HC grants fair chance to tenants of Co-in-liquidation to assert their rights prior to eviction proce

CL: Occupant tenants of lessee-company in liquidation were to be given fair opportunity of asserting their rights prior to eviction proceedings

Additions on mere finding that medicines bills include name of assessee as prescribing doctor is set

IT : Income of doctor could not have been estimated merely on basis of bills issued by third party chemist shop

Term ‘removed as such’ used in rule 3(5) doesn’t cover removal after use of inputs/capital goods

Cenvat Credit : Expression 'removed as such' in rule 3(5) of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 would mean 'removal without putting to any use' and hence, same would not cover 'removal after use' of inputs/capital goods

No penalty on declaration of income pursuant to search if source of income was substantiated and tax

IT : Where assessee agreed for a declaration on account of excess stock-in-trade and paid tax together with interest, no penalty would be levied

Supply of software along with hardware - rather software embedded in hardware did not amount to 'roy

IT/ILT : Where assessee, a French company, supplied equipments and services for GSM Cellular Radio Telephone Systems to various entities in India, amount received towards supply of software along with hardware - rather software embedded in hardware did not amount to 'royalty' under section 9(1)(vi)

India Buffalo Meat Exports On The Rise

Indian buffalo meat exports have risen by 10% to US$4.78 billion in the financial year ending March 2015, according to provisional data released by India’s Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics on 8 May.

The results backed the findings of an April report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), entitled ‘Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade’, which concluded: "Larger [beef and veal] shipments from India… [have] more than offset declines by Brazil, Uruguay, and the USA."

An earlier international agriculture trade report, released by USDA last August (2014) had argued that Indian water buffalo meat (carabeef) is very competitively priced, stressing that the Indian government, despite the ruling BJP’s opposition to cow slaughter, supports its production and exports of buffalo meat. These exports "are increasingly destined for developing nations including least-developed nations", it said.

Despite the apparent good news, Indian exporters told GlobalMeatNews they were not satisfied and were expecting more sales: "I can’t give you the figures, but we expected to do much better," said an official from All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association (AIMLEA).

According to the official, stiffer competition from Brazil, due to the decline in its currency the real, was the main reason for the underachievement. He claimed harassment of meat traders by Hindu nationalists was actually absent in many Indian states and was not damaging exports where it did happen: "It only affects domestic consumption," he said.

Other factors boosting Indian buffalo meat exports include the popularity of Indian meat in Muslim countries, because of its halal production, said Priya Sud, a partner at buffalo meat exporting firm Al Noor Exports, in New Delhi.

Furthermore, Sud told GlobalMeatNews: "Muslim practices are open to all red meat and it does not matter to them if it is cow or a buffalo meat."

Sud added that Indian meat exporters found international conferences, such as the Salon International de l’Agroalimentaire (SIAL) in Paris and Dubai, particularly useful for generating new export business.

According to Sud, although Indian meat is of high quality, processors often get lower yields as only older animals tend to be slaughtered: "Farmers sell animals only when it is no longer economical to rear them for milk," she said.

Furthermore, there are other challenges for Indian meat exporters, such as high refrigeration costs due to the hot climate and frequent seasonal disruptions in supply, noted Sud: "We do not get animals during peak summer and winter fog," she said, "In the long run, India has to do animal rearing [primarily for meat]."

Despite current problems, the AIMLEA official was optimistic about future exports: "We see a bright future," he said.

Source:- globalmeatnews.com

Modi: India Should Export Metals, Not Minerals

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India needed to stop exports of mineral resources and instead should export metals. Speaking at the inauguration of the 2.5 million tonne new IISCO plant at Burnpur in West Bengal, the Prime Minister said the Centre was working towards policy change so that the mineral rich eastern States returned to the higher growth path like their western counterparts.

“Among the eastern States, Bengal’s role was crucial in country’s progress,” Modi said. A strong Bengal was the need of the hour, he said in the presence of the State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Hinting at a closer cooperation between the non-BJP ruled States and the Centre, the Prime Minister said his Government wanted to keep the country’s interest above the party’s interest.

