BAI - Builders Association of India - All India ... Report 2014-15.pdf · Builders’ Association of India (All India Association of Engineering Construction Contractors & Builders)

Builders’ Association of India

(All India Association of Engineering Construction Contractors & Builders)

Registered & Head Office: G-1/G-20, Commerce Centre, J. Dadajee Road, Tardeo, Mumbai – 400 034

Tel : (022) 23514134, 23514802, 23520507 Fax : 022-23521328

Email : [email protected]

Delhi Office: D1/203, Aashirwad Complex

Green Park Main, New Delhi – 110 016 Tel : (011) 32573257

Telefax: (011) 26568763 Email: [email protected]

74th

Annual Report and Accounts

2014–2015

www.baionline.in

Builders’ Association of India (All-India Association of Engineering Construction Contractors & Builders)

G-1/G-20, 7th Floor, Commerce Centre, J. Dadajee Road, Tardeo, Mumbai – 400034 Tel: 91-22 23514134 , 23520507, 23514802 Fax: 23521328

Web Site : www.baionline.in E-mail: [email protected]

N O T I C E The Seventy fourth (74) Annual General Meeting of the Members of Builders’ Association of India, will be held on Saturday, 12th September 2015 at 4.00 P.M. at The Lalit Plaza, Hotel The Lalit, Sahar Airport Road, Andheri (East), Mumbai – 400 059, to transact the following business :- 1. To confirm the Minutes of the Seventy third Annual General Meeting held on 20th

September 2014 at Hotel Jaipur Marriott, Ashram Marg, Jawahar Circle, Jaipur (Minutes have already been circulated to Members).

2. To take note of the result of BAI Organisational Election for the year 2015-16 (Enclosed).

3. To approve Constitutional Amendment (Enclosed).

4. To consider, and if thought fit, adopt the Annual Report of the Association for the year ending 31st March 2015.

5. To consider, and if thought fit, adopt the Audited Balance Sheet and Income & Expenditure Account of the Association for the year ending 31st March 2015.

6. To appoint Auditors to audit the accounts of the Association for the year 2015-16 and fix their remuneration.

7. To consider, any other item, with the permission of the chair.

MAHESH M. MUDDA

HON. GEN. SECRETARY BUILDERS ’ ASSOCIATION OF INDIA

Place : Mumbai Dated: August 21, 2015 Note: (i) Queries on Accounts and Reports should be communicated to BAI

Headquarter on or before 10th September 2015. Centres Chairmen are requested to kindly circulate this information amongst their members. Please note no floor queries on accounts will be entertained.

(ii) Please bring this copy of Annual Report.

Delhi Office: D1/203, Aashirwad Complex, Green Park Main, New Delhi 110 016 ✆ 26568763 E-mail: [email protected]

BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF INDIA MANAGING COMMITTEE 2014-2015

President Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu

Vice Presidents

Shri L. Moorthy Shri Lal Chand Sharma Shri Naresh M. Singh Shri Avinash M. Patil

Hon. Gen. Secretary Shri Mahesh M. Mudda

Hon. Gen. Treasurer Shri C.G. Deochake

Imm. Past President

Shri B. Seenaiah

Trustees

Shri D.C. Awasthi Shri D.L. Desai Shri J.R. Sethuramalingam Shri P.K. Ramachandran Shri R. Ramaraj Shri S.K. Pradhan Shri Jagdish Parekh

State Chairmen / Co-ordinator

ANDHRA PRADESH BIHAR CHATTISGARH DELHI

Shri V. Satyamurthy Shri Sachin Chandra Shri N.R. Prashar --

GUJARAT JHARKHAND KARNATAKA KERALA Shri Amit R. Patel Shri Kaushal K. Singh Shri K. Sridhar Shri B. Chandra Mohanan

MADHYA PRADESH MAHARASHTRA RAJASTHAN TAMIL NADU

Dr. Santosh Katiyar Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi Shri G.K. Gupta Shri D.R. Sekar

TELANGANA UTTAR PRADESH WEST BENGAL Shri N. Nagesh Reddy Shri Ravindra Tyagi Shri Pradeep K. Chowdhury

Members

Dr. Anand J. Gupta Dr. D. Thukkaram Dr. S.K. Manjarekar Dr. Taro T. Manghnani Shri A. Puhazhendi Shri Abhay Garde Shri Alex P. Cyriac Shri Ashok Agarwal Shri B. Babu Rao Shri B.R. Ravihandran Shri Baburao L. Shakkarwar Shri Bhopinder R. Lal Shri C. Devarajan Shri D. Kempanna Shri D.P. Singh Shri G. Ramamoorthi Shri Harkant G. Vacharajani Shri Harshad N. Bhayani Shri Jaideep P. Raje Shri K. Sriram Shri K. Subramani Shri K. Venkatesan Shri K. Viswanathan Shri K.J. George Shri L. Venkatesan Shri M. Dhandavakrishnan Shri M. Ramesh Shri Mohamed Iqbal Qureshi Shri Mohanlal S. Kataria Shri Mu Moahan Shri N. Raghunathan Shri N. Ramalingam Shri N. Sachitanand Reddy Shri N. Shanmugam Shri N.C. Sundaramurthy Shri O.K. Selvaraj Shri P. Narasimhulu Shri P. Subramani Shri Prabir Kumar Mukherjee Shri Pratap B. Salunkhe Shri R. Ethirajan Shri R. Prakash Shri R.K. Jain Shri Rajendra S. Athawale Shri Ram Janam Singh Shri Ram M. Bhatia Shri Ranjeet R. More Shri S. Ayyanathan Shri S. Ganapathy Shri S. Prabhu Shri Sanjay Laxman Patil Shri Sudhir D. Gharge Shri V.S.K. Moorthy

Co-opted Members

Shri N.M. Patel Shri P.K.P. Narayanan Shri B.R. Badrinath

Special Invitees

Shri Anuj Kanwal Shri B.K. Chawla Shri Datta Ghule Shri Gibu P Mathew Shri K. Rajavel Shri K. Ramkumar Shri K.K. Ragavan Shri Lalit Kumar Oswal Shri Madhukar S. Kodam Shri Maneesh K Shri Manikram J. Halbe Shri Muralidhara Shri P.T. Gopal Shri Pankaj N. Saraiya Shri Pradeep G. Golangade Shri R. Karna Boopathy Shri Ramesh P. Marda Shri Subrata Das Shri Sudhir Chimanlal Mota Shri Uday N. Gokhale Shri V. Narasimhan Shri V. Ramakrishnappa Shri V. Sivarajan

Ref.: 534/M/2014-15 dated March 30, 2015 TO: THE TRUSTEES THE VICE-PRESIDENTS THE STATE CHAIRMEN / CENTRE CHAIRMEN THE MANAGING COMMITTEE AND THE GENERAL COUNCIL M EMBERS

Dear Sirs,

The election process for 2015-16 of Builders’ Association of India has been completed on 30th March 2015. Following are the election results: - President : Shri Lal Chand Sharma

[Gautam Budh Nagar Centre]

Vice Presidents : 1. Shri G.C. Gupta

[Eastern (Kolkata) Centre] 2. Shri Ashok Agarwal [Rajasthan (Jaipur) Centre]

3. Shri V.M. Fazal Ali

[Kochi (Cochin) Centre] 4. Shri Anilbhai R. Zinzuwadia [Gujarat (Ahmedabad) Centre]

Hon. Gen. Secretary : Shri Mahesh M. Mudda Hon. Gen. Treasurer : Shri C.G. Deochake State Chairman (Andhra Pradesh) : Shri CH Ramakotaiah (Visakhapatnam Centre) State Co-ordinator (Assam) : Shri Kulesh Goswami (Guwahati Centre) St. Co-ordinator (Bihar) : Shri Manikant (Patna Centre) State Chairman (Chhattisgarh) : Shri N.R. Prashar (Jagdalpur Centre) St. Co-ordinator (Delhi) : Shri Arun Sahai (Delhi Centre) State Chairman (Gujarat) : Shri Amit R. Patel (Bharuch Centre) State Chairman (Jharkhand) : Shri Chandrakant Raipat (Jharkhand (Ranchi) Centre) State Chairman (Karnataka) : Shri A.R. Ravindra Bhat (Mysore Centre) State Chairman (Kerala) : Shri R. Rajesh (Kerala (Trivandrum) Centre) State Chairman (Madhya Pradesh) : Shri Suresh Vaswani (Bhopal Centre) State Chairman (Maharashtra) : Shri Sunil Balkrishna Mundada (Dhule Centre) State Chairman (Rajasthan) : Shri Ravi Kumar Kheria (Rajasthan (Jaipur) Centre ) State Chairman (Tamil Nadu) : Shri N. Raghunathan (Southern (Chennai) Centre) State Chairman (Telangana) : Shri N. Nagesh Reddy (Nizamabad Centre) State Chairman (Uttar Pradesh) : Shri Sanjay Tyagi (Muzaffarnagar Centre) State Chairman (West Bengal) : Shri S.K. Nag (Haldia Centre)

: 2 :

Members of the Managing Committee representing Centres:

1. Dr. Anand Gupta 2. Dr. Dharmesh C. Awasthi 3. Dr. S.K. Manjrekar 4. Shri A. Puhazhendi 5. Shri A.N. Balaji 6. Shri Ashok Kumar Sharma 7. Shri Avinash M. Patil 8. Shri Baburao L. Shakkarwar 9. Shri Basavaraj S. Totad 10. Shri Bhopinder Lal 11. Shri G.M. Ravindra 12. Shri Harshad N. Bhayani 13. Shri K. Venkatesan 14. Shri K.S. Someshwar Reddy 15. Shri L. Venkatesan 16. Shri M. Dhandavakrishnan 17. Shri M.M. Mohandas 18. Shri Mohanlal S. Kataria 19. Shri N. Ramalingam 20. Shri Narendra Kumar 21. Shri Pradeep Kumar Jain 22. Shri Pratap B. Salunkhe 23. Shri R. Ethirajan 24. Shri R. Subburaman 25. Shri Rajendra Athawale 26. Shri S. Ganapathy 27. Shri S.I. Chunkhare 28. Shri Ved Khurana

Members of the Managing Committee representing Patron Members:

1. Dr. D. Thukkaram 2. Shri Abhay Garde 3. Shri Alex P. Cyriac 4. Shri C. Devarajan 5. Shri Girish I. Patel 6. Shri H.N. Vijaya Raghava Reddy 7. Shri K. Padmanabhan 8. Shri K. Subramani 9. Shri K.J. George 10. Shri L. Moorthy 11. Shri Mohan D. Bhate 12. Shri Mu. Moahan 13. Shri N. Sachitanand Reddy 14. Shri N.K. Gunasekaran

15. Shri N. M. Patel 16. Shri Naresh Agarwal 17. Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi 18. Shri P. Subramani 19. Shri P. P. John 20. Shri Prabir Kumar Mukherjee 21. Shri R. Sivakumar 22. Shri Ram M. Bhatia 23. Shri Ravindra Pradhan 24. Shri S. Ayyanathan 25. Shri S.D. Kannan

Members of the Managing Committee representing Affiliated Associations:

1. Shri E. Manohar 2. Shri V.V. Chandak

The new office bearers will assume charge of their respective offices with effect from 1st April 2015 for a period of 1 year as per the BAI Constitution.

Thanking you, Yours faithfully,

RAJU JOHN

RETURNING OFFICER BAI ORGANISATIONAL ELECTIONS 2015-16

Copy to: Board of Scrutinisers.

BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF INDIA 74th Annual General Meeting

Mumbai – 12th September 2015

Item No.3 Constitutional Amendment Affiliated Association Matter – Constitution of General Council.

Existing Clause Suggestions for Amendments

A.O.2 (f) The Representatives of

Affiliated Associations (one for every

10 Affiliated Associations), but not

exceeding 2).

A.O.2(f) 4 Nos. Representing

Affiliated Associations (2 from the

Patron category elected among

affiliated patron members only and 2

from the General category elected

among all affiliated patron members

and affiliated annual members,

irrespective of the number of

Affiliated Associations, the total

General Council Members

representing them shall not exceed 4).

