Historic year for the Ministry of Finance with significant
recognition by Moody’s Investors Service upgrading India’s local and foreign
currency issuer ratings after 13 years; India moving up 30 ranks in the World
Bank’s Doing Business Report and visible signs of financial system cleansing
by the Demonetization exercise.
Transformational Reforms - Overhauling of Indirect Tax
System by the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to replace
multiple Central and State taxes and a New Direct Tax Code also initiated to
re-write the Income Tax Act.
Recapitalization of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and an
Alternative Mechanism for their consolidation. The Financial Inclusion and
Social Security Schemes – PMJDY and APY achieved significant milestones
Redefining fund raising by Disinvestment, the Government
launched a new Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), BHARAT 22 as a unique blend of 22
stocks of CPSEs, PSBs & strategic holding of SUUTI.
Enhancing the quality of life remained primary goal for Government
when it put into implementation the recommendations of the 7th
Central Pay Commission to benefit more than 48 Lakh Central Government
Employees.
|
Year
End Review – 2017
Ministry
of Finance
|
Major achievements of the Ministry of Finance pertaining to
the concerted efforts made by all the five constituent Departments of the
Ministry viz. Department of Economic Affairs (DEA); Department of Revenue;
Department of Financial Services (DFS); Department of Investment Promotion and
Asset Management (DIPAM) and Department of Expenditure (DOE) are as follows:
I . Department of Economic Affairs
·
Overall fundamentals of the economy remained strong for the
Year 2017-18
|
Macroeconomic Indicator
|
For Year 2017-18
|
|
GDP
Growth Rate (%)
|
6.0
(Up to Q2)
|
|
CPI
|
3.6%
(Q2)
|
|
WPI
|
3.6%
(Q2)
|
|
Current
Account Deficit
|
US$
14.3 billion (Q1)
|
|
Trade
Deficit
|
US$
41.2 billion (Q1)
|
|
External
Debt to GDP Ratio (%)
|
20.2
|
|
FDI
Inflows
|
US$ 1,350.93 million
(As
on October, 2017)
|
|
Foreign
Exchange Reserves
|
US$ 401,942.0 million
(As
on December 1, 2017)
|
(Source
; RBI Bulletin)
Manufacturing,
electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services and trade, hotels,
transport & communication and services related to broadcasting sectors
registered growth of over 6.0 percent in Q2 of 2017-18 over Q2 of 2016-17.
·
Moody's Investors Service upgraded
Government of India's local and foreign currency issuer ratings to Baa2 from
Baa3 and changed the outlook on the rating
to stable from positive after a period of 13 years in recognition of the
Government’s commitment to macro stability which led to low inflation,
declining deficit and prudent external balance along with Government’s fiscal
consolidation programme
·
India’s ranking in World Bank’s
doing Business Report rose to 100 - 30
places up over its rank of 130 in the Doing Business Report 2017 - highest jump
in rank of any country in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Report, 2018. This
made India the only country in South Asia and BRICS economies to feature among
most improved economies of the EoDB Report this year.
·
Reversal of the deceleration trend
in overall growth, the real GDP growth
data for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2017-18 showed growth at 6.3
percent, a substantial increase from 5.7 percent in the first quarter. Real GVA
growth showed similar increase from 5.6 percent in the first quarter to 6.1
percent in the second quarter. Acceleration in growth this quarter was helped
by a rapid growth in manufacturing which increased from 1.2 percent in the
first quarter to 7 percent in the Second Quarter. Robust growth of 7.6 percent
in electricity and other utilities, and 9.9 percent in trade, transportation
and communications also powered this acceleration. Overall, the services sector
recorded a growth of 7.1 percent in the second quarter. The rate of growth
of gross fixed capital formation also increased from 1.6 percent in the first
quarter to 4.7 percent in the second quarter. Real private consumption growth
broadly held steady at 6.5 percent.
·
One year after the landmark move to cleanse the economy of Black
money, 8th November 2017 was a day to recount the successes of the
continued operations after Demonetization with High Denomination Notes
been brought down by 50% of value in circulation, 50 lakh new bank accounts
opened to enable cashless transaction of wages, 26.6% increase in number of
taxpayers added from FY 2015-16 to FY 2016-17 and 27.95% increase in number of
e-returns filed, the value of IMPS transactions increasing almost 59% from
August 2016 to August 2017, 2.24 Lakh shell companies were struck off, undisclosed
income worth Rs. 29,213 crore was detected and admitted and revenues of the
ULBs across the country increased.
