The Government has decided today to extend the due dates of filing of Form GSTR-9 (Annual Return) and Form GSTR-9C (Reconciliation Statement) for Financial Year 2017-18 to 31 st December 2019 and for Financial Year 2018-19 to 31 st March 2020. The Government has also decided to simplify these forms by making various fields of these forms as optional.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) today notified the amendments regarding the simplification of GSTR-9 (Annual Return) and GSTR-9C (Reconciliation Statement) which inter-alia allow the taxpayers to not to provide split of input tax credit availed on inputs, input services and capital goods and to not to provide HSN level information of outputs or inputs, etc. for the financial year 2017-18 and 2018-19.

CBIC expects that with these changes and the extension of deadlines, all the GST taxpayers would be able to file their Annual Returns along with Reconciliation Statement for the financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19 in time. Various representations regarding challenges faced by taxpayers in filing of GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C were received on which by the Government has acted in a very responsive manner.

It may be noted that earlier the last date for filing of GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for Financial Year 2017-18 was 30 th November 2019 while that for Financial Year 2018-19 was 31 st December 2019. Notifications implementing the decisions as above have been issued today

Among the three major sub-groups, the inflation for primary articles increased, while inflation for fuel and power and manufactured products groups further dipped in to sub-zero level contributing to the fall in overall WPI inflation in October 2019. The core inflation (manufactured products excluding foods products) slipped further down into sub-zero level to (-) 1.6% in October 2019.

The WPI inflation is revised slightly upwards to 1.2% for July 2019 similar to 1.1% reported to at provisional level.

As per major commodity group-wise, inflation dipped for mineral oils, basic metals, metallic minerals, crude petroleum & natural gas, fruits, chemicals and chemical products, machinery and equipment, textiles, pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products, oil seeds, other non-metallic mineral products, paper and paper products, fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment, computer, electronic and optical products, cereals, beverages, fibres, furniture, other minerals, pulses, other non-food articles, wearing apparel etc. On the other hand, inflation of vegetables, food products, motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, electricity, floriculture, printing and reproduction of recorded media, other manufacturing, condiments & spices, electrical equipment, other food articles, tobacco products etc increased in October 2019.

Inflation of primary articles increased to 6.4% in October 2019 from 5.5% in September 2019. The inflation for fuel and power group inflation dipped further below sub-zero level to (-) 8.3% and the manufactured products inflation to (-) 0.8% in October 2019.

Inflation of food items (food articles and food products) increased to 39-month high of 7.6% in October 2019 from 6.0% in September 2019 level. Meanwhile, inflation of non-food items (all commodities excluding food items) dipped to (-) 2.8% in October 2019 from (-) 1.9% in September 2019.

The contribution of primary articles to the overall inflation of 0.16% increased to 163 basis points (bps) in October 2019, from contribution of 140 bps to 0.33% in September 2019. The contribution of fuel product group further declined to (-) 99 bps against (-) 83 bps in September 2019, while that of manufactured products fell to (-) 53 bps in October 2019 from (-) 27 bps in September 2019.

The contribution of food items (food articles and food products) to inflation increased to 214 bps to 0.16% in October 2019 compared with 167 bps to 0.33% in September 2019. Meanwhile, the contribution of non-food items (all commodities excluding food items) dipped to (-) 200 bps in October 2019 from (-) 134 bps in September 2019.

The WPI inflation fell to 1.5% in April-October FY2020 against 5.0% in April-October FY2019. The primary articles inflation moved up to 6.2% in April-October FY2020 from 2.6% in April-October FY2019, while fuel products inflation tumbled to (-) 2.8% from 15.5%. The inflation for manufactured products dipped to 0.5% in April-October FY2020 from 4.1% in April-October FY2019.

Anup Wadhawan, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, urged the healthcare industry to set up an online portal that will facilitate international patients coming to India for treatment. The portal will have relevant information and services to help patients plan their travel and treatment.

