PRS Capsule – January 2023

Key Highlights of PRS

Governance
Key Achievements of the Government
Draft Amendments to IT Rules for Regulating Fake News and Online Gaming
Biodiversity and Environment
National Green Hydrogen Mission
Economy
Economic Survey 2022-23
Scheme to Promote RuPay debit cards and BHIM UPI Transactions
Draft Amendments to IBC 2016

Governance
Key Achievements of the Government

Recently, President of India in a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, outlined the major
achievements of the government.

What are the Major Achievements?

Economy:
India has become the fifth largest economy in the world.
Measures such as Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Goods and Services Tax (GST), and
faceless assessment have improved financial transparency and accountability.
Health:
More than 50 crore individuals have received free treatment under PM Ayushman Bharat
Yojana, 50% of whom are women.
Environment:
The target of non-fossil fuels accounting for 40% of the electricity generation
capacity was achieved nine years ahead of its scheduled year-2023.
External Affairs:
India has assumed presidency of the G-20, and will work towards finding collective
solutions to global problems.
G-20 meetings will be held across the country throughout the year.

Draft Amendments to IT Rules for Regulating Fake News and Online Gaming

The MeitY released draft Amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines
and Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules) notified under the Information Technology Act,
2000.
The Act protects intermediaries from liability for third-party content if they comply with
certain requirements and the 2021 Rules specify certain due diligence requirements of the
intermediaries.
What are the Amendments Proposed?

Regulating False Information and Online Games:

The IT Rules, 2021 specify restrictions on the types of content that users are
allowed to create, upload, or share.
The draft Amendments add that all intermediaries (including online gaming
intermediaries) must take reasonable efforts to ensure that users do not:
Publish any information that is identified as false or fake by the fact-
check unit of the Press Information Bureau or any agency authorised by the
central government, or
Host an online game not in conformity with any law.
Online Games:
The draft Amendments define an online game as a game that is offered on the
internet and is accessible if the user makes a deposit with the expectation of earning
financial winnings.
The central government may notify any other game as an online game.
An online gaming intermediary is defined as an intermediary that offers at least one
online game. Obligations for online gaming intermediaries include:
Registering their games with a self-regulatory body,
Obtaining and displaying a random number generation certificate and a no-
bot certificate,
Informing users of the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedure for user
registration, the risk of financial loss and addiction associated with the game, and
the measures taken to protect the user’s money, and
Verifying identity of users as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) procedures
for account-based relationships.
Such intermediaries must have a physical address in India.

Biodiversity and Environment

National Green Hydrogen Mission

Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM).
Green hydrogen addresses the issue of high carbon emissions generated due to
current methods of large-scale hydrogen production by using solar or wind energy to
produce hydrogen.

What are the Salient Features of the Mission?

About:
It seeks to facilitate the production, demand creation, usage and export of green
hydrogen and its derived products such as green ammonia and green methanol.
It is expected that by 2030, the initiatives under NGHM would result in production
capacity of at least 5 MMT/year.
The associated renewable energy capacity addition will be around 125
Gigawatts.
Nodal Ministry:
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will be responsible for
formulating regulations and implementing the Mission.
Phases:
Phase 1 (2023-24 to 2025-26):
It will focus on creating demand (through utilisation in refineries, fertilisers
and city gas sectors) and increasing the manufacturing capacity of
domestic electrolysers.
Pilot projects will be undertaken to initiate the use of green hydrogen in steel
production, long-distance transport and shipping.
Regulatory frameworks and standards will also be established for proper
engagement with international norms.
 Phase 2 (2026-27 to 2029-30):
Depending on the cost structure and market demand, the feasibility of green
hydrogen-based projects in steel production, transport and shipping
sectors on a commercial scale will be explored.
New pilot projects will be undertaken in other potential sectors such as
railways and aviation.
Other projects will focus on scaling up research and development activities
to develop products.

Economy
Economic Survey 2022-23

Recently, the Economic Survey 2022-23 was released.

What are the Key Highlights of Survey?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP):

The Survey has estimated real GDP growth in 2023-24 at 6.5%, however, the actual
growth rate would lie in the range of 6-6.8%, (depending on the global economic and
political development trajectories).
Inflation:
In 2022-23, retail inflation is estimated at 6.8%, higher than 2021-22 (5.5%) that has
been driven by international crude oil prices and food inflation.
Debt:
Total liabilities of the central government are estimated to decline from 59.2% of
GDP in 2020-21 to 56.7% of GDP in 2021-22.
Outstanding liabilities of the general government are estimated to be 86.5% in
2022-23.
The Survey noted that India’s public debt profile is relatively stable.
95% of it is held by residents and is denominated in rupees.
Sectoral growth:
India’s agriculture sector has grown at an average annual rate of 4.6% during the
last six years. In 2022-23, the industrial sector and the services sector are
estimated to grow by 6.7% and 9.1% respectively.
Infrastructure:
Capital expenditure in 2022-23 is targeted at 7.5 lakh crore, 35.4% higher than
2021-22.
To sustain the investment drive, the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) has
provided a forward-looking roadmap of investible projects of around Rs 111 lakh
crore between 2019-20 and 2024-2025.

Scheme to Promote RuPay debit cards and BHIM UPI Transactions

Recently, the Union Cabinet approved a scheme to incentivize RuPay Debit Cards and low
value BHIM-UPI transactions.
The scheme will be applicable to banks having operations in India and transactions
done in India, and for the financial year 2022-23.

What are the Key Features of Scheme?

Acquiring banks will be provided financial incentive for promoting:

Point of sale and e-commerce transactions using RuPay Debit Cards, and
Person to merchant transactions of value up to Rs 2,000 on BHIM UPI platform.
MeitY and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) may add or omit merchant categories
included in industry programmes.
The total outlay under the scheme is expected to be Rs 2,600 crore.
 Draft Amendments to IBC 2016

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has invited comments on the draft amendments to the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.
IBC provides a framework for time-bound resolution of insolvency among companies
as well as individuals.

What are the Key Amendments to IBC?

Pre-packaged Insolvency Resolution Process (PIRP):

MSMEs can apply for insolvency resolution under a faster framework called PIRP, which
resolves within 120 days, subject to approval by 66% of financial creditors.
The proposed amendments seek to widen the scope of PIRP to cover other
types of corporate debtors, to be specified.
Additionally, the approval threshold is proposed to be lowered to 51% to
speed up decision-making.
Real Estate Insolvency Cases:
In real estate insolvency cases, people who have paid for a property in a project will
be treated as creditors. They want to own the property, not just the repayment of their
money. Sometimes, the whole company is declared insolvent because of one
project's failure.
The proposed amendment would allow for the resolution process to only
apply to the specific project in default, instead of the entire company.
Multiple Resolution Plans for Corporate Debtors:
Currently, the committee of creditors can only approve one resolution plan during
corporate insolvency resolution process.
Proposed amendments would allow them to approve multiple plans for
individual or collective assets, as finding one applicant to take over the entire
corporate debtor can be difficult.
However, at least one approved plan must provide for the resolution
of the corporate debtor as a going concern.
Distribution of Proceeds:
The Ministry observed that many disputes are raised related to distribution of
proceeds between creditors.
Proposed amendments suggest that creditors will receive proceeds up to the
liquidation value for their claims, and any surplus above that value will be
distributed among all creditors based on the ratio of their unsatisfied claims.

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