The Prime Minister also said the eastern region should be the centre of the second green revolution in the country. He wished the eastern States would usher in the second green revolution in the next 5 to 10 years.

Both Modi and Mamata had the same vision of a ‘Team India’ in the journey of progress. Mamata also stressed on the need for healthy federalism and a strong Centre.

Meanwhile, Steel Authority of India Ltd Chairman CS Verma told reporters here that the West Bengal Government has registered 2,000 acres of land, in the possession of IISCO, in SAIL’s name. This had been a contentious issue and was coming in the way of SAIL’s investment plans in the State, particularly at Burnpur and Kulti. Originally, the land was registered with the earlier incarnation of IISCO as a private entity.

Verma said this would sort out all land-related issues for SAIL in West Bengal, where the company had planned a clutch of projects.

Verma declared that the second phase of expansion at the IISCO plant at Burnpur would see hot metal capacity being raised to 5.6 million tonnes in the next couple of years at a fresh investment of around Rs. 17,000 crore.

“Durgapur Steel Plant would witness separate investment of about Rs. 24,000 crore. The proposed joint venture with Kobe of Japan for an iron nugget plant within the DSP complex would see investment of another Rs. 1,500 crore,” Verma added.

He said the equal joint venture project with Kobe was currently revising the detailed project report for incorporating certain technical improvements.

Implementation of another joint venture with RITES for building wagons, proposed to be set up at Kulti, would also get a fillip after the settlement of the land registration issue.

Source:hellenicshippingnews.com

Indian Manmade Yarn And Fabric Industry To Grow 5-7% In This Year

The manmade yarn and fabric industry likely to see growth rate from five to seven percent in 2015-16, with stability in crude oil prices. However, as Indian synthetic yarn and fabric performance has not been one of the best internationally, the domestic market will see the larger growth.

In 2015-16, demand recovery for manmade filament, fibre, yarn and fabric is likely to be backed by an increase in off take by apparel manufacturers, as per CMIE report. The apparel segment consumes a little more than half of the total synthetic fibre produced by the industry. Manufacturers of home textiles and technical textiles are also expected to increase the usage of synthetic fibres during the year.

Also, with crude oil prices expected to remain stable, PTA and mono-ethylene glycol prices are likely to come down, too, leading to a decline in polyester prices by 8 to 12 percent this year. Domestic and international prices of both the polyester raw materials had plunged in the latter half of 2014-15, led by a steep decline in crude oil prices. So, polyester prices had corrected sharply during the period.

In 2014-15, demand for most manmade filament & fibre due to a decline in prices of cotton yarn was low. Also in July 2014 the levy of anti-dumping duty on import of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), a major input, further hit domestic production of polyester filament yarn.

Sanjay Jain, managing director of TT Ltd and vice-president, Federation of Hosiery Manufacturers Association of India said that unlike the seasonality for cotton, synthetic textile products can be produced through the year. Also, there is expected to be more consumer demand for woven and non-woven synthetic textiles, and the industry anticipates equal growth in the synthetic yarn and fabric market in both segments .

According to O P Lohia, chairman, Indo Rama Synthetics (India) Ltd, with markets like Brazil, Turkey and Egypt under pressure for several reasons, demand for polyester yarn and fabric will be under pressure this year. Also, under the government's new import/export policy, while there is a push for polyester exports, almost all forms of exemptions have been removed, making polyester exports uncompetitive. Exports could play spoilsport this year. But if the economy does well, this could go up to double digit growth. But the domestic market is anticipated to see normal growth.

Jyotiprasad Chiripal, director at Chiripal Group said that this year with crude oil prices likely to remain stable at $60-50 a barrel, market demand for polyester expected to see rise by 5 to 7 percent. Chiripal Group has a polyester yarn manufacturing capacity of 200 tonnes a day.

