Mcci aug sept 2k13 by Madraschamber

Vol. 27 Nos. 5 & 6 - August & September 2013

L.Lakshman handing over the first copy of the Directory of Members 2013, released on Chamber Day, to T T Srinivasaraghavan. Others in the picture are- l to r T Shivaraman, Rajan Ekambaram and S G Prabhakharan.

L.Lakshman, Chairman, Rane Holdings Ltd., addressing the gathering at the Chamber Day. Seated l to r K.Saraswathi and T.Shivaraman.

Hon’ble Natham R Viswanathan, Minister for Electricity & Prohibition and Excise, GoTN delivering the Inaugural Address. Seated l to r K.Saraswathi, R.Raghuttama Rao, P S Bami, T.Shivaraman, Anil Razdan, J.S.Sudarsan and B.Bhambani.

IN THI S I SSU E  President’s Message  Chamber’s Activities:

Conference on Moving Towards Energy Security in Tamil Nadu

Meeting with Mr Edgars Rinkevics, Foreign Minister of Latvia and his delegation

 General Committee 

SPOT LIGHT

MCCI-ICICI Bank CEO Knowledge Forum

Seminar on Domestic Transfer Pricing and Corporate Taxation:

Meeting with delegates from University of Northampton

 Policy Watch

All India Workshop on Indirect Tax Laws

 Representations

Exim Bank Study Release – Comparison of Labour Laws : Select countries: Programme jointly organized by Exim Bank and MCCI

“Why Invest in Italy” – Interactive Seminar on Investment Opportunities

Seminar on New Companies Act & Draft Rules 2013

 Additions to Library

Chamber Day

Land Acquisition Bill

 Economic Outlook 2013-14

 Economic Review

President’s Message

Dear Members, The 178th Chamber Day Grandeur ! The Chamber’s birth anniversary falls on 29th September and this day is celebrated with great veneration. Though this year, it was on a Sunday, we still felt we should go ahead celebrating it on that day. Allaying our fears, the turnout of members was almost record breaking, thanks to you all. Most of you were present at the Chamber Day celebrations and we were extremely happy at your presence which only showed your interest in the Chamber and its activities. From 18 founding members, the Chamber has since then grown slowly and steadily and today we have 500 members representing the who’s who of business houses in Tamil Nadu. We had been very conscious to maintain our core values and ethos intact, while at the same time keeping ourselves tuned to the changing requirements of the current times. The support of our member companies, the commitment and dedication of the Presidents who held the fort at various phases of the Chamber’s

history are the reasons, I am sure, behind the continued sustainability and success of the Chamber. In my address, I had emphasized that Manufacturing has to be the bedrock of a developing economy. Nothing else can create the number of diversity of jobs that are needed if we are to become a middleupper income economy and nothing else can absorb the surplus manpower that will inevitably be created as agriculture becomes more efficient. We were privileged to have Mr L Lakshman, Chairman, Rane Holdings Ltd. (a past President of the Chamber as well as Assocham) as our Chief Guest and his address on Immobilised India was brilliant. It was very different from Incredible India and Shining India. He said as a nation we stand immobilized. Our national ethos have been to treat the symptoms and never the disease! While the whole world has a problem today, ours seem more self-inflicted and the consequences potentially more pernicious than in Greece or Spain. He said offering the global situation as reason is an unacceptable excuse. Vote bank politics, crony capitalism, resultant

corruption charges and policy paralyses have brought us to our knees. We have many lessons to learn from this address. The full text of his speech is published in this bulletin for you to relish and cherish. Mr Rajan Ekambaram, Partner, Ernst & Young , made a crisp presentation on State of TN Economy. The Chamber Day is a great occasion to bring us closer to each other and exchange our thoughts on many subjects of common interest and concern. The Chamber, as you would be aware, is doing a study on the Ease of Doing business, which is at the final phase. A number of interesting facts are coming out and soon we would be releasing the study report. We will meet again at this yet another important occasion, to voice our views. Best wishes,

T. Shivaraman President

CHAMBER’S ACTIVITIES 8th August 2013

MCCI-ICICI Bank CEO Knowledge Forum CEO Knowledge Forum is one of ICICI Bank’s flagship programmes in the “Beyond Banking” space. ICICI Bank has successfully conducted this programme in more than 30 cities, with over 3,000 SMEs benefiting from it. ICICI Bank brought the CEO Knowledge Forum to Chennai on a special theme – “Achieving Profitable Growth in these challenging times”. The Chamber was the Association Partner for the event organized at Hotel Taj Connemara. Welcoming the gathering, Mr T Shivaraman, President, MCCI, said whether you are a manufacturer or a service provider, we are in a very challenging situation. This is the time when the good companies with a good business sense are going to stand out and better run companies are going to survive and see a few years of excellent growth. Therefore, it is a time for all of us, especially SMEs, to look at improving our processes, improve the way we do business by cutting costs, cutting down waste and taking our companies to the next level. It is a time for efficient companies to tighten their belts, remove inefficiencies and move forward. ICICI Bank is organizing this programme to understand new ways of doing business and to become more efficient. As Indian businessmen, we are fundamentally optimistic about the future of India. Expressing the hope he said, there is a demand, there is a market and we will turn around. There is going to be a boom for SMEs and they have to gear up to the situation. He expressed his happiness at ICICI Bank joining the Chamber to work with them in setting up this programme. Our job is to exchange ideas for our members and

the Chamber was very happy to work with ICICI Bank in organizing this event he said. Mr Sivaramakrishnan Balasubramanian, Senior Consultant, Hay Group India, made a presentation on Managing Profitable growth in tough times. He said the economic downturn presents a severe challenge and a potential opportunity. The most critical question that businesses need to answer in order to address this challenge is “Where do we stand”? He said take downturn as an opportunity to refocus on how you make money and strengthen your business model and engage with your work force providing clear directions and a positive climate. This was followed by a presentation by Dr N Ravichandran, Executive Director, Lucas –TVS on “Streamlining business operations for improved business performance”. Referring to the fast changing business environment, he felt it is characteristic of 21st century. The rapid pace of globalization and technological progress have changed the conditions and competitive strength. Major technological advancements are taking place and there is continuous pressure on the pricing margin. He said the managerial challenge is to bring the costs down, maintain world class quality and manufacture at the shortest time. He said if you have the mind, nothing is impossible. We should follow what is good for us. Simply copying does not work and continued relationship with the customer is very important. He said it is we Indians who can build our country. He described 20 keys to work place improvement. His advice was – we need a mind change. We should understand the market scenario, the opportunities and the challenges and develop strategies, empower the employees and implement world class practices. The world is our market place he said.

The topic for the panel discussion was “Take control of your supply chain costs”. Mr R. Giridhar, Group Editor, 9.9 Media was the Moderator while the Panelists were – Mr S Muralishankar, Director, Super Auto Forge Ltd., Mr R Ganesh, Zonal Head South, SMEAG & Corporate Agri, ICICI Bank, Mr K S Shetty, Chairman, Tespa Infotech Pvt. Ltd. and Mr T Shivaraman, President, MCCI. Mr T V Narayanan, Zonal Head South, Commercial Banking, ICICI Bank, proposed the vote of thanks. The programme ended with Cocktails & Dinner hosted by ICICI Bank. More than 70 top executives of leading companies in Chennai participated in the programme.

23rd August 2013

Seminar on Domestic Transfer Pricing and Corporate Taxation Rapid developments are taking place in the areas of Tax Audit, Corporate Taxation and domestic transfer pricing by way of legislations. The Chamber therefore organized a full day Seminar on the subject under the auspices of the Expert Committee on Direct Taxes at Hotel GRT Grand Convention Centre. The Seminar helped the delegates to understand the developments in these areas and also get a clear understanding of these legislations. Mr B K Misra, IRS., Chief Commissioner of Income Tax-IV was the Chief Guest. Mr Sriram Seshadri, Chairman of the Expert Committee on Direct Taxes, welcomed Mr Misra and the delegates. He said there was need for organizing this programme to throw light on some of the issues faced by the corporates. He broadly indicated the topics to be covered in the Seminar as well as the speakers who would be handling them. He thanked Mr Misra for accepting the

CHAMBER’S ACTIVITIES Chamber’s invitation to be the Chief Guest, at such short notice. In his address, Mr Misra expressed his happiness at the Chamber organizing this Seminar and said the MCCI has been playing an important role for the growth of commerce and industry in the Southern Region. He expressed his confidence that the Seminar will be very useful and beneficial to the members of the Chamber. He said Tamil Nadu is one of the most progressive States in India and is the largest contributor of revenue to the country. In the last fiscal Rs 37,271 crores was collected and the target set for this fiscal is Rs 45,877 cores. This includes corporate tax as well as income tax. For augmenting the revenue, the Department proposes to widen the tax base.

of computer software. He also detailed certain progressive measures which have been initiated in the Finance Act 2013. Mr Aravind V.Srivatsan, Partner, PwC, made a presentation on Direct Tax incentives available under the Income Tax Act. He said the government wants to bring in certainty and we need to urge the government to make a very clear policy regarding granting approval for land acquisition. There are tax holidays for developers of SEZs he said. Certain tax incentives given to SEZs initially were withdrawn. He said more and more people are looking at India to set up their R&D Centres. Consolidation is happening for ease of operations. He also addressed on safe harbor rules and amendments to SEZ regulations with regard to minimum land area requirement for SEZ.

He said there are a large number of top filers and non-filers. The Department receives information about these from various sources.

He also covered issues with regard to Section 80-IAB – deduction for SEZ developer and co-developer, etc.

He said the Chamber has been playing an active role towards encouraging members to be tax compliant. Members of the Chamber have been major contributors of direct taxes of Tamil Nadu. The Chamber and its members should be the partners in nation building. It is the taxes collected which are used for the socio-economic development of the nation.

The next session on Specified Domestic Transaction – Preparation of domestic compliance was handled by Mr Sriram Seshadri, Partner, BMR Legal. In his presentation Mr Seshadri covered the key aspects of domestic transaction, scope and transactions covered, issues in identification of related parties, benchmarking of transactions, challenges and practical issues in documentation and certification etc.

He said the Income tax Department is taking many initiatives for improving the services and proper redressal of tax payers’ grievances for which there is an exclusive help desk. Tax payers are now evincing interest in Domestic transfer pricing. Transfer pricing adjustments are nothing new for Income Tax Dept. This is a new area which will evolve over a period of time. On Section 10A and 10AA, he said the Department has issued a detailed circular giving clarifications relating to export

The post-lunch session was addressed by Mr Shaji P Jacob, Additional Commissioner of Income tax and Senior Departmental Representative, ITAT, Chennai. He gave the Department’s perspective with regard to issues in computing business income, recent corporate tax amendments, etc. Mr T Banusekar, Chartered Accountant, gave the Tax Payer’s perspective and also gave an analysis of recent rulings. At the end of each session, there was a Q&A session during which the participants

raised a number of queries which were answered by the speakers. The programme was attended by about 50 delegates.

30th August 2013

Special meeting with Dr.Parthasarathi Shome, Adviser to Union Finance Minister, Govt. of India Since Dr Parthasarathi Shome is the Chairman of the newly constituted Tax Administration Reforms Commission and the Commission was meeting every Wednesday to consider the views of the industry from diﬀerent sectors, a special meeting was sought with him on 30th August after the inaugural session of the All India workshop. It was a closed door meeting. Mr. K Vaitheeswaran, Chairman, Indirect Taxes Committee and Mr Sriram Seshadri, Chairman, Direct Taxes Committee, made presentations in respect of indirect and direct tax laws respectively. Other members who were present also made concrete suggestions. These were subsequently sent to Dr.Shome for consideration by TARC.

30th & 31st August 2013

All India Workshop on Indirect Tax Laws Post-liberalisation 1991, the tax administration in India has undergone tremendous changes. The tax to GDP ratio has increased. Collection of taxes is increasing year by year. The growth of services sector too has gone up substantially. All these productive sectors have generated a system of taxation which has been put in place to increase the revenues. The indirect taxes in India are now a huge revenue base for the economic planners to think big in terms of

CHAMBERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ACTIVITIES investments and capital expenditure. In a rapidly expanding economy, it is inherent that few issues call for resolution and many problems do persist. Against this background, the Chamber felt that it is necessary for the company executives responsible for compliance to be aware of the provisions of these regulations and the need and methodology for proper compliance. With an objective to create an awareness and provide knowledge over the intricacies and practical issues involved in complying with Service Tax, Excise, Works contract, Customs, VAT and other related issues and to help understand the latest developments in these fields as well as the view of tax administrators and the judiciary on the interpretations, it was felt that the workshop will impart learning through sessions, interactions, experience sharing and case studies. Dr Parthasarathi Shome, Adviser to the Union Finance Minister, Ministry of Finance and Chairman of the recently constituted Tax Administration Reforms Commission (TARC) was the Chief Guest. In his welcome address, Mr T Shivaraman, President of the Chamber congratulated Dr Shome on his appointment as Chairman of Tax Administration Reforms Commission and said our Chamber was privileged to have him addressing us in his additional role. With his experience in the Revenue and Customs, in IMF, etc. the knowledge that he brings to the table in matters relating to tax policies is great he said. Currently the Indian business is in a state of shock. However, we were much worse in 2008. The Government can do a lot to improve the situation by tinkering with tax policies to provide stimulus to the economy. The Indian tax laws are extremely complex. The interpretation issues add to litigation and the Indian industry is spending lot of time and money on these litigations he felt.

As a responsible Chamber, we are definitely against tax evasion. We do not want any loss of revenue to the Government. He exhorted the tax administration to be transparent while the industry definitely wants to be 100 per cent tax compliant. One of the disappointments the Chamber has is that the legislative process over GST Act which has been talked about for long, still appears to be far from being implemented. He hoped that the Tax Administration Reforms Commission headed by Dr Parthasarathi Shome will throw some light on the administrative and operational level and we will be able to see a lot of changes happening. Mr. K.Vaitheeswaran, Advocate and Tax Consultant and Chairman of the Chamberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Expert Committee on Indirect Taxes, addressed on the theme, the topics and the faculty who would be addressing. He said the Government should consider doing away with tax on services that bring in foreign exchange. This measure could be in place for just one year to shore up the foreign exchange earnings and reduce the current account deficit. Addressing the gathering, Dr Shome said Chennai is a vibrant part of India and when Chennai based industry leaders feel a bit of uncertainty, it has to be taken seriously. In every economy, there are structural periods of high and low and we all have to work together to move forward . Since the time of opening of our economy, we have gained a lot. We are also part of the liberalized world and in comparison with those economies, we still do not have that much of inflation as other European countries have faced. Speaking on Direct Tax Code, he said the process of rolling out the Direct Taxes Code is underway with the draft prepared from extensive stakeholder consultations currently being examined by various Ministries. The draft DTC which

was formulated under the guidance of the Finance Ministry reflected the views of industry, the Chambers and other stakeholder sections. There has been a lot of speculation about what happened to it. Basically that process is on he said. Other Ministries are going through the draft and once that is over, it will come to Parliament at some point. On the Goods and Service Tax, he pointed out that a draft Constitution Amendment Bill laying down the general features of GST had emerged from the various stages of stakeholder consultations. The Bill will go back to the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers and later hopefully it will be placed in Parliament. Dr Shome also urged industry to look at the finer points of how the various rules under GST played out in diďŹ&#x20AC;erent States. His view was that eventually GST would be passed only by the respective State governments. It has to be signed by the State legislators and they have to pass it. That is the overall umbrella constitution amendment that will allow both the Centre and the States to basically and fundamentally change the overall structure of tax assignment among the Centre and the States. Uniformity of State level GST and inter-State GST has to be ensured for smooth transactions across State borders he said. He also felt that industry needs to move away from profit-oriented incentives to investment-oriented incentives. On the recent appointment of a seven member Tax Administration Reforms Commission which he heads, Dr Shome said the goal would be to simplify taxation and administration to make it easy for tax payers and at the same time fix accountability on them. Mr.P.R. Subramaniyan, Chairman of the Expert Committee on VAT proposed the vote of thanks. Following were the speakers and the topics in the Technical Sessions that followed:

CHAMBER’S ACTIVITIES Session I: (Chairman: Mr K Guruswamy) Ms Bhargavi Natesan, Partner, SPR & Co. Special Economic Zones –supply of Goods and Services – SEZ Act V/s Revenue Loss

Mr.Girish Raman, Chartered Accountant, Mumbai Place of Provision of service Rules 2012 – In depth analysis Session V (Chairman: Mr.P.Purushotham)

Mr J Krishnan, Partner, S. Natesa Iyer & Co. Customs – Self Assessment –Boon or Bane?