Item No.4

Report of the President and Managing Committee of Builders' Association of India for the year 2014-15

Friends, The President and the Managing Committee have great pleasure in presenting the 74th Annual Report of the Association along with the Statement of Accounts and the Auditors’ Report for the year 2014-15. CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY – A PERSPECTIVE The construction is a high volume low profit business and Industry contributes about 8 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP). Apart from its contribution to GDP, it is also one of the largest contributors to employment of skilled and unskilled people outside of agriculture, employing a total of about 41 million people. The thrust on infrastructure development in the last few years has been a key driver for the construction industry, opening up opportunities for both the contracting industry through direct construction contracts as well as for ancillary industries, including equipment and material markets. In fact, nearly 60 per cent of annual infrastructure investment is realised in the construction sector. Over the past two years i.e. 2012-2014, there has been a significant slowdown in capacity addition in various infrastructure sectors, which has impacted the construction industry negatively. With Public – Private Partnership model (PPP) of infra development Construction Industry graduated from cash and carry contracts to that of an entrepreneur in recent years. Many infrastructure developers have successfully completed project in time. PPP in turn brought about greater mechanisation and employment of skilled personnel for earlier completion of work. Project are often awarded with only partial acquisition of land, which can stalled project indefinitely if even 10-20 per cent of the required land is not handed over to the developer in time. Furthermore, extensive environmental approvals are required at the start of the project itself. Regulatory authorities at the central and the state levels lack coordination, which leads to standoffs on critical approvals. This is compounded by other issues such a inadequate support in the shifting of utilities for construction. Infrastructure sector requires long term investment at lower interest rate having a long gestation period. In absence of such finance infra players have to depend on Bank finance which are for working capital and a short term duration and at higher interest rate. There is urgent need for investment by Pension Fund & Insurance fund in infra sector. Lack of adequate financing has also emerged as a significant reason for delays in construction works. The past 24 months have been marked by an economic slowdown, and investors are becoming increasingly risk averse. Consequently, equity players are shying away from parking their funds in the

infrastructure sector. Banks too have made lending norms more stringent and several infrastructure projects have been unable to achieve financial closure within the prescribed timelines. The government has set a massive investment target of Rs. 51 trillion in the infrastructure sector in the Twelfth Five Year Plan. For this to be realized during remaining years of plan i.e. 2014-2017 period, it is imperative that the construction industry pick up pace and grow at an annual average rate of 20 per cent, which is nearly four times its current growth rate. new government has to tackle this problem on war footing. The pace of project wards and implementation in the port sector has not been very impressive. The government has repeatedly missed its project award targets and implementation deadlines on account of policy-related issues as well as delays in approvals. Sea Port Sector Construction opportunities in the port sector mainly arise from the construction and reconstruction of berths, jetties and terminals as well as in rail/road connectivity works. Of the 264 projects planned at major ports during the Twelfth plan period, almost 25 per cent of the projects relate to construction and reconstruction of berths and jetties, while rail/road connectivity projects accounts for 21 per cent of the total projects under consideration. Of the total investment of Rs. 723 billion envisaged at major ports by the planning commission for the Twelfth Plan period, 40 per cent is expected in the construction of berths, jetties and terminals, while 25 per cent is expected in rail/road connectivity works. Thus, nearly 65 per cent of the investment in major ports will be towards construction activities during the plan period. Water supply & Sanitation The pace of contract awards in the water and sanitation sector declined in the last two fiscal years. While contracts for construction and related works for 15 projects worth Rs. 121.02 billion were awarded in 2011-12, only eight projects worth Rs. 24.91 billion were awarded in 2012-13. Airport Sector With respect to the pace of new project awards in the Airport sector, the progress has been slow. In the last two years (2011-12 and 2012-13), only two projects were awarded. One was the Chandigarh (Mohali) International Airport Modernisation Project Phase I, which was awarded to Larsen & Toubro in August 2012; and the other was the Vadodara (Harni) Airport Integrated Terminal Building Project, which was awarded to B.L. Kashyap & Sons Limited in May 2011. Construction opportunities in the airport sector are expected to increase in line with the growing demand for air transport. Massive projects have been lined up, ranging from large public-private partnership opportunities in greenfield airports to development

of cargo terminals. Besides, as stated earlier, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has elaborate plans with respect to both air-side works at non-metro airports. On an average, about 66 per cent of the total project cost of an airport pertains to construction. Based on this, about Rs. 578.91 billion worth of construction works will be realized during the Twelfth Plan. Time and cost overruns have become synonymous with project execution in India. While some of the key risks impeding construction activity appear to be external factors, they can be mitigates to a great extent through the timely identification of prerequisites. This is particularly true of land acquisition and regulatory approvals.

Construction opportunity in the conventional power segment Capacity

(MW) Total project

cost (Rs. billion)

Construction component (Rs. billion)

Thermal* 21,940 1,028.00 411.20 Hydro 28,334 1,381.13 897.73-966.79 Nuclear** 42,700 4,270.00 854.00 *The Surguja power plant in Chhattisgarh has been excluded given the reports of the power Ministry shelving the project **Total project cost has been calculated by assuming the per unit cost at Rs.0.10 billion per MW Source: India Infrastructure Research Construction opportunity in National Highway segments in XIIth Five Year Plan.

Construction opportunity in the national highways segment in the Twelfth Five – Year Plan

Phase Cost per km (Rs million)

Balance length for

award (km)

Total cost (Rs.

billion) GQ, NSEW Phases I and II

55.57 372 20.67

Phase III 66.58 1,685.00 112.19 Phase IV 13.9 10,242.00 142.36 Phase V 63.4 2,419.00 153.36 Phase VII 238.29 659 157.03 Total - 15,377.00 585.62 Construction opportunities in the national highway segment

380.65

Note: The cost per km has been calculated by dividing the total estimated investment in the various phases with the total length. GQ – Golden Quadrilateral; NSEW: North South East West. Source: National Highways Authority of India and India Infrastructure Research

Construction Opportunity in Monorail Project The construction component in a monorail project also stands at about 50 per cent of the total project cost. Based on this, India Infrastructure Research has estimated a construction opportunity of nearly Rs. 81.58 billion over the next two to three years. Also, several projects are currently in the planning and proposal stages and will be executed in the next five to

seven years, thus providing significant construction opportunity in the long run. Construction Opportunity in Railways In the railway sector, of the total project cost, 78 per cent pertains to construction works. Based on recent progress in each of the pipeline projects, India Infrastructure Research estimates a medium-term construction opportunity of over Rs. 25 billion. In the coming two years, contracts for works relating to redevelopment of railway stations may also be awarded, which would constitute near-term construction opportunities. On the other hand, the timeline for projects proposed in the Railway Budget is difficult to ascertain. Nonetheless, projects that are proposed to be undertaken on the basis of socio-economic considerations may be developed before other proposed projects. In addition to these opportunities, the ambitious dedicated freight corridor project will also offer massive construction opportunities in the coming years. It can thus be seen that Construction Industry will have sufficient work in hand and will have to year up in scaling up it’s capacity training for skill workers and innovative financing model for PPP projects. BAI @ PLANNING COMMISSION Providing inputs in formulation of XII Five Year Plan. In the context of formulation of XII Five Year Plan, Planning Commission formed a ‘Steering Committee on Construction’ on 4th August 2011. Composition of Steering Committee is as follows:-

1. Dr. Arun Maira – Member (Industry) Planning Commission

- Chairman.

2. Dr. Manoj Singh – Advisor

(Transport) Planning Commission - Member.

II. Director General C.P.W.D. - Member. 20. President BAI - Member. 19. Director & CEO – L&T

ECC(wing) - Member.

25. President CREDAI - Member. 30. M.D. Simplex Infrastructure Ltd. - Member. 31. Dr. P.R. Swarup D.G.C.I.D.C. - Convenor.

The initial draft of the approach paper to the XII Five Year Plan had set target 9 to 9.5% GDP growth in October 2011, compared to 7.9% achieved in XI Five Year Plan. It was later brought down to 8.2% in September 2012, which was further brought down to 8% in National Development Council Meeting in December 2012.

Given below growth in various Five Year Plans. Plan No.

Plan Period Target Growth

Realised Growth

I 1951- 1955 2.1% 3.5% It was from III Five Year Plan onwards upto 1990-91 which achieved about 3% growth called by economist Raj Krishna as ‘Hindu Rate of Growth’.

II 1955 - 1960 4.5% 4.2% III 1960 - 1965 5.6% 2.8% Annual 1966 - 1968 - 3.9% IV 1969 - 1973 5.7% 3.2% V 1974 - 1978 4.4% 4.7% Annual 1979 - 1980 - -5.2% VI 1980 - 1984 5.2% 5.5% VII 1985 - 1989 5% 5.6% Annual 1990 - 1991 - 3.4% VIII 1992 - 1996 5.6% 6.5% IX 1997– 2001 6.5% 5.5% X 2002– 2006 7.9% 7.7% XI 2007– 2012 8.1% 7.9% XII 2012– 2017 8%

HOUSING FOR ALL BY 2022

Report of the Technical group on Urban Housing shortage (2012-2017) and working group on Rural Housing (2012-2017) submitted the same in 2011 to their respective ministries. Report estimated that almost a quarter of Indian households lack adequate housing facility. Country is on the verge of large scale urbanisation over the next few decades. As per 2011 census, country’s population was 121 crores and expected to reach 150 crores by 2050. Present urbanisation rate of 28% in 2011 is to accelerate to 52% by 2050. Urban population is expected to reach to 81 crores by 2050 as per “KPMG India Analysis July 2014”. Housing is a basic need for humans. Central Government acknowledges the importance of housing and aims to provide housing to all it’s citizen by 2022. In order to fulfill this vision, 4.63 crores urban houses and 6.50 crores rural houses are required to be constructed by Government, private sector and on public private partnership. Details of statewise urban and rural housing requirement is given in Table ‘A’ below:-

Table ‘A’ Details of Statewise Urban and Rural Housing Requirement

(Figures are in lakhs) Sr. No.

Name of State No. of Urban

Housing Units

required in 2022

No. of Rural

Housing Units

required in 2022

Total Housing

Units required by 2022

1. Uttar Pradesh 54 146 200 2. Madhya Pradesh 22 51 74 3. Rajasthan 21 45 66 4. Delhi 30 3 33 5. Haryana 11 14 25 6. Punjab 10 13 23 Northern

Region 148 272 421

7. Maharashtra 50 55 105 8. Gujarat 29 21 50 9. Goa 2 1 3

Western Region 81 77 158 10. A.P. including

Telangana 37 40 77

11. Tamil Nadu 39 18 57 12. Karnataka 28 21 49 13. Kerala 27 9 36 Southern

Region 131 88 219

14. Bihar 19 69 88 15. West Bengal 34 42 76 16. Orissa 9 26 35 17. Jharkhand 11 18 29 18. Chhattisgarh 8 14 22 Eastern Region 81 169 250 19. Hilly Region 22 44 65 All India 4.63

crores 6.50

crores 11.33 crores

20. Demand between 2014 and 2022

2.73 crores

2.70 crores

5.43 crores

21. Urban Housing shortage of E.W.S. in 2012

1.055 crores

22. Shortage of LIG in 2012

0.741 crores

23. Shortage of M.I.G. in 2012

0.082 crores

1.878 crores

24. Investment required upto 2022

1.80 Trillion Dollar



Source:- Report of the working group on Urban Housing shortage (2012-2017), Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation. Working group on Rural Housing for XII Five Year Plan, Ministry of Rural Development 2011. Census 2011 KPMG in India Analysis. Note :- Above estimate reveal that 75 percent of housing requirement until 2022 would be concentrated in ten states of U.P, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh (including Telengna), Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka.

The total housing requirement of 11.33 crores by 2022 includes housing shortage of 5.90 crores as on 2014. The break-up of current housing shortage, requirement between 2014 and 2022 is given in Table ‘B’ below :-

Table ‘B’

Sr. No.