Source:ccfgroup.com

Rent-a-cab and travel agent’s services used for transportation of employees/customers are eligible f

Cenvat Credit : Rent-a-cab services used for providing transportation facility to customers; Rent paid on office premises and Air travel service for travel of partners and employees of company are eligible for input service credit

Payment made for import of hardware couldn’t be taxable as royalty

IT/ILT: payment made for import of hardware and payment for services were outside from purview of section 9(1)(vi) and could not be taxable as royalty

High Court disallows bidding loss claimed by chit fund Co. as it failed to furnish details in respec

IT: Where assessee-company did not produce relevant materials in respect of bid-loss occurred, claim of bid-loss could not be allowed

Rice Imports Fall On Govts Duty Move

Rice imports in the private sector fell in the last one month amid the government's move to withdraw the zero duty facility on it. The government move alongside the price fall in the local market led the local importers to adopt a cautious stance.

But the decline was yet to leave any positive impact on local prices as paddy was still trading at prices 20-25 per cent below the production cost in the peak harvest season, according to market insiders.

Private importers brought in 1.276 million (12.76 lakh) tonnes of rice through the legal channel until April 07 last in the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15. It accounted for 4,600 tonnes per day on an average, an official at the Directorate General of Food (DGoF) said.

"But in the last one month (April 08 to May 07), imports declined to just 1,100 tonnes per day as importers brought in 34,000 tonnes during the period," he added. He said the downward trend of paddy and rice prices in the domestic market and the government's move to slap duty on rice were behind the decline in imports.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith at a function on Sunday said the government decided to impose 10 per cent duty on import of rice, in place of the zero tariff earlier offered.

Earlier, the zero tariff on rice import, coupled with the lower prices in Indian markets, encouraged the private importers to go for import on a wide scale in the current fiscal.

Md Sarwar Alam Kajol, an importer, told the FE that businesses almost stopped opening new letters of credit (L/Cs) following the fall in local rice prices.

He said many traders had been maintaining a cautious stance since the first week of April on speculations that the government might impose duty on rice imports.

He also said the prices of rice starting increasing in India over a projection that overall rice output might decline there.

Rice trader at Nilphamari Sadar Md Hazrat Ali (Sajib) told the FE that mill gate prices of the local Swarna variety were Tk 21.5-22.0 per kg while the newly milled Brridhan-28 was being sold at Tk 24.0-24.5 per kg. He also said the prices of Swarna were Tk 25.0-26.0 a month back.

Md Anisuzzaman Fakir, a farmer-trader at Pakerhat in Dinajpur said the Brridhan-28 variety of paddy was being sold at Tk 550-580 per maund and Miniket variety Tk 650-680 per maund on Saturday. He said the prices increased by Tk 20-40 per maund in the last seven days but still were below the production cost.

He said Brridhan-28 was selling at prices lower by Tk 150-200 than their production cost of Tk740-750 per maund. And the Miniket variety was sold at prices lower by Tk 100-150 than the production cost of Tk 800 per maund, he said. Economist Prof Gazi M Jalil told the FE that the government took much time to take the decision on restricting rice import. "But the farmers who are yet to harvest crops might get benefit from the move," he said.

He said the government should enact a time-befitting rice import and export policy to protect the interests of the country's people. He said:  "Government should consider rice always a strategic crop which could help it in framing a farmers-friendly import policy."

According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Boro has been cultivated on 4.84 million hectares of land this year and 48 per cent of the crop was harvested until Sunday evening.

Secretary of Bangladesh Auto Major Husking Mills Owners Association KM Layek Ali said 60 per cent of the millers had been idle for the unnecessary import and political turbulence over the last few months.

He said:  "But many millers have started buying paddy after getting assurance from the government about restricting the rice import." He urged the government to impose 25 to 50 per cent duty on Indian rice based on varieties.  

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the Directorate General of Food (DGoF), the country produced 34.465 million tonnes of rice in the last financial year against the demand for 31.0 million tonnes.

The BBS latest data also shows the Aman and Aus production was 13.2 million and 2.328 million tonnes respectively in the current financial year.

