PPPAC approval of highway and port PPP projects enables BOT, DBFOT and VGF delivery for major infrastructure upgrades.
PPPAC granted approval to six road projects and one port project totalling Rs. 16057.45 crores, authorising highway capacity upgrades and a liquid bulk terminal development under delivery models including BOT (Toll), DBFOT (Toll) and a Viability Gap Funding scheme, with sponsoring authorities and project lengths specified.

Loan agreement to finance road upgrades in Chhattisgarh enables corridor improvements and capacity building, with long-term repayment terms.
A loan agreement provides US$300 million from ADB with a 20 year principal repayment period and LIBOR based interest, complemented by Government of Chhattisgarh counterpart finance to meet the estimated total project cost. The project upgrades over 900 kilometres of state roads and strengthens culverts and bridges on key corridors, and includes technical assistance and capacity building-including a road asset management system and contract and project management training-to improve road maintenance planning and connectivity outcomes.

ITR V filing deadline extension allows taxpayers with pending e-filed refund claims to submit signed forms now.
Extension of the filing deadline for ITR V forms provides a final opportunity for taxpayers who e filed returns with refund claims but whose ITR V acknowledgements were not received, allowing submission of a duly signed ITR V to the Central Processing Centre in Bengaluru so refund claims can be further processed.

Emergency response infrastructure expanded to support GIS and GPS dispatch and mandatory SOS features for rapid assistance to distress calls.
The Nirbhaya Fund, administered by the Department of Economic Affairs and credited as a public fund, will finance an Integrated Computer Aided Dispatch platform linking GIS-based call tracking with GPS-based police vehicle dispatch, a Road Transport and Highways scheme to enhance women's security in public transport, and Ministry of Information and Technology proposals to provide mandatory or downloadable SOS alert functionality on handsets; utilisation will proceed as required following proposal approvals and ministerial review.

PAN issuance rules now require proof of date of birth and allow Aadhaar as identity/address proof to ensure uniqueness.
Applications for allotment of Permanent Account Number must now include proof of date of birth alongside proof of identity or address; the list of acceptable documents has been amended to include Aadhaar as both POI and POA. The Income tax Department has started capturing and seeding Aadhaar numbers in the PAN database, where available, to enhance uniqueness and assist detection of bogus or duplicate PANs.

Principle-based legislative reform proposed to restructure financial regulators and mandate governance measures for greater transparency.
The Report recommends a comprehensive principle-based overhaul of the financial-sector legislative framework, including restructuring existing regulators and creating new agencies where needed, and promotes non-legislative governance reforms-stronger consumer protection, enhanced regulatory reporting, clearer regulator-regulated interfaces, mandatory public consultation, and cost benefit analysis. The Government broadly agrees with the non-legislative recommendations and has requested voluntary adoption by regulators; other recommendations require wider stakeholder consultation with no timeline.

Data matching identifies potential tax non-filers; e-filing portal lets PAN holders respond electronically and enforcement follow-up continues.
Second-round data matching identified 21.75 lakh potential non-filers whose records are available on the Compliance Module of the e-filing portal; information is shown only to the specific PAN holder who may submit an electronic response and retain a printout. The Department has earlier identified 12.19 lakh non-filers and reports 5,36,220 returns received from the targeted segment, together with associated self-assessment and advance tax collections.

Exchange rate notification: prescribes conversion rates for imports and exports under the Customs Act for valuation purposes.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, under the Customs Act, prescribes specified rupee equivalents for listed foreign currencies in two schedules-unit rates in Schedule I and per hundred unit rates in Schedule II-to be applied for customs valuation of imported and exported goods, superseding the prior notification and making those rates operative from the date stated.

G-20 tax agenda advances international tax transparency and financial reform coordination for cross-border cooperation.
The Finance Minister will lead an Indian delegation at the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting to engage on global economic challenges, investment and infrastructure policy, IMF reform, financial regulation, and tax matters, including endorsing a draft Global Standard on Automatic Exchange of Information and the G-20 tax agenda, and to finalize multilateral financial reform elements for summit adoption.

Advance Income Tax acceptance: authorised bank branches and online payment facilities recommended to avoid last minute remittance delays.
RBI and specified branches of accredited agency banks in Mumbai are authorised to accept advance Income Tax payments to reduce end of period congestion; taxpayers are advised to remit in advance and may use designated branches or online payment facilities offered by most listed banks.

