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New Delhi, Nov 29 () The government has initiated dialogue with ASEAN members for review of the free-trade agreement (FTA) executed 10 years ago, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
 Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, the minister said the FTA with ASEAN was executed around 10 years ago and "our study shows that we have not been able to get as much benefit out of the FTA".
 "We have opened up our market to many other countries to the detriment of India's and Indian coffee growers interests.
 "We have already initiated dialogue with ASEAN countries and I am happy to share with the House that ASEAN has agreed for a review of the FTA. We will take up various issues in the review and then we will report to the House," he told the House.
 He also said the Coffee Board is trying to develop an Indian brand of coffee for export and the work in this regard is underway.
 In his written reply, the minister also said the Government of India through the Coffee Board is undertaking various measures to boost the export of coffee across the world. SKC DV HRS

Govt initiates dialogue with ASEAN members for review of FTA: Goyal

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the UK government remains committed to working "as quickly as possible" towards a successful conclusion to the ongoing free trade agreement (<keyword id="6381659" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="fta" source="Orion">FTA</keyword>) talks with <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, as the majority of the substantive negotiation conversations were completed at the end of last month. At a House of Commons session on the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Thursday, the British Indian leader updated <keyword id="6354721" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="parliament" source="Orion">Parliament</keyword> that he reviewed progress on the FTA during his first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi since taking charge at 10 Downing Street. He was questioned by <keyword id="3438106" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="opposition-labour-party" source="Orion">Opposition Labour Party</keyword> Leader Keir Starmer and his own <keyword id="107792" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="conservative-party" source="Orion">Conservative Party</keyword> MPs on the timeline for the completion of the agreement with India. "I discussed the free trade agreement with India, and both the Prime Minister of India and I committed our teams to working as quickly as possible to see if we can bring a successful conclusion to the negotiations," said Sunak. "Without negotiating all these things in public, I am pleased that the majority of the substantive negotiation conversations were concluded by the end of October. We will now work at pace with the Indian teams to try to resolve the issues and come to a mutually satisfactory conclusion," he said. More broadly, he reiterated the UK government's stance since the Diwali deadline for the FTA was missed, that he would not "sacrifice quality for speed" because it is important to take the time to get trade deals right. Sunak was questioned about his other discussions with Modi and whether he raised issues such as India's stance over the Russia-Ukraine conflict and also the UK being an exception within Europe to not be offered the e-visa facility - something he confirmed was discussed and will remain on the government's agenda. On India's "non-aligned" position on the Ukraine conflict, he claimed "enormous comfort" from the fact that the G20 communique "contained strong language of condemnation about Russia's aggression". "Our relationship and partnership with India are much broader than just a trading relationship. I was pleased to discuss increasing our security cooperation with India," said Sunak. "We also announced the mobility scheme to enable young people from India to come here and young Brits to go there, which is a sign of what is possible. Such exchanges are positive both for our countries and for the young people who benefit," he said, with reference to the new UK-India Young Professionals Scheme launched at the summit earlier this week involving 3,000 new reciprocal visa offers annually for under-30s - dubbed as "good for both Indian students and British students who want to go back and forth". On the new scheme, Labour's Indian-origin MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi questioned the move against the backdrop of "dog whistle" anti-immigrant rhetoric from <keyword id="6363870" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="home" source="Orion">Home</keyword> Secretary Suella Braverman's "incendiary remarks against international students that so incensed people in India". The <keyword id="312687" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="labour-leader" source="Orion">Labour Leader</keyword> also attacked Braverman for putting the FTA deal with India in doubt after indicating that she would not support it, with reference to her controversial remarks on Indians being the largest group of visa overstayers. "The Home Secretary is rightly focused - there is nothing 'dog whistle' about it - on clamping down on illegal migration, which the British people rightly expect and demand, and it is something that she and this government will deliver," Sunak said in defence of his <keyword id="6355513" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="cabinet" source="Orion">Cabinet</keyword> minister. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/draft-data-protection-bill-proposes-six-types-of-penalties/articleshow/95604456.cms">Draft Data Protection Bill proposes six types of penalties</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/pakistans-total-debt-surges-to-rs-12-trillion-in-first-quarter/articleshow/95603384.cms">Pakistan's total debt surges to Rs 12 trillion in first quarter</a>

