Govt. revises selection criteria for appointment of Chairman, Vice-Chairman and members of SetCom

IT/ILT/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Settlement Commission (Income-Tax and Wealth-Tax) (Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Chairman, Vice-Chairmen and Members) Rules, 2015

Issue involving classification of 'water filters' isn't maintainable before High Court

Excise & Customs : Issue whether water filters are classifiable under 7323.10 as 'tableware and kitchenware' (as claimed by assessee) or under 8421.10 as 'filtering or purifying machinery or apparatus' (as claimed by revenue), is not appealable before High Court, as said issue has relation to 'rate of duty'

Indian Commerce Ministry Officials Visit Iran; Revival Of Basmati Rice Exports On Agenda

India's Commerce Secretary and a high level delegation are visiting Iran this week to discuss ways to boost trade, including revival of rice trade, between the two nations, according to local sources.

The Indian officials' visit to Iran is particularly significant as the Middle East nation had banned rice imports in November 2014 citing excess stocks from last year's imports and a bumper crop in 2014, a move which has significantly affected India's basmati rice exports. Iran is a major destination for India's basmati rice exports and accounts for nearly 40% of India's total basmati rice exports. Last month, some exporters expressed confidence that India’s basmati rice exports to Iran would resume from the beginning of new financial year (2015-16) in April 2015.

The delegation will meet the Iranian Commerce Secretary and Trade Minister according to local sources. They are understood to particularly seek for the removal of ban on rice imports as well as focus on increasing project exports to Iran. India is a major importer of crude oil from Iran but its imports had declined significantly in March 2015 due to pressures from western nations. The delegation is also likely to discuss means to solve the oil import issue.

India's new Foreign Trade Policy has reportedly retained the Rupee-Riyal payment mechanism, which was initiated a couple of years ago to facilitate trade between India and Iran.

The bilateral trade between India and Iran increased by about 2% to around $15.27 billion in 2013-14 as against $14.94 billion in 2012-13.

While Iran's basmati rice imports from India increased about 33% y/y to around 1.44 million tons in 2013-14, the Middle East nation's imports have declined in 2014-15 primarily due to its stance to revise the accepted level of arsenic content in basmati rice from 150 parts per billion (ppb) to 120 ppb in March 2014. Later in September 2014, Iran also increased import duty on basmati rice from 22% to 45% before banning rice imports in November 2014.

India exported around 767,697 tons of basmati rice to Iran in the first ten months of FY 2014-15 (April - January), according the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). At this pace, rice market analysts expect India's basmati rice imports to Iran to decline by about 15-20% to around 1.15 - 1.2 million tons in 2014-15.

India exported around 9.57 million tons of rice (including 2.92 million tons of basmati and 6.65 million tons of non-basmati) in the first ten months of FY 2014-15 (April - March), up about 7% from around 8.96 million tons (including 3.09 million tons of basmati and 5.87 million tons of non-basmati) exported during the same period in FY 2013-14, according to provisional data released by the APEDA.

Source:-oryza.com

India's 2014/15 Iron Ore Imports Hit Record 15.5 Mln T As Prices Tank

India's iron ore imports jumped to a record above 15 million tonnes in the fiscal year to end-March as tumbling global prices and limited domestic supply pushed steelmakers to buy more of the raw material overseas, industry data showed on Monday.

Formerly the world's No. 3 supplier of iron ore, India has been importing it over the past three years due to court-imposed restrictions aimed at curbing illegal mining in the major producing states of Karnataka and Goa.

The shortage deepened last year when some mines in the states of Odisha and Jharkhand were ordered to close after the expiry of licences.

India's iron ore imports totalled 15.5 million tonnes in the past fiscal year, according to data compiled by industry consultancy SteelMint, which tracks shipments at 18 ports across the country. In the year to March 2014, imports were just 320,000 tonnes.

More than half of imports in fiscal 2014/15 were brought in by JSW Steel, India's third-largest steel producer, with 8.4 million tonnes. Tata Steel followed with 3.06 million.

