Reserve Bank of India

26.03.2020

Banking

External Benchmark Based Lending - Medium Enterprises

MANU/RMIC/0023/2020

1.Please refer to the circular DBR.DIR.BC.No.14/13.03.00/2019-20 dated September 04, 2019, in terms of which all new floating rate personal or retail loans (housing, auto, etc.) and floating rate loans to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) extended by banks with effect from October 01, 2019 were linked to external benchmarks.

2. Subsequent to the introduction of an external benchmark system, the monetary policy transmission has improved in respect of the sectors where new floating rate loans have been linked to the external benchmarks.

3. With a view to further strengthening monetary policy transmission, it has now been decided that all new floating rate loans to the Medium Enterprises extended by banks from April 01, 2020 shall be linked to the external benchmarks as indicated in the aforesaid circular. All the other instructions as contained in the aforesaid circular remain unchanged.

4. Accordingly, Master Direction - Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rate on Advances) Directions, 2016 dated March 03, 2016 has been modified and is available on RBI's website.

Tags : Lending Medium Enterprises

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Press Information Bureau

26.02.2020

Commercial

CCEA approves Creation of National Technical Textiles Mission

MANU/PIBU/0498/2020

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to set up a National Technical Textiles Mission with a total outlay of Rs. 1480 Crore, with a view to position the country as a global leader in Technical Textiles. The Mission would have a four year implementation period from FY 2020-21 to 2023-24.

Technical Textiles are futuristic and nice segment of textiles, which are used for various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear, health on one end to bullet proof jacket, fire proof jackets, high altitude combat gear and space applications on other end of spectrum.

The Mission will have four components:

Component -l (Research, Innovation and Development) with outlay of Rs. 1000 Crore.

This component will promote both (i) fundamental research at fibre level aiming at path breaking technological products in Carbon Fibre, Aramid Fibre, Nylon Fibre, and Composites and (ii) application based research in geo-textiles, agro-textiles, medical textiles, mobile textiles and sports textiles and development of biodegradable technical textiles.

The fundamental research activities will be based on 'pooled resource' method and will be conducted in various Centre for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratories, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and other scientific/industrial/academic laboratories of repute. Application based research will be conducted in CSIR, IIT, Research Design & Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Indian Railways, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL), Indian Road Research Institute (IRRI) and other such reputed laboratories.

Component -II (Promotion and Market Development)

Indian Technical Textiles segment is estimated at USD 16 Billion which is approximately 6% of the 250 Billion USD global technical textiles market. The penetration level of technical textiles is low in India varying between 5-10% against the level of 30-70% in developed countries. The Mission will aim at average growth rate of 15-20% per annum taking the level of domestic market size to 40-50 Billion USD by the year 2024; through market development, market promotion, international technical collaborations, investment promotions and 'Make in India' initiatives.

Component - III (Export Promotion)

The component aims at export promotion of technical textiles enhancing from the current annual value of approximately Rs.14000 Crore to Rs.20000 Crore by 2021-22 and ensuring 10% average growth in exports per year upto 2023-24. An Export Promotion Council for Technical Textiles will be set up for effective coordination and promotion activities in the segment.

Component- IV (Education, Training, Skill Development)

Education, skill development and adequacy of human resources in the country is not adequate to meet the technologically challenging and fast growing technical textiles segment. The Mission will promote technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles and its application areas covering engineering, medical, agriculture, aquaculture and dairy segments. Skill development will be promoted and adequate pool of highly skilled manpower resources will be created for meeting the need of relatively sophisticated technical textiles manufacturing units.

The Mission will focus on usage of technical textiles in various flagship missions, programmes of the country including strategic sectors. The use of technical textiles in agriculture, aquaculture, dairy, poultry, etc. Jal Jivan Mission; Swachch Bharat Mission; Ayushman Bharat will bring an overall improvement in cost economy, water and soil conservation, better agricultural productivity and higher income to farmers per acre of land holding in addition to promotion of manufacturing and exports activities in India. The use of geo-textiles in highways, railways and ports will result in robust infrastructure, reduced maintenance cost and higher life cycle of the infrastructure assets.

