Doctrine of unjust enrichment doesn’t apply to State Government undertakings

Excise & Customs : A State Government undertaking engaged in Public Distribution System amounts to 'State' as per Constitution of India and hence, doctrine of unjust enrichment cannot apply to such assessee/'State', as assessee/'State' (which exists for welfare of people) cannot be said to be unjustly enriching itself to detriment of people

Dna Exclusive: Coal India's $1 Bn Tonne Plan Hinges On Foreign Miners, Contract Workers

A key strategy that would help Coal India Ltd (CIL) double its output within the next five years, which wasn't mentioned when coal and power minister Piyush Goyal unveiled the ambitious project Utkarsh on Friday, was the public sector giant's critical reliance on ''international mine developers and operators" and on "contract mining", according to the project briefing document available with dna.

Partnering foreign mine developers and operators having requisite experience and know-how in coal mining is one of the key strategies to touch the 1 billion tonne target by 2020. This would help the doubling of power capacity in the country and eliminate the need to import costly thermal coal.

"This will get the advantage of efficiency in operations and ease of technology transfer. In this regard a Model Contract Agreement has been approved by Coal India board and circulated to subsidiary companies for implementation," the confidential document said.

This express reliance on foreign miners to exponentially raise production would surely raise the hackles of the highly unionised workforce of CIL numbering more than 3 lakh. So will the dependence on contract miners.

Dependence on "large-scale contract mining" is one of the seven challenges outlined by CIL in the document.

The other factors are: speedy land acquisition and state-level clearances, expeditious environmental and forest clearances, three critical railway lines that are coming up; switching over to full mechanisation, upgrading skill of employees and deployment of sufficient manpower.

Evacuation of mined coal remains a key constrain for CIL for which a unified concerted effort between CIL, Railways and the state has been proposed in the document.

"Around 55% of the entire coal transportation is through rail mode. However, there are a few coalfields in the country which have huge production potential but are bereft of rail linkages. Among these, three rail lines linked to Central Coalfields (Jharkhand), Mahanadi Coalfields (Odisha), South Eastern Coalfields (Chhattisgarh) are critical and expected to play a key role in evacuation of coal," the document said.

Major investments in latest technologies like use of more 3D seismic survey, vehicle tracking and operator independent truck dispatch systems, monitoring using laser scanner, tele-monitoring and long-wall mining equipment at select places have been proposed.

Improving productivity of an ageing workforce and improvement of talent attraction and retention in management cadre are other key challenges.

"A team of HR functionaries from all levels from all subsidiaries has revisited the current people practices in the context of the changing business imperatives to redefine the role of HR in CIL," the document said.

Source:dnaindia.com

Bd-India Petroleum Pipeline Joint Feasibility Study Begins

A joint feasibility study has begun on the construction of a 129-kilometre cross-country pipeline meant for carrying petroleum products from India's Numaligarh refinery into Bangladesh's 'master' petroleum depot, said officials.

However, pending installation of the pipeline, Bangladesh would start importing 0.05 per cent-sulfur diesel soon from India through Brahmaputra River with small barges. The quantity will be 2,000 tonnes per month, they said.

The two countries have finally selected the 129-km pipeline route of which 124 kilometres (kms) will be inside Bangladesh territory and the remaining 5 kms on the Indian side, state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) chairman AM Badrudduja told the FE Sunday.

Although most part of the pipeline would be built inside Bangladesh, the aggregate costs will be shared equally by the two countries, he expressed the hope. The two South Asian neighbours have selected one after scrutinizing four separate routes, said the BPC official. Dhaka and New Delhi have already agreed to establish a joint venture (JV) firm to build the pipeline jointly.

The BPC and the state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) of India have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the JV firm to construct the cross-country oil pipeline.

The detailed feature including requisite investment, stakes of respective countries and wheeling charge to carry petroleum products through the pipeline would be sorted out under terms and conditions of the new JV firm.

The planned JV firm between the two countries would be responsible for building the pipeline and carry out its operation and maintenance.

