Central Excise : Where High Court had vacated interim stay over pre-deposit order of Tribunal, said pre-deposit order of Tribunal stood revived and was to be complied with
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
Participation in reassessment proceeding ratified procedural lapse and validated notice served on as
IT : Where notice under section 148 was served on assessee-company at its registered office though not received by an authorised person, assessee, by participating voluntarily in proceedings, had rectified procedural irregularity
No. hefty deposit under Gujarat VAT Act merely if assessee had dealt with persons whose registration
CST & VAT : Though power to impose security is available in terms of section 28(2) of Gujarat VAT Act, however, it cannot be too harsh and cannot be imposed merely because assessee had business with some dealers whose registrations were cancelled
SC upheld order of DRT dismissing sale of secured asset by creditors as it hadn't been conducted pro
SARFAESI: Where sale did not take place pursuant to a notice issued under Rules 8 and 9 of Security Rules, 2002, read along with section 13(8), for reasons which could not be solely attributable to borrower, secured creditor could not effect sale or transfer of secured asset on any subsequent date by relying upon notice issued earlier
Presumptive taxation under sec. 44DA couldn't invoked if services were squarely covered by sec. 44BB
IT/ILT : Where services rendered by assessee squarely fall within scope of section 44BB, its income would be computed under section 44BB and not section 44DA
India, Bhutan Ink Preliminary Pact For Four Hydropower Projects
In a move that will strengthen the strategic partnership between India and Bhutan, the two countries have signed a preliminary pact for the joint construction of four hydropower projects in the landlocked country that is expected to generate 2,120 megawatts (MW) of electricity, a foreign ministry statement said on Tuesday.
The agreement between Bhutan and India was signed on Monday in Thimphu, the statement said.The largest of the four projects is the 770MW Chamkarchu project; the others include the 600MW Kholongchu hydel power project, the 180MW Bunakha project and the 570MW Wangchu hydel project, the statement said.
“Hydropower cooperation with Bhutan is a classic example of win-win cooperation, providing clean electricity to India, generating export revenues for Bhutan, and further strengthening our bilateral economic linkages,” it said.
Three hydroelectric projects totalling 1,416MW, which includes the 336MW Chukha project, the 60MW Kurichu project, and the 1,020MW Tala project, are already operational in Bhutan and are supplying electricity to India, according to the Indian foreign ministry.
Three others totalling 2,940MW, which include the 1,200MW Punatsangchu-I, the 1,020MW Punatsangchu-II and the 720MW Mangdehchu project that are under construction, and are scheduled to be commissioned by 2018, a foreign ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
Source:- livemint.com
India's Natural Rubber Prices Fall
Natural rubber prices in India, the world's fifth-biggest producer, dropped to their lowest level in more than four years on Monday, following losses in overseas prices and on sluggish demand, three dealers said.
Lower prices would bring down raw material costs for tyre makers, thereby boosting their profitability, as natural rubber makes up more than 40 percent of the cost of a tyre.
The spot price of the most-traded RSS-4 rubber (ribbed, smoked sheet) at the Kottayam market in the top producing Kerala state fell by 300 rupees to 14,100 rupees per 100 kg on Monday, the lowest level since February 20, 2010.
Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures sank to their weakest in more than four years on Monday amid nagging concerns over growth in China, while rising supply could dictate prices of other soft commodities this week.
"Tyre companies are consistently importing natural rubber as it is cheaper in the world market. Higher imports are putting pressure on local prices," George Valy, president of the Indian Rubber Dealers' Federation, told Reuters. CEAT Ltd, JK Tyre and Industries Ltd, MRF Ltd, Balkrishna Industries Ltd and Apollo Tyres Ltd are likely to benefit from the lower prices.
Source:- brecorder.com
Tcs In Top 10 Global It Services Companies List
The country's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been listed in top 10 global IT services companies.
The IT company has moved up by three notches from 13th position in 2012 to the 10th spot in 2013.
