Notifications & Circulars
Press Information Bureau
22.11.2017
Labour and Industrial
Cabinet approves Wage Policy for the 8th Round of Wage Negotiations for workmen in Central Public Sector Enterprises
MANU/PIBU/1384/2017
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Wage Policy for the 8th Round of Wage Negotiations for workmen in Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
Highlights:
i. Management of the CPSEs would be free to negotiate wage revision for workmen where the periodicity of wage settlement of five years or ten years has expired generally on 31.12.2016 keeping in view the affordability and financial sustainability of such wage revision for the CPSEs concerned.
ii. No budgetary support for any wage increase shall be provided by the Government. The entire financial implication would be borne by the respective CPSEs from their internal resources.
iii. In those CPSEs for which the Government has approved restructuring/ revival plan, the wage revision will be done as per the provisions of the approved restructuring / revival plan only.
iv. The management of the concerned CPSEs have to ensure that negotiated scales of pay do not exceed the existing scales of pay of executives/officers and non-unionized supervisors of respective CPSEs.
v. The Management of CPSEs where the five year periodicity is followed have to ensure that negotiated scales of pay for two successive wages negotiations do not exceed the existing scales of pay of executives/officers and non-unionized supervisors of respective CPSEs for whom ten years periodicity is being followed.
vi. To avoid conflict of pay scales of executives/non-unionised supervisors with that of their workmen, CPSEs may consider adoption of graded DA neutralization and/or graded fitment during the wage negotiations.
vii. CPSEs must ensure that any increase in wages after negotiations does not result in increase in administered prices of their goods and services.
viii. The wage revision shall be subject to the condition that there shall be no increase in labour cost per physical unit of output. In exceptional cases where CPSEs are already working at optimum capacity, the administrative Ministry / Department may consult DPE considering industry norms.
ix. The validity period of wage settlement would be for a minimum period of five years for those who opted for a five year periodicity and for a maximum period of ten years for those who have opted for a ten year periodicity of wage negotiation w.e.f. 01.01.2017.
x. The CPSEs would implement negotiated wages after confirming with their Administrative Ministry/Department that the wage settlement is in conformity with approved parameters.
Background:
There are about 12.34 lakh employees in 320 CPSEs in the country. Out of these, about 2.99 lakh employees are Board level and below Board level executives and non-unionized Supervisors. The remaining about 9.35 lakh employees belong to the unionized workmen category. Wage revision in respect of unionized workmen is decided by trade unions and managements of CPSEs in terms of guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) for wage negotiations.
Tags : Wage policy Approval Wage Negotiations Workmen
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Press Information Bureau
22.11.2017
Customs
Cabinet approves agreement between India and Philippines on co-operation and mutual assistance in customs matters
MANU/PIBU/1386/2017
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing and ratifying of an Agreement between India and Philippines on co-operation and mutual assistance in customs matters. The Agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for the prevention and investigation of Customs offences. The Agreement is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries. This Agreement shall enter into force after the necessary national legal requirements for entry into force of this Agreement have been fulfilled by both the countries.
Background:
The Agreement would provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries. It would help in the proper application of Customs laws, prevention and investigation of Customs offences and the facilitation of legitimate trade. The draft text of the proposed Agreement has been finalized with the concurrence of the two Customs Administrations. The draft Agreement takes care of Indian Customs' concerns and requirements, particularly in the area of exchange of information on the correctness of the Customs value declared and authenticity of certificates of origin of the goods traded between the two countries.
Tags : Agreement Approval Customs
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Ministry of Finance
22.11.2017
Customs
Clarification in respect of anti-dumping duty on imports of color coated aluminium foil from China PR
MANU/CUCR/0045/2017
The Designated Authority vide notification No. 14/06/2015- DGAD dated 10th March, 2017, notified its final findings recommending imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports of aluminium foil origination in or exported from China PR. Accordingly, on the basis of the recommendation of the DA, definitive anti- dumping duty was imposed on the subject goods for a period of five years from the date of imposition vide notification No. 23/2017- Customs (ADD) dated 16th May 2017.
2. CESTAT has in an order dated 09.10.2017, involved various parties, held that, Colour coated aluminium foil are excluded from the ambit of this notification. In this context, reference has been received from the concerned field formations seeking a clarification for further course of action. Now, the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry in this background has clarified that:
"Colour-coated Aluminium Foil with either PE (Polyster) coating of PVDF (fluorine-carbon), coating falling under CTH 7607" is excluded from the scope of PUC."
3. Accordingly, assessment of colour coated aluminium foil may be done taking into account the above stated clarification by the Directorate General of Anti- Dumping.
