Cabinet Approval on March 13,2020

Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the following approvals on March 13, 2020.Union Cabinet approves Yes Bank reconstruction plan; SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis are among others to invest
The Cabinet approved the reconstruction scheme proposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) titled “Yes Bank Ltd. Reconstruction Scheme, 2020” for Yes Bank that will be led by State Bank of India (SBI). Other participants in the plan include HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) Ltd, ICICI Bank (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RK Damani, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and the Azim Premji Trust.

• A total ₹12,000 crore will be infused by all investors.
• Authorised capital has been raised to Rs 6,200 crore from Rs 1,100 crore.
• Private investors will have a lock-in period of 3 years for 75% of their investment.
• SBI will invest ₹7,250 crore in Yes Bank with a stake of 45% and will retain a minimum 26% stake in Yes Bank for three years, as per the RBI plan.
• HDFC and ICICI Bank will invest ₹1,000 crore each, while Axis Bank will put in ₹600 crore.
• ICICI Bank and HDFC will own about 6% stakes each and Axis Bank 3-4%. Kotak, Damani, Jhunjhunwala and the Premji trust are expected to chip in nearly ₹500 crore each and will own about 3% each.

Read the draft plan for YES Bank reconstruction here: RBI announced draft scheme “Yes Bank Ltd. Reconstruction Scheme, 2020” for Yes Bank’s revival; SBI willing to invest

Read about SBI infusion in Yes Bank here: SBI Board approved Rs 7,250 cr fund infusion into Yes Bank, Stake remains under 49%

Read about moratorium on Yes Bank here: Centre imposed moratorium on Yes Bank; withdrawals restricted to Rs 50,000 per month till April 3, 2020; Prashant Kumar named as its administrator

Cabinet clears 4% DA hike for central government employees to 21% from 17%
With effect from 01.01.2020, Union Cabinet has approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for central government employees. This resulted in 4% hike in the Basic Pay/Pension to 21% from the existing rate of 17%. The decision has been taken on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission and in respect to price rise.

• The increase in both DA & DR would cost Rs.12,510.04 crore per annum to the centre and Rs.14,595.04 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (for a period of 14 months from January, 2020 to February, 2021).
• This move will benefit about 48.34 lakh Central Government employees and 65.26 lakh pensioners.

Cabinet approves scheme for “Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP)” for enhancing Exports to International Markets
The Union Cabinet has approved to introduce a scheme “Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP)” to create a mechanism for reimbursement of taxes/ duties/ levies, at the central, state and local level, which are currently not being refunded under any other mechanism, but are incurred in the process of manufacture and distribution of exported products.

• As a part of this scheme, an inter-ministerial Committee will be formulated that will look after the rates and items for which the reimbursement of taxes and duties would be provided. The notification for the same will be provided by Department of Commerce (DoC).
• The refund to the exporters will be made in the form of transferable duty credit/electronic scrip, which will be maintained in an electronic ledger; on the lines of “Digital India”.
• The refunds under the RoDTEP scheme would be a step towards “zero-rating” of exports. This would lead to cost competitiveness of exported products in international markets and better employment opportunities in export oriented manufacturing industries.
• The rebate would be claimed as a percentage of the Freight On Board (FOB) value of exports.

Need of RoDTEP Scheme:
At present, GST(Goods and Services Tax) and import/customs duties for inputs required to manufacture exported products are either exempted or refunded. However, certain taxes/duties/levies are outside GST, and are not refunded for exports, such as, VAT on fuel used in transportation, Mandi tax, Duty on electricity used during manufacturing etc. These would be covered for reimbursement under the RoDTEP Scheme.

Govt approves Rs 7,660 crore green highway project in four states of HP, RJ, UP & AP
The Centre government has given its approval for the construction of 780 km of green highways at a cost of Rs 7,660 crore. The project aims to rehabilitation and upgradation of various National Highways (NHs) covering a total length of over 780 km in four states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh.

Cabinet approves removal of ambiguities in the Modified NPS-III for determination of fixed costs for the urea units
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the proposal of Department of Fertilizers to remove ambiguities in the Modified New Pricing Scheme -III (NPS-III) for determination of fixed costs for the urea units.

• The decision will facilitate its smooth implementation which will result in grant of Additional Fixed Cost of 350/MT to 30 urea manufacturing units.
• The approval will also grant the special compensation of 150/MT to urea units which are more than 30 years old and converted to gas.
• The measures will ensure maximum domestic production of urea and reduce will reduce import dependency.
• Modified NPS-III was notified on 2nd April, 2014. However, due to ambiguous language of the notification, it could not be implemented.

Cabinet approves Minimum Support Price for Copra for 2020 season
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for copra for 2020 season on the on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Importantly, India is number one in production and productivity of Copra in the World.

• The MSP for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling copra has been increased to 9,960/- per quintal for 2020 season from Rs. 9,521/- per quintal in 2019.
• The MSP for ball copra has been increased to 10,300/- per quintal for 2020 season from Rs. 9,920/- per quintal in 2019. This will accrue a benefit of Rs 439/- per quintal in the milling copra and Rs 380/- increase in the Ball Copra.
• The above will increase is to ensure a return of 50% for milling copra and 55% for ball copra over the all India weighted average cost of production.
• The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Limited (NCCF) will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies to undertake price support operations at the MSP in the coconut growing states.