8 key developments in India
Listicle edited by contentmii on Mon, 04/22/2019 - 18:06The Goods and Services Tax (GST) came into effect across India from 01 July 2017. GST has turned all 36 states and union territories of India into one common market. By curbing and cascading taxes, GST has also reduced the cost of local production. The GST rate on more than 200 products has been reduced from 28% to 18%. GST is expected to increase overall efficiency and productivity, thereby attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI).1 Taxpaying is much easier in India because of factors like the introduction of GST and digitisation of processes. A fact that is captured in the World Bank Doing Business Report 2018 declares that India’s ranking on the ‘Paying Taxes’ indicator has improved by 53 places.2 The Government has also formed a Goods & Services Tax Council, for making recommendations to the Union and State Government on issues related to Goods and Service Tax. The regular meetings and proactive remedial actions of the council have ensured effective implementation and better control.
Sources ,A social revolution is coming up in India under the moniker JAM: Jan Dhan Yojana for financial inclusion, Aadhaar biometric identification and mobile telecommunications. As of February 2019, the number of Aadhaar cards assigned to the total population is 1.52 bn.1 The Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a financial inclusion programme that makes services like banking, remittance and insurance available to every Indian at an affordable cost. Beneficiaries can open a zero-balance account. As of 08 May 2019, 356 mn new bank accounts were opened under the PMJDY. More than 211 mn of these accounts are in rural India, and around 190 mn are operated by women.2
Sources ,As of January 2018, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to a number of amendments in the FDI Policy. FDI policy has been further liberalized in key sectors: 100% FDI under automatic route for Single Brand Retail Trading 100% FDI under automatic route in Construction Development Foreign airlines allowed to invest up to 49% under approval route in Air India FIIs/FPIs allowed to invest in Power Exchanges through primary market Definition of ‘medical devices’ amended in the FDI Policy The amendments will liberalise and simplify the FDI policy to provide ease of doing business, larger FDI inflows contributing to the growth of investment, income and employment.1
SourceThe programmes to build infrastructure and connect India are picking up pace. The 2019 budget is seeing an allocation of $9.27 Bn and the highest ever capital expenditure of $22.77 Bn for Indian Railways.1 The plan to build 83,677 km of roads is underway and will complete by 2021-22. The Bharatmala Pariyojana programme accounts for 34,800 km of roads at a cost of $7.713 Bn. This will create 142 mn man-days of jobs in the process. The remaining 48,877 km will be developed by the National Highway Authority of India and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Sagarmala Programme, on the other hand, focuses on connectivity by sea. It forecasts a role for multiple central ministries and agencies, as well as state governments. As of 30 September 2018, a total of 522 projects at a cost of $6.18 Bn were under various stages of implementation, development and completion. The projects are across port modernization, new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-linked industrialization and coastal community development.
SourcesGlobally, India is number fifth for overall installed renewable energy capacity, fourth for wind power and fifth for solar power.1 As of 2018, solar energy projects capable of producing 22 GW have been installed in the country. More than 100 bn units of electricity have been generated in 2017 using renewable energy.2 The Government of India has set a target to install 175 GW renewable power capacity by the end of 2022. This includes 60 GW from wind power, 100 GW from solar power, 10 GW from biomass power and 5 GW from small hydropower.