Steel Min Seeks Revision Of Import Duty On Steel Products

The Steel Ministry has written to the Finance Ministry seeking an immediate revision of import duty on steel products.

According to sources, the steel ministry has sought a revision of import duty on long products and HR coils saying it is necessary to raise import duty rates to safeguard TMT/rebar industry.

The ministry wants import duty on non-alloy long products to be raised to 10 percent; HR/CR coil duty to be raised to 10 percent from current 7.5 percent and duty on stainless steel products to be hiked to 10 percent.

The ministry has said that excess steel capacity in China & other countries is leading to dumping in India. Furthermore, the rouble- Russia’s currency depreciation has also caused dumping in India.

The steel ministry has urged the Finance Ministry to revise the duties without waiting for the Budget announcement as there is a dire need to restrain the surge of imports in India.

Source:- moneycontrol.com

Conversion of stock-in-trade into investment without any intention to do trading in shares was genui

IT: Where conversion of stock-in-trade of shares into investment was accepted and gains on sale of shares held for more than 12 months was accepted as LTCG; STCG for shares held for less than 12 months could not be denied

No denial of sec. 54EC benefit if asset was deemed as short-term asset merely due to deeming fiction

IT: Since Bifurcation of land and building into separate part for purpose of computation of capital gain is permissible, assessee would be entitled for exemption under section 54EC

Disclosure of additional amount before SetCom won't make declaration in block assessment as faulty

IT : Where there was no material with revenue to justify that additional amount declared by assessee was not full and true for purpose of Settlement, demand of further amount could not be accepted

Hero Motocorp Tops Scooter Exports From India In 2014

During 2014, exports of Hero MotoCorp have far exceeded that of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter at 84,690 units, reporting more than five times increase over 15,776 units exported in 2013.

In under five years of going their separate ways, Hero MotoCorp has overtaken Honda two wheelers as the largest Indian scooter exporter. Honda, which banks on their top selling Activa brand, saw an 85% increase in scooter exports during the past year. Honda exported 79,184 units during 2014 as against 42,717 units exported in 2013.

Hero Motocorp swooshes past Honda two wheelers Hero MotoCorp has two scooter models which include Pleasure 100cc scooter targeting the women buyers. Maestro 110cc is aimed at male buyers. Hero MotoCorp is slated to launch Dash 110cc and Date 125cc soon. Honda two wheelers also sells Aviator 110cc and Dio.

Over the past few years, Hero MotoCorp has expanded its reach far and wide into markets of South America and South East Asia. New assembly plants are announced for Colombia and Bangladesh while the company also intends to set up plants in both Argentina and Brazil. From early 2016, Hero MotoCorp also plans to commence sales in markets such as Europe and US.

In India, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two wheeler makers by volume, sees increased sales both in cities and in smaller towns. The company sold a record 66,45,787 units of two wheelers during January to December 2014, an increase of 8 percent as against 61,83,849 two wheelers sold during the same period in the previous year.

Overall, Honda registered 25 percent sales growth, way over domestic industry growth of 12 percent having sold over 28.24 lakh two wheelers in 8 months, contributing 50 percent to domestic 2-wheeler industry sales increase.

Source:- rushlane.com

Government May Challenge World Trade Organization’S Order To Lift Ban On Us Poultry Imports

Competitively priced American frozen chicken legs may take longer to hit the Indian market as the government is set to challenge the World Trade Organization's October order asking it to lift a ban on poultry imports from the US.

Simultaneously, the government is brainstorming with stakeholders on ways to protect the growing domestic poultry industry from the inflow of US chicken legs, which are cheaper by about Rs 100 per kg. India banned US poultry imports on account of avian influenza in 2007, a decision the WTO called 'unscientific' in its judgment.

"We are ready with our argument and will be filing an appeal in a day or two to the appellate body. We are expecting an improvement in the dispute settlement panel decision, which will help us in future," a government official said. "We are committed to protect the industry with huge employment potential and are looking at various measures to that effect. We have had a meeting with the poultry industry and breeders."

India is the fourth-largest producer of chicken in the world, after the US, China and Brazil, with an annual production of 3.5-4 million tonnes.

Last week, China banned the import of US poultry and eggs after the detection of an avian flu strain in the Pacific Northwest. More than 20 countries, including members of the EU, South Korea and South Africa, have imposed curbs on poultry from certain US states or the entire country.

With US consumers preferring chicken breasts, the less-favoured chicken legs are frozen for export to other markets at highly competitive prices. "As Russia has also banned American poultry, they are really eyeing the Indian market to sell chicken legs frozen for the last four-five years at may be Rs 40-50 a kg compared to Rs 160 -170 a kg price prevailing in India," said another official privy to the matter.

The department of commerce called a meeting that was attended by representatives of the All India Poultry Breeders' Association and others to suggest ways to protect the domestic industry and assess the grounds on which other countries have banned US poultry. But as per WTO rules, national treatment must be accorded, which means the domestic industry must be subjected to the same rules as the foreign seller.

Given that the US will export chicken legs that are four to five years old, India could restrict imports to products that are not more than six months old, said a poultry expert. "For this, FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) can come out with standards," he said. According to experts, India could also look at options such as anti-dumping duties to curb imports and use the argument that the chicken are fed with genetically modified food.

"US chicken is given genetically modified feed, which is not allowed in India. They are also injected with a lot of hormones," said an expert who asked not to be identified.The EU banned US chicken on account of chlorine treatment. An anti-dumping case could be possible but difficult."

If India files an anti-dumping case, it will have to allow US chicken for a year to assess the dumping margin or else dumping analysis can be done by apprehending the price at which US sells to different markets, which will be difficult," said the expert.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

Rupee Opens Marginally Lower At 61.78 Per Dollar

The Indian rupee on Tuesday weakened marginally against the dollar, tracking losses in the Asian currencies market.

At 9.07am, the rupee was trading at 61.78 per dollar, down 0.11%. The local currency opened at 61.79 per dollar, compared with its previous close of 61.71.

India’s benchmark equity index, BSE Sensex was trading at 28,326.94 points, up 0.23%.

Most of the Asian currencies were trading lower. The South Korean won was down 0.7%, Malaysian ringgit 0.61%, Japanese yen 0.52%, Thai baht 0.36%, Singapore dollar 0.31%, Philippine peso 0.24%, Indonesian rupiah 0.19% and Taiwan dollar 0.16%.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond stood at 7.723% compared with its Friday’s close of 7.724%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has strengthened 2.05% against the dollar, while foreign institutional investors have bought $155.7 million during the period from local equity markets and bought $2,016.5 million from debt markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 92.813, up 0.32% from its previous close of 92.52.The Indian economy will expand 6.3% in fiscal year through March 2016 and 6.5% in fiscal year 2017, the International Monetary Fund projected in its world economic outlook.

Source:- livemint.com

Detention of petitioner's husband on declaration of emergency was to be revoked upon cessation of em

COFEPOSA : Where detention order was made against petitioner's husband after proclamation of emergency, detention order got itself revoked by operation of law upon cessation of emergency due to section 12A(1)

Tribunal had no discretion to restore appeal if it was dismissed on non-compliance with pre-deposit

Service Tax : When order of pre-deposit has not been complied with, Tribunal cannot entertain appeal or allow restoration of appeal

ITAT followed its earlier order for remanding case to AO for determining ALP of AC equipments sold t

IT/ILT : Following order passed by co-ordinate Bench of Tribunal relating to earlier year, issue relating to determination of ALP of sub-assembly components of air conditioning equipment sold to AE was to be remanded back for disposal afresh

Government Has No Intention To Privatise Either Railways Or Coal India

The Union Finance Ministeri Arun Jaitley assured the representatives of various Trade Unions that the Government has no intention to privatise either railways or Coal India. He said that focus of his Government is to create more jobs and employment opportunities beside safeguarding the existing jobs and give better environment for ease of living for the common man.

