Daily Pulse India: “GST Goes For A Skywalk,” Spectrum Worries For Telecom Operators, Is Housing Raising Funds?

GST In Trouble Again: This is really looking like a repeat of the monsoon session as both sides of the Parliament go back and forth on what they have said is the most important bill in this session. The latest spoke in the wheel is the three-year old National Herald case against opposition Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi alleging misappropriation of funds from the defunct National Herald newspaper started by Jawaharlal Nehru. The uproar over the case led to repeated adjournments in Parliament on Tuesday and there was no business done for the day. While Congress leaders maintain that a decision on supporting the GST bill is yet to be taken, India Inc and others are naturally worrying about its fate.

"Tomorrow? GST bill has gone for a skywalk." Congress leader Anand Sharma, responding to a reporter’s question on whether the bill will be passed on Wednesday. Later, he said the remark was made in jest.

 Meanwhile, leading industrialist Anand Mahindra is worried that the lack of a uniform GST will keep the country divided and state governments believe that the recommended rate for GST is too low. Well, no one said this was an easy bill to pass or implement.

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Housing.com is all set to raise funds again. After the upheaval following the drama and ouster of the then CEO, investors led by Softbank took charge of the operations and conducted an overhaul. This included hiring a new CEO, legal counsel and other top officials. There were also some layoffs and pruning of certain verticals, after which the real estate search firm feels confident to raise more money. Softbank is expected to invest $50 million this month or next. But be warned that this comes from one unnamed official at Housing and there’s no official confirmation yet. Well, we’ll know soon enough.

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Spectrum worries: The telecom regulator has announced that it plans to do away with spectrum caps on individual bands and wants to have an common cap for all bands. Telecom companies, represented by the COAI, have opposed this move, saying that this could lead to monopoly in one particular band. They are of course worried about the 700 MHz band, which is used for 4G services and is the highest in demand at the moment. Under current rules, one player can only hold about half the spectrum in each band.

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Budget forecasts: Here’s another likely for the federal budget. The government is likely to add more incentives for private companies to partner with the government in infrastructure projects to make up for the shortfall in government investment. PPPs (Private-public partnerships) as they are called are on the government’s mind at the moment, especially after OROP and a hefty pay commission hike is going to leave less money for the government to spend on development.

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 Singapore’s Changi airport, acknowledged as one of the best managed airports globally, has signed an initial contract to manage the airports in Ahmendabad and Jaipur.

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Cover Image: Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy, who filed a case against rival politicians Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi alleging fraud and land grabbing in an ongoing saga known as the 'National Herald case' which paralyzed Parliament yesterday. PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images)

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