Page 24 - Banking Finance January 2018

Ex-ONGC chief Dinesh K Sarraf appointed oil & gas regulator

After keeping the post vacant for more than two years, the government has finally appointed Dinesh K Sarraf, former
CMD of ONGC, as the new chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

Sarraf, 60, who retired as the chairman of India's most profitable company on September 30, was
appointed to head the PNGRB by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, an official order said.
He replaces S Krishnan, who demitted office in August 2015.Alongside, ACC also appointed S Rath,
former director (exploration) of Oil India Ltd, as member of PNGRB. S S Chahar, former member of
Cyber Appellate Tribunal, has been appointed Member (Legal), PNGRB, the order said. All of them
Dinesh K Sarraf have been appointed for a 5-year term or till the age of 65, whichever is earlier.
PNGRB has been practically defunct for last one year in the absence of new appointments being made for retiring mem-
bers. Three members - PK Bishnoi, Kiran Kumar Jha and Subhash Chandra Batra (member-legal) - retired last year. Basudev
Mohanty, the only other member on the Board, retired this year.

IAS officer Badri Narain Sharma appointed chairperson of National Anti-profiteer-

ing Authority
The authority's task is to ensure that the benefits of the reduction in Goods and Services Tax rates is passed on to the
consumers. The government on Tuesday appointed bureaucrat Badri Narain Sharma chairperson of
the National Anti-profiteering Authority under the Goods and Services Tax regime, PTI reported.
An order by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said the Appointments Com-
mittee of the Cabinet had approved Sharma's appointment to the post in the rank of a secretary to
the government of India. Sharma, a 1985 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Services, is at
present the additional secretary in the department of revenue.
The Cabinet had on November 16 approved setting up the five-member anti-profiteering body. The Badri Narain
authority's task is to ensure that the benefits of the reduction in Goods and Services Tax rates is passed Sharma
on to the consumers.

Carpet area relief for urban Middle Income Group houses
Cabinet has approved an increase in carpet area of houses eligible for interest subsidy under the Credit Linked Subsidy
Scheme (CLSS). This will be applicable for the Middle Income Group (MIG) under PMAY. It will come into effect from
January 1, 2017. While under the MIG-I category, the carpet area of the houses has been increased from 90 square
metre to 120 square metre, the area under MIG-II segment, has been increased to 150 square metre from the current
110 square metre.
Under the MIG-I category, a four-per cent interest subsidy is provided to the beneficiaries, whose annual income is
between Rs. 6 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh on a loan of up to Rs 9 lakh. On the other hand under the MIG-II category, the
beneficiaries with an annual income of Rs 12 lakh to Rs 18 lakh get an interest subsidy of three per cent on a loan of up
to Rs 12 lakh. PMAY aims to provide houses to all the urban poor by 2022. Carpet area is the area enclosed within the
walls i.e. actual area to lay the carpet. This excludes the thickness of the inner walls. Builders as of today are charging
buyers on the super built-up area, which includes area of outer walls, balcony and lobbies, stairs and even elevators.
RERA is against the practice of super built up area and want to remove it. However, under PMAY, the area of the house
is different for all categories and it's the carpet area and not the super area that is to be looked at. Realtors' body
CREDAI and NAREDCO hailed the government's decision to hike carpet area of houses eligible for interest subsidy under
the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, saying the move would help middle income buyers and help the sector in clearing
unsold homes. NAREDCO's Chairman Rajeev Talwar and President Niranjan Hiranandani said this decision would help in
meeting the aspiration of millions of MIG (middle income group) home buyers.

24 | 2018 | JANUARY | BANKING FINANCE

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