- Arvind's Newsletter
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- Arvind's Newsletter
1.Amazon set to cross $8 bn in exports from India by 2023, up 60% YoY
These developments are in line with the company's target of crossing the $20-billion mark in exports by 2025. This has been doubled from its previous target.
The firm now has 125,000 Indian exporters from more than 200 cities under its Amazon Global Selling Programme, which was launched in 2015. Of this, more than 1,200 exporters on the programme crossed Rs 1-crore sales in 2022, the company said while unveiling its Exports Digest 2023 report.
The programme, Amazon said, has allowed exporters to sell over 266 million ‘Made-in-India’ products through Amazon’s 18 international marketplaces. The US, the UK, Canada, France, Spain and Italy were among the top marketplaces for Indian exporters.
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC makes a big bet on India’s energy sector with $2 bn bet acquire majority control of a smart metering platform Genus Power Infrastructure, which is one of the largest players in the smart metering solutions industry. With the funding Genus will scale up its the deployment of energy “smart meters" across India, supporting energy security and transition through grid optimisation and efficiency.
The government of India is implementing the National Smart Metering Project, with a plan to install 250,000,000 meters by 2025 with an estimated investment of $30 billion. With technical and commercial losses exceeding 15% for all major Indian utilities leading to high financial losses, smart metering projects under the RDSS scheme are conceptualised to reduce such losses, improve operational efficiency of DISCOMs and improve their financial sustainability by providing results linked financial assistance.
3. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod to the revised Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, which will be tabled during the monsoon session of Parliament, according to a source.
The bill aims to make entities like internet companies, mobile apps, and business houses more accountable and answerable about collection, storage and processing of the data of citizens as part of "Right to Privacy". The monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to be held from July 20 to August 11.
The government had in August withdrawn the personal data protection bill, which was first presented in late 2019, and issued a new version of the draft bill in November 2022.
4.Chinese EVs have yet to succeed in Europe. The Middle East could be different reports Tech Crunch.
For Chinese electric car manufacturers, Europe has long been a priority destination for international expansion. With its affluence, environmental consciousness, and relatively friendly attitude towards China, the continent has attracted established players like BYD as well as emerging brands like Nio and Xpeng.
Despite their ambitious plans, Chinese EV makers yet to achieve the level of success they had hoped for in Europe. In 2022, BYD held a mere 0.3% market share across 14 major European markets, while Xpeng and Nio, which both entered Europe in 2021, each accounted for 0.1% of the region, according to auto data tracking site EU-EVs. Western carmakers continue to dominate the market, with Tesla enjoying a 15% share, Volkswagen with 11.3%, and BMW with 6.2%.
It’s too soon to say if China’s ambitious EV makers will ever establish a strong foothold in Europe, but the early tepid performance is driving them to hedge their bets. They are setting their sights on a region halfway between Europe and China — the Middle East.
Meanwhile, China’s WeRide secures first national self-driving vehicle license from UAE
The permit allows WeRide to test its Level 4 autonomous vehicles on public roads throughout the country. Level 4 is a designation by SAE that means the vehicle can handle all aspects of driving in certain conditions without human intervention.
The license is a step towards Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s vision of making 25% of the company’s transportation system fully self-driving by 2030.
The country’s ruling council also approved a policy for electric vehicles, regulating the market and building a national charging network.
5.There are at least 140 space-tech startups in India, up from just five before the pandemic reports the New York Times.
Much of India’s space industry is built on the success of the Indian Space Research Organisation — the local version of NASA — whose “workhorse” rocket has a reputation for being one of the most reliable in the industry. Combined with a young, affordable, and highly skilled workforce, India is fast becoming one of the most competitive launch sites in the world.
