22 Sep 2021: PIB Summary & Analysis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. India – United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
2. National Single Window System for Investors and Businesses
3. Commission for Air Quality Management

1. India – United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

Context:

Negotiations launched for the India – United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Details:

• The first round of CEPA negotiations will be held on 23-24 September 2021.
• India and the UAE signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2017.
• It is expected that the CEPA negotiations will be concluded by December this year and a formal agreement would be signed in March 2022 after the completion of internal legal procedures and ratification.
• The CEPA will create new jobs, raise living standards, and provide wider social and economic opportunities in both nations.
• A new strategic economic agreement is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods to USD 100 billion within five years of the signed agreement and increase trade in services to USD 15 billion.

Background of India – UAE Economic Relations:

• The UAE is currently India’s third-largest trading partner with bilateral trade in 2019-20 valued at USD 59 billion.
• The UAE is also India’s second-largest export destination after the US.
• India was the UAE’s second-largest trading partner in 2019, with bilateral non-oil trade valued at USD 41 billion.
• The UAE is the eighth-largest investor in India, having invested USD 11 billion between April 2000 and March 2021, while investment by Indian companies in the UAE is estimated to be over USD 85 billion.
• India’s major exports to the UAE include petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, food items such as cereals, sugar, fruits and vegetables, tea, meat, and seafood, textiles, engineering and machinery products, and chemicals.
• India’s top imports from the UAE include petroleum and petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, chemicals and wood and wood products.
• India imported USD 10.9 billion of crude oil from the UAE in 2019-2020.

2. National Single Window System for Investors and Businesses

Context:

Government launched a National Single Window System (NSWS) for investors and businesses.

Details:

• The single window portal will become a one-stop-shop for investors for approvals and clearances.
• The system is expected to bring in transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the ecosystem and all information will be available on a single dashboard.
• An applicant Dashboard would be there to apply, track and respond to queries.
• The portal currently hosts approvals across 18 Central Departments and 9 States, and another 14 Central depts and five states will be added by December 2021.
• The NSWS provides the following services:
  • Know Your Approval (KYA) Service: It generates a list of approvals required by any business to commence operations. It does so by asking the investor a series of dynamic questions about their planned business activities and identifies the applicable approvals on the basis of responses provided. This service is for guidance purpose only.
  • Common Registration Form: To ensure a single point of submission of information and documents across Ministries and States, a unified information capturing system along with a common registration form has been introduced.
  • State registration form: Enables investor to have seamless single click access to respective State Single Window System.
  • Applicant dashboard: Provides a single online interface to apply, track and respond to the queries pertaining to approvals and registrations across ministries and States.
  • Document repository: An online centralized storage service for investors to enable one-time document submission and use the same across multiple approvals eliminating the need for submitting documents at multiple portals.
  • E-Communication module: Enables online response to queries and clarification requests related to applications by Ministries and States.

3. Commission for Air Quality Management

Context:

Commission for Air Quality Management in the National capital region and adjoining areas takes a series of steps towards abatement of Air Pollution.

Know more about the Commission for Air Quality Management in PIB dated Jan 22, 2021.

Read previous PIB here.

September 22nd, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here