Government disburses Rs 1,433 crore as interest subsidy to exporters

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Government has disbursed Rs 1,433 crore up to March under the interest subsidy scheme to exporters, the Commerce Ministry today said.

The Centre’s interest equalisation scheme, announced last December, reduces cost of capital by allowing 3 per cent interest subsidy on pre and post-shipment rupee export credit to eligible exporters.

“Indian exporters pay high rate of interest on the capital borrowed… all products manufactured and exported by SMEs (are) eligible. Up to March 2016, benefit to the tune of Rs 1,432.90 crore has been passed on to eligible borrowers,” the ministry said in a statement.

Enlisting steps to improve ease of doing business and boost exports, it said the ministry has taken several steps.

Number of mandatory documents required for exports and imports have been reduced to three for each segment. Earlier 7 documents were required for exports and 10 for imports.

“Exporter can now file online applications for IEC (import export code), Advance License, MEIS (merchandise exports from India scheme), SEIS (services exports from India scheme), pay application fee online and check status of their applications,” it said.

To spread awareness about benefits of free trade agreements, it said an ambitious outreach programme has been launched to reach out to exporters located in the 34 major export clusters/cities.

“The programmes focus on training exporters to utilise the FTAs, taking inputs from exporters on FTAs under negotiations for example Regional comprehensive economic policy (RCEP),” it added.

It said the efficacy of these initiatives is reflected in the fact the annual trade data  indicates the share of manufacturing sector in India’s total exports has increased from 64 per cent in 2014-15 to more than 69 per cent in 2015-16.

In terms of trading across borders, India is ranked at 133rd out of 189 economies, according to the World Bank’s report on ease of doing business.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/53178132.cms

 

Govt to cut subsidy if pvt cos do not slash DAP, MoP rates

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The Centre has asked private firms to slash retail prices of non-urea fertilisers by up to Rs 5,000 per tonne, in line with public-sector firms, or else it will cut down the subsidy provided to them.

Retail prices of non-urea fertilisers such as Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MoP) and NPK are decontrolled and are determined by the manufacturers, while the Centre gives them fixed subsidy each year.
Earlier this month, the Fertiliser Ministry asked both public and private fertiliser companies to pass on falling global prices of raw materials by reducing the retail price of non-urea soil nutrients.

Accordingly, state-run Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) and National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) reduced the retail price of DAP by Rs 2,500 to Rs 22,000/tonne, MoP by Rs 5,000 to Rs 11,000/tonne, while complex fertilisers rates were brought down by Rs 1,000/tonne.

Private players, however, did not cut the rates.

“Even private companies will be reducing the prices. International prices have come down, they have to reduce the retail price. If they do not reduce the price, we will cut down the subsidy. This has been told to them very clearly,” a senior Fertiliser Ministry official told PTI.

Global prices of raw material used in making of complex fertilisers have come down by USD 50-70 a tonne. “They have been told very clearly this has to be passed on to farmers. If private companies do not fall in line, then the subsidy will be cut further,” the official added.

In March, the government had reduced the fixed subsidy on phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers factoring falling global prices.

When asked that private firms are concerned about their margin, the official said: “The issue is that some of them have old stock of about 50 lakh tonnes lying in the field. They have sold that to dealers at higher price. They cannot ask the dealers now to sell at lower price.”

The private companies want old stock to be cleared as their entire working capital is blocked, the official said, adding that the government is monitoring the situation and will ensure farmers get non-urea fertilisers at lower rates.

Total subsidy outgo is estimated to be Rs 21,274 crore for complex fertilisers for this fiscal.

The share of complex fertilisers by PSUs is less than 10 per cent. The cooperative major IFFCO and private companies Coromandel International, Deepak Fertilisers, Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd, and Tata Chemicals have major share in these soil nutrients.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/govt-to-cut-subsidy-if-pvt-cos-do-not-slash-dap-mop-rates-116071200606_1.html

Alternative Investment Funds coming to India

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Markets regulator SEBI is learnt to be in process of creating a new category of Alternative Investment Funds(AIFs) to encourage long-term funds to use the AIF route to invest in the listed space.

 

Sources privy to the development said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will reclassify the existing category III into two groups – one comprising long-term funds like pension funds and the other consisting of hedge funds and other arbitrage funds who look to invest on a short-term basis.

