Ministry of Finance 

29.09.2022

Commercial

Central Government notifies the general conditions for grant of license for cultivation of opium poppy for obtaining opium gum

MANU/REVU/0093/2022

In pursuance of rule 8 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Rules, 1985, the Central Government hereby notifies the general conditions for grant of license specified below for cultivation of opium poppy for obtaining opium gum through lancing on account of the Central Government during the Opium Crop Year Commencing on the 1st day of October, 2022 and ending with the 30th day of September, 2023.

1. Place of Cultivation.--

Opium poppy cultivation may be licensed in any tract as may be notified in this behalf by the Central Government.

2. Eligibility for Cultivation.--

Subject to clauses 3 and 7 of this notification, the following shall be eligible for a license to cultivate opium poppy for obtaining opium gum through lancing:

(i) Cultivators who had cultivated opium poppy during the crop year 2021-22 and tendered an average yield of Morphine (MQY-M) not less than 4.2 kg per hectare.

Note:- Average qualifying yield of Morphine in opium tendered in kilograms per hectare will be termed as Minimum Qualifying Yield (MQY-M) in the notification hereinafter.

(ii) Cultivators who ploughed back their entire poppy crop cultivated during the crop year, 2019-20, 2020-2 1 & 2021-22 under the supervision of the Central Bureau of Narcotics in accordance with the provisions in this regard, but had not similarly ploughed back their entire poppy crop during 2018-19.

(iii) Cultivators whose appeal against refusal of License has been allowed after the last date of settlement in the crop year 2021-22.

(iv) Cultivators who were eligible for a license for the crop year 2021-22, but did not obtained/issued license for any reason, or who after having obtained a license, did not actually cultivate opium poppy due to any reason.

(v) Cultivator who is nominated by deceased eligible cultivator in column No. 11 in Form No. 1 (see rule 7) for the crop year 2021-22.

(vi) One of legal heirs of deceased eligible cultivators as determined by the District Opium Officer after following the due process, in the cases where nomination in Form No.1 is not made for any reason or nomination of person not falling under definition of family members/blood relatives in Form No. 1 is made.

Note: - Cultivators include their legal heirs also

3. Conditions of License.--

No cultivator shall be granted license unless he/she satisfies that:

i. He / She did not, in the course of actual cultivation, exceed the area licensed for poppy cultivation during the crop year 2021-22 beyond the 5% 'Condonable Limit' allowed in the licensing policy.

ii. He/she did not at any time resort to illicit cultivation of opium poppy and was not charged in any competent court for any offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and the Rules made there under.

iii. He/she did not during the crop year 2021-22 violate any departmental instructions issued by the Central Bureau of Narcotics/ Narcotics Commissioner to the cultivators.

4. Maximum Area.--

i. All eligible cultivators will be issued license of 0.10 Hectare :

ii. Cultivators getting license can sow opium poppy in not more than two plots.

iii. Cultivators will be permitted to take on lease, land belonging to others, to make up the licensed area, if they so desire.

5. Forewarning.--

i. A minimum qualifying yield (MQY -M) of 5.9 Kg Morphine/ Hectare of Morphine in opium tendered should be achieved during the crop year 2022-23 to become eligible for a license to cultivate opium poppy in the following year i.e. 2023-24.

ii. Morphine content of opium tendered during 2022-23 may become the basis for payment for the crop year 2022-23, if the Government decides to do so in this regard.

iii. Cultivators who had fully ploughed back their entire poppy during crop year 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 would not be entitled for license in the crop year 2023-24, if they also plough back their crop fully in the crop year 2022-23.

iv. In future, if Government intends to grant additional licenses, it may consider re-licensing of de-licensed cultivators who had tendered opium/ Morphine having total average equal to or more than 108 percent of the total of MQY/ MQY-M (fixed for licensing in the next crop year) for last five consecutive tendered years.

6. Condonable Limit.--

If the area actually cultivated is up to 5% in excess of the licensed area, such excess cultivation maybe condoned.