The Finance Minister said that’s why we need more money for investment in infrastructure sector in order to create more job opportunities for our youth. He said that our approaches may be different but goal is same.The Finance Minister Jaitley was making the Opening Remarks during his Pre Budget Consultative Meeting with the representatives of Trade Union Groups here today. He said that the Government wants to create better social security system for the labour force working both in organized and unorganized sector.

The Finance Minister Jaitley said that more than 63 percentage of population in our country is in age group of 15-59 years which is defined as India’s “demographic dividend”. The challenge for the country now is in planning and acting towards converting its ‘potential’ into enhanced opportunities of growth by dovetailing the quality of manpower through skill development etc. The Finance Minister mentioned that according to an Indian Labour Report (2007), 300 million youth would enter the labour force by 2025. The main issue to address today is not just providing employment but of increasing the employability of labour force in India. He said that skill deficit among the labour force has been recognized as a major factor that drives a large number towards low income levels and perpetrates inequality. Consequently, the Finance Minister said that the thrust on skill development as well as on ‘Make in India’ are Government’s endeavors to improve employability and generate employment avenues.

The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed the trade union representatives that a cause for concern is that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of employment decelerated during 2004-05 to 2011-12 to 0.5 per cent, as compared to the 2.8 per cent growth during 1999-2000 to 2004-05. Highlighting the major initiatives of his Government in labour sector, the Finance Minister said that the Apprentice Act 1961 was amended on 18.12.2014 to make it more responsive to industry and youth. He said that the Government is also working affirmatively to bring a single uniform law for MSME sector to ensure their operational efficiency and improve productivity while ensuring job creation at a large scale. The Finance Minister further said that a unified Labour Portal Scheme called ‘Shram Suvidha Portal’ has been launched to for timely redressal of grievances and to create a conducive environment for industrial development. Its main features are : (1) Unique Labour Identification Number (LIN) allotted to around six lakhs units facilitating online registration. (2) Filing of self-certified, simplified single online return instead of 16 separate returns by industries. (3) Transparent Labour Inspection Scheme via computerized system as per risk based criteria and uploading of Inspection Reports within 72 hours by labour inspectors. He said that many States like Rajasthan have also introduced major reforms in three labour legislations viz. the Industrial Disputes Act, the Factories Act and the Contract Labour Act.

The meeting was attended among others by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance, Shaktikanta Dass, Revenue Secretary, Ratan P. Watal, Secretary (Expenditure), Dr Hasmukh Aadhia, Secretary (DFS), Ms. Ardhana Johri, Secretary (Disinvestment), Secretary, Labour, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Ms. Anita Kapur, Chairperson, CBDT and Kaushal Srivastava, Chairman, CBEC. Among the representatives of Trade Union Groups attended the meeting included Vrijesh Upadhyay (BMS), B.Surendran (BMS), S.Q.Zama (INTUC), K.K.Tiwari, (INTUC), D.L.Sachdev (AITUC), S.D.Tyagi (HMS), Surendra Lal (HMS), Tapan Sen (CITU), R.K.Sharma (AIUTUC), S.P.Tiwary (TUCC), Jyotiben Macwan (SEWA), Smt. Manali Shah (SEWA), Santosh Roy (AICCTU), M.Shanmugam (LPF), Deepak Jaiswal (NFITU), kant Lachake (NFITU), Ms Panudda Boonpala (ILO) and Ashok Ghosh (UTUC).

Various suggestions were made by representatives of representatives of Trade Union Groups. Major suggestions include more allocation for social security schemes for workers, same wages for contract labour as being paid to regular worker for the same job on the principle of ‘same pay for same work’, regularization of Contract Labour after certain time, to ensure strict compliance of labour laws by MNCs, prior consultation with trade unions before initiating any amendment of any laws affecting directly or indirectly the interests of labour force, and increase in minimum wages based on the decision of the Raptakos Judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court .

Other suggestions include to keep prices of food items and other essential items under check, increase in purchasing power of common man, make living easies for them, revival of viable sick industries, post budget interaction with representatives of trade unions, expansion of MGNREGA to all the districts and increase in number of working days to 200, more allocation of funds in budget for social sector including health and education sector and 10% cut in defence expenditure, no privatization of coal, railways and insurance sectors, PF Act be amended to cover every employee/worker under EPF Act, and role of labour market institutions be strengthened among others.

Other suggestions include raise in Corporate tax, impose tax on SEZ and FDIsand use this for enhanced social security expenditures, convergence of all medical schemes and benefits into one scheme for the benefit of unorganized sector workers, support price for tea, rubber, cardamom and other agriculture products , budgetary support for traditional industries like jute, textiles, handloom, silk and carpet, establish universal PDS, and special package to retrieve the closed and abandoned plantations etc. among others.

Source:- indiainfoline.com

MCA prescribes form for notifying the address at which books of account of Co. may be kept

Companies (Accounts) Amendment Rules, 2015 - Amendment in Rule 6 and Insertion of Rule 2A and form AOC-5

SC: Metropolitan Roadways wasn't rent-a-cab operator; not liable to ST on buses provided by it to pr

Service Tax : Metropolitan Roadways is not 'person engaged in business of renting of cabs', as its business is to provide bus/transport facility to citizens of city; hence, it is not liable to service tax even if buses are rented out to factories/industries/private parties, etc. on per Km. basis

Employee's contribution is deductible even if paid after due date of fund but before due date of fil

IT: Section 43B applicable to both employees' and employer's contributions

Indian Rupee Trims Initial Gains Vs Dollar, Still Up 17 Paise

The Indian rupee trimmed its initial gains against the American currency, but was still quoted higher by 17 paise to 61.70 per dollar on selling of greenback by banks and exporters in view of strong foreign capital inflows into equity market.

The rupee resumed higher at 61.60 per dollar as against the last weekend’s level of 61.87 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and firmed up further to 61.58 per dollar on initial selling of dollars.

However, it trimmed its initial gains and was quoted at 61.70 per dollar at 1100 hrs on some demand from banks on the back of higher dollar in the overseas market.

It hovered in the range of 61.58-61.73 per dollar during the morning trade.

In New York, the euro fell to another 11-year low against the dollar on last Friday, a day after the Swiss National Bank’s surprise decision to eliminate its exchange-rate cap removed a source of support for the shared currency.

Source:- financialexpress.com

Time spent between personal hearing and passing of adjudication order is immaterial for condonation

Service Tax : Delay has to be explained from date of actual service on assessee and there is no necessity to go into issue as to whether party should pursue matter before adjudicating authority as to when he is going to pass order

HC upheld disallowance of interest as borrowed funds were not used for business purposes

IT : Assessee could not be allowed deduction of interest paid on borrowed funds when such funds were lying idle and never used for business purpose

HC affirmed VAT penalty as goods-in-transit weren't accompanied by docs prescribed under law

CST & VAT : Karnataka VAT - Where assessee, a transporter, was transporting goods on 10-1-2005 in a vehicle and same were not supported by documents prescribed under section 28A(2), penalty was liable to be imposed under section 28A(4) at double tax payable on total value of goods

No writ against assessment order passed on directions of DRP as such order was appealable to ITAT

IT/ILT: Assessment order passed under section 144C(13) pursuant to directions issued by DRP under section 144C(5) was directly appealable to Tribunal in terms of section 253(1)(d) and, in such a case, assessee could not invoke writ jurisdiction of High Court

Place of issuance notice of cheque dishonouring won't confer jurisdiction upon Court to take cogniza

Negotiable Instruments Act: Courts at Gurgaon did not possess territorial jurisdiction to entertain proceedings under section 138 for dishonour of cheque drawn at Bangalore solely because legal notice of demand was sent from Gurgaon

