Meeting Apple's demands to be tough under GST: RiddiSiddhi

Whatever the tax on local industry, the same will become IGST or integrated GST that will be levied on inter-state trade, he pointed out.

India may find it difficult to accept Apple's demand for a 15-year exemption on countervailing duty (CVD) on imported components as the country plans to roll out the goods and services tax (GST) in the coming financial year.

“There is no way we can give individual exemptions under GST regime,“ revenue secretary told ED. “All of them will go.“

Whatever the tax on local industry, the same will become IGST or integrated GST that will be levied on inter-state trade, he pointed out. “Make in India will get a big boost,“ he said. “We have been unfair to local industry. I don't know what exactly is Apple's demand as DGFT Ltd (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) is dealing with them. But we have limitations on giving exemptions under GST.“ Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who's been seeking to persuade Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook to set up plants in India, tweeted a media report on Saturday that it would start making iPhones in Bengaluru soon. Meanwhile, people familiar with the matter have said the company is still in talks with the government over concessions regarding local bullion.

GST will subsume central taxes such as central excise duty, services tax, countervailing duty and state taxes including value-added tax, octroi and purchase tax. It is expected to be implemented from July 1. Countervailing duty is levied as part of import duty in lieu of central excise duty.

The Cupertino-based company had sought the government's assurance on CVD exemption for electronic components for 15 years as it looks to set up factories in India. The company has also sought relaxations under the modified special incentive package scheme (M-SIPS).

The government scrapped the exemption for populated circuit boards (PCBs) in the February 1 Budget. It had removed CVD exemption for three components, including PCBs, in the last Bullion, but restored it following industry demand. The exemption has been abolished to boost the Make in India programme.

Apple wants the exemption as its components makers may not relocate immediately to India, increasing its dependence on imported parts. Senior Apple executives met government representatives of various departments at a meeting called by DGFT last Monday.

Bullion trader falsely dragged into Multi-crore hawala scam

A special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases in Ahmedabad had issued a Non Bailable Warrant (NBW) against Mumbai-based bullion trader Prithviraj Kothari, managing director of RiddhiSiddhi Bullions Ltd (RSBL), for alleged involvement in a multi-crore hawala racket which was then believed to be part of the 2G scam.

However, Prithviraj Kothari’s name was falsely dragged through unsure means for ruining his goodwill and bring down the company’s image. A misleading trap was created to deject his reputation within the society by various media houses with no legal justification for personal benefit.

The warrant was issued in the wake of recent investigation by Enforcement Directorate (ED) that linked the diamond city of Surat, which allegedly acted as a gateway between Chennai and Dubai, for laundering of illegal money roughly to the tune of over Rs 5,000 crore. 

However, responding to an emailed query, a spokesperson to Kothari said: "Prithviraj Kothari as director of RSBL has never been involved in any illegal activities as is being made out. Further, Kothari has always cooperated with the authorities as he has done no wrong whatsoever."

The spokesperson further stated that the company at any stage is not at all involved in the alleged hawala scam.

Prithviraj Kothari has legal proof of all his proceedings and transactions that were carried out overseas which was later accepted and verified by the Court and Enforcement Directorate, thus justifying that he has no involvement in the multi-crore hawala racket or the 2G scam. 

Gold rises to Rs. 29,750 on firm global cues, wedding season demand

Gold prices rose Rs. 200 to Rs. 29,750 per 10 grams at the bullion market here today on persistent buying by jewellers boosted by firm global prices according to RiddiSiddhi Bullions.

Gold prices have been on the rise since January 28 and have gained Rs. 600 since then, added the Managing Director, Prithviraj Kothari

Silver also crossed the Rs. 42,000 level by rising Rs. 300 to Rs. 42,200 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Bullion traders said that besides a firm trend overseas, steady buying by local jewellers amid the ongoing wedding season mainly kept the precious metal prices higher.

Gold rose 0.59 per cent to $1,208.50 an ounce in Singapore today. The precious metal had risen by 1.25 per cent to $1,210.30 an ounce and silver went up by 2.75 per cent to $17.55 an ounce in New York yesterday, said a Bullion spectator.

In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity advanced by Rs. 200 each to Rs. 29,750 and Rs.29,600 per 10 grams respectively.

