Today Sector News – 23.05.2018

Today Sector News – 23.05.2018

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* AVIATION: The government will consider inviting expressions of interest for the remaining four subsidiaries of Air India only after it receives initial bids for the parent. The civil aviation ministry has recommended inclusion of aviation turbine fuel under the indirect tax regime at a goods and services tax of 12%, Civil Aviation Secreatary R.N. Choubey said.

* BANKING: The 11 state run banks undergoing prompt corrective action are likely to submit individual plans on Friday with a common theme running that they would be focusing on growing their retail book and paring down their legacy corporate loans.

* FINANCE: The finance ministry wants the amount of surplus it receives from the Reserve Bank of India to be governed by a new policy.

* OIL & GAS: India's total refinery throughput declined 0.9% on year to 19.85 mln tn in April, primarily due to a decline in throughput of two of the country's largest refiners--INDIAN OIL CORP and RELIANCE INDUSTRIES. With growing clamour for relief from the spurt in fuel prices, the government, and even the Bharatiya Janata Party, got into a firefighting mode today with assurances that steps shall soon be taken to provide respite to consumers grappling with record high prices of petrol and diesel.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: Companies marketing medicines in India will soon be as liable as their manufacturers for any violations of drug regulations that could lead to spurious or substandard medicines.

* POWER: The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission will kick-start in the next 10 days the process of setting tariff regulations for the next five years of tariff control period, starting 2019, said Chairperson P.K. Pujari. Spot power price touched 5-year high of 11.41 rupees per unit at IEX, which experts attributed to aggressive bidding by captive units following government's decision to ramp up coal supplies to power plants.

* RETAIL: SoftBank has decided to sell its over 20% stake in e-commerce major Flipkart to US retailer Walmart for an estimated $4 bln.

* SUGAR: The food ministry is likely to seek Cabinet approval soon to create a buffer stock of 3 mln tn of sugar and to fix a minimum price of the sweetener for mills to help them clear cane arrears.

* TAXATION: The government has extended the tenure of the task force on drafting new direct tax legislation by three months. India may not accept international arbitration orders annulling tax demands on British firms Vodafone Plc and Cairn Energy, a senior official said, adding the tax department would continue with recovery actions. The e-way bill for moving goods within a state will become mandatory from Jun 3, with a country-wide roll out of the mechanism.

* TELECOMMUNICATION: Companies will be able to secure licences for in-flight connectivity within two months of applying, Department of Telecommunications has communicated to the civil aviation ministry.