External debt rise driven by long term commercial borrowings and NRI deposits, altering currency mix and reserve cover.
External debt at end December 2015 was US$ 480.2 billion, rising over end March 2015 primarily due to increases in long term debt-notably commercial borrowings and NRI deposits-while short term debt declined. Long term debt accounted for about 83% of the total and Government versus non Government shares were about 19% and 81% respectively. The US dollar remained the dominant currency, concessional debt formed a small share, and foreign exchange reserves provided substantial cover with a lower short term debt to reserves ratio than at end March 2015.

Investment promotion: call for Australian superannuation funds to increase exposure to India, strengthening bilateral economic engagement.
The Finance Minister called for Australian superannuation and future funds to increase exposure to India, urged Australian businesses to raise investment allocations for better returns, and sought Australian experience on implementing a national GST; both sides agreed to deepen trade and investment collaboration.

Taxability of interest income: taxpayers must disclose all taxable interest in returns even if exemption declarations were filed.
Interest credited or received on deposits is taxable and must be disclosed in the taxpayer's return unless exempt under Section 10. Form 26AS shows payments with tax deducted while payers also report payments without deduction. Taxpayers who filed non-deduction declarations must nevertheless include taxable interest where total income exceeds the exemption and should file or revise returns for the relevant assessment years by the filing deadline to avoid penalties.

Public Private Partnership approvals clear four National Highway projects, enabling procurement and implementation steps.
Public Private Project Appraisal Committee recommended clearance of four National Highway projects under the PPP framework, approving projects in Maharashtra, Punjab and two in Bihar through institutional appraisal mechanisms that assess viability, public private allocation of responsibilities, and readiness for procurement and financial close.

Public debt management: government issued dated securities and elongated maturities, reducing rollover risk and reshaping the debt profile.
The Government issued dated securities across ten tranches and launched the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme in Q3 FY16, pursuing debt maturity elongation including a long term security to raise the weighted average maturity of new issuance. Public Debt rose modestly quarter on quarter with internal and marketable securities dominating the stock; cash balances were surplus, liquidity tightened late in the quarter, and residual short term maturities imply low rollover risk helped by planned buybacks and switches. Secondary market outright trading volumes and turnover declined while ten year benchmark yields traded in a defined range.

Taxation of e-commerce: committee report outlines direct tax issues and informs legislative approach to e-commerce business models
Taxation of e-commerce: a government-appointed Committee on Taxation mapped e-commerce business models, identified associated direct tax issues and proposed approaches for taxing cross-border and domestic digital transactions. The Report synthesises identified direct tax challenges, outlines policy and administrative options, surveys recent international developments, and was submitted to the Government for consideration in the Finance Bill; it is published on the Income Tax Department website.

Equalization levy: a gross based charge on specified cross border digital services to address nexus and tax avoidance.
The Committee proposes an Equalization Levy on gross payments for specified digital services (online advertising, cloud computing, hosting, website services, digital platforms and software distribution) paid by persons resident in the source jurisdiction or by local permanent establishments to non resident enterprises. A high payer threshold will exclude most B2C transactions. The levy is outside the Income tax Act, treated as a charge on payments (not income), exempting amounts subject to the levy from Indian income tax, with payer deduction/withholding limited to payers claiming deduction, simplified reporting and online compliance, and no application of tax treaties or foreign tax credits.

Issuance calendar for government dated securities announced, scheduling weekly auctions and retail non-competitive participation.
All auctions in the April-September 2016 issuance calendar will include the facility of non-competitive bidding, under which a fixed percentage of the notified amount is reserved for specified retail investors; the calendar specifies weekly auction schedules with security-wise allocations across maturity buckets and the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India retain the flexibility to modify notified amounts, issuance periods, maturities or instrument types after giving due notice.

Issuance calendar for treasury bill auctions notifies periodic auction amounts and preserves government flexibility to modify the schedule.
Notification establishes a quarterly auction calendar for 91 day, 182 day and 364 day Treasury Bills for April-June 2016 with specified recurring weekly auction dates and aggregate issuance totals. The Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, retains flexibility to modify notified amounts and timing based on financing requirements, market conditions or intervening holidays; changes will be communicated by press release. Auctions are subject to the terms and conditions of General Notification No. F2(12)-W&M/97, as amended.

Excise duty on jewellery clarified: registration duties, artisan exemptions, and streamlined online compliance measures.
Imposition of a nominal excise duty on articles of jewellery is paired with simplified procedures: the principal manufacturer bears liability in job-work situations; artisans and job-workers are excluded from registration, duty payment, returns and record-keeping; small manufacturers below specified turnover thresholds need not register or file returns; registration and returns are to be filed online with expedited, non-intrusive registration and no post-registration physical verification; private, state VAT or hallmark records are acceptable for excise purposes and pre-budget stock declarations are not required.