The company's consolidated revenue for the January-March quarter was up 31.2% to Rs 21,551.09 crore from Rs 16,430.09 crore in the year-ago period.
Last week TCS market capitalisation (m-cap) surged by Rs 10,529 crore to Rs 4,34,338 crore, the biggest gainer among the top-10 Sensex companies. India's largest software services exporter posted a 48.2 percent jump in net profit to Rs 5,358 crore in the fourth quarter.
In US dollar terms, revenue stood at USD 13.4 billion, up 16.2% and 17.3% in constant currency, year-on-year, while net profit rose 22.9% to USD 3.1 billion.
TCS added a net 9,751 employees in the fourth quarter and a net 24,268 employees during the entire financial year to take its head count to 300,464.
Source:- zeenews.india.com
Duty-Free Import Of Indian Potato
The Indian lobby is hell-bent on destroying the potato growers economically by demanding duty-free export of Indian potato in Pakistan.
The voice was raised by the Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP), Okara Potato Growers Society (OPGS) and Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) during a press conference on Monday.
The growers said that there was no shortage of potatoes in the country, which was available at Rs 60 per kg in the open market, which was lower than the rates of all other vegetables.
“At farms, the potato is available at Rs 40 per kg while the per kg expenditure on potato cultivation was Rs 35. The 20 per cent of the potato crop harvested in December is still lying in fields,” they maintained. They said that the country will start yielding potato in the northern areas in June and millions tonnes were still lying in cold stores to meet year-long demand of the nation.
They said that the potato import from India on duty-free basis would destroy the cultivation in Pakistan and in the coming years the nation would be looking towards foreign countries for charity.
They appealed to the government not to import Indian potato as duty-free and must be imported with a 50 per cent raise so that the growers might not face losses. Dr Tariq Bucha, Ch Maqsood Jatt, Malik Qadir, Dr Afzaal Haider Rizvi, Khalid Khokhar, Haji Liaquat Ali and Salman Ashiq Chaudhry spoke on the occasion.
Source:- thenews.com.pk
Pak-India Trade Potential Estimated At $18 Billion
In its study, the “Preliminary Analysis of Pakistan and India Trade and a Viable Roadmap for Trade Liberalisation”, issued on Monday, the PBC urges the government to negotiate reciprocal treatment with its Indian counterparts to achieve a level-playing field in trade on both the sides.
Of total bilateral trade potential, Pakistan’s exports could go up to $3.6 billion, while the remaining represents the India’s export potential, estimates the study.
The PBC, citing the recent talks, says that India will reduce its sensitive list to 100 select items once Pakistan grants most favoured nation (MFN) or non-discriminatory market access (NDMA) status and opens Wagah-Attari land route for all items (currently 137 items allowed).
Consequently, Pakistan will further give concessionary treatment to India along all products except items in Pakistan’s sensitive list under the Safta (South Asian free trade area) regime.
However, the study points out that Pakistan cannot benefit from the reduction in the sensitive list by India for its export potential lies in products not protected by the latter.
In fact, India’s para-tariffs and non-tariff barriers mainly restrict market access for Pakistani exporters, specifically of textile, agriculture and automobiles, it adds.
Presently, Pakistan protects its local industries through the sensitive and negative lists. But, as soon as MFN or NDMA to India becomes operative, Pakistan will abolish its negative list.
Pakistan’s sensitive list contains only a limited number of products. This will not protect some sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceutical and automobile, from the flood of cheaper Indian products after the free trade, according to the study.
The study recommends that the government should strengthen regulatory bodies, such as National Tariff Commission and Pakistan Standards Quality and Control Authority, to protect its local interest before the trade normalisation.The PBC says that the government should look for a level-playing field for Pakistan’s exports in the Indian market.
Source:- thenews.com.pk
Ind-Ra Revises Cotton Outlook To Negative To Stable; Assigns Stable Outlook To Rice
India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has revised the outlook on the cotton sector to negative to stable for FY15 from negative. The agency has also revised the rating outlook on cotton companies to stable for FY15 from negative. This is because the revival in domestic yarn production for exports and favourable government policies have helped stabilise cotton prices at a higher level, which will stabilise the credit profile of cotton companies.