Background of Technical Textiles:

Technical textiles are textiles materials and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic characteristics. Technical Textiles products are divided into 12 broad categories (Agrotech, Buildtech, Clothtech, Geotech, Hometech, Indutech, Mobiltech, Meditech, Protech, Sportstech, Oekotech, Packtech) depending upon their application areas. India shares nearly 6% of world market size of 250 Billion USD. However, the annual average growth of the segment is 12%, as compared to 4% world average growth. Penetration level of technical textiles is low in India at 5-10%, against 30-70% in advanced countries. The Mission aims at improving penetration level of technical textiles in the country.

Tags : Creation Textiles Mission Approval

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Press Information Bureau

26.02.2020

Customs

Cabinet approves Exemption from applicability of DPE Guidelines to India Ports Global Limited

MANU/PIBU/0494/2020

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the exemption of the India Ports Global Ltd. (IPGL) from the DPE Guidelines, except reservation and vigilance policies.

IPGL was incorporated under Companies Act 2013, as a Special Purpose Vehicle jointly promoted by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Deendayal Port Trust (DPT), [earlier Kandla Port Trust (KPT)], under Administrative control of Ministry of Shipping, for development and management of Shahid Behesthi Port of Chabahar in Iran.

Subsequent to the withdrawal of the USA from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Ministry of External Affairs advised Ministry of Shipping on 29th October 2018 to exclude JNPT and DPT from possible impact of US sanctions.

Based on this and with the approval of Empowered Committee all the shares of JNPT & DPT were purchased by "Sagarmala Development Company Ltd" (SDCL) on 17th December, 2018. SDCL is a CPSE and therefore IPGL being subsidiary of SDCL has also become a CPSE. As a result, Guidelines of DPE are technically applicable on IPGL.

Since Chabahar Port is Country's first overseas port project with strategic objectives, there is an urgent need to allow IPGL to continue to function as a Board managed company, duly following the instructions of Ministry of Shipping & Ministry of External Affairs, without making the guidelines of DPE applicable to it for a period of 5 years. Accordingly, Ministry of Shipping has requested exemptions to IPGL from the applicability of the DPE guidelines, for smooth execution of the project.

Tags : Exemption Applicability DPE Guidelines

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Reserve Bank of India

26.02.2020

Banking

Short Term Crop Loans eligible for Interest Subvention Scheme and Prompt Repayment Incentive through KCC

MANU/RMIC/0024/2020

1. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare vide their Office Memorandum, No. F. 1-20/2018-Credit-I, dated January 23, 2020 has advised that Short Term Crop Loans eligible for Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) and Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) should be extended only through KCC thus making KCC a prerequisite for claiming Interest Subvention (IS) and Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) by farmers w.e.f. April 1, 2020.

2. In view of this, banks are advised to ensure that all Short Term Crop Loans eligible for Interest Subvention (IS) and Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) benefit are extended only through KCC w.e.f. April 1, 2020. The existing Short Term Crop Loans which are not extended through KCC shall be converted to KCC loans by March 31, 2020.

3. Accordingly, reimbursement of interest subvention for Short Term Crop Loans through non-KCC accounts shall not be considered beyond March 31, 2020.

Tags : Loans Extension KCC

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Ministry of Commerce and Industry

25.02.2020

Customs

Anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of "Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride Resin-whether or not further processed into compound", originating in or exported from China PR and Korea RP

MANU/COMM/0031/2020

Attention is invited to the Final Finding Notification No. 6/3/2019-DGTR dated 19.02.2020 issued by the Designated Authority in respect of the subject Anti-dumping Investigation. Paragraph 120 of the said Finding is, hereby, corrected as follows:

EARLIER PARA

120. Having regard to the lesser duty rule, the Authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty equal to the lesser of margin of dumping and margin of injury, so as to remove the injury to the domestic industry. Accordingly, the Authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties on the imports of the subject goods, originating in or exported from the subject countries, for a period of five years, from the date of notification to be issued in this regard by the Central Government, as the difference between the landed value of the subject goods and the amount indicated in Col 7 of the duty table appended below, provided the landed value is less than the value indicated in Col 7. The landed value of imports for this purpose shall be the assessable value as determined by the customs under Customs Tariff Act, 1962 and applicable level of custom duties except duties levied under Section 3, 3A, 8B, 9, 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.

