1
|
933
29.4.2016
|
Foreign Exchange Reserve
total foreign exchange reserve in the country at present - US$ 360.3
billion as on 15th April, 2016; names of the countries whose currency
is included in the country's foreign exchange reserves; amount invested by
the RBI out of the said reserves during the last three years - portfolio
of reserves invested largely in major currencies like US dollar, Great
Britain pound, euro and Japanese yen; likely impact on prices as a
result of not using the said reserves for production of work - level of
FER/FCA not affecting prices directly
|
2
|
939
29.4.2016
|
ECB Norms
whether the Government has asked the RBI to reconsider its External
Commercial Borrowing (ECB) norms to allow foreign currency debt to
infrastructure for medium term also and if so, the details thereof- minimum
average maturity period of 5 years, subject to 100% hedging from March, 2016;
whether in the event of the ECB being allowed under medium term, the
Government expects good investments in infrastructure projects; and if so,
the details thereof - It has been decided to allow companies in infrastructure
sector, Non-Banking Financial Companies-Infrastructure Finance Companies
(NBFC-IFCs), NBFCs-Asset Finance Companies (NBFC-AFCs), Holding Companies and
Core Investment Companies (CICs) to raise foreign currency denominated
External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) with minimum average maturity period of
5 years subject to 100 per cent hedging
|
3
|
944
29.4.2016
|
Loan Restructure
whether a number of private companies have not been able to service
their debt for the last three years, if so, the details thereof; whether the
Government has issued any guidelines wherein the companies have to offload
their shares or sell some assets and repay some part of loan before banks do
restructuring, if so, the details thereof- as per RBI circular on Joint Lenders’
Forum (JLF) dated February 26, 2014, the general principle of restructuring
mandates shareholders to bear the first loss rather than the debt holders to
ensure more ‘skin in the game’ of promoters. Accordingly, the JLF/Corporate
Debt Restructuring (CDR) may consider any of the following options when a loan
is restructured:• Transfer of equity of the borrower company by promoters to
lenders for compensation of their sacrifice;• Infusion of more funds by the
promoters; • Transfer of promoters’ holdings to a security trustee or an
escrow arrangement till turnaround of the company. Further, a clause for sale of
non-core assets may be stipulated as a condition for restructuring of account
by the JLF/CDR.; and concentration of 60 per cent of stressed assets
in metals and infrastructure companies which account for three forth of banks
corporate loans- The advances and NPAs towards metal and infrastructure
companies accounts for 44.55% and 38.27% of corporate advances and corporate
NPAs of PSBs, details given
|
4
|
997
29.4.2016
|
Assistance from World Bank
details of World Bank funded projects approved/amount received and
assistance provided during each of the last three years, State-wise; amount
spent on various projects during the said period? Annexures not accompanied
in reply in website
|
5
|
1011
29.4.2016
|
Value of Rupee
continuous depreciation in value of Indian rupee in the recent years against US dollar, UK pound and Euro with
reasons last three years; depletion of country's foreign exchange reserves
significantly details of in 2014-15, Indian rupee depreciated against US dollar and
UK pound by 1.0 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. Effective measures taken by the
Government to arrest the depreciation in rupee value- the exchange
rate of the rupee is market determined and is impacted by both domestic as
well as external developments. The exchange rate policy is aimed at managing
excessive volatility and maintaining orderly conditions without having any
fixed target or band for the exchange rate. The Government and RBI are
closely monitoring the emerging external position.
|
6
|
†1058
29.4.2016
|
Debt of the Country
per capita internal and external debt of the country during each of
the last three years and the current year till date; growth in the domestic
and foreign debt disproportionate to the growth in GDP for the same period
and if so, the details thereof and reaction of the Government- its within
manageable level, in 2015-16 and 2016-17 growth in debt and gdp estimated at
10.4 and 8.6% 7.9 and 11% respectively; and measures taken or proposed to be
taken to improve the scenario- adopted the path of fiscal consolidation with
gradual exit from the fiscall unsupported expansionary measures in a
calibrated manner.
|
7
|
1080
29.4.2016
|
Utilization of Funds
imbalance between funds allocation and utilization by various
Ministries under their various welfare schemes, reasons therefor with the
reaction thereto, Ministry/ Department-wise during each of the last three
years; measures being taken by the Government to ensure administrative
efficacy in executing the plans/schemes of various Ministries - Administrative
efficacy in implementation of various Schemes has been ensured through
rationalization of programs and schemes, minimizing the number of CSSs to
avoid too thin spread of resources, strict enforcement of provisions related
to Utilization Certificates, Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT), efforts to
minimize idle parking of funds, midyear Budget review, etc.
