1. Parliament's Budget Session Ends; Arun Jaitley, Finance Ministry Officials Present GST Blueprint to Ministers
The Parliament's Budget session 2017-18 ended on Wednesday marking a few firsts, including passage of key reform GST Bill.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his ministry officials on Wednesday presented to the Council of Ministers a blueprint for launch of the path-breaking GST from 1 July to transform the Indian economy. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia made a detailed presentation to the council – the supreme executive organ headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi – on how the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be implemented and the challenges before it is rolled out.
The biggest tax reform since Independence, GST has been in the works for more than a decade. It will transform the $2 trillion economy and market of 1.3 billion people into a single economic zone with a single national sales tax.
(Source: Financial Express, Business Standard)
2. Petrol, Diesel Prices to Change Daily From 1 May
Petrol and diesel prices in some cities will now see daily change in sync with international rates, according to two officials from oil marketing companies.
This will be effective 1 May in five cities, including Puducherry and Visakhapatnam, Udaipur, Jamshedpur and Chandigarh as part of a pilot project. This will be extended to other parts of the country after an assessment of consumer response.
Diesel and petrol prices move in tandem with the price of crude oil in most countries. In January, Mint reported that the fuel retailers plan to introduce dynamic pricing in India this year.
“We have been piloting dynamic pricing at a few of our retail outlets for some months now, and the response has been encouraging. This has allowed us to go ahead and introduce it formally,” an executive director from an oil marketing company said on condition of anonymity.
(Source: Livemint)
3. Cabinet Panel Clears Decks for Listing of 11 PSUs, Including IRCTC
To abide by the mandated 25% public shareholding in companies and unlock their value, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved listing of 11 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) in the equity market.
The list includes railway subsidiaries Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, IRCON International Ltd, Indian Railway Finance Corp Ltd, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) and RITES Ltd.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced in his budget speech on 1 February the government’s intention to list railway PSEs.
The other PSEs cleared for listing on stock exchanges include Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, MSTC Ltd, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Amazon India Gets RBI Approval To Launch E-Wallet Services
After Flipkart and Snapdeal, Amazon is set to enter the digital payments market in India.
Amazon India, on Thursday, said it has received Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval to operate a Pre-Paid Instrument (PPI), or its own digital wallet, giving the Seattle based e-commerce giant an opportunity to grab a part of the growing but increasingly crowded digital payments pie.
The development was first reported by Medianama.
“We are pleased to receive our PPI license from the RBI. Our focus is providing customers a convenient and trusted cashless payments experience”, said Sriram Jagannathan, VP Payments, Amazon India.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
5. SEBI May Make Monitory Agency a Must for IPOs up to Rs 500 Crore
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) plans to make it mandatory for companies raising less than Rs 500 crore through initial public offering (IPO) to appoint a monitoring agency to keep track of the use of funds. The board also plans to reduce paperwork for foreign portfolio investors wanting to bring money into the country and allow systemically important non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in the institutional category in public issues.
These proposals are likely to be discussed at the SEBI board meeting on 26 April, which will be Ajay Tyagi's first as the capital markets regulator. The SEBI board is also likely to discuss allowing options trading for commodities, unified licence for brokers, use of e-wallet for investments in mutual funds and instant withdrawal facility in mutual funds among other things.
(Source: The Economic Times)
6. Lower Fiscal Deficit to 2.5% by FY23: NK Singh Committee
Charting a new roadmap for the Centre to manage its finances, an expert committee has called for a gradual reduction of the fiscal deficit to 2.5 per cent of the GDP and revenue deficit to 0.8 per cent by 2022-23.
It has also said the Centre should replace the existing Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003, with a new law and also set up a Fiscal Council.
The recommendations of the expert committee, headed by former Revenue Secretary NK Singh, were made public by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday.
In the current fiscal, the Centre plans to lower its fiscal deficit to 3.2 per cent and the revenue deficit to 1.9 per cent.
(Source: The Hindu, Business Line)
7. Jio Seeks Highest Penalty Against Airtel, Idea, Vodafone for 'Violation' of Rules
Reliance Jio has asked the telecom regulator to take "strongest action" and levy the "highest penalty" against Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular for alleged violation of licence rules, telecom tariff orders and mobile number portability (MNP) guidelines in the latest round of accusations, which India's top telcos refuted.
In the latest letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) dated 10 April, Jio said incumbent telcos were using "unfair and deceptive" ways and putting together customised retention offers for subscribers willing to leave them using MNP. It said incumbents were offering special tariff vouchers (STV), packs and discounts to influence users who wish to port out of their networks.
(Source: The Economic Times)
8. Finance Ministry Rejects Apple Demands on Tax; Firm's Manufacturing Line This Year
The Finance Ministry has rejected iPhone maker Apple’s demand for tax exemptions for setting up a manufacturing unit in India saying that the decision will have to be taken up by the GST Council. The US-based firm has indicated plans to put up manufacturing lines in India this year.
Apple had sought concessions such as duty exemption on manufacturing and repair units, components, capital equipment for smartphones for 15 years, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT, PP Chaudhary, said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. These demands were “examined in the Department of Revenue and have not been accepted”, he said.
(Source: Financial Express)
9. Reliance to Start Coal-Bed Gas Sales in May as Prices Freed
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd will start selling coal-bed methane from its central India block next month after the government allowed producers freedom to set prices, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company will begin with daily sales volumes of 4,00,000 cubic meters of gas from coal seams in Sohagpur block in Madhya Pradesh state and gradually increase the volumes, said the people, who asked not to be identified citing company rules. Reliance has sought bids from potential buyers to be submitted by 24 April, they said.
With this, Reliance becomes the third supplier of gas produced from coal seams after Great Eastern Energy Corp and Essar Oil Ltd.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
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