FICCI provides summaries of key issues discussed in November 2016. Issues included comments on WPI and IIP data showing continued softening of inflation and need to boost growth in key sectors. FICCI's business confidence index reached a six-quarter high and demand was gradually improving. FICCI supported the government's decision to demonetize Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes and urged measures to ease liquidity issues.

1. OFFICE BEARERS OF FICCI FOR THE YEAR 2016 - 17
Mr. Pankaj R. Patel, President, FICCI
Chairman and Managing Director, Zydus Cadila – Cadila Healthcare Ltd.
Mr Rashesh Shah, Senior Vice President, FICCI Mr. Malvinder Singh, Vice President, FICCI
Chairman & CEO Edelweiss Group Chairman-Fortis Healthcare Limited & SRL
Diagnostics Ltd.
FICCI’s Voice – SG’s Desk is a service to all our members and also shared with key policy makers and
thought leaders. The document is a compilation of major topical issues that we take up with the Central,
State governments and other concerned authorities. These issues come to us directly from members, or
through deliberations in conferences, seminars etc. on sectoral issues, as also through Government
notifications.
** This issue of FICCI’s Voice is a compilation of issues taken up by FICCI in the month of November 2016
DECEMBER 2016

2. • FICCI COMMENTS ON WPI NUMBERS
(15th November 2016)
WPI numbers released, reported further softening in price levels. The food segment reported moderation
in prices for the third consecutive month in October. Inflation remains within Reserve Bank of India’s
indicative trajectory, which is a huge positive for the economy and prices are expected to remain range
bound going ahead, said FICCI.
Given the latest move to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, there could be a temporary
squeeze of liquidity. Amidst, this scenario it remains critical that both the Government and Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) take measures to counter any downside impact on economic activity.
FICCI would urge the RBI to continue with an accommodative stance, support the sentiment of investors
and consumers and stabilize demand. An immediate 50 basis points cut in repo rate should be considered
by RBI as well as some measures may be introduced to provide easy finance for sectors like housing,
automobiles and consumer durables.
• FICCI COMMENTS ON IIP DATA
(11th November 2016)
Commenting on the IIP data released FICCI said that the growth and investments in manufacturing remain
an area of concern. While a slew of measures have been taken by the government in the last few months.
However, there is a need to address deeper structural issues to ensure that growth revives and is
sustainable.
The de- growth in key sectors like capital goods, mining, apparels, chemicals and electrical machinery is
indeed a cause for concern. The situation demands that the Government should now provide relief to
the industry by lowering the interest cost burden and taking sector specific measures to boost growth.
• FICCI’S OVERALL BUSINESS CONFIDENCE INDEX AT SIX QUARTER HIGH, DEMAND PULSE
GAINING TRACTION
(2nd November 2016)
The results of FICCI’s latest Business Confidence Survey points towards a sanguine mood among members
of India Inc. The Overall Business Confidence Index (OBCI) rose to a six quarter high. The index value stood
at 67.3 in the current survey, vis-à-vis 62.8 in the last round. This was supported by an improved
assessment of the respondents with regard to current conditions as well as expectations. The proportion
of respondents citing a ‘moderately to substantially better’ performance currently vis-à-vis last six months
noted an increase at all the three levels – economy, industry and firm level. The participants were
optimistic about near term prospects as well.
About 63% of the respondents in the present survey reported current economic conditions as ‘moderately
to substantially better’ compared to last six months. Likewise, the corresponding number at the industry
and firm level was 63% and 60% respectively. About 75% of the participants said that they foresee a better
performance at the economy level in near term. Further, 63% of the respondents at the industry level and
70% of the respondents at the firm level were hopeful of a better performance going ahead.
India is on the recovery course and there are indications of an improved economic activity. The
Government’s focus on reforms has been laudable and it is hoped that the momentum on implementation
will continue. The recent consensus on the passage of GST Bill is commendable and industry is looking
forward to GST being rolled out in April next year. This will be a game changer for Indian industry and
economy.