Ms. Aparna Nandakumar, Advocate, Chennai VAT –Recent decisions on Input Tax Credit

Mr K K Sekar, DGM – Indirect Taxes, Ashok Leyland Ltd. Job Work Transactions – VAT, Service Tax & Excise Perspective

Mr B.Sriram, Partner, E&Y: Excise valuation – Fiat decision / issues in Rule 6

Session II: (Chairman: Mr.P.R.Subramaniyan) Mr.K.Vaitheeswaran Concept of Service-Deemed Services Issues Mr R.Anand, Manager – Indirect Taxes, L&T Construction Service Tax exemptions – Construction/ Infrastructure and issues with reference to joint Ventures & SPV Mr.K.Sivarajan, Director, BMR Associates Classification & Bundled Services

This was followed by a presentation on Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme by Mr Venkat Rangan of the Service Tax Commissionerate. Mr.R. Periasamy, IRS., Commissioner of Service Tax participated. The main purpose of the scheme is to motivate such assessees who have not filed their returns, to pay their tax dues. For this purpose, a help desk has been set up at Chennai Commissionerate to assist the assessees. At the Valedictory Session, Ms R Shakuntala, IRS., Chief Commissioner of Central Excise & Service Tax was the Chief Guest.

Session IV: (Chairman: Mr P.R.Sudhakar)

Referring to GST she said, one important aspect of GST is IT infrastructure. Without IT infrastructure, the objectives of GST cannot be delivered. She said from the Government, they have been giving their inputs to the authorities who are involved in putting the IT infrastructure in place. She urged the industry also to give their inputs, since the industry has vast experience.

Mr R L Ramani, Senior Advocate, Chennai: High Sea Sales/Sale in the course of import

The real growth in service tax is only 1617% she said and Chennai was slightly better compared to other States. Hence, the Government has brought in VCES.

Mr.P.Purushotham, Advocate & Consultant: Works contracts – sub-contractor – Issues in VAT and Service Tax

She said money has to be found for various schemes of the government – most importantly for implementation of the Food Security Bill. She exhorted the

Session III: (Chairman: Mr. P.Purushotham) Mr N.Venkataraman, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court Aspect Doctrine V/s Double Taxation of the same transaction

corporates to pay whatever is due to the Government. She also requested the Chamber to inform its members about the VCES and request them pay the taxes if any before December. She said they had a fine set of oﬃcials in the Commissionerate who would be ever willing to meet the assessees and sort out any issues. She also said she was available any time and people could meet her as well. She further said the Department has information about some companies who have provided service, have received the service tax amount but not remitted to the department. Time may come when the Department will have to take stern action, she cautioned. Proposing the vote of thanks, Ms K Saraswathi said that the members of the Chamber have been very tax compliant. The workshop was attended by nearly 90 delegates.

11th September 2013

Exim Bank Study Release – Comparison of Labour Laws: Select countries The Chamber joined hands with the Export-Import Bank of India, in releasing a Study Paper on Comparison of Labour Laws in select countries brought out by Exim Bank. The function was held at Hotel Hyatt Regency, Chennai. Mr Mohan Pyare, IAS., Principal Secretary, Labour & Employment Dept., Government of Tamil Nadu was the Chief Guest and released the study. Mr T C A Ranganathan, Chairman and Managing Director, Exim Bank of India, delivered a Special Address. Delivering the welcome address, Mr T Shivaraman, President said one significant challenge in doing business is the necessity

CHAMBER’S ACTIVITIES to simplify the rules and regulations in labour laws. Labour law has to be made business friendly he said. Whenever we import anything, we are importing not just the product, but the tax laws, labour costs, etc.

labour laws as the existing ones aﬀected the common man. Besides, the State Government was making sincere eﬀort in providing a favourable climate for the employers/employees within the purview of labour law he said.

He further said, the study by Exim bank can be used as a tool by the government, by organizations like us to see where we are, compared to other countries, and what changes can be brought about.

Ms Renuka Vijay, Manager, Exim Bank made a presentation giving a comparison. She said with favourable demographic dividend, India needs to align its policies to match with those of our competitors so that the implications of Free Trade Agreements and Preferential Trade Agreements would be in a position to attract large scale investments.

P re s e nt i n g t h e st u d y, M r T C A Ranganathan, Chairman and Managing Director, Exim Bank said considering the young workforce, we need to align our policies to match with those of our competitors so that the implications of FTAs and PTAs would be favourable to our business. Industrially active countries world over are encouraging contract employment to retain talent. In developed countries, contract employment is the preferred course for employers and employees he said quoting the study. Exim Bank research was carried out in 20 countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa based on 15 parameters. However, the performance of India was quite diﬀerent only in three parameters –factory size, number of people employed and hi-tech manufacturing. In his address, Mr Mohan Pyare, IAS., Principal Secretary, Labour and Employment, Government of Tamil Nadu who released the study said Tamil Nadu has scored well in the labour law reform index and in industrial development. In the last two years, the State has not witnessed any untoward event, or lost even a single day due to lockouts or strikes in industrial units. Lock outs and mandays lost due to strikes, have come down drastically. Militant employees are history. Even though no radical changes have been made in the Labour laws in the State, the labour’s behaviour has changed a lot. However, there are many criticisms that there was a need to modernize

Copies of the study were received by Mr N.Venkataramani, Chairman and Managing Director, India Pistons Ltd., Mr Arvind Balaji, Joint Managing Director, Lucas TVS Ltd., Mr T Shivaraman, President, MCCI and Mr R.P.K. Murugesan, Secretary General, INTUC (Tamilnadu). In his response, Mr Venkataramani said that the employer community feels that the labour laws are very archaic and have not kept pace with the changing scenario. It has been a neglected area. He, however, said the unions have become much more responsive and there is a good climate for negotiations though productivity is lacking. Mr Arvind Balaji felt that any product that is manufactured consists of three components namely – quality, reliability and costs. There is a need for the whole system to be productivity-linked. Mr Murugesan said in India the industrial growth is not vertical growth but horizontal growth. He was of the strong view that what is required is change of mind set with employers, employees and trade unions. He also urged for the necessity for social security for all. He said everyone needs decent work. There was good participation and the programme concluded with dinner hosted by Exim Bank.

13th September 2013

Conference on Moving Towards Energy Security in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu is one of the most progressive States and a forerunner in industrial development. The State has all the potential for becoming Numero Uno in the country and it ranks high in terms of industrial development across all important sectors. The positive factors in the State’s energy scenario are its strength in wind energy, commissioning of nuclear power and solar energy. The Government also aims at bringing major investments into power sector with active private sector participation. To achieve 24x7 power supply, electricity has to be available continuously at an affordable price. Energy Security is a vital element of energy policy. ”Energy Security” means having access to the requisite volumes of energy at an aﬀordable price. The Vision for Tamil Nadu is to become India’s most prosperous and progressive State by 2023 with no poverty and where its people enjoy all the basic services of a modern society. One of the key requirements for rapid economic growth in all sectors is quality infrastructure, which includes power. The total investment in the energy sector is estimated at Rs. 4,50,000 crore. New power generation capacity dedicated for Tamil Nadu located within the State or elsewhere will account for a bulk of the investments at Rs.280,000 crore. Five power generation projects are estimated to add 20,000 MW of capacity; of this, at least 5000 MW would come up before 2017 to make good the shortage of peak power and energy shortage that Tamil Nadu faces at present. In the long run, Tamil Nadu will have sufficient power

CHAMBER’S ACTIVITIES generation capacity that is owned or secured under long term contracts that becomes the bedrock of an eﬃcient and competitive economy. It is against this backdrop that the Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry in association with India Energy Forum organised a full day Conference on “Moving Towards Energy Security in Tamil Nadu” at the L&T Auditorium in Manapakkam. L&T was the Industry Partner while iMaCS was the Knowledge partner. The programme was sponsored by NTPC, State Bank of India, Power Grid Corpn. of India and Techno Electric & Engg Co.Ltd., Kolkata. Hon’ble Thiru Natham R. Viswanathan, Minister for Electricity and Prohibition & Excise, Government of Tamil Nadu was the Chief Guest. He referred to the Vision 2023 of the Government of Tamil Nadu and detailed the efforts taken by the Government to take Tamil Nadu to be a power surplus State. Mr Anil Razdan, former Secretary (Power), Government of India, in his keynote address referred to the restructuring package announced for many States and said Tamilnadu is one of them.He felt that increase in tariﬀs was necessary for sustenance of the distribution sector. Sustainability of the distribution sector is the key stone to any sustainability of power availability of the State. He felt that we are towards the path of healthy power situation in the days to come. Mr R Raghuttama Rao, Managing Director, iMaCs set the context for the Conference while Mr P S Bami, President, IEF delivered the thematic address. Mr J S Sudarsan, Executive Vice-President and HeadPower Transmission and Distribution, L&T Construction delivered a special address. Technical sessions which followed were addressed by speakers from a cross section of the industry, government, etc.

The first Technical Session dealt with Power Demand – Challenges & Opportunities which was addressed by Mr N Suresh Kumar, VP & Head-Thermal Power Plant, L&T, Mr K Venugopal, former member, TNERC and Mr S Kalirajan, Chairman, Public Awareness Committee of Koodangulam Power Plant. The session was chaired by Mr Anil Razdan, former Secretary, Ministry of Power. The second Technical Session dealt with Clean Energy & Renewable Sources –Capacity addition in 12th Plan and on Green Energy Corridor. This was chaired by Mr P.Krishna Kumar, Managing Director, Orient Green Power Co. The speakers were – Mr K V Sajay, VP – Sales & Marketing, Gamesa Wind Turbines, Mr S Rajavel, Executive VP & Head –Water & Renewable Energy, L&T and Ms Vineetha Aggarwal, Chief Manager of Power Grid Corpn. of India. In the third Technical Session there was a case study on 24x7 power supply where presentations were made on Gujarat Model by Mr H S Patel, Managing Director of Dakshin Gujarat Viji Co.Ltd. and on Delhi Model by Dr Harish Ahuja IAS (Retd) President, Strategy & Corporate Aﬀairs, Moser Baer Projects, New Delhi. Prof. M. Subramaniam, Southern Zone Convenor of India Energy Forum addressed on Fuel security and Life Cycle Cost in the last session. The programme was well attended by about 75 delegates.

17th September 2013

Meeting with Mr Edgars Rinkevics, Foreign Minister of Latvia and his delegation Indo-Latvian relations are cordial and are warming up though there is room for improvement on the trade and economic front. Trade and investment is steadily increasing between the two countries.

Latvia is envisaged as the nation that occupies a pivotal position as gateway to the Baltic market. Latvian leadership at all levels is keen to strengthen relationship with India and would like to see this relationship grow. Consequent to Latvia’s accession to the EU, Latvia has been promised EUR 5.7 billion grants over seven years for supporting various projects for which any company in a joint venture with a Latvian company would be eligible. This along with the investment friendly policies of the Latvian government provides great opportunity for Indian firms to make forays in the Latvian market. There are about 60 Latvian-Indian joint ventures in Latvia in the software and manufacturing sectors. In order to give a significant boost to trade, cultural and educational exchanges between the two countries, a thirteen member delegation from Latvia visited the country. The Baltic State would open its Embassy in New Delhi in January 2014. At the request of the Honorary Consulate for Latvia in Chennai and the Tamilnadu Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau, the Chamber organized an i nte ra c t i o n s e s s i o n to m e et t h e Minister and his delegation on the 17th September. Mr.Edgars Rinkevics, Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who led the trade delegation to India and to Chennai, said that Latvia has completed all the formalities to open its Indian Embassy, which would make it easier for Indians visiting the Baltic State to get visas and work permits. It is also expected to provide Indian exporters and visitors with easier access to EU and Russian markets, as Latvia is a gateway to those regions. Mr Rinkevics also accentuated the need to draw up and conclude, as soon as possible, a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Republic of

CHAMBER’S ACTIVITIES India. “A free trade agreement will remove many barriers in EU-India cooperation and will also bring benefits to Latvian businessmen,” said the Minister.

23rd September 2013

Latvia’s delegation, representing the senior staﬀ of Latvian higher education institutions and entrepreneurs exchanged opinions on cooperation opportunities in higher education, cinematography and film production, logistics and ports, as well as information technologies. Mr Rinkevics invited the Indian side to make use of Latvia’s infrastructure and ports and take part in the development of transit routes between Europe and the Central Asian region, including Afghanistan.

The MCA had recently released the Draft Rules 2013 for public comments. The Expert committee on Company Law/ Corporate Matters of the Chamber had been debating these Rules. However to get the view of a wider section, it thought fit to organize a Seminar on New Companies Act & Draft Rules 2013 on 23rd September.

Mr.N.Ramachandran, Honorary Consul, Republic of Latvia and Mr.T.Shivaraman, President, MCCI were also present in the discussion.

18th September 2013

Visit of Delegation from University of Northampton A few representatives from the University of Northampton visited Chennai and met select representatives of the Sustainable Chennai Forum on 18th September at the Chamber. The purpose of their visit to Chennai was to launch the Joint Programme in MSc International Environment Management offered by the University of Northampton and the Dept. of Geography - University of Madras. The programme will be a two year course offered in the University of Madras with the curriculum offered by the University of Northampton. The focus of the meeting with the Chamber would be to look for opportunities to partner in offering consultancy services for projects instituted under the Sustainable Chennai Forum. The Chamber will also explore the possibility of having some joint short term courses for the employees of its member industries.

