ECONOMY AFFAIRS JULY 2015

ECONOMY AFFAIRS JULY 2015

• Indian crude oil at four-month low to cut govt subsidy burden
  The Indian basket of crude oil price has plummeted to $54.41 per barrel, its lowest in four months, on the back of multiple factors, including a contraction in the manufacturing sector in China, the world’s second-largest consumer of crude after the US. A stronger US dollar has also made non-US investors to sell commodities, pressuring prices already impacted by the global oversupply concerns from the just-concluded Iranian nuclear deal.
  
  The Indian basket represents the average price of Oman and Dubai sour grade crude and the sweet Brent crude oil processed in Indian refineries in the ratio of 72:28. It stood at $54.41 per barrel on the last trading day of July 24, falling from a peak of $66.54 per barrel on May 6, and the lowest since April 2 price of $54.77 per barrel.
  
  Currently, every $1 decrease in crude prices pulls down import bill by Rs 6,500 crore and the government’s subsidy burden by Rs 900 crore. However, the benefit would be limited by the ongoing depreciation in rupee value. The Indian currency on Monday fell to a six-week low closing at Rs 64.17 against the dollar. Currently, every Rs 1 increase in the exchange rate of dollar increases oil import bill by Rs 7,455 crore, according to Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), an arm of the oil ministry.
  
  Ravichandran also said the decline in crude prices is positive for Indian refiners — Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) — as their working capital requirements would reduce due to lower crude oil and product prices and lower gross under-recoveries (GURs) or loss suffered on subsidised sales of petroleum products like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene.
  
  The oil marketing companies (OMCs) under-recoveries came down from Rs 139,869 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 72,314 crore last financial year, thanks to diesel deregulation and the roll out of Direct Benefit Transfer in LPG (DBTL) scheme. In the current financial year, the government is budgeting for a petroleum subsidy bill of Rs 30,000 crore, including Rs 22,000 crore on LPG sales, and the rest on kerosene. The government may now be able to save Rs 9,000 crore of this thanks to the decline in crude rates.
  
  India imported 189 million tonne (MT) of crude oil at a cost of $112 billion last financial year (2014-15). With lower crude rates slated to create Rs 65,000 crore cushion for importers, OMCs could pass on the benefit to consumers by reducing retail prices of petrol and diesel to be announced by OMCs soon. In Delhi, the retail prices were last revised on 15 July through Rs 2.43 per litre cut in petrol and Rs 2.25 per litre cut in diesel. However, petrol prices increased by 28 paisa while diesel prices decreased by a minor 50 paisa after the state government raised Value Added Tax (VAT) rates.
  
• SEBI cancels Sahara's mutual fund licence
  The Securities and Exchange Board of India has cancelled Sahara asset Management Company’s license on 28th July. The market regulator in its order said that the company is not fit and proper entity to carry out the business of mutual fund.
  
  It said, Sahara’s fund management license would stand cancelled after 60 days from the date of the order. It has directed Sahara AMC not to take any new subscription from the investors including existing investors in systematic investment plans and also not to levy any penalties on the investors for not depositing the installments.
  
  The regulator has also asked the fund house to transfer its activities to a new sponsor and a Sebi approved asset Management Company at the earliest.
  
  Sahara Group is involved in a legal tussle with the market regulator over optionally fully convertible debentures that were ruled to be illegal by Sebi and directing the group to refund the money collected to investors along with interest. The matter is currently before the Supreme Court.
  
• Cabinet approves RS panel's amendments on GST Bill
  The Union Cabinet has approved amendments proposed by Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Goods and Services Tax, GST Constitution Amendment Bill. The amendments include compensation to the states for 5 years instead of upto 5 years for any revenue loss due to introduction of GST.
  
  The Cabinet has also approved a new Consumer Protection Bill 2015. It seeks to replace the existing law and proposes setting up a regulatory authority to curb unfair trade practices. The decision was taken by the Cabinet, the new bill will repeal the 29-year-old Consumer Protection Act, seeks to create a Consumer Protection Authority on the lines of the US and European countries for fast-tracking redressal of consumer grievances.
  
  Union Cabinet has given its approval to foreign investment in the Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) for facilitating domestic investment. According to sources, the decision is a follow up to the Finance Minister's announcement in this year's Budget speech. It would lead to availability of more funds to start-ups, early stage venture , social venture, Small and Medium Enterprises, infrastructure or other sectors considered as socially or economically desirable but regarded as high risk and having uncertain returns. The AIFs are required to be registered with SEBI, operate within the regulatory framework of RBI, comply with KYC norms and operate in specified sectors.
  
• Cabinet okays setting up of NIIF
  The Cabinet gave its nod for setting up of a National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, NIIF. It will have an initial corpus of 20,000 crore rupees which can be leveraged by infrastructure companies as proposed by Finance Minister in the Budget for the current fiscal. Union Cabinet has given its approval to foreign investment in the Alternative Investment Funds for facilitating domestic investment.
  
  According to sources, the decision is a follow up to the Finance Minister's announcement in this year's Budget speech.
  
• Centre opens doors to foreign investment in multi-brand retail
  India has opened multi-brand retail through the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) route. In a major turnaround, the BJP-led government, so far opposed to foreign investments in multi-brand retail, has decided to allow FPI up to 49 per cent or up to the sectoral cap (whichever is lower) through the automatic route.
  
  This means that foreign investors in multi-brand retail can bring in investments in the form of FPI up to 49 per cent without government approval
  
  Foreign portfolio investment includes foreign institutional investments (FII), sub-accounts and qualified foreign investments (QFIs). However, foreign retailers will not be able to have direct management control of an Indian venture. FPI does not provide investors with the option of management participation.
  
  The only exceptions to the composite cap rule are the defence and banking sectors. In the defence sector, portfolio investments by FPIs/FIIs/NRIs/QFIs and investments by Foreign Venture Capital Investors (FVCIs) together cannot exceed 24 per cent of the total equity of the investee/joint venture company, while the FDI cap is at 49 per cent, the note said.
  
  In the private banking sector, where the sectoral cap is 74 per cent, FII/FPI/QFI investment limits will continue to be within 49 per cent of the total paid-up capital of the company.
  
• Govt clears seven FDI proposals worth Rs 981.15 cr
  Government has cleared seven foreign direct investment proposals. The proposals worth 981.15 crore rupees have been cleared by the Finance Ministry following recommendations by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, FIPB. Hathway Cable and Data Com Ltd have got approval for increasing foreign investment limit for Foreign Institutional Investors, FIIs and Foreign Portfolio Investors, FPIs, among others. Meanwhile, the FIPB headed by Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will meet again today to decide on over 40 investment proposals.
  
• RBI to issue 10 rupee coin to mark International Yoga Day
  The Reserve Bank on 30th July announced plans to put into circulation 10 rupee coins to commemorate the International Day of Yoga. The coin bears the logo of the International Day of Yoga, with the inscription Saamanjasya evam shanthi ke liye yog “ in Devnagri script and “yoga for harmony and peace” around the logo. At the bottom of the logo the date June 21 is inscribed, according to an official statement.
  
  The inscription Anthar rashtriya yoga divas in Devnagri script is on the left periphery and “international day of yoga” in English on the right periphery is written on this side of the coin. The obverse of the coin bears the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar in the centre with the legend Sathyamev Jayate inscribed below, the statement said.
  
  This is flanked on the left periphery with the word Bharat in Devnagri script and on the right periphery flanked with the word “INDIA” in English.
  
  The coins have been minted by the Central government and are legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011. They will be put into circulation shortly. In early June, the Finance Ministry notified these design details in the Gazette of India.
  
• Public sector banks to get Rs. 70,000 cr over four years
  Public sector banks (PSBs), saddled with bad debts, will get Rs. 70,000 crore over a period of four years, the Finance Ministry said. The first installment of Rs. 25,000 crore has been marked for this fiscal.
  
  Having provided Rs. 7,940 crore in this year’s Budget, the Finance Ministry has sought Parliamentary nod for an additional capital infusion of Rs. 12,010 crore through a Supplementary Demand for Grants. The remaining Rs. 5,000 crore will be provided in the second Supplementary Demand later this year.
  
  The second installment of Rs. 25,000 crore will be in 2016-17, followed by infusion of Rs. 10,000 crore each in the third (2017-18), and fourth (2018-19) installments.
  
  The basic purpose of capital infusion is to adequately capitalise all the banks to keep a safe buffer over and above the minimum norms of Basel III (a set of guidelines for a more resilient banking system, focusing on four vital banking parameters: capital, leverage, funding, and liquidity). According to government estimates, the requirement of extra capital for the next four years (up to 2018-19) is likely to be about Rs. 1.80 lakh crore.
  
• Govt revises scheme for Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
  Ministry of Tribal Affairs has revised the Central Sector Scheme known as, Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Now, the Ministry will provide 100% financial assistance to PVTG through the State Governments.
  