·
Constitution of the Fifteenth
Finance Commission was notified on 27th November 2017 to
look into issues of distribution between Union and the States of the net
proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be divided between them; the
principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States
out of the Consolidated Fund of India and to review the current status of the
finance, deficit, debt levels, cash balances and fiscal discipline efforts of
the Union and the States, and to recommend a fiscal consolidation roadmap for
sound fiscal management, taking into account the responsibility of the Central
Government and State Governments to adhere to appropriate levels of general and
consolidated government debt and deficit levels, while fostering higher
inclusive growth in the country, guided by the principles of equity, efficiency
and transparency.
·
The Logistics Sector was granted
Infrastructure status in the 14th Institutional Mechanism (IM) Meeting held
on 10th November, 2017 to meet the need for integrated Logistics sector
development in view of the fact that the logistics cost in India is very high
compared to developed countries. It will thus enable the Logistics Sector to avail infrastructure
lending at easier terms with enhanced limits, access to larger amounts of funds
as External Commercial Borrowings (ECB), access to longer tenor funds from
insurance companies and pension funds and be eligible to borrow from India
Infrastructure Financing Company Limited (IIFCL).
·
As a significant milestone in the operationalization of the National
Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), NIIF signed its first investment
agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
(ADIA) to mobilize 1 billion USD over the long term into the fund.
·
Further to this, an Investors’ Roundtable was organised by the
Department of Economic Affairs in Singapore to showcase to foreign investors
slew of investor friendly reforms undertaken by the Government. Finance
Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley visited Singapore, USA and Bangladesh
inviting foreign investment for India primarily in the Infrastructure Sector.
·
India also hosted the 9th UK-India Economic and
Financial Dialogue, 52nd Annual Meeting of African
Development Bank (AfDB), 2017 and the 2nd Annual Meeting of
the New Development Bank (NDB) in New Delhi. India will also host the 3rd
Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB) at Mumbai on 25th and 26th June 2018.
·
Other significant initiatives of the Department
of Economic Affairs also included revision of the base year of All-India
Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from 2004-05 to 2011-12, release of the National
Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP), institutionalization of the Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC), approval for the phasing out of Foreign Investment
Promotion Board (FIPB), revision of the guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds
(SGB) Scheme and the country’s first International Financial Services Centre
(IFSC) becoming operational at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City
(GIFT),Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat) in April 2017.
II . Department of Revenue
GST
Key
features
·
Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out on the midnight of 30
June 2017 and came into effect from 1 July 2017.
·
GST is administered by both Centre and States and has subsumed several
state and central indirect taxes such as State VAT, Central Excise Duty,
Purchase Tax and Entry Tax.
·
GST is bringing transparency and accountability in business
transactions along with ensuring ease of doing business and rationalization in
tax rates.
·
GST has removed the hurdles in inter-State transactions resulting
in the setting up of a common market.
·
GST allows taxpayers to take credit of taxes paid on inputs
(input tax credit) and utilize the same for the payment of output tax.
GST
evolving and responding to needs of the hour
·
Subsequent to the rollout of GST, 22 States in India abolished
their check posts for smooth movement of goods across the country on 3rd
July 2017.
·
Goods and Services Network (GSTN) released a simple excel based
template to facilitate taxpayers in preparing and filing their monthly returns
with maximum ease and minimal cost. The template is available on GST Common
portal and can be used by taxpayers to collate all invoice related data on a
regular basis. The offline tool was unveiled on 17th July 2017.
·
The Government of India set up a Central Monitoring Committee on
21st July 2017, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, to monitor the
impact of GST.
·
On 16th November 2017, the Union Cabinet approved the
establishment of National Anti-profiteering Authority, an apex body, to ensure
that the full benefits of input tax credits and reduced GST rates on supply of
goods or services flow to the consumer. The authority, led by Shri B.N. Sharma,
is playing a key role in bolstering the confidence of consumers with regards to
GST.
Highlights
from GST Council meetings (April – December)
·
GST council was constituted on 15 September 2016 and has
conducted 24th meetings since its formation
·
This financial year commenced with 14th GST Council meeting
held on 18th and 19th May 2017 at Srinagar, Jammu and
Kashmir. The fitment of rates of goods were discussed, and the Council approved
the GST rates for goods at nil rate, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. Also, rates of GST
Compensation Cess for certain goods was also approved. Eighteen sectoral groups
were constituted to seek feedback from the trade and industry and ensure smooth
launch of GST.
