26 march 2000

new exim policy to deregulate export sector
new delhi: with march 31 fast approaching the annual exercise of releasing the export-import (exim) policy for the country is on.

the minsiter for commerce, mr. murasoli maran, has indicated that the exim policy would be exporter friendly and will bring about great amount of deregulation in the export sector through simplification of procedures and removal of bottlenecks. the minister indicated this to a delegation of industry leaders who also requested the minister to influence the finance ministry to postpone the phase out of section 80hhc of the income tax act.

on its part, the exim bank has called for a sound and stable fiscal policy, clear investment laws, freedom from forex restrictions and business-friendly labour laws that will strengthen the export processing zones. a call was also made for india to emulate some of the successful models of export promotion zones and free trade zones in the world.

25 march 2000

finally, reforms in power allocation?
new delhi: in an attempt to lay reform friendliness in the power sector, the cabinet committee on economic affairs directed all central power utilities to enter into power purchase agreements with state electricity boards (seb) based on their capacity to pay.