Official Indian government data only covers April-December, with imports totalling 7.38 million tonnes, according to the trade ministry.

Despite the jump in shipments to India, global iron ore prices fell below $50 a tonne .IO62-CNI=SI last week to the lowest level since a key benchmark pricing index began in 2008.

The steelmaking commodity has lost about two-thirds of its value since the start of last year amid a global glut and slow demand from top iron ore buyer China.

The reopening of iron ore mines in states such as Odisha, Jharkhand and Goa may reduce India's imports in the current fiscal year, said Dhruv Goel, managing partner at SteelMint."We expect imports will be limited to 6-7 million tonnes, subject to global iron ore prices.

Source:- reuters.com

India’S Trade Deficit With China To Double In The Next Two Years

India's trade deficit with China could nearly double to $60 billion in the next two years if the two partners do not address market access constraints and nontariff barriers faced by Indian goods in the neighbouring country, the department of commerce cautioned in the foreign trade policy statement released last week. The statement came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expected visit to Beijing in the second week of May.

India is pushing for tariff concessions from China in oil seeds, textile items and marine products in the fourth round of tariff concessions under Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) in a bid to correct the imbalance in bilateral trade. The trade deficit widened to $36 billion in 2013-14, accounting for a quarter of India's overall export and import gap. While India's exports to the bigger Asian rival fell 18.6% in April 2014-January 2015, imports grew 17.16%. India's imports include manufactured items in both "non-essential" categories and power and telecom equipment, as per the statement.

"If the current situation persists, by 2016-17, merchandise imports from China will exceed $80 billion while India's exports will be around $20 billion, leaving an unsustainable trade deficit of $60 billion," the commerce department said. The matter was also taken up during the recent visit of an Indian delegation to China in March, but Beijing refused to give an assurance."We did not get any commitment from their end on any of the issues, be it agriculture, pharmaceuticals or IT. It has so far maintained that the wide trade gap can be explained by the divergent nature of the two economies, with India being a services-led one while China is a manufacturing economy," said a government official.

"There is definitely a level of frustration as there have been a lot of MoUs on bovine meat to IT and pharma, but no action on the ground," he added. India is seeking reduction in tariffs on close to 200 product lines from China under APTA including textiles, oil cakes and marine products. APTA is a preferential trade agreement between the six countries of Asia- India, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Laos and South Korea."PM is also likely to take this up during his visit,' said the official.

According to the government, a series of non-tariff barriers block India's exports of pharmaceuticals, IT/ITES and agri commodities including bovine meat, oil meals and cake, tobacco, rice, fruits and vegetables to China. India has also been pushing China to allow Indian companies to bid for tenders in its state-owned enterprises. In pharmaceuticals sector, India has been seeking removal of entry barriers as registration of existing drugs in China takes three-five years, compared to just three-six months in India. India also questioned China's decision to continue curbs on Indian buffalo meat imports at an agriculture committee meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) recently. Non-essential imports is another issue Of the $12.5 billion (about Rs 78,000 crore) worth of consumer imports in each of the past two years, mobiles phones alone accounted for $5 billion (about "31,000 crore) worth of imports and this segment has seen a surge in imports in the past three-four years.



The statement pointed out that the approach for electronics exports promotion must include discouraging non-essential imports and improving product standards, among other things. The commerce department also recommended that states play a role in rationalising non-essential imports."Foriegn direct investment flow from China is one way of addressing the problem of widening trade deficit.

If China sets up manufacturing facilities in India, those items will not get imported from Beijing," said Ram Upendra Das, professor, RIS for developing countries. The department of industrial policy and promotion secretary Amitabh Kant conducted a 'Make in India' workshop in Beijing last week to drive Chinese investment into Indian manufacturing. During Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to India in September last year, China had committed investment of $20 billion in India over the next five years. The commerce department recommended that the country must remain vigilant and"take action to safeguard against unfair trade practices to protect the legitimate trade interests of Indian industry".

