[PIB] Launch of PAHAL (DBTL) scheme on 1st January 2015 in entire Country

1. The Direct Benefit transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh) has been re-launched in 54 districts on 15.11.2014 in the 1st Phase and will be launched in the rest of the 622 districts of the country on 1.1.2015.

2. Consumers who wish to join the scheme will have to either link their Aadhaar number into their bank account and their LPG consumer or if they do not possess Aadhaar number, they will have to link their bank account directly with their 17 digit LPG Id. Once a Consumer joins the scheme, he will get the cylinders at market price and will receive LPG subsidy directly in his bank account. A sum of Rs.568 will be paid in advance to the consumer, in the bank account, who now joins the scheme, as soon as he makes the first booking for a cylinder after joining the scheme to ensure that he has extra money required to pay for the first LPG cylinder at market price. This is in addition to subsidy that is paid on each cylinder. Camps are being set up at various banks, and LPG distributor’s premises to enable LPG consumers to open bank account and enroll for Aadhaar if they need to do so to join the scheme.

3. To keep consumers informed about their status in the scheme, consumers will receive SMS at every stage in the scheme. To avail of this feature all LPG consumers are requested to register their mobile number with their distributor if they have not done so. They are also advised to receive cylinders only with cash memos to be assured of their subsidy transfer.

4. The scheme will cover over 15.3 crore consumers across 676 districts of the country. Currently over 6.5 crore consumers i.e. 43% have already joined the scheme and will receive subsidy in their bank account.

5. DBTL is designed to ensure that the benefit meant for the genuine domestic customer reaches them directly and is not diverted. By this process public money will be saved. All LPG customers are requested to immediately join the scheme as above (Detailed Scheme is in Annexure).

6. All LPG consumers who are yet to join the scheme must do so quickly. Those who do not have bank accounts must first open bank accounts and then submit the required details to their LPG distributor/Bank for becoming cash transfer compliant.

7. As on 30.12.2014, an amount of Rs.624 Crore has been transferred to over 20 Lakh LPG consumers since the launch of the scheme on 15th November 2014.

8. LPG consumers who do not wish to avail the LPG subsidy for LPG cylinders can simply choose to opt out of subsidy. Over 12000 citizens have already voluntarily given up subsidy freeing up crores of subsidy amount for their less privileged brethren.

Salient Features

[PIB] Year End Review- Major FDI Policy Changes

Government has put in place an investor-friendly policy on FDI, under which FDI, up to 100% is permitted, under the automatic route, in most sectors/activities. FDI policy is reviewed on an ongoing basis, with a view to making it more investor friendly. FDI helps in the economic growth of the country by supplementing the domestic capital, bringing technology transfers, global best practices leading to increased manufacturing and productive capacity. Overall growth in different sectors of economy results in job creation.

Following are the major FDI policy changes made during the year:

Defence:
The Government vide Press Note 7 /2014 dated 26th August, 2014 has allowed FDI upto 49% on approval route in Defence sector with certain conditions e.g., the applicant company seeking FIPB approval be an Indian company owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens. Above 49% the proposal will be routed to Cabinet Committee on Security on a case to case basis, wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and state-of-art technology in the country. FPI investment has been allowed to be made in the Defence sector upto 24% on automatic route. A number of conditions have been relaxed /removed making the sector more investor friendly.

The proposal is expected to result in technology transfer which would help in increasing the production base and providing an impetus to manufacturing sector and job creation in India. The measure is expected to not only reduce the heavy burden of imports and conserve foreign exchange reserves but also make domestic manufacturing an integral part of GDP growth of the country.