Tags : Duty Imports Aluminium foil
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Ministry of Corporate Affairs
22.11.2017
MRTP/ Competition Laws
Exemption of all cases of combinations under Section 5 of the Competition Act, 2002 involving the Central Public Sector Enterprises operating in the Oil and Gas Sectors
MANU/DCAF/0103/2017
In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of Section 54 of the Competition Act, 2002 (12 of 2003) (herein after referred to as the Act), the Central Government in the public interest hereby exempts all cases of combinations under section 5 of the Act involving the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) operating in the Oil and Gas Sectors under the Petroleum Act, 1934 (30 of 1934) and the rules made thereunder or under the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948 (53 of 1948) and the rules made thereunder, along with their wholly or partly owned subsidiaries operating in the Oil and Gas Sectors, from the application of the provisions of sections 5 and 6 of the Act, for a period of five years from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette.
Tags : Exemption CPSEs Oil and Gas Sectors
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Press Information Bureau
20.11.2017
Commercial
India Signs Loan Agreement with World Bank for USD 100 Million for "Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project"
MANU/PIBU/1377/2017
A Guarantee Agreement for IBRD/CTF loan of USD 98 million and Grant Agreement for USD 2 million for the "Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project" was signed with the World Bank here today by Mr. Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of Government of India, and Mr. Hisham A. Abdo, Acting Country Director, World Bank India, on behalf of the World Bank. A Loan Agreement was also signed by Mr. K S Popli, Chairman and Managing Director, India Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) and Mr. Hisham A. Abdo, Acting Country Director, World Bank India, on behalf of the World Bank.
The project consists of two components viz. (i) Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks (estimated total project cost of USD 100 million, including USD 75 million in IBRD loan and USD 23 million in CTF Loan) and (ii) Technical Assistance (USD 2 million in CTF Grant).
The objective of the project is to increase solar generation capacity through establishment of large-scale parks in the country. The project will help establish large-scale solar parks and support the government's plan to install 100 Gigawatts (GW) of solar power out of a total renewable-energy target of 175 GW by 2022.
Tags : Loan Agreement World Bank Solar Parks Project
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Press Information Bureau
20.11.2017
Civil
Aadhaar Data is Never Breached or Leaked: UIDAI
MANU/PIBU/1378/2017
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) responding to a news report, appeared in certain section of media on "210 Government sites made Aadhaar info public" as if Aadhaar data is leaked or breached, has said that such report is a skewed presentation of the facts and poses as if the Aadhaar data is breached or leaked which is not the true presentation. UIDAI said in a statement here that the Aadhaar data is fully safe and secure and there has been no data leak or breach at UIDAI.
UIDAI said that this said data on these websites was placed in public domain as a measure of proactive disclosure under RTI Act by these government and institutional websites which included beneficiaries' name, address, bank account, and other details including Aadhaar number and was collected from the third party/users for various welfare schemes. It was this collected info which had been displayed in the public domain under RTI Act. There was no breach or leakage of Aadhaar data from UIDAI database or server as has been aired by the said report.
UIDAI said that acting promptly on this, UIDAI and Ministry of Electronics & IT had directed the concerned Government departments/ministries to immediately remove it from their websites and ensure that such violation do not occur in future. Certain other measures were also taken at various levels to ensure that such incidents of display of Aadhaar numbers do not take place. Following UIDAI's action such data were removed from these websites immediately. However, the news presented the facts in a skewed manner and misleads readers as if Aadhaar data has been leaked or breached at 210 websites posing Aadhaar security is vulnerable.
UIDAI reiterated that Aadhaar security systems are best of the international standards and Aadhaar data is fully secure. There has been no breach or leakage of Aadhaar data at UIDAI. Also, the Aadhaar numbers which were made public on the said websites do not pose any real threat to the people as biometric information is never shared and is fully secure with highest encryption at UIDAI and mere display of demographic information cannot be misused without biometrics.
UIDAI clarified that Aadhaar number is not a secret number. It is to be shared with authorized agencies when an Aadhaar holder wishes to avail a certain service or benefit of government welfare scheme/s or other services. But that does not mean that the proper use of Aadhaar number poses a security or financial threat. Also, mere availability of Aadhaar number will not be a security threat or will not lead to financial/other fraud, as for a successful authentication fingerprint or iris of individual is also required. Further all authentications happen in presence of personnel of respective service provider which further add to the security of the system.
Furthermore, UIDAI security system has people's participatory security system like Biometric Lock facility available at UIDAI portal which any Aadhaarholder can use to put his/her own lock on one's biometric by visiting UIDAI's official website.
