Federal indirect tax body, GST Council, is likely to meet early September to consider key issues such as expanding the tax base, issuing clarifications to minimize tax disputes, and evaluating the process of tax rate rationalisation, according to two persons familiar with the development. Centre and states are looking at 9 September as the possible date for the meeting, one of the persons quoted above said on condition of anonymity. At the last quarterly meeting of the Council, held in the capital, the federal indirect tax body discussed matters requiring legislative amendments so that they could be included in the Union budget presented on 23 July. In the forthcoming meeting, to be chaired by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Council will take up pending issues such as the need to look into the need for clarifications so that disputes arising from interpretation of the law are minimised, the person said. The Council is likely to look into the practices of specific industries like software exports and airline business, which have recently come into spotlight for the tax notices issued to some of the players. The agenda for the meeting is yet to be finalised. A ministerial group led by Bihar Deputy Chief minister Samrat Chaudhary will provide an update on efforts to rationalise GST rates, which may lead to further discussions on rate revisions. It is expected to be an extensive consultative process given that changes to the rate structure could mean major revisions in some others. Experts said the Council meeting may give further momentum to reforms, addressing not only tax rate revisions but also compliance simplification and dispute resolution. “The proposed review of GST rates aims to align the tax structure with current economic conditions, potentially reducing rates on essential goods while increasing them on luxury items to balance consumer relief with revenue needs," said Rajat Mohan, executive director at accounting and advisory firm Moore Singhi. Simplifying compliance, particularly for small and medium enterprises, could significantly ease administrative burden, enhancing ease of doing business and encouraging growth in this vital sector, he explained.
Source: Live Mint
Central and state GST officers will launch a pan-India special two-month drive against fake registration beginning August 16, the CBIC said on Monday. This is the second such drive to identify fake registrations under Goods and Services Tax (GST). Fake GST registrations are usually taken to fraudulently avail and pass on input tax credit and evade GST. "The second Special All-India Drive may be launched by all Central and State Tax administrations from 16th August 2024 to 15th October 2024 to detect suspicious/ fake GSTINs and to conduct requisite verification and further remedial action to weed out these fake billers from the GST eco-system and to safeguard Government revenue," the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said in an instruction to field formations. In the first drive between May 16, 2023 to July 15, 2023, against fake registration, a total of 21,791 entities (11,392 entities pertaining to state tax jurisdiction and 10,399 entities pertaining to CBIC jurisdiction) having GST registration were discovered to be non-existent. An amount of Rs 24,010 crore (state - Rs 8,805 crore + Centre - Rs 15,205 crore) of suspected tax evasion was detected during the special drive. Moore Singhi Executive Director Rajat Mohan said this extended drive highlights the critical role of data analytics and inter-agency collaboration in combating tax evasion and underscores the government's commitment to maintaining a clean and fair tax environment
Source: Business Standard
India's consumer price index (CPI) inflation has eased to 3.54% in July, the lowest number in 59 months, data released by the government showed on Monday. This is the first time since August 2019 that the inflation print has come in below the RBI's comfort level of 4%, hinting at a chance that a rate cut in the future could come in sooner than expected. The CPI number is below a CNBC-TV18 poll forecast CPI of 3.64% and markedly lower than the 5.08% recorded in the previous month. The RBI has maintained the repo rate at 6.50% for the ninth consecutive time. The six member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) stated that this decision aligns with the goal of achieving the medium-term CPI inflation target of 4% within a +/- 2% band, while also supporting economic growth. Food inflation for July was recorded at 5.42%, slightly below the poll estimate of 5.5% and a significant decrease from the 9.36% reported in June. Rural inflation also saw a decrease, coming in at 4.10% compared to 5.66% in the previous month. Urban inflation decreased to 2.98%, down from 4.39% in June. Inflation in specific categories showed notable changes. Vegetables experienced a sharp reduction, with inflation at 6.83% compared to 29.32% in June. Pulses inflation eased to 14.77%, from 16.07% the previous month. Fuel and light costs declined further, showing a negative inflation rate of -5.48%, down from -3.66% in June. Housing inflation was stable at 2.68%, slightly lower than the 2.69% recorded in the previous month. Clothing and footwear inflation also saw a minor decline, ending at 2.67% compared to 2.73% in June. Core CPI inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, was reported at 3.4%, marginally above the CNBC-TV18 poll estimate of 3.35% but higher than the 3.1% recorded in June. Overall, the data reflects a broad-based moderation in inflation, suggesting improved price stability across various sectors.
