Feature
Make In India tidings ahead
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November US visit resulted in a corporate commitments of $41 billion in India and on the other hand there is a positive note expected that President Barack Obama’s visit later this week might bring major announcements on the Make In India front.
Amitabh Kant, secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), is currently heading a team in Washington for an outreach on the Make in India programme Tuesday that will be attended by all top American companies with interets in India
A source in the commerce and industry ministry told IANS that the outreach will convey the improved environment for doing business in India and assure US investors of a stable policy regime. The delegation will meet with officials of several top companies to get investments in the industrial corridors planned in India.
During the Obama visit, intellectual property rights and a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) would be key issues on the agenda, according to a US State Department official.
The commerce ministry source said a series of woerking group meetings are planned on various issues, including intellectual property rights (IPR), investment in manufacturing, a totalisation pact, market access for agricultural products and an easier visa regime.
The groups were set up under the trade policy forum (TPF), reconvened after a gap of four years in November, that was co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Trade Representative Michael Froman.
The US has been pressing for tightening India’s IPR regime, while Froman had, in November, said here that high standards were being adopted by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and India too needs to look at its current standards.
While officials from both sides are working on a multi-billion dollar fund to invest in India’s renewable energy sector to be announced during the US president’s visit, solar power projects have reportedly become problematic due to the Make In India campaign.
The government’s announcement last month, of a series of 1,000 MW solar PV (photovoltaic) power projects that has a mandatory condition that all PV cells and modules used in solar plants set up under the scheme will be made in India, is reportedly an irritant for the US.
The US has complained against India at the World Trade Organisation over the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission’s domestic content requirement (DCR) for solar cells and solar modules in its projects.
India maintains that US subsidies on solar products threaten Indian manufacturers and has accused it of dumping cheap and outdated technology in India.
India is expected to push for an easier US visa regime for its professionals and a totalisation pact that would exempt Indian workers from having to make social security contributions.
Top chief executives from both countries are slated to meet to meet on Jan 26 to set the agenda for economic cooperation.
The US is the sixth largest investor in India with $13 billion from April 2000 to September 2014. It is also India’s second largest trading partner after China with bilateral trade worth $61.64 billion.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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