Revenue could recover excise dues of lessor by detaining excisable goods belonging to lessee

Excise & Customs : Section 11 of Central Excise Act read with section 142 of Customs Act empower authorities to issue attach/detain excisable goods belonging to defaulting assessee including transferee/lessee/buyer of his business

Claim of disputed liability won’t be a bar in allowing its deduction unless assessee gets relief in

IT: Where assessee disputes a liability, it would be no bar in allowing deduction for same unless and until assessee gets relief in that regard

Even prior to April 1, 2008, outward transportation of goods wasn’t eligible for credit beyond place

Cenvat Credit : Amendment in Rule 2(l) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 is clarificatory and CENVAT Credit of service tax paid by assessee on GTA service received in respect outward transportation of finished goods beyond place of removal is not admissible even for period prior to 1-4-2008

HC directed fresh examination to ensure that sum indicated in seized docs was undisclosed investment

IT : Assessee claimed to have made payment of undisclosed amount towards a project but name of said project did not appear in any seized documents, matter was to be remanded for fresh examination

Case couldn’t be re-agitated before CESTAT to review its pre-deposit order which was upheld by HC

Excise & Customs : Where Tribunal has exercised its discretion in waiving pre-deposit and same has been upheld by High Court, assessee cannot re-agitate grounds seeking waiver of pre-deposit, as that would amount to review; therefore, CESTAT order dismissing appeal for non-compliance with pre-deposit is valid

CLB rejected petition for rectifying register of members as it was filed malafidely to reduce paid-u

CL : Where petitioner-company approached CLB, for rectification of its register of members in respect of number of shares wrongly mentioned in form 2, with a mala fide intent to reduce its paid-up capital without complying with provisions of section 100, petition was to be rejected

Entities earning high operating profit margin due to an odd event of merger to be excluded from comp

IT/ILT : Where TPO made addition to assessee's ALP in respect of rendering software development services to its AE located abroad, in view of fact that in case of one comparable selected by TPO, there was amalgamation of another company which resulted in its earning of high operating margin whereas some other comparables adopted by TPO were inappropriate on account of functional difference and related party transactions, impugned addition was to be set aside and, matter was to be remanded back f

India To Hike Iron Ore Royalty, Miners May Struggle To Pass On Extra Cost

The cabinet has agreed to raise the royalty rates for iron ore and other minerals, a mining ministry official said, raising the cost for domestic miners, and potentially making imported ore more attractive. There is a danger for miners that they will be unable to pass on the cost fully to steel mills due to weaker global prices, and the competition from imports, traders said.

The royalty on iron ore, or the percentage of sales paid to state governments, would increase to 15 per cent from 10 per cent, a spokesman for the mining ministry said. That would lift the cost for miners by 150 to 250 rupees per tonne ($2.50-$4.00), said Dhruv Goel, managing partner at industry consultancy SteelMint.

"But they will not be able it pass it on completely to steelmakers for the reason that imports will be cheaper and people will prefer imports over domestic ore," said Goel.

The last time the royalties were adjusted was in 2009. A 30 per cent tax on iron ore exports and higher freight charges have made Indian ore less competitive overseas. Courts' imposition of curbs on mining in key producing states Karnataka and Goa have also slashed supplies from India, which used to be the world's third biggest exporter of iron ore. The mining bans have forced some Indian steel producers to import ore. JSW Steel, India's third-largest steelmaker, said last month it will import 6 million tonnes of iron ore this fiscal year compared with no shipments a year earlier.

Global iron ore prices have fallen by nearly a third this year, standing at $91.90 a tonne on Thursday, amid a glut stoked by increased shipments from top suppliers Australia and Brazil.

Source:- deccanchronicle.com

Sop Call For Exports Via E-Commerce

Exporters using the e-commerce route have pitched for sops that are available to their peers using conventional transport.

The e-commerce players hope such benefits will be a part of the government’s foreign trade policy for 2014-19 to be announced early next month.

“At present, exporters exporting through e-commerce are not entitled to any export benefits as it is not recognised as exports. It is suggested that the shipping bill for e-commerce transaction may be simplified to give boost to this sector and e-commerce shipments may be made entitled for all export benefits,” Rafeeq Ahmed, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo), said.

E-commerce has emerged as an important marketing tool for micro and small exporters. Transactions have touched the $1-trillion mark globally; in India, it has crossed $2 billion in 2014. Portals such as Alibaba provide a marketing avenue for exporters, and the linked payment gateway ensures risk-free payment.

The foreign trade policy is also expected to announce measures to boost the export of services and value-added diversified products. Besides, steps will be taken to increase shipments to new markets.

The country’s manufacturing activity contracted 0.7 per cent in 2013-14, the first time since 1991-92, dragging overall economic growth down to below 5 per cent for the second consecutive year.

Reviving manufacturing is the biggest challenge for the government as high inflation has made loans costly, impacting investments and demand.

All export and import-related activities are governed by the foreign trade policy. It mainly aims at enhancing the country’s exports to make it an effective instrument of growth and employment generation.

EEPC India chairman Anupam Shah said the government should extend the technology upgradation fund scheme to the engineering sector.

