The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) Chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the following proposals on January 22, 2020. The approvals in detail are as follows:
Amendments/Repeal in Acts dealing with GST, VAT & Excise Duty in view of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu merger:
After the parliament passed a bill to merge two Union territories(UTs) Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli into a single UT, CCEA has now approved the proposed amendments/extension/repeal in the following Acts and Regulations dealing with Goods and Services Tax (GST), Value Added Tax (VAT) and State Excise, and for designation of Daman as Headquarter of merged Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu on January 26,2020. The amendments are as follows:
Amendments/repeals/extensions:
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| Current Act | Name of act after being amended/repealed or extended |
| Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. | To be amended as Central Goods and Service Tax (Amendments) Regulation, 2020. |
| Union Territory Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. | To be amended as Union Territory Goods and Service Tax (Amendments) Regulation, 2020. |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli Value Added Tax Regulation, 2005. | To be amended as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Value Added Tax (Amendments) Regulation, 2020. |
| Daman and Diu Value Added Tax Regulation, 2005. | To be repealed as Daman and Diu Value Added Tax (Repeal) Regulation, 2020. |
| Goa, Daman and Diu Excise Duty Act, 1964. | To be amended as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Excise Duty (Amendment) Regulation, 2020. |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli Excise Duty Regulation, 2012. | Dadra and Nagar Haveli Excise Duty (Repeal) Regulation, 2020. |
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The purpose of these amendments is to make minimum government with maximum governance. The amendments will help in reducing duplication of work improve efficiency of administration etc.
Revised cost estimates for establishing permanent campus of new NITs approved:
CCEA has approved the revised cost estimates(RCE) for the establishment of permanent campuses of National Institutes of Technology (NITs), at a total cost of Rs.4371.90 crore for the period till 2021 – 2022.
- These NITs were established in 2009 and have been functioning since 2010-11 academic year in temporary campus. After the revised cost estimate approval, these NITs will be functional from respectiver permanent campuses by March 31, 2022. These NITs will have overall student capacity of 6320.
- NITs:Â They are institutions of National importance with best quality education in the field of engineering and technology.
Closure of CPSE named Hindustan Fluorocarbons Limited under Dept of Chemicals & Petrochemicals approved:Â
CCEA has given its approval to shut down the operation as well as closure of Hindustan Fluorocarbons Limited(HFL), a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals situated in Rudraram, District Sangareddy of Hyderabad, Telangana. The other approval related to HFL closure are as follows:
- Grant of interest free loan of Rs.77.20 crore by the Govt. to HFL for expenditure exclusively on its closure and it will be helpful in implementation of VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme)/ VSS (Voluntary Separation Scheme(VSS), payment of outstanding salary & statutory dues, etc.
- Disposal of plant/machinery and movable assets to be done by HFL through e-auction by MSTC Ltd (formerly known as Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited).
- Employees not opting for VRS will be retrenched as per Industrial Disputes Act 1947.
- NBCC (India) Ltd (National Buildings Construction Corporation) will be the Land Management Agencies (LMA) for facilitating disposal of HFL’s land assets. Click here to know more
HFL:
- It is a subsidiary of Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd (HOCL) and is engaged in Poly Tetra Fluoro Ethylene (PTFF) and Chloro Di Fluoro Methane (HCFC-22 or CFM-22) manufacture.
- It has been decided to close HFL, as the company has been making losses since 2013-14. It accumulated Rs.62.81 crore loss and also negative net worth of of (-) Rs.43.20 crore.
Tenure extension of Commission constituted under Article 340 to examine issue of sub-categorization within OBC caste approved:Â
CCEA has approved extension of the term of commission under Article 340 to examine issues related to sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes (OBC), by 6 months that is up to 31, July 2020. Following Term of Reference(ToR) to existing ToR of the commission has also been approved.It is as follows:
i.To study the various entries in the Central List of OBCs and recommend corrections based on any kind of repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription etc.
- Benefit:Â After this extension, the communities in the existing list of OBCs will be benefited upon the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission.
- Expenditure: The expenditure for the establishment as well as administration of the commission will be borne by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- Notification of extension:Â Orders for extension of the term of the Commission and addition in its ToR will be notified in the Gazette in by the president after his approval.
ii.Commission formation background:
The commission headed by Justice(Retd). G.Rohini was formed under Article 340 of the Constitution on October 2017 after president’s approval. After its formation, the commission interacted with all states and UTs (Union Territories) that have sub categorised OBCs and the state Backward classes commissions.
iii.Article 340:Â The Article 340 of the Indian constitution deals with the promotion of the welfare of the OBCs.
About Union Cabinet:
The Union cabinet exercises the executive authority in India. The senior minister in the cabinet are called as cabinet ministers, junior minister as minister of state and rarely deputy ministers. The cabinet is led by the Prime Minister.
