TRO gets flak from ITAT for disposing for attachment proceedings pending disposal of appeal against

IT: Where Chief Commissioner had directed Jurisdictional Commissioner to dispose off assessee's grievance against attachment of his property as appeal under rule 86 of Schedule II to Act, TRO should not have disposed off attachment proceedings pending disposal of appeal by Jurisdictional Commissioner

Co. developing its own software products isn’t comparable with a co. rendering software development

IT/ILT : Where TPO made addition to assessee's ALP in respect of software development services rendered to its AE, in view of fact that some of comparables were improper on account of turnover and related party transactions whereas some other comparables were developing their own softwares and thus there existed functional difference, impugned addition deserved to be set aside

Tax paid on violation of certain condition was to be refunded if that condition was withdrawn with r

CST & VAT: Rajasthan VAT - Where Assessing Officer passed assessment order on 22-9-2006 and imposed tax upon assessee on plea that it had violated a condition of Sales Tax Incentive Scheme and against assessment order assessee filed appeal and deposited certain amount as precondition and subsequently State Government by notification dated 11-4-2007 deleted impugned condition with retrospective effect from 23-5-1987, since in terms of notification dated 11-4-2007 no tax was payable by assessee on

Secured creditor can’t auction property without following procedure prescribed under SARFAESI

SARFAESI : Insistence of law is that secured creditor in order to exercise its right to enforce security by bringing secured asset of borrower to sale must ensure that it has invoked permissible 'measures' strictly 'in accordance' with provisions of law and rules made thereunder

CIT(A) can himself make inquiry and refer the matter to DVO on failure of AO to do so

IT : Where Assessing Officer fails to make enquiry under section 55A while passing assessment order, Commissioner (Appeals) during appellate proceedings before him can make such an enquiry either himself or direct Assessing Officer to do so in terms of section 250(4)

No penalty on short payment of tax when it wasn’t attributable to negligence of assessee

CST & VAT : Maharashtra VAT - Where Assessing Authority levied penalty upon assessee under section 36(2)(c) read with Explanation 1 on plea that it had made lesser payment of tax along with returns, since lesser payment of tax was not attributable to a neglect by assessee, levy of penalty was not justified

Assessee has to pay interest on demand sustained in remand proceedings if he fails to pay initial de

IT: Where assessee did not satisfy initial demand raised in original assessment proceedings, it was liable to pay interest under section 220(2) on tax demand sustained in remand proceedings carried out as per Tribunal's directions

Guest charges received by club from its members weren’t taxable on principles of mutuality

IT : Since principal of mutuality would apply to transaction with member; guest charge received by assessee club from its members would not be liable to tax

CCI has powers to review investigation ordered by it; HC directs it to consider review application o

Competition Act: CCI has power to recall review order under section 26(1) of Competition Act but such power has to be exercised on well organized parameters of power of review/recall and without lengthy arguments and without investigation already ordered being stalled indefinitely

India Seeks First Cut In Lng Imports Under Qatar Deal: Srcs

India's LNG import costs under the deal are currently around USD 13 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), versus spot prices of USD 6-USD 7 per mmBtu, according to R.K. Garg, head of finance at Petronet LNG.
 
India is in talks with Qatar to import at least 10 percent less liquefied natural gas (LNG) under a long-term deal after a slide in spot prices has cut demand by local buyers, an Indian government source with knowledge of the negotiations said.

New Delhi would for the first time use a 10 percent reduction permissible under a 25-year contract with Qatar's RasGas to import up to 7.5 million tonnes a year of the super cooled fuel, said the source.

"We want to lift as little volume as possible under the contract," the source told Reuters, adding that India intended to use a tolerance limit of 10 percent in 2015.

"But we are negotiating for cuts deeper than 10 percent. All LNG terminals are running at lower capacity as customers are not lifting volumes," said the source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue. Telephone calls to Qatar's LNG producer RasGas seeking comment were not immediately answered.

India's biggest importer Petronet LNG  received its first cargo from RasGas under the current deal in 2004 with pricing linked to the oil. India's LNG import costs under the deal are currently around USD 13 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), versus spot prices of USD 6-USD 7 per mmBtu, according to R.K. Garg, head of finance at Petronet LNG.

Asian spot LNG prices rose as high as USD 20 per mmBtu last year, buoyed by soaring demand from emerging markets such as China and India as well as extra Japanese imports due to the Fukushima nuclear meltdown.

But spot prices have come off by two-thirds since February 2014 as Asia's economies slow and new production, especially in Australia, comes online.

Petronet's Garg said that Indian LNG demand had been lower than anticipated in the first quarter, although he added that orders from the fertilizer sector were expected to rise by June.