Speaking at the 5th International Summit on Medical Value Travel - 'Advantage Healthcare India 2019' organized by FICCI jointly with the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Wadhawan said Medical value travel is beyond just treatment, it’s treatment-plus and the industry should see what are the qualitative aspects that need to be improved in our healthcare services.

Wadhawan added that India has significant medical infrastructure, yet the majority of these are in the metro cities. To provide comprehensive medical coverage, it is imperative that rural areas should also have access to the latest and affordable healthcare.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation on the sidelines of the 11th BRICS summit at Brasilia on 13 November 2019. During the meeting both leaders reviewed the progress made in the bilateral relationship since PM's visit to Vladivostok. PM specifically mentioned the successful visits of our Minister of Defence and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas to Russia. The two leaders noted with satisfaction that the USD 25 billion target of bilateral trade by 2025 has already been achieved. The two leaders decided that the 1st Bilateral Regional Forum at the level of Russian Provinces and Indian States be held next year to dismantle the barriers of trade at regional level.

The two leaders noted the stability and progress made in imports of oil and natural gas. President Putin highlighted the potential of Arctic region in natural gas and invited India to invest in the region. The two leaders also reviewed the progress made in the field of Infrastructure particularly railways in context of raising the speed of the Nagpur-Secunderabad sector railway line. The leaders also noted with satisfaction the cooperation in Defence sector and in the field of Civil Nuclear Energy. They welcomed the prospects of cooperation in civil nuclear energy in third countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is the world's most open and investment friendly economy due to political stability, predictable policy and business friendly reforms. PM said that BRICS countries account for 50% of the world's economic growth. Despite recession at the global level, BRICS countries accelerated economic growth, drove millions out of poverty and achieved new breakthroughs in technology and innovation, he added.

Prime Minister wished that Intra-BRICS trade and investment targets should be more ambitious and invited their suggestions to further reduce the cost of trade between the BRICS countries. PM also suggested that by the next BRICS Summit, at least five areas should be identified in which joint ventures can be formed between the BRICS countries on the basis of complementarities.

However, the core CPI inflation eased to 3.44% in October 2019 compared with 3.99% in September 2019.

The cumulative CPI inflation has declined to 3.27% in April-October FY2020 compared with 4.32% in April-October FY2019.

Among the CPI components, inflation of food and beverages jumped to 6.93% in October 2019 from 4.70% in September 2019. Within the food items, the inflation increased for vegetables to 26.10%, fruits 4.08%, milk and products 3.10%, pulses and products 11.72% and cereals and products 2.16%. Further, the inflation also moved up for oils and fats 1.98%, sugar and confectionery 1.33%, prepared meals, snacks, sweets etc. 2.21%, spices 3.86% and egg 6.26%. However, the inflation eased for non-alcoholic beverages 2.58% and meat and fish 9.75% in October 2019.

The inflation for housing eased marginally to 4.58%, while that for miscellaneous items also fell to 3.45% in October 2019.

Within the miscellaneous items, the inflation for health declined to 5.58%, transport and communication (-) 0.47%, personal care and effects 5.50% and household goods and services 2.40%, while it also eased for education to 6.08% and recreation and amusement 5.04% in October 2019.

The inflation for clothing and footwear rose to 1.65%, while the CPI inflation of fuel and light moved up to (-) 2.02% in October 2019.

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2019 (OSH Code) should aim at facilitating the MSME sector, said the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Ease of doing business and simplification and rationalization of provisions will help smaller enterprises to scale up and create more jobs, CII stressed. The Code proposes lower employee limits for applicability to enterprises for various welfare measures. “Extending the OSH Code's provisions to smaller enterprises will add to their costs and impact their margins. It would also adversely affect expansion, which is seen to have a strong relationship to the creation of new jobs,” said Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.

As per the Factories Act, establishments must appoint welfare officers if they employ manpower of more than 500 persons. The Code cuts this to 250 employees, which would impose a high cost burden on MSMEs now coming in this ambit. Other provisions too, such as canteen, face reduction in applicable employee limits. As an alternative to lowering applicability criteria, CII suggests that common facilities can be set up for establishments in a locality to avail of on cost basis. Similarly, CII suggested to revisit the penalties for contraventions so that the focus is on compliance and deterrence and not through punishments that include incarceration of the employer.