Rishi Sunak says UK is committed to working quickly on free trade agreement with India

New Delhi, Feb 25 () India and Australia on Tuesday agreed to consider reviving stalled negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), an official statement said. The matter was discussed in a Joint Ministerial Commission meeting between India and Australia, convened on February 24. It was co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his Australian counterpart Simon Birmingham. "They agreed to consider reviving the negotiations on the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA)," Commerce and Industry Ministry said in the statement. They also agreed to take forward the issue of harmonising standards and regulatory barriers for products of interest to both sides, in parallel. Under a FTA, two or more trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on maximum number of goods traded between them. They also liberalise norms to increase trade in services and boost investments. FTA between two countries are officially dubbed as CECA. India also raised the issue of taxing of off-shore income of Indian firms through the use of India-Australia Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and sought early resolution of the issue. "Both sides agreed to intensify discussions," it added. On two-way investment, both sides noted the visits by three delegations of Australian superannuation funds over the previous year. "They agreed to continue to work together to foster awareness of the opportunities in India among Australian investors," the statement said. RRRVK

India, Australia agree to consider reviving talks for FTA

New Delhi, <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> does not 'rush' into any Free Trade Agreement (<keyword id="20000557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fta" source="keywords">FTA</keyword>) if the pact is not equitable, balanced, and fair for the country, Commerce and Industry Minister <keyword id="19895367" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="piyush-goyal" source="keywords">Piyush Goyal</keyword> on Friday said. He said that the ground realities in India have changed now and the offers made by partner countries in these agreements are "not at all" comparable to what India is offering to the world. At present, negotiations for FTAs with the UK, Oman, and the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are nearing conclusion. EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The minister also said that India should never rush for trade negotiations as they are going to impact the country for years and years to come. "We enter into negotiations with our eyes wide open, we do extensive stakeholder negotiations...we do a lot of inter-ministerial consultations. We crystal gaze into the future and see that India offers the best business opportunities. "Sometimes trade negotiations take time because the other sides take time to understand what really is happening in India, how the India story is panning out, how new India is emerging. And some people also live in a colonial mindset of the past, so it takes us some more time to get them to understand that ground realities have changed. What is on the offer on their side is not at all comparable to what we are offering to the world and therefore unless it is a very equitable, balanced, and fair trade agreement, India does not rush into trade agreements anymore," he said. <keyword id="19895372" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="goyal" source="keywords">Goyal</keyword> said this at the Raisina Dialogue 2024 here. He was replying to a question about why trade negotiations with the UK and the EU (<keyword id="19895384" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="european-union" source="keywords">European Union</keyword>) are proving more complicated. He added that some free trade agreements signed by the previous government have issues as adequate due diligence was not followed. In some cases, a little bit of rush to enter into an FTA was also there earlier, he said. India and the UK launched the talks for an FTA in January 2022 with a view to boost economic ties between the two nations. There are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments, and intellectual property rights. The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to USD 20.36 billion in 2022-23 from USD 17.5 billion in 2021-22. The seventh round of India-European Union talks is underway here. In June 2022, India and the EU restarted the negotiations for the long-pending trade and investment agreement after a gap of over eight years.

India does not rush into trade agreements if it is not fair, balanced, equitable: Goyal