Pricing under the deal is linked to the previous 12-month Japan Crude Cocktail (JCC), including caps and floors based on average JCC prices of the past 60 months. While this formula reduces volatility, it does not reflect price falls as much as spot pricing.

Prior to 2009, the long-term deal included a rebate in order to stimulate India's gas demand, but with the discount now gone the spot market has become more attractive. Gas accounts for almost 8 percent of India's energy demand and the government wants to lift its use versus coal to cut pollution.

Source:moneycontrol.com

Ntpc Not To Import Coal In Q1, Cites Sufficient Cil Supply

NTPC, India's largest power producer, has decided against importing coal in the current quarter in view of adequate supplies from the state run miner Coal India.

This will lower generation costs and, therefore, tariffs for consumers because imported coal, which has higher energy content, is costlier than the domestic coal that is used in bulk in power plants. "We will not import any coal during the current quarter as all our coal stockyards are full," an NTPC official said.

The official, who did not wish to be identified, added that import requirements are reviewed every quarter and orders are placed to international suppliers depending on the supply potential from Coal India.

"NTPC intends to bring down its imports to zero in the next five years and if Coal India can supply bulk of our requirements we will definitely revise our import figures. Additional ly, NTPC's own coal mines are set to start production soon," he said.

A senior CIL official gave credit to NTPC for receiving as much coal as possible through its infrastructure, adding that railways played a key role in coal movement.

According to the official, Coal India has earmarked 78% of its planned production of 550 million tonnes, or 430 million tonnes, to be supplied to the power utility sector.

In 2014-15, Coal India's supplies to power utilities increased 8.6% compared to that in the previous year, he said, adding that dispatch of coal and coal products from the miner also increased to 384.18 million tonnes, up 30.35 million tonnes from that in the preceding year.

"The coal miner efforts are focused on reducing the imports to the extent possible by increasing coal supplies to the power sector," he said.

CIL helped NTPC boost its coal stock to 9.06 million tonnes as of March 2015, from just 1.6 million tonnes at the end of September last year. The healthy coal stock was due to enhanced coal supply from Coal India's subsidiaries to NTPC, especially in the second half of 2014-15.

"While acknowledging increased coal stock at its stations, NTPC was hopeful that CIL would maintain similar supply trend during 2015-16," the Coal India official said.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

India: Low Global Prices To Encourage Iron Ore Import

India is likely to remain a net importer of iron ore in 2015-16 as falling international prices might encourage steel majors to continue importing the key raw material.

The quantity imported might not be as high as in the last financial year. However, with an expected increase in domestic production of iron ore. In 2014-15, India imported 15 million tonnes of iron ore, an all-time high. Exports were a meagre 4.5 million tonnes. This year, the country’s imports will again far exceed exports.

During this year, imports are likely to be around 10 million tonnes despite the reopening of mines in Odisha and the huge pile-ups in several places. However, the downward trend of international prices will keep importers interested in the global seaborne trade. CFR China would be below $50 per tonne.

Also, inconsistency in the supply of iron ore and availability of high-grade ore at cheap prices will be encouraging for the steel mills to keep their import intact.

Indian steel mills, which do not have captive mines, require around 95 million tonnes of iron ore per annum. JSW Steel, which was the largest importer last year at 10 million tonnes, will continue to be the major importer in FY16. Other importers include Tata Steel and Welspun.

“This year, we are going to increase our capacity utilisation above 90 per cent. Though the availability of domestic iron ore will improve during the year, we will continue to import to meet the requirement at our plants. However, we may not import as much as last year and might end up at around 6 million tonnes from South Africa,” Vinod Nowal, deputy managing director, JSW Steel, said.

Tata Steel, which imported around two million tonnes last year, is expected to import this year, too, to feed its Kalinganagar steel plant, which will be operational, analysts tracking the sector said.

Last year, imports took place at $70-90 per tonne and this year, prices are hovering around $50 per tonne, which is a good enough reason for the mills to import iron ore containing very high grades, Nowal added.

He, however, said price correction carried out by NMDC last week was not enough. Instead of the reduction of Rs 500 per tonne in prices of fines, they should have reduced by at least Rs 1,000 per tonne, he said.

“The recent correction of Rs 500 per tonne in domestic prices of iron ore fines by NMDC is welcome. However, more downward correction in ore prices are required to ensure imports are totally avoided. We need to continuously evaluate this domestic pricing aspect of iron ore fines vis-a-vis import offers in view of continued pressure on global steel pricing as well,” H Shivaramkrishnan, chief commercial officer, Essar Steel, said.

