New Delhi, March 14: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday on Friday said that he “had a forward-looking discussion with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement” between India and the US.

“Our approach will be guided by ‘India First’, ‘Viksit Bharat’ and our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” Goyal posted on X along with a photo of his meeting Greer.

Goyal had previously met Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during his visit to the US last week. This followed US President Donald Trump and PM Narendra Modi’s talks on negotiating the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025.

The two leaders resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security, and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade – “Mission 500” – aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

US Trade Secretary Lutnick said recently that he was keen to negotiate a broad-based trade agreement with India, taking into account the entire trade relationship rather than individual products.

Meanwhile, the government has informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs that India has not made any commitment to reduce tariffs on goods imported from the USA.

In a briefing on the issue, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told the Parliamentary committee that negotiations between India and the US were still ongoing and that no trade agreement had been finalised.

The Commerce Secretary’s clarification came in the wake of US President Trump’s statement that India has agreed to bring “way down” its tariffs on US goods.

Barthwal said: “One cannot go by the US President’s claims and on media reports as the bilateral trade agreement talks between the two nations are still on. India has not committed to anything on trade tariffs to the US.”

He also made it clear that India’s interests were of paramount importance and would be taken care of during the trade negotiations.

Barthwal said that India was in favour of increasing bilateral trade with the USA but would not indiscriminately lower tariffs, especially in sectors crucial to its domestic economy.

“India prefers to negotiate tariff reductions bilaterally rather than multilaterally to ensure national interests are upheld,” Barthwal told the committee.

Trump’s ‘America First’ policy has the potential to disrupt world trade as the US President has accused trading partners of unfair practices and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on a large scale. He has accused India of levying massive tariffs on US goods.

New Delhi, March 14: Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc. has initiated the process for the certification and homologation of two of its electric cars in India, which is an essential requirement for all vehicles before they can be sold in the country.

Tesla India Motor & Energy Pvt. Ltd., the local unit of Musk’s firm, has submitted two new applications for homologation of the Model Y and Model 3 cars in India, according to industry sources.

Homologation is the process of certifying that a vehicle is roadworthy and meets the norms laid out for all vehicles manufactured in India or imported into the country. The tests ensure that the vehicle matches the requirements of the Indian market in terms of emission and safety and roadworthiness in accordance with the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

The company had earlier submitted seven applications for homologation in India earlier which were meant for test cars. An eighth application was approved recently.

The move comes amid talks with the US and India on a free trade agreement under which tariffs are expected to be lowered by both countries to enhance bilateral trade.

Musk has been keen to enter India as he is looking for a foothold in the world’s third-largest car market as an alternative to China, after the communist country came under strict US sanctions.

While the Indian government is keen that Musk set up a plant in India to make Tesla for the local market, the billionaire wants to export the car to the country without any immediate manufacturing plans.

Electric car sales in India recorded a 20 per cent jump to 99,165 units in 2024, from 82,688 units in 2023. Tata Motors and JSW MG Motors are currently the market leaders.

In addition, the luxury electric vehicle market also posted an increase in sales during the year, with 2,809 EVs sold by BMW, Mercedes Benz India, Volvo Cars India, Audi, and Porsche in 2024, up from 2,633 units in 2023.

According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), the electric passenger vehicle retail sales in India grew by nearly 20 per cent.

The EV market is expected to continue growing, with industry forecasts predicting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43 per cent.

Government initiatives and subsidies under the PM E-Drive scheme are also contributing to the growth of the EV market in India, as the country transitions to green energy in the fight against climate change.

The electric two-wheeler segment recorded significant growth, with 1.13 million units sold in 2024, up from 860,000 units in 2023.

The overall EV penetration in the country increased to 7.46 per cent in 2024, up from 6.39 per cent in 2023.

Seoul, March 13: South Korea’s top court on Thursday rejected social media giant Meta’s appeal against a 6.7 billion-won ($4.6 million) fine imposed by the data protection watchdog for sharing user information without their consent, judicial sources said.

In November 2020, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) fined Meta, formerly known as Facebook, after its probe found that the personal information of at least 3.3 million South Korean users had been provided to third parties without their knowledge from May 2012 to June 2018, reports Yonhap news agency.

In response, Meta filed a lawsuit in March 2021, disputing the fine, claiming the information sharing was made upon the users’ agreement and it did not induce them to agree.

The Supreme Court, however, found the PIPC’s measures lawful and dismissed the case, upholding lower court rulings made in October 2023 and September last year, according to the sources.

With the top court’s ruling, the PIPC said it would proceed with enforcing corrective measures, which had been suspended due to the ongoing lawsuit.

Last year, Meta Platforms Ireland lost a legal battle to defy the South Korean data protection watchdog’s decision to slap a fine for providing users’ personal information to other operators without consent.

Meta then filed a complaint against the ruling, claiming the information sharing was made upon the users’ agreement and it did not induce them to do so.

According to the PIPC’s investigation, the personal information of a user’s Facebook friends was provided to other operators without their knowledge when someone uses another operator’s service through Facebook login.

The compromised information included their academic background, family and marriage status.

The watchdog also said Meta had not been cooperating with the probe by belatedly submitting data and providing false documents.