Tags : Aadhaar Data Leak
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Press Information Bureau
20.11.2017
Power and Energy
Nagaland, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu sign MoU with Government of India under UDAY Scheme 27 States and 4 UTs have joined UDAY till date
MANU/PIBU/1379/2017
On the 2nd Anniversary of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) today, the Government of India signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Scheme with the State of Nagaland and with Union Territories (UTs) of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu for operational improvements. These State/UTs have joined only for operational improvement and shall not undergo financial restructuring/issue of bonds under the scheme. With the above, UDAY club has now grown to 27 states and 4 UTs.
An overall net benefit of approximately Rs. 551 crores, Rs. 18 crores, Rs. 13 crores and Rs. 10 crores respectively would accrue to the State of Nagaland & UTs of Andaman & Nicobar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of cheaper funds for capex, reduction in AT&C and Transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, etc. during the period of turnaround.
The MoU paves way for improving operational efficiency of the Electricity Departments/DISCOM of the State/Union Territory. Through compulsory distribution transformer metering, consumer indexing & GIS mapping of losses, upgrade/change transformers, meters etc., smart metering of high-end consumers, feeder audit etc. AT&C losses and transmission losses would be brought down, besides eliminating the gap between cost of supply of power and realisation.
While efforts will be made by the States/UTs to improve their operational efficiency, and thereby reduce the cost of supply of power, the Central Government would also provide incentives to the State/UTs for improving power infrastructure and for further lowering the cost of power. The Central schemes such as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), Power Sector Development Fund or such other schemes of Ministry of Power (MoP) and Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) are already providing funds for improving power infrastructure and additional/priority funding would be considered under these schemes, if the State/UTs meets the operational milestones outlined in the scheme.
Demand Side interventions in UDAY such as usage of energy-efficient LED bulbs, agricultural pumps, fans & air-conditioners and efficient industrial equipment through PAT (Perform, Achieve, Trade) would help in reducing peak load, flatten load curve and thus help in reducing energy consumption in the State/UTs. Further, with improved efficiency, they would be in a better position to fund their capex at cheaper rates for Power infrastructure development/improvement in the State/UTs.
The ultimate benefit of signing the MOU would go to the people of these state/UTs. Reduced levels of AT&C losses would mean lesser cost per unit of electricity to consumers. Further, an operationally healthy DISCOM/Electricity Department would be in a position to supply more power. The scheme would also allow speedy availability of cheaper power to households in the State/UTs that are still without electricity. Availability of 24*7 cheaper, round the clock power would boost the economy, promote industries/tourism, thereby improving employment opportunities for the people of these State/UTs.
Tags : MoU UDAY Scheme Signing of
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Ministry of Finance
20.11.2017
Customs
Clarification regarding taxability of custom milling of paddy
MANU/GSCU/0030/2017
1. Representations have been received seeking clarification on whether custom milling of paddy by Rice millers for Civil Supplies Corporation is liable to GST or is exempted under S. No 55 of Notification 12/2017 - Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June 2017.
2. The matter has been examined. S. No 55 of Notification 12/2017- Central Tax (Rate) exempts carrying out an intermediate production process as job work in relation to cultivation of plants and rearing of all life forms of animals, except the rearing of horses, for food, fibre, fuel, raw material or other similar products or agricultural produce. Agricultural produce has been defined in the notification to mean, any produce out of cultivation of plants and rearing of all life forms of animals, except the rearing of horses, for food, fibre, fuel, raw material or other similar products, on which either no further processing is done or such processing is done as is usually done by a cultivator or producer which does not alter its essential characteristics but makes it marketable for primary market. Job work has been defined under section 2 (68) of the CGST Act to mean any treatment or process undertaken by a person on goods belonging to another registered person. Further, under Schedule II (para 3) of the CGST Act, any treatment or process which is applied to another person's goods is a supply of service.
3. Milling of paddy is not an intermediate production process in relation to cultivation of plants. It is a process carried out after the process of cultivation is over and paddy has been harvested. Further, processing of paddy into rice is not usually carried out by cultivators but by rice millers. Milling of paddy into rice also changes its essential characteristics. Therefore, milling of paddy into rice cannot be considered as an intermediate production process in relation to cultivation of plants for food, fibre or other similar products or agricultural produce.
4. In view of the above, it is clarified that milling of paddy into rice is not eligible for exemption under S. No 55 of Notification 12/2017 - Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June 2017 and corresponding notifications issued under IGST and UTGST Acts.
5. GST rate on services by way of job work in relation to all food and food products falling under Chapters 1 to 22 has been reduced from 18% to 5% vide notification No. 31/2017-CT(R) [notification No. 11/2017-CT (Rate) dated 28.6.17, S.No. 26 refers]. Therefore, it is hereby clarified that milling of paddy into rice on job work basis, is liable to GST at the rate of 5%, on the processing charges (and not on the entire value of rice).
6. Difficulty if any, in the implementation of the circular should be brought to the notice of the Board.
Tags : Taxability Milling Paddy
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