 

Further, SEBI is also expected to consult the government in providing a ‘pass through’ status to the new category of AIF on par with Category I and Category II AIFs. According to legal experts, this categorisation would help the long-term overseas funds to receive a favourable tax treatment in the AIF space as currently they are taxed on par with arbitrage funds.

 

As per the current tax regulations, any investments made in listed companies which are held for more than 12 months are termed long-term investments, while others are called short-term investments. Capital gains tax is applicable only for short-term investments and investors needn’t pay any capital gains tax in case of long-term holding.

 

However, if a fund invests in the listed space through the AIF route, irrespective of the nature of holding, the investor would be taxed at uniform slab applicable for category III AIFs.

 

“Current SEBI AIF regulations are like one size fits all. Category III AIFs comprise several types of short-term and long-term funds and the purpose of each of them is different. However, the tax they are paying is the same. Long-term funds would rather take the direct route or would invest via P-notes instead of AIFs,” said a lawyer.

 

These measures are a part of efforts made by SEBI and union government to promote AIFs. During the union budget 2015, the government had provided pass-through status for Category I and Category II AIFs. Last November, the government had allowed foreign funds to invest in AIFs through the direct route.

 

In the last two years, inflows into AIFs have witnessed a significant increase. According to a SEBI data, cumulative funds raised via the AIFs as on March 31, 2016 was `22,691.18 crore — a fourfold increase compared to `5,847.5 in Q2FY15.

 

According to Jay Gandhi, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, the SEBI AIF regulations have found great traction in the market in a relatively short period of time. “The AIF regulations have permitted investment managers great flexibility in structuring various kind of fund structures targeted at specific segments of the investor community,” Gandhi said.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/markets/alternative-investment-funds-coming-india-heres-need-know/314881/

FIPB clears 6 FDI proposals worth Rs 180 crore

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Inter-ministerial body FIPB today cleared six foreign direct investment proposals worth about Rs 180 crore.

 

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has cleared six proposals including those of Janalaxami Finance and Turmeric Vision, a Finance Ministry official said.

 

The panel headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das had considered 15 proposals.

 

The official further said four investments proposals were rejected while decisions on five were deferred for want of more inputs.

 

India allows FDI in over 90 per cent sectors via automatic route. However, investment proposals in sensitive sectors like telecom and banking go through FIPB.

 

In last two years, the government has taken a series of reforms measures to liberalise FDI regime. Last month, it announced FDI liberalisation in nine sectors such as civil aviation, retail and private security services. This was the current government’s second round of relaxation in these rules.

 

During 2015-16, FDI into the country increased by 29 per cent to $40 billion from $30.93 billion in the previous fiscal.

 

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/53175869.cms

Temasek scouts for more investments in India

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Temasek Holdings, Singapore government’s investment company, will continue to scout for investments across consumption-oriented segments in India this year, even as it’s open to opportunities from other sectors.

In the previous year, the company’s bigger investments were in consumption-oriented segments such as healthcare and pharmaceuticals, financial services (including insurance), technology (e-commerce or payment) and consumer (FMCG companies).

The investments were made across public and private companies.

“That trend is likely to continue, and that’s where we see most of the India story playing out, unless there are certain opportunities that come up from other sectors.

“We are always open to opportunities from other sectors too,” said R Venkatesh, Managing Director, Temasek Holdings Advisors India Pvt Ltd.

For the sector-agnostic investment firm, there is no preferred exit mode, and previously the company has exited through various modes such as strategic stake, secondary sales and IPOs.

On an average, the company has invested more than $1 billion every year in India across sectors such as consumer, financial services, new economy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

“We don’t have an industry allocation, a country allocation or any type of deal allocation. It’s entirely based on the deals that make the cart. Our investments are very much bottoms up, and depends on opportunities,” said Promeet Ghosh, also a Managing Director at Temasek Holdings Advisors.

Temasek, which started its Indian operations in 2004, has investments in companies such as Bajaj Corp, Crompton Greaves, Oberoi Realty, GMR Energy, Axis Bank, Glenmark Pharma and Sun Pharma.