Tags : Conditions Grant License

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Reserve Bank of India

28.09.2022

Banking

Basic Statistical Return on Credit by Scheduled Commercial Banks in India - March 2022

MANU/RPRL/0445/2022

The Reserve Bank released the web publication 'Basic Statistical Return on Credit by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) in India - March 2022'1 on its Database on Indian Economy (DBIE) portal. The publication provides information on various characteristics of bank credit, based on data submitted by SCBs (including Regional Rural Banks) under the annual Basic Statistical Return (BSR) - 1 system, which collects information on type of account, organisation, occupation/activity and category of the borrower, district and population group of the place of utilisation of credit, rate of interest, credit limit and amount outstanding.

Main Findings:

• Bank branches in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas maintained double-digit annual (y-o-y) growth in credit in March 2022, whereas credit growth for metropolitan branches increased significantly to 9.2 per cent from 1.4 per cent in the previous year.

• Over the last five years, the credit shares of rural, semi-urban and urban branches have gone up at the cost of metropolitan branches of banks, which still accounted for nearly 60 per cent of total credit of SCBs in March 2022 (65.2 per cent five years ago).

• All the bank groups recorded robust credit growth during 2021-22.

• The declining share of public sector banks (PSBs) to total bank credit has continued: PSBs' share in total credit by SCBs stood at 54.8 per cent in March 2022 as compared with 65.8 per cent five years ago and 74.2 per cent ten years ago. On the other hand, the share of private sector banks nearly doubled to 36.9 per cent over the last ten years.

• Agriculture credit grew at 12.2 per cent (y-o-y) in March 2022; loans to industrial sector recorded 4.7 per cent growth in 2021-22 after witnessing a decline in the previous year.

• Over the last decade, the share of industrial loans in total credit has been gradually declining whereas, the share of personal loans has been increasing; both these sectors had nearly 27 per cent credit share each in March 2022.

• As credit demand from the retail segment has become more distinct in recent years, the portion of small-sized loans is also going up steadily. The share of loans up to Rs. one crore has surged to nearly 48 per cent in March 2022 from around 39 per cent five years ago, whereas the share of loans above Rs. ten crore fell to nearly 40 per cent from around 49 per cent over the same period, notwithstanding the price effect on loan-size over time.

• The share of loans bearing less than 7.0 per cent interest rate rose to 23.6 per cent in March 2022 as compared to 15.1 per cent a year ago.

• Nearly 95 per cent of the loans were utilised in the states/union territories where they were sanctioned.

• Maharashtra (26.2 per cent), National capital territory (NCT) of Delhi (11.3 per cent), Tamil Nadu (9.2 per cent) and Karnataka (6.8 per cent) together accounted for over half of the credit extended by SCBs.

Tags : Statistical Return Credit Banks

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Ministry of Finance 

26.09.2022

Direct Taxation

CBDT extends timeline for filing of modified ITR in Form ITR-A under Section 170A of Income Tax Act till March 31, 2023

MANU/CBDT/0121/2022

The Finance Act, 2022 has inserted section 170A in the Income tax Act, 1961 ("the Act") with effect from April, 2022 relating to effect of order of tribunal or court in respect of business reorganisation which provides that the entities going through such business reorganization, may furnish modified return of income for any assessment year to which such order of business reorganisation is applicable. The section further provides that such modified returns shall be furnished within a period of six months from the end of the month in which such order of business reorganisation was issued by the competent authority.

2. In pursuance thereof, form ITR-A has been notified vide notification G.S.R. 709(E) dated 19th September, 2022 and comes into effect from the 1st day of November, 2022. This has, however, reduced the time available for furnishing modified returns for successor companies in cases where the order of business reorganisation of the competent authority was issued in the period between 1st April, 2022 and 30th September, 2022.

3. Therefore, in order to address this genuine hardship and provide adequate time for furnishing of return under section 170A of the Act the Board hereby, allows that for successor companies in cases where the order of business reorganisation of the competent authority was issued between the period 1st April, 2022 and 30th September, 2023, the time available to furnish modified returns under section 170A of the Act shall stand extended to 31st March, 2023.