Ind-Ra has also assigned a stable outlook to the rice sector and companies operating in this segment for FY15, driven by increased productivity and high realisations to farmers.
Cotton Corporation of India expects domestic cotton production to be at a decade high at 37.5 million bales in FY15 with yields at a six-year high, attributed to favourable monsoons and higher acreage of high-yielding Bt (Bacillus Thuringiensis) cotton. However, the agency believes that the adverse weather developments in January 2014 will lead to lower-than-expected actual production for the marketing year (MY October-September) 2013-2014. Ind-Ra expects annual rice production to reach 100-110 million metric tonnes (mmt) in FY15, aided by increased productivity.
However for FY15, cotton prices are likely to remain at current levels with no more than a 10% change both ways. The attractiveness of Indian raw cotton prices (ginned) may continue in FY15 on account of an 8%-10% discount from global prices measured by Cotlook A index. Furthermore, a spurt in demand from garment manufacturing nations namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Vietnam is likely to offset the lower cotton demand from China in MY13-14. Additionally, Ind-Ra expects that the revival observed in domestic cotton yarn production in April-November 2013 to continue in FY15.
Favourable government actions such as raising minimum support prices (MSP) by 32% and 21% for medium and long staple length cotton, respectively, since MY11-12 have supported cotton prices. Realisations for rice framers are likely to increase, supported by increasing MSP while acreage remaining unchanged. Within rice, the basmati rice industry is likely to register higher growth in FY15, driven by higher exports and growing awareness among consumers for branded rice varieties.
Ind-Ra expects Indian cotton and yarn traders to maintain just-in-time inventory, given the uncertainty over the release of the Chinese reserve cotton and the possible pressure on cotton prices FY15 onwards. The agency expects MY13-14 to be another year of cotton surplus with global stock to use ratio remaining at a multi-decade high of 89.3%. China has nearly 59.7% of the global ending stocks. The Chinese government has indicated a desire to discontinue the current reserve policy and initiate trials for a target price subsidy scheme for MY14-15 to reduce the amounts of cotton imports into China. However, the cumulative impact will be a gradual moderation of cotton prices, which may play out over three to four years.
Release of Chinese Cotton: Ind-Ra believes that China's release of the reserve cotton into global markets will lead to an unprecedented fall in global and domestic cotton prices. This will adversely affect the operating profitability and liquidity of domestic cotton and yarn exporters and lead to a revision in the sector outlook to negative. Stable Chinese Reserve Policy, Moderate Cotton Prices: A stable reserve policy of China along with a calibrated release of cotton and moderate cotton prices would lead to a revision in the sector outlook to stable.
Decline in Realisation in Rice: Lower realisation in rice during FY15 due to either rupee appreciation or a decline in exports could negatively impact the profitability and credit metrics of basmati rice millers. This would lead to a revision in the rating outlook of sector companies to Negative.
Source:- business-standard.com
Did Iron Ore Mining Ban Hit India's Exports Hard?
The iron ore ban in Karnataka and Goa has impacted production between 2010 and 2013. At last count, India's iron ore production fell to 140 million tonnes from 219 million tonnes in 2010. Exports fell to almost one-fifth of the over 100 million tonnes in 2010. The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday allowed mining in the top iron ore exporting Goa state with an upper limit of 20 million tonnes per year.
In FY2010 India exported 117 million tonne of iron ore. At that time, average rates were between USD 130 and USD 150 per tonne, so India made approximately USD 16-17 billion. The fall in exports has been witnessed ever since that year, but in the first year the fall was more because of less global demand. Over a span of four years, the iron ore exports fell from 117 million tonne to 18 million tonne and by then prices of iron ore had also declined. Net earnings slipped from about USD 16 billion in FY10 to USD 2 billion in FY13.
