Indirect Tax
CBEC releases minutes of Central Excise Tariff Conference held in Chandigarh
A Tariff Conference of Central Excise on technical matters was organised by the Board this year on 28th and 29th October.
In the Conference several decisions regarding technical issues of
assessment and applicability of law were taken. 2. The Minutes of the
conference have been issued and consist of three Annexures. Annexure A
containing the speech of Member(CX), Annexure B consist of 53 issues on
which final decisions were taken and Annexure C consist of issues on
which further examinati [….] Read more at:
Government imposes anti-dumping duty on kitchenware products
Finance
Ministry has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to $1,732.11 per tonne
on import of 'melamine tableware and kitchenware products' like dinner
sets and mugs from China, Thailand and Vietnam with an aim to protect
domestic industry from cheap shipments. The anti-dumping duty in the
range of $582.85 - 1732.11 per tonne will remain in effect for five
years, a Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) notification said.
The CBEC in the Finance Ministry imposed the d [….] Read more at:
GST rollout may lower prices of capital goods: Arvind Subramanian panel report
India's
GDP could receive a boost from just capital goods becoming cheaper once
the goods and services tax is rolled out, the Arvind Subramanian panel
report said, making a case for this key reform. The committee, set up to
calculate a revenue-neutral rate (RNR) for GST, submitted its report to
the government last week, suggesting a two-rate structure for GST. The
report was made public on Wednesday. The report has not gone into the detailed benefits of GST as its mandate was to ascertain [….] Read more at:
Indirect tax collections rise 24 per cent in November
Indirect
tax collection posted another month of strong growth in November, led
by excise duty levied on goods at factory gate. The robust 24% increase
in indirect tax collection, which includes excise duty, customs duty and
services tax, shows that the government is on course to exceed the
budget target, making up some of the shortfall in the direct tax
collection and disinvestment. In the first eight months of the fiscal,
the government managed to collect Rs 4.38 lakh crore, or 67.8% of the
[….] Read more at:
Subramanian Panel suggests GST rate structure to fulfil Make in India objective by making One India
As
the world economy slows, and increasing financial volatility and
turbulence become the “newest normal,” only a few economies have the
resilience to be a refuge of stability and the potential to be an
outpost of opportunity. India is one of those few. As oil and commodity
prices continue to be soft, and in the wake of actions taken by the
government and the Reserve Bank of India, macro-economic stability seems
reasonably assured for India. This bedrock of stability coupled with
reforms [….] Read more at:
Government collects Rs 21,054-crore via petrol, diesel cess in FY'15
The
government has collected Rs 21,054 crore through the cess imposed on
petrol and diesel in the last financial year, ended March 2015,
Parliament was informed today. The collection is higher by 22 per cent
at Rs 21,054.43 crore as against Rs 17,330.87 crore collected in
2013-14. In 2012-13 the figure stood at Rs 16,401.91 crore, Minister of
State for Road Transport & Highways P Radhakrishnan said in a
written reply to Lok Sabha. The cess on petrol and high speed diesel is
collected as per the prov [….] Read more at:
Company Law
Versions of Forms GNL-4, INC-28, CRA-2, INC-2, ADJ, FC-1, AOC-CFS and FC-4 modified
Versions
of Forms GNL-4, INC-28, CRA-2, INC-2, ADJ, FC-1, AOC-CFS and FC-4 are
modified w.e.f 09 Dec 2015. Stakeholders are requested to plan
accordingly. [….] Read more at:
SEBI
SEBI hikes annual custodial fee payable by issuer to depositories
SEBI
vide circular No. MRD/DoP/SE/Dep/Cir-4/2005 dated January 28, 2005 has
allowed the custody/issuer charges to be collected by the depositories
from the issuers in the manner specified therein. Subsequently, the
charges and the methodology were revised vide Circular Nos.
