Climate-resilient rural infrastructure expansion secures international financing to integrate green construction measures and community maintenance.
Additional financing supports expansion and retrofitting of PMGSY rural roads to embed climate resilience and low carbon construction, requiring climate vulnerability assessments, flood adaptive and slope protection measures, environmentally optimised road designs using local and industrial by products, and innovative pre fabricated bridge and culvert solutions; it also scales community based maintenance by women self help groups to link local employment and infrastructure upkeep.

Public financial management reform: Loan agreement advances budget execution and revenue administration reforms in Rajasthan.
A Loan Agreement between the Government of India and the World Bank finances a five-year project to strengthen public financial management in Rajasthan, combining international credit with state budget co-financing. The project targets improved budget execution, enhanced accountability and greater efficiency in revenue administration through strengthening the public financial management framework, reinforcing expenditure and revenue systems, and providing project management and capacity building; implementation responsibilities are assigned to state finance authorities and World Bank counterparts.

Stakeholder engagement extended, allowing additional time for submissions to the Task Force drafting the new direct tax law.
The Task Force constituted to review the Income-tax Act, 1961 and draft a New Direct Tax Law has had its term extended by three months to June 15, 2018; the deadline for stakeholder suggestions and feedback is similarly extended to June 15, 2018, with submissions required in the prescribed format via the departmental website and by e-mail to the designated address.

Trade regulation of poppy seeds: bilateral MoU establishes online registration, joint quota setting and certified contract verification.
Memorandum of Understanding creates a bilateral framework requiring the Turkish Grain Board to maintain an online registration system for exporters and sales contracts, with annual aggregate import quantities set jointly by the governments and per-importer allocations possible; the Central Bureau of Narcotics will register and upload contracts per Ministry of Finance guidelines and TMO will issue legal production certificates, permitting exports only for CBN-registered contracts to ensure transparent, legally verified imports.

Task Force for new direct tax law extended; deadline deferred to permit review of international practices and economic needs.
A Task Force was constituted to review the Income-tax Act, 1961 and draft a new direct tax law considering comparative direct tax systems, international best practices, and domestic economic needs. Its original six-month term for submitting a report to the Government has been extended by three months, with the extension approved by the Finance Minister to allow additional time for preparation and submission of the draft legislative recommendations.

Renewable energy investment: strengthen bankability and payment security to attract sustained private capital and scale deployment.
Recent tax incentives and initiatives have increased investor interest in renewable energy; sustained capital flow depends on bankability, governance, predictability and rate of return. Creation of a Payment Security Fund, distribution-company payment assurance, PPPs, storage technology development, and innovative financing instruments like bridge equity, patient capital and green bonds are recommended to de-risk projects and attract finance. State-level policy harmonization, addressing regulatory disparities, and technology and capacity development are urged to scale deployment.

Limits on borrowings: equal application to Centre and States with population weighted incentives and equity efficiency balance.
Permissible limits on borrowings under the Fiscal Consolidation roadmap should apply equally to Centre and States within an integrated macroeconomic framework, with contemporary population data weighted and rewards for population stabilization; the Commission must balance equity and efficiency in setting ceilings and incentives.

Grievance redressal: special fortnight to prioritise appeal effect, rectification orders and refund adjustment resolutions.
The board directed assessing officers to prioritise giving appeal effect and issuing rectification orders, allocate daily hearing time for applicants or counsel, expedite challan corrections to credit pre-paid taxes, and ensure deductors file correction statements to resolve statement mismatches; special attention is required for demands disputed under section 245 involving refund adjustments.

Exchange of tax information enables mutual assistance in collection, confidentiality protections, and dispute resolution between India and Brunei.
The agreement establishes Exchange of Information and Assistance in Collection between India and Brunei, enabling competent authorities to provide information foreseeably relevant to tax assessment, collection, enforcement, prosecution, and appeal determination, subject to confidentiality and restricted disclosure; it provides for automatic exchanges in specified categories, a Mutual Agreement Procedure for resolving differences, cross border assistance in collecting tax claims, entry into force after completion of domestic procedures, and allocation of extraordinary costs to the Government of India where specified.

Tariff value notification update adjusts import valuation for specified edible oils, metals, seeds and nuts under customs rules.
Amendment substitutes Tables 1-3 of the principal customs notification to revise tariff values used for customs assessment. The substituted schedule sets per metric tonne values for specified edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds and areca nuts, and per unit values for gold and silver where certain notification benefits are availed; importers and customs authorities are to apply the new tables for valuation and duty assessment under the Customs Act framework.

