Ease of Doing Business: Jharkhand's performance highlighted; action points issued for States and UTs implementation.
The Ease of Doing Business ranking report for Jharkhand identifies the state's areas of strong performance and has been posted on the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion website. A finalized set of recommendations, developed with state governments and industry associations, has been issued as a list of action points shared with states and union territories for implementation in the next assessment cycle and is available on the DIPP website.

Medicine price regulation expands statutory control and generic distribution; a public fund-of-funds supports equity investment in start-ups.
The policy makes generic medicines available through designated stores to improve affordability, while applying statutory price control to all medicines on the national essential medicines list. Separately, a public fund-of-funds has been created to invest in funds run by state entities and financial institutions to provide equity financing to start-ups and bridge the gap between innovators and investors.

Cement industry capacity utilization remains below installed capacity, indicating underuse and scope to meet future demand.
Annual cement statistics show private-sector production and dispatch far exceeding public-sector outputs across 2012-13 to 2015-16 (to October 2015). With installed capacity at 360 million tons per annum and 2014-15 production at 270.93 million tons, the industry is operating below capacity due to sluggish demand, indicating available scope to meet future requirements.

India-UAE Infrastructure Investment Fund to mobilise bilateral capital for major infrastructure projects and expand sectoral investment opportunities.
Establishment of a India-UAE Infrastructure Investment Fund to mobilise bilateral capital for major infrastructure projects-prioritising railways, ports, roads, airports, industrial corridors and parks-and to attract UAE investors through targeted outreach and collaborative vehicles supporting national initiatives, manufacturing, electronics, renewable energy and defence-related infrastructure.

Wholesale Price Index signals monthly rise and negative annual inflation, reflecting mixed movements across primary, fuel and manufactured groups.
The Wholesale Price Index (Base 2004 05=100) for November 2015 rose 0.5 percent month on month to 177.6 (provisional) while year on year WPI inflation was -1.99 percent (provisional); build up inflation in the financial year so far was 0.85 percent. Primary Articles increased 1.6 percent (led by Food Articles), Minerals declined 2.2 percent, Fuel & Power rose 0.9 percent, and Manufactured Products fell 0.2 percent, with annexures providing detailed subgroup weights and inflation trends.

Merger review: public invited to comment after competition authority finds proposed cinema acquisition may harm competition.
The Competition Commission of India concluded prima facie that PVR Limited's proposed acquisition of DT Cinemas' film exhibition business may have an appreciable adverse effect on competition and directed PVR to publish combination details in four all India newspapers (including at least two business papers) and on its website; the Commission has also posted the details online and invites written comments, objections or suggestions from persons adversely affected or likely to be affected within fifteen working days from publication.

Advance Pricing Agreements provide transfer pricing certainty for foreign investors, reducing future disputes and enhancing tax certainty.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has expanded use of Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) to provide transfer pricing certainty, recently executing eleven APAs across multiple sectors; seven include rollback provisions and four are five year future agreements. Rollback APAs may cover up to nine years in total. Since the APA programme's 2012 statutory introduction, the CBDT has concluded thirty one APAs (predominantly unilateral with one bilateral), and current momentum in APA finalizations is expected to reduce disputes and enhance investor certainty.

Project monitoring through IT-based PRAGATI ensures central redressal and expedited implementation of major infrastructure projects.
Central monitoring of major infrastructure projects is effected through Ministry oversight and the PMO's PRAGATI, an IT-based three-tier redressal and monitoring mechanism linking the PMO, GOI Secretaries and State Chief Secretaries. The Ministry tracks Central Sector Infrastructure Projects above the cost threshold for time and cost overruns, applying rigorous appraisal, an Online Computerized Monitoring System, Standing Committees to fix responsibility, regular administrative reviews and State-level Central Sector Projects Coordination Committees to remove bottlenecks. PRAGATI provides high-level video-conferenced review and escalation, but detailed data on projects stalled due to disputes or coordination failures is not centrally maintained.

Infrastructure investment through the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor mobilises international financing to drive industrial employment and parks development.
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is planned as a global manufacturing and investment destination along the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, with the Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Park projected to generate substantial direct employment. The project is supported by Japanese public financing through lending for projects with Japanese participation to fund infrastructure and attract investment across multiple states traversed by the corridor.

FDI liberalisation and industrial licence reforms expand ease of doing business and boost manufacturing investment.
Measures focus on regulatory liberalisation and facilitation to boost manufacturing: industrial licence reforms (pruning defence items, extending validity, removing annual capacity limits, deregulating defence capacity), liberalisation of FDI policy (higher sectoral limits, expanded automatic route, eased conditionalities), rollout of e-biz G2B services, development of multiple industrial corridors coordinated by a National Industrial Corridor Development Authority, and the "Make in India" programme with an Investor Facilitation Cell providing sectoral information and investor support.