Seminar on New Companies Act & Draft Rules 2013

Ms Bhavani Balasubramanian, Chairperson of the Company Law Committee welcoming the gathering said that the objective of the new company law is to promote development of economy, encourage entrepreneurship and enterprise eﬃciency. It also aims at flexibility and simplicity of information apart from encouraging transparency and accountability with high standards of corporate governance. Protection of interest of shareholders is the key with introduction of new concepts and procedures. There is stricter action against fraud and gross negligence of compliance with provisions of law. There is also change in institutional structure in the form of new authorities, bodies and panels. The new law consists of 470 sections, 29 chapters, 7 schedules, 33 new definitions and 400 prescriptions. 2 sets of Rules have been released for public feedback. The time given is inadequate for corporates to read and deliberate. 98 sections of the new law have been notified to be eﬀective from September 13, 2013. There are several new concepts introduced including one person company, dormant company, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), class action suits, National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) and National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The new law also gives detailed procedures for the meetings to be conducted with a

speaker to be identified before speaking each time and roll call at breaks and before conclusion. Also only chairperson, directors, secretary and person legally allowed is to attend the meetings. It is not clear if invitees are allowed to attend the meetings. There are also provisions with respect to women directors in board, internal auditor and secretary for certain companies. Rotation of audit firms has been made mandatory. There is also a provision for revision of accounts. In case of the revision with change of auditors, only auditors are required to appear before the tribunal. The presence of the management should also be mandated in such instances. Auditor has to report on fraud under certain instances to the Central Government including if the fraud happens frequently. Whether this includes repeated fraud is not very clear. CSR is mandated for listed companies now. There is however no clarity on the unspent CSR amounts. Auditing and Secretarial standards are mandatory. The regulatory mechanism has been strengthened with NFRA, NCLT, NCLAT (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal), more powers for SFIO, special courts, investor education and protection authorities, Mediation and conciliation panel etc. The Technical Sessions were addressed by the following Speakers: CS Dr B Ravi, Company Secretary in Practice & Corporate Law Consultant (An insight into the new sections of the Companies Act 2013 notified from 12th September, 2013) CA Mr S. Srikanth, Chartered Accountant & Partner, Karpagam & Co. (Accounts, Audit & Auditors with Draft Rules)

CHAMBER’S ACTIVITIES CS Mrs B Chandra, Company Secretary in Practice & former Deputy Registrar of Companies, TN (Board of Directors and Board meetings with Draft Rules) CS Mr A M Sridharan, Company Secretary in Practice & former Bench Oﬃcer of CLB, (SR) (Class Action suits, NCLT related matters with draft rules) Many suggestions were given during the interaction. These have since been compiled and sent to MCA. The programme was well attended by about 80 delegates.

25th September 2013

“Why Invest in Italy” – Interactive Seminar on Investment Opportunities The Madras Chamber and the Indo-Italian Chamber held an interactive seminar on “Why Invest in Italy”. The Seminar was attended by leading industrialists from the city. Italy is the 4th largest economy in Europe where it occupies a strategic position. It has over 5 million small and medium enterprises; an extensive infrastructure network and an innovative value system with highly qualified manpower, makes it ideal for Indian investors seeking to make fresh investments or expanding existing operations. The Seminar began with Mr Sauri Mezzeti, Hon.Consul General of Italy in Chennai and Mr Carlo Ferrari, Head Investment Desk of Italian Trade Agency sharing an overview of the investment opportunities available in Italy. They highlighted that there was ample scope to develop strong business relationships as the two nations shared complementary business interests. Mr Mezzeti stressed that they also had cultural similarities which would pave the way in

strengthening business relationships. Subsequently representatives from 4 Italian regions and provinces namely Lombardy-Milan; Piemonte-Turin; Tuscany-Florence; and Campagnia-Salerno made detailed presentations on the opportunities available in their respective regions. In his welcome address, Mr T Shivaraman, President, Madras Chamber said that events such as these provided the members with an opportunity to explore and evaluate the investment options, first hand. If an investment or a JV has to work, cultural alignment has to be there between the two countries and Indians feel comfortable working in Italy. Today we have investments going in both directions. He said Italy has many manufacturing companies which have been in existence for many years. The representatives from various Regions of Italy made presentations about the business environment in their respective regions. Piemonte Region- In this region, over 630 foreign companies have chosen to set up shops. Mahindra, Tatas, Alstom, Honeywell etc. have presence there. It has a highly qualitative human resource; 12 innovation hubs and offers many opportunities for real estate investment. Lombardy region in the heart of Europe is a dynamic, productive and innovative region and offers strategic advantages over other locations including affordable real estate, skilled workforce with the lowest labour cost in Europe. Lombardy is the international hub and is one of the top regions in Europe for hard and soft infrastructure. Land in Lombardy is geared towards foreign companies, looking to relocate their offices and/ or expand their business activities in Lombardy, offering office space and a wide range of services, all for free.

The business sectors in Salerno include agriculture and food sector, handicrafts and tourism. It has good infrastructure network like railway network; port is at a strategic point of call within the European system of integrated transport. The Regional Funding offers many opportunities and incentives for improvement of the business environment (starting, running and growing a business in all sectors) as also opportunities in real estate and infrastructure. Florence - has a number of start up companies in ICT, environmental services and carbon asset management, healthcare and technology, biotechnology and nanomedicine, bio pharmaceuticals, maritime/coastal engineering, oﬀshore renewable energies, etc. They wish to explore JVs with companies in India. Ms Arianna Carlotti, Solicitor, made a presentation on Elements of Company Law in which she covered investor considerations, framework of industry, how to set up a business in Italy, freedom of capital movement, taxation of companies, etc. There is scope for several projects in Italy in the following sectors: -

Biomedical

Nanotech

Software for automotive, railways, medical

ICT

Bio-pharmaceuticals

Medical devices; and

Real Estate

The programme attended by nearly 80 delegates was preceded by lunch hosted by the Indo-Italian Chamber. You can’t do today’s job with yesterday’s methods and be in business tomorrow. Keep yourself updated.

CHAMBER’S ACTIVITIES Chamber Day 29th September 2013

While welcoming the State’s decision to

Chief Guest. Mr T T Srinivasaraghavan,

bring out Vision 2023 document, which

Immediate past President of the Chamber

targets around 10.9 percent growth in the

received the first copy.

The founders’ day of the Chamber which

State’s economy, Mr Rajan said executing

is called Chamber Day was celebrated on

the document was the key. He noted

Sunday, 29th September at Hotel Hyatt

that in the late 80s the State’s industrial

Regency with a meeting. Mr L Lakshman,

growth was around 35 per cent.

Chairman, Rane Holdings Ltd., Chennai,

The Chamber also felicitated Ms Jessie Edwards, Deputy Secretary, who had put in 42 years of service in the Chamber with a shawl and a citation. Ms Edwards made

There are some home grown issues like

a short speech sharing her experience and

power and other infrastructure related

thanking everyone at the Chamber for

Welcoming the gathering Mr T Shivaraman,

issues which the Government should

their support, and her speech was greatly

President, expressed his happiness at the

focus on. Power, compliance, export

appreciated.

large turnout of members and invitees,

opportunities and labour are the key areas

despite being Sunday. He said since the

the government has to maintain focus

founding of the Chamber by 18 British

besides having a proper dialogue with

businessmen in 1836, the Chamber

the industries and other stakeholders to

has been continuously developing and

address these issues said Mr Rajan.

growing.

Mr L Lakshman, the Chief Guest, then

presentation brought out all the facts

He referred to the Coffee Table Book

delivered his address on ”IMMOBILISED

about Tamil Nadu Vision 2023 and was

“Championing Enterprise” wherein the

INDIA”. He lamented about the stagnation

full of hope that Tamil Nadu can soon be

history of the Chamber for 175 years

of growth in India and explained the ways

a Numero Uno State in the country.

which has revolved around the business

to counter this. He said the problems

and industrial development in Madras

India faces are mostly self inflicted and

Presidency and Tamilnadu has been

are extremely unlike that of Greece or

chronicled.

Spain. Vested interests, incompetence,

was the Chief Guest.

Proposing the Vote of Thanks, Mr S G Prabhakharan, Vice-President said that the address of Mr Lakshman has been one of the most profound and impacting speeches. Mr Rajan Ekambaram in his

The meeting attended by nearly 275 members and invitees, concluded with Dinner.

vote bank politics and policy paralysis are He said the Chamber has been extremely

some of the reasons for the slowdown he

active with a few new initiatives while

pointed out.

continuing with the old and established ones.

Expressing disappointment over the education sector in the country, Mr

Currently the Chamber has undertaken a

Lakshman said there are no higher

study on Ease of Doing Business in Tamil

institutes from India that feature in the

Nadu which is proposed to be released

top 200 in the world. Even our IITs don’t

next month. He said we were protected,

feature in the top 220. He pointed out

isolated and suﬀocated. Liberalisation has

that our real fundamentals which need to

opened the roads and there is creativity

be strengthened are Creating High Class

in the Indian business.

institutions, improving Education and

Tamilnadu Vision 2023 document which

Health care and ensuring Accountability.

is ambitious, if implemented in letter and

For the benefit of the readers, the full text

spirit, can really do good for the State.

of his address is given in the following pages.

Mr Rajan Ekambaram, Partner, E&Y, making a presentation on the state of TN economy said that the FDI equity inflows in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry stood at Rs. 15,250 crore in fiscal 2013 against Rs. 6,710 crore in the fiscal 2012.

This was followed by the Release of Directory of Members 2013 by the

16th August 2013

Meeting called by Exim Bank on Strategy for Services Sector The objective of this meeting was to interact with select service providers and institutions/associations with a view to elicit responses and feedback from stakeholders which in turn would serve as key inputs for the Govt. of India’s strategy for services sector and exports. Mr HAC Prasad, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance chaired the meeting held at Hotel Hyatt Regency. Ms K.Saraswathi, Secretary General, MCCI represented the Chamber at this meeting.

IMMOBILISED INDIA Address by Mr. L. Lakshman, Chief Guest, at the Chamber Day on 29th September 2013 1.

It is indeed a privilege and honour to be invited as Chief Guest of a venerable institution as the MCCI. Thank you. For a Chamber of Commerce to attain the age of 177 in a country such as ours calls for a huge amount of grit and resilience. Given the current situation and the outlook, you would need even more of these qualities as we go forward. Nani Palkhivala at the 150 year celebrations of MCCI said it is only the first 150 years in the life of a chamber that is diﬃcult. Thereafter things get easier. A rare occasion when Nani Palkhivala seems to have got it wrong.

2.(a) When a Chamber of Commerce travels backwards 19 years in time and invites its President of 1994 to be the Chief Guest, i t m a ke s o n e wo n d e r w hy. Having thought through many possibilities, I concluded it must be that, prevailing wisdom has fallen upon hard times and the Chamber needs to hark back to the golden era – of precisely 19 years ago. A flattering conclusion! (b)

paeans one normally hears from time to time. 3.(a) T h e fa c t t h at o u r n at i o n a l agenda has neither deepened nor broadened over the years is worrisome. The way our political economy is run, it would seem that we are inescapably frozen in time. I sense increasing anguish and concern on the part of the people that I interact with regularly and this is what I shall speak about. Young and old, women and men these voices emanate from cricket grounds, clubs, restaurants, factories and boardrooms. So it is not merely the voice of the elitist.

For many of us in India, who try to make an honest living through proper conduct of our profession and businesses, the reforms of 1991 seemed an irreversible watershed although, these were eﬀected with a gun pointed at our head. The expectation was that the markets would take over from poor politics and bureaucracy and that the invisible hand of Adam Smith will bring balanced growth and prosperity. Granted, market efficiency cannot be the only measure of economic success in a country such as ours. Yet, the hope was that a virtuous cycle would be set in motion that would improve quality of education, health care and the hard infrastructure. In other words, the foundation for a country to build upon.

Sure enough the Indian economy grew at an average of 6.4% from 2000 to 2005 and at 9% from 2005 to 2011. We successfully weathered the global financial storm of 2008 albeit our growth dropped to 6.72%. At that time, our foreign exchange reserves provided a cover of over nine months of our imports and the current account

The gist of it is, as a nation we stand immobilised. Thanks to our national ethos of treating always the symptom and never the disease. That in itself is an immobiliser. (b).

To validate that, I went back to my archives of notes and speeches. Lo and behold! The topical issues then as now for Chambers and Associations were current account and fiscal deficits, quality of public governance and interest rates. So much, for superior wisdom from the past and the golden era! I have titled my address Immobilised India - very diﬀerent from Incredible and Shining India, the promoted

ago. It depicted a very run down individual sitting on a park bench right next to a pin-stripe suited and hatted gentleman reading a financial paper and making this unsolicited comment. “At first I was a Keynesian, then supply sider, then a monetarist and now a bum.” The fellow must be given credit for having at least experimented with options and ideas.

Economic policy is merely result of the manner in which we choose to perceive and pursue ideas and put them into action. Adam Smith, Keynes and Hayek had their views on how economies should be run. You would think that a nation, 65 years old, would have by now distilled from these great thoughts and come up with its own formula to meet its disparate needs, duly tinkered from time to time with policy tweaks. Sure enough, the whole world has a problem today, but ours seem more self-inflicted and the consequences potentially more pernicious than in Greece or Spain. There was a cartoon I saw in the Punch magazine many years

deficit was 2.4% and fiscal deficit was 3.1%. A relatively comfortable position to be in. 7.

As if we wrought a miracle, growth was back at nearly 9% in the subsequent two years. Since then we have been on a declining mode.

8.(a) S o w h a t r e a l l y h a s g o n e wrong? Were we just fooled by randomness? Could we not discern between mild and wild success and formulate policies to build on the latter. (b)

Understandably, the eﬀect of the global situation has been an issue. Exports started softening and the uncertainty in Euro economies created a drag. These are inevitable realities we must contend with even in a semi-globalised economy such as ours. Weak foundations do not help. Offering the global situation as reason is an unacceptable excuse; but our leadership does so ad naseum. After all it could be argued that had our fiscal discipline been even at the level of 2008, there would be lot more headroom to handle the current situation. Regrettably, we started going in wrong directions. Profligate government expenditure, unrealisable tax revenue forecasts, indiscriminate subsidies and inadequate attention to supply side issues have been the real culprits. The last of these a well acknowledged bane of this nation, for many years. Vested interests and incompetence seem to come in the way. Last but not the least, lack of accountability in the public sector that has dogged us for many years.

10.

11.(a) Viewed in this background, the success we achieved in the window of roughly ten years seems almost a random effect; perhaps the result of the first and only phase of reform of early 90’s and the global conditions. But the hubris it generated has been unreal. Indian policy makers, reformers, financial and business community would say, “Where else but India will the world capital go to”. It takes humility and knowledge to understand success and create conditions to sustain it. (b)

Instead, cosmetic reforms are proposed to restart the economy. Take FDI in retailing as an example. To think that Wal Mart and Tesco can solve the underlying problems of India is a ludicrous proposition. It is an insult to Indian intellect and capabilities. When this so-called reform fails, as plan B, we are asked to wait for the monsoon. As if these are comparable alternatives. Finding himself in a similar vexatious situation, Abraham Lincoln is supposed to have said, “I am too old to cry but it hurts so much that I can’t laugh”. The Tamil equivalent would be “¢ ¢ Ü öøî£ CK‚Aøî£ ªîKòô”.

(c)

political parties been constituted to understand how best to deal with this ground reality? The political parties seem to close ranks soon enough to defend criminality in politics and avoidance of RTI obligations! As you are aware there have been major shifts in the last few days. We will never know if this is genuine change of heart or electoral tactics!

Vote bank politics, crony capitalism, resultant corruption charges (many of them seemingly true) and policy paralyses have brought us to our knees.

Compulsions of coalition politics is the other often heard excuse. If that is a constraint, it will remain so for many years to come. What eﬀorts have been made to understand the dynamics and impact of it? Has a think tank comprising the best political minds from all the

12.(a) The other standard refrain one hears is “our fundamentals are strong”; I find that comical. If this assertion was true: (1)

Important legislations will not remain pending for years on end.

(2)

Our Parliament will function with dignity and for many more than the 70 days it did in 2011.

(3)

The employability of our school and college graduates will not be the dismal story it is now.

(b)

I come from a business background and to me strong fundamentals imply highly trained employees working with robust processes, implementing policies formulated by leadership with a clear vision and purpose. Is this what we do as a nation? Let me oﬀer more thoughts on what strong fundamentals are they are common sense based.