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

Rupee Gains 0.51% Against Dollar In Afternoon Trade

The rupee was higher against the US dollar on dollar inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) as dealers sold the US currency, noting its weakness against global currencies.

Data from the US released on Friday showed that US companies added the least number of jobs in more than a year in March, raising expectations that a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve may be delayed.

The weak US data had ramifications on global currencies once the market opened on Monday. The Malaysian ringgit gained 1.049%, South Korean won gained 0.738%, Indonesian rupiah gained 0.556% and Taiwan dollar gained 0.168%.

At 2.40pm, the rupee was trading at 62.1775 per dollar, up 0.51% from its previous close of 62.4975. The partially convertible currency opened at 62.1050 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 62.1012 and 62.2075, respectively.

Since January this year, the rupee has gained 1.4%.

“There are dollar inflows in the market and the weakness of the US currency has also helped the rupee. It is only dollar buying from the state-owned banks likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which has kept the rupee from rising,” said a dealer with a foreign bank.

RBI has been buying dollars from the currency market through state-owned banks to shore up its foreign exchange reserves ahead of a impending US Fed rate hike which could lead to outflows from emerging markets like India.

A strong rupee also makes exports from the country less competitive.

Expectations are that the rupee will trade in the 62 to 62.50 per dollar this week.India’s benchmark 10 year bond yield was trading at 7.71% down from previous close of 7.73%.Sensex, the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange gained 0.73% or 205.63 points to 28,465.77 points.

Source:- livemint.com

TPO to allow working cap adjustment when ageing schedule of assessee's debtors was different from co

IT/ILT : Where assessee had placed on record a working regarding difference in time lag in sale recoveries in its case and that of three comparables selected by TPO, difference in such time lag was to be applied to Prime Lending Rate (PLR) in order to compute working capital adjustment while determining ALP

Debit entry passed by Co. for allotment of shares to shareholder would invite addition of deemed div

IT: Where there were regular trading transactions between assessee-shareholder and company AIL and payments received by assessee from AIL were receipts against sales made during course of commercial transactions, provisions of section 2(22)(e) were not applicable

Govt. revises conditions for excise duty exemption on capital goods supplied under SHIS duty credit

E&C : Exemption under Status Holder Incentive Scrip (SHIS) Scheme - Amendment in Notification No.33/2012-C.E., DATED 9-7-2012

Govt. exempts excise duty on goods cleared against Post Export EPCG duty credit scrip

E&C : Implementation of Post Export EPCG Scheme under FTP 2015-2020

Tax Recovery Officer couldn't pass arrest order against petition for non-submission of proposal to p

IT : Where in recovery proceedings initiated by SEBI, petitioner failed to furnish proposal of payment of dues, detention and arrest order passed by Tax Recovery Officer against petitioner was arbitrary and illegal

No ST on movable fixtures under renting of immovable property services even if they were let out alo

Service Tax : Where assessee had provided 'movable' fixtures/assets to tenants for using in facility along with renting of immovable property, service tax cannot be demanded under 'renting of immovable property' in respect of movable assets

No disallowance of interest even if borrowed sum was re-invested at lower rate

IT : While considering assessee's case under section 57(iii), competent authority cannot split transaction in more than one part and select any particular part so as to say that such part is illegal or illegitimate or impermissible and deny to extend benefit in respect of same

Deptt couldn't allege suppression for non-disclosure of info which wasn't required to be disclosed i

Service Tax : In absence of any requirement in ST-3 returns to declare services on 'accrual basis', there was no suppression on part of assessee and, accordingly, extended period of limitation was not invocable

Provision made for obsolete inventory was deductible as such treatment was in accordance with AS-2

IT : Where assessee did not reduce value of obsolete items from value of inventory and instead made provision for obsolescence, such accounting treatment was in compliance with AS-2 and said provision was an allowable deduction

Issue involving classification of 'water filters' isn't maintainable before High Court Sakthi Indust