Particulars Urban Housing Units in crores

Rural Housing Units in crores

Total Housing Units in crores

1. Shortage of Housing Units in 2014.

1.90 4.00 5.90

2. Demand between 2014 and 2022.

2.73 2.70 5.43

Total 4.63 6.70 11.33

Source :- Report of Urban Technical Group (TG-12) on Urban Housing shortage (2012-2017), Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation September 2012.

As per K.P.M.G’s estimates, development of such large quantity of houses may require investments of over USD2 trillion i.e. Rs. 120/- lakh crores (dollar at Rs. 60). This translates to about USD250 to 260 billion annually i.e. Rs. 15/- lakh crores to Rs. 15.60 lakh crores, more than double the annual investments witnessed in FY14. About 85 to 90 per cent of the total investments would be required for developing urban housing, where development costs are high due to factors such as land prices, construction cost, fees, and taxes. Within urban housing, it is the affordable housing (houses for EWS/LIG households) which require attention on priority basis, as it alone would require about half of the total investments and 70 per cent of urban housing needs envisaged. These investments need to be complemented with additional investments of about USD1.5 trillion in urban infrastructure and commercial real estate. Thus, a total investment of over USD3.5 trillion may be required for urban housing and supporting infrastructure. Though, housing deficit is much wider in rural areas compared to urban areas, it requires only a small portion of total investments envisaged till 2022, which can be meted out without much difficulty. In our view, the central government with participation from state governments, drafting a plan of delivering three crore houses in rural areas with an investment of INR3.45 lakh crore (USD58 billion) by 2022 is a good start. With the current set of housing development policies in place and assuming an annual growth in investments by about five to six per cent in the housing sector (as witnessed since FY08), the required investments may fall short by about USD500 to 600 billion. This gap in funding would likely be restricted due to several structural issues in the sector such as high gestation period of housing projects, limited and expensive liquidity, spiralling land and construction cost, high fees and taxes, unfavourable development norms, and affordability vis-à-vis housing prices for EWS/LIG households. Mobilisation of such huge resources (funding, construction capacity, labour, technology, etc.) for mass scale affordable housing development by the central and state governments may be difficult, without participation from the private sector. The private sector, which is often better in term of managing construction risks and project delivery, should be encouraged by central and state governments, by addressing several structural issues Since the beginning of the twenty first century, a slew of regulatory reforms such as allowing foreign direct investments, improving access to credit by households, providing tax incentives on housing loans, developing special economic zones and thrust on infrastructure development, coupled with high economic growth, have propelled private sector participation in urban housing development. However, it has largely resulted in the development of Middle Income Group (MIG) and High Income Group (HIG) houses, leading to significant shortage of EWS/LIG or affordable houses. As per the report of the Technical Group on Urban Housing Shortage, EWS/LIG houses constitute more than 95 per cent of the housing shortage in 2012 as per detail given in Table ‘C’ below:-

Table ‘C’ Urban Housing Shortage 2012

Sr. No.

Classification of Housing Units

Number of Units in Million

Shortage in percentage

term 1. Economically Weaker

Section (EWS) 10.55 56.18

2. Low Income Group 7.41 39.44 3. Middle Income Group

& above 0.82 4.38

Total 18.78 100.00 Source:- Report of the Technical Urban Group (TG-12) on Urban Housing Shortage 2012-2017. Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation September 2012. Despite such huge demand for all type of housing and more particularly for EWS and LIG, development of urban affordable houses has been limited due to several structural issues making it unfeasible business proposition for the private sector. Major structural issues restricting private sector participation in urban affordable housing are depicted below:-

1) Real Estate is a low volume, high margin business requires very high long term capital requirement for purchase of urban land at high price. Its working capital requirement is low. Any given project has gestation period of 6/8 years. Most of real estate players are in unorganized sector. There are hardly 50/60 listed companies on Mumbai Stock Exchange.

2) Town planners all these years prescribed horizontal development of cities with low or restrictive FSI/FAR in order to reduce migration into cities. Horizontal expansion of cities resulted in resource starved local urban bodies unable to provide civic infrastructure in terms of roads, water mains, sewerage, and health/educational infrastructure. India’s per capita urban infrastructure spending even otherwise is about 17 dollar against requirement of 100 dollars.

3) Currently 30/40 N.O.C. are required from various departments / authorities / organisation which takes more than 18 months before approval of building plan. This delay add to the cost of project by way of interest burden.

4) Migrant could not find flats at affordable price in

formal housing sector ultimately purchased in informal housing sector. This resulted in proliferation of slums in all big towns. Affordable Rental Housing should be encouraged.

5) Real estate being high capital intensity business with

long gestation period, has to depend on high interest rate, short term loans, either from Banks or from private source in absence of institutions of such as pension funds, PF funds offering long terms loans at low interest rate. This add to overall project cost besides slowing down or delayed completion of housing projects.

6) Several indirect taxes such as VAT, stamp duty,

service tax together add to about 35% of property cost. Details of various taxes to be paid are as per Table ‘D’ below :-

Table ‘D’ List of direct and indirect taxes imposed on real estate development. Sr. No.

Tax Percentage of property

cost 1. Development agreement stamp duty 5 2. Stamp duty on purchase of property 5 3. Registration charges 1 4. Value added tax on purchase of

construction material 1

5. Service tax to contractor on service component

2.6

6. VAT to contractor on goods component 4 7. Other levies such as service tax 2.6 8. Excise and custom duty 15 Total -35

Source :- KPMG in India analysis, 2014; NAREDCO – Funding the vision – Housing for all by 2022. Note :- Stamp Duty is charged on Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner rate or jantry rate.

7) As per KPMG’s estimate urban housing need would require 1.7 to 2.00 lakh hectars of land to meet the housing need till 2022 as per detail given in Table ‘E’ below :-

Table ‘E’ This analysis is based on a FAR/FSI of 1.5 times the land area. The actual requirement of land may decrease. If the unoccupied houses of about 94 lakh, as mentioned earlier, are occupied.

Urban housing land requirements

EWS LIG MIG HIG Total Housing need till 2022

Crore 1.7-1.9 1.3-1.5 0.8-1.0 0.4-0.5 4.4-4.8

Super-built up area

Sq.ft 300 650 1,000 1,500

Land required

Crore sq.ft

510-570

850-980

800-1,000

600-700

2,700-3,200

Land required

Hectare 47,000-53,000

78,000-90,000

74,000-93,000

55,000-64,000

250,000-300,000

FAR/FSI# X 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 Land required

Hectare 31,000-35,000

52,000-60,000

50,000-62,000

37,000-43,000

170,000-200,000

Source:- KPMG in India analysis FAR/FSI varies in different cities according to urban infrastructure and for calculation purpose has been assumed at 1.5 times the land area.

In view of above mentioned scenario, question that arises is whether Real Estate and construction Industry is capable of delivering of about 70 lakh housing units every year from 2015 to 2022, more so in the background of fact that present deliverable capacity may be maximum upto 8/10 lakh units yearly. Though the task is stupendous, but can be achieved if not by 2022 but by 2030 subject to all the stake holders i.e. Government both Central, States and Local self, real estate developers, professionals such as engineers, architects and construction contractors come together and initiating following steps to achieve result.

A) Town planning departments need to change concept from low rise horizontal development of cities into high rise vertical development with higher density i.e. high FAR/FSI. This would bring down cost of providing civic infrastructure, since urbanization area would be reduced.

B) The present building approval plans by Municipalities is not only time consuming but cumbersome. Real estate developers have to obtain minimum 30 N.O.C’s from different department / Organisation, resulting in cost escalation. Many of N.O.C’s are irrelevant and are duplication. It is suggested that a single window clearance system connecting regulatory authorities at Central, State and Urban Local Body level, supported by a technology plat form would help reduce complexities and delay.

C) There is dire need to reduce indirect taxes aggregating

to 35% as shown in Table ‘D’ by all authorities to incentivise affordable housing development to improve housing affordability.

D) The Land Acquisition Rehabiliation & Resettlement

Act 2013, is expected to have a majot impact on large scale township and affordable housing projects. Needless to state that few provision of LARR Act 2013 are deleted or be suitably amended to achieve housing target.

E) Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurships

realesed a report in April 2015 stating therein that building construction and real estate sector employed 45.40 million people in 2013 which is expected to reach to 76.60 million by 2022. Most of construction workers are not skilled. It is therefore necessary for Construction Skill Development Council of India (CSDCI) to undertake onsite training of construction workers. State governments should realese 20% of building & other Construction Workers Welfare Cess collected at rate of 1% on construction contract amounting to Rs. 13000/- crores as on March 2015. This would enhance productivity of worker and saving in wastage of construction material.

F) Present cast-in-site construction system need to be

changed to errection of readymade various building component such as beam, column, slabs manufactured in factory. It is necessary to standardise design

parameters. Alternatively main construction contractors need to promote specialised foundation, superstructure and finishing contractors for timely and faster completion project.

G) Increased environment concern has reduced

availability of natural sand and coarse aggregate, delaying housing projects. Ministry of Housing of states and centre jointly with trade bodies such as BAI, CREDAI, CFI, NHBF fund research on use of alternative such as construction waste, flyash, slag from steel plant in place and steal of natural sand.

H) Housing Regulatory Authorities to be formed in each

state to regulate real estate sector and bring about transparency. There has to be “carpet area” norm/standards for building approval plan by Urban Local Bodies, sale on carpet area basis by real estate developers to avoid possible litigation on charged area for flat. It should also be made mandatory for registration and grading of real estate developers for professionalisation of real estate business.

I) Provident Fund corpus & Insurance Funds be invested

in housing projects either through instrumentality of REITS or other specially created bonds by RBI. This will provide long term funding requirement to housing sector at lower interest rate than that of Banks. Housing Finance Companies need to increase home loan tenure from 20 years to 30 years, so as to reduce equated monthly installments. (EMI) to be paid by flat purchasers. Necessary tax incentives to be given to all the schemes.

Source:- Decoding Housing for all by 2022 (KPMG). SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN CONSTRUCTION SECTOR Government of India established National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) on 31st July 2008 as not for profit company licensed under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1955. NSDC has targeted to train 150 million people by 2022, out of incremental demand of 240 million. As mandated under NSDC’s programme Construction Industry need to form a Construction Skill Development Council to establish occupation standards, operations and delivery mechanism, certification and accreditation and Labour Market Information System (LMIS). Ultimately in a meeting held on 23rd August 2012 in the office of Shri Ramadorai, the then Adviser to Prime Minister on Skill Development and present Chairman of National Skill Development Corporation, Construction Sector Skill Development aCouncil of India was formed jointly by four Associations namely Builders’ Association of India (BAI), Construction Federation of India (CFI), Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), and National Highway Builders’ Federation (NHBF). Members of the Governing Council are as follows:-

Name of Member Name of Organisation Shri Ajit Gulabchand Chairman from C.F.I. Shri S.N. Subramanian C.F.I. Shri B. Seenaiah President of BAI Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu BAI Shri Lalit Kumar Jain Chairman, CREDAI Shri C. Shekar Reddy President, CREDAI Shri V.C. Verma President of NHBF Col. Surinder Kuda of M/s. Ashoka Buildcon

NHBF

Shri Niranjan Hiranandani Additional Industry Nominee

Shri Phillie Karkaria Additional Industry Nominee

Shri Devendra Choudhary, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Power

Planning Commission Nominee

Shri J. Ganguly Additional Industry Nominee

Technical Adviser to be decided by Governing Council later.

Technical Adviser to be decided by Governing Council later.

BAI’s request for providing part of Cess collected under Building and other Construction Workers Welfares’ Cess Act, 1996, has resulted the Government of India issuing the following notification :

No. Z-2011/05/2010-BL Government of India

Ministry of Labour & Employment

Jaisalmer House, Mansingh Road New Delhi – 110011

Dated the 12th July 2013 To, Principal Secretary / Secretary, Departmental of Labour All State / UT Governments Chairman / Secretary State Building and Other

Subject: Implementation of provision of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 and Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996 - regarding

Sir/Madam,

The Building and Other Construction Worker (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act and Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act were enacted in 1996 to regulate the employment and conditions of service and to provide for safety, health and welfare measure of building and other construction workers.