|
8
|
†1106
29.4.2016
|
Loans from Industrial
Financial Institutions
details of outstanding loan of Government towards each of the
Industrial Financial Institutions such as WB, ADB etc.- adb 660 million; wb-
615 million; ida 1637 million and ifad 21 million (approximately); amount of
the loan during the last three years, year-wise and institution-wise along
with the reasons therefor- adb 4263cr, 6580 cr and 7176.90 crs; ibrd 3402 cr,
5634.81 cr and 5782.39 cr; wb(da) 6738.90 cr, 8015.20 cr and 9439.71 cr and
ifad 210.29 cr, 191.74 cr and 220.05 cr for 2013-14, 2014-15 amd 2015-16
respectively; steps taken by the Government in this regard
|
9
|
1107
29.4.2016
|
ADB Growth Forecast
Lowering of India's growth forecast ADB to 7.4 per cent for 2016-17;
details and reasons/factors cited by the ADB behind its forecast about
India's growth rate - The details and reasons cited by ADB for lower growth rate
during 2016-17 are as under :-
• Public investment will continue to be an
important driver of growth, as the government is expected to use savings from
oil to further boost government investment. However, the finances available
to ramp up investment in 2016-17 will be smaller than in 2015-16, given the
government’s commitment to fiscal consolidation and increased outgo on
account of a higher public sector wage bill.
• Anemic growth in advanced economies
including the United States and Euro area, lower export commodity prices, and
weaker currencies in some major trading partners vis-Ã -vis the Indian rupee
are likely to hit merchandise exports and financial, telecom, business, and
other tradable services. Lower net exports would thus impinge on growth.
|
10
|
1132
29.4.2019
|
Violation Cases of FDI
Norms
FDI inflows during each of the last three years and the current year
along with the details of the present norms prescribed by the Government for
FDI by companies into the country; cases of violation of FDI norms by many
companies have been reported and forwarded to the Directorate of Enforcement
(DoE) for investigation during the said period; company-wise- 1012-13 34,298;
2013-14 36,046; 2014-15 44,291 and 2015-16 till Feb ’16 51,636 crore
|
11
|
*181
6.5.2016
|
Direct Benefit Transfer
details of schemes and subsidy outgo channelised under the Direct
Benefit Transfer (DBT) regime in the country, scheme and State/UT-wise; extent
to which leakages plugged and subsidy fine tuned thereunder in the aftermath
of DBT MGNREGS, NSAP(IGNOAPS, IGNWPS&IGNDPS) oF and ministries of RD,
PNG,HRD, Mo Labour; TA, SJE, H&FW, Finance(LIC), Culture, Defence
(Kendiya Sainik Board), S&T. Total of 61,824.30 crore in 2015-2016 transferred;
assessment of achievements and benefits accrued under these schemes; proposals
to cover all schemes of the Union Government under DBT; steps taken/being
taken by the Government
Points emerged during
Question Hour:-number of bank mitras increased, possibility of making
payment through mobile phones. 50% of the Indians who did not have access to
bank account were able to have a bank account, ensuring that every citizen
has a bank account and can easily access the bank account by equipping each
post office with an ATM, micro-ATM by building out the Bank Mitra and so on,
major benefits are NREGA payments as well as PAHAL, direct subsidy cash
transfer and scholarships. For future pilot programmes, such as for example
the health insurance programme as well as other social security benefits like
pension that we may be able to offer
|
12
|
SQ 190
6.5.2016
|
National Infrastructure
Investment Fund
initial corpus and current level of NIIF set up to reduce the
financial gap for infrastructure projects in the country – Rs. 40000 crore,
may be raised from time to time; investment made last three years, sector and
year-wise; MoU signed between India, UAE for long term investment in NIIF –
February 11, 2016; terms of conditions, principles and other criteria laid
down jointly by both the countries to take forward the cooperation as
envisaged in the MoU – the MoU is designed to establish a transparent and
high level framework and collaboration platform. No
supplementaries
|
13
|
2077
6.5.2016
|
Direct Cash Transfer
Iinitiation of Direct Cash Transfer system to millions of poor
beneficiaries under various Government schemes and if so, the details thereof
–In 2015-16, Rs. 61,824.32 crore has been
disbursed to 30.78 crore accounts in 59 schemes of 14 Ministries/
Departments.; - The roles and responsibility of State/UT Government in
enumerating and identifying of the beneficiaries as under:
(i) To accurately identify beneficiary as per
the eligibility norms of the scheme.
(ii) To capture the details of the
beneficiaries with Aadhaar and bank account.
(iii) To digitise and upload the beneficiary’s
details on IT portal.
