The Union government has fixed the price of domestic gas at US$1.79 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) effective for six months starting October 1, 2020. This is down by about 25% from US$2.39 per mmBtu applicable to the six month period April 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020. That itself was 25% lower than the price of US$3.23 per mmBtu prevailing during October 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020. The current price is nearly half of what it was 6 month ago. The domestic production of natural gas accounts for about 50% of the total consumption in India of about 175 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd), balance 50% comes from other countries and is imported as liquefied...
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Cess – anathema in Indian taxation
Reining in the fiscal deficit (excess of total expenditure over total revenue) has always been a challenge for the union government especially after the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003 which requires it to maintain the deficit within a specified threshold. At the same time, there are certain thrust areas such as education, roads and other infrastructure, telecommunication network in rural areas, exploration of oil and gas etc which mandarins in the finance ministry felt won’t get the desired funds in the normal course of budgeting and deciding allocation. This led them to innovate special taxes such as USO (Universal Service Obligation) levy imposed on telecom service providers, Cess on Crude Petroleum Oil (CPO), Road...
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Labor reforms – step on the gas
The day September 23, 2020 the monsoon session of Parliament ended abruptly, Modi – government passed three bills on labor reforms enshrined in three labor codes viz. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020; The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; and The Code on Social Security, 2020 in Rajya Sabha (these were passed by Lok Sabha on the previous day). Along with The Code on Wages, 2019 passed by the Parliament last year, these four reform of labor laws are being bandied as the most crucial second-generation reforms that will make it easier to do business, improve competitiveness of Indian industry, make India a manufacturing hub and pursuing “Make in India”. This is a bold move when viewed in...
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Agri – reform bills – don’t mislead farmers
On June 5, 2020, the Government of India (GOI) had promulgated three Ordinances to bring about far reaching reforms in the marketing of agricultural produce. During the current (Monsoon) session, it got the relevant bills passed by the Parliament. Put simply, the bills and their objectives are as under:- The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 provides for freedom of choice to the farmer or trader to conduct trade and commerce while any trader having a permanent account number (PAN) is allowed to buy directly from farmers outside the designated APMCs (Agricultural Produce Market Committee). The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 on ‘contract farming’ provides a legal framework...
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Urea black marketing – how not to curb
In a bid to tackle diversion, hoarding and black marketing of urea (a widely used fertilizer that constitutes nearly half of India’s total fertilizer consumption), the Union government has decided to restrict its purchase to 100 bags from 999 bags per transaction by one purchaser. In a letter dated August 27, 2020, addressed to state chief secretaries, the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers, Chhabilendra Roul has sought their opinions on ‘how many such transactions should be allowed per month to each purchaser’. He has also asked states ‘to identify top 20 urea purchasers in each of their respective districts’. States have also been asked to collect details from buyers which include quantity of urea purchased, dates of purchase, point of sale such as retailers, agricultural land owned...
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Banking on banks for bail-out
On March 27, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, Shaktikanta Das announced a comprehensive action plan to resuscitate the economy devastated by the Corona virus. Apart from measures to increase availability of credit and reduction in the cost of capital, the plan sought to ease the stress of loan repayments on businesses and individuals. Amongst others, this included 3-month moratorium on payment of installments in respect of all term loans outstanding on March 31, 2020. On May 22, 2020, Das announced extension of the moratorium for three months till August 31, 2020. To ease the burden of payment on those who availed of working capital facilities, the governor allowed them to convert accumulated interest for the deferment period...
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Scrap priority sector lending
Faced with contraction in GDP (gross domestic product) growth by a whopping 23.9% and credit growth at a low of 6.7% during the first quarter of current financial year (FY), on September 4, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has brought about changes in the norms for priority sector lending (PSL). The commercial banks, including foreign banks, are required to mandatorily earmark 40% of the adjusted net bank credit for PSL. Regional rural banks (RRBs) and small finance banks (SFBs) are required to allocate 75% of adjusted net bank credit (ANBC) to PSL. Within the over 40% limit for PSL, there are sub-limits; for instance, agriculture gets 18% of the ANBC. Although, PSL guidelines do not lay down any...
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Discoms – don’t handle with kid gloves
Reportedly, the ministry of power (MOP) is working on new ‘reform-linked distribution scheme’ with a two-fold objective of (i) overhauling the power distribution sector and (ii) building robust supply infrastructure. Involving total capital outlay of Rs 312,000 crore, the scheme will be funded by the union government and states in the ratio of 60:40 respectively. While, 60% of the proposed investment or about Rs 180,000 crore will come as Central grant, the balance will be borne by states. This umbrella scheme will subsume all existing schemes such as Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) into itself. DDUGJY is aimed at metering every rural household and improving electricity infrastructure in villages. IPDS targets improvement in...
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GST – still work in progress
Billed as a ‘transformative’ reform of post-independent India, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has completed three years since it was launched by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on July 1, 2017. It is time to take stock and see whether there has been any tangible progress in terms of achieving its underlying objectives. GST is a single nation-wide tax that subsumes within it more than a dozen taxes of the erstwhile dispensation prior to July 1, 2017 viz. central excise duty (CED), service tax, sales tax/value added tax (VAT) besides a host of local taxes such as octroi, purchase tax, turnover tax and so on. At the outset, let us take a look at major anomalies afflicting the old regime....
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GST shortfall – bailing out states
Faced with dwindling tax revenue since last financial year 2019-20, the issue of ‘full’ and ‘timely’ compensation for the shortfall in states’ tax revenue (their own collection plus the amount received as their share in indirect tax collected by the Centre as per Finance Commission devolution formula) vis-à-vis a given benchmark has been a bone of contention between the central government and the states. It has acquired gargantuan dimensions during the current year with Corona pandemic forcing collapse of businesses cutting across almost all sectors (barring essential items) in turn, leading to steep fall in tax collection of both the Centre and states. The compensation to states is intertwined with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in vogue since July...
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