2. The State Governments have been mandate to constitute Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Boards. The functions of the Board, inter-alia, include providing immediate assistance to a beneficiary in case of accident, making payment of pension, sanctioning loans and advances for construction of house, giving financial assistance for the education of children, meeting medical expenses for major ailments etc. The implementation of various provisions of these Acts specially those relating to registration of workers as beneficiaries, collection of cess and its utilization for welfare of building and other construction workers is the responsibility of the State Government and State Building and Other Construction Worker Welfare Board. 3. It has however been noticed that the percentage of construction worker registered continues to be very low in large number of States and only about one crore construction workers have been registered with the State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Boards against the total estimated number of around 4.50 crore. Similarly percentage utilization of fund for welfare of construction workers has also been very low in large number of State despite rapid growth in collection of cess. 4. The Ministry has been requesting States at various levels in the past to improve the situation, Secretary, Labour & Employment through his D.O. letter dated 29th June, 2012 to the Chief Secretaries, requested States to take steps for accelerating registration of workers, drawing strategy for implementing model schemes of the Central government and utilizing of funds for vocation training and skill development of construction workers and their children. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the Writ Petition (C ) No. 318 of 2006 has given very clear and specific directions for improving implementation of the provisions of the Act. In addition, the good practices adopted by some of the States have been shared with the States not been able to perform well through various workshops, meetings etc. from time to time. 5. The process of registration of construction workers vis-à-vis potential as well as percent utilization of cess, however, continues to remain very poor in very large number of State. Given the objective for which Act was enacted and State were allowed to collect the cess the existing state of affairs in large number of States cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. Central Government has been empowered under section 60 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 to issue directions to the States and Boards for carrying into execution any of the provisions of the Act. Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide his order dated 7th February, 2012 in the Writ Petition (Civil No. 318 of 2006 and Contempt Petitions numbering 41, 42, 43 & 44 related to this Writ has issued specific direction asking Central Government to issue appropriate directions under Section 60 of the BOCW (RECS) Act, 1996 as well as Cess Act. 6. After careful consideration of existing state of affairs and all other aspects in this regards, Central Government hereby issue following directions under section 60 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (RECS) Act, 1996.

(a) As per Section 12(1) of the Act, every building worker who has been engaged in any building or other construction work for not less than ninety days during the preceding twelve months shall be eligible for registration as a beneficiary under this Act. A very large number of workers are working every year under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Most of the works taken up under MNREGA, barring few related to forestry, horticulture etc., clearly fall under the category of ‘Building and Other Construction Work’ defined under section 2(1)(d) of the Act. To facilitate easy registration of the people who have largely worked under MNREGA works falling under the category of building and construction work, States should carry out a special drive for registration of such people under the BOCW (RECS) Act and shall allow registration of such workers who have completed 50 days of work in a year under MNREGA under BOCW (RECS) Act on the basis of simpler process like self-certification by the applicants or certification by Panchayats, etc.

(b) As per section 12(2) of the Act, an application for registration has to be made in the prescribed form to the officer authorized by the Board in this behalf. Since, it is very difficult for building and other construction worker to approach offices situated away from their usual place of residence and work, States shall authorize all Gram Panchayats and Municipalities also to register construction workers under the Act. In addition, Assistant/Junior Engineers of the various Engineering Departments like PWD, Irrigation, Water Supply, Power etc. shall also be given power to register workers under BOCW(RECS) Act.

(c) Large number of State today have practice of

registration of the workers for one year which requires renewal every year. A large number of genuine workers find it very difficult to keep track of date of renewal and are not able to ensure renewal leading to loss of registration and consequent benefits. The States shall therefore allow registration of workers for periods of at least 3 years in one go to reduce the burden of renewal.

(d) The Building and Other Construction Work’ is

defined under section 2(1)(d) of the Act. The State under this section have been authorized to notify works other than those listed in the section as ‘Building and Other Construction Work’. Since, a large number of State have yet not notified additional works which fall under the category of Building and Other Construction Work and are not specifically mentioned in section 2(1)(d) of the Act, the State shall notify the works listed at Annexure-I of this letter as

Building and Other Construction Work at the earliest as it will enable not only additional collection of cess from such works but also would facilitate easy registration and welfare of workers engaged in such works.

(e) Section 22 of the Act prescribes functions of the

Boards. Section 22(h) of the Act gives wide scope to the State Boards to take up schemes and make provisions of variety of welfare measures for the workers registered under the Act and their dependents. India stands at the verge of reaping demographic dividend by appropriate skilling of its young population. A clarification was issued vide this Ministry’s letter of even number dated 21st May, 2012 (Annexure II) stating that States may use the cess collected for skill development of the registered workers and their dependents for skilling in all sectors including construction. Man Central Ministries have already started emphasizing on use of higher proportion of fund available under various schemes for skill development. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Home Affairs etc., have recently issued such instructions. Given this background, State Boards shall spend every year at least 20% of the balance cess amount at the beginning of the financial year, on activities related to skill development of registered workers and their dependent. Model schemes attached at Annexure III of this letter may be adopted by State Welfare Boards with suitable variations, as considered necessary at the earliest.

7. An early action in the matter maybe taken and action taken may please be informed to us at the earliest. Encl. As stated:

Yours faithfully, Sd/-

(Shikhar Agrawal) Director General Tel: 011- 2383684

LABOUR LAW M ATTERS (i) PROVIDENT FUND In Writ Petition No.792/1991 filed by Pyarelal Harising V/s. Union of India & Ors., in Delhi High Court for declaration of Vires of para 26(2) of the Provident Fund Scheme. Hon’ble Court passed certain orders on the measure taken by P.F. Dept. with regard to contribution to be made by migrant labourers going from place to place. On 27-11-1991, Court passed following order :

“Additional affidavit has been filed but in our opinion the problem is not resolved. Merely having a pass-book will not serve any useful purpose because in the very nature of things a migrant labourer goes from the place to the other and there is no solution as to how and from where

the migrant labourer would be able to withdraw the money due to him. These and other related problems should be considered and a more detailed and an effective proposal for a scheme should be presented to the Court on the next date of hearing. Adjourned to 20th January,1992. Interim orders to continue”.

Matter was heard again on 19-5-1992 and Division Bench passed following order :

“Another suggestion which has been made is that money should be paid with the assistances to stamps being affixed on the pass-book to be maintained by the worker. Suggestions to this effect have already been made by the Managements of different concerns. Another suggestion is also that electronic teller cards should be issued to the workmen which will keep a complete record off all the transactions and will take the place of a pass-book. All the aforesaid suggestions should again be examined by the Board and a detailed scheme be made available to the Court on 8th July, 1992 for final disposal. Copy of the order be given dasti to counsel for the parties.”

Matter was heard again and on 2-5-1995, when Court passed following order :

Mr. Jaitley further says that three High Courts namely – Rajasthan, Orissa and Karnataka, have upheld the provisions of the Act but read down the provision holding that casual labourer is not an employee under the Act. Mr. Mukherjee however, submits that 5 point will in fact be squarely covered under point No.3 of the aforesaid judgment of the Supreme Court. Mr. Jaitley submits that as far as casual workers are concerned he need not deposit the amount of provident fund, if any, deducted from their wages, but as far as regular employees are concerned the amount deducted from their wage is being paid. In view of the decision of the Supreme Court however, we will vacate the interim order granted earlier. We however, direct that on respondents 1 & 2 complying with modified scheme the petitioner shall deduct the provident fund and deposit the same with the respondents 1 & 2 in respect of casual worker also.”

Modified Scheme was not operationalised till 2002 and contractors were subject to inquiry under section 7A of the Act and their liability was assessed.

As such Builders’ Association of Indian - Delhi Centre and 11 construction companies, filed W.P.(C) 3588 in the year 2002 regarding the applicability of the Provident Fund Act on the casual labour / temporary / peripatetic workers and the proceedings initiated under Section 7-A for computation of dues, with regard to casual labour / temporary/peripatetic worker. Later on M/s Harcharan Das Gupta Engg. & Builders and 7 construction companies filed another WP(C) No.7253 in the same year. Later on when enquiries were initiated against M/s. Skyline Engineering Contracts, M/s. Som Datt Builders Ltd. Anr and M/s. Tirath Ram Ahuja Pvt. Ltd., they approached Delhi High Court for the relief. UPTODATE REPORT OF EPF MATTER FILLED BY BAI DELHI CE NTRE IN

HIGH COURT OF DELHI VIDE CWP NO . 3588/2002

Brief Report on the EPF Case Filled by Builders’ Association of India – Delhi Centre In High Court of Delhi, New Delhi

CM-17968/2014 in LPA 728/2014-

Builders Association of India & Ors V/s.

Union of India & Ors

Builders’ Association of Indian - Delhi Centre and 11 construction companies / association , filed W.P.(C) 3588 in the year 2002 regarding the applicability of the Provident Fund Act on the casual labour / temporary / peripatetic workers and the proceedings initiated under Section 7-A for computation of dues, with regard to casual labour / temporary/peripatetic worker. Later on M/s Harcharan Das Gupta Engg. & Builders and 7 construction companies filed another WP(C) No.7253 in the same year. When enquiries against construction companies initiated against some construction compnies e/g/ M/s. Skyline Engineering Contracts, M/s. Som Datt Builders Ltd. Anr and M/s. Tirath Ram Ahuja Pvt. Ltd., they approached Delhi High Court for the relief.

The petition was filed in the year 2002 and the judgement

was delivered by Hon’ble Judge Mr. Justice V Kameswar Rao in Court No.7, on 28th August 2014, dismissing all the petitions, without granting any relief, on the following grounds :-

1) According to Judge “From a legal perspective, it has to be said that a

statutory provisions cannot be nullified on the grounds of procedural deficiency, if any In this regard the Judge refer to the judgment of the Supreme Court in Associated Cement Company Ltd. vs. CTO 48 STC 466 (SC), wherein the Court has held as under:- “5 . It is settled law that a distinction has to be made by court while interpreting the provisions of at axing statute between charging provisions which impose the charge to tax and machinery provisions which provide the machinery for the quantification of the tax and the levying and collection of the tax so imposed. While charging provisions are construed strictly, machinery sections are not generally subject to a rigorous construction. The courts are expected to construe the machinery sections in such a manner that a charge to tax is not defeated.”

2) Further, it is a facility to be made available to a worker to withdraw the amount from any place of his convenience. Denial of such facility to worker can’t be a grievance of the employer/petitioners. In fact while upholding the vires of para 26(2) the High Court of Madhya Pradesh had rejected the contention of the employer, that the provision is impracticable and unworkable. The provisions of the Scheme of the PF is designed to induce thrift so that the employee may

lay by from his present earning a portion for his old age. As the workman cannot be expected to spare very much, regard being had to the gap between what he earns and what he must spend, the employer is expected to make a contribution [Ref. Burhanpur Tapti Mills Ltd. vs. Burhanpur Tapti Mills Mazdoor Sangh, 1965 I LLJ 453 (S.C.3J)]. The objective of the Act/Scheme can’t be defeated only on the ground that the facility of withdrawing the money has not been evolved.

3) The stand of the petitioners till such time the PAN number is allotted, they were / are unable to deposit the contribution – rejected by the court.