Source: CNBCTv
The Finance Ministry has pitched for the goods and services tax (GST) data to be more aligned with the official statistics in the country, on a rather urgent basis. The Chief Economic Advisor to the Finance Ministry, V Anantha Nageswaran, says the union government needs to understand and dissect consumer choices, spending, the urban-rural split, and employment perceptions better. While the Private Final Consumption Expenditure, which contributes 60% to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), is a great tool for this, it is released only every quarter as part of the GDP print. Hence, for more frequent and granular data, the Ministry of Statistics urgently needs to “marry” the GST data into its official statistics. “…. synergy between the national statistical data systems and the GST data system will be extremely useful. That synergy has to be explored urgently and very importantly without much further delay because GST data tells us about consumption in different districts, at the granular level, we can go into pin codes, we can go into a rural-urban split, etc and we need that marriage between the national statistical data system and the GST data system to be able to get,” Nageswaran observed. The CEA said it is especially important to get a sense of “whether consumers are feeling well, doing well, and inclined to spend and how they perceive their employment prospects etc," given the results of the RBI’s consumer confidence and industrial outlook surveys. The surveys released last week by the RBI seem to indicate a dip in consumer confidence while demand for manufactured goods seems to have moderated. “…..there are some emerging concerns that we need to focus on and that will have implications for our economic growth outlook and prospects,” the CEA said. The Chief Economic Advisor also pitched for state GDP numbers to be more aligned with the economic trends in the country. He said most of the state data comes with a lag, rendering it “practically useless or irrelevant” for decision-makers who need real-time data. “Any data for a quarter that gets released one quarter later, or any monthly data released after a month has ended, becomes relatively useless from a decision maker’s perspective,” Nageswaran said.
Source: CNBC Tv
On the first day of his visit to South Korea, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy pitched for investments into the Mega Textile Park in Warangal at a meeting with the Korea Federation of Textile Industry (KOFOTI) and also invited the LS Group, which was part of the electronics giant LG group earlier. Projecting Warangal as an ideal destination for textile investments, Mr. Reddy urged the KOFOTI representatives to choose Warangal and also other parts of Telangana. The meeting included Kihak Sung, chairman of Youngone, Soyoung Joo, executive vice-chairman, KOFOTI, and top leaders of 25 major textile companies. Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu will constitute a task force that will follow up on all the opportunities for quick closures and action on ground. Earlier, the Telangana delegation held a meeting with LS Corp, which was formerly a part of the LG group. The CM’s team also met with the chairman of LS Group, Koo Ja Eun, and his senior leadership. “Our talks covered broad interests, including manufacturing investments in Telangana for electric cables, gas and energy, and batteries,” Mr. Reddy said. The Chief Minister said the LS team will visit Telangana shortly, on his invitation: “I am very positive that we will formally welcome them to Telangana as investors in the coming days.”
Hyundai car testing facility coming up
Later, the CM’s team met with Hyundai Motor Company officials, who informed about their decision to set up a car testing facility in Telangana through its subsidiary Hyundai Motor India Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (HMIE). The HMIE also plans to establish a large Mega Test Centre, which will include not only an automotive test track facility but also a state-of-the-art test car manufacturing facility (including electric vehicles). The test centre is likely to attract other affiliates and suppliers to set up their facilities in the vicinity. This will help to create both direct and indirect employment opportunities.
Moreover, the HMIE is expanding by renovating and modernising the existing engineering centre in Hyderabad to create more employment for India and the Asia Pacific region. “India is a very important market, and we are committed to developing benchmark-setting products and technologies for Indian customers,” the company told the delegation.
Source: The Hindu
The textile sector in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district is facing a severe crisis as a result of the political unrest in Bangladesh. Bhilwara has been exporting 50% of its yarn and denim to Bangladesh for years, but the latest tensions in the nation are causing serious problems. These commodities are expected to be worth a total of Rs. 2,000 crore in exports annually.
“Yarn and denim worth Rs. 150-200 crore were exported to Bangladesh from Bhilwara every month. This has suddenly ceased. Bhilwara’s industry is in crisis because the demand for cloth has significantly reduced. Although Bangladeshi buyers have not cancelled their orders, local producers have stopped production due to the uncertainty surrounding payments,” RK Jain, general secretary of the Mewar Chamber of Commerce, the largest industrial organisation in Southern Rajasthan, said. There are 450 weaving, 18 processing, 20 spinning, and 10 denim industries in Bhilwara. These industries directly and indirectly employ approximately 65,000 people. These workers’ livelihoods are in jeopardy because of the current crisis because production has stopped and demand has dropped significantly.