(iv) To update the beneficiary details
regularly
|
14
|
2086
6.5.2016
|
Hiring Professionals from
Abroad
To run signature programmes in various Ministries/Departments of the
Government; assessment of the works done/achievements made under the services
of these hired professionals - Long Term concessional loans and Official
Development Assistance is accepted by the Government of India in the form of
loans, credits and grants from bilateral partner countries and Multilateral
Institutions; the stand of the Government with regard to connection of
this process of hiring foreign professionals - outcome of utilising the services of
such professionals and achievements under specific projects are
monitored/assessed by respective Ministries/Departments on a regular basis.
|
15
|
2116
6.5.2016
|
Austerity Measures
data pertaining to public expenditure, last three years - from
Consolidated Fund of India 2012-13 5029810.80; 2013-14 5286232.27; 2014-15
5616843.05; austerity measures to contain rising public expenditure
has helped save funds; last two years - No accounts specifically on saving of
funds maintained
|
16
|
2158
6.5.2016
|
Effect of Devaluation of
Yuan
Affect on India's exports and manufacturing industry of recent
devaluation of Yuan steps taken to protect manufacturing sector and boost the
export sector; Government objection for including Yuan in the basket of currencies
which determines Special Drawing Rights of IMF; receipt of report or
complaints from Indian industries including steel and tyre industries
regarding dumping by China; steps taken to protect domestic industries - On the
basis of petitions filed by the domestic industry, Directorate General of
Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties (DGAD) has recently initiated investigations
on imports of steel and tyres from China and some other countries. Safeguard
duty @20% has been imposed on HR coils for a period of two and a half years
w.e.f 14.09.2015
|
17
|
2167
6.5.2016
|
CSR Spending for Swachh
Bharat Programme
Swachh Bharat cess introduced in November 2015 to mop Rs. 10,000
crores in 2016-17; Indian corporates to set aside 30% of their CSR spend for
Swachh Bharat to help the Centre to raise over Rs. 2 lakh crores over the
next three years for Swachh Bharat programme; response thereof; further stand
taken - no proposal to mandate Corporates to set aside 30% of their CSR spending
for Swachh Bharat under consideration of the Government.
|
18
|
2177
6.5.2016
|
Moody's Rating of 'Make in
India' Initiative
Call of international credit rating agencies including Moody's of 'Make
in India' initiative a success; reaction of the Government; FDI inflows
hitting more than financing the CAD for the first time since 2004; the
foreign reserves during each of the last three years - Moody’s
Investors Service in its Report titled “Government of India: Rising Foreign
Direct Investment Provides Stable Financing of Current Account Deficit, a
Credit Positive” which was released on 7th April, 2016 has observed, “The
rise in FDI points to stronger investor interest in India on the back of
robust economic growth. Higher inflows also suggest that recent government
policies, such as efforts to liberalize foreign investment limits in several
sectors and the ''Make in India'' initiative, are bearing fruit.”
This report is a reflection of growing
international recognition of the Government’s policy of giving a boost to the
manufacturing sector through the ‘Make in India’ initiative
|
19
|
2222
6.5.2016
|
Expenditure Management
Commission
Submission of Bimal Jalan headed Expenditure Management Commission
suggesting a slew of measures to stream Government spendings and plug the
leakage of subsidies, action taken ;call of the report calls for using direct
benefit transfers for scholarships, pensions and subsidies as well and also
for streamlining of expenditure and review grants made to autonomous bodies;
other major recommendations made by the Commission; follow-up action - The
Expenditure Management Commission has submitted its final report and the
report is under examination
|
20
|
2243
6.5.2016
|
MoU with IMF
MoU with IMF to establish SARTTAC in the national capital; the
objective behind this move – to give a fillip to capacity development efforts,
It
will provide training to government and public sector employees, enhance
their technical and analytical skills and improve the quality of their inputs
into policy. It will also provide technical assistance to governments and
public institutions in various areas such as macroeconomic policy, macro- and
micro-prudential regulation, financial sector supervision as well as national
accounts, statistics and forecasting. ;
terms and conditions of the MoU; number of courses being offered for policy
makers and other Government agencies; time by which centre is likely to be
established and made functional - during 2016-17 and will become fully
operational in 2017-18
|
21
|
2247
6.5.2016
|
FRBMA
steps taken by the Government to move on the path of reduction in
revenue deficit and fiscal deficit as per the mandate of the FRBM Act and