4) The Court has also rejected the reliance placed by Mr. Mehta on the decision of CBT in the month of April, 2013 is concerned, stating that the Board of Trustees have only made observations with regard to 10 digit Permanent Account Number and the difficulties which the stakeholders are facing including EPFO authorities. It would not follow that the petitioners shall not make contribution as is required under the Scheme. The submission of Mr. Mehta that as per the balance-sheet of the EPF organization as on March 31, 2013 an amount of Rs.26,000/- Crores was lying in the inoperative account which shows that the respondents are merely collecting money without ensuring that the benefits reaches the workman concerned. This figure was contested by Mr. R. C.Chawla. There can be many reasons for the accumulation of the said amount. In any case this can’t be a ground for the petitioners to make a provision of the scheme unworkable. That apart I find that the respondents in their additional affidavit filed on July 25, 2013 have narrated the steps they have taken to ensure that the benefit reaches the casual labour/temporary/peripatetic workman. It has also come on record that the system of passbook is in place. At least some measures were in place to ensure that the benefit reaches the workman. No doubt the issuance of 10 digit Permanent Account Number would be more Convenient and facilitate the withdrawal of benefits by a workman from any part of the country. There are certain apprehensions expressed by PF authorities, more particularly in the RTI reply dated May 06, 2013. Keeping in view the orders passed by the Supreme Court (in W.P.(C) 1212/1989) and by this Court as reproduced above, I am of the view that the respondents must put in place a scheme which would facilitate the withdrawal of money by a peripatetic worker from any place in the country, at the earliest, if not done till date.

5) The petitioners are not entitled to any relief. Action initiated by the respondents against the petitioners under the provisions of the Act is liable to be continued in accordance with law.

The Association has filed an LPA before the Double Bench of Delhi High Court against the order dated 28th August 2014, inter-alia on the following grounds :-

i) The Ld. Single judge despite the admissions by the contesting

respondents has wroingly and erroneously, proceeded on the basisthat issuance of 10 digit permanent unique number was not a part of ther modified scheme.

ii) That in view of the orders datged 02.05.1995 and 19.09.1996,

passed by the Division Bench of Delhi High Couort in CWP No.792 of 1991, the employers were to deduct and deposit the providient fund for casual workers in construction industry only after compliance of the modified scheme by the contesting Respondentns.

iii) That the Single Judge failed to consider the orders passed by

the Hon’ble Division Bench in CWP No.792 of 1991, and has wrongly and erroneously held that issuance of 10 digit

permanent unique number was a matter of of mere convenience and not mandatory as per the modified scheme..

iv) That the single judge failed to consider the true scope and

nature of the Provident Fund Act and Scheme and has wrongly and erroneously equated the same to a taxing stature. The relianance on the judgement of the Hon’ble Supereme Court of India in the case of ACC Ltd. v/s. – 48 STC 466, which is in relation to collection of sales tax, is wrong and erroneous. The said judgement is not applicable as Provident Fund is not a tax, it is a social benefit legislation.

The Association has prayed to the Hon’ble Court to :-

a) Set-aside the impugned Judgement of 28.08.2014 passed by the Ld. Single Judge in CWP No. 3588 of 2002.

b) Allow the writ petition bearing WPC No.3588 of 2002 and

grant prayer (e) thereof in favour of the Appellants; c) Grant costs of the present proceedings in favour of the

Appellants and against contesting Respondents nos 1 to 3; and

d) Pass such other and further order(s) as this Hon’ble Court

may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present case.

The LPA came up for hearing, before the Double Bench of

High Court of Delhi, on 5th November 2014, 18th December 2014 and 4th February 2014.

On 5th November 2014 it was pointed by the advocate from

the respondent side that all the petitioners have not joined the present application before the Court. The Hon’ble Court also directed the particies to file short written submissions running into not more 2 pages each with reference to the p0agination of the writ record enclosing copies of the judicial precedents relied upon in support, within 6 weeks.

On 18th December 2014, when it was listed for hearing

for the first time, advocate representing the petitioners informed the Court about the authorities in EPFO have taken 22 years in evolving the workers’ friendly scheme. They have not yet brought transparency in their working, lying of Rs.27,000/- crores in unutilized (unclaimed funds) with EPFO. The Court directed that the orders be placed before the Cabinet Secretary to have the issues examined by Secretary, Labour Ministry / IT and any concerned Ministry and to explore the possibility of putting a scheme of digitalization in the office of RPFC into place. Court also made open to make suggestions and proposals for the purpose within a period of four weeks to RPFC who will place the same before the Secretaries of the Government of India.

Accordingly, suggestions as per the order dated 18.12.2014

passed by the High Court of Delhi in CM-17968/2014 in LPA 728/2014- Builders Association of India & Ors Vs. Union of India & Ors were submitted to the Shri Beerbal Meena, Regional PF Commissioner-1,Employees’ Provident Fund Organization, (Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India), Regional Office : Delhi (South), EPFO Complex, Plot No. 23, Dwarka, New Delhi – 110 075 vide Builders’ Association of India – Delhi Centre Letter No.BAI/DC/30/2015 dated 13th January 2015. The suggestions, submitted to the EPFO, were drafted / vetted by Shri Jeevesh Nagrath of Nagrath & Nagrath, the advocate on record for the case filed in High Court of Delhi.

On 4th February 2015, Hon’ble Court pronounced the orders in respected of appellant construction companies against whom the proceedings under Section 7/A were going on :-

“Before we take this application for consideration, the Appellants shall place a list of quantification of liability under the scheme w.e.f. 1995 till July 2014”. The Matter was adjourned to 15th April 2015. In terms of para 11 of the above order, BAI made suggestions vide a letter as below : No.BAI/DC/30/2015/05 Dated January 13, 2015 Shri Beerbal Meena, Regional PF Commissioner-1, Employees’ Provident Fund Organization, (Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India), Regional Office : Delhi (South), EPFO Complex, Plot No. 23, Dwarka, New Delhi – 110 075

Sub : Suggestions as per the order dated 18.12.2014 passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in: i. C.M. No.17954/2014 in LPA 727/2014 –

SDB Infrastructure Pvt Ltd ( formerly Som Datt Builders Pvt Ltd ) & Ors Vs. Union of India & Ors.

ii. C.M. No.17968/2014 in LPA 728/2014 – Builders’ Association of India & Ors Vs. Union of India & Ors

iii. C.M. No.18106/2014 in LPA 729/2014 – SDB Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (formerly Som Datt Builders Pvt Ltd) & Ors Vs. Union of India & Ors

iv. C.M. No. 18108/2014 in LPA 730/2222014 - Skyline Engineering Contracts (India) Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India & Ors

Respected Sir, We write to you further to the order dated 18.12.2014 passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in the abovementioned appeals and your letter dated 08.01.2015 issued pursuant thereto. The core issue which is of concern and is being addressed is the casual worker in constructions industry being able to avail the benefit of Provident Fund. The situation of the causal worker in a construction industry is extremely unique and uncomparable to the workers, casual or otherwise, of any other industry. In the construction industry the casual workers is truly migrant. A worker may work with one employer at a particular site on a given day and with an employer at another site the next day. During this frequent migration the worker travels from one state to the other. There is no fixed time or tenure for the worker to be in the employment of any particular employee. Had that been the case no problem would have arisen. Since the casual worker of the construction industry was sought to be covered from the first day of joining, there have been litigations and lack of transparency right from day one when the notification dated 19.10.1990 was issued.

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is the Custodian/ Trustee of the funds, the ultimate beneficiary of which is the casual worker. The role and aim of EPFO is to ensure that every single rupee that is deducted in relation to a particular causal worker, which is the fruit of his blood and sweat, is available to him at the hour of need. Presently, the scenario is to the contrary inasmuch as that large amounts are lying with the EPFO, which are unclaimed because the workman who is entitled to the benefit of it is either unable to access the same and/ or is not identifiable at the relevant time. Thus, the very purpose of the act is being defeated. You will agree that the EPFO, is not a tax collection agency which should focus on mere collection without having a simultaneous process to ensure distribution and making available the benefits to the workman. These two acts go hand and hand and even if one of them is not performed and /or cannot be performed it leads to a ruinous state of affairs, as have arisen in the present case. The EPFO had submitted the revised accounting scheme, duly approved by the Central Board of Trustees in their 129th meeting, before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in Writ Petition No. 792 of 1991 being M/s. Pyare Lal Hari Singh & Others V/s. Union of India & Others. The said scheme was duly accepted by the Hon’ble High Court and it was directed that the same would be applicable for the casual workers of construction industry. The modified scheme envisaged issuance of the permanent unique number as well as the centralized accounting system as mentioned therein to have complete account portability. Till date only the unique number has been generated and that too from July, 2014 onwards. Furthermore, the centralized accounting system is yet not in place. In the absence of the same, there is complete and utter lack of transparency and it is not only the beneficiary i.e. the workmen but also the employers who are suffering. In the spirit of the highly progressive order dated 18.12.2014 passed by the Hon’ble High Court in the above appeals, and the above submissions, we respectfully suggest as under: i) The centralized accounting system should be put in place

expeditiously. This will ensure complete portability. Like an ATM in a bank, where, the workman can go to any EPFO office in any state, city etc. near his place of work or residence, village etc. and have access to his account and also avail the benefit of the money deposited in his account.

ii) The Aadhaar Card/ Voter ID Card could be considered for the

purpose of having the address of the workman. Intimation to the workman by way of registered notices and at the registered mobile number of workman, if available, through SMS, both in English and Hindi language, should be evolved.

iii) The bank account of the workman, if available, should be

linked with the EPFO account so that remittance can be made accordingly and the passbook of the bank could be made to reflect the account status of the workman with the EPFO. More and more persons are opening bank accounts particularly in view of the initiative taken by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

iv) The EPFO should accept and acknowledge that in the

construction industry, workmen are brought from deep rural areas where it is virtually impossible for employers to contact or reach the workmen. Such workmen are engaged through contractors/ sub contractors/ piece rate workers, who are usually persons from the same village of the contractors or are frequently engaged by them or have other workmen in their group/ gang who are from the same village. These contractors/ sub contractors/ piece rate workers should be identified and

mentioned in relation to the workmen concerned as there is greater accessibility to such contractors/ sub contractors/ piece rate workers. Such contractors/ sub contractors/ piece rate workers can also be instrumental in locating/ identification of the concerned workmen. However, this is all possible if some timelines are prescribed, and not after a lapse of several years.

v) Awareness should be created by holding camps with the

workmen so that they can be made aware of the benefits of Provident Fund and how to access and avail the said benefits. In the absence of such awareness with the workers they are reluctant and in fact resistant to deduction of Provident Fund.

vi) Scheme should be devised so that in case the money is

available in the account of a workman but no Claimant has come forwards, the same should reach the worker or his legal heir as the case may be. After all, the money is for the benefit of that particular workman and is not meant to be kept unused and lying as deposited with the EPFO. If the money does not reach the workman, the entire purpose is defeated.

vii) Responsibility and accountability is a form of transparency.