Source:thefinancialexpress-bd.com

Ioc To Hold 45% Stake In Ennore Lng Terminal

State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will hold 45 per cent stake in the planned Rs 5,150 crore LNG import terminal at Ennore in Tamil Nadu and offered 50 per cent interest to financial institutions like ICICI and IDFC.

“We have reserved 50 per cent stake in the 5 million tons a year liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project for strategic partner. Till we get a strategic partner, we have decided to get financial institutions onboard to achieve financial closure,” a company official said.

A joint venture company is being incorporated for setting up of the project. IOC would hold 45 per cent stake in the company while Tamil Nadu government enterprise, TIDCO will have 5 per cent holding. Balance 50 per cent will be for a strategic partner like LNG supplier, the official said, adding that the project will be completed by 2019.

Till a strategic partner is roped in, ICICI and IDFC have agreed to hold 50 per cent interest. “The joint venture company will be initially incorporated with a seed capital of Rs 1 lakh... of which IOC’s investment would only be Rs 45,000 at present,” he said.

As the project activities progress, the strategic joint venture partners would be identified and inducted as equity partners.

Ennore will be the third LNG terminal on the east coast with state-owned GAIL India Ltd building a facility at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Petronet LNG Ltd proposing a 5 million tons facility at Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh.

India currently has four LNG import terminals, all on the west coast — Dahej and Hazira in Gujarat, Dabhol in Maharashtra and Kochi in Kerala.

LNG is a gas that is cooled down to liquid form and takes up just 1/600th of the volume in its gaseous state, thereby easing transportation by sea. The official said IOC will lay a 1,175 km of pipelines to transport the gas imported at Ennore LNG terminal to customers.

The company has made an application to sector regulator Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) for laying natural gas pipeline from Ennore to Nagapattinum in Tamil Nadu with spurlines to Madurai, Tuticorin and Bengaluru.

IOC is talking to half a dozen LNG suppliers including Gazprom of Russia for long-term supplies. UK-based Foster Wheeler is project consultant for the Ennore terminal.

Source:thehindubusinessline.com

India's New National Textiles Policy Currently Under Finalization

India’s new national textiles policy is being finalized which aims to achieve USD 300 billion textiles exports by 2024-25 and envisages creation of additional 35 million jobs.

The Textiles Ministry has set up an expert committee headed by Ajay Shankar, member secretary, national manufacturing competitiveness council for review and revamp the textile policy 2000.

Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar in his written reply to the Rajya Sabha mentioned that the expert committee has since submitted a draft vision, strategy and action plan. The new National Textiles Policy, is currently under finalization.

Keeping in view various changes in the textile industry on the domestic and international fronts and the need for a road map for the textile & apparel industry, Ministry of Textiles had initiated the process of reviewing the National Textile Policy, 2000.

So far 70 textiles parks have been approved throughout the country. Necessary action is taken in consultation with state governments to ensure that the sanctioned parks are completed in time and textile commissioner has been directed to monitor this on regular basis, extend necessary guidance and support for completion in time.

Import duty on raw silk is continued at 15 per cent. Raw silk imports during April-February 2014-15 were 3,189 tonnes, as against production of 28,474 tonnes.

The new policy also aims to address concerns of adequate skilled work force, labour reforms, attract investments in the textile sector, and to provide a future road map for the textile and clothing industry.

Source:ccfgroup.com

Easing Of Bottlenecks For Import Shipments

In a bid to cut down compliance burden and transaction cost, the customs department is working on setting up a high-level committee to coordinate between various regulatory agencies including food safety and standards, plant protection and quarantine, textiles, and drug standard control for faster and smoother clearance of goods.

Official sources told The Indian Express that a central customs clearance facilitation centre (CCCFC) would be set up this month, headed by the revenue secretary and comprising secretaries of departments including shipping, civil aviation, FSSAI, animal husbandry among others, for faster clearance of import consignments. “From May 1, local customs clearance facilitation centres at 18 major sea ports and 17 major airports have already started operating.

These committees are being headed by chief commissioners’ customs and have representation from the ministries like shipping, and civil aviation. By the end of the month, a central mechanism will be in place to improve ease of doing business in the country,” the sources said.

