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Leasing of office space across six major cities may fall by 25-30 per cent this calendar year to 35-38 million square feet on subdued demand, according to Colliers India and FICCI. Property consultant Colliers India and industry body FICCI released a report 'Emerging Trends and Opportunities in Office Sector - 2023'. Gross office space leasing rose to 50.3 million square feet in 2022 across six cities from 32.9 million square feet in the previous year on better demand. These six cities are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. The report said that in an optimistic scenario, India's office sector is likely to see about 35-38 million square feet of gross leasing in 2023. The consultant expects that the economic headwinds would ease and not cause a significant dent to overall occupiers' confidence. It expects a significant increase in leasing in the latter half of this year with corporates likely to close leasing decisions that were put on hold temporarily. On
Former bureaucrat Shailesh Pathak has been appointed as the new Secretary General of Ficci, the industry body said on Monday. Pathak will take over the charge on March 1. "In a career spanning 37 years, Pathak has spent time in government as an IAS Officer as well as helmed large companies in the private sector. His extensive international exposure includes an Eisenhower Fellowship in 2000 as an emerging Indian Leader, an EU Visitor Program hosted by the European Commission 2003, and a Chevening scholarship at the University of Oxford in 2011," Ficci stated. Ficci also announced that Arun Chawla, Director General, will superannuate on June 30, 2023, and transition to an advisory role.
The magnitude of smuggling and the consequent loss to the country's economy might become a roadblock in India's march towards a USD 40 trillion economy under the government's vision of Amrit Kaal, a report said. There is a need to launch a robust international campaign against the menace of smuggling so that major impediment in the growth path is removed, FICCI Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Destroying the Economy (CASCADE) said in a report. While last year FICCI CASCADE took the initiative to mark February 11 as Anti-Smuggling Day, it has appealed to the government to highlight the issue of smuggling on the world stage and work with the United Nations to declare the day as 'International Anti-Smuggling Day'. The significance of the need for a high-impact international campaign against smuggling can be understood in the context of the massive loss that smuggling inflicts on the Indian economy, it said. The tax loss to Government of India because of the illicit trade
The government should scrap the windfall profit tax on domestically produced crude oil as the levy is adversely impacting the capex-intensive exploration of oil and gas, the industry said in its recommendation for the forthcoming annual budget. India first imposed windfall profit taxes on July 1, joining a growing number of nations that tax super normal profits of energy companies. At that time, a Rs 23,250 per tonne (USD 40 per barrel) windfall profit tax on domestic crude production was levied. The new tax, which was also slapped on the export of petrol, diesel and ATF, is calibrated every fortnight in step with international oil prices. Industry chamber FICCI in its recommendations for the Budget, said such levy is in addition to all other existing levies. "It is recommended that the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on petroleum crude should be removed or if there is a need to continue the levy for some time as an extraordinary measure then the rate be changed to an ad-valo