India 2018

242 India 2018
Cancellation of Legal Tender
The legal tender character of banknotes in the denominations of ` 500 and
` 1,000 in circulation i.e., 'Specified Bank Notes'(SBN) was cancelled with effect
from the expiry of the 8th November, 2016 to curb the problem of black money,
FICN and various other subversive activities. An Ordinance was brought at the
earliest, to back the cancellation of SBN by statute of law, so that unscrupulous
elements can be barred from creating a window to run a parallel economy and
to extinguish the liability of the RBI in December 2016. Replacing high
denomination notes required large scale exercise involving 1.3 lakh Bank
branches, 1.5 post offices branches, 1 lakh banking correspondents and 2.2 lakh
ATMS. To effectively remonetise the economy round the clock operations were
introduced at currency presses. Almost 100 retired personnel were employed
at Nashik and Dewas currency presses to enhance productivity in full scale
round the clock.
Commemorative Coins released during 2016-17 were: Centenary
Celebration of University of Mysore ` 100, ` 10; Birth Centenary of Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyaya ` 100, ` 10.
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund
The Government of India has put investment in infrastructure as one of the
core elements of its economic programme. India's average investment in
infrastructure was 4.7 per cent of GDP during 1992-2010. Moreover, there has
been a slowdown in equity inflows into the infrastructure sectors over the past
few years, constraining further investment. National Investment and
Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) was created with the aim to attract equity investments
from both domestic and international sources for infrastructure development
in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including
stalled projects.
International Investment Treaties and Framework
The Government of India had initiated the exercise to negotiate and enter into
Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs)/ Bilateral Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreements (BIPAs) with other countries as a part of the
comprehensive economic reforms programme which was initiated in 1991. A
BIT is essentially an international treaty which increases the comfort level and
boosts the confidence of the investors by assuring a minimum standard of
treatment and non-discrimination in all matters while providing for an
independent forum for dispute settlement through arbitration. In turn, BITs are
expected to project India as an attractive foreign direct investment (FDI)
destination as well as protect outbound Indian FDI abroad.
Due to considerable socio-economic changes which have taken place since
1993, it was felt that there was a need for closer examination of the entire gamut
of issues associated with BITs and also investment chapter of CECAs/CEPAs/
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The new Indian Model BIT of 2015 aims to