Insurance sector convergence to Ind AS: standardized financial statements, valuation rules, actuarial certification and stronger disclosure and audit obligations.
The Regulations require insurers to converge to Ind AS with specified modifications, mandating standardized formats for Revenue Account, Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet (including separate linked/segregated fund statements and consolidated financials), distinct valuation rules for investments, loans and real estate, actuarial certification of life and long tail liabilities, expensing of acquisition costs, and comprehensive disclosure, management report and auditor reporting obligations; the Authority retains power to issue further directions on reserve releases, auditor appointment and impairment guidance.

Manufacturing growth asserted as continuing, linked to Make in India, FDI liberalisation and ease of doing business measures.
Growth in manufacturing is reported as continuing: GVA at basic prices (2011-12) grew 5.3% in 2013-14, 7.1% in 2014-15 and 8.2% in April-September 2015-16, which the Government presents as evidence of no decline. The Government identifies policy measures - Make in India, opening up the FDI regime and enhancing Ease of Doing Business - as instruments to drive manufacturing, innovation and design; the information was provided in a written parliamentary reply.

Digitization of regulatory clearances: online platform streamlines central approvals while security-sensitive permissions remain excluded from digitization.
e-Nivesh implements online monitoring and digitization of central government clearances required by investors, with applicability determined by project-specific factors. Most clearances have been digitized; security-sensitive permissions are excluded from online processing, one clearance is scheduled for future integration, and supplementary clearances are available on the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion portal.

Industrial corridors and incentives expand national industrial development, promoting designated investment regions and infrastructure upgradation across states.
The Union Government advances nationwide industrial development through targeted incentive schemes-including the Special Package Scheme, North East Industrial and Investment Policy, Freight Subsidy measures, Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme, and sectoral programmes-alongside an Industrial Corridor strategy that designates priority investment nodes to concentrate infrastructure and investment for regional industrialisation.

Extension of payment and filing deadlines: November Central Excise duty and Service Tax deadlines deferred, formal notifications to follow.
An administrative extension defers the payment due date for Central Excise duty and Service Tax for November 2015 and likewise defers the Central Excise return filing deadline for November 2015; formal notifications to give effect to these date changes will be issued shortly and the extension applies to all assessees in the state.

Coal mine auctions under special provisions act produce state revenue and consumer tariff benefits through competitive allocation mechanisms.
Auctions under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 allocated 31 coal blocks; state revenue comprises upfront payments, auction proceeds and per tonne royalty, with state wise estimated lifetime revenues reported. An additional 42 mines were allotted to Central and State PSUs producing further state revenue and expected consumer tariff benefits. The Central Government has collected receipts from auctions and allotments and has transferred specified amounts to States, exemplified by receipts and transfers relating to Odisha.

Capital investment plan to raise coal production to one billion tonnes by 2019-20 with staged annual funding targets.
CIL proposes a capital investment programme of approximately Rs. 57,000 crores over five years with year wise allocations for 2015-16 to 2019-20 to increase coal production to one billion tonnes by 2019-20. The document also records that a 32 Mt increase in 2014-15 exceeded prior targets and addressed a previous shortfall.

Innovation policy advances as Atal Innovation Mission and SETU mobilize incubation and techno financial support for start ups.
The event is framed to operationalize recent institutional measures: the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) as a platform to promote a network of innovation hubs and Grand Challenges, and SETU (Self Employment and Talent Utilisation) as a Techno Financial, Incubation and Facilitation Program to support start ups and self employment in technology driven areas. An Expert Committee has submitted a report on innovation and entrepreneurship; its recommendations, published on NITI Aayog's website, will be discussed to inform AIM, SETU and related support mechanisms for incubation, financing and policy coordination.

Export support for MSMEs: coordinated schemes improve market access, packaging, finance and manufacturing competitiveness.
Support for MSME exports is provided through schemes to enhance competitiveness, including Market Development Assistance, an International Co operation Scheme, export packaging training, the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme, a Credit Guarantee Scheme, a Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme, and a Cluster Development Programme.

Automatic exchange of information expands under the Common Reporting Standard to strengthen cross border tax transparency and data safeguards.
International tax transparency and cross border information sharing are presented as central mechanisms to detect and recover illicitly concealed funds. The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is identified as the new global standard for automatic exchange of information, and the AEOI Group is mandated to develop a methodology for reviewing CRS implementation in a transparent, peer based process with specific reviews of confidentiality and data safeguards for jurisdictions. The signing of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) is noted as expanding the signatory network.