Rising cost of data a concern: MoS IT

New Delhi : Gold price fell `198 to `56,972 per 10 gram in the national capital on Wednesday amid weak global trends, according to HDFC Securities. The precious metal had settled at `57,170 per 10 gram in the previous trade. Silver also declined `270 to `68,625 per kilogram. In the overseas market, gold and silver were trading lower at $1,928/ounce and $23.55/ounce, respectively. Comex spot gold price is trading lower by 0.40% at $1,928/ounce. —PTI

New Delhi (PTI): Rising prices of data and devices are a concern for the rapid proliferation of digitisation, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday.

The comments have come against the backdrop of a recent hike of about 57% in the minimum monthly recharge plan by the country's second-largest telco Bharti Airtel.

"Rise in cost of data or cost of devices are of concern because they are impediments in rapid digitisation," Chandrasekhar said.

The minister said that he is not exactly aware of the hike in mobile services rates by Airtel and the ministry may approach telecom regulator Trai to ex- amine if the hike is going to have a short-term or long-term impact. phone, I got on a plane. That deal's not done yet, but it's back on track,” she said.

He said that there has been an impact on prices across the world due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the impact of data price need to be examined.

Bharti Airtel has increased the price of its minimum recharge for the 28-day mobile phone service plan by about 57% to `155 in eight circles, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh West.

Badenoch was in New Delhi in early December to hold talks with her counterpart, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush

Freeze import duties for next five years: GTRI to Govt

New Delhi (PTI): The government should not make any changes in the customs duties for at least five years with a view to promoting domestic manufacturing, economic think tank GTRI said on Wednesday in its pre-Budget recommendations.

The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) also suggested retaining import duty on components; removal of inverted duty issues; and reduction of customs duty slabs to 5 from 25 at present to avoid confusion and minimise litigation.

The think tank noted that countries worldwide have turned inwards to brace for the tough global conditions and against this background India should announce a five-year duty freeze.

Top Talking Points

z UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch insisted the FTA talks are now “back on track”. It comes after the Diwali 2022 deadline for the FTA set by former PM Boris Johnson was missed last October z Badenoch was in New Delhi in early Dec to hold talks with Piyush Goyals

Goyal, and kick off the sixth round of FTA talks. The seventh round is expected in the UK in the coming weeks, with both sides reluctant to set a new deadline for completing the negotiations.