The government of India is planning to stick to convention and present an interim budget for 2018-19, amid indications that it may not be averse to initiating some tax-related changes, ahead of next year’s general elections. Government sources said in the past, only interim budgets were presented in Parliament ahead of polls, along with a demand for grants, which helps the government get authorisation to carry with regular spending till the election is over and a new government is in the saddle. They indicated that the Narendra Modi government may carry forward the tradition. At the same time, they also pointed out that in 2009, when Pranab Mukherjee announced a stimulus, he had added tax proposals, while responding to the interim budget in Parliament. In 2014, P Chidambaram had reduced the excise duty on automobiles, capital goods and consumer non-durables, arguing that these were interventions that were warranted due to the economic situation. Rates were also rejigged for mobile handsets.
‘Half of India’s ATMs face closure
Following the recent regulatory changes, including those on hardware and software upgrades, coupled with mandates on cash management standards and the cassette swap method of loading cash, will make half of India's 2,38,000 ATM operations unviable by March 2019, the Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMi) warned. The new cash logistics and cassette swap method will alone result in costs of £300 million for the industry, it estimated. Closure of the ATMs will impact thousands of jobs and also the financial inclusion efforts of the government, the industry body said. “Service providers may be forced to close down almost 1,13,000 ATMs across India by March 2019. These numbers include approximately 1,00,000 off-site ATMs and a little over 15,000 white label ATMs,” it said. The industry has reached a “tipping point,” the body added.
20 cos keen to set up projects in Dholera solar park
As many as 20 solar power producers have shown interest in setting up their projects in a proposed 5000MW solar power park in Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) near Ahmedabad. Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) has received expression of interest from 20 firms for development of 1,000MW solar power projects in the first phase of the ultra-mega solar park. “The companies that have evinced interest in setting up their projects in the solar park include names such as Tata Power Renewable, NTPC Ltd, Azure Power, Adani Green Energy, Torrent Power and Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd,” said a source. As part of the first phase of development, the state-run power utility had in August invited EOIs from interested players to develop solar power projects for 1000 MW. The deadline for submitting EOIs was October 29. GUVNL, however, is yet to decide on the bids to be invited from these players. “The final selection of developers for the projects will be done through competitive bidding followed by reverse e-auction,” GUVNL had stated while inviting EOIs.