Infrastructure loan agreement enables expanded rail track upgrades to improve efficiency, safety and market access on key routes.
A tranche of a multi phase Railway Sector Investment Program was financed to construct 840 kilometers of additional track on existing lines, implemented by the Ministry of Railways to improve efficiency, safety, reliability and environmental performance on high density freight and passenger corridors. The loan features long term concessional terms including a multi year tenor with a defined grace period, commitment charges on undrawn balances, a maturity premium by straight line method, and an interest rate linked to the lender's LIBOR based facility; the borrower provides counterpart finance for remaining costs.

Public debt management signals moderate rise in market borrowings with maturity shifts impacting liquidity, secondary market yields and trading volumes.
Quarterly public debt management for Oct-Dec 2013 shows moderately higher market borrowings executed largely per the pre announced auction calendar, with re issues and two new ten and thirty year securities to bolster liquidity. Weighted average maturity of dated securities fell slightly while coupon levels were unchanged. Total public debt increased modestly QoQ, internal and marketable debt dominate, and residual short term maturities declined, lowering rollover risk. Secondary market yields ended higher amid tighter liquidity and supply pressures, with lower trading volumes and reduced outright turnover.

Development loan supports north-eastern road upgrades, enhancing connectivity and economic access under multilateral financing terms.
A multilateral ADB loan finances reconstruction and upgrading of state roads in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and Sikkim, covering widening, pavement strengthening, raised embankments and permanent river-crossing works. The tranche from ADB ordinary capital resources carries a long-term tenor with a multi-year grace period, a commitment charge on undrawn balances, a straight-line maturity premium and an interest rate tied to ADB's LIBOR-based facility; ADB provides the majority share of project costs with central and state counterpart financing.

Infrastructure financing boosts Madhya Pradesh power transmission and distribution capacity, improving reliability and operational efficiency.
ADB financed selective transmission and distribution upgrades in Madhya Pradesh to increase capacity, improve electricity supply reliability and operational efficiency, fund transmission and distribution lines and substations, and provide training and institutional support to state transmission and distribution companies to strengthen management and financial sustainability under a multi year loan with specified tenor, grace period, charges and LIBOR linked interest.

Fiscal consolidation and growth priorities: stabilise prices, boost investment, promote manufacturing and address stressed sectors.
Interim budget priorities emphasize fiscal consolidation, price stability and food self sufficiency, together with reviving growth by enhancing investment, promoting manufacturing and exports, and quickening project implementation. The statement also pledges practical solutions for stressed sectors such as petroleum, power, coal, highways and textiles to remove bottlenecks and support recovery.

Direct Taxes Code to be opened for public discussion, with appeal for concurrent passage of GST and the Code.
Direct Taxes Code will be posted on the Ministry of Finance website for public discussion as part of a non-partisan consultative process; the Finance Minister described the Code as intended to serve for about two decades and appealed to political parties to enact the Goods and Services Tax and the Direct Taxes Code in the same legislative period.

Forward contracts regulation to be amended to strengthen commodity derivatives oversight after a payment crisis at NSEL.
Amendment proposed to the Forward Contracts (Regulation) framework to strengthen regulation of the commodity derivatives market in response to a payment crisis at NSEL, with oversight transferred to the Ministry of Finance and NSEL sequestered to prevent spillover to other market segments.

Fiscal consolidation with targeted tax reliefs and temporary excise cuts to revive manufacturing and deepen revenue reform.
Fiscal policy pursues medium term fiscal consolidation with an interim deficit target and strengthened external buffers while endorsing foreign capital to finance the current account; expenditures preserve plan outlays and prioritise social sector, defence, infrastructure and targeted state assistance. Temporary indirect tax reductions and duty rationalisations are introduced to stimulate manufacturing and specific industries, alongside proposed legislative measures for a Direct Taxes Code, GST, commodity derivatives regulation and institutional steps for public debt management and research funding. Financial sector measures include bank recapitalisation, market deepening, and operational steps for pension and education loan relief.

Tariff value notification updates customs valuation for specified agricultural oils, metals, seeds and precious metals for imports.
CBEC, under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, substitutes TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 of Notification No. 36/2001 Customs to fix tariff values for specified imports, including various palm and soybean oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and gold and silver; values are stated in US dollars with units per metric tonne, per kilogram for silver, and per ten grams for gold.

Economic classification of central budget reclassifies outlays by national income aggregates and government functions for analysis.
The Ministry of Finance issued an economic classification of the Central Government budget for 2013-14 that reclassifies budgetary outlays into national income aggregates-consumption, investment and transfer payments-and groups outlays by function into general, economic and social services to facilitate economic analysis.