  Under the Scheme, priority is accorded to protection, and improvement in social indicators like livelihood, health, nutrition and education. At present, there are 75 tribal groups identified and categorized as PVTGs, earlier known as Primitive Tribal Groups.
  
• 3,785 women directors in country's listed companies: Jayant Sinha
  According to the Minister of state for Finance Jayant Sinha, there are 3,785 women directors in listed companies of the country as on July 27th. The government has not issued any directive to Securities and Exchange Board of India to ensure appointment of women directors on the companies boards.
  
  But according to Sinha, the Companies Act 2013 provides that every listed company having paid up share capital of 100 crore rupees or more or turnover of 300 crore rupees or more, shall appoint at least one women director.
  
• Centre sets target to procure Rice
  Centre to procure 3 crore tonnes of rice during the Kharif season; States have been asked to identify areas with maximum paddy production and to open adequate purchase centers and deploy sufficient manpower
  
  Government has set a target to procure 30 million tonne of rice during the next kharif marketing season starting from October 1.
  
  The Food Corporation of India the nodal agency for foodgrain procurement and distribution has purchased 32 MT of rice so far in 2014-15 marketing year. The corporation had set 30.5 MT of rice procurement target last fiscal.
  
  The food ministry has asked states to prepare details of storage plans for the coming kharif marketing season and have an action plan to meet the deficit in storage requirements.
  
• Delhi govt slashes VAT rates from 12.5 pc to 5 pc
  Delhi government has slashed Value Added Tax, VAT rates from 12.5 percent to 5 percent in three categories. These categories are metal utensils, wax of all kinds, wood and timber.
  
  According to official release Delhi government has notified more than seven percent reduction in the VAT in keeping with AAP government's agenda of implementing pro-people tax reforms. It said government is committed to removing taxes which result in consumers paying more for no valid reasons.
  
• Compensate States for 5 years: GST panel
  The Rajya Sabha-appointed select panel on the Goods and Services Tax Bill (GST) has suggested that States be compensated for loss of revenues arising from GST implementation for five years. This could, to a large extent, clear the hurdle in the passage of the GST Bill in the Upper House. The Bill is likely to come up in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
  
  Most members in the panel had demanded that the States be compensated at least for five years. The panel has suggested an amendment to Clause 19 of the Bill that “Parliament may, by law, on the recommendations of the GST Council, provide for compensation to the States for the loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of the GST Tax for a period of five years.”
  
  The report has also agreed that the Centre’s votes should have more weightage in the GST Council. It said all the decisions have to be taken collectively by the Centre and the States in the GST panel and 75 per cent votes are necessary for this.
  
  The committee felt that tobacco products should remain within the ambit of the GST. Various voluntary organisations and States had demanded that States should have the right to levy taxes on tobacco and tobacco products.
  
  The committee has taken the view that States should protect the taxing rights and revenues of local bodies. The panel asked the States to ensure regular flow of revenues to the local bodies post GST roll out.
  
  Maintaining that local bodies play an important role in the development process, the panel said: “In that backdrop, the committee strongly recommends that while drafting the State GST laws, due consideration to the third tier of the government as has been guaranteed by the Constitution be given and provisions of devolution of taxes to the local bodies be made.
  
  KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
  • Revenues of local bodies need to be protected. State governments should ensure adequate revenue flows to the local bodies
  • The Centre’s vote share in the GST council has been kept at one-third and that of the States at two-thirds to strike a fine balance.
  • Endorses Revenue Department’s argument on inclusion of petroleum products and tobacco products under the GST accepted
  • Word “supply” in Clause 18 should be explained as “All forms of supply made for a consideration”; one per cent additional tax likely to lead to cascading of taxes
  • When fixing the GST rate, the council may opt for a broad base and moderate rate as they are essential features of a good tax system
  
  
• Cabinet for 3% interest subvention extension for crop loans
  The Cabinet on 21st July approved a proposal to extend a three per cent interest subvention scheme to banks to ensure farmers get crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh at seven per cent a year interest. An additional subvention of three per cent would be given to those who pay loans on time.
  
  The Cabinet approved an expenditure of Rs 18,110 crore for FY16 to enable banks to provide three per cent interest subvention on short-term crop loans to those who make timely repayment.
  
  Of the total amount sanctioned, Rs 2,332 crore would be provided to Nabard and the remaining to commercial banks.
  
  The subvention will be applicable to those farmers who repay their amounts within one year of disbursal and it will be restricted to Rs 3 lakh of short-term crop loans. The subvention would also be applicable for post-harvest loans taken by small and marginal farmers against their negotiable warehouse receipts.
  
  The Cabinet also approved Rs 374 crore for farmers with Kisan Credit Cards. The subvention would continue to be provided to farmers affected by natural calamities.
  
  The scheme was announced in the 2015-16 Union Budget. For 2015-16, the target of agriculture credit has been raised to Rs 8,50,000 crore, from Rs 8,00,000 in 2014-15.
  
• Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan launched
  To create awareness and capacity building on Safe and Hygienic food for all Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on 21st July launched a national campaign Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan. It is a countrywide campaign to create mass awareness and capacity building for safe and hygienic food.
  
  The campaign planned by CII and its partners including Consumer Organization VOICE, and National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), is an effort towards building a culture of food safety in the country. Under the campaign, nationwide sensitisation sessions on cleaning, hygiene & sanitation for safe food, Walkathons and Media dissemination programmes for Consumers, Street Food Industries will be organized across the country. On the occasion the Minister launched a website and a logo of the campaign and also signed a pledge for adopting safe food practices.
  
• India earns USD 100 million launching 45 foreign satellites
  India has earned about 100 million US dollars launching 45 foreign satellites till date and revenue from its commercial space missions is poised to grow with another 28 foreign satellites planned to be put into orbit between 2015 and 2017.
  
  This information was given by Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 22nd July while providing details of revenue earned by Antrix - the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) - from launch of foreign satellites.
  
  The Minister said Antrix has signed agreements for launching 28 satellites of six countries--Algeria, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore and the US during 2015-17. Till now, 45 satellites from 19 countries have been launched by the ISRO and the income generated through this amounts to around 17 million US dollars and 78.5 million Euros (85 million US dollars), he said.
  
  He also informed that the government has sanctioned 15 smaller PSLV launchers worth Rs 3,090 crore which would be built during 2017-2020.
  
• ISRO launches 72 indigenous satellites
  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched 72 indigenous satellites. Of these 45 satellites were launched from Satish Dhawan space centre, Sriharikota using indigenous launch vehicles.
  
  27 satellites were launched using foreign launchers. In addition, ISRO has successfully launched four micro and nano satellites built by students of Indian universities. Dr Singh informed that six indigenous satellites are also to be launched by Mach 2016.
  
• NRIs Can Invest in National Pension System, Says Regulator
  NRIs or non-resident Indians can invest in the National Pension System (NPS) to get a social security cover, according to Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman Hemant Contractor
  
  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has communicated to pension regulator PFRDA about NRIs being eligible to make such investments and the government will shortly come out with a clarification on the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) guidelines to facilitate non-resident Indians to invest in National Pension System (NPS).
  
• 7 Indian firms among world's 500 largest companies: Fortune Magazine
  Seven Indian companies are among the world's 500 largest companies, according to a list compiled by Fortune Magazine that has been topped by retail giant Walmart. The Indian companies on the 2015 Fortune Global 500 list are Indian Oil ranked 119 on the list with revenues of about 74 billion US dollars, followed by Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, and ONGC. Companies are ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years ended on or before March 31, 2015. Revenue figures include consolidated subsidiaries and reported revenues from discontinued operations, but exclude excise taxes.
  
• Poverty draft report of NITI Aayog sent to states
  The NITI Aayog taskforce on eliminating poverty has decided to tread the middle path on the contentious issue of whether to have a poverty number to identify the poor or just use deprivation indicators for decision making.
  
  In its draft discussion paper on mitigating poverty, which has been sent to the States for comments, the taskforce, under the Aayog’s Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, has placed arguments both in favour of and against the need for a poverty number.
  
  States are supposed to give their comments on the draft by mid-August.
  
  The panel includes NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy, Chief Statistician TCA Anant, economist Surjit Bhalla and secretaries from the ministries and departments of rural development, housing and urban poverty alleviation, financial services, MSME and skill development.
  
  The discussion paper also states that in case a poverty number is required, it may not be necessarily calculated by the NITI Aayog. It could be calculated jointly by the Rural Development Ministry, which would give the number for rural poor, and the Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry, which would give the number for urban poor, or the statistical commission.
  
  The Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry is carrying out a similar census, which will also throw up a number for the urban poor.
  
  Also when Sustainable Development Goals are in place — they may have targeted poverty reduction numbers — the country would need a baseline as a measure of its performance.
  
  The taskforce’s document has suggested to States that they use the Socio Economic and Caste Census survey, wherever suitable, for their welfare programmes.
  
  The SECC has automatically excluded 39.39 per cent of the rural population from the list of poor based on 14 parameters, included 0.92 per cent based on five parameters and has divided the rest on the basis of seven deprivation indicators.
  
