Daily Pulse India: Jaitley Rolls Back EPF Tax Proposal, Banks Ask SC To Hold Mallya Back, TaMo Goes To Court For Nano plant

It’s official. After a week of will he-won’t he debates, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has rolled back the controversial tax on EPF, or the employee pension fund, which holds the pensions of most salaried workers of private companies. Jaitley had proposed to tax the amount when withdrawn, which in most cases is either at retirement or for big-ticket purchases such as a house. The proposal created quite an uproar, prompting even the prime minister to intervene. While Jaitley’s objective was to encourage workers to opt for pension payouts rather than a one time withdrawal, this may not be the route or the time to do so.

*** 

Keep Him Here: Banks have taken the fight against Vijay Mallya to the Supreme Court. Thirteen banks, to whom the industrialist and his defunct airline owe money, have moved the court to restrict him from leaving the country. Their worry is legitimate. Mallya holds a foreign passport, so if he leaves the country, banks cannot do much to recover their $1 billion of debt. They can rest assured. FinMin Jaitley has thrown his weight behind the banks, saying they should get back all the money they are owed by Mallya. As he puts it:

The government cannot accept a “situation where 15 or 20 people are sitting on so much money of the banks, that the ability of the banks to lend to thousands of others” get severely impacted. “After all, I am taxing the people of India to put money into the capital of the banks.” 

 ***

ABG For Sale: Taking heart from all this support from the government and their own regulator, banks are moving ahead to sell a majority stake in ABG Shipyard as well. This is not a case of ‘willful default’ as the shipping industry is indeed going through a slump, no thanks to the global slowdown. Small wonder then, that the banks are finding it tough to even find a buyer in the same business and are settling for an investor.

 ***

Court bound: Tata Motors has asked a local court to help it prevent more agitation at its Nano plant in Gujarat, where workers have been striking since two weeks. The company has given its workers till March 11 to rejoin the plant, failing which it can take action against it. Meanwhile, the state government has declared the strike illegal, which the workers want to counter in court. Labor troubles, which were once almost a regular occurrence in the manufacturing business, have dwindled in recent years, and their return is not a good sign for Modi’s Make in India.

 ***

More money, honey: Air Asia’s owners plan to infuse more money into the airline as its losses have eroded even its capital. Its board has approved increasing the share capital to 33 billion rupees from 1.95 billion. This is usually a precursor to actual fund raising through a share sale.

 ***

Cover Image: Preparations for the World Cultural Festival by the Art of Living foundation scheduled for this weekend. The ambitious project has invited the ire of environmentalists, who say the preparations have damaged the banks of the river Yamuna. The National Green Tribunal will announce its decision later today.

Top Must Reads

India

• An Entrepreneur At 40? This Is What Not To Do…
• Women Can Achieve Anything They Set Their Minds On, says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
• Not just Mallya: Are government banks sitting on $10 B of crony loans?
• Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast

International

Global Daily Pulse: Amazon Muscles In On QVC, Square Goes Down Under, Another Bad Year for Wall Street Bonuses

• It’s International Women’s Day: Here’s how Hollywood still fails women in film
• This is why Larry Wilmore says he hasn't worked in thirty years.
• Must-watch: our interview with economic wizard Mohamed El-Erian.
• Is cannabis the next Internet? Maybe.

Every morning, we'll share the top news from India that professionals need to know. Head over to the comments below if you have thoughts or ideas to share. Better still, publish a post.

Click on the follow button above to not miss one. Follow the India in Business channel here and the Global Daily Pulse channel here. For the best reads, specially picked for you, there's the Editor's Picks channel.

 For more news, download the Pulse app. And for even more, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.