achievement thereon during each of the last three years - Government
is committed to carry forward the process of fiscal consolidation as per
targets assigned by the FRBM Act / rules. Fiscal consolidation has been
designed with judicious mix of rationalization in total expenditure as a
percentage of GDP and improvement in gross tax and non-tax revenues as a
percentage of GDP with improved balance between revenue and capital
expenditure. 2015-16 FD
3.9% and 2.5% ; 2014-15 4.1% and 2.9% ; 2013-14 4.4% and 3.2% of FD and RD of
GDP; shortfall in the FRBM and action taken or proposed - FRBM Act,
2003 was amended in the year 2015 and the FRBM (amendment) rules, 2015 were
notified, timeframe to achieve deficit targets extended to 31st March, 2018;
sources through which the Government has attempted to raise additional funds-
augmenting all sources of revenue; quantum of funds used for payment of
interest on borrowings by the Government – interest payment in RE 2015-16
4,42,620 crore and BE 2016-17 4,92,670 crore; near term fiscal deficit target
for the country and steps taken or proposed to taken to achieve the same
target 3.5% of GDP
|
22
|
2260
6.5.2016
|
Indian’s Current Account
Deficit
assessment/study on CAD, to increase sharply by 2021 – 1.3 % of GDP;
outcome thereof; WEO and IMF projecting the increase in country's CAD - in billion
US dollar and as % of GDP- 2016 -34.5 -1.5 2017 -51.8 -2.1; 2018 -58.7 -2.2; 2019 -69.8 -2.3;
2020 -82.2 -2.5; 2021 -94.7 -2.6
Source: WEO database, April 2016, IMF; reaction of the
Government
|
23
|
2262
6.5.2016
|
REER of Rupee
method and reason behind calculating the REER of the Indian Rupee - REER index
constructed using CPI for both India and trade partner countries would ensure
a higher degree of comparability of former’s international competitiveness
vis-Ã -vis trading partner countries, three parameters (i) exchange rate of
respective countries, (ii) trade weights and (iii) relative prices; weight
age assigned to various currencies- while calculating the index and reasons;
details of REER of the Indian Rupee between 2004-2015
|
24
|
2280
6.5.2016
|
Crisis in China
assessment of the recent crisis in China and its possible impact on
the Indian economy; sectors/areas of the economy likely to be affected - the WEO and
IMF (April 2016)indicated that economic activity in some Asian advanced
economies closely integrated with China weakened sharply during the first
half of 2015, owing in part to steep decline in exports; steps to
protect and boost the Indian economy and to maintain the credibility of FIIs
- The
new FPI Regulations that came into effect from 1st June 2014 have adopted a
risk-based approach towards customer identity verification of FPIs
|
25
|
2290
6.5.2016
|
Stand-up Schemes
approval to ‘Stand-up India’ Schemes for promoting entrepreneurship
among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women; schemes - manufacturing,
services or the trading sector.; amount of funds earmarked/ provided
under the said schemes - loans to be extended by banks, a credit guarantee fund of
Rs 5,000 crore for providing guarantee cover for such loans approved, initial
capital of Rs 500 crores to the corpus in FY 2016-17 made; targeted
jobs provision under the said schemes in the next three years - 2.5 lakh
borrowers based on two new enterprises by a bank branch. Each enterprise will
provide jobs depending on the nature of its operations.
|
26
|
2295
6.5.2016
|
Indebtedness of India
Increase in external debt in 2015-16 - total external debt stock stood at US$480.2
billion at end-December 2015, recording an increase of US$ 4.9 billion (1.0
per cent) over the level at end-March 2015 and US$ 21.4 billion (4.7 per
cent) over end-December 2014. However, on a sequential basis, total external
debt at end-December 2015 declined by US$ 1.2 billion from the end-September
2015 level. ;
quarter-wise details of the Government and non-Government external debt in
2015-16 along with the reasons for this increase in external debt; value of
foreign exchange paid as interest on such loans/debts during each of the last
three financial years – interest payment (US$ million)as at end of end-March
2012-13 10,944; 2013-14 11,175; 2014-15 PR 12,602;
efforts to reduce the burden of the said interest along with the outcome - As a result,
India’s external debt to GDP ratio remained at a comfortable level of 23.8
per cent in 2014-15
|
27
|
2296
6.5.2016
|
Internationalization of
Rupee
advantages of having Rupee as an international currency- greater
degree of integration with the world economy, reduced foreign exchange
exposure for Indian corporates, reduction in dependence on forex reserves for
balance of payments stability, etc.; challenges; requirements for evolving
Rupee as an international currency; stand of the Government - one of the
important drivers is the country’s share in global merchandise and commercial
services trade which India has on the lower side. Recently a framework for
issuance of Rupee dominated bonds overseas by Indian corporate was put in
place
|