  The Rural Development Ministry has reportedly classified 31.26 per cent of rural households as poor based on about four of the seven indicators.
  
  The Rangarajan committee, a technical expert group set up by the UPA in 2012, had classified 30.95 per cent of rural Indians as poor in 2011-12.
  
• SIT asks SEBI to clamp down on tax evaders, P-Note misuse
  The Special Investigation Team, SIT on black money has asked Securities Exchange Board of India, SEBI to identify real owners of foreign funds coming through the Participatory-Note route and also prosecute those using equities for tax evasion.
  
  In its third report on steps required to check the black money menace, the SIT said it is not enough for the regulator to ban individuals and companies from stock markets.
  
  The SIT also questioned the current practice of P-Notes being transferable in nature and said SEBI needs to examine if this provision of allowing transfer of P-Notes is in any way beneficial for easing foreign investment.
  
  P-Notes or Participatory Notes are typically Offshore Derivative Instruments issued abroad by Foreign Institutional Investors, FIIs or their associates against the underlying Indian securities.
  
  To prevent misuse of exemption on Long Term Capital Gains, LTCG tax for money laundering, the panel has suggested a slew of measures such as having an effective monitoring mechanism by SEBI to study such unusual rise of stock prices.
  
  It has also suggested measures to ensure donations by cheques to prevent black money generation in education sector, religious bodies and charities.
  
  It has also sought prosecution of those donating and accepting unaccounted money under anti-corruption law. The SIT said, norms needed to check menace of betting in cricket as huge amount of black money is used and generated in betting.
  
  The SIT has also suggested steps to crackdown on shell companies which are set up by entities to evade taxes and result in generation of black money. It said, Serious Frauds investigation office, SFIO under Ministry of Corporate Affairs should actively and regularly mine the MCA 21 database to find out shell companies and share information with other law enforcement agencies.
  
  It said, once certain companies are identified through data mining, the list of such high risk companies should be shared with Central Bureau of Direct Taxes and Financial Intelligence Unit for closer surveillance. On trade-based money laundering, it said, those involved in false declaration and falsification of documents should be dealt with severely under the relevant law.
  
• RBI approves proposal to transfer money to depositor’s account from any bank
  The Reserve Bank of India has approved a proposal which will facilitate transfer of money to the depositor’s account from any bank. The money so deposited will get automatically credited to the intended account number.
  
  This facility will be provided by Cash Deposit Machines, CDMs, with the deposit limit of rupees 49,999. The proposed service would be facilitated by National Finance Switch, NFS.
  
• Centre approves over 2,800 cr rupees for hailstorm-hit farmers in UP
  The Centre has approved over 2 thousand 800 crore rupees for relief of hailstorm-affected farmers in Uttar Pradesh. A decision in this regard was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi 24th July.
  
  The amount was sanctioned after going through the report of the central team which visited the hailstorm-hit areas. The entire funds will be given to the state which will distribute compensation amount to farmers as per the damaged crops.
  
  The committee also decided the assistance for hailstorms affected farmers in Bihar and Himachal Pradesh. The NDA government has changed the norms for giving compensation to farmers whose crops were damaged. Now, those farmers whose crops are damaged up to 33 per cent are entitled for compensation. Earlier it was limited upto 50 percent.
  
• Provisions of Indian Financial Code
  The composition of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), as suggested by the revised draft of the Indian Financial Code, put out by the Finance Ministry on 23rd July, swings in favour of the Centre. The draft recommends a seven-member committee, headed by the RBI Governor, who will have the casting vote in case of a tie while taking the decision on policy rates.
  
  The panel has suggested two members (excluding the RBI Governor) from the central bank — one nominated by the RBI board and the other by the Governor. The other four members will be appointed by the Centre.
  
  The recommended composition is in contrast with the Urjit Patel committee recommendation, which suggested a five-member team — two external and three from the RBI.
  
  The decision-making process in monetary policy varies across countries. According to a handbook published by the Bank of England, ‘State of the Art of Inflation Trageting-2012’, most central banks have adopted a committee approach for monetary policy decisions.
  
  The Finance Ministry and the RBI, only a couple of months back, agreed to put in place a monetary policy framework to focus on inflation targeting, which the central bank had been pushing for.
  
  The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation targets — below 6 per cent by January 2016 and 4 per cent thereafter, with a band of plus/minus 2 per cent — were set in line with the Urjit Patel committee recommendations.
  
• WTO members reach a landmark agreement
  World Trade Organisation, WTO, has said that after years of talks, major exporters of IT products have agreed to cut tariffs in its sector. It said the highlights include elimination of majority of tariffs within three years on products ranging from GPS systems to touch screens.
  
  In a statement issued on 24th July, WTO said that the agreement is a landmark, as the deal covers more than 200 products worth 1.3 trillion US Dollar in annual global trade. This is larger than global trade in automotive products or trade in textiles, clothing, iron and steel combined.
  
  WTO said that though only 54 member-states took part in the talks but all 161 nations that make up the organisation can benefit from its terms.
  
• NABARD to provide credit to farmers for irrigation
  The state-run National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, NABARD has set a target of providing 30,000 crore rupees as credit to farmers for irrigation over the next three years. The agriculture and rural focused lender has already sanctioned 1,000 crore rupees so far this year. This funding will be in addition to the government’s recent announcement of providing 50,000 crore rupees of loans to farmers over the next five years under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana.
  
• Andhra Pradesh to invest Rs 30,000 cr for expediting power projects
  To meet the energy requirements and peak time demand in Andhra Pradesh, the state power utilities have decided to expedite the ongoing projects by investing around Rs 30,000 crore and strengthening the transmission and distribution network in the next four years. Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) is contemplating to enhance additional generation capacity of 3,850 MW by making investments of Rs 17,340 crore in the same period.
  
  The power demand in Andhra Pradesh is likely to increase substantially with investments and capital region development going forward and the officials are expediting the projects keeping this in mind. APGENCO has drawn an action plan to increase the State's installed capacity from the existing 11,037 MW to 29,800 MW by March 2019 with an "ideal" generation mix of coal, hydel, solar, wind and other renewable energy sources to achieve "most cost-efficient power with self reliability".
  
  The State government is making a special report on the impact of various state and central schemes such as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana on providing reliable and affordable quality power supply 24x7 to the consumers. The power utilities have proposed to the government to install 400 KV sub-stations in each district to improve the voltage profile in certain areas and also deliver quality power to consumers.
  
• Retail inflation hits 8-month high, up 5.4% on rise in pulse prices
  Retail inflation rose for a second straight month to 5.4 per cent in June, compared with 5.01 per cent in the previous month, mainly as food inflation unexpectedly shot up by almost 0.7 percentage points from the May level on the back of a spurt in pulses prices, data released on 13th July showed.
  
  Pulses inflation skyrocketed to 22.2 per cent in June, compared with 16.6 per cent in the previous month and 12.4 per cent in April, however primarily to a 10 per cent drop in production of the commodity in the crop year through June. Inflation in the fuel and light segment, however, eased a tad to 5.9 per cent in June, compared with 6 per cent in May when oil-marketing companies had effected two rounds of hikes in diesel and petrol prices.
  
• FDI up 48% since 'Make in India' campaign launch
  The Foreign Direct Investment equity inflows have increased by 48 per cent during October 2014 to April 2015 as compared to the corresponding period last year. The increase in FDI is attributed to the launch of Make in India initiatives in September last year.
  
  In 2014-15, the country witnessed unprecedented growth of 717 percent, to 40.92 billion dollars investment by Foreign Institutional Investors. The FDI inflow under the approval route saw a growth of 87 per cent during the period with inflow of 2.22 billion dollars and more than 90 percent of FDI through automatic route. These indicators reflect remarkable pace of approval being given by the government and confidence of investors in the resurgent India.
  
• RBI panel to push financial inclusion
  The Reserve Bank of India has set up a 14-member committee for working out a medium-term (five-year) measurable action plan for financial inclusion. Financial inclusion is the process of ensuring access to appropriate financial products and services needed by all sections of the society in general, and vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups in particular, at an affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner by mainstream institutional players.
  
  According to its terms of reference, the committee headed by Deepak Mohanty, Executive Director of RBI will review the existing policy of financial inclusion, including supportive payment system and customer protection framework.
  
  The committee will suggest a monitorable medium-term action plan in terms of its various components, such as payments, deposits, credit, social security transfers, pension and insurance.
  
  It will also study cross-country experiences in financial inclusion to identify key learnings, particularly in the area of technology-based delivery models, which could inform people of RBI’s policies and practices.
  
  The committee will articulate the underlying policy and institutional framework, also covering consumer protection and financial literacy, as well as the delivery mechanism of financial inclusion encompassing both households and small businesses. It will do so with particular emphasis on rural inclusion, including group-based credit delivery mechanisms.
  