Headquarters of the firm would be in Dhaka, Mr Badrudduja said. The BPCL will supply the diesel from its Shilghhat depot to the BPC's Baghabari depot, he said.

The cross-border pipeline might see, initially, 300,000 tonnes of refined oil products transported annually. Both BPC and BPCL have agreed to invest in the project, said the BPC official.

If everything goes according to plan, the BPC might start importing refined oils from Bharat Petroleum's refinery in India's northeastern Assam state within 2016.

The BPCL has 61.50 per cent stake in the 3.0-million-tonne-annual-capacity Numaligarh refinery located near Bangladesh's northeastern border.

Oil India Limited has 26 per cent stakes and the government of Assam holds 12.35 per cent takes with the refinery.

Once implemented, the pipeline is expected to reduce both cost of import and time spent on oil import besides cutting down transportation losses.

The volume of oil import could potentially increase more than threefold to 1.0 million tonnes per year within three to four years, said the BPC official.

BPC is keen to import mainly diesel from the Numaligarh refinery to meet mounting requirements, especially to operate the gasoil-run irrigation pumps in the northern region.

It has also planned to import other refined oil products as well in future, in line with domestic requirements.

The BPC has set a target to import around 5.81 million tonnes of petroleum in fiscal year 2015, up 7.50 per cent over the current calendar year, at a cost of around US$5.0 billion.

Gasoil imports account for more than half the total imports as the corporation has imported 3.0-3.5 million tonnes of gasoil over the past several years to meet a mounting domestic demand.

BPC's oil import has been on a steady increase over the past several years to meet the rising local demand, especially for oil-fired power plants.

Source:thefinancialexpress-bd.com

Veggies Rates Stay High As Indian Imports Remain Halted

Halt in import from India kept the rate of potato high while other vegetables prices could not drop either despite the fact that domestic harvesting has been started and local supply significantly improved.

The rates of vegetable particularly of onion, tomato, pease, ladyfinger, cucumber, bitter guard, brinjal and cauliflower have once again started to go up not only in Sunday Bazaars but also in open market.

According to a market survey, price of tomato had jumped by more than 200 per cent last week, crossing the figure of Rs80 per kg in open market, have shown some relief and dropped to Rs40-50 per kg in Sunday bazaars and open market respectively.

During a visit, it was observed the prices of almost all vegetables except potatoes are still high despite considerable increase in supply in all major makeshift markets of the town including, Shadman, Iqbal Town and Islampura Sunday bazaars.

Market sources said that provincial capital vegetable markets depend on supply of onion, tomato, ladyfinger, brinjal and bitter guard from Sindh or from India to meet the local requirement as harvesting of local crop starts usually at the end of May.

So, delay in import of onion from India along with the arrival of Ramazan will further lift its rates in market of provincial capital.
Prices of vegetables in these makeshift cheaper markets registered an upward trend, with profiteers starting hoarding ahead of Ramazan.

 Only rotten and substandard onion from Sindh was being supplied to the market as hoarders are storing it to make money during the month of Ramazan when its consumption increases manifolds. In Sunday bazaars of the city, tomato was available in limited quantity.

It is expected that tomato price will come down in a couple of days but there are least chances in decline of onion rates, market sources said. The price of onion will decrease on start of domestic production of Punjab, also improving quality of available onion in the market, they added.

According to market survey, capsicum was available for Rs45 per kg, pumpkin at Rs52 per kg, luffa at Rs62 per kg, but sold at Rs70 per kg. Ladyfinger rate in Sunday bazaars was fixed at Rs80 per kg but sold at Rs100 per kg while arum price was fixed at Rs80/kg but sold at higher rate of Rs100/ kg.

Peas were sold at Rs100/kg, registering an overcharging of Rs18 per kg while cauliflower rate was fixed at Rs26 per kg but it was not sold there. Cabbage official rate was fixed at Rs16/kg but was available in limited quantity at Rs30/kg.

