Tariff value notification revises declared import values for specified edible oils, metals and agricultural commodities for customs assessment.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs amends Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.) by substituting TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 with revised tariff values in US dollars for specified imports, specifying per-metric-tonne values for various vegetable oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds and areca nuts, and per-unit values for gold and silver, to serve as the declared values for customs valuation and import assessment.

Infrastructure financing enables corridor development and institutional reforms to integrate industrial clusters with global production networks.
Multilateral financing was executed to develop the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor combining a multi tranche loan for physical infrastructure and a policy based loan for institutional capacity building. Tranche 1 funds high priority subprojects in two nodes-road widening, smart water management to reduce nonrevenue water, power substation upgrades for reliable electricity, and effluent treatment facilities-while a complementary grant supports climate resilient infrastructure and the government provides additional national funding. The package uses tranche lending with a long tenor, a grace period, straight line repayment under a LIBOR based facility, and policy support for corridor management and ease of doing business reforms.

Financing agreement enables socio economic empowerment project for adolescent girls, funding skills, education and service delivery outcomes.
Financing Agreement between the Government of India and the World Bank provides IDA credit for the Tejaswini Socio Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women Project in Jharkhand. The project focuses on basic life skills and pathways to market driven skill training or completion of secondary education, and comprises three components: expanding opportunities, intensive service delivery, and state capacity building and implementation support, delivered across designated districts with an established project closing date.

Sovereign Gold Bond issuance: Series IV offers tradable gold-linked bonds with fixed interest and specified tax treatment.
Issue of Sovereign Gold Bond Series IV authorises RBI to issue gold-linked government stocks for resident Indian entities; bonds are denominated in grams with an eight-year tenor and exit option from the fifth year. Subscription is subject to a per-entity annual cap enforced by self-declaration and a one-gram minimum. Issue and redemption prices are based on the prior week's simple average gold price (999 purity) as published by IBJA; payment may be made by cash up to a ceiling, draft, cheque or electronic banking. Bonds carry a fixed semi-annual interest, are eligible for demat, tradable on stock exchanges, SLR-eligible, usable as collateral, and governed by specified KYC and tax treatment rules.

Sovereign Gold Bond issuance: fixed rate gold linked government securities with defined pricing, tenure, redemption and tax treatment.
Issuance of Sovereign Gold Bonds 2016 17 Series IV establishes that the Bonds are Government of India Stock executable as holding certificates or demat, available to resident individuals, trusts, charitable institutions and universities, denominated in one gram units within prescribed per person limits, priced in domestic currency based on the prior week's 999 purity gold average less a discount, bearing fixed annual interest payable half yearly, repayable after eight years with permitted pre mature redemption from the fifth year, eligible for SLR and mortgageable as collateral subject to standard loan to value norms; tax and procedural provisions are specified.

Sovereign Gold Bonds issuance for resident Indians with eight-year tenor, tradability, interest and specified tax treatment.
Sovereign Gold Bonds 2016-17 Series IV will be issued by RBI on behalf of the Government, restricted to resident Indian entities, denominated in grams with minimum one gram and an annual subscription cap of 500 grams per person. Issue and redemption prices are based on the preceding week's simple average IBJA 999-purity gold closing prices; bonds issued as Government of India Stocks are convertible to demat. Bonds carry a fixed 2.50% annual interest payable semi annually, allow exit from year five, are tradable on stock exchanges shortly after issuance, eligible for SLR and usable as collateral. Interest is taxable, and capital gains on redemption for individuals are exempt with indexation benefits on transfers.

Quarterly public debt update: gross borrowings Rs.5,02,000cr, net borrowings Rs.3,62,012cr, lower yields and surplus liquidity.
Gross borrowings in April-December FY17 were Rs. 5,02,000 crore (83.7% of BE) and net market borrowings Rs. 3,62,012 crore (85.1% of BE). Q3 issuances totalled Rs. 1,61,000 crore (11 auctions; five new securities), with weighted average maturity 15.59 years and weighted average yield 6.78%. Treasury bills grossed Rs. 2,74,650 crore with net T bill issuance of Rs. 16,797 crore. Liquidity became surplus post demonetisation; public debt rose to Rs. 6,176,852 crore with 26.6% of stock maturing within five years, indicating low rollover risk. Secondary market yields declined and outright turnover fell by 11.87% QoQ.

Miniratna status enables SPMCIL to operate as a Central Public Sector Enterprise, managing currency production and strategic joint ventures.
SPMCIL is a Miniratna Category-I, Schedule-'A' Central Public Sector Enterprise wholly owned by the Central Government that manages mints, currency presses, security presses and a security paper mill; it supplies currency and security products to central and state clients. The release notes SPMCIL's role in demonetisation and remonetisation, internal awards for unit performance, a joint venture for indigenous banknote paper production, reported debt free status, turnover growth, and an "Excellent" MoU rating from the Department of Public Enterprises.

Tariff value revision for specified edible oils, metals and seeds notified under Customs Act, substituting prior tables.
Amendment to import tariff valuation regime by substituting prior tables with revised tariff values for specified goods, issued under the statutory powers vested in the customs administration, replacing TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 with updated tariff values for palm oils, palmoleins, crude soybean oil, areca nuts, poppy seeds, brass scrap, and valuation entries for gold and silver.