CORRECTED PARA

120. Having regard to the lesser duty rule, the Authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty equal to the lesser of margin of dumping and margin of injury, so as to remove the injury to the domestic industry. Accordingly, the Authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties on the imports of the subject goods, originating in or exported from the subject countries, for a period of five years, from the date of imposition of provisional duties notified by the Central Government vide Notification No. 33/2019-Customs dated 26th August, 2019, as the difference between the landed value of the subject goods and the amount indicated in Col 7 of the duty table appended below, provided the landed value is less than the value indicated in Col 7. The landed value of imports for this purpose shall be the assessable value as determined by the customs under Customs Tariff Act, 1962 and applicable level of custom duties except duties levied under Section 3, 3A, 8B, 9, 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Subject to the above, the Preliminary Finding notified vide notification No. 6/3/2019-DGTR dated 12th July, 2019 is hereby confirmed.

2. Subject to the above, all other aspects of the Final Finding Notification No. 6/3/2019-DGTR dated 19.02.2020 issued by the Designated Authority in respect of the subject Anti-dumping investigation remain unchanged.

Tags : Anti-dumping Investigation Imports

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Securities and Exchange Board of India

25.02.2020

Capital Market

Inclusion of Mauritius in the FATF list of "jurisdictions under increased monitoring"

MANU/SPRL/0011/2020

The Financial Action Task Force on February 21, 2020, has placed Mauritius in the list of "jurisdictions under increased monitoring", commonly referred to as the "grey list" and has stated the following:

"In February 2020, Mauritius made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and ESAAMLG to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Since the completion of its MER in 2018, Mauritius has made progress on a number of its MER recommended actions to improve technical compliance and effectiveness, including amending the legal framework to require legal persons and legal arrangements to disclose of beneficial ownership information and improving the processes of identifying and confiscating proceeds of crimes. Mauritius will work to implement its action plan, including by: (1) demonstrating that the supervisors of its global business sector and DNFBPs implement risk-based supervision; (2) ensuring the access to accurate basic and beneficial ownership information by competent authorities in a timely manner; (3) demonstrating that LEAs have capacity to conduct money laundering investigations, including parallel financial investigations and complex cases; (4) implementing a risk based approach for supervision of its NPO sector to prevent abuse for TF purposes, and (5) demonstrating the adequate implementation of targeted financial sanctions through outreach and supervision."

There have been apprehensions among market participants that whether inclusion of Mauritius in the 'grey list' would have an effect on the registration of FPIs from Mauritius.

SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019 inter-alia states that an applicant is eligible to become a FPI if it is not resident in the country identified in the public statement of FATF as- i) a jurisdiction having a strategic Anti-Money Laundering or Combating the Financing of Terrorism deficiencies to which counter measures apply; or ii) a jurisdiction that has not made sufficient progress in addressing the deficiencies or has not committed to an action plan developed with the FATF to address the deficiencies. This condition was also in SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2014.

It is noted from FATF website that when a jurisdiction is placed under increased monitoring, it construes that the country has committed to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring. The FATF does not call for the application of enhanced due diligence to be applied to these jurisdictions, but encourages its members to take into account this information in their risk analysis. The intermediaries should take note of the same.

Additionally, FATF identifies jurisdictions that have significant strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation. For all such countries, the FATF calls on all members and urges all jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence, and in the most serious cases, countries are called upon to apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system. This list is often referred to as the "black list". It is mentioned in FATF website that this was previously called "Public Statement".

Therefore, FPIs from Mauritius continue to be eligible for FPI Registration with increased monitoring as per FATF norms.

Tags : Inclusion Mauritius FATF list

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Press Information Bureau

24.02.2020

MRTP/ Competition Laws

CCI approves acquisition of 100% of issued and paid-up share capital of NEEPCO by NTPC

MANU/PIBU/0472/2020

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition of 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation ("NEEPCO"/"Target") by NTPC Limited ("NTPC"/"Acquirer") from Government of India ("GoI"), under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.

The Proposed Combination relates to the acquisition of 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital of the Target by the Acquirer from GoI.

NTPC is a Maharatna Company having presence in the power generation business. The principal business activity of the company is electric power generation through coal based thermal power plants. NTPC is also engaged in the business of generation of electricity from hydro and renewable energy sources.

NEEPCO is a power utility, primarily operating in the north-eastern region of India. The principal business activity of the Target is generation of power through hydro, thermal and solar power stations.

The CCI approved the Proposed Combination under Section 31(1) of the Act.

Tags : Acquisition Approval NEEPCO

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