Reimbursement of cost for obtaining customs clearance for AE wasn't includible in cost of assessee t

IT/ILT : Where assessee was paying to third party to get custom clearance service done on high value packages, for and on behalf of AE and payment was reimbursed by AE, said payment could not be included in total cost of assessee for determining profit margin for benchmarking arm's length price

Registrar of co-operative society can't be deemed as an enterprise; outside the jurisdiction of CCI

Competition Act : Registrar of co-operative society while discharging its regulatory and statutory mandate cannot be said to fall within purview of terms enterprise as defined in section 2(h)

Refund of excise duty is to be treated as part of business profits; eligible for sec. 80-IB relief

IT : Refund of excise duty paid on manufacturing and sale of goods produced by assessee was to be treated as business profit and same was eligible for section 80-IB deduction

Interest payable to supplier for construction of property is an allowable deduction under sec. 24

IT : Interest payable to sundry creditors, who supplied material for construction of property, is an allowable deduction under section 24(b)

AO couldn't make addition on basis of income surrendered in survey without any evidence to substanti

IT : Where assessee had surrendered lesser sum instead what he admitted during course of survey, in absence of any exercise made by Assessing Officer to hold that said surrendered value was not proper, addition made was to be deleted

Smaller Bench of Tribunal has to follow majority view of Larger Bench of Tribunal, rules High Court

CST & VAT : It is bounden duty of smaller Bench of Tribunal to follow applicable judgment rendered by larger Bench of Tribunal, i.e., majority view, and not to follow minority view which has got no application

Delay in filing appeal due to personal reasons causing stress to person-in-charge of matter was cond

Excise & Customs : Where delay in filing appeal occurred due to personal reasons attributed to stress undergone by person-in-charge handling matter, said delay was due to "sufficient cause" and was condonable

No TDS liability of buyer when capital gain arose to NR wasn't taxable due to sec. 54 relief

IT/ILT : Where on date of purchase of house property from non-resident vendor, assessee was aware of fact that capital gain was not taxable in vendor's hands due to availability of deduction under section 54, he was not required to deduct tax at source while making payment of sales consideration

Lorry drivers couldn’t be held as agents of transporter; cash payment to them was disallowable under

IT : Where assessee transporter was neither owner of goods nor owner of vehicle carrying goods, lorry hire charges paid to lorry owners in cash was disallowable under section 40A(3)

Seeks Extension Of Subsidy On Raw Sugar Exports

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday met Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and sought extension of subsidy on raw sugar exports and hike in import duty on the sweetener to 40 percent to help cash-starved mills clear cane arrears to farmers.

"Met with a delegation led by the Maharashtra Chief Minister. We discussed on issues marring the sugar industry," Paswan told PTI after the meeting.

The Food Minister assured the delegation that the Centre would take steps in the interest of both the farmers as well as the industry. "The suggestions given are for long and short term implementation. Whatever be the best possible solution, it will be taken," he said.

Amid surplus sugar stocks depressing local prices, the delegation led by the Maharashtra Chief Minister demanded curbs on inward shipments of sugar by raising import duty to 40 percent from the existing 25 percent, said a senior Food Ministry official present at the meeting.

To encourage exports, he sought extension of export subsidy scheme on raw sugar for the 2014-15 season (October-September), which the Centre is considering actively, he added.

Last year, the Centre had announced a subsidy on export of raw sugar up to 4 million tonnes in order to help the cash-starved industry pay sugarcane arrears to farmers. The subsidy scheme ended in September 2014.

Besides, the Maharashtra government has sought interest-free loans, restructuring of term financing of sugar mills and providing interest-free bridge loans from the Sugar Development Fund.

The state government has also demanded creation of buffer stock of 50 lakh tonnes of sugar at factory level in the state and increase mandatory ethanol blending with petrol from the current 5 percent to 10 percent.

State BJP President Raosaheb Patil Danve, Maharashtra Cooperative Minister Chandrakant Patil, Leader of Opposition in the state Dhananjay Munde and three MPs -- Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, Sanjay Kaka Patil and Raju Shetty -- were part of the delegation.

The sugar industry is seeking extension of the export subsidy for this year as mills are facing liquidity crunch to make cane payment in the wake of depressed local prices due to higher production in the last few years.

Sugar production in India -- the world's second biggest producer after Brazil -- has increased by 27.3 percent to 7.46 million tonnes in the first three months of the current 2014-15 season, according to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA).

The ISMA estimates sugar production at 25-25.5 million tonnes for this season, while the government's projection is 25.05 million tonnes for the same period.During the 2013-14 season, the country had produced 24.4 million tonnes sugar and exported 2.11 million tonnes.

Source:- zeenews.india.com

China Import Curbs To Hit Cotton Growers

Cotton growers in Vidarbha may have to face another year of recession as China, the major consumer of Indian cotton, plans to keep imports of the commodity under control, said trade representatives from this country attending the Textile Association-India (TAI) conference in the city. Chinese demand is an important factor for determining market prices of raw cotton and lint. Due to a fall in Chinese demand, cotton prices have touched the minimum support price of Rs4050 a quintal in India, bringing tough times for Vidarbha farmers.

Representatives of Hurai Information, a textile consultancy firm from Hangzhou in China, told TOI that their government is not keen to release cotton import quotas beyond 89,4000 metric tons committed under WTO agreement. This will keep the imports from India down.

"The Chinese government wants to promote the domestic cotton. Moreover, the focus is on chemical textile industry rather than cotton. As a result, cotton textile business has seen a slump in China too," said a representative from Hurai.

Back in India, stakeholders in textile business say the industry is feeling the heat of falling crude prices. Though it may have been beneficial for the domestic economy, it has led to an adverse impact on the textile industry, said Arvind Sinha, president of TAI.

The fall in crude prices has hampered the economy in countries like Russia and Venezuela, which make major export market for Indian apparel industry. The middle-east countries are also in a cautious mode apprehending a slump, with the demand already low in the US, said Sinha. There has been a close to 30% slide in the price of fibre and cotton prices are at an all-time low. The next quarter release of garments may see a cheaper range being launched. As against $50 shirts, the price range may be set around $20, said Sinha.

"But at the same time there has been no cut in capacity utilization as reducing or shutting down operations can mean more losses for the units. However, the recession can be taken as an opportunity by coming up with innovations and value addition in products," said Sinha.

'Forest officials delaying Ngp-Jabalpur highway work' Union transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said the Centre has cleared widening of the Nagpur-Jabalpur highway but forest department officials deliberately sent the file back to the government. This can cause further delay as the whole process will have to be followed again. However, the issue will be sorted out soon as a joint meeting to be attended by him, union minister for forest and environment Prakash Javadekar and state's chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been planned on Sunday, said Gadkari.

Earlier, at the inaugural session of the TAI conference, Gadkari said the government is planning to develop inland waterways which can be used for transport of cotton. He said a port will be developed on the banks of Godavari river in Nanded, which can eventually transport cotton in smaller vessels to the textile industry hubs in South India. Transporting by water can bring down the cost by almost 75%.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India’S Oil Imports From Iran Jump Sharply In ’14

India imported 42% more Iranian oil last year over 2013 levels as its refiners increased purchases to take advantage of an easing in sanctions targeting Tehran’s nuclear programme.The jump came with an end-of-the-year boost as imports in December surged 84% from a year ago to 348,400 barrels per day (bpd),the highest since March.

Iranian and US officials are meeting in Geneva this week ahead of talks between Tehran and world powers tomorrow focused on

reaching a final deal to end the sanctions against Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear programme.

Diplomatic efforts to reach a final agreement last year failed for a second time in November, and a self-imposed deadline was

extended to June 30 this year.

Tehran says its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes only and not aimed at building a weapon.

