More sales tax sops for telecom sector on cards

After a slew of budgetary sops, telecom service providers in the public and private sectors are set to be accorded yet another concession aimed at bringing down costs of goods procured by them in the course of inter-State trade. The Union Cabinet is set to consider shortly a proposal to amend the Central Sales Tax Act 1956 to give the telecom industry the concessional four per cent Central sales tax benefit. The change in the taxation structure, when carried out, will benefit besides the State-owned BSNL, VSNL and MTNL, the major telecom providers in the private sector.

Airbus, HAL In talks for A-380 project

The Toulouse-based aircraft major Airbus Industrie has carried out a survey of the facilities of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for its participation in the making of the double- decker Airbus A-380 aircraft. "Airbus expects to see a good participation from HAL in the project," the company's Vice-President, (Sales), India and Africa, Dr Kiran Rao, told Business Line . However, the exact details of HAL participation in the A-380 project will be known only later as the design of the aircraft has still to be frozen, Airbus officials said.

Money laundering Bill may be drafted afresh

The Government is looking at the option of withdrawing the Prevention of Money Laundering Bill (PMLB) which is pending passage before Parliament, and drafting the entire legislation afresh, following reservations expressed by the Finance Ministry on some of the crucial recommendations made by the Select Committee. Although the existing Bill has been listed in C category for the ongoing session of Parliament, official amendments are yet to be ratified by the Union Cabinet.

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