Advance Pricing Agreements expand India's APA programme, strengthening non-adversarial transfer pricing resolution and international certainty.
The document reports expansion of India's Advance Pricing Agreement programme through additional unilateral and bilateral APAs, covering diverse sectors and international transactions such as IT-enabled services, software development, contract manufacturing, royalties and sale of goods, and notes that bilateral agreements enhance predictability and support a non-adversarial tax regime for resolving complex transfer pricing matters.

Secondment programme enables bilateral officer exchanges under fixed-term MoUs with non-extendable short-term assignments for mutual capacity building.
Approval is granted for parallel Memoranda of Understanding establishing a Secondment Programme between the Department of Economic Affairs (IES cadre) and the Australian Treasury to exchange one officer each at Deputy Secretary/Director level for fixed-term, three-month secondments commencing on or after 15.1.2018; the MoUs terminate at the end of the assignment and are not extendable, with repetition in subsequent years possible only by mutual consultation and agreement.

Double taxation agreement update: protocol adopts international exchange-of-information standards and implements BEPS minimum standards between parties.
The Cabinet approved signing and ratification of a protocol amending the bilateral Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion, modernising the treaty by updating exchange of information provisions to contemporary international standards and incorporating changes required to implement treaty-related minimum standards from the BEPS project, together with additional bilateral BEPS-consistent amendments to the treaty's compliance and information-exchange framework.

Advance Pricing Agreement expansions broaden India's APA programme with multiple unilateral and bilateral signings, including first bilateral with USA.
Signing of multiple Advance Pricing Agreements progressed India's APA regime with five Unilateral APAs and two Bilateral APAs in January 2018, including the first bilateral with the USA; the APAs cover diverse sectors and international transactions such as IT services, software development, contract manufacturing, royalty payments and sale of goods, and the scheme is presented as fostering a non-adversarial tax regime addressing complex transfer pricing issues.

Monetary policy: repo rate held at 6.0% with a neutral stance; inflation and growth projections updated.
The MPC kept the policy repo rate at 6.0% and maintained a neutral stance, citing elevated CPI inflation driven by food and HRA effects, improving but uneven activity, and liquidity moving toward neutrality. It projected CPI at 5.1% for Q4 2017 18 and 5.1-5.6% (H1) and 4.5-4.6% (H2) for 2018 19, with upside risks from HRA increases, commodity prices, MSP and customs duty changes, and fiscal slippage. GVA growth was projected at 6.6% for 2017 18 and 7.2% for 2018 19. Voting was 5-1 to hold rates.

Investor awareness programmes spotlight enforcement actions and the fact trading is not automatically suspended after payment complaints.
Investor Awareness Programmes were scaled through collaboration between the Investor Education and Protection Fund, professional institutes, and Common Service Centres, supported by media outreach and impact assessment showing usefulness. Administrative follow-up included initiation of actions against companies on investor grievance data, while the securities regulator noted that trading in scrips of companies with alleged outstanding investor dues is not automatically suspended upon complaint.

Regulatory impact assessment promoted to streamline approvals and reduce regulatory burden for domestic and foreign investment.
The Better Regulatory Advisory Group will identify and reduce regulatory burden affecting domestic and foreign investment and establish a mechanism for Regulatory Impact Assessment of proposed regulations to speed approvals and improve predictability. Six sectoral sub groups - covering Income tax, Goods and Services Tax, Corporate Laws, Financial Securities Laws, Regulatory Impact Assessment methodology, and MSME regulation - will diagnose bottlenecks and recommend best practices to streamline compliance and facilitate investment.

Share valuation disputes: no coercive recovery where startup DCF valuations are modified; appeals to be expedited.
For companies qualifying as Start Up under the DIPP notification G.S.R. 501 (E), where Assessing Officers have modified or rejected DCF-based valuations furnished under Rule 11UA(2) and made additions under the charging provision for receipt in excess of fair market value, the Board directs that no coercive measures be taken to recover the disputed demand and that appeals pending before the Commissioner (Appeals) be disposed of expeditiously, preferably by 31 March 2018.

Tax benefits for SEZs urged restored to revive exports and jobs, including removal of minimum alternate tax.
The Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs seeks restoration of pre-amendment SEZ tax benefits to support growth and employment, urging removal of the Minimum Alternate Tax and continuation of incentives. SEZ units receive 100% income tax exemption on export income for the first five years, 50% for the next five years, and 50% of ploughed-back export profits for an additional five years; the Council links the sector's decline to imposition of MAT and a sunset clause.

Tax burden unevenness: salaried taxpayers bear higher average tax than business taxpayers, prompting tech-driven compliance measures.
Unevenness in tax incidence between salaried and business income is highlighted, with salaried individuals paying higher average tax than individual business taxpayers. The government is addressing this through expansion of the taxpayer base and deployment of technological compliance measures-including invoice matching and e-way bills-linked to GST and other reforms, alongside phased corporate tax reductions and continued action on post-demonetisation declarations.