13.(a) Firstly, it means high class institutions that function on principled policies to serve the people. At one time, our parliament would have qualified as one. We seem to have moved a long way since and for the worse. Kanchi Paramacharya in his work titled “Voice of God” alludes to governing institutions or Sabhas. The Sabhas were considered worthy of salutations even in

Shree Rudram (Vedic recitation) because the Sabha was created through the collective eﬀorts of the learned with the intention of doing good to the people and therefore considered the equivalent of Ishwara himself. (b)

(c)

(d)

He also alludes to the quality of the Sabhayans who debate and discuss affairs of the state to make recommendations to the king. Good intellect, exemplary conduct and skilful articulation are proposed as essentials. Sound knowledge, constructive attitudes and selflessness are my additions to the list. Kanchi Paramacharya is no longer with us. I wonder what his response would be to the current state of aﬀairs. Rewrite the Voice of God or modify Shree Rudram!

contribution to making right political choices, use of legal rights and provides a solid platform for narrowing income inequality. (b)

(c)

(d)

As institutions go the Reserve Bank of India seems to be the only one that functions based on purpose and principles. The judiciary at higher levels and the Election Commission can lay claims to be the other performing institutions. You would have seen recently evidence of this. But you cannot build a strong nation on just a couple of pillars.

14(a) The second fundamental is the centrality of education. Tagore said, “In my view the imposing tower of misery which rests on the heart of India has its foundation in the absence of education”. The capability to read, write and count has powerful eﬀects on the values and beliefs of a society. The success of China and East Asia has been based substantially on the capability of its well educated citizenry. Education makes a huge

(e)

Our track record has been dismal. The Indian literacy rate at 74% is an insult when compared with 93% of East Asia. Public expenditure on education at 3.3% of GDP (World Bank report) and the quality of its deployment makes a mockery of nation building. Inadequate appreciation of the value in vocational skills is an incipient disease that kills. Every young Indian seems to prefer the inane poor quality so called higher education that leads them nowhere, rather than learning a productive skill, that benefits them and the nation. In recent times the quality and image of our higher education has also taken a beating. The latest ranking of international universities published last week does not include any Indian University in the top 200. Three of our IITs are ranked below 220. This should be the state of aﬀairs, in the home of Takshila and Nalanda, the earliest of Universities in the world is a sad commentary. I see education as mother of all fundamentals.

15.(a) The next fundamental is health care. Put mildly, health care has been in a permanent state of crisis. With infant mortality at 47per 1000 births, access to sanitation limited to 34% of Indian population and appalling child related statistics as underweight, stunted growth and low immunisation rates makes you wonder what we have been doing for 65 years ,if anything at all. I quote

Amartya Sen “a recent analysis of questions asked in the parliament finds only 3% of them relate to children although they constitute 40% of the population. Further, less than 5% of these questions were concerned with childhood care and development.” I cannot think of a stronger indictment of the sense of priorities of our planners and elected representatives. (b)

Compare this dismal performance with our neighbour Bangladesh. With half our per capita income, they have marched ahead in so many of the social indicators, particularly female related. This is hallmark of a strong fundamental that builds nations.

(c)

Amartya Sen in his book “Uncertain Glory” has much to say on the state of education and health in India.

16.(a) The last fundamental I want to touch upon is accountability to citizens and tax payers. It is well known that the record of the public sector in many fields from agriculture to State run airlines stands comprehensively tarnished across the world. They are a drain on the taxpayers’ money. (b)

Public services fare no better. Try accessing any public service such as obtaining a building permit or filing a police complaint and you will know what I mean. The public service providers have become a privileged class who will respond at their whim if and only if they are sufficiently incentivised or directed by their political bosses. A huge blot on a nation that gave the world the concept of Dharma -sense of duty and righteousness. The private sector is not a paragon of virtue; after all, it represents the

other half of crony capitalism. Even the conscientious ones amongst us constantly clamour, for lower taxes rather than demanding results for taxes paid, lower interest rates than demanding to fix the root cause of inflation. It is symbolic of the short-term view that we too take, even on issues of national import. (c)

17.

This ethos and I call it “protect our turf” syndrome seems the biggest challenge that we face. It relates to values and beliefs of a nation. How do we fix this? Do we start teaching civic sense and accountability at schools as a nationwide curriculum? Should this be our nation’s mission for next 25 years with the brightest minds leading it? I can visualise a true leader like Lee Kwan Yew driving such an initiative as a fundamental requirement in the nation building process.

future (and incidentally reduce dependence on Wal Marts of the world); leadership that is skilled in conflict management and cuts across party lines and coalition politics that will not compromise on these fundamentals.

(d)

You cannot runaway from destiny.

(e)

Economies will and must wobble from time to time. This is its nature. The counter measures must be to build strong but resilient foundations. This calls for high quality democratic institutions with strong accountability and healthy educated citizens. They add up to more than the sum of the parts. If and only if a nation has these attributes, can it claim its fundamentals to be strong. Only then, can it formulate and implement, enlightened and sustainable economic policies.

(f)

They say, “as you sow shall you reap”. We do not seem to have sown wisely enough over a couple of generations. But two thirds of the Indian population now is below the age of 33 and the median age is 28. That makes it 600 M people below the age of 28. In terms of demographics, perhaps the youngest nation in the world. Will they coalesce into a critical mass that will change the face of this country and do us proud? Can they make the dreams of our founding fathers come true?

18. (a) So what would be the consequences if these fundamentals are not put in place? You may have heard of this story from the tales of Jalaluddin Rumi. (b)

(c)

The desperate need of the hour is a missionary zeal to build a nation of healthy, capable and empowered people with a strong sense of accountability. Creation of an enabling environment to grow knowledge and intellectual property, the capital of the

The angel of death came visiting to Babylon. Walking along the bazaar, he saw across the street a powerful minister and looked at him quizzically. The minister thought his number was up and hastened back to the palace and being a powerful man (as all ministers are) negotiated an immediate transfer to Bhagdad and left the same afternoon. That very evening the angel of death made a courtesy call on the King.The King after exchanging pleasantries asked the angel of death why he had scared his minister. The reply was, I was surprised to see him here because I have an appointment with him in Bhagdad tomorrow.

They have to for their sake and ours.

21st October: 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Round Table I on ECBC with Building Promoters and Realtors 22nd October: 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Round Table II on ECBC with Architects and Consultants

29th October: Visit of delegates from Moselle, France. 16th November 2013: Seminar on Anti-Bribery 28th & 29th November 2013: Visit of Princess of Belgium and Business Delegation.

Forthcoming Programmes

GENERAL COMMITTEE 10th August & 17th September 2013

noticed that there are many issues relating to Central laws than the State Laws.

The Committee held its monthly meetings in August and September and considered the following issues:

They had made a detailed presentation to the members of the Committee on 5th September on their findings.

Difficulties faced at Chennai Customs It was brought to the Committee’s attention that there has been a major case of prohibited drugs being cleared at Chennai Customs for the past one year. This was unearthed after which the work at the Chennai Air Customs came to a standstill. The trade was not able to clear any consignments and they had to pay heavy demurrage. The Chamber immediately faxed a letter to the Revenue Secretary, copies of which were sent to the city Chambers with a request to take up the matter with him. Copies of the letter were also issued to the press. There was good coverage. There was quick action from the Revenue Department and overnight strict instructions were given to the Customs staff and within 48 hours the situation was brought to normalcy at the airport. At the Sea Customs, things have become better though there are some problems –especially as Chennai has 40% shortage of appraising staff. Members suggested that for manufacturing units, some facility should be given as is being done under Central Excise. However, they were informed that manufacturing companies could demand and get better facilitation. Industries should strongly protest such delays and the huge demurrages incurred. Ease of doing Business – study by the Chamber The Consultants were asked to meet the various Expert Committees of the Chamber and get their inputs. It was

Members of the Committee oﬀered many suggestions and some factual corrections to the recommendations. Members felt that at the end of the report, 4-5 major recommendations should be highlighted as a roadmap to achieve the Vision 2023 of the Tamil Nadu Government. The Consultants have incorporated these in their final report and a draft copy was given to the Chamber. However, it was felt that the report needed more focus and hence should be improvised. The President further said that the Report clearly indicates that though many of the Laws are under Central Government, the State Government still has the powers to enact their own provisions in the overall frame which can ease the situation to a great extent. That way 90% of the solutions

are in the hands of the Government of Tamil Nadu which would be highlighted in our Study recommendations. It is proposed to release the Study Report during October. Skill Development Centre activities A Manager – Training and Development has been appointed to run the Centre. Tally courses are going on in the Centre. Two Programmes – one in welding and the other in Fabrication will be jointly conducted with C –PAT. Other matters related to the programmes organised by the Chamber, visit of delegations, administrative matters, membership, etc.

I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It is because of them I did it myself.. Einstein.........

8th August 2013

Visit of Representatives from IIA, Lucknow Indian Industries Association (IIA), Lucknow is the Apex Industry Association in Uttar Pradesh having 40 plus chapters in all the industrially developed districts of the State. The President of IIA – Mr Pramod Miglani, Senior Vice President – Mr Manish Goel, General Secretary – Mr Neeraj Singhal, Treasurer – Mr Satish Gupta, Executive Director – Mr D S Verma and Mr Arunachalam Karthikeyan, Project Director - ZDH / SEQUA Partnership Program & Country Manager - sequa GmbH, Liaison Oﬃce (India) met the Secretary General, MCCI to study its various functions to promote MSMEs and trade and development in the State of Tamil Nadu. They were also keen to learn about the various Income generating services of MCCI. There was good interaction.

EXPERT COMMITTEES 1st August 2013

2nd August 2013

Company Law/Corporate Matters

Energy

The first meeting of the reconstituted Committee was held on 1st August. Ms Bhavani Balasubramanian, Chairperson, informed that the President of the Chamber had met the Chairmen & Co-Chairmen of all Expert Committees recently to identify various activities of each expert committee. She said the President of the Chamber desired each expert committee to bring in more members to the Chamber through their contacts so that the strength of the Chamber is increased and with a broad membership base, a number of key issues could be taken up with the Government. Work plan for the year : Considering the work plan for the year, the Committee decided on the following:

At its first meeting, the Chairman, Mr P Krishnakumar, apprised the members that Tamil Nadu is still reeling under power crisis and industrial units particularly the small scale industries were suﬀering. Industries are getting below 700 MW power from the grid which is not at all suﬃcient to meet the requirements. For the past 10 years, there has been no progress in the power situation. There has been slight improvement in the power distribution, during this quarter due to wind. He further said that most of the Industrial Associations including the MCCI have made representations to the Government on this matter but there has been no response from the Government. Work plan for the year

Seminar on New Companies Bill 2012

Discussion on matters relating to shareholders in SEBI, MCA and Stock Exchange Regulations

Discussions with ROC & Regional Director of MCA, Chennai

Anti bribery & Corruption – Breakfast session

Fraud Risk management – Seminar

Corporate Compliance & Role of Directors – half-a-day session

Value creation in Corporates – Seminar: Topics: Mergers & Amalgamations / Cost Re-engineering/Human Capital Management

A programme on IPR in association w i t h L e ga l A ffa i rs C o m m i tte e

MCCI has been making a number of representations to the Government of Tamil Nadu on the power scenario from time to time. The Committee was of the view that the Chamber could plan a meeting with the Government oﬃcials in the power sector which would enable the industries to know the actual position. The Chairman informed that the Government of Tamil Nadu is very keen that domestic, industrial and commercial buildings should use solar power for their power needs. The Government is oﬀering subsidies for the solar power users. He suggested that the Chamber could try and adopt a small village near the MCCI Skill Development Centre at Tiruvallur as a CSR project. The Chairman pointed out that a number of industries are facing problems with regard to levy of tax on self generation of power by the industries. He said that the Madras Chamber had already made

a representation to the Secretary, Energy, Govt. of Tamil Nadu on the following lines: -

Exempt the industries from payment of tax (for both generation and sale) for the period when R&C measures were imposed till it is lifted in full

Exempt Renewable Power from cross subsidy charges in full

P u t i n a b eya n c e t h e co e rc i ve measures being taken by the Electrical inspectorate including insisting on payment of the past arrears of electricity tax as a condition for getting approvals.

The Committee felt that the above issue could be taken up with the officials of the power sector as and when a meeting is organised. The Committee noted that Karnataka Government has introduced banking facility to solar power projects. The banking charges would be 2% and this would be applicable to mini hydel and wind generators. Many companies use biomass to generate power and this biomass sector has problems due to cost escalation of raw materials. Biomass power producers have been requesting the Government to fix the price and also charges for connections to the grid. They have also requested the Regulatory Commission to exempt the scheduling of biomass power plants, as these function subject to availability of biomass. It was decided to take up this issue also at the meeting with the officials. Regarding Energy Conservation, the Chamber had organised a meeting on 3rd July with the State Planning Commission on “Energy Conservation and Green Practices for SMEs”. It was a well attended event by senior Government officials. Around 7 presentations were made by the faculty which included promotion of energy

conservation, financing models, case studies, natural gas, energy conservation through the use of methane, etc. The Committee appreciated the eﬀorts of the Chamber and suggested to conduct more events on Energy conservation. The Committee suggested to organise a joint programme with Bureau of Energy Efficiency, particularly for medium enterprises.

5th August 2013

Direct Taxes At its first meeting held on 5th August, Mr. Sriram Seshadri, Chairman, gave a broad overview of the functions of the Direct Taxes Committee and felt that the Committee would like to be very active and a number of activities need to be initiated. He requested the members to attend the meetings of the Committee regularly and also take part in the Committee’s activities. If more number of members attend the meetings, then there was a possibility of more number of issues coming up for discussion. Under the auspices of the Committee, the Chamber had organized two programmes recently - one on Corporate Restructuring and the other on TDS. There was overwhelming response by member companies for the TDS programme which was addressed by oﬃcials of the Income tax Department. Discussing about the work plan, it was decided that each future committee meeting would have a special session for discussion after the regular agenda. This practice would motivate members to participate as well as to share their knowledge. Members were informed that the Ministry of Finance has set up a Tax Administration Reforms Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr.Parthasarathi Shome to discuss Tax related issues.

This Forum would be meeting every Wednesday and the group would be willing to meet Chambers of Commerce and other stakeholders. The Committee felt that this Forum may be one of the good opportunities for the industries to bring their issues and expect proper attention. The Chairman felt that the representations from the industry for this Forum should be on policy modifications and tax issues which is aﬀecting all the industries. Operational issues, routine issues, procedural issues and individual company issues may be avoided. The Committee felt the need to form a CFO’s Forum which could help the Chamber in its many initiatives. Once the CFO Forum is formed, the Chamber could involve CFOs of non-members as well. If DTC is introduced/passed, many programmes on DTC will be organised .