The trade policy will be designed to produce value-added diversified products and make inroads into new markets such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, East and West Asia and Latin America.

To ensure that all service exporters benefit from the “served from India scheme”, the commerce ministry is looking at allowing import duty exemption scrips (given as incentive under the scheme) to be sold in the market, or used to pay service tax, officials said. This will benefit service exporters who do not import any inputs, preventing them from using the scrips.

Under the scheme, exporters are entitled to import duty exemption scrips worth 10 per cent of the exported value. Only exporters with a minimum foreign exchange earning of Rs 10 lakh can avail themselves of the facility.

Source:- telegraphindia.com

Govt To Revive Export Interest Subsidy

Government officials told TOI that the commerce department has already taken up the issue of interest subsidy, which expired at the end of March, with the finance ministry and the extension is a certainty, given that a budgetary provision of over Rs 1,600 crore has already been made.

What is now being debated is the sectors that would be covered by the scheme in the new five-year policy expected to be announced at the end of September. The benefit was earlier available to sectors such as micro small and medium enterprises, handlooms, handicraft, carpets, toys, sports goods, processed products, certain engineering and textiles goods.

For exporters, the interest subsidy that was available till the end of the last financial year is a crucial area. "We are looking forward to an announcement although the big question is whether it will be prospective or retrospective. The subsidy helped increase the competitiveness of goods given that our interest rates are vey high compared to global levels," said FIEO president Rafeeque Ahmed. In all likelihood, the benefit will be made available prospectively, officials indicated.

In an interview to TOI earlier this month, commerce & industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the focus will remain on the job-creating manufacturing sectors, which have been flagged as the priority area by the government. "We are also looking at project exports in a big way because India has become a brand in many sectors whether pharmaceuticals, auto sector, biotechnology, construction and textiles," she had added.

In addition, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade which is spearheading the policy preparation is preparing a plan to rework the export promotion schemes and at least two of them — the Focus Product Scheme (FPS) and Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana — are expected to be merged.

Under both the schemes, the government offers transferable duty credit of 2-5% of the export value and the idea is to simplify administration of the scheme. The sources also said the coverage of the scheme is being reviewed as the dozen-odd sectors covered by the FPS are very broad and can be fine tuned to make it more focused.

Source:- indiatimes.com

'Focus On Aromatic Rice Will Boost India's Exports'

India should focus on production of indigenous aromatic rice varieties so that export avenues open up, an expert with the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said Saturday.

"The outlook towards production and export of rice needs to be changed in India to witness the benefits of higher revenue and profit margins in the international market," said Samarendu Mohanty, head of the IRRI Social Science Division.

He was addressing the India International Rice Conference here organized by Indian Chamber Of Commerce from August 21-22.

Citing the example of Vietnam, he said the country has been putting special emphasis on production and export of better quality of local rice varieties and was targeting potential and niche markets across the world.

"They (Vietnamese farmers) are slowly curtailing the production volume of lower grade rice. Basmati, Japonica and Jasmine are some of the variants whose export and acceptance have increased significantly across the world owing to their aroma, taste and flavour, and hence Indian farmers should focus on production of local aromatic varieties with export orientation as their major goal," he said.

Swapan Kumar Dutta, deputy director general, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, advocated the need for customized milling system, which boost better processing of the aromatic varieties and decrease crop breakage and wastage.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India’S Exports To Asean Region Set To Touch $280 Bn In 10 Years

India’s exports to the 10-nation ASEAN bloc is expected to reach $280 billion in the next 10 years, says a Standard Chartered research report.

According to the global financial services major, the India-ASEAN trade corridor, currently worth around $80 billion, has been growing fast at a compound annual growth rate of 23 per cent over the past decade.

In FY 2013-14, India’s exports to the bloc stood at $33.13 billion.

In addition, the new Indian government has prioritised strengthening ties with the Association of South East Asian Nations.

“We expect exports to ASEAN to reach $280 billion in 10 years, at which point it would hold a 15 per cent share in Indian exports,” Standard Chartered said in a research report.

The report added that this projection is based on the assumption that India’s export/GDP ratio will continue to rise as the economy liberalises and integrates further with the global economy.

Several complementaries in India-ASEAN exports suggest room for both parties to gain from trade.

India has an advantage in pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, and iron and steel, while the ASEAN bloc has an advantage in natural resources and electronics.

According to the report, there are six areas with export potential namely petroleum products, organic chemicals, vehicles (including auto components), pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery and apparel and clothing accessories.

These categories rank among India’s top 10 export items by value.

“The first three are categories where ASEAN already accounts for a sizeable chunk of total Indian exports, and where export growth is high. The last three are areas where we feel there is potential for India to increase export growth rates,” the report said.

Standard Chartered further noted that greater physical connectivity within the region via the trilateral highway and the Mekong corridor is likely to enhance trade in the India-ASEAN corridor, and should also be a priority for India’s new government.

In a bid to enhance trade ties, India and ASEAN have already implemented free trade agreements in goods. For services and investments, both sides have concluded negotiations.ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Brunei.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com