Mumbai gets first spell of heavy rains; traffic affected
Mumbai: After a delay of several days, the first spell of heavy rains lashed the metropolis and its outskirts Friday morning, slowing down road and rail traffic.
The Met office has predicted moderate rainfall with a few spells of heavy showers in the financial capital in the next 24 hours.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in the last five hours, its weather station has recorded an average rainfall of 43.23 mm in the island city, 64.14 mm in eastern suburbs and 78.21 mm in western suburbs.
The civic body said the flow of road traffic has been reported to be slow, while suburban services of the Central and Western Railways were running behind schedule.
"The city has recorded moderate rainfall in the last few hours. So far, no untoward incident or major water-logging has been reported at the Disaster Management Cell," a senior civic official said.
Meanwhile, heavy showers brought cheers to civic officials who said they will help in improving stock in reservoirs supplying water to the metropolis.
Since monsoon has been playing truant, the civic administration has been forced to use reserve stock of water from its lakes to fulfil the needs of Mumbaikars.
Suburban train services, considered Mumbai's lifeline, were running late by 10 to 15 minutes, said the officer.
According to a BMC spokesperson, due to the ongoing metro rail work and water-logging at some places, a few buses of civic transport undertaking BEST were diverted from their regular routes.
Heavy traffic jam affected the movement of vehicles on the Mulund-Sion stretch of the Eastern Express Highway, he said, adding the BMC had to close a busy subway in suburban Andheri due to water-logging.
The Thane railway station witnessed water-logging on tracks and the local civic administration has been alerted about it by the Central Railway (CR).
"Water entered on tracks from the city area. The TMC (Thane Municipal Corporation) has been informed. The TMC is sending officials to check and do the needful. Our officers are there to help," CR chief spokesperson Sunil Udasi said.
The Western Railway, in a statement said, several teams of officials along with RPF jawans have been deployed at different locations to ensure smooth operation of trains.
"Tracks and signals are working well without any failure. Train operation is normal. Today we received a few mail express trains late at Surat from Vadodara due to heavy rains in Vadodara division," said the statement.
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India proposes preferential trade agreement with Mexico to deal with high tariffs
New Delhi (PTI): India has proposed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Mexico to help domestic exporters deal with the steep tariffs announced by the South American country, a top government official said on Monday.
Mexico has decided to impose steep import tariffs - ranging from about 5 per cent to as high as 50 per cent on a wide range of goods (about 1,463 tariff lines) from countries that do not have free trade agreements with Mexico, including India, China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that India has engaged with the country on the issue.
"Technical level talks are on...The only fast way forward is to try to get a preferential trade agreement (PTA) because an FTA (free trade agreement) will take a lot of time. So we are trying to see what can be a good way forward," he told reporters here.
While in an FTA two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum number of goods traded between them, in a PTA, duties are cut or removed on a limited number of products.
Trading partners of Mexico cannot file a compliant against the decision on imposing high tariffs as they are WTO (World Trade Organisation) compatible.
The duties are within their bound rates, he said, adding that their primary target was not India.
"We have proposed a PTA because its a WTO-compatible way forward... we can do a PTA and try to get concessions that are required for Indian supply chains and similarly offer them concessions where they have export interests in India," Agrawal said.
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Citing support for local production and correction of trade imbalances, Mexico has approved an increase in MFN (most favoured nation) import tariffs (5-50 per cent) with effect from January 1, 2026 on 1,455 tariff lines (or product categories) within the WTO framework, targeting non-FTA partners.
Preliminary estimates suggest that this affects India's around USD 2 billion exports to Mexico particularly -- automobile, two-wheelers, auto parts, textiles, iron and steel, plastics, leather and footwear.
The measure is also aimed at curbing Chinese imports.
India-Mexico merchandise trade totalled USD 8.74 billion in 2024, with exports USD 5.73 billion, imports USD 3.01 billion, and a trade surplus of USD 2.72 billion.
The government has been continuously and comprehensively assessing Mexico's tariff revisions since the issue emerged, engaging stakeholders, safeguarding the interests of Indian exporters, and pursuing constructive dialogue to ensure a stable trade environment benefiting businesses and consumers in both countries.
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Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai has said that Mexico's decision is a matter of concern, particularly for sectors like automobiles and auto components, machinery, electrical and electronics, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and plastics.
"Such steep duties will erode our competitiveness and risk, disrupting supply chains that have taken years to develop," Sahai said, adding that this development also underlines the little urgency for India and Mexico to fast-track a comprehensive trade agreement.
Domestic auto component manufacturers will face enhanced cost pressures with Mexico hiking duties on Indian imports, according to industry body ACMA.
