Centre mulls lower import duty for leasing firms
The Union civil aviation ministry has proposed the lowering of customs duty for aircraft imported by leasing companies set up in India. The ministry has asked the finance ministry to consider reducing customs duty for lessors from 21 per cent to the prevalent rates of zero per cent for scheduled and two per cent for non-scheduled operations. Aircraft imported by non-scheduled operators, such as Alchemist Airways and Air Odisha, face a 2.5 per cent import duty whereas planes imported by scheduled operators, such as IndiGo and SpiceJet, are exempt from tax at present. Aircraft imported for any other purposes, including private use, attract 21 per cent customs duty. Terrell Davis Womens Jersey
Defer higher air navigation charges at Indian airports: IATA
Global airlines body IATA has urged the government to defer implementation of revised air navigation charges at various Indian airports saying there was “complete lack” of consultations with stakeholders in this regard. The charges for airport services as well as those related to air navigation at non-major aerodromes have been revised effective December 16, 2016. Referring to the increase in Air Navigation Services (ANS) charges at all airports and airport services charges at non-major aerodromes, IATA said it is deeply disappointed by the “complete lack of user consultation and transparency before arriving at this proposal”. In a recent letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry, IATA said this is particularly surprising given that significant conversations with Airports Authority of India (AAI) had indicated that full and thorough consultation with stakeholders would be undertaken prior to any such changes. International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also requested that the “implementation of these increases is deferred indefinitely and that the relevant agencies enter meaningful negotiation with affected stakeholders”. According to the grouping, fees and charges can only be set realistically through a detailed and structured cost assessment process involving consultation with all affected stakeholders. “This must be a robust process in order to reach consensus between the service provider and airlines as business partners. IATA believes that at least a four-month notice of revision should be given to airlines and their representative organisations,” the letter said. IATA, which represents over 265 airlines from across the world, said increases in charges without proper consultation has the potential to rapidly erode competitive advantage and potentially jeopardise growth prospect of tourism industry as well as of wider Indian economy. Generally, airports serving less than 12 lakh passengers annually are considered as non-major and charges for these aerodromes are fixed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Most of the non-major aerodromes are owned, managed and operated by government-owned AAI. It levies charges for services, including route and terminal navigational landing fee, as well as parking. In the letter to Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey, IATA Regional Director (Safety and Flight Operations) for Asia Pacific said that airport and air navigation service charges must be in line with ICAO tenets. Copies of the letter, dated December 9, have also been sent to AAI Chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra and DGCA chief B S Bhullar. Pat Lafontaine Womens Jersey
Air India operational losses down 70 per cent in 9 months
Air India has continued to improve its financial performance, reducing operational losses by 70 per cent to Rs 161crore for the first nine months of the currrent fiscal ending December 2016, aided by higher ancillary revenues and higher contribution from subsidiaries. The airline reported a 10.6 per cent increase in operating revenues atRs 15,828 crore, according to its unaudited numbers. Its expenses increased 7.6 per cent to Rs 15,990 crore. “The increase in revenues on the back of higher cargo and excess baggage earnings and increased contribution from subsidiaries helped Air India reduce losses by over 70 per cent during the first nine months of the current fiscal,” a senior Air India executive, who did not want to be identified, said. The airline has to improve further to achieve its target of Rs 1,000 crore in operating profit in the current fiscal. The national carrier had, for the first time since the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, reported an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in FY16. The performance is likely to be reviewed by the Prime Minister’s Office today. The meeting may also discuss allowing the national carrier to recruit more people and a proposal to increase the retirement age of employees to 60 from 58. This will be the PMO’s second review of Air India’s performance. Los Angeles Rams Authentic Jersey
Japan ready to associate in development of Chennai and Varanasi