  The RBI, in a statement, said the committee has been formed in the backdrop of the Prime Minister urging it to take the lead in encouraging financial institutions and to set a medium-to-long term target for sustainable financial inclusion. The committee is expected to submit its report in four months from the date of its first meeting.
  
• Committee members
  Members of the committee include: Ashok Gulati, Infosys Chair Professor for Agriculture, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations; AP Hota, MD and CEO, National Payments Corporation of India; Paresh Sukthankar, Deputy Managing Director, HDFC Bank; Kishor P Kharat, Executive Director, Union Bank of India.
  
  The Government is pushing financial inclusion through four schemes – Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (ABY).
  
  According to Finance Ministry data, banks had opened 16.73 crore basic savings bank deposit accounts under the PMJDY, which was launched in August 2014, up to July 8. The outstanding balance in these accounts aggregated Rs. 19,990.52 crore.
  
  About 51 per cent of these accounts have zero balance. PMJDY’s benefits include a RuPay debit card, Rs. 1 lakh accident insurance cover, and an additional Rs. 30,000 life insurance cover.
  
  It is a platform for Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) which, in turn, will help plug leakages in subsidies. The gross enrolment under the PMJJBY, which offers life insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh for savings bank holders in the age group of 18-50 years on payment of Rs. 330 a year, stood at 2.71 crore as on July 14.
  
  The gross enrolment under the PMSBY, which provides insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh on payment of Rs. 12 per annum, was at 7.87 crore. The gross enrolment under the APY, which will provide a fixed minimum pension Rs. 1,000- Rs. 5,000 a month (depending on the monthly contribution and age at which the subscription starts) beginning from the age of 60, was at about five lakhs.
  
• Govt clears defence proposals worth over Rs 30,000 crore
  Government has cleared defence proposals worth over 30 thousand crore rupees at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). The meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, held in New Delhi
  
  The biggest take away from the meeting was the acceptance of necessity for replacing L70 and Zu 23mm guns for army's air defence under Buy-and-Make category. Army will go in for 428 guns at a total cost of 16,900 crore rupees. Replacing of these vintage guns was a major priority for the army. It said, the DAC approval will now pave the way for issuance of a Request for Proposal. Only two Indian companies, Punj Llyod and Bharat Forge had responded to an army request for information on the procurement plan.
  
  The other major deal cleared, for the acquisition of four more P81 aircraft, involves a cost of 4,380 crore rupees.
  
• India and World Bank Sign US $ 250 Million Financing Agreement
  The Financing Agreement for World Bank (IDA) assistance of US$ 250 million for Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project was signed between Government of India and the World Bank on July 16, 2015 at New Delhi.
  
  The Financing Agreement was signed by S. Selvakumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of Government of India and Mr Onno Ruhl, Country Director (India) of World Bank on behalf of the World Bank.
  
  The Project Agreement was signed by Mr. Jagdish Chander Sharma, Principal Secretary, Land and Disaster Management on behalf of Government of Andhra Pradesh. Ms. Aparna Bhatia, Director (MI), DEA anchored the ceremony held at North Block, New Delhi. Representatives from State Government and the World Bank, among others, were present.
  
  The objective of the project is to restore, improve and enhance resilience of public services, environmental facilities, and livelihoods in targeted Communities of Andhra Pradesh, and increase the capacity of the State to respond promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency.
  
  The project, through its different components, will provide both direct and indirect benefits to the State of Andhra Pradesh. Direct beneficiaries include populations of the coastal areas affected, specifically the four heavily impacted districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari with a total approximate population of 13.3 million residents.
  
  Project Components: The project will have seven components which are (i) Resilient electrical network, (ii) Restoration of connectivity and shelter infrastructure, (iii) Restoration and protection of beach front, (iv) Restoration of environmental services and facilities and livelihood support, (v) Capacity building and technical support for disaster risk management, and (vi) Project implementation support and (vii) Contingency Emergency Response.
  
  It is a loan for an implementation period of 5 years. Government of Andhra Pradesh is the implementing agency.
  
• Cabinet nod for revamping 400 railway stations
  The Union cabinet on 16th July approved a proposal to redevelop 400 railway stations using a contract method called the “Swiss challenge”. According to Finance minister Arun Jaitley, such stations could become catalysts of economic activity in their surrounding areas.
  
  Under the Swiss challenge method, “any person with credentials can submit a development proposal to the government for the development of classified railway stations. That proposal will be put on the Internet and a second person can give suggestions to improve or beat that proposal.
  
  An expert committee will accept the best proposal and the original proposer will get a chance to accept it if it is an improvement on his own proposal.
  
  The Swiss method, however, is already in use in states such as Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat for road and housing projects. In 2009, the Supreme Court approved the method for award of contracts. This method can be applied to projects that are taken up on a PPP basis but can also be used to supplement PPP in sectors that are not covered under the framework.
  
  The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) also approved setting up of an intra-state power transmission system in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan at an estimated cost of Rs.8,548.68 crore. The transmission links are to help in evacuating the green power capacity being added in these states.
  
  Having set an ambitious green energy target of generating 175,000 megawatts (MW) by 2022, India has also started work on setting up transmission corridors to supply green power across the national grid. The cabinet also approved Rs.700 crore of additional funds for recapitalization of weak regional rural banks (RRBs). These banks are unable to maintain their minimum capital to risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of 9%, and the cabinet decision will help them improve this ratio, the cabinet note said.
  
  The cabinet also approved the second phase of the eCourts project at an estimated cost of Rs.1,670 crore. It will enable universal computerisation, use of cloud computing, digitization of case records and enhanced availability of e-services through e-filing, e-payment gateways and mobile applications, etc.
  
  The cabinet also gave its ex-post facto approval for the Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 13 May, for repealing 187 redundant laws. The cabinet also approved the introduction of a new bill in the Lok Sabha for the repeal of 295 Acts.
  
  The cabinet also gave its approval for a proposal to permit utilization of India’s capital contribution to the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) that will help in “promoting projects such as cross-border infrastructure. Such projects will help improve intra-SAARC trade and growth potential of the SAARC region, and also in promoting financial inclusion and social security...” SAARC stands for the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation.
  
• Government introduces composite foreign investment cap
  In a bid to streamline the FDI structure, the government on 16th July introduced a composite foreign investment cap by clubbing all forms of overseas investments to define sectoral limits
  
  According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that all FIIs, NRIs and other foreign investments... will be clubbed. It will be constituted as a composite cap".
  
  The proposal is aimed at simplification of FDI policy with a view to attracting foreign investments and also improving ease of doing business in India. Under the existing policy, there are different caps for separate investment categories like FDI, FII and NRIs.
  
  The proposal mooted by the Commerce and Industry Ministry would help remove ambiguity on application of sectoral caps, conditions and approval requirements in different sectors and simplify the foreign investment policy
  
  The ministry has proposed a composite foreign investment cap (FDI + FPI (FII, QFI) + NRI + FVCI) in sectors, including agriculture, tea, mining, broadcasting, media, airports, retail (single brand and multi-brand), e-commerce, asset reconstruction companies, banking, commodity exchanges and insurance.
  
  In 2014-15, investment by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) grew 717 percent to USD 40.92 billion. FDI grew 27 percent to USD 30.93 billion in the previous fiscal.
  
• Govt sanctions Rs 700 cr additional fund for RRB capitalisation
  The govt on 16th July sanctioned an additional Rs 700 crore for the recapitalisation of weak regional rural banks (RRBs) and extended the validity period for the fund infusion to next fiscal.
  
  The validity period for recapitalisation of RRBs had ended. It has been extended to 2016-17. Rs 700 crore additional amount has been sanctioned. These banks are unable to maintain their minimum Capital to Risk weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 9 percent, he said, adding, this decision will help them improve this ratio.
  
  A strong capital structure and minimum required level of CRAR will ensure financial stability of RRBs which will enable them to play a greater role in financial inclusion and meeting the credit requirements of rural areas. Presently, there is a Budget provision of Rs 15 crore for recapitalisation of RRBs.
  
  RRBs were established under Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 to create an alternative channel to the 'cooperative credit structure' and to ensure sufficient institutional credit for the rural and agriculture sector. RRBs are jointly owned by the Centre, state governments and sponsor banks with the issued capital shared in the proportion of 50 percent, 15 percent and 35 percent respectively.
  
  With a view to bringing the CRAR of RRBs to at least 9 percent, the K C Chakrabarty Committee recommended recapitalisation support to the extent of Rs 2,200 crore to 40 RRBs in 21 States.
  
  The recapitalisation process started in 2010-11. The share of Central Government in respect of some RRBs could not be released in the absence of the release of the share of state
  
  governments. Therefore, the scheme of recapitalisation was extended up to 31st March, 2014.
  
  A total amount of Rs 1,086.70 crore has been released, as on 31st March, 2014 to 39 RRBs including the Central Madhya Pradesh Gramin Bank.
  