<keyword id="22215344" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="German-businesses" source="keywords">German businesses</keyword> see <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword> as a very "stable place" to <keyword id="19954634" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="invest" source="keywords">invest</keyword>, said the country's Ambassador <keyword id="20424857" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="philipp-ackermann" source="keywords">Philipp Ackermann</keyword> on Friday, while anticipating increased German <keyword id="19895437" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment" source="keywords">investment</keyword> in India after the India-EU Free <keyword id="19900989" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="trade" source="keywords">Trade</keyword> Agreement resolves tax and tariff "impediments". In an interview with ANI, Ackermann also informed about the possible visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in October this year, during which <keyword id="20766370" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-relations" source="keywords">business relations</keyword> and trade relations would be on the agenda. Ackerman noted that migration will also be a key item for discussion. Speaking on the sidelines of the release of the German India Business Outlook 2024 survey, Ackerman said, "The survey has given us an impression that <keyword id="22215345" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="german-business-in-india" source="Orion">German business in India</keyword> is extremely bullish on India. The surveys found that almost 80% of German businesses want to expand their businesses, want to reinvest, build up more factories, and invest more in India." "The German businesses see enormous potential in the Indian market. It sees the very impressive growth rates of India. That makes them very happy. After elections again, they find it a very stable place to invest," the ambassador expressed. Philipp Ackermann termed the long-pending India-EU Free Trade Agreement a "game changer". He mentioned that no specific deadline has been set for signing the Free Trade Agreement, stating that "it will take some time." "There is no deadline because the <keyword id="20000557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FTA" source="keywords">FTA</keyword> relationship is very complicated and it has to take time. We have now seen the ninth round, if I'm not mistaken, which just finished a day or two ago. We are in the process of negotiating the German government is very much behind this," he said "We feel that the FTA is very important for our business; it will be even more so if it is a game changer. So I'm very hopeful that at some stage we come to a conclusion, but don't ask me about the timeline. I think it will take some time," he added. When asked what impact the FTA will have on the Indo-German trade relationship, the envoy said that tariffs and taxes are one of the reasons German companies say might impede investment, and with an FTA, the tariff side will be solved. "For many German companies, an FTA will bring a clear solution and regulation on tariffs and trade and it would be a great gift for their business," he added. The proposed trade deal with the EU is one of the most complex FTAs being negotiated by India. There has been no breakthrough despite several rounds of talks. On June 17, 2022, the European Union relaunched negotiations with India for a Free Trade Agreement, and launched separate negotiations for an Investment Protection Agreement and an Agreement on Geographical Indications (GIs). The mandator also gave details about the possible visit of German chancellor Olaf Scholz, saying the chancellor will travel to Delhi and parts of his cabinet, including the German ministers, will accompany him and sit down with their Indian counterparts to develop coming programmes and projects and the roadmap. "So we expect that to happen in the second half of October sometime. The dates have not been finalised yet. But it is a very, very good moment to sit down, compare notes, and say, Where is this apprenticeship going?" he added. "We will try to develop the future of this partnership during these consultations. Other items on the agenda are certainly business relations and trade relations, but also migration, which is a very interesting issue within and certainly does politics as usual," he said.

German businesses see India as a stable place to invest, says German ambassador Philipp Ackermann

