Page 17 - Banking Finance May 2023

ROUNDUP

5,000 crore from Sahara-SEBI refund under the scheme in the preceding fis- now have to pay the cess on the final
account to the Central Registrar. cal year (2021-22, or FY22) but still retail price of masala and chewing to-
higher than the number of families bacco at the time it crosses the factory
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court
that worked under the scheme in the gate.
allowed a plea by the Centre seeking
pre-pandemic years of 2019-20 (FY20)
allocation of Rs 5,000 crore, out of Rs This would help curb tax evasion as the
and 2018-19 (FY19).
24,000 crore deposited by the Sahara cess would be collected at the first
group with market regulator Sebi, to In FY20, 54.8 million households point itself. The estimated revenue
repay depositors of the cooperative worked under the programme; in from RSP-based cess rate on pan
societies. FY19, this number was 52.7 million. masala and tobacco is almost at the
same level as was in the earlier ad-
The direction came on an application Although the final number of house-
valorem regime.
filed by the Centre in a PIL by a per- holds that worked under the scheme
son, named Pinak Pani Mohanty, who might undergo some revision in 2022-
sought a direction to pay the amount 23 (FY23), experts say the revision will Reliance, Jio raise $5 bil-
to the depositors who invested in sev- be nominal.
lion in largest syndicated
eral chit fund companies and Sahara
credit firms. Govt specifies retail price loan in India
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has se-
A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T based GST cess for pan
cured an additional credit line of $2
Ravikumar said the amount shall be
masala, tobacco billion from 18 banks after obtaining a
disbursed to depositors duped by the
The government has specified the re- $3 billion from 55 banks recently.
Sahara group of cooperative societies.
tail sale price-based GST cess rate that
The conglomerate has thus got a total
The entire process will be monitored
would be levied on pan masala and
loan of $5 billion, making it the largest
by former apex court judge Justice R
tobacco manufacturers with effect
fundraising through the syndicated
Subhash Reddy, the bench said.
from April 1.
loan route in India's corporate history.
In a statement, the Ministry of Coop-
This is a departure from the earlier re-
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, a unit of
eration said the Supreme Court, while
gime that imposed cess, over and above
RIL, secured the $2 billion add-on fa-
giving a historic decision, ordered to
the 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax
return the deposits of about 10 crore cility with the same terms as its recent
(GST) rate on ad-valorem basis.
investors of 4 cooperative societies of $3 billion syndicated loan.
As per a finance ministry notification
Sahara group from the Sahara-SEBI The funds will mainly be allocated to-
dated March 31, the GST cess rate
refund account. wards RIL's capital expenditures and
that would be applicable on pan masala Jio's nationwide 5G expansion.
Justice Reddy, with the assistance of
is 0.32 times the retail sale price (RSP)
Gaurav Agarwal, will complete the "The $2 billion add-on will be split
of the pan masala pouch.
payment process in 9 months, the min- equally between RIL and Jio and is
Pan masala, containing tobacco
istry said. likely to be wrapped up by the end of
gutkha, now has a cess rate of 0.61
April," said one of the three people,
times the RSP, while the rate for smok-
MGNREGS still gives work requesting anonymity.
ing mixtures for pipes and cigarettes is
to more people than pre- 0.69 times.
Mobile exports surpasses
Covid year Chewing tobacco , filter khaini, and
Rs. 90,000 crore in FY23:
jarda scented tobacco attract a cess of
Just as the fiscal year draws to a close,
0.56 times the RSP, and the rate for ICEA
about 61.1 million households have
branded unmanufactured tobacco and
worked under the flagship Mahatma India's mobile phone exports doubled
hookah or gudaku is 0.36 times the RSP.
Gandhi National Rural Employment year-on-year to Rs 90,000 crore in
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) this The new rates are applicable from FY23, surpassing the estimated Rs
year. This is nearly 16 per cent less than April 1, 2023. Moving to RSP-based levy 75,000 crore, the India Cellular and
the number of people who worked would mean that manufacturers would Electronics Association (ICEA) said.
16 | 2023 | MAY | BANKING FINANCE