• Centre to invest over Rs 90,000 cr for development of NE region
  Centre will spend over 90 thousand crore rupees for the development of North Eastern region. This includes construction of highways and developing rail networks. According to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the central government is committed to rapid and sustainable development of the region.
  
  Under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North-East 35,000 Crore rupees is proposed to be invested to develop the Trans-Arunachal Highway and for connecting all district headquarters by a two lane highway which is about 6400 Kilometres.
  
  New rail network is being created in addition to strengthening the existing network at a cost of 57,000 Crore rupees. Similarly investments are being taken up by the Telecom, Power, Civil Aviation and Shipping Ministries in order to improve the air, road and rail connectivity and internet in the region internally as well as externally, under the Act East policy of the Centre.
  
• RBI asks banks to meet farm credit limit amid weather concerns
  The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) has directed banks to ensure that their overall direct lending to farmers should not fall below the average of last three years. The RBI has said that the government has expressed concerns over adverse impact of any reduction in direct credit given the adverse weather conditions. The RBI has warned, the banks falling below target will attract usual penalties.
  
  The apex bank has said that banks should also continue to maintain efforts to reach the level of 13.5 percent direct lending to beneficiaries who earlier constituted the direct agriculture sector. In an effort to increase direct lending to agriculture, the RBI had recently revised the target for lending to small and marginal farmers under priority sector norms to 7 per cent for 2015-16 and to 8 per cent for 2016-17. The target for direct lending by banks to agriculture under priority sector norms are aimed to increase the flow of credit directly to farmers.
  
  Also, the distinction between direct and indirect agriculture has been dispensed with and loans to food and agro processing units will form part of agriculture. Banks' overall target for agriculture stands at 18 per cent.
  
• Centre’s green signal for six-laning of EPE
  The Central government on on 16th July cleared a Rs. 7,558-crore proposal for six-laning of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE).The move is likely to substantially reduce traffic in Delhi.
  
  The estimated cost of Rs. 7,558 crore includes Rs 1,795.2 crore for land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road will be around 135 km, according to the statement.
  
  Conceived in 2004, following directions from the Supreme Court, the EPE, along with 135-km-long Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE), will provide a Ring Road around Delhi that will ensure that around 80,000 vehicles – diesel-run commercial vehicles as well private cars – which are not destined for Delhi and are a major source of air pollution, do not enter the Capital.
  
  The project was initially pegged at Rs 2,676 crore and had to be built on public-private-partnership model. Sources said the “high cost” of the project kept potential infrastructure companies away.
  
  The project was to be completed before the Commonwealth Games in 2010, but it never took off. The EPE included construction of an access-controlled six-lane expressway between Faridabad and Sonepat via Noida and Ghaziabad. Four major bridges (two on the Yamuna and one each on the Hindon and the Agra Canal) and 55 other bridges are also part of the plan.
  
  Meanwhile, the work on the remaining part of WPE (between Palwal, Manesar and Kundli), which, along with the EPE completes the ring around Delhi, is likely to start soon.
  
• Posco's $12 billion Orissa project on hold
  Posco, South Korea's biggest steelmaker, has put on hold plans to build a steel plant in India after land acquisition and farmer protests stalled the $12-billion project for a decade.
  
  The project in India's eastern state of Odisha has been "tentatively postponed," CEO Kwon Oh Joon said on 15th July.
  
  Posco's 12-million ton-a-year Odisha project, which was the nation's biggest foreign investment, failed to take off since 2005 because of opposition from local farmers and the failure to secure iron ore mining leases, initially promised for free to the company.
  
  The government in January decided it would auction all mineral resources, including iron ore and limestone. That meant Posco had to bid for securing iron ore blocks, which increased costs. The steelmaker was eventually able to overcome local opposition and get the state to acquire about 2,700 acres (1,093 hectares) of land for the first phase in 2013.
  
• South Korea steel giant suspends $ 12 billion project in Odisha
  South Korean steel company Posco has put on hold its USD 12 billion steel project in Odisha due to delays in various regulatory approvals. Posco Chairman and CEO said that Odisha project is being tentatively suspended due to lack of any progress.
  
  The CEO at an investor event in Seoul yesterday also said, business conditions at home and abroad have changed due to drop in global steel demand, growing deficit of subsidiaries, which have led us to come to a conclusion that we must step up our reform efforts.
  
• Panel backs reopening of seven mines
  An inter-departmental panel chaired by the development commissioner U N Behera has recommended reopening of seven mines, including the Sukinda chromite mine of Tata Steel.
  
  The inter-departmental panel had scrutinised cases of chromite mines of Tata Steel and B C Mohanty & Sons and iron and manganese ore mines held by R B Das, Tarini Miners, TP Mohanty, Geeta Rani Mohanty, Mala Ray and Gandhamardhan Sponge Iron. In case of Mala Ray Mines, additional information is needed to be furnished by the department of mines and forest & environment.
  
  The state government has so far extended the validity of 29 leases- 21 captive and the balance in non-captive category. Out of these 29 leases, 25 are iron and manganese ore mines. Supplementary lease deeds have been inked for 20 mines. The government has collected Rs 893 crore from the lease extension process so far by way of stamp duty charges.
  
  The lease deeds have been executed for mines owned by Tata Steel, Rungta Mines, Odisha Manganese & Minerals Ltd (OMM) and Aryan Mining & Trading Corporation Ltd (AMTC).
  
• Five emerging economies including showing fewer signs of vulnerability
  Global ratings agency Fitch has said that five emerging economies including India and Brazil are showing fewer signs of vulnerability to US Federal Reserve's rate hike. In a report released in New Delhi on 17th July, Fitch said large emerging markets - Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa are exhibiting fewer signs of vulnerability to a drop in capital inflows than some of their smaller counterparts.
  
  The ratings agency is expecting US Federal Reserve to start raising interest rates before the end of 2015. According to Fitch, Turkey is the only country among them with three or more red indicators that signal risky or stretched levels.
  
• ADB cuts Asia growth forecast for 2015 and 2016
  Asia's developing economies will not expand at the rate expected because of slower than forecast growth in US and China, the Asian Development Bank economist Joe Zveglich announced in Manila. For China alone, full annual growth for 2015 is now estimated at seven percent, down from 7.2 percent previously and is to ease further to 6.8 percent next year, according to the ADB.
  
  The ADB said that a slower Chinese economy is affecting the entire developing Asia region. The bank, in its report released yesterday, makes no adjustment to its forecast of growth in India, which is 7.8 percent, noting a healthy monsoon and new investments.
  
• Mineral production goes down in 2014-15
  Mineral production is estimated to have significantly decreased in 2014-15 compared with 2013-14. Together, 12 major minerals in the fuel and metallic category, under direct control of the Union government, showed a 11 per cent fall. These being coal, lignite, petroleum, natural gas, bauxite, chromite, copper, gold, iron ore, manganese, zinc and lead.
  
  Coal production fell to 541.2 million tonnes in 2014-15 from 563.1 mt in 2013-14. Bauxite output is estimated to have decreased to 20.2 mt from 21.6 mt in 2013-14. Iron ore, imperative for the steel industry, which is facing a global slowdown, fell 15.3 per cent, after rising 12 per cent in 2013-14.
  
  Chromite, copper, manganese, zinc and lead had a big production fall of 29 per cent, 19 per cent, 16 per cent, 12 per cent and eight per cent, respectively. Barring lead, the other four, in that order, had in 2013-14 raised by 0.7 per cent, 12.3 per cent, 10.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent. In value terms, lignite, chromite and gold showed a sharper decline than their volumes, indicating a fall in prices. For coal, petroleum and natural gas, the decline in value was same to that in volumes.
  
  Global mineral consumption was less the year before, with China leading the reverse charge. Also, India's raw material prices did not decrease in equal proportion to international prices, making our industries less competitive. As a result, finished products were imported in huge amounts.
  
• Corp Bank launches MUDRA card on RuPay platform
  Corporation Bank has launched the first MUDRA card under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) on 5th July. The card is based on RuPay platform. The card facilitates the withdrawal and use of the working capital finance by micro entrepreneurs.
  
  PMMY aims to ‘fund the unfunded’ and ‘formalise the informal’ under non-farm micro units in manufacturing, trading and services with affordable credit up to Rs. 10 lakh. Under PMMY, three loan schemes are offered to the entrepreneurs based on their capacity to repay. ‘Shishu’ scheme provides loan up to Rs. 50,000. An amount of up to Rs. 5 lakh will be lent under ‘Kishore’ scheme. ‘Tarun’ scheme offers loan up to Rs. 10 lakh.
  
  The Corporation Bank also launched a high-tech paperless point-of-sales terminal and ‘Remit to India’ portal for inward remittance by NRIs as part of the Digital India programme.
  
• Top 10 debtor countries owe 86% of total IMF loans
  The recent volatility in the market has been triggered by developments in Greece, which defaulted on repayment of a tranche of its loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a referendum on 6th July the Greeks declined to accept European creditors’ bailout offer, with 61.3% voting “No” and 38.7% “Yes”.
  