<ul><li><keyword id="9139921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-TV">Shemaroo TV</keyword>, the flagship Hindi GEC from the house of <keyword id="203890" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-Entertainment">Shemaroo Entertainment</keyword>, is launching an original TV show titled ‘<keyword id="10809040" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="jurm-aur-jazbaat">Jurm aur Jazbaat</keyword>.’ </li><li>We caught up with <keyword id="207966" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiren-Gada">Hiren Gada</keyword>, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment to understand how it was all put together, walked us through the channel's journey so far and future of FTA channels in India. </li></ul>Shemaroo Entertainment launched a Free-to-Air (FTA) channel last year in the midst of the lockdown, when businesses were coming to a standstill. A company that has effectively adopted to technological changes and macro economic disruptions since the early 1970s, Shemaroo has been smoothly sailing through all waves of changes. As the lockdown eased and the country slowly started limping towards normalcy, Shemaroo TV was burning the midnight oil to put together an original series for its audience. Now, it is all set to foray into original TV series with a crime show titled ‘Jurm aur Jazbaat.’ The general entertainment content on Hindi TV channels largely revolves around domestic issues, mythology, historical personalities or desi love stories. OTT audiences, on the other hand, are a fan of thriller films, sci-fi or crime shows. However, Shemaroo has taken the OTT route for its TV channel with the launch of its first crime-based TV show. In the recent past, even courtroom sagas have become a huge hit on OTT platforms: Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, Nail Polish, Illegal season 1, Your Honour and The Verdict – State vs Nanavati (2019) are proof. On why the TV channel chose crime as its debut genre, Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment, said, “We did a market research to identify what is trending, what are the consumers watching, what they aren't, etc. So we finalised various categories to work with. After deep-diving into the market research we conducted, we realised that the crime genre has a very good connect with the Free-To-Air audiences. What also strongly came out was the fact that there is emotion behind every crime. So, to simplify the name, we called it Jurm aur Jazbaat. Once we decided the route we wanted to take, we worked with a couple of production houses in terms of creating pilots, ramping up and then going into the production part. Parallely, because this was our first fresh and original programming, we wanted to have a very strong mentor, who can connect with the audience, create a great viewing experience for them and that's how we zeroed in on <keyword id="6360486" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ronit-Roy">Ronit Roy</keyword>.” Journey so far Since the inception of Shemaroo TV last year, the channel wanted to offer a mix of original content, licensed content and existing content. However, due to the nation-wide lockdown, the channel had to put a pause on its production like everyone else. It did not stop the entertainment house from launching a new channel. It wanted to lay a strong foundation before launching its original content. “We had to revamp our whole process for two reasons. One was logistically, we were not in a position to shoot at that time. And secondly, advertisers' spends had also reduced. So, we decided at that time to focus on our existing library as well as fresh creations and acquired shows from Star like Devon ke Dev Mahadev, Jeet hui parai, Shor from Sahara, and we had our own movies and shows. The focus at that time was to establish the channel in terms of viewership, distribution, primarily marketing, viewership, programming, consumer connect. Many other things and milestones which we wanted to achieve before we launch an original,” shared Gada. Present and future of FTA channels in India Currently, as per Gada, not more than two FTA channels are creating original content and Jurm aur Jazbaat will help the channel carve a niche for itself. While Shemaroo had also launched its Marathi channel, MarathiBana and a lot of learnings from that experience went into the launch of Shemaroo TV, the latter was rolled out while working from home. It launched unique initiatives to pull in more viewers. Overwhelmed with the response the channel has seen so far, Gada said, “Given the fact that we are a GEC less than nine months old, we have seen very good response and viewer traction. In fact, we've done many contests where we could gauge consumer participation. We received a lot of very good messages from our audiences and they showered us with love. That has helped build the overall viewership. And obviously, the team's hard work has paid off too.” It has also seen a good response from the top FTA advertisers. “I'm sure that a very strong connect with the core Shemaroo brand and being part of this ecosystem for decades, has played its strong part as a strong beautiful partner, given the challenge that overall advertiser revenue and spends have gone through, in the last year. We are part of that same trend but the fact that we have seen very good acceptance borne out by the fact that all the top spenders on the FTA space, most of them are already present on both our channels. We keep adding more brands and new categories as we move forward,” added Gada. This year, with the economy coming back on track, Shemaroo is expecting to see more advertisers on-board who cater to rural and Tier II and III audiences. Gada said, “With the economy back on track, and companies launching more and more products, good agriculture output with a good monsoon, the rural economy has done exceedingly well. With this, a lot more categories are now willing to participate on the FTA platform, because they are all seeing more consumption coming from these pockets. Over the next few years, as per capita income of the country grows, more and more categories of consumption will open up for these audiences. That will bring in many more categories into the FTA space. And I think that’s really the exciting part in the next three to five years. This is a segment which has been underserved as far as television is concerned and as far as products are concerned. In the next three to five years, this situation is bound to get corrected.” After measuring the response of its fresh content, Shemaroo is planning to launch more original content and simultaneously, keep acquiring popular series and films to be able to cater to a large audience. Sharing his plan for this year, Gada said, “We are going to take it one step at a time. We definitely have more originals lined up. The fact is that there's just two channels, which are offering fresh programming or original content. We are upping the game for ourselves at a certain level and that's going to be a continuous process for us, because that's how we plan to keep up our audiences loyal to us and keep coming back to us as we keep launching new offers for our viewers.”

A lot more categories are now willing to advertise on FTA channels to reach out to rural India: Hiren Gada, Shemaroo

The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Economic+Survey+2016">Economic Survey 2016</a> put forth today has outlined India's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=economic+growth">economic growth</a> as amongst the highest in the world. The economy has grown between 7 to 7.5% and the growth in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Index+of+Industrial+Production">Index of Industrial Production</a> stands at 3.1%. 
 
India’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Free+Trade+Agreement">Free Trade Agreement</a>s have doubled to about 42 since the mid- 2000s. These have increased trade with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Free+Trade+Agreement">FTA</a> countries more than before. Today India maintains relatively high tariffs and hence had larger tariff reductions than its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Free+Trade+Agreement">FTA</a> partners. 
 
While India’s import bills have come down considerably over last year, all thanks to the tremendous dip in crude prices, it’s exports have been faring rather badly over the last 6 months. This is also a reason why the expectation on the current account deficit has been increased to 3.9%, given the government continues to expect that exports will see a slow growth trajectory. 
 
