Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme for exporters extended by one year.
The Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved a proposal to extend the popular Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme for exporters by one year. The scheme refunds duties paid by exporters on inputs and covers nearly 52 per cent of the country's merchandise exports.
With the DEPB's extension, the government will have another year to finalise the contours of its successor policy. The replacement policy was aimed at refunding inputs like electricity and fuel costs for exporters.
The Cabinet also cleared the proposal to sell ITI's entire stake in FIBCOM for Rs 11.60 crore (Rs 110.6 million)against its initial investment of Rs 4.60 crore (Rs 46 million) in 1994.
It approved extension of the time period for telecom companies to comply with norms related to increase in the Foreign Direct Investment cap from 49 per cent to 74 per cent.
The committee approved the proposal to introduce the National Institute of Technology Bill 2006 which will bring all 19 National Institutes of Technology under its ambit. Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said the move was aimed at putting them at par with the premier Indian Institutes of Technology in the country.
However, there was no official comment on the proposed hike in DA by 3 per cent. Dasmunshi said the Election Commission had barred the government from making announcements on this front, on account of the upcoming state elections.
The Cabinet approved the Banking Regulation (Amendments) Bill 2005, which accords greater operational flexibility and regulatory powers to the Reserve Bank of India. The Bill will allow RBI to lay down policy and issue directions to monitor them.
The Cabinet gave its approval to amend the Reserve Bank of India (Amendment) Bill to modify the definitions of repo and reverse repo to bring them in line with market usage and common practice followed internationally.
An agreement between India and Iceland for cooperation in areas of culture and education was also approved. The five-year agreement will involve organising bilateral workshops, seminars, training and exhibitions and exchange of representatives of universities and other institutions between the two countries.
The Cabinet gave its nod to transfer of Gobindgarh fort at Amritsar, currently under the ministry of defence, to the Punjab government without any additional costs.
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