Competition and Industry News
Is e-commerce really hurting competition?edit
At a time when Jeff Bezos has announced that Amazon would invest $1 billion in “digitizing small and medium businesses” in India, the e-commerce sector has come under the spotlight once again: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) conducted a market study on goods, food services, and accommodation segments and started investigation against Amazon and Flipkart over alleged anti-competitive practices. With increasing footprint of e-commerce in the consumer market, the recent cases against the two companies have evoked a lot of interest.
Publication: Business Standard
Date: February 7, 2020
E-commerceBudget 2020: Here’s how customs duty hike will affect you!edit
A disappointed Ikea, the world’s largest furniture retailer, said it was evaluating the impact of the move to raise import taxes on a host of products, from furniture to kitchenware, on its overall business in India. “Ikea is disappointed with the customs duty hike, which impacts furniture and other home furnishing categories,” said Peter Betzel, CEO, IKEA India. Duties were doubled to 20 percent on various types of kitchenware, while furniture items would now attract 25 percent customs duties, from 20 percent earlier.
Publication: The New Indian Express
Date: February 5, 2020
Budget 2020Customs DutyIKEABudget 2020 came half way, more to coveredit
At the dawn of the new decade, the 2020 Budget was expected to be one of the most influential ones for the Indian startup ecosystem, especially in view of the slowing economy and not-so-strong consumer sentiment globally and in India. From a largely myriad affair consisting of multiple support schemes under various ministries for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), the government has come a long way, with the launch of Startup India in 2016 that promised to pack a punch.
Publication: Money Control
Date: February 5, 2020
Budget 2020StartupsGovt sops may give breather to startups’ cashflow problem but will they uplift sluggish ecosystemedit
Entrepreneurship has always been at the heart of Indian economic development. In her Budget speech of 2020, Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rightly expressed concerns over the unimpressive evolution of ‘Start-up India’ initiative despite immense support by the government in the past (viz. angel tax relief, relaxation in carry-forward and set-off of tax losses, tax holiday benefits, foreign direct investment, etc).
Publication: Financial Express
Date: February 6, 2020
Startups