6th August 2013

VAT The Committee met on 6th August. The Chairman, Mr P R Subramaniyan, apprised the members about the activities held last year and said that pending issues / activities would be completed as far as possible. Certain programmes would be planned exclusively by the VAT Committee and certain other events would be planned jointly with other Expert Committees. Members were informed that the Ministry of Finance has constituted a Tax Administration Reforms Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr.Parthasarathi Shome, Advisor to FM, Govt. of India. This Commission would deal with issues in tax as well as tax disputes. The Commission had given a specific format for getting the issues and every Wednesday the Commission would meet and analyse the issues sent by the various groups. The Chairman requested the members to send

their views to the Chamber urgently so that the Chamber could collate the same and take up with Dr.Shome. Work Plan The Committee would meet once in 2 months. In the event of any major issue, a special meeting would be convened. During the year, a Certificate course on TN VAT would be organized. A representation was sent by the Chamber to the Secretary, Commercial Taxes, Govt. of Tamil Nadu last year and some of the issues are still unsettled. The Chamber would fix up a meeting with the Oﬃcials of the Commercial Taxes, GoTN and a representation will be given to the Commissioner. (Since handed over) Post budget meetings would be organised subject to the importance of the budget notifications and changes. Under the joint auspices of the VAT and Indirect Taxes Committees, a Two Day All India Workshop on Indirect Tax Laws was scheduled on 30th & 31st August 2013 (since organized). Training Programmes on VAT – Chennai & outstations: The Chamber periodically organises training programmes on VAT and these would be continued. Eﬀorts will be made to organize these training programmes in other metros like Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai, Karur etc. Uniform Policy for ‘C’ Forms Some States are issuing ‘C’ Forms based on taxable turnover or total turnover. In Tamil Nadu taxable turnover method is adopted. Most of the States are issuing ’C’ Forms electronically and some States are still following issue of ‘C’ Forms manually. Karnataka State is following the taxable turnover method for issuing ‘C’ Form while in States like Gujarat & West Bengal, ‘C’ Forms are issued on receipt basis

only. The Committee felt that diﬀerent methods of issuing ‘C’ Form is creating lot of problems and this point would be taken up with the Government.

following to join the Committee: -

A representative from RBI/ IOB/Indian Bank

Representatives from Foreign Banks like HSBC/Bank of America

A representative from an Insurance Company

Furnace Oil As far as this issue concerned, notifications are issued with retrospective date causing hardship both to the purchaser as well as seller. The Chamber has already made representations to the Tamil Nadu Government. The purchaser is unable to get the VAT refund (paid already) from the seller, since the seller also would have remitted the tax to the Government and availed ITC. As per the present notification, exemption for furnace oil exemption was given up to 31st May 2013 only and the Chamber has requested the Government to extend the date till 31st March 2014.

7th August 2013

Financial Sector The Committee has proposed the following programmes for the year: -

FFT on Banking Licence

Joint programmes with BIM Alumni

Programme on SEBI - Insider Trading along with Company Law Committee

Discussion meeting on FEMA along with RBI

Programme with NSE on latest developments in capital markets.

Discussion meeting on Overseas Transactions

Programme on Financing of SMEs.

To create a CFO’s Forum

Training Programme on Insurance

Invitees to the Committee The Committee decided to extend invitations to the representatives of the

12th August 2013

Indirect Tax The Chairman, Mr K Vaitheeswaran, apprised the Committee about the All India workshop on Indirect Tax Laws planned for 30th and 31st August at Hotel GRT Grand. This is a major event and most sought after and attended by representatives from other States as well. The Committee proposes to organize Management Development Programmes for the managers at the field level. Such programmes were organized in satellite towns like Coimbatore which was very well appreciated. This year, plans are afoot to organize such programmes in Madurai, Trichy, etc. The Committee would organize the postbudget workshop immediately after the Central Budget is announced. A Seminar along with Logistics Committee will be organized in November.

and were requested to send issues, if any, aﬀecting them so that the Chamber can consolidate the same and forward it to Dr Shome.

13th August 2013

IT/ITES The meeting was chaired by Mr Clynton Almeida. He said the Committee should keep a watch on the changes in the IT Policy of the State Government and also have some updates with regard to social media. He sought the help of the committee members for getting speakers and sponsors for the various events to be organized under the auspices of this Committee. During the year, the Committee would organize: • A Seminar on the use of Open Source Software. This is purely to disseminate information • Hold a webinar • A programme with TiE • A major event focusing on IT • A Fair for SME companies • Institute an IT Award for innovation.

Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme Members’ attention was drawn to VCES, the latest venture of the Finance Minister. This is an opportunity for all the service tax assessees who have defaulted in service tax payments to settle their dues without interest and penalty. Constitution of Tax Reforms Administration Commission headed by Dr Parthasarathi Shome, Advisor to FM: M e m b e rs we re i n fo r m e d o f t h e constitution of the above Commission

• A joint programme with NASSCOM. • MCCI’s programmes to be linked to YouTube, LinkedIn, Face Book and Sharer • An E-letter to be initiated giving details of the happenings in the IT sector. • A programme on cyber crime • Problems of IT parks to be highlighted. Members felt that the Committee should contribute something to environment policy, e-waste policy, etc. Some projects

with INTACH were also suggested.

Work Plan for the year:

12th September 2013

As one of the oldest organizations it was felt that the Chamber should target IT companies and bring them in its fold.

The Committee would organize a Seminar on various Conventions, followed by case studies.

Company Law/Corporate Matters

22nd August 2013

Logistics The Committee met under the Chairmanship of Mr. J. Krishnan and discussed issues facing the logistics industry. Re: TAMP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it was felt that TAMP has lost its relevance. From the tradeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s point of view, abolition of TAMP is not a friendly measure. However, there was no serious opposition to this. In the absence of TAMP, there should be some authority for redressal of grievances. Today we are in an economic slowdown but in the future, it is possible that the Terminals may become monopolies.

An outreach programme at Sriperumbudur on Inco terms and Exim procedures will be organized. A delegation to visit Jebel Ali and Dubai Ports was also suggested. A programme with CitiConnect on integrated transport covering CMRL, Railways and Roadways and a programme with Export Inspection Agency to educate the corporate at the operational level was also suggested. Visit of Delegation from Belgium A 300 member delegation will be visiting India during November and the Port of Antwerp desires MCCI to sign an MOU with them on that occasion.

The Committee met to seek and finalise the suggestions of members on the circular issued by SEBI on "Revision of Clause 41 of Equity Listing Agreement". These have since been sent to SEBI for its consideration.

27th September 2013

Company Law/Corporate Matters The Committee met again to discuss and finalise the suggestions arising out of the Seminar organized on 23rd September on New Companies Act & Draft Rules 2013. These have been uploaded on the website of MCA before the due date.

DIRECTORY DIRECT TORY OF MEMBERS MEM MBERS 2013 The latest st Directory of Members Memb mbers 2013 of the Chamber was released at the he Chamber Day held hel eld on 29th September Septem mber 2013. The D Directory irectory contai contains: ains: -

Particularss of 500 memberr companies (Name, address, tel/fax/email/website, address, tel/fax/ x/email/website, names of chief executives/contact executives/ccon o tact persons, personss, paid-up capital, capittal, annual turnover, manpower, man npower, Products Productts manufactured, manufactur ured e , JVs (if any) and and a brief profile pro rofile about the th he company compaany

- General Generaal Information n: Export Promotion Councils in Chennai Cheennai city; TN Government organizations organizations in Chennai forr developmentt of commerce industry com mmerce and indu d stry -

Chambers Commerce City; Chambers Chamb bers of Commer rce in Chennai C ity; Binational Cham ambers

Consulate t and trade representations rep presentations in Chennai Ch hen enna naii

Product-wise Product-w wise classification n of members

directory bee a very useful source The di d rectory will b sourrce of of information. Rss 700 per copy ((for members) Rs. 1000 Price: R 0 per er cop ccopy opy (f (for others.) For copiess p please contact Jessie Jess ssie i Edwards, Deputy Secretary, MCCI @ 24349452/24349871 243494 945 52/24349871 jessie.edwards@madraschamber.in /madraschamber@madraschamber.in Email: jessie.e .edwards@madrascha hamb m er.in /madraschamber@madra asc sch hamber.in

SPOT LIGHT

Land Acquisition Bill Introduction Rapid urbanization and industrial growth in almost all major cities has forced government to acquire land for executing infrastructure projects. Due to inadequacy of proper legal regime on compensation and rehabilitation part, such land acquisitions have faced considerable opposition from landowners and farmers, which finally resulted in delayed execution of projects. Striking a harmonious balance between t h e i n te re st o f l a n d o w n e rs a n d industrialization growth of the country is the need of the day, which Land Acquisition Act, 1984 failed to address. Considering the scenario, two Bills “The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007 and “The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007” were introduced in Lok Sabha in 2007, but got lapsed on dissolution of 14th Lok Sabha.

Again on 7th September 2011, “The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011” was introduced in Lok Sabha, which was finally approved by Indian Parliament on 5th September 2013 with some amendments under the name of “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013” (hereinafter referred to as “Land Acquisition Bill”/”The Bill”). Land Acquisition Bill aims to provide a central legislation for families aﬀected by land acquisition. The Bill will repeal and replace the age old Land Acquisition Act, 1984. The main aim of the enactments is to ensure and adopt humane, participatory informed consultative and transparent p ro c e s s fo r l a n d a c q u i s i t i o n fo r industrialization and urbanization with least disturbance to the owners of the

land and other aﬀected families; and to provide just and fair compensation to the aﬀected families. The Bill further seeks to ensure that the cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected persons become partners in development. The Bill seeks to provide for: • Land acquisition process • Rights of people displaced by acquisition • Method of calculating compensation • Requirement of rehabilitation & resettlement. The Land Acquisition Bill aims to be a central legislation, and will apply to all the land acquisition done by Central government/ State government except Jammu & Kashmir:

Championing Enterprise - 175 years of The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry Mr V Sriram, noted historian, has chronicled the fascinating journey of MCCI through 175 eventful years. The book in reality is the history of business and enterprise in what was then the Madras Presidency. A great corporate gift during this Diwali season. Price: Rs. 1500. Order your copy today. Contact: Jessie Edwards @ 24349720 / jessie.edwards@madraschamber.in

SPOT LIGHT

Highlights of the Bill Major Highlights of the Bill are: Applicability As specified earlier, the Bill is a central legislation and will apply to all land acquisitions done by government (both Central and State Government) except Jammu & Kashmir for the following public purpose: • Strategic purposes relating to naval, military, air force, and armed forces, any work vital to national security or defence of India or State police, safety of the people; • For infrastructure projects including a g ro p ro c e s s i n g , wa re h o u s i n g , cold storage facilities, marketing infrastructure for agriculture and allied activities such as dairy, fisheries, and meat processing, industrial corridors or mining activities, national investment and manufacturing zones, water harvesting and water conservation structures, sanitation, Government aided educational and research schemes or institutions, Project for sports, heath care, tourism, transportation of space programme; • Project for project aﬀected families; • Project for housing, • Project for planned development or the improvement of village sites or any site in the urban areas or provision of land for residential purposes for the weaker sections; • Project for residential purposes to the poor or landless or to persons residing in areas aﬀected by natural calamities Provision of Bill will apply when government acquires land for

• Public private partnership projects, where the ownership of the land continues to vest with the government, for public purpose • Private companies for public purpose Consent of Project Aﬀected people for land acquisition

Social Impact Assessment Study Before acquiring land, the Government shall carry out social impact assessment study in consultation with Gram Sabha or equivalent authority in aﬀected area covering the following: • Nature of public interest involved

The Bill makes a mandatory provision for obtaining consent of atleast 80% project aﬀected families in case of acquisition for private companies and consent of 70% project aﬀected families in case of acquisition for public private partnership projects.

• Estimation of aﬀected families

This clearly specifies that when the government acquires land directly for declared public purpose, consent of project aﬀected people is not required but when land is acquired for public private partnership project or for private company for production of public goods/ services, consent of 70%/80% project affected people is required to be obtained.

• Whether land acquisition at alternate place has been considered and was found not feasible

Further land transfer laws applicable in scheduled areas shall be complied with before acquiring land in scheduled areas. The Bill provides that provision for rehabilitation and resettlement shall be made when private company acquires land exceeding the limit prescribed by government through private negotiations or private company requests government for partial acquisition of land for public purpose. P ro v i s i o n fo r co m p e n s at i o n a n d rehabilitation and resettlement has been made for landowners, whose land is proposed to be acquired and landless also, whose livelihood is likely to be aﬀected by the said acquisition such as agricultural labourers, tenants, fishermen, hunters, boatmen etc.

• Study of socio economic impact upon families residing in aﬀected area • Extent of land, public , private houses, other common properties likely to be affected by such proposed acquisition;

• Study of social impact from project, nature & cost of addressing them, including environmental cost. The Bill imposes a duty on government to ensure that the Social Impact Assessment study shall be completed within 6 months from the date of commencement. The Bill also makes provision for open public hearing by the Government, publication of social impact assessment report widely and evaluation of report by independent multi disciplinary expert group appointed by government. If the Expert group is of opinion that project does not serve the stated public purpose, or not in public interest at large or cost and other adverse impact will outweigh potential benefits, it shall make recommendations that project shall be abandoned immediately and no further steps will be initiated to acquire land. Appraisal of Social Impact Assessment Study by Expert Group Social Impact Assessment Study shall be evaluated by an expert group constituted

SPOT LIGHT by government. Expert group shall make recommendations within 2 months from the date of its constitution. The Committee shall ensure that • There is legitimate and bonafide public purpose for proposed acquisition; • The said public purpose is on balance of convenience and in the long run, will serve large public interest; • Only the minimum area of land required for project is proposed to be acquired; • There is no unutilized land, which has been previously acquired in the area. The Central government shall consider evaluation report of expert group before taking a decision for acquisition of land. Further, Government may exempt social impact assessment study in case of urgency. Restriction on acquisition of irrigated Land Government shall not acquire irrigated multi cropped land. Such land may be acquired only in exceptional circumstances, but acquisition of irrigated land in aggregate for all projects in a district, shall not exceed the limit prescribed by government. Further, whenever irrigated land is acquired, an equivalent cultivable wasteland shall be developed for agriculture purpose. Further linear projects such as railways, highways, road, and irrigation projects are exempt from these said restrictions. For acquiring any land, government shall issue primary notification within 12 months from the date of social impact assessment report, otherwise the same shall be treated as lapsed and a fresh social impact assessment report shall be required. Rehabilitation & Resettlement On publication of primary notification,

administrator shall conduct a survey and prepare a rehabilitation and resettlement for project aﬀected families. After public hearing, the collector shall publish the Rehabilitation & Resettlement scheme and government within 12 months from the date of preliminary notification shall make public declaration for acquisition of land. Special provision for Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes Government shall not acquire any land in Scheduled area. In case of acquisition in scheduled area, prior consent of gram sabha shall be obtained. Compensation Minimum compensation package shall constitute of following: 1. Market value of the land shall be the minimum land value, as specified in Indian Stamp Act, 1899 or average sale price of similar land situated in nearest areas, or consented compensation as agreed in case of acquisition of land for private companies or for public private partnership whichever is higher. Market value of land situated in rural areas shall be multiplied by factor of two; 2. Value of assets attached to land or building as determined by collector; 3. Solatium, equal to 100% of total compensation; 4. The Company for whom land is being acquired may offer its shares upto 25% of the compensation amount. In case the project aﬀected family wishes to avail of this offer, an equivalent amount will be deducted from the land acquisition compensation package payable to it. There is always a better compensation • Where any State law or state policy provides better and higher

compensation than this Act, aﬀected person may avail such higher compensation, rehabilitation & resettlement under such State policy. • When any land acquired under this Act remains unutilized for a period of five years from the date of taking possession, the same shall be returned to land owners or land bank of appropriate government. • When ownership of any land acquired under this Act is transferred to any person for a consideration without any development having taken place on such land, 40% of appreciated land value shall be shared amongst from whom the land was acquired. • Provision of this Act shall not apply in case of obtaining land on lease. • Prior approval of government is required for change in ownership of acquired land. • Any award or agreement made under this Act shall be exempt from Income Tax and Stamp duty. Conclusion Land Acquisition Bill, no doubt has made an attempt to strike a balance between the interest of farmers and industrialists by giving a fair share to the landowners and making them partner in the growth history of India, but at the same time, it has also raised a wave of concern for the industries such as increased price for acquisition, excessive government intervention, which may actually slow down the acquisition process and might cause further delay in setting up important projects. By adopting an open minded, innovative, consultative and humanistic approach and making stakeholder a partner, all issues/ concerns can be solved easily. Ultimately it is only the “approach to tackle the situations”, which matters. (This article was first published in the Indian Legal Impetus, September 2013 issue)

SPOT LIGHT interest payment of Rs. 10,000 crore to Rs. 11,000 crore just during the period of acquiring the land. The good thing is, at least the rules of the game are clearer now.

