Section 80-IB (9) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (&lsquo;Act&rsquo;) provides for a tax holiday to an undertaking engaged in commercial production of mineral oil or refining of mineral oil. Tax holiday is available for a period of 7 consecutive tax years, starting from the year in which the undertaking begins commercial production or refining of mineral oil.

Web Excl: Restoration of tax breaks on natural gas output

Business Standard

The market was euphoric as it expected many reforms from the Budget. The Budget has pragmatically projected a slowing revenue growth and stressed the need for spending money on supporting the economy. It is clearly an aam aadmi Budget that has tried to put money in the hands of the consumer by increasing spending and cutting taxes. On the positive side, the abolition of fringe benefit tax (FBT) and surcharge on the income tax will help the aam admi. Introduction of GST by April 1, 2010 will also help in blocking the tax leakage and reducing regulatory arbitrage between unorganised and organised sectors.

An aam aadmi  Budget

One of the few young members of the UPA government, Sachin Pilot -- Minister of State for the Department of Information Technology (DIT) -- has taken charge of this portfolio at a time when there are great expectations from the information, communications and technology (ICT) industry. In a chat with Leslie D&rsquo;monte and Kirtika Suneja, the young minister broadly outlines his vision for the industry even as he's learning the ropes.

'Our aim is to connect rural India and have all Panchayats connected with broadband'

The Union Budget for 2009-10 estimated that the fiscal deficit for the current year would be 6.8 per cent of GDP, 1.3 percentage points higher than the interim budget had projected.

Subir Gokarn: Fiscal scenarios

For a country that doesn&rsquo;t take much interest in scientists, Gilles-Eric Seralini is probably as well known as a scientist can get in India. Seralini is professor of molecular biology at the University of Caen in France, and he hit the headlines here early in 2009 when his analysis of the research data on the country&rsquo;s first transgenic vegetable, the Bt brinjal, was presented to the Supreme Court of India. That&rsquo;s when all hell broke loose.

'GM food can cause the biggest health crisis'

Hopes of an economic recovery grew, with data for the output in six core infrastructure sectors rebounding in April, showing a 4.3 per cent increase &mdash; the most since July 2008 &mdash; on a better-than-expected performance in coal, electricity and cement.

Infrastructure sector rebounds in April

Exports contract for the eighth consecutive month.

May exports dip 30%

Prospects of a stable government at the Centre have prompted at least six economic forecasters to raise their growth estimates for the current fiscal, citing lower-than-expected political risk after the recent general elections.

Economists raise growth forecasts after elections

Industrial output expanded 1.4 per cent in April after two months of decline, leading experts to predict that the economy had bottomed out. A return to 8-plus per cent industrial expansion was, however, some time away, they added.

Factory output grows after 2-month decline

Chairman Ackerman, Congressman Rohrabacher, Congressman Wilson, Congressman Costa, thank you very much for inviting me here today. And let me say that I appreciate the committee&rsquo;s sustained interest in the South Asia region and welcome the opportunity to provide an overview of recent developments and our initiatives in South Asia.

&#39;We see India as a key partner that will help us shape the 21st century&#39;

Does a utility have a duty to serve its customers first, even if there is short-term financial loss involved? The question has come up in the context of the huge power cuts the capital city has been facing in two of the three circles that are run by the Anil Ambani-managed BSES. The question acquires a sharper edge when the power distribution company in another part of the city, run by the Tata-managed NDPL, has amuch better record on meeting demand (as it does on cutting transmission and distribution losses). BSES will argue that the heat wave has raised the demand for electricity, while the shortage of water in hydel power projects affected supply (the company points to 500 MW of committed supplies having fallen short), but the plain fact is that a rival company has met the surge in summer demand by managing supply better.

Failing your customers

The headline inflation rate for the week ended April 18 this year went up because of a rise in prices of primary articles, especially food items.

Inflation rate rises further to 0.57 per cent

Industries adversely affected by a sharp fall in exports.

March industrial output dips 2.3%

India&rsquo;s exports have declined for the seventh consecutive month in April.

Exports fall 33% in April

A Reserve Bank-conducted survey today lowered India's growth rate projection to 7.5 per cent per annum for the next 10 years, down from 8.8 per cent estimated earlier.

RBI survey lowers growth projection for next 10 years to 7.5%

Press Trust of India

Employment in some sectors under observation increased by 250,000 in the quarter ended March 2009, a survey by the Labour Bureau revealed today. In the previous quarter, a similar survey by the Bureau had shown 500,000 job losses in the same sectors.

Survey shows jobs recovery in March quarter

Harshad Mehta was the man behind the biggest stock-market swindle in India. He manipulated stock prices by exploiting loopholes in the banking system. Mehta and his associates used funds available from inter-bank transactions to buy shares at a premium that contributed to a sharp rise in the Sensex, the Bombay Stock Exchange&rsquo;s benchmark index.

A K Bhattacharya: The other Satyam question

In a quiet move, just two days before the Lok Sabha election dates were announced on March 2, the government passed an order for constituting a Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into some contentious issues regarding the auction of third generation (3G) spectrum.

Govt sets up GoM to look into 3G issue

Days after announcing excise duty cuts on commodities like steel and cement, the government is working on a plan to provide a major stimulus to the chemicals and petrochemicals industry by revising Customs/excise duty on inputs required by the industry.

Govt plans stimulus package for chemical industry

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation rate expanded the least in more than six years, as manufactured products like textiles, machinery as well as metals and alloys became cheaper.

Inflation slips to 2.43%, experts predict deflation

A fall in the reserve assets to the tune of $25.8 billion during the three-month period ended September 2008 over the previous quarter resulted in decline in India&rsquo;s total external financial assets by 5.21 per cent.

External financial assets down 5.21%

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