Interest rate reset for small savings schemes now quarterly, aligning scheme rates with recent government securities yields.
Rates for Small Savings Schemes for Q1 2016-17 have been recalculated under the formulaic quarterly reset linking scheme rates to Government securities yields for the prior three months (Dec 2015-Feb 2016), and the notification includes continuation of specified additional interest spreads for schemes such as Public Provident Fund, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme, five year time deposit, National Savings Certificate and Monthly Income Scheme.

Sovereign Gold Bond scheme issuance confirmed with tranche subscriptions up and tax favoured redemption terms for resident investors.
Announcement confirming the third tranche of the Sovereign Gold Bond scheme will be issued on the scheduled date after receiving substantial applications; bonds are issued by RBI on behalf of the Government, denominated in grams of gold, purchasable in rupees by resident Indian entities, subject to minimum and maximum subscription limits, carry a fixed annual interest payable half yearly, have an eight year tenor with exit from year five, and provide capital gains exemption on redemption.

Revenue audit remedial action modified to prevent un-collectible demands and reduce litigation with taxpayers.
Modification of the administrative framework for revenue audit objections revises procedures for remedial action when audit objections are not accepted by the assessing department. The circular replaces specified paragraphs of the earlier instruction and prescribes fresh guidelines and procedures to govern departmental responses, aiming to prevent creation of un-collectible demand and reduce litigation where the department does not accept the audit objection.

Results-based financing ties disbursement to agreed service delivery improvements under a state public service guarantee project.
An IDA credit finances a state programme to implement the Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act through a results-based financing model where funds are released upon achievement of agreed results-improving citizen outreach, simplifying services, enhancing performance management, and strengthening implementing agencies-with the World Bank providing major financing and the State co-financing the balance over a five-year period.

Fund manager taxation regime protects offshore funds' non-residence when managed by eligible Indian managers under pre-approval conditions.
Section 9A provides that fund management activity by an eligible fund manager for an eligible offshore investment fund will not constitute a business connection or cause the fund to be resident in India. The Rules establish a pre-approval mechanism protecting the benefit of Section 9A unless withdrawn in limited circumstances, mandate a look-through for participation and membership determination, set investor diversification relaxations and 90-day tolerances for temporary non-compliance and reporting delays, define control at 26% voting rights, and limit loss of eligibility to sustained non-arm's-length remuneration findings over specified multi-year periods.

Tariff value update establishes new import valuation rates for specified edible oils, metals, scrap and seeds for customs purposes.
Central Board of Excise & Customs amends an existing customs notification by substituting new tariff value TABLEs that set US dollar unit tariff values for specified imported goods, including crude and refined palm oil and palmolein varieties, crude soybean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and unit valuations for gold and silver when certain notification benefits are availed, thereby establishing commodity specific import valuation for customs purposes.

Non-enforcement of recovery where tax was deducted but not deposited prevents assessing officers from demanding payment from the taxpayer.
Assessing officers are instructed not to pursue recovery from taxpayers for demands arising from a TDS credit mismatch where tax was deducted but not deposited by the deductor; an Office Memorandum reiterates that such demands created on account of deductor non-deposit must not be enforced against the assessee, directing field offices to comply with the embargo on direct demands in these cases.

Binding settlement obligations require banks to implement negotiated terms following union strikes over wages and outsourcing.
Settlement agreements between bank employee unions and the Indian Banks' Association are binding under the Industrial Disputes Act, obliging member banks that are parties to such settlements to implement agreed terms without deviation; conciliation meetings were held to avert strikes and unions raised demands including wage settlement, stopping outsourcing, pension improvements and compassionate appointments.

Financial inclusion via RuPay cards under PMJDY expanding access to basic accounts and insured debit cards.
The National Payments Corporation of India reported RuPay card issuance figures; the Government promoted RuPay distribution through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which provides at least one basic bank account per household and issues RuPay debit cards to account holders with embedded accidental insurance, alongside measures for financial literacy, credit, insurance and pension access.

Economic growth rate rising: government policy measures aim to boost domestic demand, manufacturing and entrepreneurship.
Gross Domestic Product growth rose to an estimated 7.6% in 2015-16, reflecting improvement over three years. The Economic Survey situates this against weaker global emerging-market growth. The Government's policy package prioritises reforms to boost manufacturing and investment, and deploys flagship initiatives-Make in India, Skill India, Start-up India, Jan Dhan, MUDRA, and Stand Up India-alongside Budget measures to stimulate domestic demand, rural infrastructure, duty rationalisation, liberalised FDI and improved ease of doing business for start-ups.