This is also why the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Free+Trade+Agreement">FTA</a>s come back into key focus, given that India will now be able to leverage these trade pacts to push its exportable products more and more. 
 
In case of the ASEAN <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Free+Trade+Agreement">FTA</a>, the country can boast of statistically significant 33% increase in exports and 79% increase in imports. 
 
The trade increases have been much greater with the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ASEAN">ASEAN</a> in comparison to the other <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Free+Trade+Agreement">FTA</a>s. Metals have gained in the import tab and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Free+Trade+Agreement">FTA</a>s have led to hike in the demand for apparels, especially in ASEAN markets. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Free Trade Agreements can help
India grow its exports that have been badly hit off late

<ul><li><keyword id="9139921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-TV">Shemaroo TV</keyword> will target the Hindi-speaking markets of India and will aim to connect, interact, and reach out to families who are continuously looking to adapt to new changes. </li><li>The channel will go live on May 1.</li><li><keyword id="203890" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-Entertainment">Shemaroo Entertainment</keyword> will market its new offering primarily on TV and Digital.</li></ul>Shemaroo Entertainment has announced the launch of a free-to-air (FTA) Hindi general entertainment channel, Shemaroo TV on May 1. Shemaroo TV will target the Hindi-speaking markets of India and will aim to connect, interact, and reach out to families who are continuously looking to adapt to new changes. The channel will come up with a mix of originals and iconic shows, which will be consumed for the first time by a broad set of FTA audiences. The channel will be available to audiences on all major DTH operators and cable networks. Speaking about the company's entry into the TV segment, <keyword id="207966" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiren-Gada">Hiren Gada</keyword>, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment said, "There is a large audience hungry for content on FTA channels. Its a largely under-served market and a huge demand for content. The content of Shemaroo is spread across different verticals through which we maintain a healthy relationship with viewers and advertisers equally. While we manage large digital platforms, entering into the broadcasting space will help us with reach and enable us to build a stronger affinity with the audiences. With the launch of our flagship channel, Shemaroo TV, we are excited to strengthen our presence in the industry and deliver our promise of entertaining the Indian audiences." While the current lockdown will mean Shemaroo will not be able to market the new offering in the usual manner, they are going big on TV and Digital. They will also partner with 'like-minded brands' spread across Digital, TV and media, shared <keyword id="32440" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="rahul-mishra">Rahul Mishra</keyword> , Head Marketing and Communications, Shemaroo Entertainment. "The idea is to reach out to audiences through each other's strengths in this tough situation," added Mishra. <keyword id="276655" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sandeep-Gupta">Sandeep Gupta</keyword>, COO - Broadcast Business, Shemaroo Entertainment added, "If we see the current TV space and particularly the Free To Air space, there is large consumption of content but with less variety of shows and genres. Shemaroo TV will be enhancing the entertainment needs of the Indian audiences by its vast offerings of iconic shows, alongwith original shows across various genres. We have worked extensively to understand the needs of our consumers and have sharpened our insights based on what will appeal to them. Shemaroo TV will have an extensive reach and we aim to become one of the most popular destinations in the Free To Air General entertainment space."

Shemaroo Entertainment announces the launch of Hindi Entertainment FTA channel, Shemaroo TV

New Delhi, Feb 1 () The government on Saturday said it will review an important provision of free-trade agreements -- rules of origin -- for certain sensitive products such as electronics.
 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget Speech said it has been observed that imports under free-trade agreements (FTAs) are on the rise.
 Undue claims of FTA benefits have posed threat to the domestic industry and such imports require stringent checks, she said.
 In this context, the minister said suitable provisions are being incorporated in the Customs Act.
 "In the coming months, we shall review rules of origin requirements, particularly for certain sensitive items, so as to ensure that FTAs are aligned to the conscious direction of our policy," the minister said.
 The 'rules of origin' provision prescribes for the minimal processing that should happen in the FTA country so that the final manufactured product may be called originating good in that country.
 Under this provision, a country that has inked an FTA with India cannot dump goods from some third country in the Indian market by just putting a label on it. It has to undertake a prescribed value addition in that product to export to India. Rules of origin norms help in containing dumping of goods.
 India has inked FTAs with several countries including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Asean, and Malaysia.
 Under such agreements, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum number of goods traded between them.
 The minister has introduced a change in Section 28DA of Customs Act that pertains to procedures regarding claim of preferential rate of duty.
 According to an industry expert, the change has provided specific obligations to importers and prescribing them for time-bound verifications of such imports. RR HRS

