• Existing plants won’t get all sops under new mega power policy
• Finmin lens on industry watchdogs
• SC to decide on govts TDS plea against pvt telcos
• ICAI insurance-specific norms
• Jairam says no more in-principle approvals
• Sterlite gets crucial nods; verdict today
• Suitors jilt WNS after scrip heat
• According to sources, govt is not likely to extend some incentives to be announced in its new mega power policy to existing projects looking to expand capacity. An earlier draft of the policy had proposed similar incentives for both new and existing players, however a committee comprising of officials from the ministries of heavy industries and power will now determine the extent of benefits to be given to brownfield expansion projects under the policy. (ET)
• According to sources, powers of financial sector industry bodies to regulate their respective members, such as merchant bankers and mutual funds, will be reviewed by the government to ensure the autonomy to self-regulate does not lead to lax regulation and a threat to financial markets stability. The finance ministry would review the norms governing self-regulatory organisations (SROs) to ensure there are no loose ends as the current rules were prepared before the global financial crisis precipitated by too much de-regulation and risk-taking. (FE)
• Supreme Court will decide whether private telecom operators are liable to deduct TDS for the payments made to the state-owned BSNL and MTNL for interconnectivity. A bench comprising Justice SH Kapadia and Justice Aftab Alam on Friday issued notice to Bharti Airtel on the plea of the income-tax department. According to the I-T department, the private telecom service providers are liable to deduct TDS under section 194-J of the Income Tax Act in respect of the payments made by them to the public sector telecom service provider for inter-connect /port access charges. Such payments are fees for the technical services provided by the public sector telecom companies. It comes under the ambit of technical services provided for under the act and the private service providers are thus liable to deduct TDS. (ET)
• The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is likely to come out with insurance-specific accounting standards in the next two to three months. The standards, which will initially come in the form of recommendations, would give a thorough and fair view of accounts of the insurance companies. Currently, there are 32 common notified accounting standards for all companies of various sectors. The new accounting standards would be additional to the existing 32 standards and give more insights about accounts of insurance companies. (ET)
• Ministry of Environment and Forests has abolished the system of in-principle approvals, to put an end to the practice of launching projects without obtaining the final clearance. The move signals that the ministry has begun to take a tough stand on environmental clearances in ecologically sensitive areas. The projects are either cleared or rejected. No more in-principle approvals. The minister pointed out that industrial projects in ecologically sensitive areas, like the Western Ghats, will not be cleared unless their impact on the environment had been studied in totality. (FE)
• According to sources, Sterlite Industries has moved a step ahead of rival Grupo Mexico by securing the support of the US company’s creditors, its workers union, the Arizona Attorney General and state legislators in the race to acquire Asarco. The bankruptcy court at Corpus Christi in Texas is expected to pronounce its verdict on the fate of the Tucson-based company tomorrow as the hearing ended last week. Whichever company US Bankruptcy Judge Richard Schmidt picks tomorrow will wind up owning Asarco. (BS)
• According to sources, several buyout funds and strategic investors have turned their back on WNS Global Services, putting the stake sale plans of global PE firm Warburg Pincus in India’s second-largest BPO firm in limbo. Warburg wants to sell its 50.12% controlling stake in the NYSE-listed company. Technology buyout fund Silver Lake, PE companies Apax Partners and Bain Capital are believed to have lost interest after the initial due diligence, which kicked off on August 10. Also, Genpact is interested in a share-swap deal and not an all-cash transaction that Warburg favours, while EXL, a rival of WNS and Genpact, is also learnt to have backed out of the deal. (ET)