MRD/DoP/SE/Dep/Cir-2/2009 dated February 10, 2009 and CIR/MRD/DP/05/2011
dated April 24, 2011 respectively. 2. The Depository Systems Review
Committee (DSRC) has, with an objective of promoting fina [….] Read
more at:
Depositories to charge issuers more; incentivise participants
Sebi
has decided to hike the annual issuers' fee charged by depositories and
extend incentives for no-frills demat accounts opened by depository
participants, as part of efforts to deepen the capital market. The
latest measures, announced by Sebi today, are mainly aimed to expand the
reach of depository services to small towns and also incentivise
depository participants by putting in place a revenue sharing mechanism.
Now, the leading depositories -- NSDL and CDSL -- can levy and [….]
Read more at:
Sebi warns Motilal Oswal Securities
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday
issued a warning to stock broking firm Motilal Oswal Securities in the
matter of Pyramid Saimira case, a market manipulation case. The
regulator found that the firm had execute trades of some debarred
entities. Sebi warned the broker of stringent action for any future
lapse. Passing an order, Sebi said that the brokerage firm has already
been slapped with a monetary penalty of Rs 75,000 by BSE for the same
lapses, while it [….] Read more at:
Listing of bourses: NSE 'delay' irks PE investors
Last
week, when the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) amended
the stock exchanges and clearing corporations' regulations, it had eased
the listing of bourses’ shares. With this, private equity (PE)
investors in the BSE exchange are certain the exchange would be listed
in another eight months or so, providing them an exit opportunity.
However, say PE investors in the National Stock Exchange (NSE), their
long effort for an exit isn't getting over soon. “The NSE manageme
[….] Read more at:
Sebi suspends brokerage firm MKM Finsec for 5 years
Capital
markets watchdog Sebi today suspended brokerage firm MKM Finsec for
five years for indulging in 'fraudulent activities' as well as for
failing to provide information sought by it. The Securities and
Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said MKM Finsec was involved in
"fraudulent activities by issuing fictious contract notes and difference
bill vouchers etc with the sole intention to facilitate some steel
manufacturing companies to manipulate their book of accounts." It also
"executed off-market [….] Read more at:
RBI
RBI buys bonds worth Rs 10,000 cr through OMO
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday
bought Rs 10,000 crore of bonds from the secondary market as part of
its open market operations (OMO). The total amount offered by
participants in the auction for four bonds was Rs 54,413.30 crore. But
the central bank accepted no offer for a bond maturing in 2030. In the
auction, the central bank bought bonds maturity is in 2018, 2019 and
2024 for a cut off yield of 7.5006 per cent, 7.6602 per cent and 7.9152
per cent respectively. This was the [….] Read more at:
Centre, RBI looking at IDR norms
After
liberalising the external commercial borrowing (ECB) regime for
companies looking to raise debt abroad, the government and the Reserve
Bank of India are having a look at easing the norms on Indian Depository
Receipts (IDR) for foreign companies, Business Standard has learnt.
Sources aware of the matter said the likely base for such
recommendations would be a report last year on IDRs from a panel chaired
by Competition Commission of India (CCI) member M S Sahoo. Whil [….]
Read more at:
Bihar govt to move RBI on banks not opening targeted branches
The Bihar government
will raise the issue of banks not abiding by the decision to open a
branch having a population of 5,000 and above, with the Centre and RBI,
state Finance Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui today informed the Assembly.
In reply to a question, Siddiqui made the statement and said that
against a target set to open 527 new branches in the state in the
current financial year, only 166 branches had been opened so far. He
said the state government would also exert pressure for [….] Read
more at:
Dynamic base-rate pricing to help new borrowers
In
a move aimed at ensuring faster transmission of rate revisions, the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to release its final guidelines on
computation of banks’ base rates on the basis of marginal cost of funds.