  Data collected from the IMF website suggest that a total of 79 countries owed a staggering 68.82 billion in SDRs (special drawing rights) as on May 31 this year. The amount includes General Resources Account (GRA) arrangements, which comprise a variety of lending programmes with different disbursement schedules and maturities, depending on the balance of payment needs of the member, plus Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) pledges.
  
  SDR is a supplementary foreign exchange reserve asset defined and maintained by IMF. Its value is based on a basket of key international currencies (the euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling, and US dollar) reviewed by IMF every five years. As on May 31, 2015, the value of one SDR in dollar terms stood at 1.390500, valuing the total amount due from the borrowing countries at $84.57 billion.
  
  Among continents, Africa (40 African countries) owes a combined $8.46 billion.
  
  It is followed by Central America (11 countries), Asia (nine), Europe (seven) and the European Union (six).
  
  Of the total amount owed to IMF as on May 31, the 10 biggest borrowing countries, including Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, Ireland and Pakistan, owed $72.4 billion, or nearly 86% of the total amount lent.
  
• MNREGA world’s largest public works programme: World Bank
  India’s rural employment guarantee programme MNREGA has been ranked as the world’s largest public works programme, providing social security net to almost 15 per cent of the country’s population, the World Bank has said.
  
  India is among the five middle-income countries running the world’s largest social safety net programmes, said a World Bank Group’s report ‘The State of Social Safety Nets 2015.”
  
  The world’s five largest social safety net programmes are all in middle-income countries (China, India, South Africa and Ethiopia) and reach over 526 million people,” it added.
  
  The combined spending on social safety nets in 120 developing countries amounted to about USD 329 billion between 2010 and 2014, it said.
  
  But, the report said, three quarters of the poorest people in low-and lower-middle income countries, and more than one-third of the poorest people in middle-income countries, lack safety net coverage and remain at risk.
  
  India’s Mid-day meal scheme has been classified as biggest school feeding programme benefiting 105 million beneficiaries.
  
  The top honours for public works programme went to MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act) with 182 million beneficiaries or 15 per cent of India’s population.
  
  The World Bank ranked the Janani Suraksha Yojna with 78 million beneficiaries as the top-most social security programme with conditional cash transfers.
  
  Also, it ranked the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme as the second-largest unconditional cash transfer social security progamme in the world.
  
  Initiatives such as the Unique Identification (UID) hold the potential of improving coverage, implementation, and coordination across programmes in the future, it said. In addition, there are many state-level initiatives aimed at increasing performance of social protection programmes utilising information technology and innovations.
  
• National Floor Level Minimum Wage hiked to Rs 160 per day
  National Floor Level Minimum Wage has been hiked from 137 rupees to 160 rupees per day. The new wage hike will be effective from first of this month. Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has written to all Chief Ministers and LGs, urging them to revise the wages in respect of all scheduled employments in their jurisdiction. The Minister has also emphasized proper implementation of various provisions of the Minimum Wages Act so that the objective of ensuring Minimum Wages to workers can be achieved.
  
• NMDC to set up 3 mtpa steel plant in Karnataka
   Public sector mining giant NMDC Ltd will set up a greenfield 3-million tonne per annum steel mill in Karnataka jointly with the state government at an estimated investment of Rs 18,000 crore. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) to implement this project will be set up very soon between the company and the state government
  
  The central government is taking steps to increase the national steel production to 300 million tonnes per annum by 2025. To achieve this goal, it has been proposed to set up four new steel mills in the public sector through NMDC, SAIL and RINL in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Karnataka
  
  NMDC will initially install 3 million tonnes per annum and scale it up to six million tonnes per annum in the second phase
  
  If NMDC sets up a new steel mill in Karnataka, it will be the second public sector steel plant after the SAIL-controlled steel mill at Bhadravati in Shivamogga district. KIOCL operates only a pellet plant in the state.
  
  The proposed four steel mills in the country will add an estimated 20-24 million tonne to the national steel capacity, pegged at around 101 million tonnes per annum. However, the steel production is stagnated at 80-85 million tonnes per annum.
  
  The state governments have been directed to speed up the process of setting up district mineral fund in all the states. It is expected that an estimated Rs 10,000 crore would be available to spend on the restoration of environment and rehabilitation of individuals affected by mining across the country during the next one year.
  
• PSUs to raise Rs 40,000 crore in tax free bonds
  Tax-free bonds, which are instruments for risk-averse investors, will hit the markets this October. The government on 8th July permitted seven public sector units (PSUs) to raise Rs 40,000 crore through tax-free bonds in the current financial year, said a directive issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
  
  Tax-free bonds, which are instruments for risk-averse investors, will hit the markets this October. The government on Wednesday permitted seven public sector units (PSUs) to raise Rs 40,000 crore through tax-free bonds in the current financial year, said a directive issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
  
  National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) will raise bonds of Rs 24,000 crore and Rs 6,000 crore respectively. Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) has been allowed to raise Rs 5,000 crore.
  
  The other firms raising funds through this route in the current year are Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (Rs 2,000 crore), NTPC (Rs 1,000 crore), Rural Electrification Corporation (Rs 1,000 crore) and Power Finance Corporation (Rs 1,000 crore).
  
• India to beat China again as fastest-growing in 2016: IMF
  IMF on 9th July said that India will be the world's fastest growing economy for the second consecutive year in 2016 at 7.5 per cent even as it decreased its current year global economy growth forecast to 3.3 per cent. In its World Economic Outlook Update, IMF retained India's growth forecast for current year at 7.5 percent which will be higher than China's 6.8 per cent. It forecast a growth rate of 7.5 per cent for India in 2016 and China's 6.3 per cent.
  
• MOUs signed to address Industry’s need of Skilled Manpower
  In a strategic tie up to scale up skill development and entrepreneurship initiatives in the country, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers on 9th July signed a MOUs to address the Industry’s need of Skilled Manpower. The MoUs will address the incremental human resource requirement in the Petrochemicals, Fertilizers and Pharmaceutical industry.
  
  According to National Skill Development Corporation Report, the current workforce of around 19 lakh in pharmaceutical industry alone is expected to go up to 35 lakh by 2022. There is a huge requirement of trained and efficient manpower in production, quality control and Research and development in the industry.
  
• IMF predicts India's growth at 7.5%
  The International Monetary Fund has said that India will be the world's fastest growing economy for the second consecutive year in 2016 at 7.5 per cent even as it decreased its current year global economy growth forecast to 3.3 per cent
  
  In its World Economic Outlook Update, the IMF retained India's growth forecast for current year at 7.5 percent which will be higher than China's 6.8 per cent. It forecast a growth rate of 7.5 per cent for India in 2016 and China's 6.3 per cent.
  
• Highly indebted Corporates responsible for poor credit growth: RBI report
  The Reserve Bank of India said that corporates working with highly borrowed money are slowing the growth of bank lending and therefore preventing better monetary transmission as they may not be in a position to benefit from falling interest rates. The Bank said this would be due to their high levels of debt in the past few years.
  
  The half-yearly Financial Stability Report (FSR) released in Mumbai, says, RBI has reduced its short-term lending rate by 75 basis points since the start of this year but banks have passed on only up to 30 bps by reducing their base rates.
  
  It further states that while borrowing has increased, the ability to repay debt and debt servicing ability of the corporates has declined. The gross non-performing advances (GNPAs) ratio may increase to 4.8 per cent by September 2015 from 4.6 per cent in March 2015. The report states there is a need to go beyond capital requirement and adequacy as it may be a consideration with the public sector banks.
  
  In the forward to the Financial Stability Report, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that macro-economic fundamentals of the country have improved over the past two years and emerging market economy like India is better placed to face any eventuality.
  
  He, however, cautioned against volatility, caused by conflicting action of the developed world. Mr.Rajan said the country has been able to build buffers to fight any future uncertainty. Reiterating the need for consensus, Rajan said there is a need to be vigilant about the spillover of the Federal Reserve ending the almost nil interest rate regime.
  
• FDI in manufacturing of tobacco products prohibited: RBI
   Reserve Bank has said that Foreign Direct Investment in manufacturing of tobacco products is prohibited, though activities such as retail and wholesale trading fall under the sectoral restrictions.
  
  In a notification issued on Friday, RBI said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is prohibited in the manufacturing of cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes.
  
  It further clarified that the prohibition applies only to manufacturing of the products mentioned therein and foreign direct investment in other activities relating to these products including wholesale cash and carry, retail trading shall be governed by the sectoral restrictions laid down in the FDI policy.
  
  The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, under the Commerce Ministry has framed these guidelines on sectoral restrictions.
  
• Road projects worth Rs 13,000 crore awarded under PPP mode this fiscal
  The Union Government, awards PPP projects in highways sector worth about Rs 13,500 crore either awarded or in advanced stages of finalization this fiscal so far. In sharp contrast, barely Rs 6,300 crore projects could be awarded in 2014-15; while the number of projects awarded was only two in 2013-14. Further, inadequate project preparation and lack of land acquisition on the part of NHAI had also resulted in discouraging prospective bidders to participate in new project bids.
  