Railways:
The Govt. (vide PN 8/2014 dated 26th August, 2014) has allowed 100% private and FDI investment under automatic route in Rail infrastructure (other than construction, operation and maintenance of (i) Suburban corridor projects through PPP, (ii) High speed train projects, (iii) Dedicated freight lines, (iv) Rolling stock including train sets, and locomotives/coaches manufacturing and maintenance facilities, (v) Railway Electrification, (vi) Signaling systems, (vii) Freight terminals, (viii) Passenger terminals, (ix) Infrastructure in industrial park pertaining to railway line/sidings including electrified railway lines and connectivities to main railway line and (x) Mass Rapid Transport Systems ) subject to meeting sectoral laws and with the condition that FDI beyond 49% in sensitive areas from security point of view will be approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security on a case to case basis.

The proposal for amendments will facilitate private investment including FDI inflows into infrastructure projects including elevated rail corridor project in Mumbai, High Speed Train project, port connectivity projects, dedicated freight corridors, logistic parks, station development, locomotive manufacturing units and power plants, through public-private partnerships which would not only bring in the much needed capital but also technology and global best practices.

Construction Development:The Government has issued the Press Note No. 10 on 3rd December, 2014 amending the FDI policy regarding Construction Development Sector. Amended policy includes easing of area restriction norms, reduction of minimum capitalization and easy exit from project. Further, in order to give boost to low cost affordable housing, it has been provided that conditions of area restriction and minimum capitalization will not apply to cases committing 30% of the project cost towards affordable housing.

FDI INFLOWS
Total FDI into India, since April, 2000, including equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital, is US $ 345.29 billion (April, 2000-September, 2014). During the calendar year 2014 (i.e. during January- September, 2014), FDI equity inflows of US $ 22.43 billion have been received. This represents increase of 24% over the FDI equity inflows of US $ 18.07 Billion received during the corresponding period (January- September 2013) of the previous calendar year (2013).

During the financial year 2014-15 (i.e. April- September, 2014), FDI equity inflows of US $ 14.69 billion have been received. This represents an increase of 17% over the FDI equity inflows of US$ 12.59 billion received during the corresponding period (April 2013- September, 2013) of the previous financial year (2013-14).

Source - PIB

[PIB] NITI Aayog - The new Planning Commision

The Government has replaced Planning Commission with a new institution named NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). A cabinet Resolution issued today gave details of the new institutions. The institutional framework of government has developed and matured over the years.   This has allowed the development of domain expertise which allows us the chance to increase the specificity of functions given to institutions.  Specific to the planning process, there is a need to separate as well as energize the distinct ‘process’ of governance from the ‘strategy’ of governance.

In the context of governance structures, the changed requirements of our country, point to the need for setting up an institution that serves as a Think Tank of the government – a directional and policy dynamo.  The proposed institution has to provide governments at the central and state levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy.  This includes matters of national and international import on the economic front, dissemination of best practices from within the country as well as from other nations, the infusion of new policy ideas and specific issue-based support.  The institution has to be able to respond to the changing and more integrated world that India is part of.

An important evolutionary change from the past will be replacing a centre-to-state one-way flow of policy by a genuine and continuing partnership with the states.   The institution must have the necessary resources, knowledge, skills and, ability to act with speed to provide the strategic policy vision for the government as well as deal with contingent issues.

Perhaps most importantly, the institution must adhere to the  tenet that while incorporating positive influences from the world, no single model can be transplanted  from outside into the Indian scenario. We need to find our own strategy for growth.  The new institution has to zero in on what will work in and for India.   It will be a Bharatiya approach to development.

The institution to give life to these aspirations is the NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India).  This is being proposed after extensive consultation across the spectrum of stakeholders including inter alia state governments, domain experts and relevant institutions.  The NITI Aayog will work towards the following objectives:

1. To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States in the light of national objectives.    The vision of the NITI Aayog will then provide a framework ‘national agenda’ for the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers to provide impetus to.

2. To foster cooperative federalism through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the States on a continuous basis, recognizing that strong States make a strong nation.

3. To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government.

4. To ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and policy.

5. To pay special attention to the sections of our society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately from economic progress. 