·
In its 15th meeting, the GST Council finalised the
rates of tax and cess to be levied on the commodities remaining after the
fitment exercise in the 14th GST Council Meeting. Also, approval of
amendments to the draft GST Rules and related Forms was on the agenda.
·
In its 16th meeting, held on 11th June
2017, the GST Council approved service tax exemptions and GST rated for
services.
·
In the 17th meeting held on
18 June 107, the GST Council announced relaxation in return filing and
relaxation in GST rates for certain services such as accommodation in hotels.
·
In the 18th Meeting held on
30th June 2017, the GST Council reduced tax rate on fertilizers to
5% from 12% and cut the tax rate on exclusive tractor parts to 18% from 28%.
·
In the 19th Meeting held on 17th July 2017,
took stock of the implementation of GST and increased the cess on cigarettes.
·
In the 20th meeting held on 5 August 2017, the Council
recommended that Central Government move legislative amendments required for
increasing the maximum ceiling of cess leviable on certain motor vehicles.
·
In the 21st meeting held on 9th September
2017, the Council revised the schedule for return filing and set up a Group of
Ministers for monitoring the IT challenges.
·
Subsequent to the 21st GST Council meeting, a Group of
Ministers (GoM) was constituted to monitor and resolve the IT challenges faced
in the implementation of GST. Also, a Committee on Exports was constituted
under the convenorship of the Revenue Secretary to look at the issues of export
sector and recommend to the GST Council suitable strategy for helping the
export sector in the post-GST scenario.
·
GST Council, in its 22nd Meeting, announced a slew of
relief and incentives for exporters to enhance the export competiveness of India.
·
GST Council, in its 23rd meeting, slashed GST rate
from 28% to 18% on 178 items to bring relief to consumers by way of reduction
in price of these goods.
·
The Council also proposed changes in the Composition Scheme such
as increasing the eligibility for composition to Rs. 1.5 crore, and uniform tax
rate of 1% for manufacturers and traders. The changes will be implemented after
the necessary amendment of the CGST Act and SGST Acts.
·
GST Council, in its 24th Meeting held through video conferencing on Saturday,
16th December, 2017 decided that Inter-State e-way Bill will be made
compulsory from 1st of February, 2018; the System
will be ready to roll-out on
a trial basis latest by 16th January, 2018;Trade and
transporters can start using this system on a voluntary basis from 16th January,
2018; The Uniform System of e-way Bill for Inter-State as well as Intra-State
movement will be implemented across the country by 1st June,
2018.
Direct
tax
·
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified new Safe Harbour
Regime on 8th June, 2017 to minimise transfer pricing disputes,
provide certainty to taxpayers, align safe harbour margins with industry
standards, and to enlarge the scope of safe harbour transactions.
·
Aaykar Setu, a new taxpayer service module, was launched on 10th
July 2017 to provide better taxpayer services and minimise the direct physical
interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities. The module provides
live chat facility, compiles various tax tools, generates dynamic updates and
includes important links to several processes of the ITD.
·
Income Tax Department undertook a slew of measures to widen the
tax base and bring about efficiency, transparency and fairness in tax
administration. Some of the initiatives include – introduction of Single Page
ITR-1 (SAHAJ) Form for taxpayers with income up to Rs. 50 lakhs and slashing of
corporate tax to 25% for companies with turnover of up to Rs. 50 crore. With
these initiatives, the numbers of taxpayers increased significantly from 4.72
crore in F.Y. 2012-13 to 6.26 crore during F.Y. 2016-17 as of 18th
September 2017.
·
As part of the Government’s efforts to widen the tax base, Direct
Tax collections for F.Y. 2017-2018 reached Rs. 4.39 lakh crore up to
October 2017, accounting for 15.2% growth from the corresponding period last
year.
·
Government constituted a Task Force on 22nd November
2017 to review the Income-tax Act, 1961 and draft a new Direct Tax Law in
consonance with economic needs of the country.
Demonetisation
and Operation Clean Money
Income
Tax Department (ITD) has been undertaking extensive enforcement action
including search and seizure, and surveys largely based on the information
received during the demonetisation period.
