Skip to main content

Swachh Cess Likely on Fuel Telecom

By
Centre may issue Swachh bonds and impose cess on petrol, diesel, telecom services and waste produced by industries to fund Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
The government may issue Swachh Bharat bonds and impose a cess on automobile fuels, telecom services and mineral waste to fund Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet national cleanliness project.
A group of chief ministers headed by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu submitted a report to Modi on Wednesday outlining ways to mobilise funds for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan initiative.
“Swachh Bharat bonds may be issued and a Swachh Bharat cess may be levied by the central government on petrol, diesel, telecom services and also on accumulated waste produced by plants generating mineral waste like coal, aluminum and iron ore,“ the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement, citing the report.
“Given the scale and importance of the programme, it has been suggested that the sharing pattern of funds for this pro gramme between the Centre and states may be in the ratio of 75:25, while for hilly states it may be kept at 90:10,“ it said.
The panel recommended reducing the subsidy on chemical fertilisers and in creasing financial support for compost to encourage its use.

“In order to improve the via bility of waste management activities, the report propos es provision of tax exemp tions by the Centre and the state governments to the pri vate sector, besides enhanc ing the assistance for conn struction of individual household toilets in both ur ban and rural areas to Rs.15,000, it said.
The group of chief minis The group of chief ministers was constituted on March 24, following a decision taken at the first meeting of the governing council of the NITI Aayog on February 8. It consists of the chief minis ters of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and is chaired by Naidu.
To bring about behavioural changes, the group recommended an increase in funding for rolling out a professionally driven communication strategy. “Including sanitation and cleanliness in school curriculum and formation of a team of students to be called as `Swachhta Senani' in schools and colleges have been proposed to spread awareness about sanitation and cleanliness,“ it said.
The group said a dedicated mission for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan should be set up at both the national and state levels to guide, support and monitor the programme.
The proposals call for rating gram panchayats, municipalities, blocks, districts and states each year to promote competition, besides integrating rag pickers into the waste management system so that their livelihood is not adversely affected.
The Economic Times, New Delhi, 15th Oct. 2015

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

By
  Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...
Post a Comment
Read more

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

By
  While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retail inflation cools to a six-year low of 2.82% in May on moderating food prices

By
  New Delhi: Retail inflation in India cooled to its lowest level in over six years in May, helped by a sharp moderation in food prices, according to provisional government data released Thursday.Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased to 2.82% year-on-year, down from 3.16% in April and 4.8% in May last year, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed. This marks the fourth consecutive month of sub-4% inflation, the longest such streak in at least five years.The data comes just days after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5%, its third straight cut and a cumulative reduction of 100 basis points since the easing cycle began in February. The move signals a possible pivot from inflation control to supporting growth.Food inflation came in at just 0.99% in May, down from 1.78% in April and a sharp decline from 8.69% a year ago.A Mint poll of 15 economists had projected CPI ...
Post a Comment
Read more