6. To design strategic and long term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and monitor their progress and their efficacy.  The lessons learnt through monitoring and feedback will be used for making innovative improvements, including necessary mid-course corrections.

7. To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and international like-minded Think Tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions.

8. To create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and other partners.

9. To offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.

10. To maintain a state-of-the-art Resource Centre, be a repository of research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable development as well as help their dissemination to stake-holders.

11. To actively monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the identification of the needed resources so as to strengthen the probability of success and scope of delivery.

12. To focus on technology upgradation and capacity building for implementation of programmes and initiatives.

13. To undertake other activities as may be necessary in order to further the execution of the national development agenda, and the objectives mentioned above.

3. The NITI Aayog will comprise the following:

1. Prime Minister of India as the Chairperson

2. Governing Council comprising the Chief Ministers of all the States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories

3. Regional Councils will be formed to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or a region.  These will be formed for a specified tenure.  The Regional Councils will be convened by the Prime Minister and will comprise of the Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories in the region.  These will be chaired by the  Chairperson of the NITI Aayog or his nominee.

4. Experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees nominated by the Prime Minister

5. The full-time organizational framework will comprise of, in addition to the Prime Minister as the Chairperson:

                                                               i.      Vice-Chairperson: To be appointed by the Prime Minister

                                                             ii.      Members: Full-time 

                                                            iii.      Part-time members: Maximum of 2 from leading universities research organizations and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity.  Part time members will be on a rotational basis.

                                                           iv.      Ex Officio members: Maximum of 4 members of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister. 

                                                             v.      Chief Executive Officer : To be appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.

                                                           vi.      Secretariat as deemed necessary.

Source - PIB

[Eco] India to scrap tax breaks on cars

Cars, bikes and consumer goods are set to get more expensive in India as the government plans to withdraw tax breaks in the new year, reports say.

Finance ministry officials told local media they would not renew excise duty concessions, which end on 31 December.

For a luxury car worth 5m rupees (£50,000; $80,000) the tax rise will add roughly 200,000 rupees to the cost.

Analysts say the cash-strapped government is trying to boost its finances through taxation.

The concessions were announced by the former Congress-led government in February to revive sluggish sales.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government extended the tax breaks until the end of the year.

"The notification providing relief was meant to be temporary. We are not extending it," a source told the Times of India.

Officials said data showed the car sector had recovered in the past few months, and that the government "cannot hand-hold any sector for ever".

For small cars, the excise duty will rise from 8% to 12% - adding roughly 8,000 rupees to the price of an average small car.

For larger cars, the rate rises from 20% to 24%.

Car makers say they expect the sales to fall in the new year, but recover later.

"To the extent the excise duty goes up, car prices will go up," RC Bhargava, chairman of India's biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki, told Reuters news agency.

"It will temporarily affect sales. But I don't think it will have any long-term impact."

Source - BBC

Gendered approach to sterilisation

In just less than a month after the Centre announced an ‘Enhanced Compensation Scheme’ for sterilisation services in 11 States having high Total Fertility Rates (TFR), more than 13 women lost their lives following botched up surgeries in a medical camp in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh.

There seemed no apparent urgency to organize the sterilisation camp other than to meet the ‘targets’ set by the State government and the enhanced compensation, perhaps, was an incentive for the young women. But just that in India sterilisation, somehow, is understood as a permanent method of contraception only for women — safe and simple.

Official statistics suggest that the governments — both at the Centre and States — promote female sterilisation disproportionately. Of the total sterilisations performed in 2012-13, as many as 97.4 per cent were tubectomy procedures. Similarly, an analysis by non-governmental organization suggests that in 2013-14, India spent 85 per cent of its family planning expenditure on sterilisation, the beneficiaries of which were mostly women.