LAND ACQUISITION BILL What people say about the Bill....... India Inc. termed the Land Acquisition Bill passed in Lok Sabha as a “retrograde” step, saying it could have “adverse consequences” on the country’s industrial and infrastructural

provision that acquisitions made in the last five years could be reviewed with “retrospective eﬀect”, he said it was another “worrying feature”. The BCIC represents the interests of medium and large businesses.

development

Rajiv Kumar, Senior Economist:

FICCI:

The biggest losers of the proposed legislation will be the young generation looking for jobs, due to slow pace of industrialisation. “It is a massive set-back for industrialisation and urbanisation of the country. It will further push our industries 10-years back”.

The Bill may make key factor of production for manufacturing scarce and expensive. This certainly doesn’t augur well for manufacturing. Cost of land will go up significantly. Process of acquiring land will also get stretched. H.V. Harish, President, Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC): Although the new Bill appears to be “farmer friendly,” it is “anti-growth and anti-manufacturing.” He pointed out the new Bill proposes that at least 80 per cent of the landowners need to give their consent for a private project and in the case of projects launched in public-private partnership (PPP) mode, at least 70 per cent of the landowners need to give their consent. “This discretion should be done away with. The rules should be same for private as well as projects under PPP. Although we welcome the idea that farmers ought to be paid a fair price for the land they sell, we fear that it will aﬀect growth,”. Referring to the

“This approach of the government setting an ad hoc multiple of market price is misguided — whether it is too high or too low is another question. It is exactly like the government trying to fix the price of fuel,” says Maitreesh Ghatak, Professor of Economics at London School of Economics. Boston University Economist Dilip Mookherjee would agree. “Aligning required compensation with what it really ought to be should ideally involve an auction-like procedure”, he says. The real issue, however, is how well the law can be implemented. With its tough provisions, a typical land deal will require at least four years, from start to finish. For a project riding on a Rs. 30,000 crore industrial loan, for instance, this means a wasteful

In ICRA’s view, the Bill attempts to satisfy the woes of the land losers and simultaneously provides a systematic framework for the administration and industry players in order to acquire land. However, the implementation of the provisions can be considerably challenging as land acquisition is mostly being done in rural areas where the population is fully dependent on the land and the related ecosystem. CII: President, S. Gopalakrishnan: The industry has serious concerns over the Bill as it may increase the cost of land acquisition by 3-3.5 times, making industrial projects unviable. “At a time when major projects are stalled and India’s global competitiveness is eroding, a more facilitative land acquisition process would have helped in restoring investor sentiments. Mega players including steel major ArcelorMittal (in Orissa) and Posco (in Karnataka) have pulled out their projects from India mainly due to land acquisition problems. The resettlement and rehabilitation cost is also likely to go up by about 3 times compared to the prevailing practice”. “ The process of acquiring land for projects will become tedious, especially in the case of large land parcels,” said Lalit Kumar Jain, Chairman of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India. “Every part of the economy needs land - for industry, for infrastructure - so this will hurt everyone, not just real estate companies,” said RK Arora, Chairman

SPOT LIGHT and MD of Supertech Limited. It will impact our company in a big way, if only because of the delays that can be expected from such a process.” Industrialist Adi Godrej says that the law will have unusual effects on the market, by making land that has already been acquired much more valuable. “It will have a dual effect, because, in addition to making the cost of land acquisition to go up especially for industry that is into infrastructure and housing - it will also raise the valuation of the existing land that people have in real estate companies. Developers say the worst hit could be low cost and budget housing projects. “ The idea of low cost housing was to get cheap land. If land prices shoot up, so will the prices of the finished product,”said Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman of Mumbai based Hiranandani Group. Infrastructure major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) Chief Operating Officer Rajgopal Nogja felt the Bill will further hold up infrastructure projects.”Securing consent of 70-80 per cent of land owners may take 3 to 5 years...it will make land acquisition a herculean task.” Parikshit Kandpal, Senior Analyst, Karvy Stock Broking: “Typically, for projects in urban areas, land accounts for half of total cost while in rural areas, it is 15-20 per cent. This Bill will create higher property prices, and, no doubt, create entry barriers for new prospective players.’ Companies with large land banks would be relatively unaffected, but asset-light companies will have to bear higher costs. For developers, the cost of land is going to increase significantly, impacting

their project costs, and, therefore margins, felt Mayank Saksena, Managing Director (Land Services), Jones Lang LaSalle India, a real estate consultancy. “Land valuations are already high, and by further increasing them, land acquisition becomes even more difficult. Anyone without an existing land bank will now be looking at vastly increased entry costs.’’ Mr Raheja, Chairman and Managing Director of Raheja Developers. “Cost of land will go up and the time taken for acquiring such land will also get prolonged, as rehabilitation and resettlement policy will be applicable.” How the Bill would be a major reformer?: Minister of State for Commerce and Industry - E M Sudarsana Natchiappan said the industry should reach out to people of those areas where they propose to set up projects and explain about the advantages locals can have in terms of employment and development. He said corporates are raising concerns over the law, saying it would impact them but “it is not the case”. “You have to bring (local) people on board (while acquiring any land for a project),” felt Natchiappan. Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman of Feedback Infrastructure believes that the Bill is a much needed reform and needs to be looked from a broader perspective. However, some implementation aspects of it will require restructuring. Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Industries was also positive about the Bill and its retrospective eﬀect as stalled projects could see a silver lining if it is passed. The Bill is also good for farmers and landowners as it largely favours them, while the industry

should be happy on lesser hurdles to projects. The law will bring more certainty on a critical issue impeding infrastructure development, said Manish Agarwal, Executive Director, infrastructure, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India. “The government may need to bear the cost of land acquisition since user may not be able to bear the cost in all cases. This balance between cost to tax-payers and users remains critical in design of PPPs,” Agarwal said. President of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Suman Jyoti Khaitan feels the new legislation would quicken the process of project implementation. “The new law will facilitate rights of landowners, promote industrialisation at a faster pace, mitigate law and order issues and would bring transparency at large,” Khaitan said. “However, implementation part is very critical to achieve desired outcome as there are minimum 55 approvals required to implement any project,”. Economist Pranab Bardhan says: “The entire process of land transfer, including compensation and resettlement, should be handed over to an independent quasijudicial authority or a regulatory body to ensure that it is free from political influence”. Would the new law end up creating more road blocks and bureaucracy so it ends up stifling industry further? Or will it satisfy both business and farmers and strike a happy balance between development and displacement? As India’s leading land expert, Debabrata Bandopadhyay, says: “Let it get implemented and see how it works.”

POLICY WATCH Centre rationalizes Duty Drawback rates: Expands the list of items under the Tax Refund Scheme: In a bid to provide a further impetus to exports which rose to a two-year high of 13 percent in August, following an improved global situation, the Government on 14th September rationalized the rates of duty drawback and expanded the list of items under the tax refund scheme for exporters. According to Finance Ministry, the revised all industry rates of duty drawback which have been notified will come into eﬀect from September 21. Apart from rate changes, to assist exporters, a large number of rationalisation measures have also been undertaken to realign entries and provide rates on more items. The rationalisation measure is to better diﬀerentiate all industry rates for export products with higher duty incidence and to address classification of issues on export products. With the revised rates, the Central Government will continue to support exporters with substantial total drawback.

SEBI goes on overdrive to get retail investors back to market The Securities and Exchange Board of India will focus more on bringing household savings into the stock markets. At its board meeting held recently, the regulator also decided to heavily penalise unregistered collective investment schemes, or the so-called Ponzi schemes, and said that it will proceed against individuals for unfair trade practices, including front running. Front running is the act of buying or selling scrips in advance based on insider information.

Govt eases land requirement norms for SEZ to attract more investors Government made the special economic zones attractive for the investors by notifying relaxations in the minimum area requirements and easing the exit clause for developers. In line with the announcement made by the Commerce and Industry Minister in April, the amendment in SEZ Rules will allow SEZ developers to add one product category on each additional 50 hectares of land. There will be no minimum area required for IT SEZs, but only a minimum built up area of 1 lakh square meters for the top-7 cities, 50,000 square meters for the next 15 cities and 25,000 square meters for the rest of the cities.

RBI notifies rules under FEMA to operationalise FDI decisions The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with notifications under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to operationalise foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in multi-brand retailing, telecom and others. It has also widened the definition of the term ‘control’ under the Act which would have repercussions on downstream investment by an entity controlled by foreigners. The notification follows the Cabinet decision of August 2 to relax foreign investment norms.

RBI to crack down on unauthorised NBFCs The Reserve Bank of India will get tough with companies which are accepting deposits from the public though they do not have the mandate to do so. A RBI survey has found that there are 96 companies that are accepting deposits without registering with the RBI.

Finance Ministry favors making FMC a SEBI arm The Finance Ministry is favoring an option to make the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) a division of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) instead of keeping the commodity futures markets regulator as a separate watchdog. Making the FMC a division of SEBI will require Parliamentary approval. While SEBI has been under the administrative control of the Finance Ministry, the FMC has now been shifted to the control of the Finance Ministry from the Consumer Aﬀairs Ministry.

CCEA to take up cotton distribution policy The Textile Ministry has finalised a cotton distribution policy for approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Aﬀairs (CCEA) and proposed up to 10% duty on exports of the fibre beyond the surplus quantity estimated by the government. According to a Cabinet note, the Ministry has recommended the export duty of 10% ad valorem at freight on board, or a maximum of Rs 10,000 per tonne, whichever is less, for exports over and above the "declared/revised exportable surplus".

Govt. looks at gas price pooling to kick-start stalled power projects The Government has re-started discussions on pooling domestic and imported natural gas to feed fuel-starved power plants. If implemented, the move may come to the rescue of NTPC, Lanco, GMR, GVK, Torrent, Reliance Power and Essar stations, though it could mean higher tariﬀs for consumers. The Power Ministry has prepared a proposal for three years, starting 2013-14. This may burden the

POLICY WATCH Government with an additional subsidy of Rs 24,339 crore over this period. The Ministry’s proposals will be reviewed by the Ministries of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Fertiliser, Law, and Finance besides the Planning Commission before it is taken up by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Aﬀairs.

Reserve Bank of India notifies changes in FDI policy The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified changes in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy announced by the government last month, completing the fast track reforms that are aimed at attracting stable inflows to fund high current account deficit. The government had raised FDI limit in telecom to 100%, allowed more than 26% FDI in case to case basis in defence sector, and put several sectors in which the limit is 49% on the automatic route. The RBI has notified the changes under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). The foreign direct investment policy is now notified under FEMA regulations and is eﬀective from August 22, 2013.

Doors may soon open for foreign investments in e-commerce Global e-commerce majors such as Amazon and e-Bay that have been eyeing the Indian e-retail market may soon have reason to cheer. The Industry Department is working on a draft foreign direct investment (FDI) policy on e-commerce, which includes e-retail. It is also holding consultations with industry and experts. DIPP Secretary Saurabh Chandra is scheduled to meet Som Mittal, chief of IT industry body Nasscom, to take inputs for what the policy should hold for both global players and Indian companies wanting

foreign finance. The proposed policy has to look at the requirements of Indian companies that are in need of foreign finance, such as Flipkart and Myntra, and foreign e-commerce companies, such as Amazon and e-Bay, which want to invest in the country.

DIPP seeks to restrict FDI in brownfield pharma projects The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has floated a Cabinet note seeking restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) in existing pharmaceutical projects in specific areas, such as vaccines, injectibles and oncology medicines. The Government allows 100 per cent FDI in pharmaceuticals, but while investments in new projects are allowed automatically, investments in brownfield or existing pharmaceutical companies are required to be routed through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) since late last year. The DIPP is keen on placing a check on the acquisition of existing pharmaceutical projects, as it is concerned that it could seriously aﬀect the country’s capacity to produce low-cost generic drugs. It wants to impose restrictions on at least three categories of pharmaceuticals —vaccines, injectibles and oncology medicines— in addition to bulk drugs.

TRAI asks I&B Ministry to notify TV rating agency norms within 2 months Reiterating its support for self-regulation, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) to notify within the next two months the guidelines on television rating system based on its (TRAI’s) recommendations covering registration, eligibility conditions, and complaint redress systems.

Government to kick-start its disinvestment programme in first week of October The government will kick-start its stuttering disinvestment programme in the first week of October but it is likely to scale back the target for the current fiscal. The Finance Ministry, in consultation with its disinvestment department, is likely to scale back of the disinvestment target by 10,000 crore to 30,000 crore. The government also plans to launch public issues of Power Grid Corporation and Coal India Limited by December or January.

Push for FDI in e commerce The commerce and industry ministry will initiate formal consultations with all stakeholders soon for allowing FDI in e-commerce activities, which will include selling of insurance and shares, besides retail. At present, 100% FDI is allowed only in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and not in retail trading. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has started the exercise on the matter and has prepared a "draft note". "The issue requires wider consultations. E-commerce is not related only with retail. It includes financial services like insurance and shares.

High octane: Liquor, petrol to come under GST The Government’s recent proposal to include petroleum products and liquor under the purview of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a welcome move towards the rationalisation of the GST regime. The inclusion has been a matter of longdrawn debate between the Centre, States and industry. States feared a loss of autonomy in taxing these products and an erosion of revenue base under the GST’s standardised rate model. However,

industry has favoured the inclusion of all sectors and products, with limited exceptions and exemptions.

RBI likely to finish scrutiny for new bank licence in 1 month The Reserve Bank is likely to complete initial scrutiny of 26 applications for new bank licences in a month. Thereafter, the shortlisted names will be forwarded to the Bimal Jalan panel for further action. The eligibility of the applicants including 'fit and proper' criteria and other relevant parameters are being scrutinized”.

Future special economic zones to come under Land Acquisition Act The new Land Acquisition Act will apply to all future special economic zones, and the old Act is no longer valid, said Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh recently. Addressing a press conference Mr Jairam Ramesh said that

the Act was very comprehensive and transparent.

New drug policy forces many pharmacies to shut shop Numerous pharmacies — especially those operating on rented space — are shutting down across the country, hurt by a sharp decline in margins after the introduction of a new pricing policy for medicines and intense competition from bigger players. The new Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), which was notified on May 15, has made the prices of some 150 drugs fall steeply. Under this, companies and retailers are forced to keep drugs at particular prices, which are arrived at using a formula. Industry bodies said the DPCO reduced prices by an average 20-25%; in some cases, it was as high as 80%.

Anand Sharma to push for trade treaty in S Africa

Mr.Anand Sharma will seek South Africa's support to expedite India's proposed preferential trade pact with nations in that region and press for market access for Indian mangoes, grapes and frozen boneless buﬀalo meat during his two-day visit to South Africa to attend the second India-Africa Trade Ministers' meet at Johannesburg. Mr.Sharma will also push for greater partnership between India and Africa in sectors like pharmaceuticals, IT and energy.

India asks zero-duty access for automobiles, textiles from Israel India has asked for zero duty access from Israel under the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) on certain sectors such as automobiles, textiles, footwear and shrimps even as Israeli economy minister Naftali Bennett urged the conclusion of the deal at the earliest. Both sides held intense discussions on how to take the delayed negotiations forward.