The local committees have been tasked with identifying the bottlenecks in the clearance procedure like delay in drawing samples for lab testing, infrastructure bottlenecks, server breakdown etc and resolving them.“The local committees will take care of the intra-departmental delays. However, the issues which can not be resolved at the local level will be referred to the central institutional mechanism,” the official added.

The CCCFC will have to meet frequently, once in 15-20 days to discuss the progress made by each agency in granting clearance certificate. Further, government has also initiated online connectivity between important departments including the food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI) and plant protection, quarantine and storage department in three ports including Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Tughlakabad inland container depot (ICD), and Patparganj ICD.

The exercise is a part of the single-window clearance for customs announced in the Budget 2014-15. The single-window will hugely benefit around 1,30,000 importers and 1,08,000 exporters registered with the department. Last year, 37 lakh bills of entry were filed while 57 lakh shipping bills were filed by the traders.

“This will cut down the time taken. A single form will be soon made available where the importer will have to give information to only one agency and that will be electronically transmitted to others, thus curbing duplicity. In 1-2 months the online connectivity will be extended to all the ports. The bill of entry will get automatically transmitted to their systems from the customs’ system for clearance,” the official said.

The finance ministry has also asked all the departments involved in the process to give standard operating procedures and timelines for clearances to ensure accountability. “The customs system is being integrated with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, animal husbandry, wildlife and textiles departments. These departments are still not automated. In the next 4-5 months the system integration should be complete,” the sources added.

Source:indianexpress.com

Govt Adds Shine To Gold Deposit Plan

A damaged bangle or your broken chain lying in a bank locker may help you earn 2-3% interest under the proposed Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS) that is being finalized by the government. The scheme will be a major improvement over 1% interest being paid for deposits up to five years.

Sources said the government is also looking at the possibility of reducing the minimum deposit amount from 500 grams to around 50 grams to enable those having gold to actually make use of the scheme as the current floor is seen to be very high. "Given the attachment of people with gold, which is often passed down the generations, it is unlikely that someone will deposit bangles or heavy jewellery. It is largely things that are lighter in weight or damaged that will initially come," said a source.

Besides, the government is studying the possibility of reducing the minimum deposit period from the current three years as there is a perception that individuals would want to test the scheme by depositing the precious metal for a shorter duration.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the GMS in the budget to allow depositors of gold to earn interest in their metal accounts and at the same time help jewellers get loans in their metal accounts with banks and other dealers operating as intermediaries. The scheme is seen as a key element in the attempt to reduce gold import, a key pressure point on India's import bill.

When the gold deposit scheme was launched in 1999, the target was to mop up around 100 tonnes but the goal is yet to be achieved despite the plan undergoing changes, resulting in a marginal increase in rates on offer.

The new plan may involve greater participation from the private sector with the government likely to encourage more banks to participate.

Those opting for the scheme can take their gold to a purity verification centre, which will then issue a certificate that banks would accept. The banks will then open a metal account for someone depositing gold, while the gold will be sent for melting.

Source:timesofindia.indiatimes.com
 

Column: New Ftp Hits India’S Infra Plans

Building sustainable and world-class infrastructure in India is one of the top priorities of the Modi government. Prime minister Narendra Modi, time and again, has stressed the need for accelerated infrastructure development in India in order to provide a fillip to the Make-in-India campaign and attract global interest.

Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, during their meeting in Tokyo last year, pledged cooperation in developing infrastructure in India. The two leaders placed special emphasis on Japanese cooperation for enhanced connectivity and development in building rail corridors in the North East, power projects, rail and road projects, sewerage and water supply projects and various other infrastructural development endeavors. Japan has promised $35 billion in investment and financing for Indian infrastructure over the next five years.

Most of the Japanese assistance is routed through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is an independent governmental agency that coordinates Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries. JICA has been actively assisting and funding various infrastructure development projects India including the Delhi Metro project.