3. The survey results also show that the demand pulse is gradually gaining strength, which is a welcome sign.
Good monsoons and award of the seventh pay commission will give a further trigger to demand.
In the current round, 46% of the participants reported weak demand to be an impediment to their
business performance. This was lower than 59% respondents stating likewise in the previous round. The
proportion of respondents indicating demand to be a constraining factor has noted a decline for the third
consecutive quarter.
• FICCI COMMENTS ON GOVERNMENT'S DECISION ON CURRENCY NOTES
Commenting on the decision of the government as announced by the Hon’ble Prime Minister to suspend
the legal tender status of notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 and to introduce new currency notes, FICCI said
that this is an extremely bold move by the Prime Minister and will have a debilitating impact on the parallel
economy in the country as well as deal a body blow to terror financing. FICCI completely supports this
move of the Government and complements it for continuous and comprehensive measures to deal with
the issue of black money in the country.
There could be some inconvenience that this change may lead to for the people of our country for a few
days. However, we are sure that government and RBI will take adequate measures to ensure the transition
happens smoothly. We appeal to all sections of society to support this initiative and help India’s economy
gain strength by addressing the menace of black money and illicit transactions.
• FICCI COMMENTS ON GST RATE STRUCTURE
FICCI compliments the GST Council in reaching a consensus and finalising the four tier rate structure under
GST. The rate structure will achieve the twin objective of protecting the revenues of the Central and the
State Governments and further containing the inflationary pressures that may arise consequent upon the
change of the taxation system.
It is believed that the consensus reached today on the rate structure will pave the way for a successful
implementation of GST in the country from April 1, 2017. FICCI looks forward to working with the Central
and the State Governments in implementing the most ambitious indirect tax reform of the nation.
• DEMONETISATION WILL YIELD SEVERAL BENEFITS TO THE ECONOMY IN THE MEDIUM AND LONG
TERM
The demonetisation move of the Government is an extremely progressive step and will yield several
benefits for the economy in the medium to long term. The decision to replace the existing currency notes
of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 with new notes will ensure that the perpetrators of terror financing, drug financing
and other anti-national activities will be severely restricted in their activities. Additionally, this will help in
bringing a major transition towards a cashless economy that has its own merits. FICCI whole heartedly
welcomes this move of the government and urges all its constituents to proliferate the positives of this
measure taken by the government.
We do understand that in the immediate term the process of replacement of currency notes will lead to
some inconvenience for the people. Given the scale and size of this effort, one cannot expect a transition
that happens overnight. The government and RBI are continuously monitoring the situation and taking
several positive measures to ease the situation for the people of the country.
Given the change underway, there could be some squeeze of liquidity for a while before things normalise.
This is expected. However, to counter any downside impact on the level of economic activity, FICCI would

4. urge the Government and RBI to consider bringing down the interest rates that could help stabilise the
demand in the economy. A 50 basis points cut in repo rate should be considered by RBI as well as some
measures may be introduced to provide easy finance for sectors like housing, automobiles and consumer
durables. Greater focus on infrastructure projects and stepping up outlays in this area could also be
considered by the government.
Additionally, there is a need to undertake a massive campaign throughout the country to promote the
use of digital means of payments. This should be accompanied by a series of incentives for the people,
banks and retail merchants to adopt the digital mode for transactions, said FICCI.
• INDIA’S DIRECT SELLING INDUSTRY FORMS CORE COMPONENT OF THE GOVERNMENT’S FLAGSHIP
CAMPAIGNS
FICCI said that the Indian Direct Selling Industry is an important component of the Indian economy and
acknowledging this, FICCI through its focused task force on direct selling is working dedicatedly towards
the growth of this industry and seeking regulatory clarity for this new industry. FICCI is working closely
with the Central and State Governments on the same. FICCI would like to congratulate MoCA for
implementing the much awaited guidelines to govern the sector. FICCI is certain that the effective
enactment of the same would facilitate further growth of the sector and act as a growth catalyst.
FICCI said that the Industry 4.0, or Industrie 4.0, is the current trend of automation and data exchange in
manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things and cloud
computing. Industry 4.0 creates what has been called a "smart factory" and urged the industry leaders to
adhere to the same. The buzzing direct selling industry is exceptionally gender friendly and has been a
crucial part of women empowerment.
• MAINSTREAMING NEW COAL-BASED CAPACITIES TO REQUIRE MARKET CORRECTIONS
The government has been pro-actively addressing the refinancing options of the stressed assets in the
economy and new guidelines have been recently issued by the RBI to recast the debt restructuring
schemes and repayment schedules based on asset-liability management risk. For coal-based IPP
generating plants, however, the eco-system of fuel tie-up and market access for selling power will have
to concurrently improve if financial re-engineering is to have any effect, said FICCI. While the demand for
power will be muted till private investments and industrial activity pick-up momentum, an immediate
measure is to liberalise the regime of open access by removing the tariff and non-tariff barriers so that
large consumers, when faced with unreliable and high-cost power supply, can procure directly from
generators.
FICCI also suggests a performance metric to be assigned under the UDAY Scheme so that Discoms can
transparently demonstrate the efficacy of their power procurement planning to meet the demand
estimates and account for un-served loads, if any. However, to maximise fuel supply and supplement
CIL’s coal production, FICCI recommends opening up of the coal sector and ushering in commercial mining,
which will also be a Make in India initiative. FICCI had earlier proposed the concept of a Clearing House
as a market construct for over-the-counter selling of coal under a system of daily trade monitoring and
real time liability and collateral management.
FICCI believes that forward trades via term-ahead contracts for procurement of power combined with
voluntary spot purchases at the exchange will generally provide the market fundamentals, but with the
advent of renewables, lower Plant Load Factors (PLF) will be the new normal for base load generating
stations. In future, inclusion of financial products along with physical trading and capacity contracts will
be necessary to enable risk management of output and demand, improve liquidity and secure the revenue
streams.

