(Current Affairs) Economy & Energy | April : 2013

Import Duty on Gold and Platinum by 2 Percent increased

The Union Government of India on 21 January 2013 hiked the import duty on Gold and Platinum from 4 percent to 6 percent. The step of the Government came in effect to control the import of the precious metals leading a widening gap in the Current Account Deficit of the country as the import of gold has shown tumbling effects on different economic fronts and has also played a major role in distortion of the balance of trade. The Government has also linked the Gold ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) along with the Gold Deposit Schemes, so that the supply of the physical gold in the market can be increased. These regulations and increased in the import duty would also show changes on the customs duty as well as the excise duty of gold ores, refined gold, gold dore bars and more. Within a year, the import duty on gold has been hiked for third time. Before this, the government increased the duty on import of gold from 1 percent to 2 percent in January 2012 and it doubled the import duty on standard gold from 2 percent to 4 percent in March 2012.

eBiz Portal to Provide one Stop Shop for all Investment

The Union Minister for Commerce on 28 January 2013 launched an eBiz portal at the CII Partnership Summit in Agra. The portal is India’s Government-to- Business (G2B) portal developed by Infosys in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model. This Mission Mode Project will mark a paradigm shift in the Government’s approach to providing Governmentto- Business (G2B) services for India’s investor and business communities. In order to enable businesses and investors to save time and costs and in order to improve the business environment in the country, an online single window was conceptualised in the form of the eBiz Mission Mode Project under the National e- Governance Plan. The project aims to create a business and investor friendly ecosystem in India by making all business and investment related regulatory services across Central, State and local governments available on a single portal, thereby obviating the need for an investor or a business to visit multiple offices or a plethora of websites. The core value of the transformational project lies in a shift in the Governments’ service delivery approach from being department-centric to customer-centric. E-Biz will create a 24x7 facility for information and services and will also offer joinedup services where a single application submitted by a customer, for a number of permissions, clearances, approvals and registrations, will be routed automatically across multiple governmental agencies in a logical manner. An inbuilt payment gateway will also add value by allowing all payments to be collected at one point and then apportioned, split and routed to the respective heads of account of Central and State agencies along with generation of challans and MIS reports. This payment gateway is the first of its kind designed in India and can become a universal payment gateway for all e-Governance applications.

The Department of Industrial Promotion & Policy, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, is the Nodal Government Agency responsible for the implementation of the eBiz Project. Infosys Technologies Ltd. has been selected as the Concessionaire/ Project Implementation Partner and is responsible for the design, development, implementation and maintenance of the eBiz Solution.