JICA has given funding to the tune of $35 billion in the last decade for projects like the Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System (various phases), Mumbai Metro Line 3 project, Anpara B Thermal Power Station Construction Project, Hyderabad Outer Ring Road project, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Project.

The foreign trade policy (FTP) of India treated the supplies made to JICA-funded projects as ‘deemed exports’ and provides specified benefits. Deemed export benefits are specified domestic transactions involving supply of goods manufactured in India to identified projects within India (i.e., the goods supplied do not leave country).

Even though the supplies do not leave India, such  transactions are treated on a par with exports for the purpose of allowing the supplier to avail certain indirect tax benefits prescribed under the FTP. Deemed export scheme is primarily an instrument for import substitution. It helps in creating manufacturing capability, value addition and employment opportunities in the country.

It has a two-fold impact on the economy—it helps in reducing the cost of the project by 15%-20% and at the same time, boosts indigenous manufacture and supply to such capital intensive projects. Hence, it is a win-win for the infrastructure development while boosting domestic manufacturing.

Recently, the new FTP, for 2015-2020, was introduced (effective from April 1, 2015, onwards). The press release issued at the time of the introduction mentioned that the new five-year foreign trade policy provides a framework for increasing exports of goods and services as well as generation of employment and increasing value addition in the country, in keeping with the Make-in-India campaign. The new policy has largely been applauded by the industry for consolidating the benefits, easing compliances and removing restrictions.

However, the ministry of commerce (MoC) made a regressive change by pruning the list of eligible agencies. Vide such change, the supplies made to projects financed by JICA would not be eligible for deemed export benefits. It is to be noted that apart from JICA, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund have also been delisted as eligible agencies for deemed export benefits.

Given the current change in the policy, since the eligible agencies does not include JICA and other agencies mentioned above, the projects funded by such agencies would not be eligible for deemed export benefit. This would have a significant impact on JICA-funded projects such as the DMRC, DFCC freight-corridors and other future projects as agreed between India and Japan. The denial of deemed export benefits would result in material cost escalation for these projects. As per industry estimates, taking into account the terminal excise duty benefits and duty drawback, the cost of supplies could go up by over 20%. The contractors/ suppliers to such projects are expected to pass on the duty cost and hence, the total cost of the project would increase for the government of India.

Though the tax paid by the contractors/suppliers would be paid back to the government of India (albeit different departments within the government), the borrowing limit from JICA and other delisted agencies would be reduced proportionate to the tax amounts. Hence, the fund flow into building infrastructure would reduce proportionate to the tax collected on the supplies made to projects funded by JICA and other delisted agencies. The same would be detrimental to infrastructure development in India with no other benefit flowing to the government of India.

This move is apparently in conflict with the vision of the government to develop infrastructure in India with the aid of agencies such as JICA. The decision of the MoC to exclude JICA, SIDA, IFAD and OPEC from availing deemed export benefit seems incongruous to effecting harmonious policy changes reflecting the vision of the current government.

As per news reports, the officials at Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT, attached to the Office of the Department of Commerce, MoC), the decision to exclude JICA and other agencies from the list of multilateral agencies was intentional even though the MoC realised the fact of significant support provided by these agencies to infrastructure development in India.

The intention of the MoC is to grant deemed export status to only such projects which are funded by agencies for whom there is a specific Customs duty exemption [there is a specific Customs duty exemption under Notification 84/97-Customs for projects funded by World Bank (IBRD and IDA, which are part of World Bank) and the ADB].

There appears to be a lack of communication between the MoC and the ministry of finance (MoF). There have been instances in the past wherein there were ambiguities and confusion in the industry due to lack of communication between the two ministries. Historically, there has been an ongoing dispute between the two ministries on the method to allow the benefit of terminal excise duty (commonly referred to as TED; means the excise duty payable at the last leg or terminal leg of manufacture in India).

