News digest: E-way bill, UltraTech moves NCLT, PNB fraud, and more

Small orders that are part of a large consignment out for multiple deliveries within a state may not require an e-waybill in the GST regime

UltraTech takes fight for Binani Cement to NCLT after bid rejection 

The Aditya Birla group’s UltraTech Cement moved to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Kolkata on Tuesday against the resolution professional for Binani Cement after its bid for the cement company undergoing insolvency proceedings was rejected.

The Kumar Mangalam Birla company had earlier served a notice to the resolution professional asking for details on the weight given to its bid as compared to the winning bid by a consortium consisting of Dalmia Bharat and Bain Capital’s India Resurgent Fund and Piramal Enterprises. Read more here...

Weakness in banking stocks is weighing on overall market performance

The weakness in banking stocks is weighing on overall market performance. The financial sector accounts for a third of the weight in the benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices. The Nifty 50 index is down nearly eight per cent or 880 points from its all-time high of 11,130 on January 29. The bulk of the decline is on account of a slump in share prices of the leading banks, including State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank. Four of the five biggest losers on the Nifty since January 29 are bank stocks.

The Bank Nifty index, which has high correlation with the Nifty, is down 11 per cent from its peak. All the 12 components have come off sharply from their one-year highs. State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB), Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda have declined the most, between 35 per cent and 58 per cent.  Read more here...

Relief for suppliers? E-way bill may not be needed for small orders 

Small orders that are part of a large consignment out for multiple deliveries within a state may not require an electronic-way (e-way) bill in the goods and services tax (GST) regime. This will come as relief for e-commerce and consumer goods suppliers. The e-way bill requirement will be limited to items priced over Rs 50,000 for intrastate supply.  

This is among changes expected in the GST e-way bill to ease the compliance burden and will likely be taken up by the GST Council during its meeting on Saturday.

The exemption, however, will not apply to interstate movement of consignments. Read more here...

Trade war: Trump faces last-ditch push by aides, allies to thwart tariffs 

US President Donald Trump is facing a last-ditch effort from within his own administration and Republican lawmakers to head off steep tariffs on steel and aluminium that threaten to unleash a global trade war.
 

White House economic advisor Gary Cohn is summoning executives from US companies that depend on the metals to meet this week with Trump to try to persuade him to blunt or halt the tariffs announced last week, according to two people familiar with the matter. Read more here...

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Help to telecom sector might be on Union Cabinet agenda today 

The Union Cabinet is likely on Wednesday to consider the recommendations of an inter-ministerial group (IMG) on how to ease financial stress in the telecom sector.

The proposals include easing of spectrum holding limits for telecom companies, raising the tenure of spectrum payment to 16 years and changes in interest rates. If approved, these should ease the financial pressure on operators in the short term. Also, to help entities under stress to exit the sector, while providing an opportunity for larger ones to consolidate.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended raising the 25 per cent overall spectrum holding limit to 35 per cent. And, removing the cap of 50 per cent holding in the same band. Read more here...