QBiz: Aadhaar-PAN Linkage Date Extended; Saab, Adani to Partner

The Quint brings you all the news from the world of business making headlines in dailies across India.

The deadline for linking the permanent account number with Aadhaar for taxpayers was to end on Thursday.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

1. Saab, Adani to Partner to Build Single-Engine Fighter Jets in India: Consultant

Sweden’s Saab will tie up with Adani Group to bid for a contract to make fighter aircrafts in India, an aerospace consultant aware of the proposed partnership told Reuters on Thursday.

The partnership will compete with US defence giant Lockheed Martin in a two horse-race to equip the Indian military with single-engine jets to be produced locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make-in-India” initiative.

The Saab-Adani partnership is aimed at producing planes under India’s new “strategic partnership” policy, said Ratan Shrivastava, the independent New-Delhi-based consultant and adviser at India’s industry lobby group FICCI said.

The partnership will likely be announced on Friday, Shrivastava said.

Source: Livemint

2. Taxpayers Have Time Till 31 December To Link Aadhaar And PAN

The government on Thursday extended the deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar by four months to 31 December, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said in a statement.

The deadline for linking the permanent account number with Aadhaar for taxpayers was to end on Thursday.

The extension comes at a time when the government has granted a similar extension for furnishing of Aadhaar for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes. Besides, the Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the government’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns, obtaining PAN and has posted the matter for next hearing in November.

According to Section 139 AA of the Income Tax Act, every person who has a PAN as on 1 July 2017, will have to link it with Aadhaar.

Source: BloombergQuint

3. Homebuyers of Jaypee Wish Town Banking on IRP

Homebuyers of Jaypee Wish Town are banking on the corporate insolvency resolution process for getting their homes delivered, while keeping the plan to move the Supreme Court on hold. Buyers say lawyers have advised them to wait and watch the situation, before taking any decision.

“We have decided to wait for the insolvency resolution professional (IRP) to provide a solution. We want our flats and we can only get them through a concrete proposal by IRP,” said Devendra Yadav, a member representing 10 associations of Jaypee Infratech’s Wish Town projects, comprising over 2,500 homebuyers.

Yadav also said that homebuyers want to be part of the committee of creditors (CoC) which will approve the resolution plan prepared by IRP. CoC, which will be formed by 9 September, will include financial creditors including financial institutions, public sector banks and other lenders.

Source: Economic Times

4. India GDP Growth Rate Slumps to 5.7% in Q1 in Challenge for Economy

India’s economic growth unexpectedly slowed to 5.7 percent in the June quarter, the slowest pace in three years, underlining the disruption caused by the uncertainty related to the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) even as the Indian economy is struggling to recover from a shock demonetisation.

A survey of economists by Reuters saw GDP growth picking up by 6.6 percent in the June quarter. The gross domestic product grew 6.1 percent in the preceding three months.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said it is a matter of concern that GDP growth in the first quarter has slipped. “It throws up a challenge for the economy. In coming quarters we require – both in terms of policy and investments – to work more to improve upon this figure,” he added.

Source: Livemint

5. Arun Jaitley Acknowledges Growth Concerns, Blames It On GST

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday acknowledged India’s growth slowdown as a “matter of concern” adding that it was due to destocking seen ahead of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.

"This seems predominantly the pre-GST effect, that you destock but do not continue to manufacture even as sales increase", Jaitley said in a media conference after the government released macroeconomic data for the first quarter.

India's gross value added growth (GVA), which excludes impact of taxes and subsidies, grew at 5.6 percent, unchanged from the previous quarter. Gross domestic product growth too slowed to 5.7 percent from 6.1 percent at the end of March.

Source: BloombergQuint

6. Hyundai Plans to Shift Production of Verna From Korea to India

The new souped-up Verna is going to be more than just another car for India and the local unit of Hyundai Motor. The South Korean company is shifting the production of the mid-size sedan entirely from its home base to India.

In what could further boost the 'Make in India' initiative, Hyundai will use its manufacturing facility near Chennai to supply the Verna to almost all its global markets starting January.

It shows the growing confidence of the company in making bigger and more premium cars for exports in a country which has for long been known as a manufacturing base for small passenger vehicles.

Source: Economic Times

7. Govt Rules out New Window to Deposit Rs 500, Rs 1000 Notes

The finance ministry on Thursday ruled out opening another window for depositing the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, with the government now saying that it had expected all the annulled currency to be returned, in line with the latest RBI data.

While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday revealed that 99% of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore currency demonetised on 8 November last year had come back, some had pleaded with the government for another window to deposit their small holding old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

“At this point... No way,” economic affairs secretary SC Garg said when asked if people can get second window for depositing specified bank notes (SBNs) they are left with.

Source: Livemint

8. Nationalised Banks Exempted From CCI Approval For Mergers

Paving the way for fast-tracking consolidation in state-owned banks, the government exempted mergers of nationalised banks from seeking fair trade watchdog CCI’s approval.

This exemption will be applicable for ten years and comes at a time when several experts and even policymakers have been talking about the need for consolidation in the banking sector, especially among the public sector banks.

Mergers and acquisitions beyond a certain threshold compulsorily require clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which is mandated to keep a tab on unfair business practices across sectors.

Source: BloombergQuint

9. Essar Steel Seeks Another Rs 1,000 Crore Loan to Keep Itself Running

Essar Steel, which is managed by an insolvency professional pending resolution of Rs 45,655 crore debt, is seeking another Rs 1,000 crore in loans to keep the firm running, and easing of restrictions imposed by lenders on the use of funds, said two people familiar with the matter.

The interim resolution professional, consultant Alvarez & Marsal's Satish Kumar Gupta, has urged banks to lift 'tagging' of its accounts and end the 'trust and retention' account practice, said the people, seeking anonymity.

Tagging refers to the practice of banks taking out a specific portion of fund flows into a company's accounts towards debt obligations to them. Trust and retention is a mechanism where the lead bank operates the company's account through which most of the cash flows happen.

Source: Economic Times

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