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The country’s exports witnessed 10.58 percent increase during the first month of the ongoing fiscal year (2017-18), compared to the corresponding month of last year. Pakistan exported goods worth $1.631 billion in July 2017 compared to the exports of $1.475 billion in July 2016, showing upward growth of 10.58 percent, an official in ministry of commerce told APP on Saturday. The merchandise imports during the month under review also increased by 36.74 percent compared to July 2016. The imports into the country during July 2017 were recorded at $4.835 billion compared to the imports of $3.536 billion, the data revealed. He said the trade deficit during July 2017 was recorded at $3.204 billion, which showed growth of 55.46 percent when compared to the deficit of $2.061 billion during July 2016.
Meanwhile, on month-on-month basis, the exports from the country witnessed negative growth of 14.70 percent in July 2017 when compared to the exports of $1.912 billion in June 2017. The imports into the country increased by 6.64 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $4.534 billion recorded during June 2017, according to the data. Replying to question, the official said the ministry was contributing to the national economy through trade facilitation and liberalization, improve export competitiveness and reduce the cost of doing business. The government is committed in providing direction and diversification to internal trade for enhancing supply chains to enhance the country’s exports. “We are working to explore new trade avenues and markets in different regions to get access to these markets for promotion of country’s trade,” he said. He said that new trade policy mainly targeted the international and internal trade for improving supply chain, enhancing use of technology and providing competitiveness.
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Apparel Manufacturers of India, a group of manufacturers and traders, on Tuesday inaugurated their first zonal fair at Hitex Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad.
The 13th edition of the fair was inaugurated by Suresh Raja Mouli, Director, RS Brothers Pvt Ltd (Telangana). The fair will see the coming together of over 2,000 retailers from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the next three days.
TP Seetharaman, Executive Director, Kalyan Silks (Kerala), expressed concerns over the alleged neglect of the country’s apparel sector and called for the need to work together to get the concerns addressed. He said that while the GST brought down prices, the market is faced with money flow crunch, especially in the businesses such as garments, gold, real estate. “The small players are the one who are reeling in crisis. Footfalls are down. Hopefully, we should see brighter business environment in the next financial year,” he said. Nikhil Furia, Key Organiser, Apparel Manufacturers of India, said, “Market has not been great for the last few months but is picking up. The wedding season ahead should bring back the business.”
The association seeks to bridge the gap between manufacturers, retailers, agents and suppliers and build a robust community. So far, the association conducted five fairs in Chennai, six in Kochi and one in Hyderabad over the last 2 years.
Several schemes of Rs 4649 crore will be implemented under the policy. The policy intends to create infrastructure for textile cluster and garment parks. The policy has suggested to prepare proposal for setting up textile university in Vidarbha region.
The state Cabinet Tuesday gave its approval to the new textile policy for 2018-2023 with an aim to attract investment of Rs 36,000 crore in Maharashtra and generate 10 lakh employment. Sources in the government said some of the major aspects of the policy include reducing the power tariffs and increasing capital subsidy to 45 per cent for spinning mills. Officials from the state textile department said the policy takes forward the Make in Maharashtra concept to strengthen the cotton industry and silk business. It aims to reduce the regional imbalance in the state as higher concessions would be given for setting up units in Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra region. Separate emphasis will be on cotton producing regions, which have reported large number of suicide by farmers, said an official.
Several schemes of Rs 4649 crore will be implemented under the new policy. The policy intends to create infrastructure for textile cluster and garment parks. The policy has also suggested to prepare a proposal for setting up a textile university in the Vidarbha region.
“We have made provisions in reducing power tariffs for spinning mills. Besides, spinning mills were given financial assistance in several installments. Now, we have decided to give them financial assistance in two installments only,” said Subhash Deshmukh, state Textile Minister.
Another official said one of the major reasons for spinning mills incurring losses is the higher power tariffs, compared to other states. “The power tariffs in Gujarat, Karnataka and a few other states are between Rs 4 and Rs 6 per unit while it is Rs 9 per unit in our state. So, the spinning mills will be encouraged to set up solar power plants on their land and the power generated from it will be utilized by the spinning mills. Hence, the power tariffs are likely to be reduced to Rs 3.5 per unit,” said an official adding that it would give major boost to spinning mills.