These guidelines, allowing dynamic pricing of loans as suggested by
banks, are likely to benefit new customers.One suggestion made by the
bankers’ lobby — there are indications that RBI has taken it seriously —
is that pricing of loans should be changed on the basis of
market-linked yields, with [….] Read more at:
RBI says intervening in currency futures markets: Traders
The
Reserve Bank of India is intervening in the rupee currency futures
market, a senior central bank official told a gathering of bank trainees
last week, according to four people briefed on the comments. The
central bank said in a separate statement issued on late Wednesday
it would intervene in the exchange traded currency derivatives market
if required, however, it did not specify if it has been active in that
market. The rare admission of the RBI's moves to defend the currency by
an official [….] Read more at:
RBI lists 150 truant corp borrowers, tells banks to clean up balance sheet
Reserve
Bank of India has identified 150 truant corporate borrowers whose
accounts banks have been told not to sweep under the carpet. The
instruction comes within days of RBI governor Raghuram Rajan setting a
deadline of March 31, 2017,
for banks to clean up their balance sheet with stressed loans crossing
double digit in most banks. This is the first formal dialogue initiated
by the regulator to drive home the point that banks should not disguise
sticky loans as standard loans to shore u [….] Read more at:
RBI mulls swapping debt for equity
The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is looking into a provision it introduced
in June to help lenders manage stressed assets, Deputy Governor S S
Mundra said on Tuesday,
arguing it was too soon to write off the debt-for-equity swap tool as a
failure. The central bank would soon come out with a methodology to
determine the base rate taking into account marginal cost of funds to
ensure effective monetary policy transmission, he said. Strategic debt
restructuring (SDR) aims to allow banks to take majo [….] Read more
at:
Centre, RBI looking at IDR norms
After
liberalising the external commercial borrowing (ECB) regime for
companies looking to raise debt abroad, the government and the Reserve
Bank of India are having a look at easing the norms on Indian Depository
Receipts (IDR) for foreign companies, Business Standard has
learnt.Sources aware of the matter said the likely base for such
recommendations would be a report last year on IDRs from a panel chaired
by Competition Commission of India (CCI) member M S Sahoo. While
[….] Read more at:
Dynamic base-rate pricing to help new borrowers
In
a move aimed at ensuring faster transmission of rate revisions, the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to release its final guidelines on
computation of banks’ base rates on the basis of marginal cost of funds.
These guidelines, allowing dynamic pricing of loans as suggested by
banks, are likely to benefit new customers. One suggestion made by the
bankers’ lobby — there are indications that RBI has taken it seriously —
is that pricing of loans should be changed on the basis of
market-linked yields, wit [….] Read more at:
RBI permits exchanges to offer three additional cross-currency pairs in exchange traded derivatives market
Attention
of Authorized Dealers Category – I (AD Category – I) banks is invited
to the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Exchange Derivative
Contracts) Regulations, 2000 dated May 3, 2000 (Notification No. FEMA.
25/RB-2000 dated May 3, 2000), as amended from time to time, the
Currency Futures (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2008 dated August 6, 2008
and Exchange Traded Currency Options (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2010
dated July 30, 2010 as amended from time to time [….] Read more at:
RBI issues timelines for bringing down 'Statutory Liquidity Ratio'
As
announced in the fourth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2015-16 by
the Reserve Bank of India on September 29, 2015, it has been decided to
reduce the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) of scheduled commercial
banks, local area banks, primary (Urban) co-operative banks (UCBs),
state co-operative banks and central cooperative banks from 21.5 per
cent of their Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) to: (i) 21.25 per
cent from April 2, 2016; (ii)21.00 per cent from July [….] Read more at:
RBI allows banks to bring down SLR holdings held under HTM category to 20.50% by March, 2017
In terms of our circular DBOD.No.BP.BC.42/21.04.141/
RBI decides to intervene in rupee futures market
A week before a crucial meeting where the US Federal Reserve may raise interest rates, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday
said it would intervene in the exchange-traded currency derivatives
(ETCD) markets, if required. It would do so in addition to its regular
intervention in the spot and forwards market.ETCDs include currency
futures and options where four pairs get traded: rupee-dollar,
rupee-yen, rupee-pound and rupee-euro. Typically, these markets are
being used for hedging. [….] Read more at:
Miscellaneous Laws
FIPB clears seven FDI proposals worth Rs 5,240 crore
FIPB
has approved seven Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs
5,240 crore including that of India Advantage S4 I, L&T Finance
Holdings and Strugence Debt Fund. "Based on the recommendations of
Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)...the Government has approved
seven proposals of FDI amounting to Rs 5,240.35 crore", a Finance
Ministry statement said today. The clearances, it said, were given based
on recommendations of FIPB meeting held on Novemb [….] Read more at:
Christie's is here again; eyes Rs 100 cr from India auction
World's
largest arts auction house Christie's is expecting to collect about Rs
100 crore from its third consecutive contemporary India art sale which
will be held here on December 15.