Commerce and Industry Minister

New M Members embers exten nds a warm welcome welcom me to the following New Members: MCCI extends Indote Indotec tecc En Engineering Pvt. Ltd. Nature of Busi Business: sine n ss: Merchant Exp Exporters por o ters Vichar Partners Nature of Business: Ad Advocates Federa al Bank Ltd. Federal Nature off Bu B siness: Banking Bankin ng Business: GBTC-Chenn GBTC-Chennai nai Nature of Bu Business: usiness: Trade Promoti Promotion between betw ween India and Gyeong GyeongBuk, gBuk, Korea Dharmamu Dharmamurthi murthi Rao Bahadur Bahad dur Calavala Cunnan Cun nnan Chetty’s Hindu u College College Nature of Business: Educati Na Edu ucational Instituti tion Radisson Radiatorss Nature of Busine ness: Manufacturers o Business: off Radiators Sp Spudweb pud udwe web b Technologies Pvt.Ltd. Nature of Business: Engineer Engineering rin ing Design Softwar ware re

Representations 6th August 2013 Mr Sunil Paliwal, IAS., Secretary to Government Commercial Taxes & Registration Dept. Government of Tamil Nadu Fort St. George Chennai – 600 009. Dear Sir Re : Supply of goods to SEZ Unit Developer and Co-developer Greetings from MCCI. Our members have brought to our notice certain difficulties faced by them with regard to supply of goods to SEZ Unit Developer and Co-Developer and we give below the details for your kind consideration: Zero rating: Sec. 18 of Tamil Nadu VAT Act provides for zero rating and accordingly sale of goods to a registered dealer in Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is eligible for zero rating. Extracting Sec. 18(1)(ii) : “Sale of goods to any registered dealer located in SEZ in the State if such registered dealer has been authorized to establish such units by the authority specified by the Central Government in this behalf; and” We refer to the recent Circular No. 9/2013 Act Cell – III/22237/2013 dt.27.7.2013 issued by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes in which it has been clarified that the zero rating is applicable only to the sale effected by a registered dealer to the units located in SEZ only. In other words, as per the circular, sale effected by the registered dealer to the developer or codeveloper is not eligible for zero rating. Accordingly those dealers supplying goods to contractors of developer or codeveloper of SEZ are not eligible for ITC. The Chamber has already brought this point to the notice of with a request to issue a suitable notification to the effect

that a sale to a unit of SEZ or developer or co-developer of SEZ is covered under zero rating. CENVAT provision We wish to bring to your kind notice a similar provision under Cenvat Credit Rules which allowed Cenvat credit only for the goods cleared to a unit in SEZ. Based on the representation, Government of India brought an amendment vide Notification No. 50/2008-CE(NT) dt.31.12.2008 (a copy of the notification enclosed) to include the Cenvat benefit for the goods removed without payment of duty to a unit or a developer of SEZ for their authorized operation. Comparison of similar provisions- other States: We are also enclosing a list of other State provisions allowing zero rating for the supply eﬀected to a unit as well as to a developer of SEZ. The following table will provide the comparative positions under other State VAT Acts. (See page 29) We also wish to bring to your kind notice that some of the other States like Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat though initially had given the benefit only to units, subsequently amended their provisions to include zero rating benefit for the developers / co-developers also. We are enclosing the relevant provision as well as the notification issued by Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat for your immediate reference.

We, at the Chamber, have received various representations from our members and it is in the interest of the State of Tamil Nadu, we strongly suggest that an amendment similar to the one as per the attachment may please be considered and released at an early date. We thank you in advance and look forward to your favourable consideration. Yours faithfully, Sd/K.Saraswathi Secretary General

Congratulations to Larsen & Tou Toubro ubr bro for being bein be ing named for the ET Awards Awa wards in the CSR realm. realm. MCCI congratulates c ongratulates L&T on o n this nominati nomin nation and hopes that this th his will further furth her strength strengthen hen ttheir heir commitm he commitment ment towards tow wards CSR activities. Gru Grundfos undfos P Pumps umps India P Pvt vt Ltd., on receiving rec ceiving tthe he runner-up award for Excellence Exc cellencee in Sustainability Sustainabiility (Small (Sm mall Enterprises Ent t erprisee s category) hosted by Manufacturing Ma anufacturring Today. Welll done. We We wish you you many more more laurels laurel els in the years ahead.

Representations State

Relevant provisions

Remarks

PUNJAB

17. Zero-rated sales.

As per the provision, Zero rate is permitted for sales to units as well developers.

(2) Where any taxable goods are sold to a unit within the Special Economic Zone or to a developer or where any inter-unit transaction of goods within the Special Economic Zone is made, such sales shall be zero-rated. On such sale, no output tax is payable by any person : JAMMU & KASHMIR

55. Zero-Rated Sales

As per the provision, Zero rate is permitted for sales to units as well as developers and there is no restriction (1) Where any goods are exported outside the territory relating to SEZ. of India or are supplied in the course of such export falling within the scope of section 5 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, or where such goods are sold or supplied to SEZs (Special Economic Zones) within the country or where such goods are sold or supplied across Line of Actual Control (LOC), such sales shall be Zero- rated.

ASSAM

9. Exemptions and zero rating (3) Any sale of goods made by a registered dealer from a Domestic Tariﬀ Area (DTA) to a unit located in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) shall be zero-rated. Explanation.— For the purpose of sub-section (3), sub-section (4) and sub-section (5), the expressions “Domestic Tariﬀ Area”, “Special Economic Zone” and “Export-Oriented Unit” shall have the meanings as assigned to them under the Central Excise Act, 1944 (Central Act I of 1944).

MEGHALAYA

8. Exemptions and zero – ratings (2) (b) sales to Special Economic Zones;

Under Central Excise Act, 1944: “Special Economic Zone” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (za) of section 2 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (28 of 2005) U n d e r S p e c i a l Eco n o m i c Zo n e A c t , 2 0 0 5 : (za) “Special Economic Zone” means each Special Economic Zone notified under the proviso to subsection (4) of section 3 and sub-section (1) of section 4 (including Free Trade and Warehousing Zone) and includes an existing Special Economic Zone; No restriction on zero rating and the benefit is available for dealers supplying goods to SEZ unit or developer.

NAGALAND

1 3 . E xe m p t i o n s , Ze ro - rate o f tax a n d Re - No restriction on zero rating and the benefit is i m b u r s e m e n t o f t a x i n c e r t a i n c a s e s available for dealers supplying goods to SEZ unit or (3) (ii) Sales from Domestic Tariff Area to Special developer Economic Zones would be eligible for the same treatment as in sub-section (1) of this Section.

ORISSA

18. Zero rated sales.

No restriction on zero rating and the benefit is available for dealers supplying goods to SEZ unit or The rate of tax on the sale of goods subject to levy developer of tax shall be zero when such goods are sold (c) to a dealer having business under (i) a SEZ; or

$185 billion (10.1% of GDP) in 2013-14 against an estimated $195.7 billion (10.6% of the GDP) in 2012-13

Economic Outlook 2013-14 Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister released the document “Economic Outlook 2013-14” on September 13, 2013. Following are the highlights of the document: Economy to grow at 5.3% in 2013-14 • Agriculture projected to grow at 4.8% in 2013-14 as against 1.9% in 201213. The early and good monsoon had a huge positive impact on sowing activity. The reservoir position in the week ending August 29, 2013, was 29 per cent better than the average of the last 10 years. Thus both kharif and rabi crops are expected to be good. • Industry (including manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity, gas, water supply and construction) projected to grow at 2.7% in 201314 as against 2.1% in 2012-13. Manufacturing sector projected to grow at 1.5% in 2013-14 as against 1 % in 2012-13. • Services projected to grow at 6.6% in 2013-14 as against 7.1% in 2012-13. • The Council expects the growth rate in 2013-14 to be higher than it was in 2012-13. Apart from the substantially improved performance of agriculture, the other sectors of the economy will also perform better in the second half of 2013-14 for three reasons. o The full impact of various measures taken over the last six months will be reflected later in this year. o Strong emphasis is being laid on improving the performance of key infrastructure sectors that lie in the public domain such as coal, power, roads and railways. o Continuous efforts are being made

to remove the bottlenecks in the implementation of projects. Structural Factors • Domestic savings rate decline of 6% between 2007-08 and 2011-12 almost entirely on account of a decline of 3.7% in public sector savings and 2.2% in private corporate savings. • Decline in net financial savings of households to 8 per cent in 2011-12 from 11-12 per cent in years prior to 2010-11. • Investment rate projected at 34.7% of GDP in 2013-14 as against the estimated 35% in 2012-13. • Domestic savings rate projected at 31% of GDP as against the estimated 30.2 % of GDP 2012-13. Domestic Inflation • During 2013-14 the good performance in agriculture will have a moderating eﬀect on food inflation, depreciation of the rupee may put some upward pressure. On balance, WPI inflation by end March 2014 will be around 5.5 percent as against the average of 7.4% in 2012-13 and 5.7% at end March 2013. • Difference between WPI and CPI widening in recent months primarily on account of higher weightage of food items in CPI. External Sector: Controlling CAD remains main concern at present. • Current Account Deficit projected at $70 billion (3.8% of GDP) in 2013-14 against an estimated $88.2 billion (4.8% of GDP) in 2012-13. o Merchandise trade deficit projected at

o Net invisibles earnings projected at $115 billion (6.3 % of GDP) in 2013-14 against an estimated $107.5 billion (5.8 % of GDP) in 2012-13. o Between 2010-11 and 2012-13, the combined impact of higher net oil and net gold imports on the CAD was almost $57 billion or 3.0 percentage points of GDP. This was equivalent to 87 per cent of the aggregate deterioration in the merchandise trade balance of $65 billion during the period. o The CAD may go even below $ 70 billion in 2013-14 if the recent trends in exports and imports are maintained through the year. • Net Capital flows projected at $ 61.4 billion(3.4% of GDP) in 2013-14 against an estimated $ 89.4 billion in 2012-13, the second highest level to date. o

Net FDI inflows in 2013-14 projected at $21.7 billion against an estimated $19.8 billion in 2012-13.

Net FII inflows projected at $ 2.7 billion in 2013-14, even though data up to end of August shows a negative outflow. The commensurate figure is estimated at $ 17 billion in 2011-12 and $27 billion in 2012-13.

Total inflows under the head of loans (ECBs and short-term loans)projected at $22 billion in 2013-14 as against an estimated $31.1 billion in 2012-13.

Total banking capital inflows projected at $ 18 billion in 2013-14 against an estimated $ 16.6 billion in 2012-13.

• External Value of the Currency: o EM currencies have sharply depreciated in 2013, especially since May (after the US Fed Chairman’s statement). Those with large current account deficits, high inflation and weakening growth have depreciated the most.

o For India, the short-term problem is of financing the large CAD, while the medium term issue is to compress CAD to a more sustainable level of around 2.5% of GDP and ensure price stability. o The Rupee at the current level is well corrected. Stability is returning to the foreign exchange market. As capital flows return and as CAD begins to fall, this tendency will strengthen. Fiscal Situation: Containing fiscal deficit within the budgeted estimate could be a challenge • The Centre’s budgeted fiscal deficit is estimated at 4.8% of GDP in 2013-14, as against an estimated 4.9% in 201213. • The fiscal deficit during the first four months of the current financial year has already reached 62.8 per cent, and expenditure on major subsidies 51.3 per cent, of the budgetary provision for the full financial year. • Discretionary expenditure budgeted may need to be compressed, and subsidies restructured, in the remaining months of the financial year in a growth friendly manner to limit fiscal slippages. • The fiscal deficit of all States put together was 2.8 per cent of GDP in 2009-10, and moderated further to 2.1 per cent in 2012-13 (BE). A slow but steady growth of tax and non-tax receipts, as well as central transfers have helped in the process of fiscal consolidation in the States. Monetary Policy • The current stance of monetary policy has to continue until stability in the rupee is achieved. Thereafter, if the current trend in the moderation of wholesale price inflation continues, which is in fact expected, the monetary authorities can switch to a policy of

easing. The time frame for this is very diﬃcult to specify.

o Focussed strategy to improve export competitiveness to take advantage of rupee depreciation

Measures Suggested to Improve Economic Conditions

o Simplifying export related procedures

• Growth friendly measures taken over the last year o liberalizing FDI investment norms

o Boost domestic coal production and reduce oil subsidies to make them more price elastic

o resolution of some tax issues of concern to industry

o Pro-active implementation of modified gold deposit scheme.

o fast tracking of public sector investment: focussed attention on coal, power, road, railways

(IV) Sector specific measures o Agriculture Sector

o initiating construction on the dedicated freight corridor

Promote High Value Agriculture (HVA)

o Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) set up to fast-track/debottleneck key projects: 209 projects (with an aggregate investment of Rs. 384,203 crore) cleared

Reform of agricultural marketing policies including APMC Acts

o mid-course corrective measures to contain fiscal deficit o improved investment policy regime across a number of sectors like sugar, urea, gas, roads, banking, etc.

o Developing Bond Markets o Public-Private Partnerships in Defence Procurement o Promoting MSMEs o Strategic interventions in Energy Sector.

o Accelerated parliamentary approval of pending bills II Medium to Long-term Measures

Additions to Library

(I) Improving manufacturing capabilities

• Securing Sustainable Growth for India – Realising the Vision – Assocham

o Improving domestic supply chains o addressing specific tax issues in sectors like electronics o Facilitating productivity shift through assured supply of skilled labour o Encourage ease of doing business by streamlining procedures (II) Foreign Investment o Stable, non-reversible policy regime o Early resolution of transfer pricing issues (III) Lower Current Account Deficit

• Birds of India – Coﬀee Table Book – by Prakash Dubey (courtesy: ICICI Bank) • Indian Tax Administration - A Dialogue – Dr Parthasarathi Shome • Sustainability Report 2013 – ITC Ltd. • Creating Job Creators – 101 representative success stories of I Create Entrepreneurs • Comparison of Labour Laws: select countries - Exim Bank of India

ECONOMIC REVIEW

Contents 1.

Macroeconomy 1.1

Report on Evolving a Composite Development Index of States

1.2

India Rural Development Report 2012/13

1.3

India-US Joint Declaration on Defence Cooperation

Corporate Sector 2.1

TRAI Releases Recommendations on Full Mobile Number Portability

2.2

Performance of the Private Corporate Business Sector during Q1 2013-14

2.3

Use of Importer-Exporter Code Number Allotted to Importers/ Exporters by DGFT

1. Macroeconomy 1.1

Report on Evolving a Composite Development Index of States

The Raghuram Rajan Committee for Evolving a Composite Development Index for States has recommended that each State may get a fixed basic allocation of 0.3 percent of overall funds, to which will be added its share stemming from need and performance to get its overall share. The Committee has come-up with a Multi dimensional Index of backwardness based on per capita consumption as measured by the NSSO, the poverty ratio, and a number of other measures which correspond to the multi dimensional approach to defining poverty outlined in the Twelfth Plan. The Committee has recommended that States that score 0.6 and above on the Index may be classified as ―Least Developed”; States that score below 0.6 and above 0.4 may be classified as ―Less Developed”; and States that score below 0.4 may be classified as “Relatively Developed”. The Committee has observed that the demand for funds and special attention of diﬀerent States

will be more than adequately met by the twin recommendations of the basic allocation of 0.3 percent of overall funds to each State and the categorisation of States that score 0.6 and above as ―Least Developed” States. According to the Committee, these two recommendations, along with the allocation methodology, eﬀectively subsume what is now ―Special Category. Using the index, the Committee has identified the ―Least Developed” States as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Prime Minister has also directed that the recommendations of the Committee may be examined and necessary action in this behalf may be taken. Please refer to Table 1.

