---->>>>This should go a long way in enhancing the ease of doing business

especially in the National Investment and Manufacturing Zones. Ten NIMZs have
been notified i.e. 8 along the elhi Mumbai Industrial !orridor and " outside of it
i.e. Tum#ur in $arnata#a and Nagpur in Maharashtra.
%overnment &eviews 'oreign investment (olicy for )ssets
&econstruction *ector+ !eiling for 'I in )&!s increased from ,-. to /,.
The Central Government had permitted Foreign Direct Investment 0'I1 in the e2uity
capital of Asset Reconstruction Company 0)&!s1 upto ,-. vide Press Release dated
08.."334. Further! on 0"..#00$! the Government permitted the Foreign Institutional
Investors 0'IIs1 registered with the %ecurities and &'change (oard o) India **56I1 to
invest in %ecurity Receipts 0*&s1 issued by )&!s upto ,-. of each tranche of
scheme of *&s. The ceilings o) FDI and FII have +een revie,ed in consultation ,ith the
sta-eholders and the sector regulators. Accordingly! the Government has decided that .
i. The ceiling )or FDI in ARCs has +een increased from ,-. to /,. su+/ect to the
condition that no sponsor may hold more than $00 o) the shareholding in an ARC either
+y ,ay o) FDI or +y routing through an FII. The )oreign investment in ARCs ,ould need
to comply ,ith the FDI policy in terms o) entry route conditionality and sectoral caps.
ii. The foreign investment limit of /,. in )&! would be a combined limit of
'I and 'II. 1ence! the prohi+ition on investment +y FII in ARCs ,ill +e removed. The
total shareholding o) an individual FII shall not e'ceed 00 o) the total paid2up capital.
iii. The limit of 'II investment in *&s may be enhanced from ,-. to /,..
Further! the individual limit o) 00 )or investment o) a single FII in each tranche o) %Rs
issued +y ARCs may +e dispensed ,ith. %uch investment should +e ,ithin the FII limit
on corporate +onds prescri+ed )rom time to time! and sectoral caps under the e'tant FDI
Regulations should +e complied ,ith.
The necessary noti)ication 3 circular under '5M) are +eing +rought out separately +y the
Reserve (an- o) India.
The necessary noti)ication under %&(I *FII4 Regulations is +eing +rought out separately
+y the %ecurities and &'change (oard o) India.
5conomy 7eaded Towards %radual &ecovery 8 %rowth *tabili9ation
*everal Initiatives ta#en to &evive 5conomy
Real Gross Domestic Product *GDP4 gre, +y $.5 per cent! year2on2year! in the )irst hal)
o) the current )iscal year. This is much slo,er than the average gro,th rate o) around 8
per cent achieved in the last decade.
6PI In)lation has declined some,hat +ut CPI in)lation has remained stic-y. 6PI in)lation
averaged around ".7 per cent in last t,o years vi8. #002 and #02#. It declined to
9.9 per cent in April2%eptem+er #0#.
Fiscal de)icit is e'pected to +e contained at $.7 per cent o) GDP during the current
)inancial year i.e. #0#27.
*56I 0)lternative Investment 'unds1 &egulations: "3;"
These regulations ,ould e'tend the perimeter o) regulation to unregulated )unds! ensure
systemic sta+ility! increase mar-et e))iciency! encourage )ormation o) ne, capital and
provide investor protection.
Increasing minimum public shareholding for listed companies
The %ecurities Contracts *Regulation4 Rules "$9 provide )or the re:uirements! ,hich
have to +e satis)ied +y companies )or getting their securities listed on any stoc-
e'change in India. A dispersed shareholding structure is essential )or the sustenance o)
a continuous mar-et )or listed securities to provide li:uidity to the investors and to
discover )air prices. 'our additional methods: namely Institutional (lacement
(rogram 0I((1: <ffer for *ale of *hares through the stoc# e=change: &ights and
6onus Issues have been introduced to increase minimum public shareholding.
*56I has permitted ban#s to ta#e limited membership in approved stoc#
e=changes for the purpose o) underta-ing proprietary transactions in the corporate
+ond mar-et. This ,ill ensure transparency in the price discovery o) the product.
Insurance &egulatory and evelopment )uthority 0I&)1 has issued
circular3guidelines on 5th Decem+er #0# )or the participation in the repo mar-et +y
Insurance Companies! this ,ill enhance the li:uidity in the Corporate (ond ;ar-ets.
*econdary Mar#ets
Government noti)ied a ne, ta' saving scheme called Rajiv Gandhi Equity
Savings Scheme(RGESS4! e'clusively )or the )irst time retail investors in
securities mar-et. This %cheme ,ould give $00 deduction o) the amount invested )rom
the ta'a+le income )or that year to ne, investors ,ho invest up to Rs. $0!000. The
%cheme not only encourages the )lo, o) savings and improves the depth o) domestic
capital mar-ets! +ut also aims to promote an <e:uity culture= in India.
*M5 5=change > (latform ?aunched
%eparate trading plat)orms )or small and medium scale enterprises *%;&s4 have +een
launched to ease capital availa+ility to %;&s in a cost e))ective manner and there+y
stimulate the economic gro,th and generate employment in the sector.