On October 20 this year, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare decided to enhance compensation for sterilisations for 11 States which were one of the “main interventions’’ under the Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child Health plus Adolescent (RMNCH+A) programme launched to meet the millennium development goals. It also added a new component of Post Partum Sterilisation (PPS) — done soon after delivery or within 7 days — to the package for which an extra amount of Rs.3,000 would be given, of which the woman would get Rs 2,200. This was in addition to the hiked compensation of Rs.1,400 from the earlier Rs.600, but restricted for women who came to the public facility for delivery. For vasectomy, the compensation has been hiked from Rs.1,100 to Rs.2,000.

These States are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Assam, Haryana and Gujarat.

“It is wrong to describe the money as an incentive. It is just a compensation for the loss of wage which was hiked in the wake of high cost of living, increasing cost of transportation (from village to the nearest health facility) and prevailing high wage compensation for the days requiring recuperation,’’ explained an official of the Health Ministry. On Post Partum Sterilisation, he said, it was difficult — almost impossible — to, otherwise, get women back to the health centre but said no one would be coerced into opting for the permanent method.

This gendered approach takes full advantage of women’s lack of sexual and reproductive autonomy.

“We have seen in Post Partum IUCD insertions, consent of the rural women is not even taken,” Sulakshana Nandi, convenor of Chhattisgarh Jan Swasthya Abhiyan told The Hindu. In the case of PPS, there would be health implications as well, she said while pointing out that decisions regarding childbearing should be left to the woman.

An analysis done by the Population Council of India, Family Planning Association of India, Parivar Sewa Sansthan, and Common Health in a report on ‘Robbed of Choice and Dignity: Indian Women Dead after Mass Sterilisation’ suggests that in 2013-14, India spent 85 per cent of its family planning expenditure on sterilisation. In 2013-14, India spent Rs.396.97 crore on female sterilisation with the procedure being performed on over 39 lakh women. A chunk of this money — Rs.324.49 crore — was spent on incentives and compensation, and Rs.14.42 crore on the camps themselves. The amount spent as compensation was two-and-half times the untied grants given to Primary Health Centres for infrastructure strengthening. Less than 1.5 per cent of the annual expenditure on family planning went towards spacing methods and the remaining 1.5 per cent was spent on equipment, transport, IEC activities and staff expenses, it said.

Focus on sterilisation

“Sterilisation, particularly tubectomy, has been vigorously promoted and pushed by the state through centrally- decided targets and on a mass scale through a camp approach, largely disregarding other currently available methods such as condoms, oral pills, IUDs,’’ suggests a fact-finding report on the sterilisation tragedy brought out by the Jan Swasthya Abhiya, Sama — the Resource Group for Women and the National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights.

Sterilisation constitutes 75 per cent of India’s total contraceptive use, which is the highest anywhere in the world. From the mid-1980s, the numbers of tubectomies have risen steeply and on average 4.5 million surgeries are performed each year.

Source - The Hindu 

[Int.] Will 2015 be the year of the dragon?

At Pakistan’s behest, China is trying to muscle its way into Saarc. India should look East for strategic options

The year 2014 ended with China not so covertly seeking and obtaining a measure of support for its attempts to gatecrash into Saarc during the Kathmandu summit in November. New Delhi will now face sustained attempts from Sri Lanka and Nepal, trying to enhance Chinese influence and power across India’s land and maritime frontiers.

Sri Lanka is headed for presidential elections on January 8 and Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has served notice that he is determined to adopt a new constitution by January 22, whether or not there is parliamentary consensus on its provisions.

Koirala is evidently ready to use the huge majority in the legislature that he and his coalition partners, the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML), command, brushing aside demands from the Madhesi people who are looking for a federal set-up which reflects the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the country.

Sri Lankan tilt
On India’s eastern Indian Ocean shores, Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse has sought re-election two years before the end of his second term. Rajapakse was swept back to power in 2010 in the wake of the popular upsurge in his favour, after he successfully brought an end to three decades of ethnic conflict, crushing the LTTE and eliminating its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

But the years thereafter have been troublesome domestically for Rajapakse, who has also faced serious international challenges arising from excesses allegedly committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the last days of the civil war.

