1. GST Inches Closer to Reality After 4 Bills Cleared in LS
The Lok Sabha cleared four bills related to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Wednesday, setting the stage for 28 states, along with Delhi and Puducherry, to enact state laws over the next three months to roll out the new tax regime from July.
The four bills – Integrated GST, Central GST, Union Territory GST and Compensation Bill – will be followed by work in the GST council, comprising FM Arun Jaitley and state finance ministers, to finalise rules and product- and service-wise rates by the end of April.
GST will replace central excise, service tax and state VAT and several other levies, in addition to subsuming existing cesses and surcharges.
J&K will not be part of the current regime but will enact laws to ensure that its taxation system is linked with the Centre and other states for consumer benefits.
(Source: Times of India)
2. RBI Says All Payment Systems to Remain Closed on 1 April
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said all payment systems will remain closed on 1 April. It is a change from its earlier directive asking banks to remain open on the first day of the next fiscal.
However, there is no change with regard to the payment channels, including RTGS and NEFT, being operative as a normal working day during 25 March to 1 April (including Saturday, Sunday and all holidays).
“On reconsideration, it has been decided that all payment systems will remain closed on 1 April 2017,” it said.
The RBI said it will issue a separate broadcast message in this regard through respective system to member banks. It also clarified that the special clearing operation on 30 and 31 March remains unchanged.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
3. Reliance Jio Touches 50 Million Paid Users
Reliance Jio Infocomm has so far converted at least 50 million subscribers to become Prime members, a company executive said. This means almost half of the 100 million-plus customers who had signed up for the Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom company’s promotional offers are ready to opt for its paid services.
Jio crossed the 50-million mark on Tuesday, said the company executive, who did not wish to be named. The company's second promotional offer, Happy New Year, ends on 31 March. In the beginning of this month, Ambani announced to subscribers a 'Prime' membership on payment of a one-time fee of Rs 99.
The membership, available for one year, gives the member an option to choose from several data packs starting from Rs 149.
(Source: Economic Times)
4. India Becomes Net Exporter of Power for the First Time
India has become a net exporter of electricity during the April-February period this fiscal for the first time, power ministry said on Wednesday.
“As per Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the designated authority of government of India for cross border trade of electricity, first time India has turned around from a net importer of electricity to net exporter of electricity,” power ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, during the current year 2016-17 (April-February), India has exported around 5,798 million units to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar which is 213 million units more than the import of around 5,585 million units from Bhutan.
Export to Nepal and Bangladesh increased 2.5 and 2.8 times respectively in the last three years.
(Source: Livemint)
5. NHAI Appoves Reliance Infra’s Rs 3,000-Cr InvIT Fund
Reliance Infrastructure has received National Highways Authority of India’s consent for its planned Rs 3,000 crore-Infrastructure Investment Fund, or InvIT, making it the first road developer to get the approval, which clears the way for it to hit the capital market.
Economic Times has seen the minutes of the meeting of NHAI’s empowered committee which states that the proposal was considered and approved. NHAI is yet to communicate its approval to the Reliance Group company officially, hence, the company declined to comment on the matter.
“We will assess the mood of the market so that we get a good mix of domestic and international investors. We want to come out with the issue by the end of April,” chief executive Lalit Jalan told ET.
(Source: Economic Times)
6. Tata Steel Board Clears Appointment of 2 Independent Directors
Tata Steel on Wednesday said its board has approved appointment of Aman Mehta and Deepak Kapoor as additional (Independent) Directors of the company.
“The Board of Directors of the company, based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Renumeration Committee, unanimously approved appointment of Aman Mehta as an additional (Independent) Director of the company as well as the member of the Audit Committee today,” Tata Steel said in a filing to BSE.
The board has also given its nod to the “appointment of Deepak Kapoor as an Additional (Independent) Director of the Company effective 1 April 2017,” it said.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
7. Auto Firms Scramble to Liquidate Stocks of BS III Vehicles After SC Order
With over 8 lakh vehicles worth up to Rs 20,000 crore hit by the Supreme Court order to ban BS III vehicles from 1 April, auto companies are scrambling to liquidate stocks and upgrade besides considering export options to minimise the impact.
According to industry estimates, the total value of the impacted vehicles is between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 crore. Around 6.71 lakh two-wheelers, 97,000 commercial vehicles and over 40,000 three wheelers are affected by the ban.
“Given the current demand, majority of the vehicles in the pipeline have already been sold. Some more will be sold in the next couple of days where we have customer orders,” Ashok Leyland MD and CEO Vinod K Dasari said in a statement.
The little inventory that is left would be exported to other markets where the company has significant presence and which still operate on BS III norms, he added.
(Source: Times of India)
8. Micromax Launches Dual 5 Smartphone, Eyes 10% of Premium Segment Share
Micromax Informatics Ltd on Wednesday launched the Dual 5 mobile phone series, hoping to win 10 percent share of the premium category in 12 months.
The company defines premium segment as the Rs 20,000-Rs 40,000 price range of smartphones. The Dual 5, which was introduced on Wednesday, will be followed by Dual 3 and Dual 2 in the next few months. These phones will cost Rs 10,000-35,000.
Micromax, which held back handset launches and aggressive marketing in the last two quarters, expects to introduce four to five new phones in the premium segment over the next three months, said co-founder of Micromax, Rahul Sharma, in an interview.
(Source: Livemint)
9. Kotak Launches Zero Balance Savings Account
Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) announced an offer for opening a zero balance savings account on Wednesday, with zero charges for all digital transactions.
This comes when many of its competitors, such as State Bank of India and HDFC Bank, are either raising or reintroducing charges for transactions. From 1 April, the SBI is set to introduce a fee for failing to keep a minimum balance in some types of savings bank accounts.
KMB said its new ‘811’ plan, to promote a digital banking system via mobile phones, was aimed at doubling its customer base to 16 million over the next 18 months. An account could, it said, be opened anywhere, anytime, within five minutes, using their mobile banking app. It would use the new Aadhaar-based one-time password authentication process for account opening on a mobile. Only Aadhaar and PAN (income tax) numbers are required to open and operate an 811 account.
(Source: Business Standard)
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