Accountability should not be confined only to the employer but also towards the EPFO. In case of money which has been deducted and deposited by the employer with the EPFO is not ultimately made available to the workman, the EPFO should take the responsibility of ensuring that it is eventually disbursed to the concerned workman. The concerned representative should be asked to submit the efforts made by them and the result thereof. If no effort is made, they should be asked the reasons for not doing so.

viii) In order to maintain transparency and prevent arbitrariness and

discrimination specified period should be prescribed for which the employer should be made liable to maintain records concerning the payment of provident fund for a workman, it can be 2-3 years. Providing a prescribed period will have several advantages. Firstly, every employer will be obliged to maintain the record for the specified period and will not have an excuse of lack of records being available. Presently, there is no such period and, therefore, (a) notices are issued by the department for period which can be even 10-15 years old and for which duration no employer is obliged to maintain the records; (b) in the absence of such records and/or proper enquiry the correct assessment of provident funds can neither be nor is it actually carried out. This gives rise to unwarranted and undesired practices. This will be curbed if a prescribed period is known to all. The department shall also be active as they will be aware that they have to carry out the assessment within a prescribed period. Furthermore, the contact of the contractors/ sub contractors/ piece rate workers and the workman himself will be easy and available.

ix) Enquiry proceedings should not be initiated whimsically and

unreasonably. There must be reasons which should exist for initiation of enquiry, and which reasons should be borne out from the record, as is also the case even with the Income Tax. It will be noticed that pre-printed cyclostyled notices are sent without any reasons as to what has prompted the initiation of enquiry. Such practices, which primarily result in arbitrariness and harassment should be curbed.

x) The purpose of the enquiry proceedings should be to ensure

that the benefit reaches the concerned workman. It is with this aim and objective that the enquiry proceedings should be initiated and finally concluded. However, this aim and objective is being completely disregarded and enquiry proceedings are being conducted with the sole objective of

somehow being able to penalize the employer. There should be proper system of adjudication in the enquiry proceedings, so as to ensure the benefit reaches the workman.

xi) All the proceedings in the enquiry should be duly minuted and

proper system should be prescribed and laid down for the filing of submissions. The records should reflect the same. Often it is seen that the filing and submissions are not taken note off and are ignored.

xii) Through successive amendments and lastly through amended

Para 26 of the framed under E.P.F. Act, 1952 effective from 19th October 1990, stipulated eligibility criteria for migratory and peripatetic construction workers to become a member of E.P.F. Scheme from the date of joining the establishment. In contrast, we would like to bring to your kind attention to the fact that, para 80 and 81 of the E.P.F. Scheme specify qualifying period for employees in Newspaper establishments which is, a continuous service of 60 days, and qualifying period of three feature films for Cine workers for becoming be a Member of Provident Fund contribution. We believe, Sir, that for construction workers too, there ought to be a qualifying period.

xiii) The Employees’ Provident Fund Act has no ‘limitation

period’, whereas Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 has a limitation period of 5 years for the purpose of coverage under the said Act. Contract labour (Regulation & Abolition ) Act 1970 prescribes a period of 3 years for maintain a record. There ought to be introduction of similar limitation period for Employees Provident Fund Act too. In our view 3 years period will be ideal.

xiv) Since PF authority have started issuing an unique number to

each member only from July 2014 onwards, and the number can be used by the member irrespective of place of work and identity of the employer, let us start implementing the scheme with all sincerity and honesty of purpose cover all construction workers from a starting point, say 1st January 2015.

xv) Since the process of issuance of this unique number may take

some more time to achieve coverage of 100% workers and the system needs some breathing time to earn worker’s faith in it, we propose to begin with only the employers’ share, i.e. each worker will be covered and the fund will be of only the employer’s share.

xvi) Since it will be a beginning of a new era of transparency and

honesty of purpose, let us start with all goodwill and sincerity and without any hangover and confusion from the past.

Sir, we believe once this is implemented, the Government will achieve its goal of extending the social welfare scheme to construction workers; the workers will gain the protection of this unique social welfare scheme; the industry will benefit from a more satisfying workforce and of course, the society will be benefitted with a large group of content members. Needless to mention the additional productivity that will be a natural corollary to this effort. The present suggestions are being submitted on behalf of the appellants in the abovementioned appeals pending adjudication before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, and are in addition to the suggestions, if any, already suggested by any company, who is an Appellant in the abovementioned appeals. Sir, we hope that the above suggestions would be duly considered by you in the right spirit and perspective. After all it is not an adversarial proceeding, that we are in. The sole purpose being the benefit should be able to reach the workman.

Sir, we strongly feel that it is time we forget the past and look into basic objectives of the scheme and move towards the same jointly so that it becomes a win win situation for the construction workers, the society, the Government and of course, the construction industry. We assure you sir, as usual we, with our 150 centres across the country will organize seminars and workshops and help and convince the people about the good reasons to participate in the scheme and we shall meet success as in the case of VAT when in 2005, through our efforts there was a painless transition for construction industry from sales tax regime to VAT regime in the entire country. We reserve our right to submit further suggestions. Yours sincerely, (Sushanta Kumar Basu) President Builder Association of India Copy to : The Central Provident Fund Commissioner, EPFO Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14-Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi-110066 - for information & perusal please. Subsequently EPFO formed a ‘Sub-Committee on Construction Workers’, as per letter placed on the table.

ःपीड पोःट �ारा

दरूभाष : 011-26186517

फै�स: 011-26178343

कम�चार� भ�वंय िनिध संगठन

(ौम एवं रोजगार मंऽालय, भारत सरकार) Employee’s Provident Fund Organization

(Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. Of India)

मु(य काया�लय / Head Office,

भ�वंय िनिध भवन, 14- िभकाजी कामा )लेस, नई ,द-ली – ११००६६

Bhavishya Nidhi Bhavan, 14-Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi – 110066

No. Conf.4 (3) 2014/Sub-Committees/10798 Dated: 15th October, 2014 To,

All Members, Central Board of Trustees (EPF), (As per list) Sub: Constitution of Sub-Committee on Construction Workers, Central Board of Trustees (EPF)-Reg. Sir/Madam, I am directed to say that the authority has constituted the sub-Committee on Construction Workers, Central Board of Trustees (EPF) consisting of the following members:-

Sl. No.

Name and Designation of the Member

Appointment as

1. Central Provident Fund Commissioner

Chairman

2. Representative of Government-To be nominated by Secretary (L&E)

Member

3. a) Dr. S.S. Patil b) Shri Ravi wig

Member (Employers Side)

4. a) Shri Ramen Pandey b) Shri M.J. Rao

Member (Employee’s Side)

5. Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner (HQ) (RB)

Convener

2. The Sub-Committee will suggest mechanism for increasing the Converage of Workers in the Construction Industry. 3. The tenture of Sub-Committee shall be at the pleasure of the Chairman.

Yours faithfully

(P. K. Udgata)

Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner-Gr.l(conf.)

Copy for information and necessary action:- 1) PS to Hon’ble Union Minister for Labour & Employment and Chairman CBT (EPF) Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. 2) PS to Hon’ble Minister of State for Labour & Employment and Vice Chairman, CBT (EPF) Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. 3) PS to Secretary & Chairperson, EC, CBT (EPF),Ministry of Labour & Employment, Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. 4) PS to Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Head Office, New Delhi. 5) PS to Additional Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. 6) PS to JS & FA, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. 7) The Under Secretary (SS) Ministry of Labour & Employment, Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. 8) Internal Circulation:- FA & CAO, CVO, ACC(HQ) (VNS), ACC(HQ)(RB), All Addl. CPFCs Gr-l & ll, All RPFC- l & ll in Head Office, New Delhi. 9) The Section Officer, SS-ll Section, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. 10) Director (OL) for Hindi Version. 11) Guard File.

(P.K. Udgata) Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner – Gr.l (Conf.)

BAI Secretariat made a representation to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of India, New Delhi, which is reproduced here below.

Dated : 29.10.2014 The Honourable Prime Minister, Government of India. PMO office 7, Race Course Road New Delhi.

Sub : Applicability of Employee’s Provident Fund Act to all

temporary, migratory, peripatetic seasonal Construction workers.

Respected Sir, Builders’ Association of India (BAI) is an apex all India body of Engineering Construction Contractors, founded in 1941, with more than 15,000 business entities as members through its 150 plus centres (Branches) spread across the country. The fundamental aim of the Association is to bring about all round improvement in the construction sector, while striving towards resolution of operational as well as policy level problems faced by the Construction industry. Most of the Construction workers are traditionally migratory, peripatetic, seasonal & temporary workers who work at a site for a particular job role and when the the job is finished in a few months, migrate to another site under a different employer & situated anywhere in the country, where scope for his job role exits . Because of this peculiar & unique nature of construction worker , it has been extremely difficult to implement the Provident Fund Act, which became applicable to all construction workers in 1980 with a qualifying criterion of 3 months of continuing service. However, from 19.10.1990, suddenly it became applicable to all workers including those who work for even one day ! This created a very difficult situation both for the workers as well as the employer. The poor workers could not keep track of innumerable PF accounts being created by several employers in a year and, as a result, the money being contributed from the wages of the workers as well as an equal amount from the employer, meant for the welfare of the concerned worker, never reach him or her. Instead the money keep on fattening the unclaimed amount of provident fund. Thus, the basic purpose of the fund, i e, welfare of the workers, remained a dream till date. For employers, the situation is equally bad since very few workers is willing to contribute to the fund because of the experience that the money will never come back and as a result the situation on date is that to comply with the provisions of the act the employer has to pay both the shares, i e, the workers as well as the employers’ which was never the principle of the act. Sir, even the Hon’ble Delhi High Court on 2.5.1995, against civil writ petition (no.702 of 1992), passed a judgment to the effect that Employer shall deduct & deposit in provident Fund with Respondent(Provident Fund Department) only on respondent complying with modified scheme. The modified scheme referred to is a scheme submitted by the provident Fund authority through an Affidavit about an Accounting procedure wherein each worker shall be issued a 10 digit permanent unique number to be generated by P.F. authority. The unique number would enable the holder to have a permanent account irrespective of identity of the employer, place of work etc. and through this number, the worker would be able to access and operate his account through any of the PF offices in the country. We understand this has been launched by the Department only on 16th October, 2014 after almost 20 years. In the meantime, there were lot of confusions, difficulties and harassments of all concerned including the workers & employers. The construction companies were subjected to enquiry w/s 7(a) of the P.F.Act and huge demands were raised without identification of beneficiary workers, as if contribution to provident fund is an act of payment of statutory taxes or cess. These created further confusion and courts were again moved. The Nagpur bench of Mumbai High Court passed an order on 28.02.2006 stating that Provident Fund

being a social security for casual & temporary workers, no deduction be made before identification of workers, so that benefit can reach him. Central Provident Fund Commissioner thereafter issued a circular bearing no. 7(12) 2012/RCS – Review meeting dated 30.11.2012 stating that orders under section 7/A be passed only after identification of workers and that too for a minimum period of past 7 years. However, for reasons unknown, the circular was withdrawn on 18.12.2013. Sir, from the above it is clear that the prevalent chaotic situation in the applicability of provident Fund to temporary, casual, peripatetic & migratory construction workers, is helping almost nobody’s cause and instead bringing miseries to the workers as well as to the entire construction Industry. As on date, this is one problem which has the potential of ruining the entire construction Industry. Sir, we pray to you to kindly look into this matter so that these operational problems are solved to the benefit of all concerned and the very purpose of the Provident Fund, i. e, saving money for the future in a carefully planned way, is achieved . Sir, we request you to kindly grant us an audience so that we may explain further in person and settle once for all this decades old problem with your vision & understanding. Thanking you, Yours faithfully, For Builders’ Association of India

SUSHANTA KUMAR BASU PRESIDENT Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu called upon Mr. Bandaru Dattatreya, Hon’ble

Union Minister for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge) on 19th November, 2014. He was accompanied by Mr. B. Seenaiah, Im. Past President, BAI; Mr. C. H. Ramakotaiah, State C-ordinator, BAI Andhra Pradesh and Mr. Raj Pal Arora, Hon. Secretary, BAI Delhi Centre. Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu submitted a memorandum (printed below) to the Hon’ble Minster with a request to restore Circular No. 7(1)2012/RCs Review Meeting/345 dated 30th November 2012 issued by the then Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Mr. R. C. Sharma, emphasising the ‘Limitation period’ for seeking records from a contractor, for assessing the Provident Fund contribution be eight years, and ‘Identification of workers’ before levying EPF collection from the contractor. Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu also invited the Hon’ble Minister to visit bC India 2014 and also interact with BAI members. He has graciously accepted the invitation and agreed to address the

BAI Members in the evening of Tuesday 16th December, 2014 in Hotel Radisson Blu, Greater Noida.

Ref: 333/N/2014-15 dated November 19, 2014 To: Shri Bandaru Dattatreya Hon’ble Minister of State for Labour & Employment (Independent Charge) Government of India Room No.120, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi – 110 001.

Sub: Restoration of E.P.F. Circular No. 7(1)2012/RCs Review Meeting/345 dated 30th November 2012.

Respected Sir,

Builders’ Association of India (BAI) is an apex all India body of Engineering Construction Contractors, founded in 1941, with more

than 15,000 business entities as members through its 150 plus Centres (Branches) throughout the country. The fundamental aim of the Association is to bring about all round improvements in the construction sector, while striving towards resolution of operational as well as policy level problems faced by the construction industry. Most of the Construction workers are traditionally migratory, peripatetic, seasonal & temporary workers who work at a site for a particular job role and when the job is finished in a few months, migrate to another site under a different employer situated at a different place anywhere in the country. Because of this peculiar & unique nature of construction worker, provident Fund when it became applicable to construction workers in 1981 had a qualifying period of 240 days of continuous employment.

