Page 14 - BANKING FINANCE November 2015 ONLINE

P. 14

ROUNDUP

Telcos not ready for compensation against call drops Rail to top spending tar-
get: Prabhu
Telecom operators are not in favour of providing any compensation to mobile
telephone users for call drops. The focus, they say, should Railway minister Suresh Prabhu had
be on resolving the situation. A chief executive of a lead- revealed that the
ing telecom company said the proposals on compensation capital expendi-
were a marketing gimmick, not serving a purpose. "The ture target of
Rs.8.5 lakh crore
government and the regulator have to ensure that the reasons behind the call for the next five
drop issue are looked into more proactively. years ending

Govt takes up fast-track labour reforms 2018-19 would be "far exceeded".

The government is looking to put labour law reforms on the fast track by get- He said the ministry was on its way
ting states and trade union on board. The Prime Minis- to exceed the target of Rs.1 lakh
ter is expected to stress the need to pull archaic rules crore set for this fiscal.
that deter investment and job creation at the 46th In-
dian Labour Conference. "We will easily surpass the capital
expenditure target…. The budget
Members of the standing labour committee which in- did not talk about the dedicated
cludes state labour ministers, employers and trade union leaders - have been freight corridor (DFC) project, the
asked to convene to review the agenda for the Indian Labour Conference. The funding for which (around Rs.82,000
Indian Labour Conference, usually an annual affair, hasn't been held since May crore) recently approved by the
2013 and the agenda for its next meeting had already been finalized by the Union cabinet. We have already is-
standing labour committee at its 46th meeting on January 31, 2014. sued DFC contracts worth Rs.15,000
crore in the six months of the cur-
The agenda includes amendments to the Factories Act to exempt small and micro rent fiscal. The rest will also come
units from compliance, social security for workers, changes to the Payment of soon," he said. Prabhu said he ex-
Bonus Act and a status check on earlier decisions with a focus on contract labour, pected the World Bank to provide
minimum wages and the tripartite negotiation mechanism. additional funding.

MNRE to nod for 17,418 MW of solar plants in parks Indirect tax mop-up
shows robust growth
The Ministry of New and Renewable Resources has received “consent” for put-
ting up 17,418 MW of solar power plants under Growth in collection of indirect
the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and taxes in the first half of the current
Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects’’. As many as fiscal shows robust GDP expansion,
20 states have sent in their consent for 26 solar chief economic advisor Arvind
parks. Subramanian has said. "Indirect tax
growth 35.8 per cent. And 11.5 per
Andhra Pradesh has shown the keenest interest, cent without new measures. Latest
wanting to put up 3,500 MW across three parks shows tax base-nominal GDP-
in the districts of Kadapa and Kurnool. Rajasthan, through its own utility as well growth robust," Subramanian
as its joint ventures with IL&FS and Adani group, has wanted to put up 3,180 tweeted.
MW across four parks. Madhya Pradesh (2,000 MW), Telangana (1,000 MW),
Himachal Pradesh (1,000 MW) and Gujarat (700 MW) are among the states Indirect tax collection increased
that want to develop large parks. Three states from the North East – Arunachal 35.0 per cent in April-September of
Pradesh (100 MW), Nagaland (60 MW) and Meghalaya (20 MW) – want to FY 16 to Rs.3.24 lakh crore, hitting
develop solar parks. more than 50 per cent of the annual
target. The collection also reflects
MNRE wants to see 25 solar parks, each with a capacity of not less than 500 hike in excise duty on diesel and
MW, developed in the country, so that 20,000 MW of solar power comes in petrol and withdrawal of tax exemp-
these parks. For which it has set apart Rs 4,000 crore for giving a grant of Rs 20 tions for motor vehicles.
lakh a MW. These parks are to be set up within five years from 2014-15.

14 | 2015 | NOVEMBER | BANKING FINANCE

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19