India – Iran’s top oil customer after China – imported 276,800 bpd of oil and condensate last year, compared with 195,600 bpd in2013, according to tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources and Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts.

Indian refiners bought about 39% more Iranian oil in December compared with November, the data also showed.

Annual imports of Iranian oil rose sharply last year as refiners ramped up purchases in the first quarter to make up for a big

decline in shipments in 2013 as insurers had not extended coverage for processing oil from the sanctions-hit nation.

Private-refiner Essar Oil was the biggest Indian client of Iran in 2014, followed by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd

and Indian Oil Corp.

Iran remained the seventh-biggest oil supplier to India in 2014, while its share in overall purchases rose to 7.3% last year,

compared with 5.1% in 2013, the data showed.

The current sanctions allow Iran access to some of its frozen oil revenue overseas and restrict its oil sales at about 1mn to 1.1mn bpd.

Overall, India imported 3.84mn bpd of oil in December, up 9.4% from a year earlier. Imports for the full year fell 1.4% to 3.81mn bpd.In the January-December period India imported about 3.9% more oil from Latin America, with the region accounting for about 20.1% of overall imports, up from about 19.1% a year ago.

The Middle East region supplied about 59% of India’s oil imports in January to December, compared with 62.3% a year ago.

Africa’s share jumped to 16.7% from 15.4%. In the fiscal year to March 31, 2014, India cut its imports from Iran by 15% to 220,000 bpd to get a waiver from US sanctions on

the Islamic republic. India’s annual oil contracts with Iran follow the country’s April-March fiscal cycle.

In the first nine months of the year to end March 31, 2015, Indian refiners have shipped in about 250,200 bpd of Iranian oil, up 41% from the same period a year.

Source:- gulf-times.com

India May Seek Obama’S Intervention To Ease Gas Imports From Us

The steep fall in oil and gas prices offers India the perfect timing to press the US to ease norms for importing gas.During US President Barack Obama’s Republic Day visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to raise the complexities Indian businesses face in importing gas from America.

According to those associated with the business, importing gas from the US is not easy as New Delhi does not have a free trade agreement with Washington. Gas can be sourced only from projects that are approved to sell to non-FTA countries.

To complicate issues, Washington, according to the sources, has decided to invoke a law that mandates that the ships carrying gas should fly the US flag and have an American crew.

This is likely to become effective from 2018, just around the time India expects to get its first US packet — GAIL (India) will get a liquefied natural gas shipment from Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC, a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy Partners, LP.

In 2011, GAIL entered a contract for 20-year supply of 3.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the project.

Legal aspects

“According to the agreement, GAIL will buy gas at Henry Hub, the US gas price indexation.

“The deal also stipulates that LNG will be loaded onto a GAIL vessel. GAIL is now looking at the legal aspects of the US law on ships,” another official said. During Obama’s visit, Modi is likely to urge the US to be considerate towards Indian firms that buy crude oil from nations hit by Western sanctions.

As another source said, “Intensive discussions are on the cards on the energy front — nuclear, gas imports, and consideration towards Indian companies which are doing oil business with sanction-hit countries in West Asia or Russia.”

Though the sources did not give out any details, they said the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas has flagged the issues with the Prime Minister’s Office and the External Affairs Ministry ahead of the Obama visit.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Falling Gold Imports Trim India's Trade Gap To 10-Month Low

The gold imports by India declined sharply during the month of December last year. The drop in gold imports together with plunging crude oil prices have cut India’s trade deficit to multi-month lows during the month.

As per data, gold imports during Dec ’14 amounted to $1.34 billion, which is even less than one-fourth of the $5.61 billion worth imports recorded during Nov ’14. The gold imports by the country have been in an uptrend since August last year. However, the sharp 76% month-on-month drop in gold imports has done well to check the trade deficit. The lackluster demand for the yellow metal due to volatility in prices and stocking of adequate quantities ahead of wedding season has resulted in low gold imports during Dec ’14. On the other hand, gold imports during Dec ’14 were higher by 7.4% when matched with the imports of $1.25 billion during Dec ’13.

Much to the relief of India’s Current Account Deficit, the cut in gold imports and crude prices helped to trim the trade deficit to its lowest level since Feb ’14. The deficit fell to $9.43 million, almost 44% down when matched with the previous month. The oil import bill during Dec ’14 has declined by nearly 15% over the previous month.

However, the trade data indicates that the merchandise exports by the country fell marginally from nearly $26 billion in the prior month to $25.4 billion in Dec ’14.

The narrowing trade deficit figures give room for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to come up with more monetary easing measures in near future. The RBI had announced quarter-point cut in rates recently.

Source:- metal.com

Rupee Strengthens 0.4% To 61.64 Per Dollar

The Indian rupee on Monday strengthened for the third consecutive session against the dollar after the government raised excise duty on both petrol and diesel on Friday.At 9.12am, the Indian currency was trading at 61.64 per dollar, up 0.38%. The rupee had opened at 61.62 per dollar compared with its previous close of 61.87.

The four excise duty hikes will result in about Rs.20,000 crore in additional revenue this fiscal year and will help the government meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of gross domestic product (GDP).The buying by foreign institutional investors in equity and debt on Thursday and Friday also boosted sentiment on hopes that such buying will continue even this week. Since Thursday and Friday, FIIs bought Indian equities worth Rs.2,838.17 crore, BSE and NSE provisional data showed.

India’s benchmark equity index, BSE Sensex, was trading at 28,250 points, up 0.45%.The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond stood at 7.715% compared with its Friday’s close of 7.707%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has strengthened 2.3% against the dollar, while foreign institutional investors have sold $41.3 million during the period from local equity markets and bought $1,803.3 million from debt markets.

Asian currencies were trading mixed against the dollar. The Japanese yen was up 0.41%, Taiwan dollar 0.18% and China offshore spot 0.16%. However, Malaysian ringgit was down 0.17%, China renminbi 0.11%, South Korean won 0.1% and the Indonesian rupiah 0.06%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 92.69, up 0.18% from its previous close of 92.52.

Source:- livemint.com

Interest paid to AE was at ALP if it was lower than rate of interest paid by AE to independent party

IT/ILT : Where loans taken by assessee from its AE were interest free for initial period of seven years and when said period of moratorium was taken into account, effective rate of interest incurred by assessee was lower than arm's length rate of interest considered by TPO, adjustment made to assessee's ALP on aforesaid ground was to be set aside

Services used in exempted job-work are eligible for credit; Cenvat rule 6 doesn't apply thereto

Cenvat Credit : Rule 6(1) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 cannot be invoked for denying credit of input services used by job-worker for manufacture of goods claiming exemption under Notification No. 214/86-CE

SAT allowed appellant to make disclosure under Takeover Code as it had disclosed violations to SEBI

SEBI: Where appellant approached SEBI on its own and thereby brought violation of regulation 8(3) of takeover code for non-disclosure of shareholding to notice of SEBI, appellant was to be afforded an opportunity to make required disclosure to stock exchanges in question

Official liquidator was a dealer within meaning of section 2(viii) of Kerala General Sales Tax Act

CST & VAT : Official liquidator was a dealer within meaning of section 2(viii) of Kerala General Sales Tax Act

Rejection of depreciation claim due to non-usage of asset for business purpose won't invite penalty

IT : Where assessee having purchased machinery, could not put it to use for business purpose during relevant year, assessee could not claim for depreciation

Department can levy penalties on 'evasion of duty' and 'confiscation', simultaneously

Excise & Customs : Penalty under section 11AC is due to 'evasion of duty' while penalty under rule 173Q is consequent to 'confiscation'; hence, in absence of any mutual exclusion, both penalties may be levied simultaneously

Assets allotted to partners on dissolution of firm had to be valued on basis of their market price

IT : Where firm was brought into existence through registered documents and separate returns were filed on behalf of firm, Assessing Officer could not ignore existence of firm

Multiple restructuring of project loan by NBFCs to be treated as single event of restructuring, says

NBFCs : Review of guidelines on restructuring of advances by NBFCs

Indian Rupee Rises To Over 1-Month High, Up 19 Paise Vs Us Dollar At 61.87

The Indian rupee today appreciated for the second straight session and rose 19 paise to log its over one-month closing high of 61.87 against the Greenback following sustained dollar selling by exporters and capital inflows in local shares.