However, through successive amendments and lastly through amended Section 26 of the E.P.F. Act, 1952 effective from 19th October 1990, stipulated eligibility criteria for migratory and peripatetic construction workers to become a member of E.P.F. Scheme, became from the date of joining the establishment. In contrast, we would like to bring to your kind attention to the fact that, para 80 and 81 of the E.P.F. Scheme specify qualifying period for employees in Newspaper establishments, a continuous service of 60 days, and qualifying period of three feature films for Cine workers, to be a Member of Provident Fund contribution. We believe, Sir, that for construction workers too, there ought to be a qualifying period.

Another peculiar aspect of the Employees’ Provident Fund Act is, it has no ‘limitation period’, whereas Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 has a limitation period of 5 years for the purpose of coverage under the Act. Sir, we therefore request you to kindly consider introduction of similar limitation period for Employees Provident Fund Act too. Further, judicial pronouncements by various High Courts that, “identification of worker is a must before collection of Provident Fund”, resulted very rightly in issue of a Circular No. 7(1)2012/RCs Review Meetingin/345 dated 30th November 2012 (copy enclosed), by the then Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Shri R. C.. Mishra, emphasising the following:- 1. ‘Limitation period’ for seeking records from a Contractor, for

assessing the Provident Fund contribution be eight years.

2. ‘Identification of workers’ before levying E.P.F. collection from the Contractor.

However, the said Circular have been kept in abeyance by a further Circular No.7(1)2012/RCs Review Meeting/21224 dated 18th December 2012 (copy enclosed) issued by Shri Ravi Mathur, Central Provident Fund Commissioner. Sir, through this letter we earnestly request you to kindly restore the aforesaid Circular No.7(1)2012/RCs Review Meeting/345 dated 30th November 2012, which is in accordance with various judicial pronouncements. It will be our honour to brief you on this matter in person, if you kindly grant us an audience at any date and time convenient to you. Thanking you,

Yours truly,

SUSHANTA KUMAR BASU

PRESIDENT BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF INDIA

BAI has received response from the Hon’ble Minister’s office.

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (Ministry of Labour, Govt. Of India)

Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14- Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi -110 066

www.epfindia.gov.in ; www.epfindia.nic.in Web Circulation No. 7(l)2012!RCs Review Meeting/345 Dated 30th November 2012 All Additional CPFCs All Regional PF Commissioners All Assistant PF Commissioners Sub:- Guidelines for Quasi-judicial proceedings under Section 7A of the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 - regarding Sir/Madam,

The quantum and quality of assessments under the Act have been an area of concern. After conclusion of Zonal Reviews in the month of August 2012, a Working Group of senior officers was constituted for suggesting the necessary correctives. Accordingly, instructions as detailed below are being issued for streamlining and standardizing the area of assessments under the Act. These guidelines are meant for the Compliance functionaries, before and upto the initiation of the quasi-judicial enquiry. Certain other procedural advisories are also being issued.

2. INITIATION OF INQUIRY - Inquiries should be initiated only after actionable and verifiable information is placed for consideration of the compliance officers. Following could be the source information for initiation of enquiries: -

a) A system generated report of probable and/or actual defaults based on receipts/remittances position of the establishments.

b) Mapping of individual establishments regarding the amount remitted as well as the number of employees for whom the establishment is remitting the dues. Any variation, positive or negative, greater than 10% over the average receipts/members of the establishment may prompt an investigation.

c) Verifiable complaints or information received from general public at large may be another source for initiation of investigations and/or enquiry.

d) Reports submitted by the Enforcement Officers.

3. For facilitating the Compliance Officers, complete compliance history of the establishment shall be made available on-line. It shall inter-alia contain following:-

a) Amount remitted and the number of employees for whom the establishment is complying.

b) On clicking the number of members, a randomly sorted list of names of members for whom compliance has been reported by the establishment during the month should be available. This list shall not contain either the PFaccount number or the PFbalances of the members.

c) Compliance history of the establishments, wherein, details such as pending quasi-judicial enquiries, pending recovery certificates, pending legal cases in respect of a particular establishment etc. be made available.

(ACC(C) & ACC(lS) to ensure that the same is made available on epfindia portal on priority} 4. The Compliance Branch in each of the field offices shall have two broad divisions, viz Compliance (Administration) - to investigate and report on complaints, defaults, remittance status etc. Compliance (Judicial) - exclusively for conducting enquiries under the Act. (ACC(Zones) to ensure that the same is done on priority, ACC(C) to monitor the same.} 5. PROCEDURE FOR INITIATION OF ASSESSMENT INQUIRY-

a) Information received about default will be entered in a Central Register to be maintained on a central server.

b) On receipt of the information notice shall be issued to the establishment enclosing the information on the basis of which the instant notice has been issued. If the establishment accepts the contents of the notice, then the matter may be verified for further necessary action.

c) If no response is received then the EO shall be advised to investigate and file a report in the matter. The investigation report of the EO shall be according to the "Form of Inspection Report to be submitted by the Enforcement Officer for each Un-exempted Factory/Establishment Visited" as issued vide EPF headquarters circular number Vig.XXV(02)2000/3017 dated 4th August 2010 (at serial number 170, Office Orders/Circulars - 2010-11).

d) The Compliance (Administration) shall examine the

investigation report submitted by the EO and decide

whether any case is made out for initiation of quasi-judicial enquiries.

e) If, on the basis of the report of the EO, it is decided that it

is a fit case for initiation of enquiry under section 7A of the Act, then the report of the EO and observations there on of the Compliance (Administration) shall be forwarded to the Compliance (Judicial) branch for initiation of an enquiry under section 7A of the Act by the Assessing Officer.

f) Before recommending any case, the Compliance

(Administration) shall specifically verify, whether .any report/record is available on the file indicating the status of the establishment, i.e. whether it is a closed establishment etc.

g) Complete investigation report should be available on

record before initiation of inquiry is recommended by the Compliance (Administration). In cases where the complete report is not received the Compliance (Administration) shall record reasons in writing for initiating the proposal for the said enquiry.

h) Except under abnormal circumstances, no inquiry shall be

initiated unless a prima-facie case exists on the basis of the said report.

i) The Assessing Officers shall, on receipt of the report from

Compliance (Administration) open a separate file for conducting the quasi-judicial enquiry. This file shall start with the issue of summons for conducting enquiry under section 7A. The enquiry shall be deemed to have initiated only if proof of service of notice is available on record.

j) The 7A notice shall be accompanied by the documents on

the basis of which an enquiry is proposed to be conducted.

k) The 7A summons shall be for a specific period i.e. the

notice shall not be an open ended notice and a specific period of default should be compulsorily mentioned in the notice.

I) It should be compulsorily ensured that the notice has been

served on the establishment against whom an enquiry is proposed to be initiated before any further action is initiated for conducting a formal enquiry.

m) If during pendency of 7A enquiry further default is

noticed, either another summon be issued to the establishment for extending the period of current 7A enquiry or a fresh 7A enquiry be initiated ..

n) During the enquiry a departmental representative should

lead the case of the Department. This is a legal requirement and is to be compulsorily insured.

6. ORDER OF ASSESSMENT - The Act mandates that the orders issued by any assessing officer shall be a "speaking order". Accordingly, to ensure that the orders so issued, do not suffer from any procedural infirmity. 7. ACTION TO BE TAKEN AFTER COMPLETION OF INQUIRY - After completion of enquiry the 7A file shall not be merged with the enforcement file. Every order issued under section 7A by the Assessing Officer shall be examined by the Compliance

(Administration) to ascertain whether a case exists for filing an appeal against the said order 8. LUMP-SUM ASSESSMENTS - The problem of lump-sum assessments happens mostly in contractor establishments and in establishments employing workers of migratory nature having short term project-based employment in various establishments. The lump-sum assessments happen because the default detection and the subsequent compliance action take place much after the occurrence of default. Further, the employer is either unwilling or unable to provide details of its employees, when so required during the course of 7A enquiry. Accordingly, following instructions are being issued to regulate such assessments:-

a) The establishment shall file returns and remittances of its employees (whether regular or contractual) through ECR.

b) If the establishment has, on its rolls, employees who are deputed to other establishments on contractual basis, then the EPF code number of the establishment to which the said employee(s) have been so deputed shall be mentioned in the ECR. For this purpose an additional column shall be made available in the ECR.

c) There shall be no assessment without identifying individual members in whose account the fund is to be credited.

d) If the employer or unable or unwilling to submit requisite details, action under Section 14, 14A, 14AA, 14ABand 14 AC of the Act shall be initiated.

9. MULTI LOCATION ESTABLISHMENTS

a) In cases where such. establishments are filing returns and

remittances at a single location, this information shall be made available to all the Regional Commissioners for the purpose of ensuring compliance under the Act.

b) The Regional Commissioner under whose jurisdiction

one or more than one unit of such multi – location establishments is physically situated shall cause periodic inspection of such establishments and make available the inspection report through a function of upload to be provided on epfindia portal.

c) The compliance position as available from the return and

remittances submitted by the establishment and as emerging out of actual inspection of the branch/branches of the establishment shall be available in a consolidated manner at one central location to the Regional Commissioner under whose jurisdiction such establishments are reporting compliance and who shall, if required, cause an assessment enquiry under relevant provisions of the Act.

d) The inspection report of such establishments shall be

according to the "Form of Inspection Report to be submitted by the Enforcement Officer for each Un-exempted Factory/Establishment Visited" as issued vide EPF headquarters circular number Vig.XXV(02)2000/3017 dated 4th August 2010 (at serial number 170, Office Orders/Circulars - 2010-11).

10. LIMITATION FOR INVESTIGATION/INQUIRY- It has been observed that open ended assessment inquiries and investigations serve no real purpose. Moreover such inquiries often do not result in identification of beneficiaries and only tend to harass the employers and establishments. It is accordingly directed that no inquiry or investigation shall ordinarily go beyond seven years, i.e., it shall cover

the period of default not exceeding preceding seven financial years. It is to be ensured that compliance actions are initiated in time and there is normally no reason for extending the scope of investigation and assessment enquiry beyond previous seven financial years. 11. In case any specific verifiable complaint or information exceeding this period is received then the inquest may go beyond seven years. Following may be an indicative list of documents which shall be required for taking the inquiry/investigation beyond seven years:-

i) If the complaint is from an employee, following may be

considered:- a) Appointment letter b) Pay slip c) ID Card d) ESI Card e) Copy of bank account statement indicating the

credit of salary etc from the employer. f) Any document issued by employer to the

employee.

ii) If the complaint is from a trade union/ association regarding non-coverage, then inter-alia any of following may be considered :-

a) Electricity Bill of the establishment. b) Sales Tax registration of the establishment. c) Any other document issued by any other Government

or public body. 12. SPLITTING OF WAGES - Basic wages by its own definition encompasses all the payments except the specified exclusions. All such allowances which are ordinarily, necessarily and uniformly paid to the employees are to be treated as part of the basic wages. The confusion in definition of wages (and hence the issue of splitting of wages) primarily arises from the expression "commission or any other similar allowance payable to the employee" in Section 2(b) (ii) of the Act as "commission" and "any other similar allowance" are read as two separate expressions and hence "any other allowance" is read as an omnibus exclusion, thereby encouraging the subterfuge of splitting of wages to exclude the PF liabilities. The expression "commission or any other similar allowance payable to the employee" is one continuous term meaning commission or any other "commission" like allowance by whatever nomenclature referred. Thus "basic wages" is subject to exclusions expressly referred to in the above definition and no other.