Excise & Customs : Issue whether water filters are classifiable under 7323.10 as 'tableware and kitchenware' (as claimed by assessee) or under 8421.10 as 'filtering or purifying machinery or apparatus' (as claimed by revenue), is not appealable before High Court, as said issue has relation to 'rate of duty'

ITAT affirms inclusion of co. with related party transactions of upto 15% in list of comparable enti

IT/ILT : While determining ALP of software development services rendered by assessee to its AE located abroad, comparable companies having RPT upto 15 per cent of total revenues alone could be included

Agri-Commodity Exports To Fall Over 10% Due To Slump In Global Food Prices

With global food prices slumping to six-year lows in March due to bumper production and high inventory levels, Indian agri-exports are likely to face a setback. Most agri-commodities are currently trading below Indian minimum support price (MSP) in the global markets.

“Most commodities in global markets are trading below the prevailing MSP in India. This will translate to at least 10% lower exports of agri commodities from India in 2015-16 from the current estimated level of $32 billion including agri commodities and plantation products,” said Ajay Sahai, Director General, Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO).

While India’s agri commodity exports would be lower, import bill for commodities like vegetable oil and pulses will also be subdued.

Data compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations showed the world food price index continued to drop in March, down 18.7% (40 points) below its level a year ago. It is also a 1% dip over February 2015. Overall, except for a pause in October 2014, global food prices have been falling steadily since April 2014, on account of large supplies.

“Fall in global prices will impact prices of agri commodities in India to the extent they are traded with global markets. Commodities like chana, wheat and rice are determined largely by domestic factors as they are less connected to global markets. Sugar, pulses and edible oils, however, will be affected. Commodities like maize will also get impacted as India exports huge quantity of maize,” said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Care Ratings.

Agri commodity prices have declined by up to 34% in the last one year. Wheat prices in global markets have plunged 34.4% to trade at $181.18 a tonne. Cotton and maize prices have also fallen by 33.24% and 31.32% to end the financial year 2014-15 at $1376.34 a tonne and $175.89 a tonne respectively. RBD palmolein and sugar posted a decline of 28.99% and 24.59% to trade at $612.50 a tonne and $357.60 a tonne respectively.

“Despite government’s assistance of Rs 4,000 a tonne on raw sugar exports, Indian mills are unable to ink purchase contracts with global buyers due to steep fall in raw sugar prices in the benchmark New York Mercantile Exchange. Sugar prices have hit seven-year lows due to over production in global markets and falling Brazilian real which makes export from Brazil more remunerative,” said Abinash Verma, Director General Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA).

Meanwhile, FAO has raised production and carryover stocks of cereals in March from its earlier forecast in February. Since last month, FAO has raised its 2014 world cereal production forecast by 2 million tonne to 2,544 million tonne, mainly accounting for a larger than anticipated maize harvest in the EU. At this level, global cereal output in 2014 would outstrip the 2013 record by 1%.

Source:hellenicshippingnews.com

Strategy Paper To Boost Dairy Exports On Anvil

Concerned over a sharp drop in dairy exports due to quality issues, the government has initiated an exercise to boost shipments of dairy products like milk powder and asked the sector to prepare strategy paper in this regard.

The Commerce Ministry had recently convened a meeting of dairy industry representatives including Amul and discussed problems being faced by domestic companies and exporters to major markets including Europe, Japan and Russia.

"Huge scope is there in Europe and Russia for dairy exports. But they are facing phyto-sanitary (quality) issues. Exporters raised the issue of non-tariff barriers in these countries. The industry is expected to submit the paper very soon," the official said.

The Ministry "would take appropriate steps" to encourage export of dairy products after deliberating recommendations of the paper, the official added. The move assumes significance as India is the world's largest producer of milk and has huge potential for exports.

The country's export of dairy, meat and poultry products has declined by 32 per cent to USD 302 million year-on-year in February this year.