One of the biggest textile industries in the world, Bangladesh exports textiles to the US and Europe among other nations. Some businesspeople in the midst of the crisis there think that India’s textile industry could see a significant boost if it were to take 10% of Bangladesh’s textile orders.
Experts warn that India could have to look for new export markets if the crisis in Bangladesh continues. While many think that Bhilwara plants would suffer a serious short-term setback, India’s textile industry may benefit long-term from this abrupt crisis if it can seize the chance and achieve a major breakthrough in markets that Bangladesh typically serves.
Source: Apparel Resource
Synopsis Krishnamurthy V Subramanian of the IMF stated that Hyderabad, India could potentially become a USD 55 trillion economy by 2047. During his book launch at Indian School of Business, he highlighted that with 8% growth and solid government policies, India could achieve this by leveraging financial inclusion and infrastructure investments. Hyderabad: India has the potential to become a USD 55 trillion economy by 2047 if state and central governments work hard to implement policies that will take the country's growth from "what has been historically 7 % to 8% (in rupee terms)", Krishnamurthy V Subramanian, Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday. In an interactive session during the launch of his book 'India @100' at Indian School of Business (ISB) here, Subramanian said becoming a USD 55 trillion economy by 2074 may appear audacious, but it is achievable. He also said India's private credit to GDP ratio was 58 per cent in 2020, six decades behind the advanced economies which are now at 200 per cent, though there is phenomenal work being done in terms of financial inclusion through schemes like 'Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana'. "So in other words...while this of course appears to be audacious, it is the power of compounding that makes it happen. As long as we are able to register 8% growth, we can actually become a $55 trillion economy," the former chief economic advisor said when asked why he thinks India has the potential to be a USD 55 trillion economy by 2047. Asserting that his assumptions are based on a "rule of 72" which when applied to the 12 per cent dollar rate of growth (8 % GDP growth, 5% inflation-1% Rupee depreciation against dollar), GDP doubles every six years, he explained that over the 24-year period from 2023 , the economy which is now at USD 3.25 trillion will have "four doublings" resulting in USD 52 trillion by 2047. Presenting Japan as an example, Subramanian said its economy grew from USD 215 billion in 1970 to USD 5.1 trillion in 1995, almost a 25x increase in a 25-year period while the GDP per capita grew from USD 2100 to USD 44,000. The IMF official, underscoring the importance of utilisation of government borrowings to create assets, said if they are used to fund subsidies or revenue expenditures, it would not add to the economy. In addition to physical infrastructure, India needs to invest in elevating human capital, healthcare and also build digital capital, among others, which are the responsibility of the sovereign, he added.
Source: Economic Times
Data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that the growth of manufacturing, which comprises two-thirds of the index, almost halved to a seven-month low of 2.6% in June from 5% in May. Electricity and mining grew 8.6% and 10.3% on-year, respectively in June.
Source: Economic Times
Germany's economy is facing increasing challenges as the order shortage worsens, according to the latest data from the ifo Institute. In July, 39.4 per cent of companies reported a lack of orders, a rise from 38.4 per cent in April. The manufacturing sector has been particularly hard hit, with the percentage of companies reporting insufficient orders increasing from 39.5 per cent in April to 43.6 per cent in July. In the textile manufacturing sector, a substantial 66.5 per cent of companies reported a lack of orders, indicating significant strain on this segment. Similarly, 32.7 per cent of companies in the wearing apparel manufacturing sector also reported a shortage of orders, as per the ifo Institute. “The lack of orders is weighing on economic development in Germany. Almost every industry is affected,” said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of Surveys at ifo.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Cropped shot of male fashion designer picking the fabric rolls from the rack. Man taking the textile roll for making the dress. The plant will have a capacity of 1,660 kilowatts/hour (kWh), Abu Baker said, adding that it is set to save 30% of the factory’s electricity consumption Türkiye-based ready-made garments manufacturer Jade Textile has contracted with a Gulf-based consultant to set up a solar power plant for its factory in the Tenth of Ramadan City, with investments estimated at $1.5 million, Corporate communication and PR Country Manager Moataz Abu Baker told Al Borsa News. The plant will have a capacity of 1,660 kilowatts/hour (kWh), Abu Baker said, adding that it is set to save 30% of the factory’s electricity consumption. As per an agreement with Jade Textile, the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) will partially finance the construction of the plant, he pointed out.
Source: Zawya