However, a strong dollar overseas after Switzerland’s unexpected move to lift its currency restriction, capped the rupee’s gains. The dollar index was up 0.41 per cent against its major global rivals while the euro hit over a decade low.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced slightly lower at 62.08 a dollar from previous close of 62.06. It then declined further to a low of 62.20 on some hesitancy in local equities in early trade.

However, rupee bounced back on a late rally in domestic stocks to a high of 61.79 before settling at 61.87, showing a rise of 19 paise or 0.31 per cent. Yesterday, it had risen by 12 paise or 0.19 per cent. This its strongest close since 61.83 on December 8, 2014.

The stock benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today improved further by 46.34 points, or 0.17 per cent. FPIs bought shares worth USD 274.03 million yesterday, as per Sebi data.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group, CEO said,” Rupee appreciated taking cues from strong local equities. Also, the FIIs buying in debt market helped rupee to trade strong against the mighty dollar index which is heading towards to post its fifth weekly gain in a row.”

The trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 61.40 to 62.40, he added.

“The Indian rupee opened the session on almost flat note. The domestic currency continued to gain as trade deficit narrowed to its 10-month low levels,” according to India Forex Advisors.

Meanwhile, premia remained on consistent receipts by exporters.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in June declined to 199.5-201.5 paise from 202-204 paise yesterday.

Premium on forward contracts maturing in December also slipped to 395-397 paise from 401-403 paise. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 61.8933 and for Euro at 72.0067.

The rupee recovered against the pound to 94.07 from last close of 94.67 and also rebounded to 53.02 per 100 Japanese yen from 53.33.

However, continued to rule firm and closed sharply higher at 71.66 per euro from 72.72 previously.

Source:financialexpress.com

ITAT made sec. 69C addition of inflated salary as assessee failed to explain extra attendance of its

IT : Subsidy received by assessee under Industrial Policy 1996 of Punjab Government for installation of plant and machinery would be capital receipt

Apex Court remands order of Tribunal as it didn't assign any reason for setting aside order of CCE(A

Excise & Customs : Where Tribunal has not assigned any reason while upsetting order of Commissioner (Appeals), matter should be remanded back to Tribunal

Commissioner(A) may reduce penalties in absence of intention to evade taxes by assessee

Service Tax : Where Commissioner (Appeals) found that there was no intention to evade tax and issue involved was one of interpretation of law and accordingly, reduced penalties in exercise of his jurisdiction, said order could not be interfered

Excise duty refund was taxable under sec. 41(1) even when appeal of Excise department was pending be

IT : Pending revenue's appeal against order of refund, receipt of excise duty refund is taxable in assessee's hand

CIT couldn’t opine that conditions of sec. 80-IB relief was violated without considering materials o

IT : Assistant Commissioner without considering material on record, could not reject assessee's claim for deduction holding that condition prescribed under section 80-IB(10) which required a minimum of one acre land for development was not satisfied

Sum paid to NR for providing advice on investment to be made outside India wasn't royalty and not li

IT/ILT : Where payment to foreign firm for providing advice for investments to be carried outside India could not be treated as royalty; since services were rendered abroad, no TDS was to be deducted

Finding recorded in HC's judgment are final; such findings can't be re-agitated again in appeals

Excise & Customs : Where validity of adjudication was raised and decided in writ petition before High Court and said judgment had become final, then, finding recorded therein becomes res judicata and cannot be allowed to be re-agitated in appeals

Forfeited share application money would not be taxable either under sec. 41(1) or under sec. 28(iv),

IT : In respect of dividend income earned by assessee, Assessing Officer could not straightaway proceed to apply rule 8D for purpose of disallowance under section 14A without complying with mandatory requirement of section 14A(2) or rule 8D(1)

Assessment orders weren't barred by limitation as statue prescribed longer period of limitation; SLP

CST & VAT: U.P. VAT - Where Assessing Authority finalised assessments of assessee for assessment years 1989-90 and 1990-91 on 30-3-1998, in view of sub-section (2) of section 21, as amended by U.P. Act No. 11 of 1997, with effect from 8-8-1997, assessment orders were not barred by time

Act of oppression are outside the purview of arbitration agreement; not to be referred to arbitratio

CL: Disputes in a properly brought petition under sections 397 and 398 read with section 402, are not referable to arbitration

ITAT excludes functionally distinct comparable as its business model was changed due to amalgamation

IT/ILT : Where one of comparables considered by TPO had changed business model due to amalgamation and due to it, functionality of said comparable changed, same was to be excluded from list of comparables during Transfer Pricing Study

AO can't reopen an assessment which was completed on compounding basis

CST & VAT : Kerala VAT - Assessment completed on compounding basis could not be reopened subsequently on basis of revision of assessment for an earlier year

Profit attributable to sale of unutilized 'FSI' won't be eligible for Sec. 80-IB relief

IT : Profit relatable to sale of unutilized FSI would not be eligible for deduction under section 80-IB(10)

HC set-aside special audit direction as AO failed to indicate reasons showing complexity in accounts

IT: Where revenue failed to indicate complexity in accounts of assessee-company, order appointing special auditor to audit assessee's account was unjustified

Govt. raises excise duty on petrol and diesel for fourth time in a row

EXCISE & CUSTOMS LAWS : This time also Rs. 2 per litre have been increased on both branded as well as unbranded fuels

Department couldn't stop refund ordered by CCE(A) without any stay on such order

Service Tax : Where refund has been ordered by Commissioner (Appeals) and stay against said judgment is declined by Tribunal, there is not reason for revenue to stop refund; hence, department was directed to grant refund with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum

Issue once foreclosed by decision of Tribunal couldn't be reopened by Commissioner

CST & VAT : Goa VAT - Where a particular issue had been foreclosed by decision of Tribunal, same should not be reopened or touched by Commissioner in exercise of power under section 27(3A) of Goa Sales Tax Act

DRAT can transfer proceedings to another DRT which doesn't have territorial jurisdiction

SARFAESI: Chairperson of DRAT can transfer appeal/application under section 17 of SARFAESI Act from one DRT to another having territorial jurisdiction to entertain same, to a DRT, having no territorial jurisdiction

Fee charged by bank for receiving payments from customers of assessee via credit card won't attract

IT : 'Commission' to bank on payments received from customers who had made purchases through credit cards is not liable to TDS under section 194H

CIT couldn't make revision when AO had accepted valuation of stock of securities on principles of AS

IT : Where assessee had valued closing stock of securities on principle of cost or market price whichever is lower as mandated by AS-13 issued by ICAI, revisional order could not be passed on ground that Assessing Officer had accepted valuation of closing stock without enquiry and application of mind

No reassessment after 4 years to disallow sums paid to NR if assessee had already disclosed all mate

IT/ILT : Where during original assessment proceeding, Assessing Officer had accepted assessee's explanation that payment of advertisement expenses to American company was not liable to deduction of tax at source and it was not case of Assessing Officer that assessee had failed to provide all material facts, he had no jurisdiction to reopen assessment after four years to disallow such expenses for non-deduction of tax at source

Sugar Output Up 19% To 103 Lakh Tonne

India's sugar production rose by 19 per cent to 103 lakh tonnes till January 15 in the current marketing year that started in October on higher sugarcane supply, according to industry data.

