- The NBFCs whose registration has been canceled include Kundan Leasing and Finvest, Raseera Investments, Limtex Impex, Dignity Motors Finance, Akansha Consultancy Services, Bini Commercial Enterprises, Nirankar Investments, and Surin Investments.
- Following the cancellation of registration certificate, these companies cannot transact the business of a non-banking financial institution. Earlier in March, 2016, the RBI had canceled registration of six other NBFCs.
RBI Signed Currency Swap Agreement with Sri Lanka’s Central Bank
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a Special Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on March 29, 2016. Under the arrangement, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka can draw up to $ 700 million for a maximum period of three months.
- This special arrangement is in addition to the existing Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for the SAARC Member Countries. Meanwhile, the RBI has announced special measures during the annual closing of Accounts of Banks on March 30 and 31, 2016.
- The proposal was decided with concurrence of the government in March, 2016 for short-term liquidity management in the context of India’s strong bilateral relations and economic ties with Sri Lanka.
CBDT Signed 11 more Advance Pricing Deals
- The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed 11 more unilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs) on March 29, 2016, taking the overall number to 59. They includes three bilateral APAs-one with Japan and two with the UK (signed in February, 2016).
- An APA is an agreement between a corporate taxpayer and the tax authority on its transfer pricing methodology and the tax rate applicable on inter-company transactions. It usually runs for a few years and helps avoid disputes with the tax authorities over transfer pricing.
- The latest round of 11 APAs cover a range of transactions, including ITeS, corporate guarantee, software development services, overseas distribution of goods manufactured by Indian companies and royalty payments.
USAID and ADB to Invest $ 848 Million in Indian Solar Parks
- The USAID and the ADB signed a MoU on March 28, 2016 to provide $ 848 million of funding for the development of solar parks across India.
- Through the agreement, USAID will align the technical resources of two of its programmes to support ADB’s investments in the development of solar parks and renewable energy transmission infrastructure in States at the forefront of India’s efforts to promote clean energy.
- The government has set a target of 175 Gigawatts of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022. Of this 100 GW is to come from solar power. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has said that it plans to set-up 25 solar parks with a total capacity of 20000 MW by 2020.
RBI issued Revised Framework for Revival and Rehabilitation of MSMEs
- As on March 25, .2016, the Reserve Bank of India revised rules pertaining to revival of advances to small businesses and asked lenders to form district-level committees to resolve stressed loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