The definition of 'occupier' is proposed as the 'person who has ultimate control over the affairs of the factory' including partners of firms and, in the case of a company, any one of the directors. CII has suggested to revise the definition for private sector companies and bring it on par with that for Central/State Government units, PSUs, autonomous government units etc. This would essentially mean that the responsibilities for compliance with requirements under the new Unified Code may be appropriately assigned by the employer to person or persons who have full operational control and accountability for the units they run in different parts of the country.

CII welcomes the Code which would enhance safety and health provisions to establishments employing ten or more workers in all sectors, including services sectors. The provision for National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board for implementation of the Code is beneficial as it will work out rules and regulations and ensure monitoring of their functioning, said CII.

Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh has said India will emerge as the torchbearer of banking reforms in the world as we aim to be a global superpower. Inaugurating the two-day India Banking Conclave, he said under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government has unleashed the huge potential our Banking Sector is capable of during the last more than five years.

Jitendra Singh said the Government's thrust on 'Make in India' and 'Ease of doing Business' is dependent primarily upon the 'Ease of Banking', besides improved communication, digitalization and connectivity. Jitendra Singh said the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has transformed the banking landscape in the country. From being a Zero Balance account scheme for every family, the deposits under the scheme have swelled to thousands of crores, he said.

Singh said several such innovative schemes including the Ujjwala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Mudra Yojana, Stand up India- Start up India schemes, PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, geotagging of NG-NREGA and DBT have stopped pilferage and helped better target welfare schemes for poverty alleviation. Minimum Pension has been raised to Rs 1,000 at the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

State Bank of India's economic research team, in the latest edition of 'EcoWrap' has sharply cut India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast for FY2020 to 5% from 6.1%. It also noted that it expects Q2 GDP growth at 4.2%. The acceleration rate for 33 leading indicators at 85% in October 2018 is down to just 17% in September 2019, with such decline gaining traction from March 2019. The bank expects growth rate to pick up pace in FY21 to 6.2%.

The report notes that domestic growth trends in FY20 should be looked through the prism of synchronized global slowdown and larger rate cuts could be expected from RBI in December policy. However such rate cut is unlikely to lead to any immediate material revival, rather it might result in potential financial instability.

The Government of India's top priority is to put the farmers' concerns and rural development on a larger landscape, noted Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, while speaking at the inauguration of the 6th World Congress on Rural and Agriculture Finance jointly organised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Asia - Pacific Rural Agricultural and Credit Association (APRACA).

The Finance Minister said that the Government is looking at acknowledging huge dependence on rural life and agriculture and further emphasised on the immediate need for taking up water management and water-related stress points. She also enumerated benefits of soil health cards provided to farmers. While talking about energy security, the Finance Minister said that there is a need for the farmers contributing in solar energy generation, participation in wind energy, installing solar panels in his farms, etc. and also to become an Urjadaata from Annadata.

During April-October 2019-20, the private insurers reported 19.4% rise in the first-year premium income to Rs 41627.60 crore, and LIC posted 37.7% jump to Rs 101402.37 crore. The overall life insurance first year premium collection increased 31.8% to Rs 143029.96 crore in April-October 2019-20.

Among the 22 private life insurers, 10 players have recorded drop in new premium collection during October 2019. On the other hand, premium collection of 12 private insurers increased in the range of 0.1% to 38.4% in October 2019.

Among the private life insurers, the premium collection of SBI Life jumped 37.0% growth in premium collection to Rs 1423 crore, followed by ICICI Prudential Life at 38.4% to Rs 935 crore, Kotak Mahindra Life 37.5% to Rs 335 crore and Max Life 8.0% to Rs 332 crore in October 2019.