Besides, capital subsidy has been increased substantially for processing units, spinning mills, and modernisation of power looms. It proposes to give 45 per cent capital subsidy for processing units, and 25 per cent for spinning mills and modernisation of powerlooms. It has also proposed to give additional subsidy of 20 per cent for processing and garment units in Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra.
As pink bollworm has developed resistance to technology, no point in charging royalty from farmers: seedmakers
As the sales season approaches for next kharif, the cottonseed firms have asked the Central government to remove the royalty (or trait value) component on the Bollgard-II claiming that the technology proved to be ineffective last season. Cotton-growing States have reported that on vast tracts the pink bollworm has developed resistance to the Bollgard-II technology, causing extensive damage to the crop. The seed firms have argued that since the technology has become ineffective to protect the crop from the pink bollworm attack, there is no point in collecting any trait fee from farmers. The Cottonseed Price Control Order (CSPCO) had fixed the trait value for BG-II at ?49 on a 450-gm packet. The seed firms collect it as part of the sale and remit the same to Mahycho Monsanto Biotech Limited (MMBL) under the licence agreement. MMBL sub-licenses the technology (which it gets from the US-based Monsanto) to the cottonseed firms in the country. A delegation that includes National Seed Association of India (NSAI) President M Prabhakara Rao, Bhaskar Rao (Kaveri Seeds) and Samir Mulay (Ajeet Seeds), submitted a memorandum to Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, last week. “We briefed him about the latest developments in the cottonseed sector in Maharashtra, resistance developed by pink bollworm to Bollgard-II and how it impacted the cotton crop last year,” Prabhakara Rao, who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of the Hyderabad-based Nuziveedu Seeds, said.
Onus on MMBL
The memorandum specifically focussed on the developments in the cotton sector in Maharashtra, following the failure of BG-II in tackling the pink bollworm. Blaming MMBL for the failure of technology, it alleged that the dealers and seed firms are being penalised for the crop losses, leaving MMBL “scot-free”. Stating that the quality of the seeds has got nothing to do with the resistance developed by the bollworm, the NSAI said that it was technology that gave up. “The insect has developed resistance to the protein, produced by the Bt cotton plants. It happens because of the natural ability of the insect to adopt to changed environment,” the memorandum said.
“If any compensation has to be paid, it will have to be paid by MMBL, the developer of the trait, and not the seed firms. More than 99 per cent of the Bt cottonseed sold in Maharashtra are carrying the BG-II trait for which MMBL is receiving the trait value every year from seed firms,” the NSAI memorandum said.
The e-way bill under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a mechanism to avert tax evasion on inter-State movement of goods, is likely to be re-notified in two to three months once the technical glitches are addressed.
Further, to ensure that IT problems do not hold up the system in future, the government is looking at an alternative option that can be used by businesses if they are unable to generate the e-way bill, which is an online ticket for movement of goods over ?50,000 for distances over 10 km.
“A final date for making the e-way bill mandatory will be notified once the problems are sorted out and further tests are carried out,” said an official.
“The GST Council will also review the progress,” the official added.
The Finance Ministry, the GST Network and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) are understood to be discussing various options. The NIC is also working to address the technical glitches on the e-way bill portal.
“There is a thinking that there should also be an alternative option so that if there are problems in generating the e-way bill, businesses are not impacted and can easily use another option,” said an official. Sources said that this time. the government wants to wait until it is fully satisfied with the IT system before announcing the date. It is learnt that the Finance Ministry and the GST Network are closely monitoring the developments. The GST Council had decided to implement that the e-way bill on a trial basis from January 16 and on a mandatory basis from February 1.
However, due to technical problems, the trial phase was extended indefinitely. It continues to be one of the deferred provisions of the GST regime, which was launched on July 1, 2017. In the interim, the Centre and the States are also encouraging businesses to familiarise themselves with the e-way bill system. Officials are also meeting trade and industry representatives to address their concerns. GSTN officials met with industry chamber FICCI for an interactive session on Tuesday on the e-way bill.