The FTP provides for an outright exemption from TED (for supplies to eligible multilateral agencies) while there is no corresponding exemption notification under the central excise legislation. Under the central excise legislation, exemption from excise duty (for goods supplied under international competitive bidding) is provided only in those cases where such goods are also exempt from payment of customs duty (supplies to World Bank, etc, as discussed above). Due to this ambiguity, there has been persistent confusion in the industry on the methodology for claiming the benefit of TED i.e., (i) whether by way of outright exemption or refund; (ii) if by way of refund, whether MoF or MoC would grant the refund.

It appears that MoC has not resolved the matter with MoF and disallowed the deemed export benefits to all agencies which are not eligible for Customs duty exemption. Based on news reports, the officials at DGFT were reported to have said that the deemed export benefit would be allowed on supplies made to JICA, SIDA, IFAD and OPEC funded projects if the Customs duty is waived by the MoF.

It is imperative that the MoC discusses this matter with MoF  and roll back the amendment to exclude JICA, SIDA, IFAD and OPEC from the list of multilateral agencies eligible for the deemed export benefits. There is a larger economic issue of infrastructure development in India which needs to be considered by the MoC.

Source:financialexpress.com

Rupee Opens Lower At 64.12 Per Dollar

The Indian rupee on Tuesday weakened past the 64 mark against the dollar ahead of the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data due after 5.30pm.

The local unit opened at 64.12 per dollar and touched a low of 64.16 a dollar. At 9.10am, the currency was trading at 64.13, down 0.42% from its previous close of 63.86.

The Sensex fell 0.02% or 4.39 points to 27,502.91 points. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have sold $2.34 billion in equity markets in the last 15 out of 16 sessions, except on 21 April when they bought $2.6 billion.

In May so far, FIIs sold $942.41 million in debt and $606.35 million in equity. A Bloomberg poll of 35 analysts estimates that IIP will be at 3% in March as compared with 5% in February.

CPI is expected to go up to 4.9% in April from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 35 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Traders expect that the slowing of retail inflation may boost the possibility of the third rate cut this year by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.927% compared with its Monday’s close of 7.889%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 1.7%, while FIIs have bought $6.61 billion from local equity and $6.51 billion from bond markets.

Most of the Asian currencies were trading lower. Malaysian ringgit was down 0.53%, South Korean won was down 0.33%, Indonesian rupiah was down 0.25%, Philippines peso was down 0.2%, Singapore dollar and Thai baht were down 0.1% each, and Japanese yen was down 0.08%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.966, down 0.05% from its previous close of 95.011.

Source:livemint.com

High Court sets aside stay order as it was passed without considering merits of case

Service Tax : Where Tribunal passed stay/pre-deposit order in absence of assessee's counsel and without considering merits, High Court set aside such order and remanded matter back to Tribunal for consideration afresh

Promotion of real estate business by celebrities wasn’t business auxiliary service; not liable to ST

Service Tax : Since immovable property are not 'goods'; hence, promotion of real estate business cannot amount to 'promotion of goods' and cannot therefore, be taxed under Business Auxiliary Services

Delay in filing fresh appeal condoned as favourable order leading to withdrawal of previous appeal w

IT : Where assessee having obtained substantial relief from rectification order, withdrew its appeal before Tribunal, subsequently, when said rectification order was set aside in revenue's appeal, assessee's fresh appeal filed before Tribunal could not be dismissed on ground of expiry of period of limitation

IRDA issues guidelines for conducting re-insurance and co-insurance transactions in electronic platf

INSURANCE : Guidelines on participation in electronic transaction administration and settlement system

SEBI prescribes format for disclosure of securities held by promoter, KMP and directors under Inside

SEBI : Disclosures under SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015

Contribution made to mutual concerns by non-members for commercial reasons, can’t be taxed

IT: Where contributions were made by non-member companies in assessee-mutual concern for their sales promotion while objective of assessee in receiving contributions was to meet part of expenditure incurred in organizing events, said contribution could not be assessed as assessee's income

Cash loan of above Rs. 20,000 taken by builder to meet immediate requirement of business won’t attra

IT : Penalty under section 271D could not be levied when assessee sufficiently process that loan was taken in excess of Rs. 20,000 to meet urgent and immediate requirement of Business