India Starts To Identify Sectors To Cut Dependence On Chinese Imports; TRAI Goes After Spam Callers

CBDT gets after unpaid income tax with a new team. GST collections from mobile companies seem to be five times or more than PLI offered to them. In other news, a study finds women ready to put in their best but other factors weigh them down and households say they aren’t very excited by economic conditions next year. 

India List To Cut Imports From China May Impact Chemicals, Auto, Pharma Sectors

India has begun an exercise to identify critical sectors where dependence on imports is making them vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, as part of an agreement under the 14-member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the Economic Times reported.

The government has zeroed in on chemicals, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, advanced technology, electronics and critical minerals, which are important from the perspective of national security and economic stability, under the IPEF Supply Chain Resilience Agreement, which came into force this February. Last year, the 14 IPEF nations signed an agreement to reduce dependence on China and shift production of critical sectors and key goods to member countries. Read more 

CBDT Forms Special Team To Identify Top 5,000 Cases Of Unpaid Income Tax

The Central Board of Direct Taxes, driven by a “very steep rise” in pending income tax arrears, has decided to create a special team to identify the “top 5,000 cases” by the end of September, Business Standard reported.

 These cases, which would include unpaid personal income tax as well as corporate tax, constitute nearly 60 per cent of all outstanding dues.  Spotting these cases is part of the CBDT’s Central Action Plan (CAP) for this financial year. Disseminated internally to officials, the CAP underlines that “a more focused and targeted approach is required to manage past tax demands”. As on April 1, income tax arrears have increased to Rs 43 trillion from Rs 24 trillion on April 1, 2023. More here 

TRAI Asks Telcos To Disconnect Spam Call Makers, Share Info With Other Companies

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed telcos to disconnect all the telecom resources given by them to any entity, which is found to be misusing its bulk connections for making spam calls and blacklist it for a period of two years, the Economic Times reported.

Further, TRAI said the telco which has disconnected the telecom resources of any such entity for being involved in spam, should share the information with other operators, so that they can also disconnect resources of the entity and blacklist it for two years. The move is aimed at curtailing the problem to a good extent as the blacklisted entity will now not be able to get a connection from other telcos, say experts. More here

GST From Mobile Companies Five Times That Of PLI Allocation: Data

Goods and services tax (GST) collections from mobile device companies, amounting to Rs 1.82 trillion between 2020-21 (FY21) and 2023-24 (FY24), have already generated more than five times the revenue for the government compared to the Rs 34,149 crore allocated under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile devices over six years ending 2025-26 (FY26), Business Standard reported.

The Indian Cellular Association (ICEA), which provided the GST data, projects that GST collections from mobile devices between FY21 and FY26 are expected to reach Rs 3.09 trillion — over 9-10 times the amount allocated by the government to the mobile device PLI scheme by the end of its tenure. More here 

Over 40% Of Working Women Face Bias At Work, Say Study

Women lose multiple opportunities at workplaces because of factors that are beyond their control, the Economic Times reported.

About 73 per cent of women who took part in a survey said they are ambitious and 90 per cent are willing to put in the extra effort required to be successful, but they are weighed down by factors such as bias at work, mental exhaustion, post-maternity setbacks and more. All of these led to more women leaving the workforce, according to a study conducted by Aon. The 2024 Voice of Women Study India surveyed over 24,000 professional women across 560 companies to understand the most pressing workplace challenges and the ways to build an inclusive workplace. More here 

RBI Survey Finds Households Less Optimistic On Economic Conditions In Near Future 

Households in major cities in India seem to be less optimistic about the economic conditions for the year ahead, Business Standard reported.

The lower optimism on the general economic situation, employment and prices led to 4.1 point moderation in the future expectations index (FEI) to 120.7 in July 2024 from 124.8 in May 2024, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Consumer Confidence Survey. Sentiments on the current employment situation and own income deteriorated for the second consecutive survey round. RBI’s latest round of the survey was conducted from July 2-11, 2024, covering 6,062 respondents. Female respondents accounted for 54.4 per cent of this sample, RBI said in a statement. More here