The production of domestic iron ore is pegged at 137-140 million tonnes for 2014-15. For the current financial year, a growth of 15 per cent is expected. The growth will come from NMDC and mines in Karnataka and Odisha.

Recently, the Rungta mines received environmental clearance for 16.5 million tonnes in Odisha. NMDC has announced it would increase production by 20 per cent to 35 million tonnes, as against 31 million tonnes in FY15.

In Karnataka, production is set to increase by over 20 per cent to 22 million tonnes in 2015-16. Goa is also likely to commence production towards the second half of this year.

“With the current prices in international market, there will be no scope for Goan miners to export. Moreover, the prevailing 30 per cent export duty on iron ore and differential freight tariff charged by the railway will not encourage exports,” an analyst said.

Source:hellenicshippingnews.com

Msmes Protest Against Import Duty Hike On Natural Rubber

Micro, small and medium rubber enterprises have protested against any further import duty hike on natural rubber. The All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) in a petition to the government has asked for taking into consideration the plight of over 5,500 rubber MSMEs in the country before taking any step.

An expert group formed by the government last year has been finalising the national rubber policy. The group has had a series of meetings with both rubber producers and consumers and has taken a note of their respective issues and concerns.

The final report of the working group is to be released soon. In all fairness, the government needs to wait for the national rubber policy and take a concerted decision on a major issue such as increasing the duty, Mohinder Gupta, President, AIRIA, said.

According to rubber MSMEs, India already levies one of the highest duties on import of rubber and one of the lowest duties on import of finished rubber goods. As a result, the competitiveness of the Indian rubber industry is affected and many rubber units have already closed down.

The difference between domestic rubber production and consumption has grown to almost 4 lakh tonnes. There is no other way but to import rubber to keep the factories running. Import duty on rubber, therefore, should be reduced and brought to the level of import of finished rubber goods to address the inverted duty in the rubber sector, the association said.

If the Kerala/Central Government wish to help and support the rubber growers, it should be done directly by way of a subsidy to the growers as has been done by the governments of other major rubber producing countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka. No other country has penalised their respective rubber consuming interests by effecting hike in duty or imposing any other restrictions, Gupta said.

Source:thehindubusinessline.com

Indian Strategic Oil Reserve Long Overdue

Given the low crude oil prices, it is welcome news that India is forging ahead on creating a dedicated strategic oil reserve. There has been movement on this front in the past month or so. The special purpose vehicle responsible for the construction and maintenance of India's oil reserve, the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), has finished constructing one storage facility at Visakhapatnam, where it can hold about nine million barrels.

Two more facilities in Mangaluru and Padur ( both on the West Coast) with another 30 million barrels of capacity are expected to be ready by October. The Budget allocated Rs 4,900 crore for crude oil purchases for this strategic reserve. This would buy about 13 million barrels at current prices.

Indian Oil Corporation has purchased two million barrels of crude oil from China's Unipec to be shipped into Visakhapatnam in May. Three more purchases, totalling six million more barrels, are now being negotiated, to fully charge the Visakhapatnam facility.

The dedicated strategic reserve is long overdue, given India's massive import dependency. India consumes about 3.8 million barrels a day and has to import about 80 per cent of that. As a regional refining hub, India actually imports more crude oil than is domestically required, for refining and re-export. The country is now the world's fourth-largest oil consumer and comparative gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates imply demand will continue to rise quickly.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that by 2020, India will be the largest oil importer, increasing its vulnerability to threats of physical supply disruptions and to large price fluctuations. A strategic oil inventory is imperative for energy security given this scenario.

The IEA recommends that importers should hold 90 days of imports in a dedicated reserve. India is not an IEA member and the ISPRL facilities at Mangaluru, Visakhapatnam and Padur together offer just 11 days' capacity. But this is a beginning. The ISPRL targets the construction of another 90 million barrels of capacity, across four different centres. Taken together, all these constructions, with adequate transport linkages (by sea, road and pipeline), would cost close to Rs 20,000 crore.

The concept of dedicated strategic reserves was first mooted in 1973, after the first oil crisis. Western strategic reserves have been tapped during the first Gulf War (1991), after Hurricane Katrina (2005) and in 2011, during the so-called Arab Spring. But quite apart from disruption scenarios, there is a business case for holding such reserves.

ISPRL would have leverage in the international markets since it could release inventory and book profits when prices climb, and recharge reservoirs when prices fall again. Storage can also be rented out to refiners that wish to store inventories. Gulf and Saudi oil majors, such as Aramco, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, have all evinced interest in storage-refining in India since it reduces their transport costs into Southeast Asia. Obviously, India could retain right to first use in emergency while negotiating such deals.

