Infrastructure investment showcase highlights national programs and global investor opportunities at India Infrastructure Expo in Mumbai.
An exposition held alongside the AIIB annual meeting brought central and state ministries, public and private sector companies and partner states together to showcase investment opportunities, project pipelines and technology solutions across transport, ports, oil & gas, urban and riverine initiatives, with thematic pavilions and networking facilities designed to facilitate financing and technical collaboration for flagship programs including Smart Cities, Sagarmala, Bharatmala, Ganga rejuvenation and railway modernisation.

Mobilizing finance for infrastructure spurred through AIIB annual meeting, launching forum to align innovative financing with projects.
Third Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will convene in Mumbai focusing on mobilizing finance for infrastructure via innovation and collaboration, including the inaugural Asian Infrastructure Forum to align project-driven financing with critical infrastructure needs. The two-day program will feature seminars on financing instruments, technology choices, gender and connectivity, panels with Chief Ministers, and an India Infrastructure Expo showcasing solutions, coordinated by designated government nodal agencies, a conference organiser, and a knowledge partner, with the Prime Minister inaugurating the meeting.

Black money investigations: fresh Panama Papers leads trigger coordinated MAG inquiries and follow-up tax and criminal probes.
Investigation of fresh Panama Papers disclosures is being coordinated by the Multi Agency Group (MAG). The procedure requires reconciling media information with taxpayers' annual returns-notably the Foreign Assets (FA) schedule and foreign remittance details-issuing queries, seeking information from foreign jurisdictions under tax treaties, and conducting searches, surveys or prosecutions where warranted. Prior MAG reviews produced many non-actionable files and a set of actionable matters addressed through searches, surveys, prosecution complaints and statutory notices under the Black Money framework.

Secondary adjustment repatriation timeframe begins from APA execution or from Assessing Officer's giving effect to MAP resolution.
The draft amendment revises the rule governing repatriation timing for secondary adjustments: where a primary transfer pricing adjustment is determined by an advance pricing agreement, the repatriation period begins on the date the APA is entered into; where the adjustment is determined by a mutual agreement procedure, the period begins when the Assessing Officer gives effect to the MAP resolution under the applicable procedural rule.

Appeal filing form revision to capture disputed amounts; draft amendments opened for stakeholder comments and consultation.
Proposed revisions to Form No.36, Form No.36A and Rule 47 of the Income tax Rules, 1962 aim to rationalise appeal and cross objection filings by adding fields to capture the amount disputed in pending ITAT appeals to aid litigation management; a draft notification has been uploaded for stakeholder comments to a specified email address by the stated deadline.

Income-tax Rules amendment: replace Form 36/36A and update rule 47 signatory reference to capture disputed amounts.
The draft substitutes references to sub-rule (2) of rule 45 with sub-rule (3) in rule 47(1) and (2) and replaces Form Nos. 36 and 36A with new forms that collect detailed appellant/respondent data, pending appeal particulars, and the amount disputed and payable in respect of disputed items to support litigation management.

Private sector participation in infrastructure drives innovative finance and credit enhancement to mobilise long term private investment.
Private sector participation is central to mobilising infrastructure finance, supported by government tools such as asset mobilisation schemes, credit enhancement measures, a dedicated credit rating approach, and investment vehicles including a national infrastructure fund, infrastructure investment trusts and public-private delivery models to expand investor opportunity and channel long term financing into infrastructure assets.

Pending appeal effect and rectification matters prioritized with an expedited fortnight for disposal and taxpayer redress.
A dedicated fortnight directs Assessing Officers to give top priority to expedited disposal of pending appeal effect and rectification matters, urging taxpayers and professional bodies to use the period to resolve outstanding appeal-effect adjustments and rectification requests and thereby facilitate prompt grievance redress.

Record preservation: investigation files confirmed secured and not destroyed despite office fire, assuaging concerns about loss.
Clarification that alleged destruction of investigation records in the Scindia House office fire is unfounded because records relating to the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi investigations had been transferred to assessment units in different buildings as part of the assessment process, and concerns about loss or damage are therefore misplaced.

Water and sanitation policy: promote user charges, decentralized treatment and technology-led waste management reforms.
Emphasis on promoting User Charges for operational cost recovery, reducing non revenue water and tariff design to protect the poor; advocating decentralized treatment, incentives for recycling and effective DBO contracts; and adopting low cost sanitation technologies and bio toilets.

Informant reward scheme offers confidential rewards for tip-offs on substantial domestic and foreign tax evasion actionable under tax laws.
The Income Tax Informants Reward Scheme, 2018 creates a reward mechanism for persons who provide prescribed information to designated Investigation Directorate officers about substantial tax evasion actionable under the Income-tax Act, 1961 or under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. Information must be given in the prescribed manner to the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation) or an authorized officer; foreigners are eligible and informant identities will be kept confidential.

Informant reward for benami transactions encourages reporting of hidden beneficial ownership and proceeds under the benami law.
A new administrative incentive, the Benami Transactions Informants Reward Scheme, 2018, offers rewards for specific information on benami property arrangements and income actionable under the Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (as amended), requires prescribed submissions to Joint or Additional Commissioners of Benami Prohibition Units in Investigation Directorates, extends eligibility to foreigners, and preserves informant confidentiality; scheme details are available from Income Tax offices and the Department's website.

Tariff value revision: customs notification updates valuation for specified edible oils, metals, and agricultural commodities.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs amends Notification No. 36/2001 Customs (N.T.) under section 14(2) of the Customs Act by substituting TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 with revised tariff values. The new tables fix US dollar per metric tonne or per unit benchmark values for specified goods including edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and specified gold and silver entries for valuation and customs assessment purposes.

Integrated water and sanitation management: prioritize outcome-based financing, community-led delivery, pricing reform, and verification mechanisms.
The seminar advocated a holistic, integrated approach combining infrastructure, behavioural change, outcome-based financing and public participation to sustain water and sanitation services. It promoted community-led, decentralized drinking water delivery under the Swajal model with government facilitation, independent verification of sanitation outcomes, pricing reforms to align financial and social objectives, subsidies targeted to connections, and use of proven low-cost technologies to scale interventions.

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.