Governance

Procurement of Wheat in ongoing RMS2021-22 is continuing smoothly in the procuring States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir and Bihar at MSP, as was done in previous seasons, and till now (upto 06.05.2021) a quantity of over 323.67 LMT of Wheat has been procured against the last year corresponding purchase of 216.01 LMT. About32.21Lakh farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing RMS procurement operations with MSP value of Rs. 63,924.56Crore.

In response to an increase in coronavirus cases, the RBI announced a Rs. 50,000 crore (US$ 6.77 billion) on-tap liquidity window for firms involved in healthcare infrastructure and services on Wednesday.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, approved today, permissions to Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for conducting trials for use and applications of 5G technology. The applicant TSPs include Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance JioInfocomm Ltd., Vodafone Idea Ltd. and MTNL. These TSPs have tied up with original equipment manufacturers and technology providers which are Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and C-DOT. In addition, Reliance JioInfocomm Ltd. will also be conducting trials using its own indigenous technology.

A total of 19 companies have filed their application under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for IT Hardware which was notified on 03.03.2021. The scheme was open for filing applications till 30.04.2021. Incentives are applicable under the scheme from 01.04.2021.

In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances under Goods & Services Tax (GST) law due to the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has issued notifications, all dated 1st May, 2021, providing various relief measures for taxpayers.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of April’ 2021 is at a record high of Rs. 1,41,384 crore of which CGST is Rs. 27,837 crore, SGST is Rs. 35,621, IGST is Rs 68,481 crore (including Rs. 29,599 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs. 9,445 crore (including Rs. 981 crore collected on import of goods). Despite the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic affecting several parts of the country, Indian businesses have once again shown remarkable resilience by not only complying with the return filing requirements but also paying their GST dues in a timely manner during the month.