5=ternal Mar#ets and 5=ternal !ommercial 6orrowing
<n @anuary ;: "3;": Aualified 'oreign Investors 0A'I1 were allowed to invest in
listed 52uity. A'Is have +een permitted to invest in corporate de+t securities and
;utual Fund de+t schemes su+/ect to a total overall ceiling o) >%D +illion. In ;ay
#0#! ?FIs ,ere allo,ed to open individual non2interest +earing Rupee (an- Accounts
,ith Authori8ed Dealers +an-s in India )or receiving )unds and ma-ing payment )or
transactions in securities they are eligi+le to invest. De)inition o) ?FI ,as e'panded to
include residents o) the mem+er countries o) Gul) Co2operation Council *GCC4 and
&uropean Commission.
)chievements relating to 'II Investment *cheme
FII limit )or investment in G2%ec enhanced +y >% @ $ +illion raising the cap to >% @ #0
+illion. The limit )or FII investment in G2%ecurities and Corporate +onds *non2in)ra
category4 have +een )urther enhanced +y $ +illion each ta-ing the total limit prescri+ed
)or FII investment to >%D #$ +illion in G2%ecs and >%D $ +illion )or corporate +onds )or
long term investors %&(I has instituted monthly auction calendar since ;ay #0#! so
that FIIs can plan ahead their +idding and investment strategies.
)chievements relating to 5!6 (olicyB
A The limit )or re)inancing rupee loans through &C( has +een enhanced )rom #$0 to
500 )or Indian companies in the po,er sector. &C( has +een allo,ed )or capital
e'penditure on the maintenance and operations o) toll systems )or roads and high,ays!
,or-ing capital re:uirements o) the airline industry )or a period o) one year and lo, cost
housing pro/ects.
A The rate o) ,ithholding ta' has +een reduced )rom #0 0 to $0 )or a period o) three
years on certain -ind o) interest payments on &C(s.
A %ID(I has +een permitted as an eligi+le +orro,er )or accessing &C( )or on2lending
to ;%;& sector su+/ect to certain conditions.
A Credit enhancement )acility under the %tructured B+ligation %cheme has +een
e'tended to all companies ,ith reduced minimum average maturity norms )rom 9 years
to 7 years.
A 1olding companies3Cead Promoters have +een permitted to raise &C( )or the
pro/ect use in %PDs o) such holding companies to ma-e glo+al )unding availa+le to
in)rastructure companies.
*wabhimaanC the 'inancial Inclusion !ampaign
>nder this campaign launched in #0 to provide appropriate +an-ing )acilities to
un+an-ed ha+itations! 95!"5 villages have +een provided +an-ing )acilities and a+out
7.E crore )inancial accounts have +een opened +y end o) ;arch! #0#.
$isan !redit !ard 0$!!1
$isan !redit !ard 0$!!1 scheme has +een modi)ied to ma-e FCC a smart card ,hich
could +e used at AT;3 Point o) %ale *PB%4 terminals. (an-s have +een advised to issue
Fisan Credit Cards *FCC4 to all eligi+le )armers and complete the process +y Gune #07.
&ecapitalisation of &&6s
r. $.!. !ha#rabarty !ommittee had recommended recapitali8ation o) 50 RR(s to
improve their CRAR. The recapitalisation scheme has +een e'tended upto ;arch
#05.Initiatives ta#en to improve functioning of &&6s
The following steps have ta#en to improve the functioning of &&6s.
A All RR(s have already migrated to Core (an-ing %olution *C(%4 and have also
/oined Hational &lectronic Fund Trans)er *H&FT4. 6ith a vie, to reducing the ,or-load
on the +ranches and provide )acility o) anytime cash ,ithdra,al )or the RR( customers
RR(s have +een advised to install AT;s! particularly at their +ranches and issue De+it
cum AT; card to all their customers.
A ,ith a vie, to minimi8e overhead e'penses and optimi8e the use o) technology in
RR(s! the Government has initiated amalgamation o) geographically contiguous RR(s
in a %tate. During #0#27! till date " RR(s have +een amalgamated into 8 RR(s in E
%tates.
A Targets have +een assigned to RR(s )or )our years )rom #0#27 to #0$2E )or
improving per2employee pro)ita+ility! non2interest income I CD Ratio and )or reduction o)
gross HPA and loss assets.
",D/ !ustoms !learance
In order to )acilitate importers and e'porters C(&C has +egun on a pilot +asis #5J9
Customs clearance ,ith e))ect )rom st %eptem+er! #0# at identi)ied Air Cargo
Comple'es vi8. (angalore! Chennai! Delhi and ;um+aiK and %ea Ports vi8. Hhava
%heva! Fandla! Chennai and Fol-ata in certain categories o) imports and e'ports. It is
+eing monitored closely and a vie, ,ill +e ta-en +y 7st Decem+er! #0# ,hether to
e'tend it to all categories o) imports and e'ports.
National (olicy on N(* released
Harcotic Drugs and Psychotropic %u+stances have several medical and scienti)ic uses.
1o,ever! they can +e and are also a+used and tra))ic-ed. Government has approved a
ENational (olicy on Narcotic rugs and (sychotropic *ubstancesF: covering all )our
ma/or dimensions o) the su+/ect! ,ith the )ollo,ing o+/ectivesL
A To spell out the policy o) India to,ards narcotic drugs and psychotropic
su+stancesK
A To serve as a guide to various ;inistries and organisations in the Government o)
India and to the %tate Governments as ,ell as International Brganisations! HGBs! etc.K
and
A Re2assert India=s commitment to com+at the drug menace in a holistic manner.