"Till January 15th 2015, 494 sugar mills which are in operation have produced 103 lakh tonnes of sugar as against 86.50 lakh tonnes produced in the same period last year when 486 sugar mills were in operation," Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement.

Production in Maharashtra stood at about 43 lakh tonne till January 15 of 2014-15 marketing year (October September) against 31 LT in the year-ago period.

ISMA said: "Since crushing operations in all sugar mills are in full swing due to better availability of sugarcane, their production has become higher as compared to last year."

In Uttar Pradesh, production of sugar stood at 25 LT till 15th January 2015 as against 19.75 LT in the corresponding period of previous marketing year. In Karnataka, mills have produced 17 LT till yesterday, similar to that of last year's output.

ISMA also pointed out that the ex-mill sugar prices in all parts of the country remain depressed during last fortnight substantially below the cost of production.

"Accumulation of sugar stock, without adequate demand from the market both from domestic and global, are the main factors for declining trend in sugar prices," it said. An all-India average ex-mills sugar prices stands at Rs 2,500-2,600 per quintal.

The association also demanded that subsidy on raw sugar exports should be extended in this marketing year as well to check sliding domestic prices of sweetener.

"Due to delay in announcement of continuation of incentive for production of and export of raw sugar, the sugar mills are not in a position to plan their raw sugar production.

"Since only 2-3 months left before the crushing operations are over, mills are eagerly waiting for the announcement from the Central Government so that they could plan accordingly," ISMA urged.

In view of low prices, ISMA felt that 15-20 lakh tonnes of sugar needs to be exported, enabling millers to clear cane arrears and repay bank loans.

It feared that the cane price arrears of farmers which had crossed Rs 13,000 crore in March last year may be higher this season if the Centre does not extend export subsidy.

Government has pegged overall sugar output at 250.5 lakh tonnes for 2014-15 marketing year, while ISMA has estimated the production at 250-255 LT. Sugar output in India, the world's second largest producer and biggest consumer, stood at 244 lakh tonnes in the 2013-14 season.

Source:business-standard.com

[Central Excise Tariff Notification] : Seeks to further amend notification No.12/2012-Central Excise, dated the 17th March, 2012

[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)

Notification No. 03/2015-Central Excise

New Delhi, the 16th January, 2015

G.S.R. (E). - In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby makes the following further amendments in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No.12/2012-Central Excise, dated the 17th March, 2012, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide G.S.R. 163(E), dated the 17th March, 2012, namely: -

In the said notification, in the Table,-

(i) in serial number 70,-

(a) against item (i) of column (3), for the entry in column (4), the entry "? 8.95 per litre" shall be substituted;

(b) against item (ii) of column (3), for the entry in column (4), the entry "? 10.10 per litre" shall be substituted;

(ii) in serial number 71,-

(a) against item (i) of column (3), for the entry in column (4), the entry "? 7.96 per litre" shall be substituted;

(b) against item (ii) of column (3), for the entry in column (4), the entry "? 10.25 per litre" shall be substituted;

2. This notification shall come into force with effect from the 17th day of January, 2015.

[F. No.354/123/2014-TRU]

(Akshay Joshi) Under Secretary to the Government of India

Note.- The principal notification No. 12/2012-Central Excise, dated the 17th March, 2012 was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 163(E) dated the 17th March, 2012 and was last amended vide notification No.02/2015-Central Excise, dated the 7th January, 2015 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 15(E) dated the 7th January, 2015.

[Indian Customs Circular] : Regarding Export and Import of Currency

Circular No. 03/2015-Customs

F. No 520/23/2013- Cus. VI

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

(Central Board of Excise and Customs)

*****

New Delhi, Dated 16.01.2015

To,

All Chief Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Preventive)

All Chief Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise

All Commissioners of Customs/ customs (Preventive)

All Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise

Sir /Madam,

Subject : Export and Import of Currency –reg

Attention is invited to Regulation (3) of Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Currency) (Amendment) Regulations, 2009, notified vide Notification No.FEMA.258/2013-RB dated February 15, 2013 and A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. No. 39 dated September 6, 2013 in terms of which, any person resident in India may take outside India or having gone out of India on a temporary visit, may bring into India (other than to and from Nepal and Bhutan) currency notes of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India notes up to an amount not exceeding Rs.10,000.

2. The RBI vide A.P. (DIR series) No. 146, dated 19.06.2014 has now provided that aforementioned limit has been enhanced to Rs 25000/- per person from Rs 10,000/- per person. Thus, any person resident in India:

i) may take outside India (other than to Nepal and Bhutan) currency notes of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India notes up to an amount not exceeding Rs.25,000 (Rupees twenty five thousand only); and

ii) who had gone out of India on a temporary visit, may bring into India at the time of his return from any place outside India (other than from Nepal and Bhutan), currency notes of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India notes up to an amount not exceeding Rs.25,000 (Rupees twenty five thousand only).

3. Further, vide said A.P. (DIR series) No. 146 dated 19.06.2014, it is also provided that any person resident outside India, not being a citizen of Pakistan and Bangladesh and also not a traveller coming from and going to Pakistan and Bangladesh, and visiting India:

i) may take outside India currency notes of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India notes up to an amount not exceeding Rs. 25,000 (Rupees twenty five thousand only) while exiting only through an airport.

ii) may bring into India currency notes of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India notes up to an amount not exceeding Rs. 25,000 (Rupees twenty five thousand only) while entering only through an airport.

4. In the light of the amended guidelines of RBI on the subject matter, all Chief Commissioners of Customs/ Customs and Central Excise are requested to ensure that the aforementioned guidelines are scrupulously followed by the officers under their charge. Further, it may be ensured without fail that wide publicity is given to these guidelines by displaying them at prominent places at the airports etc. so that no harassment is caused to the genuine passengers. Officers may also be suitably sensitized in the matter. Any non compliance on the part of the officers will be viewed seriously.

5. Difficulty faced, if any, may be brought to the notice of the Board.

Yours faithfully,

(R.P.Singh)

Director (Customs)

[DGFT Notification] : Amendment in import policy conditions under ITC (HS) 4 digit code 8517.

To be published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary Part-II, Section -3, Sub Section (ii)

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Department of Commerce

Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi

Notification No. 107/(RE-2013)/2009-2014

Dated the 16 January, 2015

Subject: Amendment in import policy conditions under ITC (HS) 4 digit code 8517.

S.O. (E): In exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 of FT (D&R) Act, 1992, read with paragraph 1.3 and 2.1 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2009-2014, the Central Government hereby amends the Import Policy Condition under ITC (HS) 4 digit code 8517 of Chapter 85 of ITC (HS), 2012 – Schedule – 1 (Import Policy):

(i) Import of ‘GSM mobile handsets’ (classified under ITC (HS) code ‘8517’) without International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) No., with all zeroes IMEI, duplicate IMEI or fake IMEI is ‘Prohibited’.

(ii) Import of ‘CDMA mobile handsets’ (classified under ITC (HS) code ‘8517’) without Electronic Serial Number (ESN)/Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID), with all Zeroes as ESN/MEID, duplicate ESN/MEID or fake ESN/MEID is ‘Prohibited’.

2. Effect of this Notification: ‘GSM mobile handsets’ with duplicate IMEI or fake IMEI & ‘CDMA mobile handsets’ with duplicate ESN/MEID or fake ESN/MEID are added to the list of ‘Prohibited’ items for import.

