Gujarat unveils new policy to boost IT, start-ups in 5 years

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As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” and “Start-up India” moves, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, on Sunday, announced her government’s new policy for promotion of information technology (IT) and electronic start-ups, envisaging setting up of 50 incubators to provide leadership and facilities to 2,000 start-ups over the next five years.

About 10 lakh square feet of space will be developed for incubators, targeting investment to the tune of Rs.7,000 crore and creation of new employment opportunities.

The BJP government also announced a slew of incentives for incubators and start-ups, including financial assistance of up to Rs.50 lakh for fixed capital investment and up to Rs.5 lakh per annum for guidance of start-ups. They would be given 100 per cent waiver on stamp duty and registration. Also, they would get a rebate of 100 per cent amount of electricity duty for five years and 50 per cent assistance for software purchase up to Rs.1 crore to incubators.

For start-ups, the government’s incentives include partnership of start-up units for government’s e-governance project, up to 25 per cent equity-linked financial assistance in fund taken for venture capital fund, 100 per cent discount on stamp duty and registration fee and product development and marketing assistance, Rs.15 per square feet per employee lease rental assistance, Rs.2 lakh for local patent and Rs.5 lakh for international patent and some other incentives up to 7 years.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/gujarat-unveils-new-policy-to-boost-it-startups-in-5-years/article8693723.ece

E-filing of tax returns via ATM

by | posted in: Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs, Income Tax,e-Filing- Individuals, Firms, Companies | 0

The Income Tax department has launched an ATM-based validation system for filing e-ITRs by taxpayers as part of its measure to enhance the paperless regime of filing the annual IT returns.

“Now, Electronic Verification Code (EVC) can be generated by pre-validating your Automated Teller Machine (ATM) provided by the bank where a taxpayer has an account. While SBI has activated the facility beginning yesterday, other banks will follow soon,” a senior IT official said.

Last month, the department had launched the bank account based validation facility in this regard for those who have not availed internet banking facility. The new facility is available on the official e-filing portal of the department – http://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ and will work by using the One Time Password verification system as activated by the department last year by using the Aadhaar number.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/policy/efiling-of-tax-returns-via-atm/article8693669.ece

No funding for Adani project, says Australia PM

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There will be no government funding for Adani’s $21.7-billion coal mine project, Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Friday as he sought to assure a protester in fish costume that he took climate change “as seriously as you”.

Turnbull made these remarks during an election campaign in South Australia. An environmental protester dressed as a clown fish from animated movie Finding Nemo asked him to commit to no public funding for Indian mining firm Adani’s controversial project.

“Adani’s plan to build one of the world’s biggest coal mines in Australia has been hampered time and again. A federal court in August last year had revoked the original approval due to environmental concerns. In October last year, the project got a new lease of life after the Australian government gave its re-approval.

An email to Adani on Friday did not get any response. Analysts said the prime minister’s statement was a major policy shift by the Australian government as until now it had been looking at all sorts of angles to get financial support to the proposal, including the idea of the A$117-billion Future Fund stepping in. A$ is Australian dollar.

“Adani’s pivot into Australian solar project development is looking like a clear insight into how they are going to react. At least with the solar projects, they will have a multi-decade tax holiday in Australia, given they will probably end up having to write off their entire A$1.3-billion ($940 million) investment in Adani Mining Australia profit and loss to-date. This would have a major impact on shareholder equity of the listed Adani Enterprises Ltd, which stood at $2.03 billion on March 31, given Adani Mining Australia represents 46 per cent of the net book value of equity of the entire group,” said Tim Buckley, director of energy finance studies at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

The admission from the minister that Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine project will receive no government money removes one of the final remote funding options for the beleaguered project, he said.