A total of 100 art works, including one by legendary artist Syed Haider
Raza, will go under the hammer on that day. Also, proceeds from the
sale of half a dozen additional works will be donated for Tamil Nadu
flood victims. "We are expecting to collect somewhere between Rs 55
crore to Rs 70 crore from the [….] Read more at:
Unhappy with state of affairs at AirAsia India: Arun Bhatia
AirAsia
India's minority shareholder Arun Bhatia has expressed unhappiness over
the state of affairs at the budget carrier, saying that decisions are
being taken by its Malaysian parent AirAsia. "If you ask the CEO (of
AirAsia India) what is happening, he says sir what can I do? I don't
have any information, everything is controlled by Malaysia, that is the
situation today. "I am quite unhappy with whatever is happening,"
Bhatia, who holds 10 percent stake in AirAsia India, told a televisi
[….] Read more at:
IRDAI plans OTC sales of simple products
The
insurance regulator is working with insurers to bring out standardised
products that can be sold over the counter.TS Vijayan, Chairman,
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), said:
“We are working with companies in bringing out simple products that can
be sold over the counter with generalised features like savings bank
products.” Vijayan said that the products will be pre-underwritten with
defined benefits. He clarified that complex products, such as [….]
Read more at:
Amendments to Negotiable Instruments Bill: Cheque bounce cases can now be filed where it is presented
Parliament
has passed a law allowing cheque bounce cases to be filed at the place
where the cheque is presented for clearance and not the place of issue, a
change that is expected to go a long way in improving legal recourse in
such cases. The Rajya Sabha passed the Negotiable Instruments
(Amendment) Bill on Monday
without any debate. The Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha
moved the bill for passage that had been passed by the Lok Sabha
earlier. The amendments to the Negotia [….] Read more at:
Singapore pips Mauritius as India's top FDI source
Singapore
has replaced Mauritius as the top source of foreign direct investment
(FDI) into India during the first half of the current financial
year.During April-September 2015, India has attracted $6.69 billion (Rs
43,096 crore) FDI from Singapore while from Mauritius, it received $3.66
billion (Rs 23,490 crore), according to data from the Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Foreign investment from
Singapore was $2.41 billion in the year-ago period. According to [….]
Read more at:
Economy & News
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan optimistic about passage of GST
Optimistic
about the passage of long pending GST bill in the Parliament, Reserve
Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has told American investors that
continued focus on fiscal consolidation and inflation will mean they
will reach their targeted goal. In an interaction with American
financial institutional investors in New York last week at an event
organised by US India Business Council, Rajan said another priority of
the RBI is to clean up banks and their non-performing assets. Rajan said
RBI' [….] Read more at:
India wants WTO meet to take up Bali agenda
In
the run-up to the World Trade Organisation's ministerial conference in
Nairobi next week, India has said it wants the agenda finalised at Bali
in 2013 to be implemented before it makes any fresh commitments. India
is not willing to make binding commitments on new areas such as labour,
environment and competition that the developed countries have been
trying to introduce into the WTO mandate, officials said. WTO's tenth
ministerial conference is set to take place from Dece [….] Read more
at:
Fitch retains India's rating at 'BBB-', forecasts 7.5% growth
Fitch
Ratings has affirmed India's BBB- rating with a stable outlook,
forecasting the country will grow 7.5% in the current fiscal and 8% next
year. "India's positive GDP growth outlook stands out globally," the
New York City headquartered ratings agency said in a statement. It said
growth is supported by the government's beefed-up capital expenditure
and gradual implementation of a broad-based structural reform agenda.
