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RBI minutes show MPC members flagged upside risks to inflation Concerns about economic growth and easing inflation prompted five of the six monetary policy committee  (MPC) members to call for a cut in the repo rate, but most warned that prices could start  accelerating, show the minutes of the panel’s last meeting, released on Wednesday. The comments reflected a tone of caution and flagged upside risks to inflation from farm loan waivers,  rise in food prices, especially vegetables, price revisions withheld ahead of the goods and services  tax, implementation of house rent allowance under the 7th pay commission and fading of favourable base  effect, among others. On 2 August, the panel chose to cut the repurchase rate—the rate at which the central bank infuses  liquidity in the banking system—by 25 basis points to 6%. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Pami Dua, professor at the Delhi School of Economics, wrote that her analysis showed “a fading  econo

BSE, NSE likely to begin audit of 100 suspected shell companies Stock exchanges BSE and NSE are likely to initiate audit on 100 out of 331 suspected shell companies  in the first batch in coordination with SEBI, sources told ET Now.  A panel of auditors will soon be appointed for first stage of audit of select 100 companies, sources  said.  All except a handful of 331 suspected companies are either non-operational or already barred from  trading on exchanges.  Sources said that freezing of promoters’ shares is being considered till probe concludes. Trading data  of all suspect shell companies being examined by bourses.  Out of total 331 firms, 162 are listed on BSE. Data available for 154 of these firms show one-third of  them, or 50 to be precise, have been reporting losses for four consecutive years now. Over two dozens  of them reported zero sales for last financial year. Yet, retail and high net worth individuals hold  up to 95 per cent stake in these companies. Since

Sebi eases rules for lenders buying stake in distressed companies The relaxation will be subject to certain conditions, including shareholders' approval of the stake  acquisition by way of special resolution. Markets regulator Sebi has notified relaxed norms for stake purchase in distressed listed companies by  lenders, exempting them from making open offers for shareholders. The relaxation will be subject to certain conditions, including shareholders' approval of the stake  acquisition by way of special resolution. The Sebi decision comes against the backdrop of the government and the Reserve Bank of India stepping  up efforts to tackle the menace of bad loans, amounting to over Rs 8 lakh crore. The regulator has eased the norms for restructuring in stressed companies that are listed on exchanges  as well as resolution plans approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Sebi said in a  notification dated August 14. The move is aimed at facilitating turnaroun

CBEC to build information repository on imports   Can a specific type of meat be exported to India? What procedures need to be followed?  Global suppliers eyeing India's growing economy will soon be able to get such basic queries on exports  answered through a single window, freeing them from the maze of multiple complex notifications  scattered across various websites of ministries or departments that’s fiendishly difficult to access.  The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is undertaking a mammoth exercise to build a central  repository to provide a supplier all the information required about norms governing product imports in  simple language. This will be available on one site or via a mobile app. “The idea is to make it  simple for traders to access information,” a government official told ET.  “Any information about any regulation would be available at the click of mouse or a tap on the  mobile.” Though all the information is available, traders need to ploug

Cabinet approves CGST refund scheme  The government has approved a new metro rail policy, a scheme to refund central goods and services tax  ( CGST) to industrial units in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and the North-East ctill  2027, and changes to strategic disinvestment policy to speed up decision-making. The cabinet cleared  the CGST refund scheme with a budgetary allocation of Rs 27,413 crore, which will come as a big relief  to sectors like pharma, automobiles, FMCG.  These units, which hitherto enjoyed exemption from central excise for 10 years, will get a refund of  58 per cent of CGST. “Within the framework of the GST Act, each industry will be entitled to its own  refund mechanism during this particular period (until March 31, 2027),” finance minister Arun Jaitley  told reporters after the meeting of the cabinet that was presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi  on Wednesday. Under the new GST regime rolled out on July 1, there is no provision f

Sebi proposes Aadhaar-based identification for investors The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is planning identification of stock market investors  through their Aadhaar numbers. In its annual report for 2016-17 released on Monday, Chairman Ajay  Tyagi said “Sebi will continue to strengthen market supervision through various steps such as  Aadhaar-based identification of investors, effective market surveillance and monitoring of compliances  by regulated entities.” The move is in line with the government agenda of making Aadhaar mandatory for opening bank accounts,  filing tax returns as well as for any financial transaction of ~50,000 and above. The government in  Budget 2017-18 has already mandated linking of the Aadhaar number with the Permanent Account Number  (PAN) to avoid creation of multiple accounts for evasion of taxes. In the annual report, Sebi said it was working on linking Aadhaar with individual demat accounts.  “Sebi will try to enhance market int

Govt bans pure gold jewellery exports from India In a major blow for domestic jewellery manufacturers, exports of gold ornaments, medallions, or any  other articles of more than 22 carats (ameasure of purity) have been banned. In a notification issued on Monday, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said: “The Foreign  Trade Policy 201520 are amended to allow export of gold jewellery (plain or studded) and articles  containing gold of 8 carats and above up toamaximum limit of 22 carats only from domestic tariff area  and export oriented units (EOU) or any such privileged facilities.” This means exports of jewellery or  medallion, withagold content of more than 22 carats have been banned with immediate effect (24carat is  pure gold). A group of jewellers see it asamajor blow while for others it hasa “negligible” impact because the  demand for pure gold jewellery is minuscule. “We had written to the Ministry of Finance about eight months ago highlighting the round tri