Buckley said Adani Enterprises remained relatively heavily geared, with net debt of $2.6 billion representing 1.3 times book value of shareholders equity. And taking into account the 2015 accounts filed with Australian authorities, Adani Mining Australia Pty is entirely debt-funded and is operating with negative shareholder funds. Hence, financial leverage remains an insurmountable barrier to develop the Carmichael coal proposal. “Adani appears to have no capacity to undertake the high risk A$10-billion Carmichael coal proposal, particularly since the company is now well underway on its new $5-10-billion solar investment programme in India and abroad,” said Buckley.

Apart from Adani, GVK group and Lanco group are also stuck after buying coal mines in Australia.

The Adani group had said they would go ahead with the Australian project to supply cheap coal to Indian power stations. At the same time, Coal India’s production has touched a record high to provide coal to Indian power plants. Besides, with coal-based power plants now shutting down due to high pollution in the developed world, the future of coal mines look uncertain.

Listed company’s documentation may get simpler

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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is learnt to be finalising a new mechanism to simplify the documentation process for listed companies wishing to issue new securities. Sources told FE that the concept of an ‘annual information memorandum’ will be introduced by the regulator, replacing the traditional offer document, if a company plans subsequent public issues via an offer for sale (OFS) or a follow-on public offering (FPO).

This memorandum is expected to provide exhaustive information about a company including financials, pending litigations and risk factors. Companies will have to file the document once a year. To incorporate the new mechanism, Sebi will amend Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirement (LODR) regulations.

As per the current LODR regulations, a company needs to file an offer document whenever it comes up with a public offering. However, offer documents are not mandatory in the cases of private placement like preferential issue, qualified institutional placements (QIPs), etc. The documentation is also not mandatory in case of rights issue where the company plans to tap existing shareholders.

Offer documents are usually drafted by merchant bankers in coordination with legal advisers. Post introduction of annual information memorandum, a company will be able to cut on the fees paid to merchant bankers and lawyers for the issue.

“Currently, we have the concept of annual reports. The new mechanism is a step forward. Annual information memorandums would provide additional details like pending litigations, etc. The regulator would come up with a format for the memorandum soon. This will also help investors get all the information about a company at a single place,” said an investment banker who is part of the primary markets advisory committee (PMAC) of Sebi.

As per the current LODR regulations, a company needs to upload an annual report which should contain audited financial statements, cash flow statements,directors report and management discussion and analysis report. The top 500 listed entities in terms of market capitalisation should also disclose business responsibility report describing initiatives taken by them from an environmental, social and governance perspectives.

In October 2015, Sebi had introduced the concept of abridged prospectus that companies need to file for public offers. Under this mechanism, any company going for an IPO needs to file an abridged prospectus along with the regular draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). The abridged prospects would be a 10-page document which would provide all the key information to the investor about the company. The decision was taken in the interest of investors as the full DRHP of a company runs into 400-500 pages.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/article/industry/companies/listed-companys-documentation-may-get-simpler/273624/

Company Law Tribunal benches ‘will be fully functional’ in next few days

by | posted in: Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0

All the 11 benches of the newly constituted National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will be fully functional in the next “couple of days”, a top Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) official said.

Infrastructure is ready in all the 10 cities where the NCLT benches are being set up. The human resources aspect has also been taken care of and adequate steps are being taken to start work immediately.

To begin with, NCLT will handle all pending cases before the Company Law Board and other matters not assigned to any other Court, the official said.

“There will be no transition problem for existing CLB cases,” the official added.

As on date, as many as eight members have joined NCLT, out of approved 25 members. “The remaining members are expected to join in the next few days. They will be posted in various benches,” the official said.

The MCA has also planned a 10-day colloquium in July for the NCLT members, the official added. Asked about the status of cases before High Courts (company cases), the MCA official said the High Court will be the second stage of transfer.

“We will let the CLB cases transition to stabilise for some time and then, in discussion with NCLT Chairman, decide on the High Courts related matter,” the official said.

The creation of NCLT from June 1 is expected to speed up delivery of justice in corporate cases. Sai Venkateshwaran, Partner and Head, Accounting Advisory Services, KPMG in India, hailed the MCA move to set up NCLT and NCLAT.

