Bullish OPEC
The OPEC has remained bullish about a strong recovery in world oil demand in 2021 despite the grim COVID-19 situation in India.
OPEC's optimism is derived from the fact that the economies of China and the United States are recovering fast. It is likely to offset the possible lack of demand from India. The group is also likely to increase its production by 6.6% over the last year.
OPEC has kept its annual demand forecast unchanged despite the deteriorating situation in India. It showcases OPEC's confidence in economic recovery in other major oil-importing countries - China and the US.
India is currently the third-largest oil importer accounting for 9.7% of the total oil imports. China and the US hold the first two places with a global share of 22.6% and 12.5% of global oil imports.
A Word of Comfort
Former Chief Statistician Pronab Sen believes that April and May's key data on industrial output and inflation will be in better shape than last year.
Due to the partial lockdown across the states, fieldwork could be affected. It could create difficulties in data collection. However, the economic activities are in a much better position this time around. So, it should not be as challenging as last year overall.
Last year, during the same period, the centre faced difficulty in data collection due to the lockdown. Hence, it couldn't release the headline CPI numbers at the slated time. However, the government had managed to release them at a later stage.
No Chinese Shadow
India has started its long-pending 5G trials and the Department of Telecom has approved applications of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and MTNL for the same.
The unique feature here is that India has shut the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE from this process. It is an indication that the government has been able to determine its stance on China after staying in dilemma for a long time.
The government's decision to exclude China from its 5G trials is based on security reasons. With Chinese equipment, there is a danger of them being manipulated and disrupted. Usage of this equipment can make the Indian telecom industry vulnerable to hacking and loss of sensitive information.
On the other hand, excluding Chinese telecom companies could delay the progress of the 5G trials in India. The Indian companies lack innovation and could be behind the curve in terms of new technology development and adaptation.
