OVERVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS (05:02 PM)

FERTILISER SECTOR (05:31 PM)

• It is one of the eight core industries.
• Urea accounts for over 2/3rd of overall fertilizer consumption.
• The major requirement of potash is met through imports.
• Fertilizers are classified as Primary, Secondary, and Micronutrients.
• Primary fertilizers are further classified on the type of nutrients they supply to the soil such as nitrogenous (urea), phosphatic (Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP)) and potassic (muriate of potash (MOP)) fertilizers.
• Secondary fertilizer includes calcium, magnesium, and Sulphur while micronutrients include iron, zinc, boron, chloride, etc. 

DIFFERENT SCHEMES RELATED TO FERTILIZER SUBSIDY

• Now the subsidy is not given at the factory gate. But on arrival to the farmers.
• But the problem here is hoarding.
• PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness Generation, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother –Earth (PM-PRANAM), announced in Budget 2023-24, to incentivize States/ UTs to promote alternate fertilizers and balanced use of chemical fertilizers.
• Market Development Assistance (MDA) for promoting Organic Fertilizers from GOBAR-Dhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources- Dhan) Plants.
• GOBAR-Dhan was launched in 2018 under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) (SMB-G) to positively impact village cleanliness and generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste.
• Introduction of sulfur-coated Urea (Urea Gold), for the first time, to address the sulfur deficiency of soil and save input costs for the farmers.
• Urea Gold is more economical and efficient than the currently used Neem-coated urea.
• The Urea Subsidy Scheme (a Central Sector Scheme) has been extended for another three years till March 2025 to maximize indigenous production of urea to reach self-sufficiency levels by 2025.

PM PRANAM (RELATED TO FERTILIZER SUBSIDY)

• 50% subsidy savings will be passed on as a grant to the state that saves the money.
• 70% of the grant provided under the scheme can be used for asset creation related to the technological adoption of alternate fertilizers and alternate fertilizer production units at village, block, and district levels.
• The remaining 30% of grant money can be used for incentivizing farmers, panchayats, farmer-producer organizations, and self-help groups that are involved in the reduction of fertilizer use and awareness generation.
• Government will compare a state’s increase or reduction in urea in a year, to its average consumption of urea during the last three years. Data available on a fertilizer Ministry dashboard, iFMS (Integrated fertilizers Management System), will be used for this purpose.

FOOD STORAGE IN INDIA (05:55 PM)

• Custom hiring center: Related to the mechanization of agriculture, Hire the machine from the CHC.
• Fair price shop: It is a ration shop.
• PACS are village-level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level.
• PACS are involved in short-term lending — or what is known as crop loans.

MANAGING FOOD INFLATION INDIA (06:08 PM)

• The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) has estimated that measures to curb inflation including banning cereal exports will cost farmers at least ₹45,000 crore in 2023.
• Inflation in wheat was mainly because of heat waves at the time of harvest.
• Rice inflation was because of excessive rainfall and droughts. (51% is the irrigation coverage of India- That too less in surface irrigation)

VARIOUS PROCUREMENT MECHANISM OF CROPS

• FCI Centralised procurement scheme: FCI procures crops from farmers and distributes them to states and states through a Fair price shop distributed to the beneficiaries.
• Decentralized procurement: Introduced in 1997, States will directly procure from farmers and distribute through the fair price shop.
• The cost of the above two will be borne by the central government and only for rice and wheat.
• The idea of MSP is that when the market price fails we will provide you the minimum that too only for rice and wheat.
• PRICE SUPPORT SCHEME
• Under the price support scheme, The state government notified the failure of the market price, and then the central government will procure 25% of the crop from that particular state.
• MARKET INTERVENTION SCHEME
• It is for non-MSP crops, For certain horticulture crops.
• PRICE STABILIZATION FUND 
• If the price of the crop increases, then the government will procure from domestic or import and sell it at an affordable price to consumers.
• An interest-free loan is given to the center and state to do the above activity.
• Notified commodities for this scheme are Onion, Potato, Tomato, and Pulses.

