1. Financing costly professional courses is set to become cheaper for students from modest middle class homes. A Rs 4,000-crore plan is in the works that will enable the government to take over the interest burden on education loans during the 'moratorium period' — the time when students are pursuing academics and have not yet begun earning. As things stand, education loans come with a clause that allows students not to pay interest during their academic life. The interest for this period is added to the principal and payments begin once the student starts working. But now, according to a mega scheme being finalised by the Planning Commission, the Prime Minister's Office and the ministry for human resource development, the government will take over the interest burden for the moratorium period — estimated at around Rs 650 crore a year, assuming that five lakh students from families earning Rs 2.5 lakh a year or less avail of the loans. To qualify for the scheme, the student's household income must not exceed Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. The scheme will be open for professional and technical courses at the undergraduate or postgraduate levels.
2. The move for a Rs 4,000 crore plan to enable the government to take over the interest burden on education loans during the "moratorium period" — the time when students are pursuing academics and have not yet begun earning, is aimed not just to check brain drain from the country but also ensure that the government taps talented students who cannot otherwise afford professional studies because of high fees. According to government estimates, there are approximately 50 lakh students in professional courses of which about 5 lakh students come from families within the income range of Rs 2.5 lakh per year. In recent years, a large number of students, especially those pursuing MBA courses in India or going abroad for higher studies, have borrowed from banks. According to latest RBI data, there was a 51% rise in education loans, from Rs 9,962 crore at the end of March 2006 to over Rs 15,000 crore at the end of March this year. Tax sops too have played a role in accelerating loans and with the government allowing parents to avail of benefits, there could be a further spike in the coming year. Earlier, tax sops were available only if the student borrowed and paid the loan individually on completing his education.
3. As a first move towards making India the first country to adopt accounting standards on carbon emissions, the board of ICAI (The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) has constituted a group which will come up with the draft guidelines before March 31, 2008. The group, set up on December 11, will be headed by ICAI accounting standards board chairman, Amarjit Chopra. When contacted, Chopra said the group will look into development of accounting and disclosure practices on emissions trading. The group will study the full scope and relevance of the carbon market from India’s point of view. ICAI president Sunil Talati said, the group will seek clarity on how corporates need to treat the income earned from carbon credits. "There is a view that carbon credits should be recognised for the purpose of accounting after they have been traded. The group is likely to seek views of corporates like SRF and Coal India."
4. The Indian carbon sector is getting hot. Venture capital firms are making a beeline to set up exclusive carbon funds for clean development projects (CDM) which have the potential to generate carbon credits. Kick-starting the process is IFCI Venture Capital Fund, which is planning to float Green India Venture Fund with a corpus of around euro 50 million, to begin with. The fund could be raised to euro 100 million once a partner is roped in. ‘‘We are currently looking out for a partner. We will raise the corpus of the fund, depending on the appetite for the carbon sector in India. One can size up the growth potential after the interest generated in greenhouse gas mitigation projects post-Bali,’’ said IFCI Venture Capital Fund managing director Ashok Kumar Choudhary. Green India Venture Fund is expected to be two-tiered, one for the domestic market and one, probably, for outside India. The fund will scout for viable CDM projects which could generate a good amount of carbon credits. Other financial institutions and banks are also said to be considering similar carbon funds, on the expectation that the carbon market will witness a huge upside in terms of valuations.
2. The move for a Rs 4,000 crore plan to enable the government to take over the interest burden on education loans during the "moratorium period" — the time when students are pursuing academics and have not yet begun earning, is aimed not just to check brain drain from the country but also ensure that the government taps talented students who cannot otherwise afford professional studies because of high fees. According to government estimates, there are approximately 50 lakh students in professional courses of which about 5 lakh students come from families within the income range of Rs 2.5 lakh per year. In recent years, a large number of students, especially those pursuing MBA courses in India or going abroad for higher studies, have borrowed from banks. According to latest RBI data, there was a 51% rise in education loans, from Rs 9,962 crore at the end of March 2006 to over Rs 15,000 crore at the end of March this year. Tax sops too have played a role in accelerating loans and with the government allowing parents to avail of benefits, there could be a further spike in the coming year. Earlier, tax sops were available only if the student borrowed and paid the loan individually on completing his education.
3. As a first move towards making India the first country to adopt accounting standards on carbon emissions, the board of ICAI (The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) has constituted a group which will come up with the draft guidelines before March 31, 2008. The group, set up on December 11, will be headed by ICAI accounting standards board chairman, Amarjit Chopra. When contacted, Chopra said the group will look into development of accounting and disclosure practices on emissions trading. The group will study the full scope and relevance of the carbon market from India’s point of view. ICAI president Sunil Talati said, the group will seek clarity on how corporates need to treat the income earned from carbon credits. "There is a view that carbon credits should be recognised for the purpose of accounting after they have been traded. The group is likely to seek views of corporates like SRF and Coal India."
4. The Indian carbon sector is getting hot. Venture capital firms are making a beeline to set up exclusive carbon funds for clean development projects (CDM) which have the potential to generate carbon credits. Kick-starting the process is IFCI Venture Capital Fund, which is planning to float Green India Venture Fund with a corpus of around euro 50 million, to begin with. The fund could be raised to euro 100 million once a partner is roped in. ‘‘We are currently looking out for a partner. We will raise the corpus of the fund, depending on the appetite for the carbon sector in India. One can size up the growth potential after the interest generated in greenhouse gas mitigation projects post-Bali,’’ said IFCI Venture Capital Fund managing director Ashok Kumar Choudhary. Green India Venture Fund is expected to be two-tiered, one for the domestic market and one, probably, for outside India. The fund will scout for viable CDM projects which could generate a good amount of carbon credits. Other financial institutions and banks are also said to be considering similar carbon funds, on the expectation that the carbon market will witness a huge upside in terms of valuations.