The premium collection of Tata AIA Life also moved up 12.7% to Rs 188 crore, Aditya Birla Sun Life at 6.4% to Rs 353 crore, Canara Hsbc Oriental Bank Of Commerce Life 12.9% to Rs 101 crore and Star Union Dai-Ichi Life 34.3% to Rs 40 crore in October 2019.

Further, the premium collection of Exide Life gained 6.2% to Rs 59 crore, PNB Metlife Life 1.2% to Rs 114 crore and Shriram Life 1.5% to Rs 48 crore in October 2019.

However, the premium collection of Bajaj Allianz Life declined 19.2% to Rs 400 crore, HDFC Life 6.9% to Rs 1084 crore, DHFL Pramerica Life 29.7% to Rs 46 crore and Bharti Axa Life 12.2% to Rs 62 crore. Further, the first year premium collection of Reliance Nippon Life also fell 7.5% to Rs 69 crore, Future Generali India Life 6.8% to Rs 46 crore and Indiafirst Life 30.4% to Rs 137 crore in October 2019.

Sales of life insurance policies

The life insurers sold 22.37 lakh policies in October 2019, rise of 17.5% compared with October 2018, the policies sold by LIC surged 26.1% to 17.50 lakh policies. However, the policies sold by private players together declined by 5.7% to 4.86 lakh policies, while.

Life insurers have sold 139.09 lakh policies in April-October 2019-20, showing an increase of 3.0% against last year. LIC sold 102.67 lakh policies, up 2.7%, while all private players together sold 36.43 lakh policies, recording an increase of 3.5%.

Among private life insurers, the policy sales of Tata AIA Life increased 54.7% to 0.37 lakh, followed by Bharti Axa Life 29.9% to 0.14 lakh, Shriram Life 19.2% to 0.19 and Bajaj Allianz Life 8.5% to 0.24 lakh. However, the policy sales of HDFC Life declined 13.1% to 0.62 lakh, ICICI Prudential Life 12.3% to 0.54 lakh, Max Life 13.6% to 0.37 lakh and SBI Life 4.2% to 1.12 lakh, while that of Kotak Mahindra Life also fell 10.3% to 0.21 lakh, Reliance Nippon Life 11.3% to 0.14 lakh, Aditya Birla Sun Life 6.0% to 0.19 lakh in October 2019.

“The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is a dynamic law evolving to meet emerging needs of the stakeholders to further the objective of the Code. The Code has passed the Constitutional muster and with every challenge, it has come out with stronger roots. The impact of the IBC Code is not only what happens in the Code, but also what happens on account of and under the shadow of the Code. The IBC Code has won the credibility of all categories of stakeholders”, said Dr M S Sahoo, Chairman, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. Dr Sahoo was addressing the National Conference on Resolving Insolvency in India - Progress and Way Forward, organized by CII in New Delhi on Monday.

The net tonne kilometers (ntkm) slipped 11.1% to 52624 million in October 2019. The revenue per tonne fell 0.9% to Rs 1016 , while the revenue per ntkm rose 2.4% to 181 paise.

IR's freight loading stood at 680.78 mt in April-October FY2020, showing a decline of 1.5% over 691.34 mt in April-October FY2019. The freight loading at 680.78 mt for April-October FY2020 has been lower than the estimate of 714.22 mt for the period.

Passenger traffic

The passenger traffic of IR declined 2.4% to 702.91 million in October 2019. Passenger traffic also fell 0.5% to 4926.49 million in April-October FY2020. The passenger traffic is below than the budget estimate of 5039.48 million for April-October FY2020.

The earnings from freight traffic, accounting for 65.1% of the total revenue, dipped 12.5% to Rs 9166.43 crore in October 2019 contributing to the overall decline in revenues of IR. The passenger earnings rose at slower pace of 1.1% to Rs 4153.49 crore in October 2019, against 2.9% growth recorded in October 2018. The other coaching revenue rose 2.9% to Rs 415.65 crore, while the revenue from sundry activities jumped 28.7% to Rs 338.89 crore in October 2019.

