Daily Pulse India: GST and EPF Still In Focus, J&J’s Baby Powder Too, And Mallya Has Left India Already

Fleeing the coop: While banks and other investigators get together to retrieve their money from Vijay Mallya, it appears that the beer baron has left the country. According to disclosures during a Supreme Court hearing to stop him from leaving the country, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that he left on March 2. News report suggest that he has already received $40 million of the $75 million deal with Diageo, despite attempts to keep that money for his lenders. The legal process continues – the court has issued a notice to Mallya ordering him to appear in two weeks. So, will he? Meanwhile, 2000 employees of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines are left with unpaid salaries of about 3 billion rupees.

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GST again: This time, it’s the prime minister who has taken up the cudgels for the Goods and Services Act, which has been stuck in parliament for months now. For those who came in late, this act will break down barriers within states by getting rid of double taxation by states and the centre, and make it a uniform national market. According to experts, this will add about 1-2 percentage points to the growth rate of the economy. It has been stuck in the Upper House where the opposition has a majority and has remained stuck for the last two sessions, putting an end to the Modi’s government’s resolve to implement the act by April this year.
In a speech in parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought help from the opposition in getting this bill passed. At the same time, he called out the Congress for its stubborn opposition to various government initiatives, which may dilute the impact of his call for help. The session will be on until March 20, and will resume after a month’s break for another three weeks. Let’s hope there will be more business done in this session than the previous ones.

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EPF Tax Story Not Over Yet: The government may have rolled back the controversial pension fund tax after public protests, but it may not have entirely dropped the idea. The finance minister wants to have more Indians drawing pensions (which are taxable) and the government is looking at alternate ways to levy the tax, maybe to a section of the population, or on a part of the amount. Here are the mechanics of what the government wants to do.

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Offline and online: E-commerce companies are taking a different route to get white goods on their platform, after makers such as Samsung and LG vented their ire for the huge discounts offered on their household appliances. Now, the e-commerce companies are wooing the big offline retail chains for white goods – Vijay Sales, Reliance Digital and Croma to display their offers on the website. The retail chains, hugely successful offline, have had little or no success online, and this is a good meeting place for the two.

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J&J: The much publicized $72 million lawsuit settlement by Johnson & Johnson in the US has had unexpected for its Indian operations. The Maharashtra FDA has sent samples of its baby powder for testing and has called for a meeting. Not going well.

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Cover Image: Vijay Mallya at the historic Kingfisher Airlines earnings press conference

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