Japan has decided to associate itself with India in developing Chennai, Ahmedabad and Varanasi as smart cities. During a meeting of Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu with Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu here today, he said, Japan is “quite interested” in urban development initiatives of the government and decided to be a partner, an official release said. Responding to Naidu’s observation about the need for speedy action, the Japanese envoy said “We would like to match the action oriented approach of the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” Meanwhile, British High Commissioner Dominic Asquith also met Naidu and discussed converting into action the MoU signed between the two countries on cooperation in urban development sector. The MoU was signed during the recent visit of British Prime Minister Theresa May to India. Asquith said institutionalising “Government to Government cooperation” for smart city development has huge potential. So far, various countries have come forward to be associated with development of 15 smart cities. These include United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA) for Visakhapatnam, Ajmer and Allahabad, UK for Pune, Amaravati and Indore, France for Chandigarh, Puducherry and Nagpur and Germany for Bhubaneswar, Coimbattore and Kochi. Deonte Thompson Authentic Jersey
States to be judged on their performance in providing logistical support to companies
The government is bringing back a scheme to help states build their export infrastructure by providing financial support. The proposed Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (Ties) will supplement states’ efforts to create export infrastructure. “We are devising means to fund states’ infrastructure requirements for trade,” said commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the second meeting of the Council for Trade Development and Promotion here on Thursday. The government had done away with a similar scheme called the Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development of Exports (Aside) in 2015. The minister said that 17 states have aligned their export strategies ith the Centre’s foreign trade policy. The commerce department, along with others, will also map the export potential of various states. Logistics rankings In addition to annual ease of doing business ranking of states, the industry department will now rank them on their performance in providing logistical support to companies. The exercise will begin this year and aims to give potential investors an idea of what to expect from a state in terms of logistics when they take their investment decisions. “We will rank states on their logistics readiness. There can be little progress on trade facilitation unless states are prepared with plans to manage logistics well, create a logistics hub and have trained manpower to handle it,” Sitharaman said. The ranking will be based on the actual performance and not merely on the presence of logistics in a state. It will also be based on public feedback. GST refunds On commerce ministry’s request to keep out of the goods and services tax ambit the imports of capital goods used as input for exports, Sitharaman said the finance ministry has assured that 90 per cent of the refunds made for claims under such schemes would be made within a week’s time and interest would be paid in case of delays. The commerce ministry had on January 3 sought tax exemptions for import of raw material under the Advance Authorisation Scheme and import of capital goods under Export Promotion Capital Goods authorisation scheme. It had requested an outright initial exemption for exporters rather than making them pay taxes first and then seek refunds, as refunds usually take six to eight months. James White Jersey
Govt officials seek zero import tax on LNG in Budget 2017 – document
India’s energy and environment ministries want the government to scrap an import tax on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and impose a levy on use of pet coke and furnace oil to promote cleaner fuel, they said in a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases and relies heavily on coal, gas and oil imports to meet its energy needs and fuel its economic expansion. Its energy consumption is bound to grow as it targets 8-9 percent economic growth from around 7 percent in 2016/17. To cut the country’s carbon footprint, New Delhi wants to raise the use of gas in its energy mix to 15 percent in three to four years from 6.5 percent now. LNG imports, which account for 44 percent of gas use in the country, are duty free only if shipped in for the power sector. At a meeting with Modi on Wednesday, top officials from the power, coal, mines, oil and gas, renewables and environment ministries made a series of demands and suggestions ahead of budget on Feb. 1, in a presentation seen by Reuters. The group asked for a tax on furnace oil/pet coke to promote use of biofuels. They also sought continuation of tax incentives and benefits for the renewable energy sector beyond March. In late October, Modi set up 10 groups of senior officials to “undertake a critical review” of the government’s work in a number of areas, including energy, transport and agriculture. India, the world’s third biggest oil consumer, has also tasked its state-run oil companies to set up ethanol plants at 12 locations within a year. Among other “key planned actions”, the group has asked for long-term loans and introduction of interest subsidies of 4 percent in six months for hydro projects with more than 100 megawatts (MW) of annual capacity. To curb diesel consumption, India wants to raise the number of electric vehicles on roads to 7 million by 2020 from just around 20,000 now. The group proposed the use of electric vehicles in public transport and for government vehicles within three years. The bulk of goods in India are transported by road in diesel-guzzling trucks because of higher rail freight costs that compensate for low passenger fares and account for about two-thirds of railways’ revenue. To further restrict diesel use, the panel proposed indexing passenger fares in railways to fuel costs, within a year. Ethan Westbrooks Womens Jersey