In sum, the government's rapid action is wise and timely. It will be necessary, indeed inevitable, to build a strategic reserve at some stage. It is better that this is done at a time like the current situation, when crude oil prices are low and construction activity is also muted. It should make a positive long-term difference to India's energy security.

Source:business-standard.com

Dicv Truck Exports To Trinidad And Tobago Begin

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, Japan (MFTBC), launch DICV-made trucks in Trinidad and Tobago.

This is DICV’s 12th export market since May 2013. Within Asia Business Model, DICV truck exports to Trinidad and Tobago is the first South American market.

Exclusive dealer, Diamond Motors an authorized local distributor in Trinidad and Tobago will cater to DICV truck exports here. Made in India DICV trucks are already being sold in Kenya, Sri Lanka, Zambia and Tanzania. More export markets in the region will be added.

DICV Oragadam plant manufactures Fuso heavy-duty truck range (25 – 49 tonnes:FJ, FO and FZ) and Medium-duty (9 – 16 tonnes: FA and FI). Erich Nesselhauf, Managing Director and CEO of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles says exports to Trinidad and Tobago reflects brand performance in regard to export business. Success of DICV truck exports across markets upholds proficiency in manufacturing trucks in India customised to meet varied industry requirements.

Through Daimler Trucks Asia, DICV and MFTBC have combined strengths to make the most of sales potential. DICV remains focused on Indian commercial vehicle market. BharatBenz caters to countries similar to the Indian market conditions. MFTBC takes brand business to Asian and African regions (Mitsubishi-Fuso trucks from Kawasaki plant and Fuso trucks from Oragadam).

Keen about growth potential in South America, DICV looks to establish its presence here while it continues with new market expansion, through trucks that meet customer expectations in growth markets. DICV and Fuso trucks are tested under strenuous driving conditions for maximum reliability.

Source:rushlane.com

HC upheld sec. 69B additions on basis of DVO's report showing under statement of value of property b

IT : Where difference in consideration as disclosed by assessee and value as estimated by DVO indicated that consideration recorded was understated and DVO's report was to be relied upon to corroborate statement of assessee, addition made under section 69B was justified

Admission of assessee regarding violation of orders restricting use of credit would lead to impositi

Cenvat Credit : Assessee having admitted his default of violation of debarment orders restricting use of credit, penalty must necessarily follow and there is no need for appellate authority to go into notification, clarifications in budget or other provisions

A co. failing parameter of employee cost to sales ratio couldn't be chosen as comparable for TP stud

IT/ILT : Where a company has failed in employee cost to sales ratio it could not be taken as comparable

Indian Rupee Opens At 63.70 Per Dollar; Slips 14 Paise

he Indian rupee declined in the early trade on Monday. It has opened lower by 14 paise at 63.70 per dollar against 63.56 Friday.

The dollar started the week on the defensive after more disappointing US  economic data reinforced expectations the US Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates any time soon.

Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered said, "The USD-INR pair saw dollar demand come in on any dips last week and we expect that price action to continue."

He further added, "We expect importers to buy dollar on any dips to 63.35-63.40/dollar. Upticks to 63.85-63.90/dollar should see exporters hedge long-term receivables."

Source:moneycontrol.com

 

ITAT denied depreciation on buses as they were leased out on financial lease

IT: Where machines that were not actually used but were ready to use, were eligible to depreciation

Workers include managers and supervisors to ascertain eligibility of manufacturer for sec. 80-IB rel

IT: Where assessee was engaged in manufacturing process and employed total 10 persons including a works manager and a supervisor, she was eligible for 80-IB deduction

Delay in filing e-TDS return due to technical default in software of department won't attract penalt

IT : Where assessee could not file e-TDS statements in Form Nos. 24Q and 26Q within prescribed time on account of technical defect in software of department accepting said statements, delay in filing statements being beyond control of assessee, impugned penalty order passed under section 272A(2)(k) deserved to be set aside

AO can’t accept genuineness of loan merely on basis of bank statements and letter of confirmation fr

IT : Assessing Officer could not accept genuineness of loan taken by assessee from various creditors merely on basis of their bank statements and letter of confirmations as he was required to examine creditworthiness of said creditors as well

AO couldn't question reasonableness of business exp. when its genuineness wasn't doubted

IT : Where assessee made payment of compensation to CCL, a foreign company, for premature termination of Toll Manufacturing Agreement (TMA) entered into between parties, said payment being directly having nexus with business activity of assessee, was to be allowed as deduction under section 37(1)