5. • FICCI LAUNCHES SELF-REGULATION CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE E-PHARMACY SECTOR
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) announced the launch of Self-
regulation Code of Conduct for the E pharmacy sector.
Accessibility, affordability and lack of awareness are the major challenges for last mile access to medicines.
These barriers could be effectively overcome by adopting technology, specifically the Internet, into the
healthcare system. Over the last one year, E-pharmacy has come up as a significant channel to provide
last mile access to medicines. This will most importantly benefit patients of chronic diseases, elderly
patients and sick patients who are not in a condition to go out to find a pharmacy.
The E-Pharmacy model provides tracking and traceability of medicines, addressing the problem of
counterfeit medicines, consumption of drugs without prescription, tax loss and provides value added
services for consumer empowerment in healthcare, which are well aligned with Digital India initiative of
Honourable Prime Minister with a vision to transform the country into a digitally empowered society.
FICCI voiced the support of consumer friendly models and mentioned that India needs to move with the
times and embrace new age models to stay ahead. Also FICCI has been at the forefront helping many
sectors operate with a process of developing self-governance models, and this initiative is a step in the
right direction to help enable this sector of the economy.
• CONSUMER PROTECTION BILL, 2015, MAY BE TABLED IN ONGOING SESSION OF PARLIAMENT,
FICCI’S FOOD SERVICE RETAIL CONCLAVE ‘FOODZANIA’
The Consumer Protection Bill, 2015, which will replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, will enforce
consumer rights and provide a mechanism for redressal of complaints regarding defects in goods and
deficiency in services.
FICCI said that Foodzania is the initiative by FICCI Food Service Retail Task Force which was formed to
address the issues faced by the stakeholders in the sector. Foodzania is a flagship event of FICCI which
provides a platform to the stakeholders including food service entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, hoteliers,
service providers, vendors and government to address regulatory issues. The conclave addressed
regulatory issues and endeavors to create best of the content and share their business journey to help
the new-age entrepreneurs and food service retail professionals to march ahead.
• INDIAN MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY SEEKS GOVERNMENT’S ATTENTION ON UPCOMING MEDICAL
DEVICE RULES 2016
As Industry associations prepare to submit a detailed representation of Medical Device Industry to the
Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO) and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, it has been
a winding exercise for last six months involving all stakeholders through consultations over meetings,
sharing of industry inputs and waiting for the final draft which was notified on 17 October 2016.
The Medical device draft rules 2016 though broadly well drafted and aligned with global regulatory
practices still leave few critical gaps on issues which were well discussed and deliberated upon but haven’t
been incorporated in the draft, said FICCI.
Indian Med Tech Industry currently traversing the inflexion point of growth and value creation through
Make in India, needs a scientifically well thought out regulatory regime which embodies the essence of
industry’s growth and patient safety in equal measure.