·
ITD launched Operation Clean Money (OCM) on 31st January
2017 to leverage technology for e-verification of cash deposits made during the
demonetization period i.e. 9th November to 30th December 2016. The operation
involves the use of advanced data analytics, allowing for optimization of
government resources and causing minimum inconvenience to the taxpayers.
·
Extensive enforcement action by the Income Tax Department (ITD)
during 9th November 2016 to 28th February 2017 has led to
seizures worth over Rs 818 crore and detection of undisclosed income of over Rs
9,334 crore. The impact of Government action translated to an increase of 21.7
% in the returns of Income received in FY 2016-17, 16% growth in Gross Collection
(the highest in the last five years), 14% Growth in Net Collection (the highest
in last three years) and above 18%, 25% and 22% growth in Personal Income Tax,
Regular Assessment Tax and Self-assessment Tax respectively.
·
The Income tax Department conducted more than 1100 searches and
surveys and issued over 5100 verification notices in the cases of suspicious
high value cash deposits or related activities during 9 Nov 2016-10 Jan 2017.
With these actions, the undisclosed income of over Rs. 5,400 crore was
detected.
·
As part of the second phase of Operation Clean Money, ITD
leveraged the information received under
the Statement of Financial Transactions to identify 5.56 lakh new persons whose
tax profiles were inconsistent with the cash deposits done by them during
demonetization as of July 2017.
·
Subsequent to demonetisation, 91 lakh taxpayers were added to the
tax net as of May 2017 as a result of action taken by the Income Tax
Department.
·
A Multi-Agency Group (MAG) was constituted during November 2017
to facilitate co-ordinated and speedy investigation of cases pertaining to
Paradise Papers and Panama Papers.
Combatting
corruption and pilferage
·
A task force was constituted in July 2017 to effectively tackle
the malpractices by shell companies.
·
The Government of India undertook various measures to curb benami
transactions across the country. Some of the measures include setting up of 24
Benami Prohibition Units (BPUs) for taking effective action under the Benami
Act and empowering relevant authorities to attach and eventually confiscate
benami properties.
·
Department of Financial Services advised banks in September 2017
to put restrictions on bank accounts of over two lakh struck-off companies and
use enhanced diligence while dealing with companies.
·
The Income Tax Department intensified actions under the new
Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 (the Act) w.e.f. 1st
November, 2016 and framed the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions
Rules, 2016.
III Department of Financial Services (DFS)
In
order to strengthen the banks, which are the key pillars of the economy, the
Government decided to take a massive step to recapitalise PSBs in a
front-loaded manner, with a view to support credit growth and job creation
entailing mobilization of capital of about Rs. 2,11,000 crore over the next two
years, through budgetary provisions of Rs. 18,139 crore, Re-capitalisation
Bonds to the tune of Rs. 1,35,000 crore, and the balance through raising of
capital by banks from the market while diluting government equity.
On 23rd August 2017, Cabinet gave in-principle approval
for Public Sector Banks to amalgamate through an Alternative Mechanism (AM). The decision would facilitate
consolidation among the Nationalised Banks to create strong and competitive
banks. Subsequently on 1st Nov 2017, the composition of the Alternative
Mechanism committee for consolidation of the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) was
finalized. Under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister of Finance and
Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley and two other Members - Shri Piyush Goyal,
Minister of Railways and Coal and Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Defence,
proposals from banks for in-principle approval to formulate schemes of
amalgamation will be received and a Report on the proposals cleared by it will
be sent to the Cabinet every three months.
The Government also undertook some major
legislative changes to facilitate recovery and resolution of stressed assets.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was enacted as a unified
framework for resolving insolvency and bankruptcy matters to put in place
safeguards to prevent unscrupulous, undesirable persons from misusing or
vitiating the provisions of the Code.
-
The Due Diligence Framework of the code was strengthened - Prior
to approval of a Resolution Plan, the Resolution Applicants, including
promoters, will be put to a stringent test with respect to their credit
worthiness and credibility
-
It registered National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) as an
Information Utility (IU) under the IBBI (Information Utilities) Regulations,
2017
-
It also notified the IBBI (Grievance and Complaint Handling
Procedure) Regulations, 2017 in the Gazette of India on 7th December, 2017.
·
Loans extended under the Pradhan
Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) during 2017-18 crossed the target of Rs.
