Top headlines: Trai slashes 5G spectrum base, Ambani's net-zero plan

Business Standard brings you the top headlines on Tuesday

The Ministry of Finance has asked IT major Infosys to find ways to access taxpayers' real-time data accurately as it is crucial for taking decisions on policy changes. Meanwhile, TRAI has set the stage for next-gen spectrum auction by slashing the reserve price of 5G airwaves in the 3300-3670 MHz band by around 36 per cent. More on those stories in our top headlines this morning

Finance Ministry asks Infosys to work on ways to access taxpayers' data accurately

The finance ministry (FinMin) has asked Infosys to work on ways to extract and access taxpayers’ real-time data faster and accurately as it is crucial for taking decisions on policy changes. While reviewing progress of the income tax portal 2.0, which had faced glitches, the officials also told the Infosys team to increase the scope of pre-filled data in the ITR forms.

Senior officials in the ministry held a review meeting last month with the Infosys team and officials of the Central Processing Centre. Read more here

Trai slashes 5G spectrum base price in 3300-3670 MHz band by around 36%

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has set the stage for next-gen spectrum auction by slashing the reserve price of 5G airwaves in the 3300-3670 MHz band by around 36 per cent.

It has approved setting up private networks by access providers and recommended an administrative allotment of spectrum, an idea opposed by telecom companies. Read more here

Paid Covid-19 booster shots: Experts divided on govt intervention

With the roll-out of paid Covid-19 boosters off to a slow start, experts believe that in order to ensure universal coverage the government may need to step in and offer free doses of the precautionary shots at some point.

Some experts are also of the opinion that it is a time to strengthen surveillance, testing and collating epidemiological data rather than achieving marginal improvements in vaccination coverage or boosting immunity. Read more here

GST Council meeting unlikely this month as some issues couldn't be taken up

The Goods and Services Council meeting may not happen this month as some key issues, like rate rationalisation, couldn’t be taken up. Moreover, the Group of Ministers (GoM) is yet to take any view on this.

The panel was expected to submit a report by last month and suggest various steps to raise revenue, including hiking the lowest slab and rationalising the slab. Read more here

Mukesh Ambani's net-zero plan: Inside RIL's unique energy transition story

Reliance Industries Ltd's strong cash flow generation in the 'best in class' old energy business can fund the capex of the new energy business and in turn drive one of the fastest and most profitable net-zero transitions by 2035 amongst large energy companies, Goldman Sachs has said.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani in 2020 set a 2035 target for Reliance, which operates the world's largest single-location oil refining complex and also has an array of petrochemical units, to turn net carbon zero by 2035. Read more here