In the run up to the Budget 2024, the Government of India’s ministry of finance has drawn attention to a number of Budget promises which were fulfilled in the recent past.
This has been done via a series of tweets highlighting the major government initiatives such as faster resolution of insolvency cases, reclaiming of shares and dividends via IEPF, setting of investment and infra fund, and establishing social stock exchange, among others.
The string of social media posts has been shared under the hashtag #PromisesDelivered.
These are the promises delivered as highlighted:
1. Faster resolution of insolvency cases: The government finalised the appointment of 20 new members of National Company Law Tribunal in order to create a stronger framework to deliver faster resolution of insolvency cases.
The announcement states that to ensure faster resolution of cases, NCLT framework will be strengthened. E-courts system will be implemented and alternative methods of debt resolution and special framework for MSMEs will be introduced.
2. New provisions of LLP Act: The LLP (Amendment) Act, 2021 facilitates Ease of Doing Business and encourages startups across the country with decriminalisation of offences, in-house adjudication mechanism and introduction of Small LLPs.
The LLP Act has been passed by both the houses of Parliament and notified after the assent of the President of India on Aug 13, 2021.
The LLP Act amended 20 sections, omitted 3 sections and inserted 7 new sections in the LLP Act, 2008.
3. Reclaiming of shares and dividends: The Investor Education and Protection fund Authority was established to help investors reclaim unclaimed shares and dividends in a hassle-free way.
The IEPF was established for administration of investors’ education and protection of their funds by the GoI on Sept 7, 2016.
The IEPF is entrusted in respect of unclaimed dividends, matured deposits, matured debentures, application money due for refund and interest thereon, and also for promotion of investors’ education, awareness and protection.
4. Setting up of NIIF: The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) was set up as a collaborative platform for international and Indian investors.
NIIF has raised funds from 17 investors across 7 countries including Australia, Canada, UAE, Singapore, USA, Japan and India. NIIF manages three funds: master fund, fund of funds and strategic fund.
5. Setting up of social stock exchange: Under the ambit of Sebi, social stock exchange was set up as a separate segment of the existing stock exchange.
A capacity building fund with a targeted corpus of ₹100 crore was set up under the aegis of NABARD with contribution from SIDBI, NSE and BSE for creating awareness about social stock exchange and hand-holding non-profit organisations for fundraising on the platform.