Skip to main content

US-China Tensions Rise, India takes advantage



India is said to be developing land of more than 450,000 acres, in order to attract Companies who would want to leave China. Tensions between the US and China have rised after the US blamed China for the development of the coronavirus disease. A rise in tension could include a trade war by both countries adding tariffs and hence making it worse for companies producing in China.


This is the perfect opportunity for India to give shelter to the companies willing to leave China. If India makes the best of this then they could see companies setting up industries in India which will make products in India cheaper, improve the balance of trades, contribute to GDP growth, create employment and generate tax revenue.


The industries setting up will make the goods cheaper since the goods will be produced in India and tariffs and quotas can be avoided. Some amount of goods will also be exported and the overall imports will be reduced, hence increasing the injection and reducing the leakage from the circular flow of income. Since industries will be shifting here, they will also require labour and hence creating employment in the country and lifting people out of poverty. The raw material required to supply these industries may also come from local suppliers and hence increase the revenue for these local firms. The income earned by the employees of the new firms will spend some proportion of their money on other goods and services and hence increase the flow of money in the economy, an example of the keynesian multiplier.  The firms setting up will also pay corporate tax and hence increase government revenue which can be used in education and other such vital sectors.


The setting up of firms can also cause negative impacts to the economy. The firms setting up can use the deregulation of labour laws(link to article) in order to exploit the workers by paying them low wages. The new firms may also pose a threat to the smaller local firms by competing with them and selling at lower prices due to economies of scale. The firms could also send profits back to their home country and avoid paying taxes in India or pay lower taxes, the money they would earn would hence be considered a part of other countries GNI and not India’s. Most importantly, they may have negative externalities such as pollution and dumping waste on land and nearby water bodies, which would affect the air quality and marine life in India. If workers are not provided with suitable working conditions then they may have health problems. 


Overall, it would really benefit the economy if India is able to welcome new firms, but in that case the labour laws should be set back to normal, complying with the International Labour Organisations guidelines and also prevent firms from causing negative externalities and promote sustainable industries while also allowing them to set up with ease and help the economy recover from the negative impact caused by the coronavirus.


Image source- theweek.in
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Trending Posts

E - Vehicles get assistance by Delhi government

  The Delhi government has announced an incentive on the purchase of electric vehicles, upto Rs. 30,000 on two wheelers and Rs. 150,000 on four wheelers. The incentive will come in the form of a subsidy which will allow producers to produce at lower costs and therefore are likely to reduce prices for consumers. This will funded by the pollution cess and road tax on fuels. India has very few electric vehicles due to high tariffs on importing electric vehicles and also lack of domestic production. Although Two wheelers have become famous in the country due to previous central government initiatives such as FAME, these initiatives have not been  very effective.  E- Vehicles are beneficial for the environment since they reduce the greenhouse emissions and are also considered to be on average low cost. One of the reasons for a lot of companies to not produce in India was the high cost and less availability of spare parts. This assistance gives the producer an incentive to manufacture in Ind
4 comments
Full article

Privatization of Indian Railways

The Ministry of Railways has announced that it would be moving towards the privatization of 109 railway routes. The Indian railways are the world's fourth-largest network. The government plans an Rs. 30,000 Crore investment from the private sector.  According to the ministry, the objective of this is to modernize the railway, reduce traveling time, create jobs, and enhance safety along with better experience. The department also stated that the private trains would be equivalent or faster than the already existing trains on the same route.  The private sector will also be responsible for the maintenance and operating of these costs and will have to pay haulage and energy charges to the Indian Railways, and the driver and guard will be from the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways has been a burden on the government due to its losses. The affordable prices of the railways, limit the revenue generated by the government, and privatizing the railway could help ease this bu
4 comments
Full article

PRICE WAR IN THE OIL INDUSTRY

On 8th March 2020 there was a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, which consequently caused 31% price drop (From $31.02 to $20 per barrel). The factor which led to the price war between the two countries is the drop in quantity demand for oil barrels due to the widespread of Coronavirus, subsequently Russia refused to agree with  OPEC to stabilise/fix a price, clearly indicating a non-collusive oligopoly. The price war has caused the oil prices to drastically fall, and has also led to reduction in the world oil supply, which can have drastic effects on the economy because oil is an essential resource for the world, as oil is used for transportation, energy production, cooking and more, without these activities an economy will have major problems in functioning, for instance visualise an economy sustaining without electricity; communicating with other without electricity would become impossible, which can result in an economy down turn. Nonetheless, the reduction
Post a Comment
Full article