India is one of the markets across the world the company is focusing on due to good macros, great demographics and a rising middle-income population, Ghosh added.

Dip in net portfolio value

Last week, Temasek posted a net portfolio value of S$242 billion for year ended March, lower from S$266 billion posted during the previous year.

This was the Singapore investment company’s first portfolio decline since the 2009 global financial crisis.

India’s exposure to that was about 5 per cent, which was a rise from 4 per cent last year.

“This is reflective of a mark-to-market fall in some of our listed portfolio companies across the world. About 60 per cent of our portfolio is listed and about two-thirds of these are exposed to markets in Hong Kong and Singapore stock exchanges, which have fallen between 15-26 per cent,” Venkatesh said.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/temasek-scouts-for-more-investments-in-india/article8840335.ece

Black money window: CBDT issues notification to ensure secrecy

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CBDT today issued a notification making it clear that information about those who declare their black money under the compliance window, ending September 30, will be kept secret.

The notification states that “no public servant shall produce before any person or authority any such document or record or any information or computerised data or part thereof as comes into his possession during the discharge of official duties in respect of valid declaration under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016.”

The notification also quotes provisions of section 138 of the Income Tax Act which states that taxpayer related information is confidential and cannot be shared.

The fresh notification was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), a senior official said, as the department was getting a number of queries with regard to the confidentiality under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) or the one-time domestic black money compliance window.

Trade associations and industry bodies had also taken up the issue during their meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently.

“The notification now gives legal sanctity to the word of the government that all information related to IDS will be kept confidential. It is aimed to end apprehensions in the minds of potential declarants that their information will find its way in the hands of other probe agencies or will reach the public domain,” the official said.

The IDS is open for four months, between June 1 and September 30 and the CBDT and the IT department have introduced a number of measures to make it a success.

CBDT has so far issued three sets of clarifications on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to clear doubts and answer queries about the IDS.

The department has also published a country-wide list of registered asset valuers for those who wish to declare their untaxed funds and properties under this window.

The CBDT has also directed the taxman to step up publicity by advertising about the IDS at posh markets, clubs and showrooms. Besides, it has promised full privacy would be ensured for those making disclosures for better collections.

Under the scheme, the declarants will have to pay a total of 45 per cent in tax and penalty by November this year. Individuals and entities making disclosures will have immunity from prosecution.

IDS was announced with an aim to flush out black money from the domestic economy. It will apply to undisclosed income whether in the form of investment in assets or otherwise, pertaining to financial year 2015-16 or earlier.

Declarations under IDS can either be made online on the official e-filing website of the tax department or before various regional Principal Commissioners of I-T department.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/53155906.cms

India signs five agreements with Tanzania

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Seeking to enhance its ties with resource-rich Tanzania, India on Sunday extended its full support to the country to meet its development needs and signed five agreements, including one for providing a Line of Credit of $92 million in the water resources sector.

Describing India as a trusted partner in meeting Tanzania’s development priorities, Mr. Modi said he along with President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli “agreed to deepen overall defence and security partnership, especially in the maritime domain.”

“Our in-depth discussions on regional and global issues reflected our considerable convergence on issues of common interest and concern,” he said at a joint press interaction after his bilateral meeting with President Magufuli.

Twin threats

The two leaders agreed to work closely, bilaterally, regionally and globally to combat the twin threats of terrorism and climate change.

In a joint statement, the two leaders expressed their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stated that there could be no justification for terrorism whatsoever. They expressed satisfaction on the holding of bilateral counter-terrorism consultations in early 2016.

“India’s cooperation with Tanzania will always be as per your needs and priorities,” Mr. Modi said.

The two sides signed an agreement under which India would provide a Line of Credit of $ 92 million for rehabilitation and improvement of Zanzibar’s water supply system.

Other agreements signed included an MoU on water resource management and development, an MoU for establishment of vocational training centre at Zanzibar, an MoU on visa waiver for diplomatic/official passport holders and an agreement between the National Small Industries Corporation of India and the Small Industries Development Organisation, Tanzania.

The Prime Minister said the two countries were also working on a number of other water projects for 17 cities in Tanzania.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/narendra-modis-africa-visit-india-extends-92-mn-line-of-credit-to-tanzania/article8831464.ece