1. ‘Modi Govt’s GST is Imperfect, Unfair’: P Chidambaram
The Modi government's Goods and Services Tax (GST) law is "very, very imperfect" and cannot be labelled "one nation, one tax" as it has seven or more tax rates, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said.
This is a very, very imperfect law. This is not the GST which we (the UPA) had envisaged... What has been implemented, however, is a GST with seven, or possibly more, rates. It is a mockery of GST.P Chidambaram, Former Finance Minister
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2. High GST Rate Forces Mahindra to Pull the Plug on Hybrid Car Launches
For Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, this is the end of the hybrid vehicle journey – at least for now.
The maker of Scorpio SUV and the XUV 5OO on Thursday said it will phase out the mild hybrid version of Scorpio and refrain from launching any new hybrids, since the high taxes under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime have made them unviable.
“While we will be in readiness to launch a full-hybrid and mild-hybrid models, we are unlikely to launch them till there are benefits of lower taxation,” managing director Pawan Goenka told reporters in a conference call.
Under GST, all hybrid automobiles attract the top tax rate of 28 percent plus a 15 percent cess. This is the same rate as that for large luxury cars and SUVs.
(Source: Livemint)
3. IndiGo Plans Low-Cost, Long-Haul International Flights Irrespective of Whether it Succeeds in Air India Bid or Not
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd’s IndiGo will expand internationally, following the same low-cost business model that has worked for it in India, irrespective of whether it succeeds in its bid for Air India or not, the company’s co-founder said in an analyst call, explaining the logic behind the company’s articulated intent to bid for the state-run airline.
Co-founder Rakesh Gangwal, a former CEO of US Airways, said that IndiGo will make a serious bid for Air India’s international operations. That and the airline’s low-cost arm Air India Express are the main attractions, he, and the other co-founder Rahul Bhatia, indicated. IndiGo expressed its interest in bidding for Air India in a letter to the aviation ministry sent hours after a cabinet meeting cleared the disinvestment of the state-owned company.
“IndiGo is not looking to acquire all of Air India,” Bhatia said in the call.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Demonetisation Effect: Advance Tax Given by Individuals in June Quarter Rises More Than 40%
People are rushing to pay tax in much bigger numbers than before with the tax authorities having turned up the heat on evaders after demonetisation. Advance tax payments for the current financial year by individuals rose more than 40 percent in the June quarter from the year-earlier period.
Meanwhile, the government estimates the number of payers to cross 60 million for the year ended March, an increase of about 10 million from FY16. Returns filed up to June have already risen by 15 percent as more people pay self-assessment tax. The deadline for filing income tax returns for FY17 is 31 July.
The government expects a bigger bump next year because of the goods and services tax (GST), which came into force on 1 July.
(Source: The Economic Times)
5. IDFC, Shriram Capital in Merger Talks
Shriram Capital Ltd and IDFC Ltd are in talks to merge their businesses to create a financial services behemoth with combined revenue of more than 4 billion dollars, three people directly aware of the talks said on condition of anonymity.
The entire lending business of Chennai-based Shriram Capital, which includes listed entities such as Shriram Transport Finance Ltd and Shriram City Union Finance, will be merged with IDFC Bank, a unit of IDFC Ltd, the three people said. The unlisted entities under Shriram Capital, which includes the life and general insurance companies, will be combined with IDFC, they said.
(Source: Livemint)
6. Tatas, Bharti On a Call to Explore Joint Front in Telecom and DTH
The Tata Group and Bharti Enterprises have held exploratory talks to evaluate a mega alliance involving their telecom, overseas cable and enterprise services, and direct-to-home TV businesses, several people familiar with the matter said.
Discussions between both sides have revolved around a possible merger between unlisted Tata Teleservices and Tata Sky and the listed Tata Communications with the Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti Airtel, which includes its wholly owned DTH arm, these people added
A Tata Sons spokesperson declined to comment while the Bharti Enterprises spokesperson did not respond to ET’s emailed questionnaire.
The discussions are still at a preliminary stage and there is no certainty that this will lead to any deal.
(Source: The Economic Times)
7. Finance Ministry Aims to Set up Anti-Profiteering Body by August
To clear confusion over the new prices of items under the Goods and Services Tax, the Finance Ministry is working to set up a National Anti-Profiteering Authority to curb any unwarranted price hikes.
“The process for selection of members and the Chairman will start soon. We are working to ensure that the authority can be set up by early next month, if not this month itself,” said an official source, adding that the entire architecture at the State and Central level should ideally be ready at the same time.
(Source: The Hindu BusinessLine)
8. Deregistration Row: Over 22,000 Firms Struck Off the List From Delhi
More than half of the 100,000 corporate entities found dormant or defunct and struck off the list by registrars of companies (RoCs) in the recent past came from eight states and two Union Territories.
As many as 54,233 of these entities were based in Delhi, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya and Puducherry.
Delhi and its adjoining areas had the largest number of dormant companies, with 22,864 being struck off the rolls of the RoC here. Followed by Tamil Nadu, which deregistered 12,134 companies. West Bengal recorded 8,000-plus cases; Gujarat was in fourth position with 3,625. The Chandigarh RoC has struck off 2,216 companies. These are followed by UP, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya and J&K.
(Source: Business Standard)
9. RBL Bank Reports Rs 339-Crore Divergence in Gross Bad Loans
Private sector lender RBL Bank Ltd. said on Thursday that the divergence in its gross bad loans at the end of financial year 2015-16 stood at Rs 339.30 crore.
Its gross non-performing assets as assessed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was at Rs 547 crore, as on 31 March 2016, the bank disclosed in its annual report. While announcing its fourth quarter results, the bank had reported a gross NPA of Rs 208.05 crore. The net NPA showed a divergence of Rs 201.9 crore.
The divergence in provisioning reported during the year was at Rs 137.40 crore, the lender said.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
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