From now on, the taxman will not issue demand notice to taxpayers in case there is a minor mismatch between their income tax return (ITR) and the corresponding tax credit data collected by the department from banks and other financial institutions. The measure, introduced in the latest Financial Bill, is aimed to provide relief to small and salaried class of taxpayers and aims to ease out issues of small discrepancies that sometimes crop up between the information on Form-16 (provided by the employer) and Form-26AS (tax credit statement received by the tax department).
“A policy decision has been made not to issue tax demand notices in case of minor mismatch in these instances. We trust the taxpayer and the step is aimed to make easy the processing of income tax returns,” CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra told PTI. He said the policy measure will be enforced in respect of any return furnished for the upcoming assessment year (2018-19) commencing from April 1. These demand notices, as per the existing procedure, were issued by the I-T Department’s central processing centre (CPC) located in Bengaluru. It is the repository to process the ITRs and match the data provided by the taxpayer through their Form-16 and the Form-26AS received by the department from multiple banking and financial institutions.
Chandra, however, said in cases where the mismatch amount is high or gives rise to any sort of suspicion of tax evasion, such a case will be taken up for a detailed scrutiny. A senior I-T official explained that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body for the tax department, proposed the move to the Finance Ministry as hundreds of such cases were stuck for final processing as communication between the taxpayer and the taxman was ongoing. “There could be genuine reasons for such mis-matches and hence it was decided to change the existing procedure in this context,” the official said.
In the Union Budget 2018-19, Jaitley provided a lower tax rate for corporates with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today that corporate tax rate can be brought down to the promised 25 percent only after all the exemptions given to the industry have ended.
Speaking at a post-Budget meeting, organised by industry body Ficci, he said he had in 2015 promised to cut corporate tax rate to 25 percent, from 30 percent, in four years.
Jaitley added however that he had also set a condition — all exemptions would have to go.
It would not be proper to end exemptions midway as some industries may have been set up based on them, he said. And therefore, the opportunity to reduce the corporate tax rate to 25 percent will arise when all the exemptions end in the due course, he said. In the Union Budget 2018-19, presented last week, Jaitley provided for lower tax rate for corporates with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore.
For the remaining 7,000-odd companies, the average effective tax rate after considering the exemptions comes to about 22 percent, he said. On fiscal deficit, he said the target of trimming it down to 3.2 percent of the GDP in the current fiscal, ending March 31, was missed largely due to GST revenues accruing only for 11 months as against the expenditure being accounted for 12 months.
Revenues under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which replaced 17 central and state levies including excise duty, service tax and VAT, accrue only after a month in which the sales are made. In contrast, the revenue from excise used to accrue just as the products left the factory. So, for the current fiscal, the government accounted for revenue for only 11 months, with the accruals of March coming in only in April.
Next year onwards, the 12-month cycle would be complete, he said, adding that the buoyancy in GST collections, as well as indirect taxes, gave him confidence that it would be easier to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 percent set for 2018-19. For the current fiscal, the deficit target has been set at 3.5 percent as against 3.2 per cent previously stated. The fiscal deficit or gap between total expenditure and revenues has been pegged at 3.3 percent for 2018-19, as against the FRBM mandate of 3 percent.
Since the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002, there has been a near doubling of cotton production in the country from 158 lakh bales in 2001-02 to 351 lakh bales in 2016-17, government says
The production of cotton in the country has nearly doubled since the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
In a written reply to a question, union minister Mahesh Sharma also said the hybrids have helped to minimise the damages caused by pests like bollworm. The minister, however, said evaluation of each application for environmental release of GM crops is done on a “case-to-case” basis after a thorough examination of health, environment and food and safety assessment.
His remarks assume significance as they come amid a controversy over the country’s GM crop regulator, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), recommending the commercial use of GM mustard in a submission to the environment ministry.