Govt to review rules of origin requirement in FTAs for certain sensitive items

<ul><li><keyword id="203890" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-Entertainment">Shemaroo Entertainment</keyword> has ventured into the broadcast space with the launch of a Hindi free-to-air GEC, <keyword id="9139921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-TV">Shemaroo TV</keyword>.</li><li>The channel will give the audience a combination of freshly brewed content as well as acquired content that has so far been available only on paid channels.</li><li><keyword id="207966" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiren-Gada">Hiren Gada</keyword>, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment speaks to us about how the organization succeeded in launching a TV channel in the midst of the lockdown, and its marketing strategy going ahead. </li></ul>Shemaroo has managed to pull off a brave feat, it has launched a free-to-air (FTA) general entertainment TV channel, in the midst of a national lockdown, when most players are cutting spends and cancelling or postponing big-ticket launches, events and projects. Going live today, Shemaroo TV is aimed at catering to the under-served FTA category, giving the audience a combination of freshly brewed content as well as acquired content that has so far been available on paid channels. The launch comes at a time when most of us are stuck at our homes and television viewership is at an all-time high. Considering the adverse times we are living in right now, we thought it would be interesting to know what went behind Shemaroo’s TV channel launch and Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment let us in on their strategy. Work on the channel launch had started close to 8 months back when the company mapped the ecosystem, exploring the opportunities available. Around October it was decided that they wanted to operate in the FTA space. The process behind the launch Earlier this year, Shemaroo also launched its Marathi channel, Marathibana and a lot of learnings from that experience went into the launch of Shemaroo TV, shared Gada. Shemaroo had also simultaneously been working on the content side of things for the Hindi channel. “Since we started work almost 7-8 months ago, we were in a state of quasi-readiness even before the lockdown. Our content strategy was already in place. However, eventually putting everything together was a huge task and I would like to thank our team who in a way are our warriors who put everything together, in spite of everything. There was a lot of remote working involved around how do we ingest the content, around programming, the channel identity elements and a lot of the technical aspects too. A lot of work happened off-site. But there was a small set of people that managed to be in office for the ingestion of the content, which was the most important link,” shared Gada. The limitations (and opportunities) of launching during a pandemic The lockdown has led to the OOH and experiential industry also witnessing a complete shutdown. Spending on the Print medium is also largely muted. And when one has to organize a launch, these are the three primary mediums that organizations rely on. So how challenging has marketing been for the organization during the lockdown? “Its been both a challenge and an opportunity. We are missing out on a few key media that would ideally have been a part of the launch campaign. However, since people have been indoors, they are spending a substantially higher amount of time on television and digital. That opens up the digital and TV marketing aspects significantly,” explained Gada. Shemaroo will be largely using these two mediums to connect with audiences, letting them know about the new channel. Gada believes that due to their strong presence on digital, the medium could be their strength. “We will also be running a whole lot of campaigns on various mediums, including social media,” he added. Looking at the brighter side of the lockdown, Gada also said that this is a time when people are far more open to experimentation and sampling. “During normal times, people are hooked on to their daily soaps and to make people move t a different channel is a challenge. But now, the opportunity to get people to sample a new offering is significantly higher,” he explained. From the advertiser’s perspective While the FTA space is driven by advertising, brands at this moment are cutting down on spends. Shemaroo doesn’t have advertisers on board right now but the conversations with marketers have been positive, shared Gada. “Fundamentally, advertising follows viewership. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a new channel or an already-existing one. There may be some relationships and legacy deals in place but today, TV advertising has become much more scientific. When we mapped the FTA space post the new tariff order, we realized there’s a natural opportunity opening in the space to capture a considerable share of the estimated Rs 2,500 crore FTA advertising market. Also, with leading broadcasters pulling out from Free Dish, Rs 1,000 crore of advertising opportunity opened and was potentially available for existing and new channels in the FTA space. Also, there’s a severe shortage of content in both the <keyword id="874299" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hindi-GEC">Hindi GEC</keyword> and Marathi market. This means that while the eyeballs and mediums are in place, the vehicle is not there for the advertisers. And this was the sense we got from many of the agencies and brands we spoke to. We understand that in the ultra short-term, there’s a dip in ad spends, but once the lockdown opens, to a reasonable extent, we should be bouncing back reasonably well because ultimately India is a consumer and consumption-based economy where brand-building is very important and TV is the biggest medium to build any brand today,” shared Gada. Shemaroo’s focus for the next 2-3 months would be to increase consumption and get consumers hooked on to their content. “We believe the monetization is 2-3 months away as we get the entire process of capturing ratings in place. In the meantime, we will build our viewership and get more and more people to sample our channel,” he added. Launching today, the channel will be available on all major DTH operators and cable networks.