The official further said the government would take up the issues faced by domestic companies at bilateral level besides helping the industry to improve quality and standard in order to comply with global norms.

India has already discussed the sector's issues with Russia, where a huge export potential exists in view of sanctions imposed by western countries.

A team from Russia's phyto-sanitary watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, had visited India to inspect several cheese and dairy product units.

As per estimates, Russia's annual dairy product import requirement is about 5,000 million tonnes. The country is facing problem in meeting this demand due to trade sanctions.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Cheaper Cousins Pull Down Sunflower Oil

If you love fried food, you can rejoice in the fact that the price of cooking oil has been slipping since mid-2013. The price of refined sunflower oil (Source: Solvent Extractors Association of India), a popular cooking medium, ruled at ?63,000 a tonne in end-March 2015.

This was 10 per cent lower than the same month last year. Prices have reversed trend in the last two years. Between March 2009 and August 2013, prices of refined sunflower oil soared, rising 87 per cent from ?45,000 levels to ?84,000 a tonne. They have since corrected by 25 per cent.

Global prices of sunflower oil have corrected much more steeply than domestic prices. They have been on a relentless downward trajectory since mid-2011. Global prices have tanked from $1,700 per tonne in June 2011, to under $900 by March 2015, with the fall punctuated by hardly any intermittent rally.

Global prices of sunflower oil have responded both to rising production of sunflower seed and to bearish trends in other vegetable oils. Statistics from Oil World and USDA show that between 2010-11 and 2013-14 (October to September), world crushing volumes of sunflower seed rose from 30 million tonnes to 38 million tonnes, boosting sunoil production from 4.8 million tonnes to 8.1 million tonnes.

Sharply higher sunflower output in Ukraine and Russia (the world’s largest producers) and European Union contributed much of this spike. But with consumption failing to keep pace, global inventories have mounted and pressured prices.

At the same time, sharp price increases in the output of competing cooking oils such as palm oil and soyabean oil have also added to the downward pressure on sunoil too. Globally, some consumers use sunflower oil, soyabean oil and palm oil interchangeably to meet their cooking needs.

They dynamically shift between them based on the price differentials between palm oil (the cheapest oil) and other soft oils such as sunflower and soyabean. In the last year or so, a record US harvest of soyabean has triggered a meltdown in soyabean oil prices. This has had its impact on the entire oil complex, including sunflower oil.

The meltdown in global crude oil prices has had an indirect impact on cooking oils too. What is the link? With cooking oils such as palm oil used in bio-ethanol production, the fall in crude oil prices has led to lower diversion of food crops to bio-ethanol. This has contributed to excess supplies in the market.

Going forward, fundamental factors point to tighter sunflower oil supplies in the crop year 2014-15 (ending September 2015).

Output estimates for the year have been progressively trimmed due to a lower crop expected in Ukraine and Russia, and crushing volumes are expected to fall by about 4 per cent for the season after many seasons of gains. But prices are yet to respond to these trends because alternative cooking oils such as soyabean and palm oil continue to trade cheap.

In contrast to the global situation, oilseed production in India has consistently failed to keep pace with burgeoning demand. Therefore, Indian imports of cooking oils have shot through the roof in the last five years.

Between 2010-11 and 2013-14, total imports shot up from about 84 lakh tonnes to 116 lakh tonnes, registering a 40 per cent jump. In the current oil year (November 2014 to February 2015), domestic shortages have sparked a 23 per cent jump in cooking oil imports by volume.

But with soyabean and sunflower oil turning cheaper in global markets, the import mix has changed significantly.

While palm oil made up three-fourths of the total imports in the some months last year, this year soft oils such as soyabean and sunflower have been in greater demand, accounting for a third of all imports.

With sunflower acreage down sharply both in the kharif and rabi seasons this year, the forecast for domestic prices would normally be bullish. But with imports flooding in and rival oils such as soyabean and palm oil trading cheaper, Indian consumer can probably look forward to a few more months of benign sunflower oil prices.

Source:thehindubusinessline.com