(Pravir Kumar)

Director General of Foreign Trade

E-mail: dgft@nic.in

[Issued from F.No.01/89/180/Misc-9/AM-05/PC-2 (A)]

Assessment order was invalid as it was issued on basis of time barred notice under sec. 143(2)

IT : Assessment order framed consequent to notice issued under section 143(2) which was time-barred, would also become invalid and time-barred

Value of unbranded/duplicate goods can't be enhanced on basis of value of branded goods

Excise & Customs : Unbranded/duplicate parts are available at cheaper price and could not be comparable to well-known/branded; hence, value of unbranded/duplicate goods cannot be enhanced based on value of branded goods

Rule 8(3A) providing for non-entitlement of Cenvat credit for duty-default beyond 30 days is unconst

Excise & Customs : Rule 8(3A) providing for non-entitlement of Cenvat facility for duty-default beyond 30 days is arbitrary and unreasonable restriction on right to carry on business; hence, expression 'without utilizing the cenvat credit' appearing in rule 8(3A) was quashed

India Oil Imports From Iran Jump Sharply In 2014

India imported 42 percent more Iranian oil last year over 2013 levels as its refiners increased purchases to take advantage of an easing in sanctions targeting Tehran's nuclear programme.

The jump came with an end-of-the-year boost as imports in December surged 84 percent from a year ago to 348,400 barrels per day (bpd), the highest since March.

Iranian and U.S. officials are meeting in Geneva this week ahead of talks between Tehran and world powers on Sunday focused on reaching a final deal to end the sanctions against Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear programme.

Diplomatic efforts to reach a final agreement last year failed for a second time in November, and a self-imposed deadline was extended to June 30 this year.

India - Iran's top oil customer after China - imported 276,800 bpd of oil and condensate last year, compared with 195,600 bpd in 2013, according to tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources and Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts.

Indian refiners bought about 39 percent more Iranian oil in December compared with November, the data also showed.

Annual imports of Iranian oil rose sharply last year as refiners ramped up purchases in the first quarter to make up for a big decline in shipments in 2013 as insurers had not extended coverage for processing oil from the sanctions-hit nation.

Private-refiner Essar Oil was the biggest Indian client of Iran in 2014, followed by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and Indian Oil Corp.

Iran remained the seventh-biggest oil supplier to India in 2014, while its share in overall purchases rose to 7.3 percent last year, compared with 5.1 percent in 2013, the data showed.

The current sanctions allow Iran access to some of its frozen oil revenue overseas and restrict its oil sales at about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd.

Overall, India imported 3.84 million bpd of oil in December, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier. Imports for the full year fell 1.4 percent to 3.81 million bpd.

In the January-December period India imported about 3.9 percent more oil from Latin America, with the region accounting for about 20.1 percent of overall imports, up from about 19.1 percent a year ago.

The Middle East region supplied about 59 percent of India's oil imports in January to December, compared with 62.3 percent a year ago.

In the fiscal year to March 31, 2014, India cut its imports from Iran by 15 percent to 220,000 bpd to get a waiver from U.S. sanctions on the Islamic republic. India's annual oil contracts with Iran follow the country's April-March fiscal cycle.

In the first nine months of the year to end March 31, 2015, Indian refiners have shipped in about 250,200 bpd of Iranian oil, up 41 percent from the same period a year ago.

Source:in.reuters.com

Goa Says Decks Clear For Iron Ore Mining To Resume

Goa has removed a two-year ban on iron ore mining and expects mines could be back up and running by March or April at the earliest, Goa's Director of Mines and Geology Prasanna Acharya said on Friday.

India was once the world's third largest iron ore exporter and Goa its biggest exporting state. The return of Goa iron ore exports could further pressure global prices hovering around 5-1/2 year lows due to oversupply.

Acharya said it is now up to mining companies to obtain environmental clearances from New Delhi to start work.

"It's possible that the mines will be active in a couple of months as we have acted fast on renewing the leases" Acharya told Reuters.

"March or April in the best-case scenario or else it could go to October because of the (June-September) monsoon rains."Goa used to export about 50 million tonnes of iron ore a year before the mining ban was imposed in 2012 after a government report on illegal mining.

The ban in Goa and curbs in other producing states like Karnataka and Odisha have made India a major importer.

India's imports hit a life-high of 8 million tonnes in 2014, far above the 3.1 million for 2012, according to commodities consultancy OreTeam, based near New Delhi.

That has worried Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, which on Monday issued an executive order to revive the mining industry by quickly renewing old leases and auctioning out new leases, scrapping a previous method of selective allocation.

Aniruddha Joshi, a vice president in India's top private iron ore miner, Sesa Sterlite Ltd, said the executive order and the revoking of the ban in Goa suggest that "things are looking up".

But even if mining resumes in Goa, the falling prices of iron ore and an export duty of 30 percent will make exports uncompetitive for many companies in the state.

Source:in.reuters.com

SEBI tightens screws on insiders; notifies stricter insider trading norms to widen definitions of in

SEBI/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015

Vietnam May Import More Indian Textile Raw Materials

The Vietnamese envoy to India, Ton Sinh Thanh thanked the Indian government for extending a US $300 million line of credit for strengthening of commercial ties between the two countries.

Addressing media on the sidelines of a meeting with members of the Exim Club Association in Vadodara, he hoped that it will enable Vietnam to import more of fabrics and yarns from India.

Vietnam is currently importing about half of its textile raw material requirements of yarn and fabrics from China.

“The Indian government’s offer to extend the line of credit may help India grab a larger share of textile raw material imports,” the ambassador said, who was in Gujarat to attend the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

"Alongside cotton imports, Vietnam also seeks investment of India in the textile, chemical dyes and other related sectors," he said.

He explained that Vietnam allows 100 per cent investment in many sectors including joint ventures with Vietnamese companies.

The envoy also expects that bilateral trade between India and Vietnam is likely to touch $20 billion by 2020. (AR).

Source:fibre2fashion.com

Time-limit for filing appeal before Commissioner (A) is expressed in British calender month' and not

Service-Tax : For appeal before Commissioner (Appeals), time-limit for filing appeal has been expressed in 'months' whereunder 'month' would mean 'British Calendar Month' and cannot be construed '30 days'

Sale of Stainless steel LPG stoves and Kerosene wick stoves are liable to 12.5% VAT under Karnataka

CST & VAT: Karnataka VAT - Stainless steel LPG stoves and Kerosene wick stoves are liable to be taxed at general rate under section 4(1)(b) of Karnataka VAT Act

Transaction of providing loan to foreign AE at a higher rate than LIBOR was at ALP

IT/ILT : Charging of 0.5 per cent guarantee commission from AE being quite near to 0.6 per cent, which assessee had paid to ICICI Bank for credit arrangement, rate of 0.5 per cent can be said to be at arm's length

Indian Rupee Recovers From Initial Losses Vs Us Dollar, Up 6 Paise

The rupee recovered from initial losses against the American currency and was quoted higher by 6 paise to 62.00 on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters in view of strong foreign capital inflows into equity market.

The rupee resumed lower at 62.08 per dollar as against the last closing level of 62.06 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange and dropped further to 62.20 on initial strong dollar demand from banks.

However, it recovered from initial losses and was quoted higher at 62.00 on selling of dollars by banks and exporters.

It hovered in a range of 62.00 and 62.20 per dollar during the morning trade.

In London, the euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar since September 2003 yesterday after the Swiss National Bank scrapped its exchange rate floor of 1.20 francs to the euro.

Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark Sensex moved down by 31.77 points or 0.11 per cent to 28,043.78 at 1000hrs.