How Shemaroo pulled off the launch of its channel Shemaroo TV during the lockdown

As countries are signing free trade agreements (FTAs), around 70% companies are not fully utilizing such agreements and are paying more in tariffs and duties, an international survey revealed. 
 
The biggest challenge companies face are manual processes, disparate systems, managing complex and changing regulatory requirements. 
 
The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Thomson+Reuters">Thomson Reuters</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=KPMG">KPMG</a> survey collected responses from 446 corporate trade specialists in 11 countries. 
 
"Many corporates are struggling to meet complex compliance requirements using inefficient manual processes that can expose their companies to risk, consume time and resources, and don't leave time for activities that directly impact the bottom-line," says the survey. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

70% companies fail to utilize FTA

<keyword id="105741" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sony-Corp">Sony corp</keyword> India has allegedly violated the India-Asean free trade agreement to import goods from the group's overseas arms without paying appropriate duties. 
 
Further, the corporation is the cross-hairs of a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Directorate+of+Revenue+Intelligence+%28DRI%29+">Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)</a> investigation, the latest instance of a crackdown on corporates for abusing trade pacts, reported ET. 
 
A source in the agency said the probe is going on, adding that DRI officials had visited the company's office to get documents. Sony's India arm has also been asked to furnish documents from suppliers. 
 
Moreover, statements of officials have been recorded in the case, which is likely to have a duty implication of about Rs 300 crore. 
 
However, a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sony+India+">Sony India</a> spokesperson said: "No show-cause notice has been issued to <keyword id="233026" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sony-India">Sony India</keyword> regarding the import of TVs." 
 Sony is not the only company coming on the radar of the DRI, which has earlier carried out probes against firms such as <keyword id="6358309" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Toshiba">Toshiba</keyword> and <keyword id="139191" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Haier">Haier</keyword> and both companies have stumped up money claimed by the authorities as unpaid duties. 
 
DRI officials confirmed ET that a probe was on and a show-cause notice would be issued soon. 
 The investigations are focused on the import of televisions from <keyword id="8695" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Malaysia">Malaysia</keyword> in a semi-knocked down condition by allegedly mis-declaring them as parts that attract concessional duties under the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=India-Asean+free+trade+agreement">India-Asean free trade agreement</a>. 
 
The Indo-Asean FTA offers concessional duty benefit to a large number of goods manufactured in the Asean region. However, all imports from Asean countries into India have to meet a mandatory 35% value addition norm in the Asean country from where they are exported to India. Without due value addition, India can deny duty benefits available to goods under the FTA. 
 
Under the treaty, LCD panels, which constitute 80% of the cost of TV sets, attracts zero duty, whereas other parts attract a 4% import duty. The basic customs duty on colour TVs is 10%, implying a big duty benefit in case of televisions in a semi-knocked down condition. 
 
The DRI has questioned the premise of a 35% value addition in the country of origin - <a href="file:///C:/Users/gunja.d/Documents/August%202015/Malaysia">Malaysia</a>. As per DRI, LCD panels were not manufactured in Malaysia, rendering the claims of a 35% value addition next to impossible. Another source with the agency said the company had already deposited Rs 100 crore towards past duty liabilities and discontinued availing FTA benefits from February this year. 
 
Policymakers in India have long been worried about the misuse of concessions given under FTA pacts in violation of country of origin norms. 
 
Cases of third country exports taking advantage of duty benefits have risen lately, leading the government to also conclude that such imports undermine its attempts to boost domestic manufacturing under the 'Make in India' initiative. 
 
 (Image: Reuters)

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