DPIIT drives industrial policy, investment facilitation, ease of doing business, Make in India, startup support and IPR implementation.
DPIIT formulates and coordinates industrial policy, investment facilitation and internal trade functions, administers FDI policy and single window investor interfaces, advances Ease of Doing Business reforms through state and district action plans, and operates Invest India and the Project Monitoring Group to resolve investor bottlenecks. It leads Make in India sector action plans, develops Industrial Corridors and infrastructure schemes, administers regional incentive and GST budgetary support schemes, and supervises national IPR policy implementation, IP offices and startup support including tax, procurement and IP facilitation measures.

Input Tax Credit fraud uncovered leading to arrest under CGST provisions and ongoing investigation into fake firms.
Detection by CGST Delhi uncovered a scheme using 30 fake firms, bogus invoices and fabricated e way bills to obtain fraudulent Input Tax Credit; payments were routed through banks to an operator who returned cash after commission, and the accused procured non GST paid goods from unregistered suppliers while investigators continue inquiries.

Competition policy: focus on market dynamics, self regulation, and procedural reforms to foster competitive outcomes and innovation.
Speakers at the Conference emphasised that competition issues extend beyond competition law to institutional and statutory frameworks, noting persistent entry barriers in services and agriculture and limits of static market indicators. They advocated accounting for market dynamics and evolution, promoting industry self regulation where feasible, and using market studies and advocacy reviews of statutes to identify policy induced restrictions. The Commission highlighted procedural reforms including a Green Channel deemed approval mechanism to expedite combination reviews and foster transparent, self compliant outcomes.

Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas: a declaration scheme to settle disputed tax by payment and waiver of further remedies.
The Act establishes a declaration based settlement scheme: a declarant with specified pending tax disputes may file a declaration with a designated authority, which must determine the amount payable and issue a certificate; after payment and withdrawal of proceedings the determination is conclusive, bars reopening, and the declarant waives further remedies, subject to exclusions and revival where false particulars or breaches occur.

National Retail Policy to simplify regulations and create a conducive environment for retail trade; implementation timeline pending.
A proposed National Retail Trade Policy seeks to create a conducive environment for retail trade by simplifying rules and regulations hindering sector growth; the policy is under formulation and no implementation timeline has been specified.

Foreign investment liberalisation allows NRIs who are Indian nationals full ownership in Air India under the automatic route.
The Government amended the FDI policy to permit foreign investment in M/s Air India Ltd. by NRIs who are Indian nationals up to 100% under the automatic route, while maintaining the requirement that Substantial Ownership and Effective Control remain vested in Indian nationals; the amendment equalises Air India's foreign ownership treatment with other scheduled domestic passenger airlines and removes the prior specific cap applying to Air India in the context of its proposed strategic disinvestment.

Single Window System reforms require online submissions, status tracking, automated notifications and time bound query resolution.
The State Reform Action Plan requires States and UTs to implement a Single Window System enabling online application submission without physical copies, elimination of physical document touch-points, online status tracking, automated SMS/e-mail notifications, consolidated queries to applicants and a seven-day deadline to issue investor-related queries; the 2019 Plan also mandates an online Information Wizard linking to licence/NOC application forms and time-bound processing for construction permits/NOCs within the Single Window platform.

National Income and GDP provisional estimates for 2019-20 Q3 released, with a noted technical extraction error in processing.
Second Advance Estimates of National Income for 2019-20 and Quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for Q3 (Oct-Dec) 2019-20 are issued as an official statistical release dated 28 February 2020, presenting provisional national income aggregates and quarterly GDP components; a technical extraction log records a Python IndentationError during digital processing, relating to data handling rather than the estimates themselves.

Index of Eight Core Industries shows year on year expansion driven by coal, refinery products, steel, and electricity.
The Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 137.5 in January 2020, up year on year and yielding a small cumulative gain for April-January. Sectoral movements were mixed: coal, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity rose month on month, while crude oil and natural gas declined; fertilizers fell marginally in January but rose cumulatively. Notes state recent months' data are provisional, renewable electricity is included, sector weights are pro rata from IIP, and a new steel product category was added.

Adaptation of Central Laws ensures modified application in Jammu and Kashmir under government order to remove legal ambiguity.
The Cabinet approved issuance of an order under Section 96 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 to adapt, amend or repeal provisions of Central Acts so they operate effectively in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir after reorganisation; the order will adapt thirty seven Central Laws to remove ambiguity and ensure administrative effectiveness within the one year adaptation window from the appointed date.