  To address these issues, the government is taking conscious steps including emphasis on better project preparation and land acquisition, simplified procedures for appraisal, exit policy for concessionaires, amicable settlement of disputes, operationalization of IMGs, amendments to the model concessionaires agreement and one-time infusion for languishing projects. Besides, innovative project innovation models like hybrid annuity model were introduced and multi-lateral funding agencies like World Bank, ADB were roped in.
  
• Centre hikes Minimum Export Price of onion
  The Centre has hiked the Minimum Export Price (MEP) of onion by 175 dollar per tonne to 425 dollar per tonne to ensure adequate supply in the domestic market and contain price rise of the commodity. According to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade the MEP for export of all varieties of onions will be 425 dollar per tonne. The new rate will be applicable with immediate effect. MEP is the rate below which no exports are allowed.
  
• Govt to set up Rs 500 crore rupee capital fund to boost domestic pharma industry
  The government plans to set up a 500 crore rupee venture capital fund to boost domestic pharma industry and provide cheaper loans to entities looking to establish or upgrade manufacturing facilities. The government is working on various proposals, including single window clearance for drug approvals, to rejuvenate the local pharma sector and make medicines more affordable.
  
  The steps were suggested by a task force formed by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in a report submitted to Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar.
  
• Andhra Pradesh approves annual credit plan with Rs 1.25 lakh crore
  Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu launched the state credit plan for 2015-16 with a total target of Rs 1,25,748 crore at a state level bankers committee meeting held on 29th June. The credit plan target includes Rs 65,272 crore for agriculture sector, Rs 16,960 crore for SMEs and Rs 14,688 crore for other priority sector.
  
  The chief minister suggested to the bankers to constitute six separate sub-committees for agriculture, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, MSME and affordable housing sectors in order to give thrust to economic activity.
  
• India set to become $3-trn economy in five years
  Indian economy is set to surpass $3 trillion mark in less than five years and growth rate is expected to accelerate to 8 per cent in the current financial year, according to NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya.
  
  Indian economy, which is little more than $2 trillion, recorded a growth rate of 7.3 per cent in 2014-15. India is presently the third largest economy in Asia after China and Japan. On the back of ongoing reforms and stress on manufacturing sector as part of the 'Make in India' drive, the NITI Aayog chief said that India can look for much bigger share in global exports, the global economic woes notwithstanding.
  
• Chennai Metro Rail commences operations
  The Chennai Metro Rail was launched on 29th June. The first train, steered by two lady drivers, started from Alandur and headed to Koyambedu, a 10.1-km stretch which takes an hour by road. The train covers the distance in 19 minutes, with a 30-second halt at each station. The service would be from 6 am to midnight.
  
  Project work began in 2007. Phase-I is to have two corridors, a 23.1-km stretch (Washermanpet to Airport) and another of 22 km (Chennai Central to St Thomas Mount). Officials say they hope the project will be complete by next year.
  
  The second phase was earlier estimated at Rs 36,000 crore. Chennai Metro Rail Ltd has zeroed on three corridors here. A presentation has been made to the government, for the 60 km here, all underground.
  
• CAG slams Delhi for poor fund allocation
  Even as the grants from the Centre decreased by Rs.99.66 crore in 2013-14, the Delhi Government’s allocation of funds was “less productive” and its social welfare schemes showed serious discrepancies in implementation. Besides, there was unrealistic budgeting and deficient financial management by several departments.
  
  These observations were made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the annual report for 2013-14 tabled in the Delhi Assembly on 30th June. It also pointed out under-assessment and short levy of revenue to the tune of Rs.905.66 crore in over 2000 cases during 2013-14.
  
  Though the Delhi Government had invested Rs.17,060.35 crore as of March 31, 2014 in statutory corporations, rural banks, joint stock companies and cooperatives, the return on these investments was a meagre 0.07 per cent. The Government paid interest at an average rate of 8.80 per cent on its borrowings during 2013-14.
  
  Overall fiscal liabilities of the State increased from Rs.26,544.20 crore in 2009-10 to Rs.32,080.32 crore in 2013-14, depicting a rise of 20.86 per cent, said the CAG report.
  
  The CAG also rapped the Delhi Government for its failure to obtain fund utilisation certificates from various institutions. Over 4,780 UCs amounting to Rs.19,064.02 crore were awaited from various departments at the end of March 2014.
  
  The implementation of mid-day meal scheme, MLA local area development scheme and welfare schemes for persons with disabilities as well as management of jails, mechanisation of sanitation and performance of Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation also came in for adverse remarks. While only 1,154 children were covered under the mid-day meal scheme, jails were overcrowded with 14,209 prisoners being lodged against the capacity of 6,250. No State policy was developed to address the issues of persons with disabilities.
  
• PM Modi's Digital India initiative launched, industry outlook positive
  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Digital India initiative on 1st July. The programme aims to make all citizens digitally literate and bring internet and e-governance to all sections of the society. Modi added that Digital India has drawn investments worth Rs 4.5 lakh crore and will create 18 lakh jobs. The government announced that people of 31 gram panchayats across 14 states watched the Digital India event through web conferencing, powered by NOFN's BharatNet network.
  
  It also said that BSNL already has 55 Next Generation Network in place to replace 30-year-old exchanges; their number will grow to 683 by year end. BSNL also has 53 active Wi-Fi hotspots, and aims to have 2500 Wi-Fi hotspots by the end of 2015.
  
  With the launch of Digital Locker, citizens will be able to store digital copies of all their documents, which can be used for easy download as well as to submit the same for verification with the click of a button.
  
  National Scholarship Portal, offering all details and performing all key procedures from a single platform. Government is also launching an app that will make it possible for citizens to take appointments and pay fees for government hospitals using their smartphones. Similarly, Indian citizens can now connect their phone number with their Aadhar authentication number for streamlined data verification.
  
  Additionally, the government is launching apps for Swachh Bharat Mission, PayGov and MyGov, and setting up National Centre for Flexible Electronics and National Insititute for IoT (Internet of Things).
  
  Following are the key areas of Digital programme
  • Digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen
  • High-speed internet as a core utility
  • Cradle-to-grave digital identity -- unique, lifelong, online, and authenticable
  • Mobile phone & bank account -- enabling participation in digital & financial space Easy access to a Common Service Centre
  • Shareable private space on a public cloud Safe and secure cyberspace
  
  
  Governance and services on demand
  • Services available in real time from online &mobile platform and seamlessly integrated across departments or jurisdictions
  • All citizen entitlements to be available on the cloud
  • Services digitally transformed for improving ease of doing business Making financial transactions electronic & cashless
  • Leveraging GIS (Geographic Information System) for decision support systems & development
  
  
  Digital empowerment of citizens
  • Universal digital literacy
  • Universally accessible digital resources
  • All documents/certificates to be available on the cloud
  • Availability of digital resources/services in Indian (regional) languages
  • Collaborative digital platforms for participative governance
  • Portability of all entitlements through cloud
  
  
  Nine pillars of Digital India
  1. Broadband highways
  2. Universal Access to Phones
  3. Public Internet Access Programme
  4. E-Governance-Reforming Government through Technology
  5. eKranti-Electronic delivery of services
  6. information for all
  7. Electronics Manufacturing-Target NET Zero imports
  8. IT for Jobs
  9. Early harvest programmes
  
  Digital Locker system launched
  The government launched a Digital Locker system within its Digital India programme which will help citizens to digitally store their necessary documents
  
  These documents will be treated as legal and can be produced electronically through internet at any given time.
  
  The government also launched an e-Signature service with Digi-Locker. While only certain kind of digital signatures have acceptance at the moment, this move could provide a nationwide push for digital authentication of documents.
  
  This initiative of the Centre will help in reducing the burden of physically carrying one's official documents for verification during any official appointment. These digitally stored important documents can be a passport, PAN card, driving licence and degree certificates.
  
  To sign up for a digital locker, one has to have an Aadhaar number and a mobile number registered with Aadhaar.
  
  Other important points
  • India's average internet speed was ranked 115th globally in the first quarter of the year, among countries studied by services provider Akamai Technologies.
  • India had just a little over 100 million broadband subscribers at the end of April, out of a population of close to 1.3 billion, according to the sector regulator, which considers internet connections with minimum download speeds of 512kbps.
  • A telecom ministry panel, by comparison, said in March it wants the digital push to establish affordable broadband connectivity of 2Mbps to 20Mbps "for all households" by 2017
  • Reliance Industries Ltd plans to invest about 2.5 lakh crore ($39.3 billion) in digital initiatives, Chairman Mukesh Amabani said
  • The government plan aims to stop net imports of technology and electronics by 2020, while creating over 100 million jobs.
  • Cyrus Mistry said the Tata Group would hire 60,000 IT professionals this year, and Kumaramangalam Birla said his Aditya Birla Group will invest Rs. 44,500 crore ($7 billion) in the next five years in the infra and digital space.
  