4. This order shall come into force with immediate effect.

Tags : ITR Time limit Entension

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Press Information Bureau

26.09.2022

Customs

Foreign Trade Policy extended for six months

MANU/PIBU/3985/2022

The government has received requests from Export Promotion Councils and leading exporters that we should continue with current Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20), which had been extended from time to time.

In recent days, exporters and industry bodies have strongly urged the government that in view of the prevailing, volatile global economic and geo-political situation, it would be advisable to extend the current policy for some time, and undertake more consultations before coming out with the new policy.

The government has always involved all stakeholders in formulating policy. In view of this, it has been decided to extend the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, valid till Sept 30, 2022 for a further period of six months, w.e.f. October 1st, 2022.

Tags : FTP Extension

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Press Information Bureau

26.09.2022

Banking

Finance Minister to review performance of Credit and other Welfare Schemes for Scheduled Castes in Public Sector Banks tomorrow

MANU/PIBU/3987/2022

Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman will review performance of Credit and other Welfare Schemes for Scheduled Castes in Public Sector Banks here tomorrow. The meeting would also be graced by the Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and heads of Public Sector Banks and Financial Institutions like SIDBI, NABARD. Along with the Union Finance Minister, the meeting will also be attended by the Union Ministers of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary and Dr. Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad, Secretary, and Department of Financial Services (DFS).

The Government has launched various schemes specifically for Scheduled Castes that includes the Stand-Up India Scheme, Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for Scheduled Castes (CEGSSC) and the Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes. Besides these schemes, the Government has emphasised on inclusive growth for all segments of society.

Credit given to persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste community by the banks as well as under various loan schemes such as Stand up India, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM), Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), Education Loan, Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for Scheduled Castes (CEGSSC), Venture Capital Fund for SCs etc will be reviewed in the meeting.

The meeting would also review the measures undertaken for the welfare of Scheduled Castes in the Banks. The review will focus on reservation, backlog vacancies and action taken to fill up the same and the functioning of welfare and grievances redressal mechanism including meetings with Welfare Associations, appointment of Chief Liaison Officers (CLOs), constitution of Grievance Redressal Cell etc.

Tags : Performance Credit Schemes Review

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Securities and Exchange Board of India

26.09.2022

Capital Market

Modification in the Operational Guidelines for FPIs, DDPs and EFIs pertaining to FPIs registered under Multiple Investment Managers (MIM) structure

MANU/SMIS/0017/2022

1. SEBI, vide circular number IMD/FPI&C/CIR/P/2019/124 dated November 05, 2019, had issued Operational Guidelines for FPIs, DDPs and EFIs (hereinafter referred to as OG) under the SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors), Regulations 2019.

2. Based on requests received from various market participants, it has been decided to replace clause (i) of Para 4 of Part A of the OG with the following:

"Where an entity engages multiple investment managers (MIM) for managing its investments, the entity can obtain multiple FPI registrations mentioning name of Investment Manager for each such registration. Such applicants can appoint different DDPs for each such registration. Investments made under such multiple registrations shall be clubbed for the purposes of monitoring of investment limits"

3. This circular is issued in exercise of powers conferred under Section 11(1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.

Tags : Modification Operational Guidelines FPIs

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Securities and Exchange Board of India

26.09.2022

Capital Market

Modalities related to Investment Adviser applications

MANU/SPRL/0031/2022

SEBI, vide circular ref. 2021/579 dated June 18, 2021, granted recognition to BSE Administration and Supervision Ltd. (BASL), a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE to act as an Investment Adviser Administration and Supervisory Body (IAASB) for a period of three years from June 01, 2021 in terms of Regulation 14 of SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 (SEBI IA Regulations). As per the provisions of Regulation 14(2) of SEBI IA Regulations, the administration and supervision of Investment Advisers (IAs) has been delegated to BASL.

In view of the above, all the new IA applicants as well as existing IAs are advised to approach BSE Administration and Supervision Limited (BASL) (Website: https://www.bseasl.com/) for registration and post registration activities related to Investment Advisers. Further, new IA applicants as well as existing IAs may refer to BASL circular no. 20220718-1 dated July 18, 2022 regarding Revised Process for seeking Membership from BASL and Registration from SEBI.

Tags : Modalities Investment Adviser Applications

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