Several groups, including RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), have criticised the GEAC move, saying commercial use of GM mustard would impact allied agri-activities. “Since the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002, there has been a near doubling of cotton production in the country from 158 lakh bales in 2001-02 to 351 lakh bales in 2016-17, and increase in productivity from 308 kg/ha in 2001-02 to 568 kg/ha in 2016 17,” he said.
After receiving representations from various stakeholders post the GEAC recommendation, the government referred the issue of GM mustard back to the GEAC. The minister was asked if the government agencies have portrayed a rosy picture on Bt cotton and whether there was a need for a scientific study about the impact of GM crops on health.
“Bt cotton hybrids have helped to minimise the damages caused by bollworm, reduce pesticide use, increase production, yield and net income of the farmers,” Sharma said. Infestation by bollworm, a major pest of cotton, he said, has had a devastating effect on cotton crop during the late 1990s, with most of the available pesticides becoming ineffective to control it.
Bt cotton, which is resistant to bollworm infestation, was released during 2002-03. “As per the recent data of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, India has become the largest producer of cotton in the world in the year 2016,” he said. “Studies and risk assessment documents prepared by international regulatory agencies and by other countries are also referred for ascertaining the safety of the evaluated product,” the minister said.
Tamil Nadu’s fears over the GST have been proven to be unfounded as eight months after its roll out, GST has raked in more money for the state exchequer than the erstwhile conventional VAT-based taxation system. Data of the state commercial tax department show that the state received Rs 23,317.76 crore under GST from July to December 2017, as against Rs 19,017.87 crore under VAT during the corresponding period the previous year.
The state GST, called SGST, was around Rs 15,008.10 crore between July and December last year. The state will add a few more crores to its coffers from the inter-state GST as many assessees are yet to file their returns.
Tamil Nadu being a manufacturing state and GST being a consumption-based tax, former chief minister J Jayalalithaa had opposed rolling out the new tax structure. She wanted the Centre to compensate for the revenue loss if GST revenue was less than VAT. But now it has been proven that Tamil Nadu is not only a manufacturing state but also a consumption state too.
“When the GST was rolled out there was a belief that governments like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the consumption is high, will get more revenue. But as the months went by after GST was rolled out, we found that apart from being a consumption state, Tamil Nadu also has the financial power to purchase goods and services,” said a senior GST official.
Tamil Nadu has the second highest number of companies and individuals registered under GST. “The state also stands second in terms of GST revenue in the country. Under inter-state GST (IGST), we received Rs 4,483 crore. But this is only a part of the total revenue under IGST, which we have to get. There are around 6 to 7 components which an assessee has to file under GST and only after all these are filed and taxes paid, will Tamil Nadu get its share of IGST,” said the official. The state received nearly Rs 1,000 crore as compensation since the GST was introduced as the tax revenue was less than VAT revenue of 2015-16 – which was taken as the base year – during the initial months. But in subsequent months, after seeing the GST revenue being more than VAT, Centre has deducted the compensation while giving Tamil Nadu’s share of IGST. “In Tamil Nadu, consumption of commodities in the 18-28% GST bracket is high. High-end cars, two-wheelers and white goods are some of the items which earn more revenue to the state,” the official said.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is mulling over boosting the Tamil Nadu state economy by combining the strength of labour availability in Tiruchirappalli (Tiruchi) with the textile industry in Karur and Tirupur districts, which face manpower shortage. CII held discussions in this regard last week with top Tiruchi district officials.
CII discussed with Tiruchi district collector P Rajamani the establishment of infrastructure for finishing and packing of export-quality textile products being transported to Tuticorin port from the two districts via Tiruchi. The collector agreed to speak to textile industrialists in Karur and Tirupur on the issue, according to Indian media reports. Also discussed were ways to utilise the land banks in sub-urban and rural pockets, including Tiruverumbur, Manapparai, Thuraiyur for setting up industries on cluster basis, harnessing water, improving air connectivity to domestic destinations, expanding cargo activities and focus on agro-processing.
CII’s Tiruchi zone will soon release the district development plan with specific details