Table 1: Underdevelopment/ Need Index State Underdevelopment / Need Index Odisha 0.798 Bihar 0.765 Madhya Pradesh 0.759 Chhattisgarh 0.752 Jharkhand 0.746 Less Developed Arunachala Pradesh 0.729 Assam 0.707 Meghalaya 0.693 Uttar Pradesh 0.638 Rajasthan 0.626 Manipur 0.571 West Bengal 0.551 Nagaland Andhra Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Mizoram Gujarat Tripura Karnataka Sikkim Himachal Pradesh Haryana Uttarkhand Maharashtra Punjab Tamil Nadu Kerala Goa Source: Ministry of Finance

0.546 0.521 0.504 0.495 0.491 0.474 0.453 0.43 0.404 0.395 0.383 0.352 0.345 0.341 0.095 0.045

Least Developed

Relatively Developed

1.2

India Rural Development Report 2012/13

The Report provides a comprehensive landscape of rural India, covering debates on topical issues, providing empirical analyses and synthesising literature across a spectrum of issues including regional disparity and deprivation; the changing nature of livelihoods; sustainability of natural resources; and the changing role of the State and local self-governance. It reviews all major central government rural programmes and schemes and, in particular, the flagship MGNREGA. It will be a valuable resource for policy makers, State and local bodies, researchers and the private sector. • The Report highlights the need to develop new strategies for farm livelihoods. • Income from farm livelihoods is no longer sufficient for a household, especially for smaller and marginal farmers, who make up 85 percent of farm holdings, and for dryland farmers that occupy more than half the cultivated area. • Need to encourage new crop models for them, and revive traditional crops like millets, that suit drylands. Cultivation of diﬀerent varieties of millets, which are hardy and nutritious, can be promoted by procuring and distributing through the public distribution system (PDS). • Various types of collective farming have helped small farmers overcome problems of scale, insecure land tenancy and poor access to credit, modern supply chains and storage. • Nearly 2 million farmers in Andhra Pradesh have successfully adopted community-managed sustainable agriculture (CMSA), significantly reducing their cost of cultivation and soil toxicity by doing away with chemical inputs while increasing or maintaining yields. • Water efficiency in farming is also critical as 80 percent of water use is for agriculture. Water must be

considered a community resource and the management of both ground and surface water must be looked at holistically across all uses of water. • Non-farm income sources are increasingly important – 43 percent of rural families rely on non-farm employment as their major income source. • Indian rural households are typically pluri active, combining work on their own farm, with that on others’ farms, animal husbandry, and commuting or migrating to undertake non-farm activities in villages, towns or cities. • Non-farm employment oﬀers better wages and social mobility for lower castes to move out of agricultural labour. There is also some evidence that higher non-farm wages have helped increase agricultural wages. • Non-farm work is predominantly casual in nature with most work in the construction and trade sectors. Even manufacturing employment has become increasingly informal over time. This denies workers job security and benefits of formal employment. • Must tackle the important barriers to non-farm livelihoods - lack of access to credit, marketing and skills. Financing skill training is diﬃcult: trainees are not assured job placement or higher wages, and employers find training not relevant or employee retention difficult. While some projects have worked, scalable solutions are needed. • Recently, the government launched Aajeevika – aimed at skill development, assisting the poor set up small businesses and expanding access to capital through SHGs. • Poverty, though reducing, is increasingly concentrated amongst certain regions and social groups. • In 1993–94, nearly 50 per cent of the rural poor lived in seven States — Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Odisha,

Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. This rose to 65 percent in 2011–12, though States like Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh have reduced poverty significantly since 2009-10. • These States, along with Rajasthan, also fare worst on education learning levels, child and maternal health, and poor penetration of healthcare services. • Only 18 percent of rural households have access to all three basic services – drinking water within premises, sanitation and electricity – and 20 percent have none of them. • Almost all the bottom two quintiles of districts in terms of access to the three basic services are in Rajasthan and the seven States excluding Assam. There are also pockets of deprivation in richer States, such as Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, which are mostly in dryland areas. • Poverty is markedly higher among scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) who together constituted 44 percent of the rural poor in 200910. • Despite progressive legislation, SCs and STs continue to face discrimination, limiting their participation in economic, social and political spheres. They have the highest rates of malnutrition, child mortality, and access to public health services. STs fare the worst. • Government spending on productivityenhancing infrastructure has a more significant and lasting impact on poverty reduction than spending on subsidies. • Village-level connectivity has improved, especially roads, electricity and telecommunications. Yet results are not commensurate with government expenditure. Household-level access is poor, especially for the most vulnerable, and infrastructure assets are often of poor quality, incomplete, unusable or badly maintained.

• Almost all villages are connected to the grid, but 45 percent of rural households lack electricity connections. Electricity supply is often unreliable and water supply unavailable or polluted. Almost 70 percent rural households lack sanitation facilities. • Also, in education, nutrition and health, service delivery is marred by widespread absenteeism of government healthcare providers and teachers, leading to poor outcomes. • Learning from past experience, government approaches are changing and must include: Community ownership of assets: Some communities have successfully monitored drinking water quality, ensured equitable access and maintenance of assets built. Maintenance: PMGSY has built all-weather quality roads, with maintenance built into the construction contract. States must set aside funds to budget for maintenance. Change in targeting approach. The 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census, which has collected information on a range of deprivation indicators, is verified by the gramsabha. Greater flexibility under schemes for States and PRIs to adapt to local conditions. Addressing institutional fragmentation, streamlining responsibilities between ministries and between State and local governments, and greater convergence in scheme delivery. Incentivising private provision where possible: Just as competition expanded reach and aﬀordability of telecoms in urban areas needs to be replicated in rural areas by using the universal service obligation fund to encourage private competition in rural telephony. Improve transparency and accountability of public service delivery through social audits or public checks

by the gram sabha. Increased use of performance-based incentives and conditional cash transfers could also significantly improve outcomes. • Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) were envisioned to create more participatory, accountable and resource-efficient governance but they have not succeeded for several reasons. • States need to devolve more funds, support staff and functions as well as ensure regular revenue flows to PRIs. They must also clarify and assign responsibilities to avoid overlap with parallel agencies, and strengthen capacity building of PRIs. • Interference by local elites and corruption could be addressed by increasing gram sabha awareness on participation rights, and social audits. • MGNREGA has provided an average of 40-50 days of employment per year to about 25 percent of all rural households making it the largest public works programme in India’s history. • Self-targeting has worked to an extent, as the Scheme has served more poor and disadvantaged households, women, SCs and STs, than better-oﬀ households. • It has helped empower women by providing them employment on equal terms. Women account for almost half the total person days of employment under MGNREGS. • The Scheme has contributed to reducing poverty, both directly as well as indirectly, by putting upward pressure on agricultural wages. • But the programme has inadequate coverage amongst the needy (despite their demand for work) especially in those States that have a high incidence of poverty, possibly reflecting weaker governance in those States. Other issues that must be dealt with urgently are delays in providing work and in

wage payments, and shortage of engineering staﬀ. • MGNREGA holds considerably more potential which can be unlocked by ensuring that good quality assets are built and there is more active participation by the gram sabha which strengthens local government. 1.3

India-US Joint Declaration on Defence Cooperation

India-United States defence cooperation and engagement has increased significantly over the past decade, in step with the overall deepening of India-US relations. In this context, India and the United States endorse the following general principles for fulfilling this vision: • The United States and India share common security interests and place each other at the same level as their closest partners. This principle will apply with respect to defence technology transfer, trade, research, co-development and co-production for defence articles and services, including the most advanced and sophisticated technology. They will work to improve licensing processes, and, where applicable, follow expedited license approval processes to facilitate this cooperation. The U.S and India are also committed to protecting each other’s sensitive technology and information. • The U.S. continues to fully support India’s full membership in the four international export control regimes, which would further facilitate technology sharing. • The two sides will continue their eﬀorts to strengthen mutual understanding of their respective procurement systems and approval processes, and to address process-related diﬃculties in defence trade, technology transfer and collaboration. • The two sides look forward to the identification of specific opportunities for cooperative and collaborative

projects in advanced defence technologies and systems, within the next year. Such opportunities will be pursued by both sides in accordance with their national policies and procedures, in a manner that would reflect the full potential of the relationship. 2. Corporate Sector 2.1

TRAI Releases Recommendations on Full Mobile Number Portability

In accordance with the provisions contained in the National Telecom Policy-2012 regarding ―One NationFull Mobile Number Portability, TRAI received a reference from the DoT vide its letter dated 27th Dec 2012, seeking the recommendations of TRAI under TRAI Act for implementing full Mobile Number Portability i.e. MNP across licensed service areas. The salient features of the recommendations are following: a) After the Full Mobile Number Portability (inter-service area portability) is implemented the Recipient Operator will forward the porting request to the MNPSP of the zone to which original number range holder (the Telecom Service Provider to which the number originally belonged before its first porting) belongs. b) Telecom Service Providers will be given 6 months time for implementation of Full Mobile Number Portability. c) Some modifications have been suggested to the MNP service licence, to facilitate inter-service area porting (Full MNP) d) Testing Fee for testing the various scenarios in Full MNP may be reduced to 25% of the current prescribed Fee for TSPs and MNPSPs. 2.2

Performance of the Private Corporate Business Sector during Q1 2013-14

• Sales growth (Y-o-Y) continued to decelerate and reached the post crisis low of 2.6 per cent. Total expenditure growth also declined to 2.2 per cent mainly due to raw material expenses contraction. • Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation & Amortization (EBITDA or operating profits) grew marginally by 1.1 per cent against near stagnation seen in the previous quarter. However, net profit contracted for the second consecutive quarter. While EBITDA margin remained range bound, net profit margin declined further. • Sales of the manufacturing sector remained almost stagnant with a growth of only 0.8 per cent in Q1:FY14. EBITDA and net profits contracted and profitability in terms of EBITDA and net profit margins worsened. • Sales growth for the non-IT services sector was lower than that of the previous quarter. EBITDA recorded a meager growth of 1.3 per cent but net profit contracted. EBITDA and net profit margins recorded some improvement. • Improvement in sales growth was noticed for the IT sector. EBITDA also grew at a higher rate in comparison to the previous quarter. Net profit increased after contraction in Q4:FY13. While EBITDA margin improved, net profit margin continued to decline. • Growth in the interest expenses recorded increase in Q1:FY14 at the aggregate level and also for the manufacturing sector. Interest coverage ratio (Earnings before Interest & Tax/Interest expenses) contracted for manufacturing and services (other than IT) sectors. • Decline in sales growth was spread across most of the industries. Sales contracted in the motor vehicles, iron & steel, cement, coke & refined petroleum products and electrical

machinery and apparatus industries among the major industries. Cement, iron & steel and construction industries witnessed significant contraction in EBITDA and net profit. Profit margins contracted in all these industries. Interest coverage declined in most of the industries. 2.3

Use of Importer-Exporter Code Number Allotted to Importers/ Exporters by DGFT

As per Section 7 of The Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 read along with Rule 12 of Foreign Trade (Regulation) Rules 1993, every person should make import or export only with Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) Number allotted to him. This has been further amplified by Para 2.9.2 of Hand Book of Procedures, Vol.I, 2009-14 which states that an IEC Number allotted to an applicant is valid for all its branches/ divisions/units/factories. Therefore, the IEC Number cannot be used by anyone other than the IEC holder himself/herself, except in case importers or exporters are exempted from obtaining IEC and who use permanent (common) IEC Numbers under Para 2.8 of Hand Book of Procedures, Vol.I, 2009-14. It has been brought to the notice of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade that some importers/exporters are eﬀecting imports/exports by using IECs issued to others which is a complete violation of provisions of the Foreign Trade Policy. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade vide their Policy Circular No. 6(RE-2013)/20092014 dated 16th September, 2013 have cautioned the importers/exporters as well as all other stake holders to comply with the provisions of FT(DR) Act and Rules made thereunder while using their IEC Number. Non-compliance/violation of these provisions would attract action in the form of suspension/cancellation of IEC or imposition of penalty, as appropriate, under the relevant provisions of FT (DR) Act and Rules.

MCCI wishes all its Members a Very Happy Deepavali.

May the Festival of Lights bring Joy and Happiness into your homes.

Chamber Day

Rajan Ekambaram making a presentation on state of TN Economy.

T.Shivaraman welcoming L.Lakshman with a bouquet of flowers

Dignitaries with the Directory of Members 2013 released on the occasion l to r : K.Saraswathi, T.Shivaraman,T.T.Srinivasaraghavan, L.Lakshman, Rajan Ekambaram and S.G.Prabhakharan.

Jessie Edwards giving the acceptance speech on being felicitated for 42 years of service with the Chamber.

T.Shivaraman presenting a memento to L.Lakshman

A view of the audience.

All India Workshop on Indirect Tax Laws Inaugural Session

Dr Parthasarathi Shome addressing.

Technical Session - I

K.K.Sekar addressing. Seated l to r: K.Guruswamy, Bhargavi Natesan and J.Krishnan.

Technical Session - II

Technical Session - III

l to r : P.R.Subramaniyan, K.Vaitheeswaran, R.Anand and K.Sivarajan.

Technical Session - IV

P. Purushotham addressing. Seated l to r : Girish Raman, R.L. Ramani and P.R. Sudhakar.

T.Shivaraman presenting a coďŹ&#x20AC;ee table book to Dr. Shome. Others in the picture are K.Vaitheeswaran and P.R.Subramaniyan.

N.Venkataraman addressing.

Technical Session - V

Aparna Nandakumar addressing. Others in the picture are P.Purushotham and B.Sriram.

R.Periasamy, IRS., Commissioner of Service Tax addressing. At right is Venkat Rangan.

Valedictory Session

R.Shakuntala, IRS., Chief Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax delivering the valedictory address. Others in the picture are K.Saraswathi and K.Vaitheeswaran.

K.Vaitheeswaran presenting a memento to R.Shakuntala, IRS.

Conference on Moving Towards Energy Security in Tamil Nadu Inaugural Session

T. Shivaraman delivering the welcome address.

Technical Session - I

l to r: N.Suresh Kumar, Anil Razdan, K.Venugopal and S. Kalirajan.

T.Shivaraman handing over a memento to Honâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ble Minister Natham R.Viswanathan. Others in the picture are l to r: P.S. Bami, Anil Razdan and J.S. Sudarsan.

Technical Session - II

l to r: P. Krishnakumar, S. Rajavel and Vineeta Aggarwal.

Technical Session - III

H.S.Patel and Dr.Harish Ahuja IAS., (Retd) making presentations on Gujarat and Delhi models respectively.

Investment Opportunities in Italy

T.Shivaraman delivering the welcome address. Seated l to r: K.Saraswathi, Carlo Ferrari, Sauri Mezzeti and M.Ganesh.

A view of the audience

Special Meeting with Dr.Parthasarathi Shome, Adviser to Union Finance Minister, GoI.

A view of the meeting

MCCI-ICICI Bank CEO Knowledge Forum

l to r: Murali Shankar, T. Shivaraman, R.Ganesh, K.S. Shetty and R.Giridhar.

Dr N Ravichandran making a presentation.

Seminar on Domestic Transfer Pricing & Corporate Taxation

Sriram Seshadri welcoming B.K. Misra, IRS., Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax IV with a bouquet of flowers.

B. K. Misra, IRS., addressing.

Seminar on New Companies Act and Draft Rules 2013

Bhavani Balasubramanian welcoming the gathering. Others in the picture are K.Saraswathi and Dr.B.Ravi.

Meeting with Mr.Edgars Rinkevics, Foreign Minister of Latvia T.Shivaraman presenting a CoďŹ&#x20AC;ee Table Bbook to the Minister. Others in the picture are K.Saraswathi and N.Ramachandran, Hon. Consul for Latvia in Chennai.

Dr.B.Ravi making a presentation.

Exim Bank Study Release - Comparison of Labour Laws : Select Countries

Dignitaries with the Study released by Mohan Pyare IAS. l to r: R.P.K. Murugesan, N.Venkataramani, T.C.A. Ranganathan, Mohan Pyare, IAS., T. Shivaraman and Arvind Balaji.