With P Chidambaram taking charge as fulltime finance minister, a go-ahead for implementation of various important pending budget proposals is expected to be at the top of his agenda.
These include the Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) scheme for transfer pricing, the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS), external commercial borrowing (ECB) in affordable housing and the Vodafone tax dispute. Industry has been keenly waiting for notification of the APA scheme Chidambaram is expected to take a final call soon. On the other significant pending measures, a senior official said the RGESS norms had already been formulated and sent to the Securities and Exchange Board of India. In the case of ECB in affordable housing, the minister has to approve some details.