In April-October FY2020, the revenue earnings of IR rose mere 0.2% to Rs 102244.21 crore against 6.9% growth recorded in April-October FY2019. The IR revenues have been below the budget target of Rs 116122.78 crore for the above mentioned period. The goods revenue declined 1.4% to Rs 66531.30 crore, while the passenger revenue increased 3.9% to Rs 30782.92 crore. The other coaching revenue increased 3.7% to Rs 2802.54 crore, while the sundry earnings fell 2.5% to Rs 2127.45 crore in April-October FY2020.

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, has said that the government will buy 10% of the bonds issued by the MSMEs to support them in tapping the capital market. Speaking at the ‘12th IWEC Awards & Conference – Connecting Women Businesses Globally: Leading the Way to Innovation and Integration’, organized by FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO), Gadkari said that the MSME is an important sector which is directly related to the growth of the country.

MSMEs account for 49% of the exports from the country. The government is planning new schemes to support the MSMEs that have good potential for exports. Replying to queries from several foreign women entrepreneurs with interest in setting-up businesses in India, Mr Gadkari suggested that having an Indian partner would help navigate the regulations in the country and benefit from various government schemes and incentives present in different sectors.

The government of India (GoI) has announced the sale (re-issue) of four dated securities for Rs 16000 crore. These include 6.18% GS 2024 4,000, 7.57% GS 2033 6,000, 7.69% GS 2043 2,000 and 7.72% GS 2049 4,000. Subject to the limit of ₹16000 Crore being total notified amount, GoI will have the option to retain additional subscription up to ₹1000 Crore each against any one or more of the above securities. The auction be price based using multiple price method. Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities. Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system on November 15, 2019.

The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 for the month of September 2019 stands at 123.3, which is 4.3 percent lower as compared to the level in the month of September 2018. The cumulative growth for the period April-September 2019 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 1.3 percent.

The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of September 2019 stand at 86.5, 126.5 and 158.7 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of (-) 8.5 percent, (-) 3.9 percent and (-) 2.6 percent as compared to September 2018 (Statement I). The cumulative growth in these three sectors during April-September 2019 over the corresponding period of 2018 has been 1.0 percent, 1.0 percent and 3.8 percent respectively.

In terms of industries, seventeen out of the twenty three industry groups (as per 2-digit NIC-2008) in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during the month of September 2019 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (Statement II). The industry group ‘Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’ has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 24.8 percent followed by (-) 23.6 percent in ‘Manufacture of furniture’ and (-) 22.0 percent in‘Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment’.On the other hand, the industry group ‘Manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials’ has shown the highest positive growth of 15.5 percent followed by 9.2 percent in ‘Manufacture of basic metals’.

As per Use-based classification, the growth rates in September 2019 over September 2018 are (-) 5.1 percent in Primary goods, (-) 20.7 percent in Capital goods, 7.0 percent in Intermediate goods and (-) 6.4 percent in Infrastructure/ Construction Goods (Statement III). The Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables have recorded growth of (-) 9.9 percent and (-) 0.4 percent respectively.

The Union Minister of State (I/C) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh said that India will soon achieve the target of 5 trillion USD economy target with the optimistic environment that has been created under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He said that collaboration with ASEAN countries will play an important role in meeting the target of 5 trillion economy in India and the contribution of North eastern states can also not be underestimated in it. He was addressing at the Inaugural Session of 2-day India-ASEAN Business Summit.

Jitendra Singh said that for ease of doing business, there are three essentials, which are:i). Connectivity, ii). Communication and iii). Ease of regulations.Giving the example of North East, the Minister said that connectivity in NE has been the main focus of the current Government, with Sikkim getting its first airport last year. He said that that Itanagar will also soon get an airport. He also mentioned about train connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. He further said that we are in the process of flagging off first train to Bangladesh from Agartala. The Minister also mentioned the Inland waterways developed by the government down the Brahamputra river, which is one of the largest rivers of the world. While quoting the importance of waterways in the economy, the Minister said that the cost of cargo transportation by waterways is one fourth of the cost by train.