Percentagewise, USD 18 billion would be nearly 4 percent or 3 percent of the total export basket of over USD 325 billion at that time. Now, at USD 2 billion it will be perhaps 1 percent. Yes, there has been a fall in exports, but in percentage terms it is 2-3 percent of the export basket.
Meanwhile, the Federation of miners’ head, RK Sharma and the Secretary of the Directorate of Mines, Prasanna Acharya told CNBC-TV18 that it could at least take one year for all the permissions to be in place and then even another year for mining to restart . In Karnataka, it has taken that long, maybe in Goa it will be a little faster because the state government is proactive, but restoration of normalcy is likely up to at least 12-18 months.
The impact on the export earnings would be as low as about USD 4 billion. Taking into consideration the current iron ore prices, current economic development and economic growth globally, the net loss would work out to about USD 10 billion, which is nearly 2 percent of the export earnings.
However, the important point to note is imports didn’t get encouraged because of this ban. A large part of the exports out of India is not seen as very useful for the Indian steelmakers because of low FE (iron) content.
Source:- moneycontrol.com
Assessee won't be a co-operative bank if it isn't aiming to accept deposits for lending; ITAT allows
IT : Where assessee, a co-operative society, claimed deduction under section 80P(2)(a)(i) and Assessing Officer denied deduction taking view that assessee was a primary co-operative bank and, therefore, provisions of section 80P(4) were applicable, since none of aims and objects of assessee allowed it to accept deposits of money from public for purpose of lending or investment, it could not be regarded to be a primary co-operative bank and was entitled for deduction under section 80P(2)(a)(i)
Assessee couldn't seek cross-examination of his own witness
CST & VAT : Where assessee's employee had filed an affidavit supporting stand taken by assessee, there was no requirement for Department to allow assessee to cross-examine said employee viz. assessee's own witnesses
Trust activities couldn't be tainted as commercial even if it had earned profits from its charitable
IT: Where aims and objects of assessee-trust were charitable and profit earned from said activities was incidental in nature, assessee was not hit by proviso to section 2(15)
Low International Potash Import Offer Sparks Flurry In Indian Buying
Indian potash imports are poised for a significant boost in 2014 as the sector saw a flurry of activity to clinch contracts at sharply reduced prices ranging between $320/t to $325/t, which was substantially lower than the $427/t mark recorded last year.
According to officials in India’s Department of Fertiliser, the country was expected to import 3.5-million tonnes of potash during 2014/15 and domestic fertiliser producers were expecting substantial savings from lower potash offers, largely from Russian Uralkali.
Apart from the sharp fall in potash offers from Uralkali and Belaruskali, of Belarus, following the break-up of the cartel between the two, the potash import bill would be further reduced by the sharp appreciation against the dollar of the Indian rupee.
The Indian currency, which was pegged at around Rs60.59 against the dollar on Monday, had appreciated 3.15% against the greenback during January to March in sharp contrast to last year when the local currency had hit a historic low of Rs68.36 to the dollar.
A press release from producer India Potash said that the company had signed a supply contract with Uralkali for the import of 800 000 t of potash at a rate of $322/t, during the current fiscal period.
Between April 2013 and January 2014, Indian potash imports were about 3.1-million tonnes, of which 2.5-million tonnes was imported at $427/t, while the balance had been contracted at $369/t, the official said.
A government official said that the government was closely tracking potash imports by private fertiliser producers as contracts at a lower price would enable the government to cut government subsidies for potassic fertilisers.
The government incurred about $642-million on muriate of potash in paying a subsidy of around $176/t on the retail price of the fertiliser but it would take some time to reduce the subsidy bill based on lower potash import prices contracted for the full fiscal 2014/15.
The Department of Fertiliser would also take some time to estimate the lower potash subsidy to be offered to producers, as this could be finalised only after the new Indian government assumed charge once the national elections were over in mid-May, the official said.
Source:- miningweekly.com
Soybean Oil Imports Likely To Cross 1.5 Million Tonne In India
Soybean oil imports are likely to cross 1.5 million tonne in the country due to lower crushing of domestic oilseeds in the current marketing year.