This has led to moves by the US and its western allies to censure Sri Lanka and demand action against those allegedly guilty of killing innocent Tamils.

Rajapakse faces challenges not only from the opposition UNP led by former prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, but also from within his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), mounted by former president, Chandrika Kumaratunga. The presidential election is being held when Rajapakse’s popularity appears to be waning, with his party candidates recording a distinct fall in their vote share in the recent provincial elections.

Recent communal violence directed at Muslims by the Buddhist clergy has raised concerns. There is disappointment among Tamils at the manner in which the Northern Province government has been denied any meaningful powers for governance, contrary to what Rajapakse had assured earlier. All this is creating a situation wherein the president could well lose the support of minority communities constituting 25 per cent of the electorate.

Despite these developments, the Rajapakse family, now holding virtually all key positions in government and the legislature, is a formidable force. This is, moreover, reinforced by a generally submissive and compliant judiciary and a formidable State machinery. It would be unrealistic to presume that they will not be returned to office.

What India cannot overlook is the growing military and economic cooperation that the Rajapakse dispensation has developed with China. Apart from the massive development of Hambantota and Colombo ports, China is now a major player in key sectors such as telecommunications, rail transport, petroleum refineries, offshore oil and gas exploration, power and energy. Such economic cooperation with China is understandable, given western antipathy to the Rajapakse dispensation.

The Pakistan hand
India cannot, however, ignore either the growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean, with berthing facilities for Chinese submarines in Colombo twice in recent months, or the enthusiastic backing for Prime Minister Xi Jinping’s proposal for a maritime silk route in the Indian Ocean. A senior Sri Lankan diplomat spoke recently in India about the need for a South Asian security architecture that includes China and the need to admit China to Saarc.

These are issues that India needs to deal with not just bilaterally, but in consultation with Japan, the US and major European powers.

Koirala’s recent moves on facilitating Saarc membership for China are not very different from the direction taken by the Rajapakse government. He has rightly taken note of a gratuitous comment by an errant British ambassador, calling for Nepal to include the “right to change religion” in its constitution, now being drafted. One wonders if British ambassadors in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia would render such gratuitous advice to their host governments.

But what one cannot ignore is a recent report by a senior Nepali journalist that during a recent visit to Nepal, China’s vice-foreign minister Chen Fengxiang argued that Nepal should reject federalism based on ethnicity and language. Like Sri Lanka, Nepal appears to be very keen on China’s admission to Saarc — a proposal that’s been turned down by India.

China’s greater visibility
The driving force behind these moves is China’s ‘all-weather friend’ Pakistan. Moreover, India cannot ignore China’s growing economic and strategic profile within Nepal.

China is now constructing a high altitude railway line from Lhasa to the second largest city in Tibet, Shigatse, located close to the China-Nepal border. A road link from Lhasa to Kathmandu is also under construction. Nepal has also been pressurised by China to clamp down on Tibetan refugees fleeing from persecution.

The time has perhaps come for New Delhi to tell its eastern Saarc neighbours that given Pakistan’s obduracy, India sees very little prospect for economic integration within Saarc. Bilateral economic integration with these neighbours can be reinforced not through Saarc but through Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), which brings together landlocked and coastal South Asian States, across the Bay Bengal, with Asean members, Myanmar and Thailand.

Bimstec should become the key organisation linking and integrating South and Southeast Asia economically.

Source - The Hindu

[Ed] The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Wind energy alone has the potential to cover the world’s energy supply, but realising this is a tall order

The recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has shown that a fossil fuel-free future is imperative if the world wants to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate change.

The warning from the United Nations panel, however, has gone unheeded by politicians and policymakers as is clear from the meek outcome of the recently concluded climate talks in Lima.

