Editorial     

Need for diplomatic strategy to deal with Trump tariff war

The Indian economy, which is passing through an extremely difficult time with a slow ing GDP, declining exports, rising inflation, continued devaluation of the rupee against the US dollar, declining urban and rural consumption, and the slowing down of the wheels of the manufacturing sector, is on the verge of suffering a body blow if US President Trump follows up on his warning of imposing stiff tariffs on India and other US trade partners. Like it or not, India is currently not in a position to tide over a sharp US tariff hike, which may revolt in a staggering loss of Rs. seven lakh crore.

As it happens, the US is India’s largest export destination, accounting for around 18 per cent of total global exports from India in fiscal 2024. Our US exports comprise mainly pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, automotive components, agriculture prod ucts and gems & jewellery. If reciprocal US tariffs are imposed on these items, Indian exports will suffer a severe setback, hitting the country’s economy very hard. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this will administer a body blow to the Indian economy.

The Modi government, which has not been giving its fullest attention to the economic problems the country is facing, should not ignore the serious threat posed by Mr Trump’s impending tariffs. The government should persuade the US President to offer liberal con cessions to India on major export items. After all, during his recent visit to the US, Prime Minister Modi had agreed to Mr Trump’s demand to import oil, gas and F-35 jet planes from the US. Can’t we then expect concessions on tariffs on our export items in return? It would not impact the US economy much but it will be a question of life and death for the Indian economy.

The situation is so explosive that the time has come for India to adopt a strategy that focuses on strategic autonomy, economic diversification, domestic capacity building and climate resilience.

It is widely speculated that Mr Trump’s second term as US President will bring about a seismic shift in the global economic and political landscape. He is determined to make the US such a powerful nation that no country will even think of crossing swords with it on any issue. In fact, instead of playing with words like MAGA and MIGA, Mr Modi should strive to make his promising ‘Make in India’ policys a real success.

Unfortunately, the ground reality is that India, which had earlier vowed to stop imports from China, has today become its largest trade partner with huge imports from Beijing. As a result, today it is not ‘Make in India’ but ‘Made in China and Imported by India’. This trend should be reversed and the government should go all out to make ‘Make in India’ a huge success.

Meanwhile, the utmost importance should be given to try to soften the impact of US tariffs on Indian exports. If Prime Minister can use his personal ‘dosti’ with Mr Trump to extract special tariff concessions for India, he will have made a signal diplomatic contribu tion to the health of the country’s economy.

written by

Deven Malkan

Cover story     

Will Trump Tramp Indian Economy?

US President Donald Trump has sent shock waves across the globe, including India, with his ‘America First’ policy of slapping punitive tariffs on the US’s trade partners in response to what he believes are unfair tariffs by other countries on US exports.

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Feud on Tata’s huge bequest

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Captains Speak     

Demerger plan back on track

Our much-awaited demerger scheme, which has been delayed for the last few months, is now in the process. Papers have been refiled with SEBI and we hope to get all the required approvals by the end of this year.” Stating this at a conference call organised to discuss the performance of the company during Q3 of fiscal 2025, Ravi Jhunjhunwala, Chairman and Managing Direc tor of HEG, added that “with strong technological capabili ties, operational efficiencies and remarkable market reach, we are confident of navigating indus try shifts and creating long-term value for our shareholders.

Fortune Scrip     

Leading Player In Integrated Pharma Spac

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Portfolio Choice         

Smorgasbord of speciality chemicals

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Kerala’s undisputed healthcare king

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Pole player in outdoor advertising

Mumbai-headquartered Signpost India is a small cap player providing both static and digital OOH (out of house) advertising services. Since inception in 2008, it has emerged as a leading outdoor advertising solutions provider that creates advertising properties around public convenience utilities.

Corporate Review     

Leading India’s shipbuilding vision

Cochin Shipyard (CSL), a category-1 ‘miniratna’ Central PSU which is listed on both NSE and BSE, recently entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with AP Moller-Maersk to explore collaboration opportunities in ship repairs, maintenance and shipbuilding in India. Re cently, the Union Budget 2025-26 announced the government’s plan to position India among the top global maritime hubs. The budget announcement also aligns with the government’s ‘Vision 2047’ maritime objectives.

Corporate Feature     

Born to redefine hospitality For new age travellers

A new hotel chain styled Monday Hotels has risen on India’s hospitality firmament. During the couple of years’ existence, it has emerged as a fast growing mid-segment business hotel chain in India, designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s business and leisure travelers.

March 15, 2025 - First Issue

Industry Review

VOL XVI - 12
March 01-15, 2025

Formerly Fortune India Managing Editor Deven Malkan Assistant Editor A.K. Batha President Bhupendra Shah Circulation Executive Warren Sequeira Art Director Prakash S. Acharekar Graphic Designer Madhukar Thakur Investment Analysis CI Research Bureau Anvicon Research DD Research Bureau Manager (Special Projects) Bhagwan Bhosale Editorial Associates New Delhi Ranjana Arora Bureau Chief Kolkata Anirbahn Chawdhory Gujarat Pranav Brahmbhatt Bureau Cheif Mobile: 098251-49108 Bangalore Jaya Padmanabhan Bureau Chief Chennai S Gururajan Bureau Chief (Tamil Nadu) Ludhiana Ajitkumar Vijh Bhubaneshwar Braja Bandhu Behera

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