Carney Likely to Visit India in Early March as Canada Trade Pivot Intensifies, Envoy Says

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely visit India the first week of March and sign deals on uranium, energy, minerals ​and artificial intelligence, Dinesh Patnaik, India's High Commissioner to Canada said in an interview, Reuters reported. Carney is making all-out efforts to diversify Canada's alliances beyond the U.S., its top ‌trade partner. In Davos last week, he earned a rare standing ovation for saying the old rules-based order is over and called on middle powers like Canada to build coalitions to shape a fairer, more resilient world.
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India to Slash Tariffs on Cars to 40% in Trade Deal with EU

India plans to slash tariffs on cars imported from the European Union to 40% from as high as 110%, sources said, in the biggest opening yet of the country's vast market as the two sides close in on a free trade pact that could come as early as Tuesday, Reuters reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has agreed to immediately reduce the tax on a limited number of cars from the 27-nation bloc with an import price of more than 15,000 euros ($17,739), two sources briefed on the talks told Reuters.
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Europe
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Land Crunch, Competition Drive Strategic Acquisitions in India via Bankruptcy Process

As the availability of fresh land tightens and competition intensifies across India’s major metropolitan markets, strategic buyers are increasingly leveraging the corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to access urban real estate assets, according to an analysis in the Economic Times of India reported. The framework is playing a growing role in facilitating ownership transitions and land consolidation in supply-constrained cities. This shift has been reflected in a series of recent orders by bankruptcy tribunals across the country.
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India's Tax Department Echoes Reserve Bank's Concerns on Crypto

India's income tax authorities have joined the Reserve Bank of India in raising concerns over virtual digital assets, citing enforcement challenges that threaten the government's ability to track and tax crypto transactions as the Union Budget approaches, Decrypt.com reported. On Wednesday, Tax authorities presented their concerns about cryptocurrency and other virtual digital assets to the parliamentary standing committee of finance, according to a Times of India report.
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