NABARD (06:32 PM)

• Genesis: It came into existence on the recommendation of the B. Sivaraman committee in 1982 by the NABARD Act, 1981 by transferring.
• Agriculture credit functions of RBI and Refinance functions of the Agriculture Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).
• Ministry: Administered by the Ministry of Finance.
• Ownership: Wholly owned by the Government of India.
• Vision: Development Bank of the nation for fostering rural prosperity.
• Mission: Promote sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development through participative financial and non-financial interventions.
• INITIATIVES
• Promotion and Development: Around Rs. 5 lakh crore has been sanctioned under the country's Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) (created in NABARD).
• Watershed Development Fund and Tribal Development Fund are other important livelihood interventions.
• The Wadi model has become a vital livelihood intervention for the tribal population.
• Refinancing: In the last 42 years, NABARD has refinanced Rs 20 lakh crore in the rural economy. (Refinancing is taking a newer loan to pay off existing debt.)
• Strengthening Rural Financial Institutions (RFIs): NABARD supervises Rural Cooperative Banks (RCBs) and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY IN INDIA (07:06 PM)

INDIA'S SEMICONDUCTOR MARKET 

• Market Size: Reports project India’s semiconductor market to value about $64 billion by 2026, showing three times growth from 2019.
• Chip Manufacturing: India has become the hub for semiconductor design with nearly 2,000 chips being designed per year.
• R&D in the Industry: Research and development (R&D) in this industry, which includes electronic products and embedded systems, generated about US$2.5 billion in revenue.

MODIFIED SEMICON INDIA PROGRAMME

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched the program in 2021.
• It aims to provide attractive incentive support to companies/consortia that are engaged in Silicon Semiconductor Fabs, Display Fabs, Compound Semiconductors, Semiconductor Design, etc. Support under the scheme will be provided for 6 years.
• India Semiconductor Mission, within Digital India Corporation, MeitY is the designated nodal agency for implementing the program.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES CENTRE (07:25 PM)

• Presently, Indian companies cannot directly list their securities abroad without getting themselves listed in domestic stock exchanges.
• In 2020, the Centre amended the Companies Act, allowing the direct listing of Indian companies on foreign stock exchanges.
• Currently, Indian companies can raise money abroad through American Depository Receipts (ADR) and Global Depository Receipts (GDR).
• Depositary Receipt (DR) is an instrument used by domestic companies to raise money outside the country. These shares are held by a foreign bank that provides
• DRs to companies in return for shares. Both GDR and ADR are used to raise funds from the foreign market. However, ADRs are traded on US stock exchanges while GDRs are traded mostly on European Exchanges.

TRANSFER PRICING (07:29 PM)

• Transfer pricing is an accounting practice that allows for the establishment of prices for the goods and services exchanged between divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates that are part of the larger enterprise.
• Usually, Companies use transfer pricing to reduce the overall tax burden of the parent company.
• This is done by charging a higher price to subsidiaries in high-tax countries (reducing profit) while charging a lower price (increasing profits) for subsidiaries in low-tax countries.
• Supreme Court set aside an earlier Karnataka High Court ruling which held that in transfer pricing matters, the determination of the arm's length price (ALP) by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) is final and cannot be subject to judicial scrutiny.
• In India, Transfer Pricing and ALP provisions are contained in Chapter X of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and arm's length price is determined by the Assessing Officer.
• The apex court now held that any ALP determined outside the purview of relevant transfer pricing (TP) provisions in the Income Tax Act can be considered as ‘perverse (unjust)’ and in such cases decision of the tribunal is not final.
• In such cases, both, the Indian Revenue Authorities (IRA) as well as taxpayers, can approach an HC after a decision by the ITAT. 

All the topics of PT 365 Magazine (From April 2023 to December 2023) are completed.