The government is expected to end the benefits under Section 10A and 10B of the Income Tax Act.
Small and medium information technology companies operating out of the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and who have not relocated their business operations to the special economic zones (SEZs) could stand to lose a substantial part of their tax holidays after the forthcoming Budget.
This Budget, the finance ministry may consider a proposal for a seed fund that would provide financial support to states willing to sell items other than foodgrain, sugar and kerosene through the public distribution system (PDS). The move, experts believe, will help reigning in food inflation that remains in double digits, despite moderation.
To fund infrastructure projects in the public-private-partnership model, the forthcoming Budget could lay down some broad contours on the setting up of debt funds, which will provide investment for the core sector.
As a bonanza to southern states, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to allocate funds worth Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) for Chennai and Bangalore Metro rail systems in the forthcoming Budget.
Officials said the proposal and funding could be included in the coming budget and preliminary discussions have been held with finance ministry officials.
In a move to help quicken the flagging pace of distribution reforms in the power sector, the Union finance ministry has approved the creation of a Rs 50,000-crore National Electricity Fund - first mooted in the 2008-09 Budget - for attracting investment in this area.
The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Delhi Airport Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL) would run and maintain the line, which would reduce travel time between the heart of the capital and the Indira Gandhi International Airport to 20 minutes.
This forms about 7.5 per cent of India's projected investment of Rs 5,28,316 crore (Rs 5,283.16 billion) in overall infrastructure during the next financial year and over a fourth of the Rs 1,59,000-crore (Rs 1,590-billion) investment to be made in the electricity sector alone in 2011-12, the terminal year of the current Plan period.
Favours stricter impact mitigation rules, monitoring.
The government's initiative to have trading of electricity with Sri Lanka is likely to bear fruit by mid-2014, with the commissioning of a high capacity power transmission link between the two countries. The two countries are likely to sign an MoU for a Rs 2,500-crore (Rs 25 billion) project.
The central government plans to set up a group of public sector banks headed by State Bank of India (SBI), which would brainstorm on ways to make low-cost funding available for power projects that are being set up under the National Solar Mission.
Areva has 60-Mw of biomass-based power capacity in India. It is looking to also tap the market for nuclear power in a big way.
In a setback to initial public offer (IPO)-ready Coal India, the Jharkhand government has rejected a forest clearance for a railway link being planned for evacuation of coal from the North Karanpura coalfield operated by the coal miner.
Timely commissioning of over 50,000 Mw of power generation capacity has been jeopardised owing to the environment ministry's latest move to classify India's coal-bearing regions as "go" and "no-go" areas. This comes at a time when the country is striving to bridge the widening gap in the demand and supply of electricity.
While the government is pushing for the use of renewable energy in rural areas to address the twin problems of climate change and scarcity of power, the nodal ministry for carrying out the exercise has not been performing well.
While the mechanism of auctioning commodities like coal and electricity and telecom spectrum at electronic platforms has brought in transparency in their allocation, experts believe that the strategy cannot fructify until the prevailing shortfall in their availability is met.
This comes at a time when the country's total commercial energy requirement is expected to grow at 5-6 per cent to a massive 1,667 million tonne oil equivalent (Mtoe) required to achieve and sustain a 9 per cent gross domestic product growth rate in the next two decades, as per planning commission's projection.
PFC provides loan syndication, along with 18 other institutions, mostly banks and Life Insurance Corporation and Hudco, under the Power Lenders' Club.
The government's initiative to set up a high-capacity power transmission link between India and Sri Lanka is likely to be completed by 2013.
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