6. Industry welcomes the implementation of UDI, however the strategy and timelines need to be well
planned as it needs tremendous preparation in entire supply chain and should be explicitly clarified that
it shall not be implemented with the notification of rules.
• FICCI DISCUSSES SCOPE OF INDIA-AFRICA COOPERATION TO ACHIEVE ENERGY & CLIMATE GOALS
AT COP 22
FICCI in collaboration with TERI explored synergies between India and Africa on decentralized renewable
energy solutions and discussed how Indian and African private sector could collaborate to propel Africa’s
climate smart growth.
Both India and Africa face the daunting task of defining right to power and ensuring energy access. India
and Africa have huge potential of collaboration to address the challenge of economic and energy poverty
through decentralized and off-grid clean energy solutions. It was highlighted how adoption of clean energy
in Africa is hampered not by the absence of right policies but by the dearth of innovation systems.
Both India and Africa need market driven distributed architecture for clean energy production and
consumption. It is important to make off-grid renewable energy solutions more affordable through
economies of scale – as has been shown by the Indian example of massive uptake of LEDs and low-cost
solar power from solar parks. There is huge scope for innovative business models in agro-forestry, waste
management and solar pumps in the region. It is important to learn from successful models of financial
inclusion such as m-pesa and m-kopa.
FICCI most importantly, highlighted that India-Africa partnership must be based on domestication of
technology. India and Africa can explore collaborative partnerships in three areas for upscaling off-grid
clean energy – first, in development and adoption of standard for off-grid products/systems; second, in
skilling; and third, in building innovation, both in terms of technology and business models.
• INDUSTRY TO WORK CLOSELY WITH ACADEMIA TO FIND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO ECONOMIC
AND SOCIAL ISSUES
FICCI said that multiple forces are working to disrupt the traditional model of higher education. The
Government’s inability to meet the demand for higher education, dominance of private higher education
providers, increasing international competition, young demography that is increasingly mobile and tech
savvy are just some of the factors threatening the status quo.
To align regulations to the changing needs of the industry, FICCI has submitted an analysis of multiplicity
of regulatory bodies in various sectors including higher education to the government. While we appreciate
these efforts, we urge you to recognize the need to expedite the implementation of each initiative. The
National Education Policy 2016 should be defined keeping the future in mind translating real actions at
the States. The disruptive changes, particularly those related to technology were impacting job markets
in a big way. Low-end skills were being outsourced and corporates were looking to employ highly skilled
workers.
• TALENT ACQUISITION, WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT, TECHNOLOGY AND ALUMNI TALENT POOL
ARE CRITICAL ASPECTS OF A HOLISTIC HR PROGRAM, SAYS EXPERTS
HR standards must align with the belief, intention, practice and policies of an organization. There was a
need to have a dialogue to maintain a balance between money and meaning and profit and principles.
FICCI said that an organization must have a clear strategy whether its HR policy is defined by money that
is return on investment or giving an experience to its workforce or is based on profit or principles.

7. FICCI decided to establish a conference on HR themes to discuss the compelling issues of the HR fraternity.
The conference witnessed the presence of policy makers from the government, corporate and academia
and the outcome will be articulated and shared for the benefit of the industry at large.
• FICCI RECONSTITUTES THE INDIA - UK FORUM OF PARLIAMENTARIANS TO CEMENT BILATERAL TIES
THROUGH A TRACK TWO MODE
As India's national industry association, FICCI has a multi-pronged international outreach strategy.
Through the India UK Forum of Parliamentarians, our endeavour is to supplement traditional channels of
engagement by creating a track two dialogue process to build greater understanding between elected
representatives of India and U.K. in a cordial atmosphere and a neutral platform. In the coming months,
we look forward to rolling out a series of initiatives.
FICCI plans to organise a series of policy dialogues on topics of critical significance to India and UK including
the proposed FTA, post Brexit developments and deliberations on the India UK Strategic Partnership. An
outbound delegation to the UK is being planned for early 2017 to engage with the UK Parliament, diaspora
and industry.
FICCI has similar bilateral Forums of Parliamentarians with strategic partner countries such as the United
States, Germany and Japan to facilitate a “track two” mechanism for wider exchange of views and
experiences amongst elected representatives from India and their peers in other countries on bilateral
and global issues, leadership and the institution of democracy.
• FULL FTA WITH INDIA WILL GIVE AN IMPETUS TO TWO-WAY TRADE: INDIA & ISRAEL
FICCI pointed out that the potential in trade is immense and while there has been much talk of an FTA,
FICCI is in favour of an India-Israel Bilateral Innovation Treaty that promotes businesses linked to
innovation. FICCI firmly is of the view that current global geopolitical trends make it ideal for India and
Israel to strategize on a Defence and Homeland Security collaboration with a larger role for Indian private
sector in co-production and co-development. There is no doubt that enhancing science and technology
cooperation can add value to the bilateral relationship and FICCI supports the idea of greater partnership
between India and Israel in the area of agricultural technology especially arid land technology,
biotechnology and IT. Together we can build a global campaign to combat droughts which will also
generate opportunities to work on global challenges like food security and water management, said FICCI.
FICCI said that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Israel will plug the lacunae. ‘Make in
India’ campaign which is working to stimulate our domestic manufacturing sector, has opportunity for
Israeli innovation and technology to combine with Indian engineering and scale to manufacture in India.
Such a partnership has the potential of creating new markets and generating more jobs, both in India and
Israel. India has also been keenly seeking cooperation in medical technologies, food processing, storage
and transport from Israel to offset the huge crop losses due to lack of cold chain storage facilities.
The Israeli economy has proven itself in the field of research and technical innovation and Israel’s ideas
and innovations could go a long way in achieving the goals of flagships programmes of the Indian
government. While defence and in recent years, homeland security have dominated India-Israeli
cooperation, the future opportunities are in co-production and co-development.
For more details contact FICCI Membership
at tripti.kataria@ficci.com