1. Decision on Property Tax Cut Likely on Sunday
Federal indirect tax body, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, on Wednesday, 20 February, deferred a decision on lowering the tax rate on under-construction property to Sunday, 24 February, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who chaired the meeting, said.
A meeting of the council through video-conference was adjourned after some state ministers requested for a face-to-face meeting to take a call on the subject.
So far, all decisions of the council have been taken by consensus and continuing with that tradition, the council will hold its 34th meeting on Sunday, where the proposal for a tax cut will be discussed, Jaitley said.
(Source: LiveMint)
2. SC Holds Anil Ambani Guilty of Contempt, Orders Rcom to Clear Ericsson Dues
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 20 February, held Reliance Communications (RCom) Chairman Anil Ambani and two of his top executives guilty of contempt of court for wilfully failing to pay the dues to telecom equipment maker Ericsson.
The court directed Ambani, Reliance Telecom Chairman Satish Seth, and Reliance Infratel Chairperson Chhaya Virani to pay Rs 453 crore within four weeks or face a jail term of three months. It also slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore each for their “cavalier attitude” towards the court’s orders.
(Source: Business Standard)
3. Government To Infuse Rs 48,239 Crore In 12 State-Run Banks
The government will infuse Rs 48,239 crore in 12 public-sector banks to provide minimum regulatory capital to banks that come under Reserve Bank of India’s prompt corrective action framework, and to prevent weak banks from breaching the framework’s triggers.
With this, the government has infused Rs 1 lakh crore in public-sector banks in this financial year.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
4. Nasscom Ends Annual Growth Forecast
he apex software industry lobby Nasscom on Wednesday, 20 February, ended the practice of forecasting annual growth and said it was cautiously optimistic about 2019, citing rising global economic uncertainties arising out of trade wars and protectionism.
Last year also, the association had first delayed the announcement in February and later issued the projections in May, pegging it at 7-9 percent.
Nasscom Chairman Rishad Premji said they were discontinuing with the annual growth forecast from this year.
(Source: LiveMint)
5. Merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank With BoB to Be Effective From 1 April
Bank of Baroda on Wednesday, 20 February, said the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with itself would be effective from 1 April as per the scheme of amalgamation approved by the government.
Besides, the board of the bank fixed 11 March 2019 as record date for issuing and allotting equity shares of the Bank of Baroda to the Shareholders of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank.
This scheme may be called the Amalgamation of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda Scheme, 2019, BoB said citing the government notification.
(Source: LiveMint)
6. Saudi Crown Prince Sees $100-Billion Investment Opportunity In India
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia sees a $100-billion investment opportunity in India in various sectors, said visiting Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Addressing the media along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Crown Prince said Saudi Arabia has invested $44 billion in India since the visit of Modi in 2016 to the Gulf nation. “We want to strengthen investment and economic ties to ensure useful returns for both countries,” he said.
He also lauded India’s strength in the information technology and said Saudi Arabia, too, was investing a lot in the sector.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
7. Domestic Air Passenger Traffic Rises 9.1% In January
Domestic air passenger traffic rose 9.1 percent in January, with the country's airlines carrying 125.08 lakh passengers during the month, according to data released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Domestic air passenger traffic in January last year was 114.65 lakh.
In January, the market share of no-frills airline IndiGo fell to 42.5 percent and that of national carrier Air India dropped to 12.2 percent, showed the latest data by the aviation regulator. In December last year, IndiGo's market share was 43.2 percent while Air India's market share was 12.4 percent.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
8. Over 7,000 Cash-Starved Start-Ups May Benefit From Angel Tax Relief
A series of changes made to the so-called angel tax by the government could give wing to 7,000 cash-starved start-ups, sources in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said.
According to industry observers, an investment of around $12 billion might come from 2,000 angel investors and hundreds of smaller backers of start-ups by the end of the year. Of this, about $7 billion will come in the form of corporate investment.
After facing sustained pressure over the past three years from start-ups and venture capital funds over the tax, the government on Tuesday, 19 February, introduced changes in tax norms, giving in to most of the demands raised by the sector.
(Source: Business Standard)
9. FDI Equity Inflows Fall 7% to $33.5 Bn in First Nine Months of FY19
In some bad news for the Modi government, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows to India from April to December 2018 have declined by seven percent. Latest figures released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) shows that India managed to attract almost $33.5 billion from April to December 2018. In the same period in 2017, India’s FDI equity flows stood at almost $36 billion.
The Modi government had stopped publishing quarterly FDI data since 23 August, 2018. It resumed publishing FDI data in February this year. The latest release that captures FDI flows in the third quarter of 2018-19 shows that there has been a drastic decline in FDI in six out of the 10 sectors attracting the highest FDI flows.
(Source: Business Standard)
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