Indian Economy-News & Updates

[fsayed]

I agree GST needs to be passed before 16

Even after GST it will take at least a year to see that ,coupled with increased inflation but gandhiparivar won't let it pass in Rajya Sabha.

BJP needs to be on roads protesting the way congress is stalling parliament/economy otherwise its just all dependent on FDI and executive reforms.

Even the trinity of Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh can't help meet GST deadline: Anand Sharma - The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: The April 1 deadline for rolling out GST will not be met "even if the trinity of Gods - Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh - descend on earth", as the government has not yet completed the preparatory work for the new indirect tax regime, Congress leader Anand Sharma said today.

"Even if the Prime Minister and leader of the opposition have a duet together and all of us work overtime, the so called April 1 (2016 deadline) cannot be achieved," he said at the industry body Ficci's AGM.

"In our methodology we talk about Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Even if the three (Gods) come together, (we require) 50 per cent states ratification, three more laws (State GST, Centre GST and IGST) to be enacted," he added.

The Constitution Amendment bill to roll out Goods and Services Tax is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority.

Being touted as the most comprehensive reform of indirect taxes since the Independence, GST will subsume most of the levies including central excise, service tax and sales tax.

The bill is being opposed by Congress although many other opposition parties are on board.

Sharma, who is Deputy Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha said: "It (the Constitution amendment) will pave the way for enactment of the legislation. Even if it has to pass tomorrow it has to be ratified by 50 per cent state assemblies. Then the real bills will come. Three legislation are to be enacted (for GST)--Centre GST, State GST and Inter-state GST."

The government is not ready with the three bills which would have to be passed by Centre and state before GST roll out in the entire country, he said.

He accused the government of trying to "trying shift (focus from) bad management of Indian economy to just one GST bill.

Sharma said, "We have been the real authors of GST and we have put across some very genuine concerns. The Opposition is ready to debate with the Government on this. The country will have a GST and there is no doubt about that."

He said that at this juncture there is a need for policies that reflect continuity, predictability and stability, which at present is being threatened.

"Merely rebranding and repackaging of policies would not help the economy which at present is sputtering," he added

The present government, Sharma said, needs to decentralise and delegate in order to meet its claim of improving the governance situation.

 

[Nilgiri]

Anand Sharma seems to revel in mocking Hindu faith. I am going to enjoy watching Congress party get crushed in 2016. They wont go silently, but thats what will make it all the more enjoyable to watch.

 

[Nilgiri]

Cracking the whip where needed:

Government's ultimatum to road developers: Perform or perish - The Economic Times

Government's ultimatum to road developers: Perform or perish

NEW DELHI: Running out of patience for their "lack of commitment and lackadaisical approach", the government has warned nonserious developers and bankers of terminating highway projects worth Rs 20,000 crore.

"The concessionaires and bankers are not realising that we are reaching a stage of impatience, and people who are users of these roads are not going to be waiting any more," Road Transport and Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber told PTI in an interview.

"If developers and bankers fail to mend their ways and initiate correctives to roll out projects by Januaryend, the government will start terminating contracts in PPP mode and repackage them."

Out of the total 77 stalled projects, issues have been sorted out for all barring 19, which are still stuck.

"I had a meeting with bankers and concessionaires. I am getting a sense they had not looked at the full package... We are no longer working on any further correction," Chhibber warned.

"Enough is enough," the senior official said, mincing no words, adding that a 30day deadline has been set for developers and bankers of 19 projects to "perform or get terminated".

The secretary's remarks assume significance as the highway sector has been saddled with stuck projects worth about Rs 3.8 lakh crore.

The government, it seems, doesn't want to leave any stone unturned in initiating policy measures and extending support wherever required.

At one point, Chhibber had even remarked that aggressive lending by banks, which were "happily overfinancing even nonserious highways players without assessing risks, has virtually killed the sector".

The builders in the line of fire include big players like Larsen & Toubro, HCC, Gammon, Madhucon, Soma and Essel Ifra, among others, while the list of lenders includes top names like State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of India.

The government has recently "offered a full package", which among other steps extends the concession period of projects where delays are not attributable to developers.

Stating that the government has other policy options at its disposal to deal with the problem, Chhibber said: "If it doesn't work in a setup for them, we are quite happy to cancel the projects and roll them out in EPC or some other means.