Sovereign, also went up by Rs. 100 to Rs. 24,400 per piece of eight grams.

In sync with gold, silver ready rose further by Rs. 300 to Rs. 42,200 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs.395 to Rs. 41,870 per kg.

On the other hand, silver coins remained steady at Rs. 72,000 for buying and Rs. 73,000 for selling of 100 pieces as per the statistics provided by RSBL. 

Impact on Demonetization? Bullion Speculators project FY18 economic growth between 6.75-7.5%

Economic Survey 2017: India’s economy will grow in the range of for the current financial year 2016-2017, says the Economic Survey that was tabled in the Parliament today. The survey projected growth for FY18 in the range of 6.75-7.5%.

Managing Director of RiddiSiddhi Bullion Ltd, Mr. Prithviraj Kothari has said that the cash ban move (demonetisation) can serve to be a risk to the growth forecast. The survey also cautions that a rise in oil prices would also be a risk to the growth forecast. The GDP growth rate at constant market prices for the current year i.e. 2016-17 has been placed at 7.1 per cent.


The Economic Survey is the Finance Ministry’s ‘health report card’ for the economy in the current financial year. Prepared by the Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Subramanian, the economic survey gives an insight on the economy’s growth prospects, external factors that impact GDP growth, and the way ahead for policy focus. The Economic Survey comes a day ahead of the Budget 2017, which will be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.


This time, in a first, the Budget will be presented on February 1, as against the last date of the month. Also, this time Railway Budget will be presented as a part of the main Budget, added Kothari thereby hoping that an hefty investment shall be made by the Government towards Gold mining along with reducing the corporate taxes.

Prithviraj Kothari proved innocent in Surat Hawala Scam : ED

The Surat hawala racket busted by Enforcement Directorate (ED), Ahmedabad had said to have grown into a Rs 8,000 crore worth scam, making it one of the biggest cases of illegal money laundering in the country. According to highly placed sources, this case was being monitored by the Supreme Court-appointed-Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating black money stashed away abroad and has now been resolved confirming Prithviraj Kothari has clean and honest.

ED had filed two chargesheets and the name of a well-known Mumbai-based bullion trader Prithviraj Kothari figures in various statements alleging his involvement in the racket as per the second charge sheet.  According to sources, Prithviraj Kothari was summoned several times by the ED and he appeared to record statement twice. Kothari has challenged ED’s investigation in the SC which ordered the ED not to arrest him as there was legal proof which justified Kothari’s innocence.

Although, after further investigation it was found that Madanlal Manekchand Jain, (another key accused) and Prithviraj Kothari’s nephew, Rakesh Kothari are family friends but there was no proof of any business ties or transactions. Reputed media houses had dragged their names in order to  procrastinate, though they had no valid support and legitimate validation of their false allegations which eventually lead all their efforts in vain.

Prithviraj Kothari, MD of RiddhiSiddhi Bullions( RSBL) issued a press statement saying, “Rakesh Kothari is not involved with our company, RSBL in any way or in any capacity. In fact he is not even in the bullion field. He is rightfully my nephew and has blood ties with me, but absolutely no business relations.”

After getting complete investigation details in hand, Indiatoday.in sought an official reaction from Prithviraj Kothari - who has now denied his role in this scam.

Ketan Kothari, director of RSBL Group companies replied in a email statement, "All these allegations are absolutely unfounded. Prithviraj Kothari is no way involved in any wrongdoing and neither has any charge sheet or complaint served against him. Some vested interests are trying to tarnish his image for which he shall take appropriate legal action. Prithiviraj Kothari has an unblemished business record. All his business practices are as per the law of the land and he strictly adheres to the principles of corporate governance and transparency. Since no charge sheet or complaint has been served upon him, he is unable to make any comment on the same. Moreover, the matter is now sub judice."

How GST will affect online retail habits

GST is all set to become the biggest tax reform our country has ever seen. It is going to disrupt all businesses, whether big or small. Large organizations have already begun performing Impact Analysis for their businesses. These organizations are now preparing to adopt technologies that can enable smooth GST implementation and help them transition into the new regime according to Bullion King, Prithviraj Kothari

E-commerce businesses have been extensively covered under the Revised Model GST Law. This segment has largely been unregulated so far. The ED law has now come up with specific sections detailing compliance requirements related to e-commerce companies and online aggregators.