Capacity development center integrates training and technical assistance to strengthen macroeconomic policy implementation in South Asia.
SARTTAC establishes a regional facility in New Delhi to provide integrated capacity development combining customized training and targeted technical assistance through a resident team of international experts, acting as the focal delivery point for IMF capacity development services to strengthen institutional and human capacities for macroeconomic and financial policy design and implementation.

E-verification of cash deposits: taxpayers urged to register and submit online responses to avoid enforcement under tax law.
Operation Clean Money conducted e-verification of large cash deposits from 9 November to 30 December 2016 by sending notices to PAN holders and prompting online responses; the Department reports high confirmation of deposits, additions to declared amounts and bank accounts, analysis of explanations against business profiles, identification of many unregistered taxpayers who have received SMS reminders, extension of the online response deadline, and a warning that failure to submit explanations may invite enforcement actions under the Income-tax Act.

Expeditious issue of refunds prioritised, accelerating processing and electronic communication to benefit small taxpayers.
The Centralised Processing Centre prioritises the expeditious issue of refunds, having processed over 4.19 crore returns and issued over 1.62 crore refunds to 10 February 2017; 92% of returns processed within 60 days and 92% of refunds are below a specified threshold, with remaining low-value refunds largely pending due to recent filings or awaited taxpayer responses. The Department reports increased electronic filing and urges taxpayers to update contact details to receive electronic communications as part of expanded e-governance and taxpayer-service measures.

Periodical review under FR 56(j) and Rule 48: submit officer details and APARs/IPRs by prescribed deadlines for retention assessment.
Cadre Controlling Authorities must submit revised proforma entries and complete supporting documents (APARs/IPRs and any vigilance/integrity inputs) for officers attaining 50/55 years or meeting qualifying service thresholds under FR 56(j) and Rule 48(1)(b) of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, noting exemptions for those already reviewed in junior cadre and following prescribed Annexures and deadlines to enable Internal Committee review for the quarter April-June 2017.

Action against shell companies to freeze accounts and invoke benami provisions to curb money laundering.
Harsh enforcement measures for companies used in money laundering include freezing bank accounts, striking off dormant companies and invoking Benami Transactions (Prohibition) provisions. A multi-agency Task Force, co-chaired by revenue and corporate affairs leadership, will coordinate actions, use red flag indicators, build an integrated database of suspect companies and directors (including Aadhaar capture), and ensure disciplinary proceedings against professionals who abet such operations.

Tax revenue growth continues; indirect and direct collections both show sustained year on year increases and higher refunds issued.
Net Indirect Tax collections in January 2017 grew year on year with Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax all rising and aggregate indirect revenues up to January exceeding the prior year and constituting a large share of Revised Estimates; Net Direct Tax receipts up to January 2017 similarly increased year on year, though corporate tax net growth is reduced after refunds while personal income tax net growth remains strong, and refunds issued year to date rose materially.

Banking cash transaction tax remains undecided as government will review panel recommendation before any imposition.
No decision has been taken to impose a Banking Cash Transaction Tax; the government will review a Chief Ministers' committee report recommending caps on cash for large transactions and a levy on high-value cash deals, and will decide appropriately after examination. Reduction of corporate tax rates will be phased due to fiscal constraints and competing spending priorities.

Startup tax exemptions and regulatory relaxations enable streamlined compliance, funding support, and eased procurement for eligible startups.
The Action Plan creates a self-certification compliance regime across environmental, labour and apprenticeship rules for eligible startups, supported by a Startup India portal and Hub for recognition, mentoring and legal facilitation. It relaxes public procurement conditions for small enterprises, advances fast-track exit through insolvency and liquidation measures, and provides financial support via a Fund of Funds, credit guarantee mechanisms, eased external borrowing and investor access. Tax measures include capital gains exemptions and time-limited income-tax relief for eligible startups, while mission programs expand tinkering labs, incubators and innovation funding.

Taxpayer recognition: certificates issued for fully paid, timely filed and verified returns to encourage compliance and accurate contact details.
Certificates of Appreciation are issued electronically in tiered categories for taxpayers who have fully paid taxes, have no outstanding liabilities, and have e-filed and verified their returns by Digital Signature, EVC, or submission of signed ITR-V; taxpayers must update primary email and mobile details on the e-filing portal to receive the certificate.

Free ATM transaction limits for on bank and out of bank use define customers' entitlement to fee free ATM access.
A regulatory notification limits the number of free ATM transactions by distinguishing on us and off us transactions, with lower allowances for off us use in metro areas; the ATM network is described as 100% interoperable and Reserve Bank statistics provide bank wise on site, off site and total ATM deployment figures for Public Sector Banks, culminating in an aggregate total.

Conversion of Kisan Credit Cards to RuPay debit cards expands ATM withdrawal access and supports periodic, need based farmer credit use.
Conversion of Kisan Credit Cards into RuPay ATM cum Debit Kisan Credit Cards is being implemented to introduce ATM/debit withdrawals as a delivery channel, with Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks required to convert operative KCCs in a mission mode to increase digital transaction access, enable periodic small withdrawals aligned to farmers' needs, and help reduce their interest burden.