Green chilli rate was fixed at Rs60/kg but it was sold at higher rate of Rs80 per kg. In the same way, bitter guard was selling at Rs60 per kg both in Sunday bazaars and in open market.

Source:nation.com.pk

No denial of sec. 80P relief to society just because it was working on large scale

IT: As long as handloom weavers co-operative societies were cottage industries, mere fact that size of industry was large and large number of workers were employed, could not be reasons to deny them benefit available under section 80P

Exporters Grapple With Order Dip

Exporters are going through a difficult period even as the government is trying to revive the economy through its Make in India initiative. Orders for Indian goods are down because of a global slump in demand, triggering worries about rising inventories and lower margins.

"There is a fall in order bookings for the coming months, particularly from buyers in West Asia, Africa and Latin America," Ajay Sahai, director-general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo), said.

He warned that exporters could be forced to shut down production lines if the orders continued to fall over the next 4-5 months. Exports contracted 14 per cent to $22 billion in April for the fifth month in a row.

Demand is unlikely to improve in the coming months as large trading partners such as Europe, Japan and China have not seen any robust growth.

Fieo president S.C. Ralhan said, "Normally, the average exporter used to have orders for three to four months, depending on the product. But now it is hardly for one month. It is adding to the constraints of the exporters."

Sahai said the volumes of container traffic at some ports are down by a staggering 26 per cent in the first fortnight of April over the same period in the previous month. If this trend continues for the next few months, it may lead to job losses.

"What is worrying for us now is the volume which is going down. For a few ports, the volumes are down 26 per cent. The decline in volume means value-wise export may suffer more. Exporters may manage for 4-5 months. Thereafter, if the trend continues, job losses will be there," he added.

Exporters are now demanding a slew of incentives such as the re-introduction of the interest subvention scheme, quick refunds and changes in the classification of markets.

They are also lobbying for tax benefits to encourage investment in manufacturing and 100 per cent reimbursement of stall charges at exhibitions.

Liquidity is a big issue for the sector, hit by pending claims of duty drawback and Cenvat refunds. Working capital is constrained as duty refund claims worth Rs 6,423 crore have not been cleared.

"Since two-and-a-half months, the claims are pending and it has reached Rs 6,423 crore. The revenue department appears more concerned about meeting their revenue targets," Ralhan said.

Exporters get refunds for duties paid on the import of input or raw materials used in manufacturing products that are meant for outward shipments.

The new Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 has set a goal to double merchandise and services exports to $900 billion. India had missed the export target of $340 billion for 2014-15. Exports stood at $310.5 billion in 2013-14.

Source:telegraphindia.com

Rupee Opens Higher At 63.47 Per Dollar

The Indian rupee on Monday opened with little change against the dollar, as dealers awaited fresh economic data to take dollar positions.

 

Last week, the wholesale price index fell 2.65% for April as compared with 2.33% for March. Gross domestic product numbers for the first quarter will be reported next week.

 

The local unit opened at 63.47 per dollar. At 9.07am, the home currency was trading at 63.48, up 0.07% from its previous close of 63.52. The Sensex rose 0.34% or 92.27 points to 27,416.97 points in pre-opening trade.

 

Among the Asian currencies, Malaysian ringgit lost 0.232%, Thai baht gained 0.033%, Taiwan dollar gained 0.118%, South Korean won gained 0.056%, Philippine peso gained 0.061%, Indonesian rupiah lost 0.267%, Singapore dollar lost 0.136%, Hong Kong dollar lost 0.006% and Japanese yen lost 0.318%.

 

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.924% compared with its Friday’s close of 7.945%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 0.74%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $12.5 billion from local equity and bond markets.

 

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.419, up 0.3% from its previous close of 93.135.

 

Source:livemint.com

No penalty on Chairman of Company when he was unaware of clandestine removal of goods

Excise & Customs : Where Tribunal found that transactions of clandestine removal were carried out by other directors and Chairman was nowhere involved therein nor had he any knowledge about same, no personal penalty could be levied on Chairman