  
• Cabinet nod for National Agriculture Market
  The Cabinet on 1st July gave its nod for the setting up of a National Agriculture Market which would require a single licence for market operations, single point of levy of market fee and electronic auction as a mode of price discovery. The single licence will be valid for all farm markets across each State. The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also approved a central programme for creating sources of assured irrigation for the agriculture sector by converging several ongoing inter-Ministerial schemes.
  
• World Bank approves $650 m loan for eastern freight corridor
  The World Bank has approved an additional loan of $650 million for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), which is aimed at the faster delivery of goods between the northern and eastern parts of the country. This round of loans to the Eastern DFC follows two other loans by the World Bank.
  
  The Cabinet approved the revised cost estimate of Rs.81,459 crore for the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project.
  
  The third round of World Bank funding, announced on 1st JUly, will build the 401 km Ludhiana-Khurja section in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The project will “help increase the capacity of these freight-only lines by raising the axle-load limit from 22.9 to 25 tonnes and enable speeds of up to 100 km/hr. It will also help develop the institutional capacity of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) to build and maintain the DFC infrastructure network,” according to the World Bank.
  
• India to grow at 7.8% in 2015, surpass China: Fitch
  Global rating agency Fitch says that India is expected to grow at 7.8 per cent in 2015. In its Global Growth Outlook report, Fitch on 30th June said the Indian Government's strong drive to implement structural reforms should lead to improvements in the business environment and, over the time, to an increase in investments.
  
  It further said that translation of the reforms into higher real GDP growth will depend on the actual implementation. Fitch said, it continues to expect a continued acceleration in the Indian economic growth rate, from 7.3 percent in fiscal 2014-15, which was below Fitch estimate of 7.4 per cent. It said that the India's GDP growth will surpass China's this year and accelerate to 8 per cent in 2016 and 8.1 per cent in 2017. Fitch said that the Global economy is expected to grow by 2.4 per cent in 2015.
  
• 3 months time for hoarders: Finance Ministry
  The persons with undisclosed assets and bank accounts abroad will get time up to December 31 to avoid a higher penalty and prosecution. The Finance Ministry has notified the compliance window under The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
  
  Under the window, a person with undisclosed assets (including bank accounts) abroad can make a declaration by September 30. He/she will have time till December 31 to pay tax and a penalty on such assets. Tax will be levied at the rate of 30 per cent while the penalty will be 100 per cent of the tax. Altogether, the person will have to pay 60 per cent of the taxable value or amount declared.
  
  The Finance Ministry has already made it clear that the compliance window is not an amnesty scheme as no immunity from penalty is being offered. It is merely an opportunity for violators to become compliant before the stringent provisions of the new Act come into force.
  
• Cabinet clears PMKSY for providing irrigation facility to every village
  The Union Cabinet has approved Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, PMKSY, for providing irrigation facility to every village by converging the ongoing schemes. The decision was taken by the Union Cabinet on 1st July. The scheme will reduce farm sector's dependence on Monsoon. PMKSY will have an outlay of 50 thousand crore rupees over a period of five years.
  
  The scheme will be monitored by National Steering Committee chaired by the Prime Minister and concerned Union Ministers as members. It assumes significance as 65 per cent of the total cultivable land in the country is still dependent on rain. The Yojana aims to cover the entire farm land under some sort of protective irrigation to produce per drop more crop and bring prosperity in the rural parts of the country.
  
  District and State irrigation plans will be prepared on the basis of agro-climatic conditions and availability of water in that region. PMKSY seeks to promote extension activities for farmers and grass root level field functionaries on farm water management and crop alignment. The approval of the scheme is yet another addition in the farmer friendly initiatives taken by the NDA government during the last on year.
  
  A National Executive Committee is to be constituted under the Chairmanship of the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog to oversee implementation of the programme, allocation of resources, inter ministerial coordination, monitoring and performance assessment. At the state level, the scheme is to be administered by a State Level Sanctioning Committee which will have all authority to sanction the project and monitor the progress of the scheme. For last mile coordination at the field level there will be a district level implementation committee.
  
  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, approved scheme for Promotion of National Agricultural Market through Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund at a cost of Rs 200 crore for the next three years. It provides for common electronic platform deployable in regulated markets across the country. The scheme will cover 585 selected regulated markets in three years. These markets will be integrated with common e-platform for trading of agri commodities. It will provide farmers and traders access to e-platforms for sale and purchase at optimal prices.
  
• CERC panel bats for enhancement in central, state transmission systems to address congestion
  Amidst the increasing transmission congestion in northern and southern regions, a high power panel appointed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has suggested a slew of recommendations, including putting in place a mechanism to monitor critical lines on a quarterly basis to mitigate short and medium term constraints, to accelerate transmission capacity enhancement through public and private sector routes and expedite transmission development, especially at state level. The panel emphasised the need to enhance transfer capability such as converting single circuit line to double circuit, upgrading 220 kV system to 400 kV, beefing up existing towers and re-conductoring.
  
  Indian Energy Exchange, one of the two power exchanges has said the congestion in transmission caused loss of 3.1 billion units of electricity on it in 2014-15.
  
  The panel has suggested that a mechanism should be institutionalized by involving consultants to provide first hand information in regard to status of implementation of generation and transmission projects in the states. This would provide realistic data about gaps in execution so that one could navigate and re-plan.
  
  PowerGird Corporation's former chairman and managing director R P Singh attributed the transmission congestion to the development of merchant power plants, non development of hydro power projects in north east and lack of development of coastal power projects in the southern region.
  
• Government to sell stake in Oil India, NTPC, three other PSUs
  The government will sell a minority stake in the nation's biggest power producer NTPC, as well as in Oil India Ltd and three other PSUs as part of its disinvestment drive. The Department of Disinvestment today sought bids to appoint legal advisors for sale of stake in five PSUs through an offer for sale (OFS), besides a follow on offer of the CPSE Exchange Traded Fund.
  
  At the current market prices, the stake sale in five PSUs could fetch the exchequer around Rs 11,500 crore. The disinvestment department plans to sell 15 per cent stake in Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL), 10 per cent each in Oil India (OIL) and Engineers India (EIL) and 5 per cent each in NTPC and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL).
  
  The government holds 67.64 per cent stake in country's second largest explorer OIL, 74.96 per cent in NTPC, 69.37 percent in EIL, 75.02 per cent in BEL, and 89.95 per cent in HCL.
  
• Govt notifies rules for asset valuation under black money law
  Government has notified the rules for calculating overseas income and assets under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 that came into force on 1st of this month.
  
  The rules notified by Central Board of Direct Taxes, CBDT said the value of the overseas assets, including immovable property, jewellery, archaeological collections and paintings, shares and securities and shares in unlisted firms abroad will be calculated at the fair market value. According to the new rules, the value of an overseas bank account will be the sum of all deposits made in the account since its opening.
  
  The black money law provides for a total of tax and penalty of 120 per cent on the income or assets held abroad after the expiry of a one-time 90-day compliance window provided for persons to come clean. Any income or asset declared during this period, which ends on 30th of September, would attract a total of 60 per cent tax and penalty, without penal provisions like jail term. They will have time till December 31 to pay the levies.
  
• India's per capita income up 10%
  India’s per capita income rose 9.7 per cent to $1,631 in 2014 from $1,487 in the previous year, but it remained a low-middle income economy, according to the World Bank’s latest estimates on per capita income and GDP. The growth rate in per capita income in 2014 was higher than the 0.4 per cent rise in 2013 over $1,481 in 2012.
  
  Also, it was for the first time in three years that the per capita income increased beyond the level of 2011, when it was $1,503. India’s per capita income has been rising in rupee terms, but the depreciation of the country’s currency against the dollar made it look smaller than that in 2012 and 2013. Despite the depreciation, the country’s per capita income rose significantly in 2014 compared with 2013.
  
  India was too away from crossing the low-middle income trap as the per capita income has to cross $4,125 a year to achieve that slot. The lower range of this category is $1,046 a year, which the country crossed in 2009.
  
  India was 169th in terms of per capita income in the world. In terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), the country's per capita income grew 7.65 per cent to $5,833 in 2014, against $5,418 in the previous year. In 2013, the growth rate was 7.15 per cent over $5,056 in the previous year. India ranked 147th in terms of per capita income in PPP terms.
  
  The country's GDP crossed $2 trillion in 2014, compared to $1.86 trillion in the previous year. India crossed the $2-trillion mark in seven years after crossing $1 trillion in 60 years. In terms of official dollar-rupee rate, the economy was ninth in terms of GDP size.
  
  However, in terms of PPP, India's GDP stood at $6.78 trillion in 2014, maintaining its third slot in the world, after China and the US. It took the economy three years to cross the $4-trillion mark after it surpassed $3 trillion in 2007 and two more years to cross the $5-trillion mark.