Source:financialexpress.com

Tax dues of partnership firm can't be adjusted against refund to partner in his personal capacity

IT : Tax dues of firm cannot be recovered/set off against refund due to partner in his personal capacity

ITAT curtails capital loss as no reason was given for selling Car to director at a price lesser than

IT : Expenditure incurred by assessee on replacement of old tiles, wooden partition, pest control, etc. in respect of business premises taken on lease, was to be allowed as revenue expenditure

RBI allows banks to undertake insurance brokering departmentally or through a subsidiary

BANKING : Entry of Banks into Insurance Business

Section 283(1)(g) can be invoked provided director has been served with a notice for Board meeting i

CL: Where respondents failed to follow established procedure for allotment of shares, in that they excluded petitioners who were major shareholders, at time of first allotment; allotment of shares was illegal and, hence, was to be set aside

Sec. 143(1) intimation won't be deemed as completion of assessment to bar filing of revised return,

IT : Issue of intimation under section 143(1) cannot amount to completion of assessment under section 139(5) disabling assessee from filing a revised return

Phosphate and potassium components of chemical fertilizer "NPK" are exempted from UP VAT

CST & VAT: U.P. VAT - Where assessee was engaged in business of manufacture and sale of chemical fertilizer [NPK], which contained nitrogen, phosphate and potassium components in ratio of 10:26:26, and during year it sold NPK, assessee was entitled to exemption from payment of tax on phosphate and potassium components of NPK

Co. outsourcing major portion of its business to third party couldn't be taken as comparable for ITE

IT/ILT: While computing ALP, functionally different companies having extraordinary circumstances like merger/de-merger, super normal profits and substantially high turnover could not be taken as comparables

Sum paid to municipal corporation to legalize construction of building isn’t prohibited exp; allowab

IT : Deduction under section 80HHC on DEPB was to be computed in light of Topman Exports v. CIT [2012] 342 ITR 49/205 Taxman 119/18 taxmann.com 120

Sec. 69A additions deleted which was made on basis of seized pass book of NRE accounts not related t

IT : Where assessee had no connection with NRE accounts, found from possession of assessee, addition was not justified

Cash payment made to 'Kachcha Aratia' to purchase food grains would fall under exceptions of Rule 6D

IT : Where assessee made surrender of income under misconception of facts or law, no addition could be made in respect of same

I-T refund of excess amount paid on self assessment falls under residuary clause of sec. 244A; liabl

IT: Tax paid on self assessment would fall under section 244A(1)(b), i.e. a residuary clause covering refunds of amount not falling under section 244A(1), therefore, interest is payable on refund on excess amount paid on self assessment tax

AO can't impose penalty on basis of provisional assessment order, says Rajasthan

CST & VAT: Rajasthan VAT - Where Assessing Authority passed provisional assessment order on assessee and imposed penalty upon it on basis of said order, penalty could not be imposed on basis of provisional assessment

Appeal against Tribunal's order dealing with clandestine removal of goods would lie to HC and not to

Excise & Customs : Tribunal order dealing with issues of clandestine removal of manufactured goods and clandestine manufacture of goods is not directly appealable to Supreme Court; appeal thereagainst would lie to High Court

Revision plea under FERA would continue even after FERA was repealed if it was filed within sunset p

FEMA : If within sunset period under section 49(3) of FEMA, a revision petition was filed under section 52(4) of FERA, such revision petition would continue before Appellate Tribunal even after repeal of FERA

No rectification to reduce depreciation on vapour absorption machine at 25% if it was eligible to 10

IT : Proceedings under section 154 by merely stating that Vapour Absorption machine was a part of Centralized Air Conditioner and liable for depreciation at 25 per cent was not justified as same was counter to Para III, 3(iii)D(b) of Appendix-I to Income-tax Rules, 1962

Reference to TPO was invalid as it was made when no return was pending for consideration of AO

IT: When no return is pending for consideration by AO, reference by him to TPO will be bad; if TPO finds no fault with ALP determined by AO, revision was unjustified

India’S Coking Coal Imports Down By 29.6Pct In December 2014

Business Standard reported that imports of coking coal, a key fuel required for steelmaking, declined by 29.6 % to 2.71 million tonne in December, compared with 3.85 million tonne shipped in December 2013.

The imports also fell from 4.3 million tonne shipped in November. November shipments were higher as some deliveries ordered for the month of October were shifted to next month due to cyclone Hudhud.

Traders and experts said that the decline in shipments is a temporary phenomena and does not mean the imports will go down in future.

Mr Rakesh Dubey, editor of mjunction services ltd, which provides steel industry news and data, said that “There was a temporary decline in the last part of 2014. It does not reflect the trend we have seen for the entire year.”

In April-December period, the imports actually went up to 28.47 million tonne, up from 27.21 million tonne in the previous comparable period. The imports went up because of the price fall globally and has nothing to do with domestic demand.

Mr Ganesh Natrajan, chief executive officer of Ennore Coke, a coke manufacturing firm, said that “The prices of coking coal are trading around USD 125 per tonne at Indian ports. The rates remained the same throughout 2014 and are likely to remain around same level for at least next two quarter. Indian importers are comfortable at these rates.”

Coking coal rates have slipped from USD 145 level since 2013 due to weak demand from China, Japan and South Korea, the major buyers, amid rising supplies from the North America and Australia.

Source:coal.steelguru.com

Mumbai To Host World Tea And Coffee Expo

Over 100 exhibitors from around the world are likely to attend the 3rd World Tea and Coffee Expo 2015, India’s only International trade show dedicated to the tea and coffee sectors, to be held in Mumbai, India.

The event will provide the perfect environment for the hot beverage industry to meet face-to-face and develop business opportunities.

The expo is to be held from October 1 to 3, at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, and shall cater to a prospective visitor base of over 6000 buyers from across India and abroad – up from the visitor count of 4100 during the second edition held in September 2014, said a company statement.

The event will display innovative products, machineries, accessories, technologies, vending machines and certifications from the hot beverage sector.

Also additional activities planned at the expo include: B2B match-making, workshops and championships, a high level 2-day conference by industry leaders, academicians and policy makers, export/import guidance kiosks, Knowledge zone, etc.

Priti M Kapadia, director of Sentinel Exhibitions Asia, the organiser of the show, said: “Mumbai is a city where the best converge for doing business. Mumbai attracts the top players from the all over India as wells as from aboard which results in high value deals and alliances.”

“The 2015 edition of this unique trade fair will also see delegations from Iran, Nepal, Dubai, and Russia at the event,” she added.

The success of the 2nd World Tea and Coffee Expo 2014, in September 2014, has established this expo as the official Industry show with just two editions under its belt. This is India’s only International Trade Show dedicated to tea and coffee and is supported by Ministry of Commerce through Tea Board of India and leading associations and chambers from across the world have pledged their support to this important industry initiative.

The expo offers huge potential for appointing distributors, bulk orders, joint ventures, franchising, networking, knowledge-sharing, meeting government officials, marketing alliances, and overall branding.

World Tea and Coffee Expo has become the platform for the launch of new and exotic tea and coffee products. For a visitor, workshops and seminars are the other important part of the event, which will help them to understand the depth of this industry, gain knowledge, and understand benefits and also to taste the products on the spot.

Skill development shall be the main theme of the workshops which will be conducted by experts in the field. Adds Kapadia, “For the International Tea and Coffee conference, we are in touch with a number of international speakers and some of them have already confirmed.”

The global market for RTD (Ready-to-Drink) Tea and Coffee is expected to reach $125 billion by 2017 with an annual growth rate of 11 per cent. The Asia-Pacific region is the largest market and also showing maximum growth. To capitalise on the growth trend in the RTD tea and coffee, companies are investing heavily on modernisation of machineries, quality up-gradation and product diversification as also branding, innovations and market expansion.

The upscale café culture has contributed significantly to the growth of both coffee and tea sector in India with exotic branding and packaging coupled with a dynamic product mix are driving the demand, it added. – TradeArabia News Service

HC upheld detention order as goods were diverted to location not shown in docs

CST & VAT : Tamil Nadu VAT - Where goods were diverted to one 'S' at Trichy while all relevant document showed that goods were meant to be delivered at assessee's factory at Coimbatore, detention notice was valid

Registration certificate of dealers can't be cancelled without hearing them and without assigning an

CST & VAT : Tamil Nadu VAT - Registration certificate of dealers cannot be cancelled without providing sufficient reasons and opportunity of being heard