UK terminates Tampon Tax: A significant and necessary step

Tampons are products used by women during their menstrual cycle. This good could be classified as need, making it essential for survival and something that all women should have access to. UK officially left the European Union on 31st December 2020, and with this its obligation for a 5% tax on tampons was also forgone, the UK could now choose to tax this good according to its will, since the EU did not allow the tampon tax of 5% to be reduced or abolished, however since BREXIT is now complete the Boris led government has made the decision to take a step which was long needed.  The tampon tax raises the price of the good, making it expensive for consumers, and in some cases may also make it unaffordable for poor consumers, which should not be the case since making tampons inaccessible can have multiple adverse effects. Woman who cannot afford these products during their cycle, may feel stressed and depressed, they are less likely to go to work and if they do, they are more likely to be
Post a Comment
Full article

RBI INTERVENES AGAINST COVID-19

On Friday, March 27, India’s Central Bank, The Reserve Bank of India reduced the Repo Rate and Reverse Repo Rate in order to tackle the economic slowdown India is facing due to the  coronavirus. India has been under a total lock down and only essential services are open to consumers, this has led to production of a lot of goods and services being put at a standstill since workers cannot travel to their workplace, leading to a shortage of goods and services  forcing many retailers to sell goods at higher prices. The repo rate is the rate at which the commercial banks borrow money from the central bank. The reverse repo rate is the rate at which the central banks borrow money from the commercial  banks, commercial banks may park their excess money there. Both the repo and reverse repo rate are a part of the monetary policy which controls the interest rate and money supply in the  country.  The new repo rate is set at 4.40% and this has been the lowest in the history
Post a Comment
Full article

What Does Boycott China Mean for the poor in India?

Throughout May, the situation between India and China at their border. In June, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash at the Galwan valley which led to an escalation in tensions between the two economic and military powerhouses. This sparked anger among the Indians and many, including politicians called for a boycott of Chinese Imports. However, what is not known is if India can live without Chinese goods. China is India’s largest trading partner and India runs a trade deficit with China, which means the value of goods imported from China is more than the goods exported from India to China. The problem with boycotting Chinese goods is that the goods imported from China are to a large extent goods which are cheap but to an extent quality goods, such as mobile phones. Although goods from European and American competitors tend to be better than the Chinese, they are expensive and only a small proportion of Indians can afford them. Therefore, those who are rich are less likely to use g
3 comments
Full article

SUPREME COURT ORDERS TO MAKE COVID-19 TESTING FREE

On Thursday, 9th April, the Supreme Court of India asked the government to ensure that testing for the coronavirus should be made free by all private labs. The reason for this being that private labs are charging nearly Rs.4500, which many Indian may not be able to afford. Government labs which do the tests for free can do around 15,000 tests a day. By taking this decision the supreme court is making the tests widely available and reducing the chances of spreading the virus. This was an important step because the poor people are more likely to get Coronavirus since they live closely and they should be able to afford these tests. Since these tests become free it will lead to India getting rid of Coronavirus faster which is good for the economy. However, the private labs may not be able to bear the cost of providing everyone with free tests and may have to shut down. Hence the government will have provided them with some other source of support. The court also announced that the g
Post a Comment
Full article

HCQ Dilemma

O ne of the recent articles stated that the USA has demanded India to supply them with HCQ for the rising corona  malaria, and it is also recommended by the scientists and doctors that HCQ can to certain extent cure virus victims in the USA. Nonetheless the USA is not the only country demanding India for the HCQ drug, there are multiple other countries which are demanding India for HCQ suppliers. This signifies the shortage in the world market for the HCQ drug.  The HCQ drug is a drug used to combat and help victims or patients of coronavirus recover. Knowingly, as the cases of coronavirus in the USA are rising exponentially, which is leading to an economic instability (Exchange rates are becoming more volatile), and this is one of the main reasons why the demand for the HCQ drug is more than the supply for it leading to a shortage in the market. According to one of the recent news articles there is a shortage of the HCQ drug in Rajasthan. The shortage in the world market will cont
Post a Comment
Full article

US ANNOUNCES $2.9 MILLION ASSISTANCE FOR INDIA TO TACKLE COVID-19

T he United States government announced that they would be providing India with a $2.9 million assistance package in order to help the Indian government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, and support technical experts for response and preparedness. This will help India combat the deadly virus which has taken thousands of lives around the world. As India is still in the initial stages and under a lockdown, the total cases in India stand a little above 1200 and have continued to grow, looking at other countries such as Italy and the United States, who have a smaller population and better health facilities compared to India and hence India poses a larger threat from this virus. According to experts the most effective way to stop the spread of this virus is to have social distancing because the virus can spread easily from person to person. However, the World Health Organisation believes that to contain the virus all countries need
Post a Comment
Full article