But a new report on wind energy released this week is not so pessimistic and concludes boldly that a future free of fossil and nuclear energy is after all possible.

With a total of 337 GW power generation capacity in over 100 countries across widespread geographies, wind energy is now seeking to be full-fledged member of the mainstream electricity club.

Gaining paceIn Europe alone, 100 GW of wind capacity was added between 2000 and 2013. In less than a decade, China has emerged as a leading player with over 91 GW of wind energy capacity.

India has achieved nearly 21 GW of cumulative installed capacity of wind power by the end of March 2014. Europe, India, China and the US together account for 93 per cent of the total wind power installed capacity.

Clearly, countries or regions with maximum import dependence on oil and gas are leading the shift from fossil to wind. This indicates that the shift to wind has more to do with reasons of energy security than perhaps climate change. While harnessing renewable sources of energy like wind and solar may appear to be simple compared to fossil fuel or nuclear projects, the reality is that assessing wind or solar potential of a particular region is highly challenging.

Unlike sunshine that is relatively uniform in a given region over a given period of time, winds are fickle, vary in space and time, change from place to place, and blow in fluctuating strengths over different timescales.

For any investor or project proponent, it is critical to assess how much electricity can be generated from wind, for how long and what may be the total quantum of such energy in a given period of time at any given location or region.

A large number of wind resource assessment studies have been carried out across the world, at times with varying projections. Bonn, Germany-based World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), therefore, decided to conduct a meta-analysis of these studies to arrive at total global potential for wind farms in the world.

The total wind potential of the world, as identified by these existing studies, is 95 terawatt (one terawatt equals one trillion watts). This means that wind energy alone would be more than sufficient to cover the world’s energy supply several times over.

Jami Hossain, an Indian expert who wrote the WWEA technical report, says that this is the first time a global estimate of wind power has been made taking into account available data, studies and scientific papers.

The potentialWhile different methods and information sources have been used in individual studies to assess order and magnitude of wind potential in different parts of the world, these studies seem to corroborate each other.

The report notes that the potential of near surface winds being measured and harnessed for power generation is just the tip of the iceberg.

Most wind turbines currently go up to 100 meters above the ground. As we go up in the atmosphere wind speeds increase dramatically after 2,000 m above ground till 10,000 m.

It indicates that winds in high altitudes can meet electricity requirements in a sustained and reliable manner given viable technologies.

The realisable offshore and onshore potential for wind energy with the currently available technologies is sufficient to meet electricity requirements of the entire world. “It is reasonable to conclude that looking at global electricity requirements and even growth in electricity over the next few decades, it is indeed possible to meet all electricity requirements with technologies and options that are a combination of wind, solar, hydro and biomass and storage technologies and devices. Technically, it is possible to phase out nuclear and fossil fuel based generating stations,” the study has concluded.

The emerging picture painted by the report is certainly rosy, but realising this potential is not going to be easy. Many areas of the world with vast wind energy potential are not located close to centres of consumption.Make it viable

If wind power has to emerge as a viable contender in the energy-mix of any country then it will have to move beyond the model of distributed generation and take to large scale generation in high potential areas and transmission of electricity over long distances.

This will require trans-regional or even trans-national transmission links. For instance, high potential areas in Sri Lanka are in Jaffna and Northern parts of the island, from where electricity can be supplied to India.

Similarly, there are high potential regions in Afghanistan which can be harnessed to serve neighbouring countries. In addition to technical, financial and geopolitical hurdles, wind energy also faces certain green issues.

Many high-potential locations with wind energy potential are deep inside dense forests and other such ecologically fragile areas.

Concerns relating to likely ecological damage due to installation of wind turbines and any possible long-term impacts on local environment will have to be fully assessed.

Given green concerns about coal-fired plants and safety issues around nuclear, one can safely assume that wind power will be relatively benign on nature even after taking into account all such concerns.

India should pursue this option in right earnest, along with other renewable sources such as solar.

Source - The Hindu