The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a new set of FAQs that cater to queries tabled by stakeholders with respect to Income Declaration Scheme, 2016. The scheme was started on June 1st, 2016 and will continue till September 30, 2016. The FAQs takes care of questions like confidentiality of information, allowability of TDS against declared income and initiation of enquiry against third party on basis of information. An issue of declaring income and assets under the scheme was also raised.
The Office of the Principal of the Custom House has issued fresh notifications with respect to Export Promotion Capital Goods, Advance Authorization and Duty Free Import Authorization schemes. These notification requires the attention of all importers, exporters, custom brokers, shipping lines and members of Trade and Industries. Please find the notifications below:
Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel, will launch a new platform, Vibrant Summit ,solely for small, medium, and micro industries. The program will take place on the side lines of Vibrant Gujarat, which is scheduled in January 2017. The summit will trigger employment opportunities in small industries while Gujarat strives to boost employment generation capacity, Gujarat CM said.
Under the interest subvention scheme that was approved by the Indian government, farmers are set to get Rs 3 lakh loan at an interest rate of 7% for 1 year. Moreover, farmers are also eligible for an interest rate of 4% if the loan is paid on time. Government has set a target to provide an agricultural credit of Rs 9 lakh crore, Rs 50,000 crore more than last fiscal.
Fall in domestic and international demand has prompted the labour ministry to keep the minimum wage hike of 25% on hold. The ministry said that this is not the opportune time to raise the wages as it would increase cost for manufacturers. Experts have said that the wage hike might negatively impact the ‘Make in India’ initiative and lower investments for now.
Three months after witnessing sluggish growth, India’s manufacturing sector has jumped to 3-month high level. Better than expected monsoon coupled with robust domestic demand is the main driver of manufacturing activity. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index jumped to 51.7 in June against May’s 50.7. Automobile sector, however, grew just 2.8% as India’s biggest car maker faced losses in production due to fire.
Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index, a barometer that measures service activity, dropped to 4-month low level and second lowest level in past 12 months. The index measured 50.3 in June against May’s reading of 51. India’s service sector fell with a weaker rise in business coupled with softer expansion in activity, an economist at Markit said.
Impact fee applications will be processed till September 30 this year. Those who have pending documents to submit and have queries to answer regarding regularization of their properties, should approach the nearest zonal office of the civic body without delay. The first three months of the extended period ended on June 30, after which the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) standing committee was approached by the town planning and estate department to extend the duration of contractual staff hired for handling impact fee applications. Nearly 50 such staff was hired on contract.
Fiscal budget in the first two months of current fiscal came at 43% of budgeted target in May. The reading is higher than last year’s deficit which stood at 37.5% of the budget estimates. Total receipts of the government during the first two months totaled to Rs 69,060 crore, 4.8% of the estimates of the current year. Government has estimated the gap between expenditure and revenue at Rs 5.33 lakh crore.
India’s external debt jumped $10.6 billion to $485.69 billion prominently due to rise in outstanding NRI deposits. Although commercial borrowings continued to form a lion’s share in the external debt with 37.3%, rise in dollar value against Indian rupee managed to offset some debt. NRI deposits and short-term credit constituted 26.1% and 16.5% of the external debt. The “external debt to GDP ratio†by March 2016 was a tad lower to 23.7% against March 2015’s reading of 23.8%.
Citing slow progress in executing reforms as promised during electoral campaign, US Department of State has showed concerns over India’s claim of GDP growing by 7.6%. However, they have lauded steps like opening up defence and railway sectors for investment, US has criticized Indian government’s inability to build census over GST Bill.
A report from World bank Group said that India’s rank in Logistics Performance Index jumped 19 places to reserve 35th spot in 2016 from 54 in 2014. India’s rank zoomed past New Zealand, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Latvia and Indonesia. World Bank’s President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, said that the jump in rankings show the commitment of Indian government towards improving the ease of doing business.
After having constantly registered a double digit growth, bank deposits in Gujarat seem to have lost momentum. Thanks to subdued economy and poor monsoon, bank deposits saw a single digit growth of 9.78% in 2015-16, which is the lowest since 2008-09. Not just deposits, bank advances growth also hit an eight year low . As per the latest report by the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), the total bank deposits in Gujarat reached Rs. 5.38 lakh crore in 2015-16 from Rs 4.90 lakh crore in 2014-15, which shows a rise of Rs. 47,925 crore or 9.78%.
India and Bhutan has decided to renew its trade agreement, which expires this month. A trade agreement was signed between India and Bhutan in 2006 which allowed India to exports products including machinery, automobiles, vegetable, nuts, spices and processed foods for 10 years. Till the time the agreement is renewed, the respective ministries have decided to extend it by 1 year.
India has managed to beat China in the pharmaceutical sector as it grew 7.55% against China’s 5.3%. monetarily speaking, while India’s pharma exports jumped to $12.54 billion from $11.66 billion, China’s pharma exports grew to $6.94 billion. US turned out to be India’s biggest export market as it grew by 23.4% to $4.74 billion. China’s pharma exports to US grew 15% to $1.34 billion.
India is set to participate in Russia’s biggest trade exhibition, Innoprom, which prominently will cater to the manufacturing sector. Delegation travelling to Russia will be led by Nirmala Sitharaman along with chief ministers from Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. The trade exhibition will take place from July 10-14. India is already eyeing expansion of footprint through investments in Hydrocarbon sector in Russia.
Indian government has launched a probe on dumping of steel products from China and EU. The investigation came into force after Essar Steel and JSW steel filed a petition before authorities regarding alleged dumped imports. Periods covered by authorities during investigation will include April – December 2015. They will also scrutinize imports between 2012 – 2014.
India has lifted ban on trading specific items with Iran, after the Western nations lifted its ban early this year. However, any kind of trade, direct or indirect is subject to permission from the UN Security Council Resolution and IAEA specified documents.
Honda Motorcycles & Scooter India Pvt Ltd inaugurated 2nd assemble line for manufacturing Honda scooters in Vithalapur, Ahmedabad. The additional assembly line will help the total production to increase by 600,000 to 1.2 million units. Incidentally, Honda’s Activa has managed to gain a market share of 58% in the scooter segment, making it the 2nd largest selling scooter in India. Honda has invested nearly Rs 2,200 crore in the state to create 23 vendors and 9,000 jobs.
The Gujarat Coastal Regulation Zone has approved the proposal to construct a Cyclone Shelter under National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project( NCRMP) funded by G.S.D.M.A, whichis backed by World Bank. The sole purpose of building a Cyclone Shelter is to provide temporary shelter to those villagers whose houses have been damaged by cyclone. Proposals for building shelters at various locations across Gujarat have been submitted.