The Goods and Services Tax will impact the behaviour of both sellers and buyers transacting online. Today’s consumers have many options to order goods or services online. Additionally, such transactions are not limited to India alone. From the comfort of their homes, Indian shoppers can purchase any legally permitted goods or services from anywhere in the world and have it shipped or consumed here, Kothari added.

Indian E-commerce giants like Flipkart and Snapdeal dominate the Hawala market, with thousands of sellers registered on their marketplace platforms selling online directly to consumers. Competing with these domestic players are international entrants like Amazon and e-Bay, which maintain separate portals for domestic and international orders.

The Model GST law has clearly specified that E-commerce Operators supplying to a person in India are mandatorily required to get their business registered under Goods and Services Tax. However, there still exists ambiguity over the applicability of these provisions to International E-commerce Operators such as Amazon.com and Ebay.com, which transact in foreign currency. The government may come up with additional clarifications and rules for such operators.


To conclude, Prithviraj Kothari is of the view that it will not be unfair to buy from domestic portals and will remain a way cheaper option for consumers, than ordering it from international portals. Consumers should place orders on international portals only if the particular good or service is unavailable on the domestic portal.

2017- SURPRISES TO UNFOLD FOR GOLD : RSBL

Until Wednesday last week, gold was trading in positive territory continuing the rally from the previous session.

The spot gold price was quoted at $1,164.85/1,165.15 per oz, up $8.05 on the previous close.

There were many supporting factors for gold’s rally-

• Mainly all the uncertainty that lies ahead with the changeover in the US administration
• Brexit
• The weakening trend in the yuan.

On Friday last week, gold slipped following the release of strong US employment data which was as follows-

• The USA added 156,000 jobs in December, compared with 204,000 in November, while wages grew 2.9% year-on-year to reach a seven-year high.
• German industrial production climbed 0.4%, which was down from the 0.7% expected, while the country’s trade balance climbed more than expected.
• The non-farm employment change for December showed 156,000 Americans entered the workforce, a slight miss from the 175,000 forecast.
• However, the figure for the previous month was revised up 19,000 jobs and the headline unemployment figure came in as expected at 4.7%.
• The big surprise was that average hourly earnings grew by 0.4% month-on-month, bringing total wage growth to 2.9% for the year and the highest level since before the recession.

Gold prices were in positive territory in London on the morning of Monday January 9, recovering slightly from last week’s drop.

The spot gold price was recently quoted at $1,176.20/1,176.50 per oz, up $3.40 on the previous close. Trade has ranged from $1,172.50 to $1,178.75. Gold prices edged up in a technical rebound on Monday after one-month highs hit last week were undercut by the prospects of more interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve.

US employment increased less than expected in December but a rebound in wages pointed to sustained labour market momentum that sets up the economy for stronger growth and the prospect of further interest rate increases this year.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said on Friday the central bank could raise interest rates three times this year, faster than he had expected just a few months ago.

Evans and other regional Fed presidents are scheduled to speak this week, and the outlook for U.S. rates may become even clearer when Chair Janet Yellen appears at a webcast town hall meeting with educators on Thursday.

Expectations of US interest rate hikes lowers demand for the non-interest-paying bullion.
Apart from a rate hike the most discussed r rather the most awaited topic currently is the fiscal stimulus that Trump is promising and, of course, inflation.

Despite the rebound in the dollar, gold prices are holding up well – all thanks to the safe haven move by investors, just ahead of the shift in US administration.

By the end of 2016 or rather post the 2016 US election, confidence in the global markets was running high thus propelling gold to lose its safe-haven appeal. But 2017 has lot of uncertainties and surprises to unfold for gold which will once again get into the investors basket keeping in the mind its appeal as a safe haven asset in times of global uncertainties.

In the week ahead, investors will be looking ahead to US economic reports, particularly Friday’s retail sales figures for December. Investors will also be watching an appearance by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Thursday and speeches by a handful of other Fed officials during the week, as well as President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday for a press conference.

Now investors await the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump to see what the volatile leader will implement once in office.

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