Indian economy expanded 7.2% in the first half of the fiscal and [….]
Read more at:
DIPP deputes delegation to assess impact of floods on industry
The
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has deputed a high level
inter-ministerial delegation and industry representatives to Tamil Nadu
to assess the impact of floods on industry. "DIPP's High Level Central
delegation will device support mechanism for speedy and quick revival of
TN industries affected by #ChennaiFloods," the DIPP said in tweets. The
recent floods in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have caused injury and loss
of lives on a big scale. Auto majors Hyundai, Ford [….] Read more at:
India, US take stock of bilateral relations
India
and US today took stock of their bilateral relations including those of
strategic interest. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and US Deputy
Secretary of State Antony Blinken deliberated on a range of key issues
of mutual interests as part of the India-US Foreign Office Consultation.
Jaishankar and Blinken also reviewed implementation of decisions taken
during US President Barack Obama's visit here in January besides
reviewing the security scenario in the region. India and the US had
[….] Read more at:
October IIP jump could be because of Diwali effect: CEA Arvind Subramanian
Terming
the 9.8 per cent growth in industrial production in October as "very
good", CEA Arvind Subramanian today said one has to be careful while
interpreting the data as the spike could be on account of Diwali
purchases. "The latest October IIP is very good. It's a high number,
good number and encouraging number. But one has to be a little bit
careful in interpreting this number... especially this month as there is
a Diwali effect," Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian told
reporters here. [….] Read more at:
Blow to Monsanto as agriculture ministry set to control cotton seed prices
In
what could prove a major setback to the global hybrid seed giant
Monsanto, India's agriculture ministry has decided to control the prices
of cotton seed, including the genetically modified versions and their
trait value. The Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers
Welfare on 7 December has firmed up the Cotton Seeds Price (Control)
Order 2015, terming it as aimed at ensuring availability of cotton seeds
to farmers at "fair, reasonable and affordable prices". The move of t
[….] Read more at:
Rs 100 crore given to states to prepare soil health cards: Radha Mohan Singh
Aimed
at boosting farm productivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
allocated Rs 100 crore to states to prepare soil health cards for
farmers, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today. Replying to a
debate in the Lok Sabha on drought situation, Singh said 1.5 crore soil
samples would have to be taken in order to provide this card to all
farmers in the country by March 2017. "In the first year (of NDA
government) Rs 27 crore was given to states. This year Rs 100 crore has
been given for [….] Read more at:
Developers should take smart buildings to smaller towns: Ravi Shankar Prasad
Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday
stressed the need to focus on conservation of environment and urged
builders and developers to take the concept of smart buildings to
smaller towns and metros. "Smartness shouldn't be confined to
multi-storeyed buildings. We should capture conservation and greenery
with Internet of Things," Prasad said while speaking at the awards
ceremony of The Times of India-Honeywell Smart Building Awards 2015. The
award [….] Read more at:
Government seeks Parliament nod to spend an extra Rs 56,256 crore on defence pensions and Swachh Bharat
The
government has sought Parliament's nod for an additional spending of Rs
56,256 crore, largely to cover excess expenditure on defence pensions
and the Swachh Bharat Mission. The net cash outgo will be only Rs 18,195
crore as the rest will be matched by savings and enhanced recoveries.
The second batch of supplementary demands for 2015-16 was tabled in
Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said the supplementary demand [….] Read more at:
Thanks & Regards,
Meetesh Shiroya
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