Soybean oil imports jumped 112% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 52,286 tonne between November 2013 and March 2014, data from Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) showed. For the period under consideration, total edible oil imports declined 5.4% y-o-y to 4.25 million tonne, SEA data showed.
Soybean oil production is likely to be lower by around 8% in the current year, according to estimates made by COOIT (Central Organization for Oil Industry & Trade). "We believe this would lead to more imports as consumption is steadily growing," said Raju Choksi, vice-president (Agri-Commodities), Anil Nutrients, a food processing and commodities trading company.
"For the rest of the period, we expect imports to be around 1 MMT (million metric tonnes), taking marketing year imports to 1.5 MMT," he said. Another reason for the rise in imports of soybean oil is the increase in palm oil prices, which contribute to more than 70% of total edible oil imports in the country.
"Since last month, the spread between palm oil and soybean oil has gone down significantly, thereby encouraging soybean oil imports over palm oil," Choksi said.
According to rabi estimate of COOIT for the 2013-14 season, 89.8 million tonne of soybean will be available for crushing as compared to 97 million tonne that was available last year.
According to the second advance estimates of the government, soybean production this year is estimated at 12.45 million tonne against 14.67 million tonne in 2012-13.
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Rupee Slips To 60.70 Per Dollar On Weak Asian Cues
The Indian rupee on Tuesday was trading lower against the US dollar, tracking the trend in Asian currency markets.
At 2.29pm, the rupee was trading at 60.70, down 0.18% from previous close. The currency opened at 60.69 against its Monday’s close of 60.59. It touched a high and a low of 60.64 and 60.83, respectively.
The BSE’s benchmark stock index, the Sensex, was trading up 0.09% at 22,785.42 points.Most Asian currencies were trading lower with the Indonesian rupiah down 0.65%, Malaysian ringgit down 0.49%, Thai baht down 0.26%, and the Philippines deso down 0.25%.
Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 1.66%, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought $4.8 billion during the period from local equity markets.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 8.836%, compared with its Thursday’s close of 8.853%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 79.878, down 0.08% from the previous close of 79.945.
Source:- livemint.com
No depreciation to lessor on finance lease assets; guarantee commission to be recognized proportiona
IT : Depreciation is not allowable to bank leasing out assets on finance lease
Cement and other materials used in construction of industrial property are not 'capital goods'
Excise & Customs : Input materials such as cement used for construction of industrial estates or industrial property would not fall within description of capital goods so as to be exempt under Notification No. 1/95-CE
Depart. to refund amount of pre-deposit within 3 months even if not requested by assessee
Excise & Customs : Refund of pre-deposit made, pending appeal, does not require an application under section 27 of Customs Act; department must refund it, by itself, within 3 months from final order in favour of assessee
RBI curbs use of 'non-compete' clause for FDI in Pharma sector
FEMA/ILT : Clarification on Foreign Direct Investment in Pharmaceuticals Sector
Delhi I-T Authority has jurisdiction over assessee residing and maintaining bank account in Delhi
IT: Where assessee was not only maintaining residence in Delhi but also had bank account in Delhi where dubious transaction had taken place, Income-tax authority of Delhi had jurisdiction over assessee
Depart. to refund amount of pre-deposit within 3 months even if not request by assessee
Excise & Customs : Refund of pre-deposit made, pending appeal, does not require an application under section 27 of Customs Act; department must refund it, by itself, within 3 months from final order in favour of assessee
Taxes of Co. couldn't be recovered from director if it pertained to period after its conversion into
IT : Where assessee was a director of a company against which tax demand for assessment year 1996-97 remained unpaid, provisions of section 179 could not be made applicable since said company was converted into public company from 5-12-1994
Pre-deposit requirement can be waived off if it causes undue hardship, provided it safeguards intere
Excise & Customs : Pre-deposit may be dispensed with in case of "undue hardship" only after "safeguarding interest of revenue" by imposing such conditions as are deemed fit
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