121450.31 crore till 8th December 2017. Under the scheme a loan of
upto Rs. 50000 is given under sub-scheme ‘Shishu’ between Rs. 50,000 to 5.0
Lakhs under sub-scheme ‘Kishore’ and between 5.0 Lakhs to 10.0 Lakhs under
sub-scheme ‘Tarun’. About 6.28 crore loans were extended to women entrepreneurs
till 21st July 2017. 76% of the borrowers under PMMY were women entrepreneurs.
·
The number of total bank accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri
Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) became 30.69 crore as on 29th November
2017. The number of zero balance accounts declined from 76.81% in September
2014 to less than 20% in Sept 2017. Also, more than 23.08 crore RuPay cards
were issued to the account holders along with an overdraft facility of Rs.
5000/- till 29th November 2017. Also, all RuPay ATM-cum-Debit Cardholders
were made eligible for accidental death and permanent disability insurance
cover.
·
Over 69 lacs subscribers joined Atal Pension Yojana,
flagship program of the Government of India under financial inclusion and
financial security, with contribution of Rs. 2690 crore till October, 2017.
·
Government launched the Pradhan
Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) to provide social security during old
age and to protect elderly persons aged 60 and above against a future fall in
their interest income due to uncertain market conditions.
·
Till August 2017, about 52.4 crore
unique Aadhaar numbers are linked to 73.62 crore accounts in India. As a
result, the poor are able to make payments electronically. Every month now,
about 7 crore successful payments are made by the poor using their Aadhaar
identification.
·
Maximum age of joining National Pension Scheme (NPS) was
increased from the existing 60 years to 65 years under NPS- Private Sector
IV Department of Disinvestment and Public Asset
Management (DIPAM)
·
The Central Government raised a total
of Rs. 52,389.56 crore through disinvestment till 15th
December, 2017 in the current Financial Year 2017-18.
·
With the aim of using Exchange Traded Funds
as a vehicle for divestment of shares to meet the target for CPSE’s
disinvestment in 2017-18 set at Rs 72,500 crore, the Government launched a new
Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) by the name BHARAT 22 on 14th
November 2017, managed by ICICI Prudential, targeting an initial amount of
about Rs.8,000 crore. Bharat-22 is a unique blend of 22 stocks of CPSE's, PSB's
& strategic holding of SUUTI. Compared to energy heavy CPSE ETF, Bharat 22
is a well-diversified portfolio with 6 sectors (Basic Materials, Energy,
Finance, FMCG, Industrials and Utilities). The strength of this ETF lies in the
specially created Index S&P BSE BHARAT-22 INDEX and has been demonstrated in
its performance from the time of its announcement in August 2017 wherein it has
out-performed the NIFTY-50 and Sensex and raised about Rs.14,500 crore.
·
Some of the other major disinvestments
successfully done by the Department in the FY 2017-18 are,
|
NAME
OF CPSES
|
%
OF GOIS SHARES DISINVESTED
|
RECEIPTS
(In Crores)
|
GOIS
SHAREHOLDING POST DISINVESTMENT
|
|
OIL
|
5.6
|
1135.26
|
66.13%
|
|
NALCO
|
9.2125
|
1191.73
|
65.38%
|
|
HUDCO
|
10.193
|
1207.35
|
89.81%
|
|
SUUTI
|
Strategic Disinvestment
|
41.53.65
|
-
|
|
NIA
|
11.65
|
7653.32
|
85.44%
|
|
NTPC
|
6.63
|
9117.92
|
63.11%
|
|
GIC
|
12.5
|
9704.16
|
85.78%
|
(Source – DIPAM site)
·
On 16th August 2017, the
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi, had approved the proposal of Department of Investment and public
Asset Management (DIPAM) for the strategic
disinvestment (i) For setting-up an Alternative Mechanism (AM)
consisting of the Finance Minister, Minister for Road Transport & Highways
and Minister of Administrative Department, to decide on the matters relating to
terms and conditions of the sale from the stage of inviting of Express of
Interests (Eols) till inviting of financial bid; and (ii) For empowering the
Core Group of Secretaries (CGD) to take policy decisions with regard to
procedural issues and to consider deviations as necessary from time to time for
effective implementation of decisions of CCEA. The approval will help in speedy
completion of strategic disinvestment transactions.
V. Department of Expenditure (DOE)
·
General Financial Rules (GFRs), 2017 were released on 7th March, 2017 to enable an
improved, efficient and effective framework of fiscal management while
providing the necessary flexibility to facilitate timely delivery of services.