Currently, we do not find any stress on our liquidity." The projects relate to key national highways in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

 

[Nilgiri]

Undisclosed income worth over Rs 16,000 crore detected in 20 months

NEW DELHI: A government crackdown on black money has led to detection of undisclosed income of over Rs 16,000 crore since March 2014, while assets worth Rs 1,200 crore have been seized, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said today.

"In 201415 and 201516 (up to November), the Income Tax Department by its enforcement actions has detected undisclosed income worth more than Rs 16,000 crore and seized assets worth Rs 1,200 crore," he said.

"Prosecution has been filed in 774 cases (up to September 2015)." The measures included a onetime 90day window to come clean on undisclosed wealth, which led to declarations worth over Rs 4,160 crore, and the government is expecting Rs 2,500 crore as tax and penalties by monthend, he told PTI here.

"The present government is very serious on the issue of black money. Various pronouncements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have made it very clear that this government does not want to spare any effort to bring people with black money to book," Adhia said.

To deal with illegal wealth stashed abroad, the government legislated the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 which provides for stringent penalty and jail term. A onetime compliance window was provided to illegal foreign wealth holders to pay a tax and penalty of 60 per cent and escape the new law's penal provisions.

In all, 635 declarations worth Rs 4,160 crore of illegal wealth were made in the threemonth compliance window. "The last date for paying income tax for those people who made disclosures under the Black Money Act is December 31, 2015.

We are hopeful of getting approximately Rs 2,500 crore as tax in the current year," he said. Articulating steps taken by the government to curb black money, he said the requirement of mandatory furnishing of PAN for money transactions above certain limits is a way of making people report their income legitimately.

In addition, the government will initiate enforcement action in a big way in those cases where it gets definite information. "Our attempt to get more information from governments of other countries about the resident tax payers is likely to get more traction in 2016," he said.

Also, international cooperation on tax matters is gaining momentum now, with a multilateral agreement on automatic exchange of information taking final shape. Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), signed with the US, India has already started getting information.

Undisclosed income worth over Rs 16,000 crore detected in 20 months - The Economic Times

================================================================

As a follow up to: Indian Economy-News & Updates | Page 352 and beyond:

Are India's exports doing that badly? Not really - The Economic Times

 

[Nilgiri]

Good news is that we also seem to have bottomed out the credit crunch seen at the end of UPA II:

Banks see credit pick up as India Inc borrows again - Moneycontrol.com

 

[fsayed]

Centre understated subsidy bill by Rs 44,941 crore in FY15: CAG - The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has faulted the government's calculation on subsidy expenditure and claimed in its comments on the Union accounts for 2014-15 that the NDA government's subsidy bill in its first year was understated by Rs 44,941 crore. This understated figure, if accounted for, would push the overall subsidy bill by at least 0.36% of GDP which would result in actual revenue deficit going up from the stated 2.92% of GDP to 3.28% and fiscal deficit going up from 4.11% to 4.47%.

It also debunks claims made by the government on its commitment to fiscal consolidation and is in breach of what has been indicated in the medium-term fiscal policy statement for financial year 2014-15.

In its report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the federal auditor said the subsidy figure for 2014-15 was understated as it did not account for a payment of Rs 27,759 crore (Rs 23,699 crore to FCI and Rs 4,060 crore to fertilizer and petroleum sector undertakings) during the financial year.

While calculating the subsidy, the CAG has excluded the expenditure during the last quarter of the year assuming that the government received the bills late.

Had these claims of three quarters been paid during the financial year, the total expenditure on subsidies would have been Rs 286,058 crore, or 2.28% of GDP as against 2.06% claimed by the government, the auditor said.

The CAG further said, "If outstanding subsidy claims are considered in totality, including the past unpaid claims but excluding the fourth quarter claims amounting to Rs 44,941 crore submitted during 2014-15, then total subsidy expenditure would have been Rs 303,240 crore in 2014-15, which works out to 2.42% of GDP."

Revenue deficit, which is less desirable since it leads to increase in borrowings without corresponding capital asset formation, has declined every year from Rs 394,918 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 357,303 crore in 2013-14 but increased to Rs 366,228 crore the next year. As a percentage of GDP, revenue deficit has declined from 4.47% in 2011-12 to 2.92% in 2014-15.

