TMS Ep637: India at WTO, hybrid vs EV cars, markets, economic sanctions

Why does India want investment agenda out of WTO talks? Why are hybrid cars racing ahead of EVs? What will be on markets' radar this week? What are economic sanctions? All answers here

Trade ministers from over 100 countries are set to meet in Abu Dhabi for the 13th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation. The three-day meeting beginning today is likely to be stormy as India will oppose adoption of a China-led proposal on investment facilitation. But why is India opposed to this initiative? And why does it want the investment agenda kept out of WTO? 
 

India will also oppose the European Union’s proposed carbon tax on imports of steel, iron ore and cement at the upcoming WTO meeting. New Delhi believes that it would be akin to a new trade barrier. Moving on, Indian roads are witnessing a big change. More and more electric cars are rubbing shoulders with traditional ICE run vehicles. But there is more to it than meets the eye. A recent report has indicated that hybrid cars seem to be outpacing EVs in the race towards the future. Despite the steeper price tag and limited variants, hybrids are gaining traction among consumers. But why? Will this trend sustain? And will it push automakers to diverge from their EV goals? 

Let us now shift our focus to financial markets. While the markets consolidated with the benchmarks declining over 1 per cent initially in February, they have rallied around 4 per cent from their monthly lows since then. The Nifty, in fact, has registered a fresh life-time high in the second half of the current month. In our next report, find out the five key factors that could impact the market trajectory this week.