Game changer! Tax benefit of Rs 2.4 lakh to first-time home buyers
The government will give a benefit of Rs 2.4 lakh to first-time home buyers with taxable income below Rs 18 lakh a year, which would be a game changer for the sector, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Secretary Nandita Chatterjee said. The amount is equivalent to the total interest subsidy over a 20-year loan and will be given upfront to the housing financing company, through nodal agencies such as National Housing Bank and Hudco to reduce the outstanding loan. For a 15-year loan the value of the benefit would be Rs 2.2 lakh.
Tata Steel’s UK unions approve new turnaround plan
Tata Steel’s labour unions in UK voted to approve the new turnaround plan proposed by the company in a bid to protect jobs and avoid potential sale or closure of the steelmaking plant in the country. Tata Steel had reached a deal with the agitating trade unions in December plant to invest 1 billion pounds in the loss making Port Talbot steel plant over the next 10 years, and also to avoid any compulsory job redundancies. The company also started a process to close the expensive British Pension Scheme replace it by defined contribution scheme, which will lower uncertainty in payouts. The new scheme will have a maximum contributions of 10% from the company and 6% from employees.
USFDA warns Bengaluru-based Resonance Labs of manufacturing norms violations
US health regulator USFDA has red-flagged significant deviations from manufacturing norms at the Bengaluru-based API facility of Resonance Laboratories, including failure to have adequate cleaning procedures to prevent contamination of products. Summarising the deviations from current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), USFDA said it had inspected the drug manufacturing facility on May 2-6, 2016. “Because your methods, facilities, or controls for manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding do not conform to CGMP, your APIs are adulterated” within the meaning of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) said in a warning letter.
Bankers seek dispensation from regulator to recast of bad loans
Bankers led by State Bank of India (SBI) have asked for a special dispensation from the banking regulator to revive companies that require deep restructuring of loans. Speaking to media, SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya said that bankers have asked the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to amortise losses that require deep restructuring of loans. Such restructuring involves haircuts, longer duration loans and reduction in interest rates and converting a substantial portion of loan into equity. Bankers have conveyed regulator that they would be more willing to recast a loan if they have the flexibility to provide for losses across several quarters rather than doing it in one shot.
India’s trade deficit narrows to $9.8 billion in January
India’s merchandise exports grew for the fifth month in a row in January, though at a slower pace than in the previous month signalling a consistent improvement in external demand conditions. Data released by commerce ministry showed merchandise exports grew 4.32% in January while imports grew 10.7%, leaving behind a trade deficit of $9.8 billion, lowest in four months. During the month exports of chemicals (4.8%), engineering goods (11.9%), readymade garments (2.1%), petroleum products (29%) while gems and jewellery (-4.5%) and pharmaceuticals (-11.6%) exports contracted.
Cabinet clears merger of 5 associate banks with SBI
The Cabinet has approved the merger of five associate banks with the State Bank of India (SBI), which will catapult any bank from India to among the top 50 global lenders for the first time. The merger does not include Bharatiya Mahila Bank. The five associate banks are State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday the merger would lead to a synergy in operations and lower State Bank of India’s cost of funds. An official statement said the savings would be over Rs 1,000 crore in the first year.
Only 39% comply with I-T’s online verification to explain deposit source
While the income-tax (I-T) department identified 1.8 million people whose cash deposits of banned noted did not appear to be in line with their taxpaying profile for the previous years, only 700,000 have complied with the tax department’s requirement of online verification. Reaching the 1.1 million remaining depositors is going to be a daunting task, say tax officials. The cumbersome process of getting them to explain their large deposits falls on the I-T department, which is facing a manpower crunch. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had launched Operation Clean Money, which involved e-verification of large cash deposits made between November 9 and December 30. The I-T department had also issued advertisements asking depositors to check if they were named in the list of 1.8 million people and explain the source of their cash deposits.
I-T department to scrutinise tax relief claims by sick companies
The I-T Department has asked Assessing Officers to scrutinise tax relief being claimed by sick companies as part of the rehabilitation scheme approved by the BIFR. The tax relief for sick companies approved by Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) under Sick Industrial Companies Act, 1985 will not automatically apply as the SICA has been repealed with effect from December 1, 2016, the tax department has said. The Assessing Officers should “examine the assessment records of the companies” to find out whether any relief has been wrongly claimed by the company and inadvertently allowed through the relief, the I-T department said in a communication to all Principal Chief Commissioners.
Govt to list all profit making PSUs in 2-3 years
With just six public sector units (PSUs) listed in eight years, the government plans to fix strict timelines for all profit-making, large and medium sized state-owned firms to launch initial public offerings (IPOs) and list on stock exchanges. The government is very clear in its approach of getting all profit making central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) listed in a time-bound manner to open them up for public scrutiny and higher transparency, department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) secretary Neeraj Gupta told PTI in an interview.
Paytm claims Rs 5,000 crore worth transactions in January
Spurred by demonetisation, online payments platform Paytm clocked Rs 5,000 crore worth of transactions in the month of January, Paytms founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said here today. “We clocked Rs 5,000 crore worth of transactions in January alone, thats 200 million transactions in volume terms,” Sharma told reporters here on the sidelines of Nasscom India Leadership Summit. This was about 11 per cent up from December transactions on the payments platform, he added.
Vodafone-Idea merger: BofA, UBS, StanChart vying for $40 mn advisory fee
BofA Merrill Lynch, UBS and Standard Chartered are among banks scrambling to win advisory roles in a potential merger involving Vodafone in India, people familiar with the matter said, as they chase a rare big deals-related payday in the country. Britain’s Vodafone Group said last month it was in talks to merge its Indian subsidiary with Idea Cellular in an all-share deal. The merger will create India’s largest mobile operator with about $12 billion in sales.
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