Payroll reporting shows formal sector subscriber flows across EPF, ESI and NPS, with provisional, overlapping administrative counts.
The Ministry presents provisional, age and gender disaggregated subscriber counts and monthly flows from EPF, ESI and NPS administrative records for Sept 2017-Dec 2019, reports totals of 3,12,09,293 new EPF subscribers, 3,50,47,974 new ESI registrations and 17,28,870 new NPS subscribers, and cautions that sources overlap, figures are not additive and recent months are provisional due to ongoing record updates and delayed filings.

Merger control: CCI approval for acquisition of majority stake in THDC by NTPC under Competition Act.
The CCI authorised, under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, the acquisition by NTPC Limited of a majority interest in THDC India Limited from the Government of India; NTPC is a Maharatna power generator active in thermal, hydro and renewables, and THDC is a Central Public Sector Unit under the Ministry of Power, with the CCI's detailed order to follow.

Merger approval under competition law permits NTPC's acquisition of NEEPCO's entire share capital from the government.
The Competition Commission of India approved NTPC Limited's acquisition of 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation from the Government of India under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002; NTPC is a Maharatna power generator and NEEPCO is a regional power utility operating hydro, thermal and solar stations, and the CCI indicated a detailed order will follow.

Economic growth target: coordinated public-private action urged to meet an ambitious national GDP goal within coming years.
USD 5 trillion national economic growth target is presented as achievable within the coming five years through coordinated public-private collaboration and mobilisation of managerial talent. MSMEs are identified as central to this strategy-major job creators, exporters and ecosystem contributors-requiring recognition, innovation promotion, and extension of governance and management practices to remote areas to support inclusive national growth.

Green channel filing enables deemed approval for an international airport operator's acquisition of airport company equity.
Notification concerns a Green Channel combination filing by Atropos de Paris SA for acquisition of equity in GMR Infra Services Limited and GMR Airports Limited, seeking to acquire up to all equity of GISL and up to forty nine percent of GAL directly and indirectly. ADP is an international airport operator; GISL is a holding company for GAL, which develops and operates airports. The filing invokes the Green Channel procedure under the Combination Regulations, under which the notice is deemed approved upon filing and acknowledgement.

Interest subvention increase under dairy infrastructure scheme boosts subsidised lending to milk processors for expansion.
Approval raised the interest subvention under the Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) to up to 2.5% per annum and increased the scheme outlay to Rs. 11,184 crore. DAHD will contribute the interest subvention to cover the difference between NABARD's cost of funds and the rate at which NABARD lends to NDDB/NCDC; NABARD will mobilise market borrowings and lend to implementing agencies, with eligible end borrowers and NDDB/NCDC making defined contributions. Funding and repayment periods were extended, and any further increase in cost of funds is to be borne by end borrowers.

Merger approval conditioned on modifications following acquisition of a commercial-vehicle supplier by a global automotive technology firm.
The Commission approved the proposed acquisition of 100% shareholding of WABCO Holdings Inc. by ZF Friedrichshafen AG under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, conditioning clearance on the implementation of modifications proposed by the acquirer under Regulation 25(1A); the parties operate in complementary automotive supply segments and a detailed order will specify required modifications and implementation obligations.

Competition law advocacy mobilizes state-level resource persons to sensitize public procurement and promote seminars, workshops and toolkit use.
The Competition Commission organised a training and orientation programme for State-level Resource Persons to deepen competition law awareness and strengthen State machinery capacity, promoting seminars, workshops and use of the Commission's competition toolkit with particular emphasis on competition compliance in public procurement.

Horizontal devolution of central taxes central to discussions, with GDP outlook and GST reform shaping resource allocation.
The Advisory Council reviewed the XVFC report's recommendations, focussing on the formula for horizontal devolution of Central taxes, methodological innovations in vertical and horizontal devolution, and scenarios for nominal GDP growth and tax buoyancy for 2021-22 to 2025-26. The Council assessed resource mobilization options against global trends and domestic indicators and emphasised strengthening GST administration and its technology platform to support fiscal balance between the Centre and States.

Horizontal devolution formula review to guide fiscal recommendations, nominal GDP outlook and tax buoyancy shaping five-year transfers.
The Advisory Council will advise on drafting recommendations for 2021-22 to 2025-26, focusing on review of the formula for horizontal devolution, assessment of nominal GDP growth outlook for 2021-22 to 2025-26, and estimation of tax buoyancy and other macro-economic parameters to inform revenue projections and transfer calibrations.