·
7th CPC - On 28th June 2017, the Union Cabinet chaired by the
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the recommendations of the 7th CPC
on allowances with some modifications. The revised rates of the allowances came
into effect from 1st July, 2017 benefitting more than 48
lakh Central Government Employees.
While
approving the recommendations of the 7th CPC, the Cabinet had decided
to set-up the Committee on Allowances (CoA) in view of substantial changes in
the existing provisions and a number of representations received. The 7th CPC
adopted a three-pronged approach in examining a total of 197 allowances which
involved an assessment of the need for continuation of each allowance,
appropriateness of the set of people covered by the allowance and
rationalisation which involved clubbing of allowances with similar objectives.
Based on the examination on these lines, the 7th CPC
recommended that 53 allowances be abolished and 37 be subsumed in an existing
or a newly proposed allowance. For most of the allowances that were retained,
the 7th CPC recommended a raise commensurate with inflation as
reflected in the rates of Dearness Allowance (DA). A new paradigm was evolved
to administer the allowances linked to risk and hardship. The myriad
allowances, their categories and sub–categories pertaining to civilians
employees, CAPF and defence personnel were fitted into a table called the Risk
and Hardship Matrix (R&H Matrix).
Promoting Digital
Platforms
§
Monitoring of funds through PFMS – On 27th October 2017, the Union Finance
Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley made the use of Public Finance Management System
(PFMS) mandatory for all the Central Sector Schemes of the Government of India
to help in tracking and monitoring the flow of funds to the implementing
agencies. These Central Sector Schemes (CSS) with a Budgetary Outlay of
Rs.6,66,644 crore covered over 31% of the total Central Government expenditure
during the Financial Year 2017-18. PFMS, with the capability of
providing real time information on resource availability, flows and actual utilization
has tremendous potential to improve programme/financial management, reduce the
float in the financial systems by enabling ‘just in time’ releases and also the
Government borrowings with direct impact on interest costs to the Government.
§
Mobile friendly format website: The Finance Minister Shri
Jaitley also launched the new website of the Department of Expenditure. As part
of the Digital India Programme, the up-graded common landing webpage of
the new website of the Department of Expenditure is a major step towards
standardization and improvement in presentation and content delivery using the
Content Management Framework (CMF).
§
The Controller General of Accounts
(CGA), launched the upgraded version of Central Pension Accounting Office
(CPAO) website (www.cpao.nic.in) on 30th Nov, 2017 primarily to cater to
the needs of central civil pensioners and other stakeholders in the
Ministries/Departments and Banks. It provides a single window for both
accessing pension related information and facilitating grievance Redressal of
pensioners.
Public Expenditure Management in the
North Eastern States
·
The Department of Expenditure, also
took several initiatives in the area of Public Expenditure Management in the
North Eastern States with special focus on capacity building of the State
Government officials and integration of the State Treasuries with the Union
Public Financial Management System (PFMS) in order to improve the efficiency
and transparency of public expenditure. The Government also released advance
grant-in-aid of Rs.51.30 crore to Arunachal Pradesh for rescue and relief
operations on account of flash floods
Public
Expenditure on Infrastructure
·
The Government has
consistently increased Public Expenditure on Infrastructure in order to boost
employment and provide renewed impetus to economic growth. The Government of India received Rs.7,67,327 crore (47.9%
of corresponding BE 17-18 of Total Receipts) upto October 2017 comprising Rs.
6,33,617 crore Tax Revenues (Net to Centre), Rs. 95,151 crore of Non-Tax
Revenues and Rs.38,559 crore of Non-Debt Capital Receipts. Non-Debt Capital
Receipts consists of Recovery of Loans (Rs. 8,394 crore) and Disinvestment of PSUs
(Rs. 30,165 crore). Rs.3,37280 crore has been
transferred to the State Governments as Devolution of Share of Taxes by
Government of India in this period.
·
There has been a Special
thrust on key development sectors including Rural Roads, Housing, Railways,
Power, Highways and Digital Infrastructure. The CAPEX target of the Government
of India for 2017-18 was Rs. 3.09 lakhs crore, which is 31.28% higher than last
year, out of which Rs.1.46 lakhs crore was spent on capital works till
September 2017. The Government launched a new Umbrella program for Road
Building of 83,677 km of roads involving CAPEX of Rs.6.92 lakhs crore over next
5 years with an outlay of Rs.5,35,000 crore that would generate 14.2 crore
man-days of jobs.
************
DSM/SBS/KA/AC