“We can expect to see the new Companies Act become a reality in its entirety in the coming months,” Venkateshwaran said. The time required for setting up of the NCLT and NCLAT was one of the key reasons for the Companies Act 2013 not being fully operationalised, he said.

However, with the setting up of these tribunals, the way has been paved for operationalising most of the remaining parts of the Companies Act 2013, he added. .

Meanwhile, the Company Law Board hearing in the Financial Technologies’ Board removal case did not take place on Thursday as the CLB stood dissolved on May 31 by virtue of the government move to set up NCLT from June 1.

Indications are that an NCLT bench will hear this matter in the coming days, sources said.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/company-law-tribunal-benches-will-be-fully-functional-in-next-few-days/article8688161.ece

Government lines up over Rs 17k crore to support rooftop solar projects

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The government has lined up almost $2.5 billion (about Rs 16,800 crore) for providing low cost finance to achieve the target of installing 40 GW grid-connected solar rooftop systems.

“The ministry is in negotiations with the KfW Development Bank to secure soft loans of 1 billion euro. They have already provided $100 million funding,” The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Secretary Upendra Tripathy told reporters here.

The World Bank has committed a loan of $620 million, with the Asian Development Bank and the New Development Bank pledging $500 million and $250 million, respectively, he added.

“This will enable participating commercial banks such as SBI, PNB and Canara Bank to extend loan at or near base rates,” Tripathy said.

The secretary further said in the current fiscal, MNRE is trying to arrange an investment of Rs 6,000 crore for rooftop solar projects.

“The government is committed to encourage rooftop solar projects and Power and MNRE Minister Piyush Goyal will inaugurate a national workshop on Roof Top Solar Power on June 7,” he said.

This workshop will have presentations and discussions on various topics including best practices, innovative projects and major policy initiatives on projects, he added.

Besides senior government officials from the centre and states, the conference will also see participation from solar power project developers, channel partners as well as international agencies such as GIZ, KfW and USAID.

The power generated from solar rooftop plants installed even today is almost at par with the commercial tariff for consumers in many states. The cost of solar power is declining, while that of electricity from fossil fuels is rising.

Today, it is possible to generate solar power from rooftop systems at about Rs 6.5 per kilo watt hour, which is cheaper than power generated from diesel gensets and also cheaper than the cost at which most discoms make power available to industries and high-end domestic consumers.

On the issue of storage of solar power generated from rooftop systems, Tripathy said the government is working on providing some kind of subsidy for such projects.

Also there are plans for installing 15 minutes of storage in two projects in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

 

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/govt-lines-up-over-rs-17k-crore-to-support-rooftop-solar-projects-116060301277_1.html

Government issues licence guidelines for virtual telecom operators

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The entry of VNOs is expected to push down cost of providing telecom services for companies and even give them room for cutting down tariffs.

The Telecom Department on Friday released licence guidelines for virtual network operators, opening the door for new class of players which will act like retailers for telecom service providers.

 

“After considering the recommendations of Trai on VNO, the government has decided to grant Unified Licence VNO (UL VNO),” DoT said in the licence guidelines.

 

The Virtual Network Operators will be entities providing telecom services like mobile landline and internet but only as retailer for full-fledged telecom operators such as BSNL, MTNL and Airtel etc.

 

The entry of VNOs is expected to push down cost of providing telecom services for companies and even give them room for cutting down tariffs.

 

“VNO shall use underutilized telecom infrastructure of national telecom operators. This will reduced cost of ownership on telecom companies to provide telecom services at more affordable rates,” internet firm Bluetown’s Country Managing Director Satya N Gupta said.

 

For obtaining UL VNO, interested companies will need to pay a one-time non-refundable entry fee for authorisation of each service they want to provide and for each service area where they wish to operate.

 

“The total amount of entry fee shall be subject to a maximum of Rs 7.5 crore,” the guidelines said.