But if the understated subsidy, as pointed out by the auditor, is added, the actual revenue deficit would stand at 3.28% of GDP, more than the level of 2013-14 which was 3.15%. Similarly, the calculation of fiscal deficit for 2014-15 would go up from the stated 4.11% to 4.47%.

AIFPA raises pitch against recommendation of higher taxes on food items in GST - The Economic Times

 

[Nilgiri]

Amul model may be adopted to market agri produce - The Economic Times

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rural post offices will soon get digitally connected - The Economic Times

 

[H.B.]

FDI flow into India jumped by 35% in last 17 months even as world saw slump: Amitabh Kant - The Economic Times

 

[H.B.]

FIPB clears 4 FDI proposals worth Rs 1,810 crore - The Economic Times

 

[ranjeet]

Govt announces Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for kerosene subsidy | Business Standard Mobile Website

 

[PARIKRAMA]

@ranjeet @Levina @Skull and Bones @Rain Man @Abingdonboy @nair @Nair saab @Brahmaputra Mail @JanjaWeed @Parul @LaBong @Echo_419 @[Bregs] @IndoCarib @The Huskar @magudi @Sky lord @itachii @TejasMk3 @Jai Bharat @Tridibans @mpk1988 @noksss @zebra7 @Ind4Ever @anant_s @Srinivas @HariPrasad @MilSpec @AUSTERLITZ @SpArK @SR-91 @Kickstarter101

 

[Echo_419]

View attachment 284533

@ranjeet @Levina @Skull and Bones @Rain Man @Abingdonboy @nair @Nair saab @Brahmaputra Mail @JanjaWeed @Parul @LaBong @Echo_419 @[Bregs] @IndoCarib @The Huskar @magudi @Sky lord @itachii @TejasMk3 @Jai Bharat @Tridibans @mpk1988 @noksss @zebra7 @Ind4Ever @anant_s @Srinivas @HariPrasad @MilSpec @AUSTERLITZ @SpArK @SR-91 @Kickstarter101

All this extra money is being funneled into Infrastructure buildup

 

[H.B.]

View attachment 284533

@ranjeet @Levina @Skull and Bones @Rain Man @Abingdonboy @nair @Nair saab @Brahmaputra Mail @JanjaWeed @Parul @LaBong @Echo_419 @[Bregs] @IndoCarib @The Huskar @magudi @Sky lord @itachii @TejasMk3 @Jai Bharat @Tridibans @mpk1988 @noksss @zebra7 @Ind4Ever @anant_s @Srinivas @HariPrasad @MilSpec @AUSTERLITZ @SpArK @SR-91 @Kickstarter101

You won't find people too worried about it. It is called 'upside adjustment of economy'. Indian economy has adjusted to a price level of 55-65 for petrol. Anything above this, you will find people complaining.

 

[PARIKRAMA]

All this extra money is being funneled into Infrastructure buildup

If its the truth then that would serve the nation in a big way with the rolling of our economic engines. But if i understand such numbers in terms of taxes collected to investments have to show in some place. You think Budget when figures are quoted could throw some light about utilization of these funds? also since we have not gone very aggressive with our disinvestment drive, i think this collection may not serve the purpose of infra investments but albeit it may be for adjusting fall of other sources of income where we practically failed to meet or achieve our target.

You won't find people too worried about it. It is called 'upside adjustment of economy'. Indian economy has adjusted to a price level of 55-65 for petrol. Anything above this, you will find people complaining.

Thats true.. anything in the range of 55-65 is now the new normal and i guess every monthly budget for transport considers such a price avg

 

[H.B.]

If its the truth then that would serve the nation in a big way with the rolling of our economic engines. But if i understand such numbers in terms of taxes collected to investments have to show in some place. You think Budget when figures are quoted could throw some light about utilization of these funds? also since we have not gone very aggressive with our disinvestment drive, i think this collection may not serve the purpose of infra investments but albeit it may be for adjusting fall of other sources of income where we practically failed to meet or achieve our target.



Thats true.. anything in the range of 55-65 is now the new normal and i guess every monthly budget for transport considers such a price avg

It will be in Defence and it will not show fully in Budget.