Procedural fairness in public procurement strengthened through transparency, accountability and e-marketplace to improve service delivery.
Procedural fairness in public procurement is promoted through transparency and tightened accountability to secure competitive price, quality and timely service delivery and to reduce nepotism and corruption. Measures include the Government e-Marketplace for online purchases and strengthened procurement rules and multi-level accountability. Regional knowledge exchange via the South Asia Region Public Procurement Network and the Fifth Conference aims to share best practices on procurement for service delivery, oversight mechanisms, ICT and PPP roles, and to disseminate innovations for improving national procurement systems.

Excise duty exemptions extend to bio-diesel and ethanol blends, and several notifications are rescinded or amended.
Exemptions remove the additional duty of excise (road and infrastructure cess) on specified fuel blends, including diesel with alkyl esters (bio-diesel) up to twenty percent and petrol blended with ethanol at prescribed blend levels; an amendment lowers Basic Excise Duty on petrol and diesel; duties on Fourth Schedule goods are limited to amounts not exceeding a fifty percent-calculated rate; and multiple prior central excise notifications are rescinded.

Loan agreement expands rural enterprise access to finance and jobs via matching grant model and SHG women targeting.
A loan agreement establishes a programme to promote rural enterprises and access to finance in Tamil Nadu using a matching grant mechanism funding 30 percent of business plans and leveraging 70 percent from other lenders, targeting SHG households-especially women and disadvantaged groups-to support value added activities. The Project will be implemented in 120 blocks across 26 districts with phased roll out, a Marketplace to scale innovations, business development services, and an e governance MIS; financing includes a long grace period and extended maturity to support implementation.

Economic Survey highlights GST-driven taxpayer growth, larger formal sector, export-prosperity link, and climate impacts on agriculture.
The Economic Survey reports that GST adoption coincided with a 50% increase in indirect taxpayers and voluntary registrations, linking GST base distribution to state economic size; redefining formality shows a larger formal non farm payroll (31% by social security, 53% by GST inclusion); state export data correlate strongly with higher per capita prosperity; India's largest firms contribute a smaller share of exports than peers; ROSL raised some garment exports by ~16%; son preference skews sex ratios; tax litigation has low success rates with concentrated value at stake; investment growth-not savings-drives expansion; subnational direct tax collections lag peers; climate change has reduced agricultural yields, especially in unirrigated areas.

Contract enforcement must be strengthened through coordinated government-judiciary reforms to reduce pendency and boost commerce.
The central issue is strengthening an effective and expeditious contract enforcement regime to support economic activity. Delays and pendency across courts and tribunals impair dispute resolution, investment and tax administration. Recommended measures include expanding lower-court capacity, digitization, improved case-management, creation of subject-matter and stage-specific benches, stricter timelines for stayed cases, and incentives for States to reduce pendency, supported by coordinated action between the executive and judiciary under a concept of Cooperative Separation of Powers.

IBC mechanism actively resolving bank NPAs as judicial adjudication and evolving case-law reduce legal uncertainty in insolvency resolution.
The Economic Survey highlights active deployment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) with prescribed strict time limits and an institutional ecosystem, and attributes its effectiveness in resolving bank NPAs to timely judicial adjudication; evolving case-law is reducing legal uncertainty in insolvency resolution.

Inclusive employment intensive industry drives policy focus, paired with resilient infrastructure to boost growth and jobs.
Promoting inclusive employment intensive industry and building resilient infrastructure are central policy objectives supported by structural reforms (GST, insolvency framework, bank recapitalisation) and sector specific measures for steel, MSMEs, textiles, leather and gems. The Survey links industrial and core sector output trends, improved credit and FDI inflows, and enhanced ease of doing business rankings to these initiatives, and stresses transport, logistics, power and digital infrastructure programmes as essential for sustained growth and employment generation.

Inflation averaged 3.3% in 2017-18, broadly easing except housing and fuel, influenced by food and agricultural trends.
CPI-based headline inflation averaged 3.3% in 2017-18-the lowest in six years-remaining under 4% for a year; the decline was broad-based except for Housing and Fuel & Light, with food inflation benign Apr-Dec. The Survey credits good agricultural output and government price monitoring for moderation, notes a recent rise in vegetable and fruit prices, and records divergent rural (food-driven) and urban (housing-driven) inflation patterns, with 17 states posting inflation below 4%.

Price stabilization measures: government-imposed stock limits, export/import controls and buffer stocks to moderate essential commodity prices.
The Government combines supply incentives, administrative enforcement and trade controls to moderate essential commodity prices: raising procurement support to boost production; building and using a dynamic buffer stock of pulses and a Price Stabilization Fund for market intervention; issuing advisories to states against hoarding and black marketing; and imposing stock-holding limits, export restrictions with minimum export price conditions, and calibrated import relaxations to augment domestic supply for public distribution and sectoral requirements.

Climate change commitment reinforces renewable energy expansion and urban financing to support sustainable development goals.
India aligns domestic climate policy with Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and the Paris Pledge, prioritising renewable energy expansion and sustainable, affordable energy to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. The Survey promotes financing measures for urban infrastructure-municipal bonds, PPPs and credit risk guarantees-and records continued programmematic and budgetary support, including technology watch groups and a National Adaptation Fund to implement climate action and resilience measures.