DELHI, May 7 (Reuters) – India delayed by one year the
introduction of measures to crack down on tax evasion on Monday,
moving to mollify overseas investors whose panic has led to a
dramatic exodus of funds and hammered the rupee.

The proposals aim to target tax evaders through a general
anti-avoidance rule (GAAR), cracking down on the abuse of tax
havens.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India will not retroactively tax portfolio investments and will shift the burden of proving evasion on tax to authorities, two government sources said on Thursday, providing a measure of comfort to foreign investors worried about proposed new rules.

Overseas investors have been critical about a set of proposals India unveiled as part of its budget for the fiscal year that began in April, including a rule that would crack down on the use of tax havens, saying vague wording left it too open for subjective interpretation.

NEW DELHI, May 3 (Reuters) – India will not retroactively
tax portfolio investments and will shift the burden of proving
evasion on tax to authorities, two government sources said on
Thursday, providing a measure of comfort to foreign investors
worried about proposed new rules.

Overseas investors have been critical about a set of
proposals India unveiled as part of its budget for the fiscal
year that began in April, including a rule that would crack down
on the use of tax havens, saying vague wording left it too open
for subjective interpretation.

NEW DELHI, April 26 (Reuters) – S&P credit analyst Takahira
Ogawa listened politely as officials at India’s finance ministry
made an hour-long pitch for a ratings upgrade, citing economic
growth prospects, revenues and their efforts to contain the
government’s fiscal deficit.

At the meeting two weeks ago, officials argued that tax
returns were rising and debt levels were on the decline compared
to gross domestic product, two officials who were at the meeting
told Reuters.