Dedicated regional think tank for North Eastern development to coordinate infrastructure, connectivity and resource mobilisation policies.
A centralised institutional mechanism is proposed to coordinate NER development through a dedicated think tank for the NER to set region-specific infrastructure and social priorities; adopt a corridor-based HIRA connectivity framework; leverage inland waterways via dredging and IWT financing; prioritize digital connectivity for difficult terrain; pursue bottom-up infrastructure and local value addition; build grassroots R&D; promote agri-based value chains and clean energy; and ensure tailored financing and institutional arrangements to address asymmetric resource mobilisation.

Guaranteed pension scheme secures broader enrolment and distribution through banks and post offices, expanding pension coverage nationwide.
Atal Pension Yojana is a government announced guaranteed pension scheme for unorganised sector workers delivering assured monthly pensions at age sixty based on subscriber contributions; the spouse is entitled to a pension and the nominee receives accumulated pension wealth. The scheme is delivered through all banks and post offices supported by an outreach campaign, and has achieved substantial enrolment growth and aggregate contribution mobilisation since launch.

Regional infrastructure development driving coordinated investments in connectivity, social services and multilateral financing for inclusive growth.
A two-day conference in Guwahati, organised by the Ministry of Finance with AIIB, RIS and FICCI, focused on reducing North East regional disparities through coordinated investment in physical connectivity (inland waterways, rail, air) and social infrastructure (health, education, female labour participation), while urging multilateral financing, private sector participation, digital connectivity and clean-energy projects tailored to the region.

Foreign investment approvals and dispositions announced, including approvals, a premature return, and a rejection.
Department of Economic Affairs disposed of five FDI proposals: three approved (including a domestic entity permitted to undertake financial leasing of ophthalmic equipment, an amendment on minimum capital norms, and approval for a foreign entity to acquire a majority stake in a proposed investing company with an identified upper limit), one returned as premature (acquisition of a derecognized stock exchange), and one rejected (post-facto approval for cumulative foreign investments in a domestic LLP).

Exchange of tax information expanded under India-Kuwait DTAA Protocol, permitting authorised sharing with other law enforcement agencies.
A Protocol amends the India-Kuwait DTAA to update exchange-of-information provisions to international standards and to authorise competent authorities to permit sharing of tax information received from the other State with other law enforcement agencies, subject to authorisation by the State that provided the information; the Protocol was signed on 15 January 2017, entered into force on 26 March 2018 and was notified in the Official Gazette on 4 May 2018.

International financial cooperation: request for expanded ADB sovereign and private financing and approval for offshore INR bond issuance.
Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs requested expanded ADB sovereign and non sovereign financing and greater private sector operations, noted government approval for ADB's offshore INR bond resource proposal, and sought the Bank's support for inclusive, sustainable growth and rapid economic transformation.

Digital infrastructure priority supports integration, resilience and financing innovation to bridge the rural urban digital divide.
Conference recommendations prioritize digital infrastructure as the foundational layer for integration of technologies into urban planning and transport to reduce congestion and enable real time city management; resilience planning should expand to hazard sensitive governance and community partnerships with utility mapping and comprehensive early warning systems; financing should diversify beyond PPPs to include land value capture and pooled institutional savings while public financing and regulatory oversight address technological obsolescence and market failures.

Conversion of inventory to capital asset: draft rule prescribes how fair market value is determined and invites stakeholder comments.
A Finance Act amendment treats profit from conversion of inventory into, or treatment as, a capital asset as business income and deems the fair market value of the inventory on the date of conversion, determined in the prescribed manner, to be the full value of consideration; a new rule is proposed in the Income-tax Rules to prescribe the methodology for determining that fair market value, and the tax authority has published a draft notification for stakeholder consultation.

Fair market value determination for inventory converted to capital asset specifies valuation methods under amended rules
Prescribes the method for determining fair market value of inventory when converted into or treated as a capital asset: immovable property is valued at the stamp-duty adopted/assessed value by government authority on the conversion date; jewellery, art, specified collections and referred shares or securities are valued under the mechanism in the related valuation rule with the valuation date as the conversion date; and all other property is valued at the price it would ordinarily fetch on sale in the open market on the conversion date.

Resilient infrastructure requires institutional and digital planning to balance urbanization with agronomization and enhance disaster preparedness.
The conference advocates institutional approaches for developing resilient and digital infrastructure by integrating anticipatory design, early warning systems and coordinated agency responses, while balancing urbanization with agronomization to maximise productivity and address geo climatic, resource and pollution risks through integrated governance, multi modal transportation planning and domestic capacity building.