Your Faithfully Sd/-

(R.C. Mishra) CENTRAL PF COMMISSIONER

Copy for information and necessary action to : 1. FA & CAO 2. CVO 3. Director (NATRSS)

Sd/- (P.K. UDAGTA)

ADDITIONAL CENTRAL PF COMMISSIONER (C)

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (Ministry of Labour, Govt. Of India)

Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14- Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi -110066

www.epfindia.gov.in ; www.epfindia.nic.in Web Circulation

No. 7(1)2012/RCs Review Meeting/21224 dated 18th December 2012 All Additional CPFCs All Regional PF Commissioners All Assistant PF Commissioners Subject : Circular No. 7(1)2012/RCs Review Meeting/345 dated 30" November, 2012 on Guidelines for Quasi- judicial proceedings under Section 7A proceedings under Section 7A of the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. Sir, Please refer to the above mentioned circular on the captioned subject posted in the official website of EPFO at 51. No. 455. It has been decided to keep the said circular in abeyance with immediate effect and till further orders.

Yours Faithfully Sd/-

(Ravi Mathur) Central PF Commissioner

Copy for information and further necessary action to : ~ 1. FA & CAO 2. CVO 3. Director (NATRSS)

Sd/- (P.K. UUDAGTA)

ADDITIONAL CENTRAL PF COMMISSIONER (Compliance) As BAI has not received any response from the Hon’ble Labour Minister, BAI Secretariat again represented the matter as given below.

Date: 12th January 2015 Shri Bandaru Dattatreya Hon’ble Minister of State for Labour & Employment (Independent Charge) Government of India Room No.120, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi – 110 001

Sub: Amendment of PF ACT & RULES for Construction Workers who are temporary, migratory,

seasonal & peripatetic in Nature. Respected Sir, Builders’ Association of India (BAI) is an apex all India body of Engineering Construction Contractors and Real Estate Companies, founded in 1941, with more than 15,000 business entities as members through its 150 plus Centres (Branches) throughout the country. The fundamental aim of the Association is to bring about all round improvements in the construction sector, while striving towards resolution of operational as well as policy level problems faced by the construction industry. Most of the Construction workers are traditionally migratory, peripatetic, seasonal & temporary workers who work at a site for a particular job role and when the job is finished in a few months, migrate to another site under a different employer situated at a different place anywhere in the country. Because of this peculiar & unique nature of construction worker, provident Fund when it became applicable to construction workers in 1981 had a qualifying period of 240 days of continuous employment.

However, through successive amendments and lastly through amended Section 26 of the E.P.F. Act, 1952 effective from 19th October 1990, stipulated eligibility criteria for migratory and peripatetic construction workers to become a member of E.P.F. Scheme, became from the date of joining the establishment. In contrast, we would like to bring to your kind attention to the fact that, para 80 and 81 of the E.P.F. Scheme specify qualifying period for employees in Newspaper establishments, a continuous service of 60 days, and qualifying period of three feature films for Cine workers, to be a Member of Provident Fund contribution. We believe, Sir, that for construction workers too, there ought to be a qualifying period. Another peculiar aspect of the Employees’ Provident Fund Act is, it has no ‘limitation period’, whereas Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 has a limitation period of 5 years for the purpose of coverage under the Act. Sir, we feel that there ought to be introduction of similar limitation period for Emplo yees Provident Fund Act too. Further, judicial pronouncements by various High Courts that, “identification of worker is a must before collection of Provident Fund”, resulted very rightly in issue of a Circular No. 7(1)2012/RCs Review Meeting/345 dated 30th November 2012, issued by the then Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Shri R. C. Mishra, emphasizing the following:- 1. ‘Limitation period’ for seeking records from a Contractor, for

assessing the Provident Fund contribution be seven years.

2. ‘Identification of workers’ before levying E.P.F. collection from the Contractor.

However, the said Circular have been kept in abeyance by a further Circular No.7(1)2012/RCs Review Meeting/21224 dated 18th December 2012, issued by Shri Ravi Mathur, Central Provident Fund Commissioner. Sir, we strongly feel that it is time we forget the past and look into basic objectives of the scheme and move towards the same jointly so that it becomes a win win situation for the construction workers, the society, the Government and of course, the construction industry. Our suggestions are: a. Since PF authority have started issuing an unique number to each

member and the number can be used by the member irrespective of place of work and identity of the employer, let us start

implementing the scheme with all sincerity and honesty of purpose cover all construction workers from a starting point, say 1st January 2015.

b. Since the process of issuance of this unique number may take some more time to achieve coverage of 100% workers and the system needs some breathing time to earn worker’s faith in it, we propose to begin with only the employers’ share, i.e. each worker will be covered and the fund will be of only the employer’s share.

c. Since it will be a beginning of a new era of transparency and honesty of purpose, let us start with all goodwill and sincerity and without any hangover and confusion from the past.

d. Lastly, it shall have to be enforced very strictly for all the establishment and for of all the workers, since no establishment should be able to garner any extra advantage by skipping the scheme and thus obtain some ill-gotten edge over their competitor in a tendering process.

Sir, we believe once this is implemented, the Government will achieve its goal of extending the social welfare scheme to construction workers; the workers will gain the protection of this unique social welfare scheme; the industry will benefit from a more satisfying

workforce and of course, the society will be benefitted with a large group of content members. Needless to mention the additional productivity that will be a natural corollary to this effort. We assure you sir, as usual we, with our 150 centres across the country will organize seminars and workshops and help and convince the people about the good reasons to participate in the scheme and we shall meet success as in the case of VAT when in 2005, through our efforts there was a painless transition for construction industry from sales tax regime to VAT regime in the entire country. It will be our honour to brief you on this matter in person, if you kindly grant us an audience at any date and time convenient to you. Thanking you,

Yours truly,

SUSHANTA KUMAR BASU


In the meantime, the Hon’ble Labour Ministry sought suggestion from the affected party on the E.P.F. Act. BAI proposed the following amendment.

No. BAI/DO/2015/42 dated 23rd February 2015 The Under Secretary (SS-II Section), Minister of State for Labour & Employment Government of India Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg Rafi Marg, New Delhi – 110 001

Sub: Amendment to the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act.

Respected Sir, Builders’ Association of India (BAI) is an apex all India body of Engineering Construction Contractors, founded in 1941, with more than 15,000 business entities as members through its 150 plus Centres (Branches) throughout the country. The fundamental aim of the Association is to bring about all round improvements in the construction sector, while striving towards resolution of operational as well as policy level problems faced by the construction industry. We are thankful to the Ministry of Labour & Employment for inviting views / suggestions for amendment of the EPF & MP Act 1952 from the Ministries and the various trade bodies. Builders’ Association of India, being the largest employer of labour through its member construction entities all over India, is pleased to submit the suggestions, particularly for the Construction Workers who are

temporary, migratory, seasonal & peripatetic in Nature for kind consideration of the Ministry. It will highly appreciated if the suggestions submitted by the Association are given due weightage while amending the Act. Thanking you,

Yours truly,

SUSHANTA KUMAR BASU


COMMENTS / SUGGESTION OF BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF INDIA (BAI) ON THE PROPOSED COMPREHENSIVE AMENDMENT TO THE EPF & MP ACT, 1952 Section

Present Provision Suggestion / Comment on Proposed Amendments

Section -1

Applicability of the Act Present Act is applicable to establishments employing 20 or more person. Objective and intention of this threshold limit was not to burden the small and smaller establishments financially as well as with additional compliance work.

Whereas proposed amendment intends to reduce the limit from 20 to ten, which has no logic. It is submitted that establishments employing 10 persons are mainly run by the persons who are self employed. These establishments will not be in position to bear additional financial burden. Also, then need to employ more expert manpower to comply with the provisions of the Act. It is also mentioned here that recently the Government of India has proposed to enact a simple new legislation for the factories employing less than 40 persons. The aim and object of the proposed Act is not to burden such establishments with complicated provisions of the Factories Act and other laws hence such establishments have been exempted from all other provisions of the Act. This is a step of the Government of India to ease the business. The proposed Act to be made applicable to factories employing upto 39 persons also provides separate social security scheme for retirement and medical. But the proposed amendment reducing the number from 20 to 10 putting 24% burden would make such units out of competition and towards closure.

It is, therefore, suggested that provisions of the EPF & MP Act be made applicable to establishments employing 50 or more persons.

Section 2 Definition of Wages Present definition of wage for making contribution includes basic and dearness allowance.

Whereas the proposed definition includes all allowances for making contribution. It is submitted that besides basic wage and dearness allowance, all other allowance such as house rent allowance, conveyance allowance, washing allowance, food allowance etc are given to defray the specific expenses and these are not liable for making contribution towards provident fund. Also, provident fund is meant to save for retirement and for pension but employees have to meet their present liabilities and they are not willing to have any deductions towards such allowances. It is, therefore, suggested that definition of wages for making contribution should include only basic wage and dearness allowance and all other allowance must be excluded. However, maximum it could be provided that wages for contribution should not be less than minimum wage as notified by the State Governments.

Section 2(n) and Section 7CC

Appellate Officer - New Additions

The new additions in the Sections provides for appointment of Appellate Officer from the Department to hear appeal against an order passed under Section 7A or Section 7B or Section 7C or Section 14B. It is

mentioned here that order under above Sections are passed by an officer of the Department and Appellate Officer is also from the Department. However, the Appellate Officer is empowered to ask the employers to deposit 50% of the amount due from his as determined by an officer of the Department under Section 7A, 7B, 7C and 14B. It is , therefore, suggested that either the additions as proposed in Section 2(n) and Section 7CC are dropped or if at all these are to be retained then there should not be any such power with Appellate Officer to hear the appeal on deposit of 50% or 25% of the determined amount. Such excessive power within the Department will be misused. Hence, it is strongly suggested that Appellate Officer should not have power to ask the employer to deposit any amount before hearing appeal.

Section 2(ll)

Superannuation Age Presently, age of superannuation has been provided as 58 years for employees who are member of the pension fund.

Whereas the proposed Act empowers the Government to provide the age of superannuation as prescribed by them. It is suggested that there should not be such sweeping power with the Government to provide the age of retirement rather it should be related to the age of retirement as per Standing Orders of an establishment or age of retirement as provided in the Service Rules of an establishment.

Section 2(f)

Definition of Employee In the new definition of employee, words include employees employed through other establishments in connection with the work of the establishment.

It is common in the present business scenario that works are outsourced and all the establishments have independent identity.

Such an amendment would invite lot of litigation and would complicate the matter. It is reiterated that all the establishments are to be covered independently, if coverable. Also, whenever there is a contractor who have a coverable establishment, he should be made liable independently and parent organization should not be held liable for his liability. It is therefore, suggested that amendment in the definition be dropped.

Moreover, the present definition be amended to the extent that all establishment who have separate code number should be held liable for their liabilities. It would minimize the litigation.

Section 5A

Central Board Presently, the Central Board of Trustees consists ten representatives of employers and ten representatives of employees on the Board.

In the proposed amendment, representatives of employers and employees have been Reduced to five from ten. Also, it is mentioned that representatives can be nominated only for two terms. We could not understand the reducing the representatives to five from ten as both employers and employees representatives are the stakeholders of the Fund and contribute in the interest of employers and employees about the management of the Fund. It is not out of place to mention here that the PF Schemes are being run mainly with

the funds contributed by the employers and employees hence their view points are always important. It is also mentioned here that it should be left to the employers and employees organizations to whom they wish to nominate. It is, therefore, recommended that employers and employees representatives should remain the same on the Central Board of Trustees i.e. ten each and also it should be left to the organizations to whom they nominate to represent.

Section 6 Contributions to the Fund Present and proposed provision of contribution to the Fund at the rate of 12% is a big burden on both employers and employees, particularly when ceiling of wage limit is being increased time to time. Even employees are not keen rather agitate to contribute at such a high rate.

It is, therefore, recommended that this rate of 12% be reduced to 6% or 8% particularly for the establishments in small and medium sector.

Section 6 Proviso to Section 6

New provisions have been added in the Act which empowers the Central Government to reduce or waive-off the contribution of employers or employees It is recommended that all the workmen in the unorganized sector including such as construction industry and purely casual workers who have to earn daily to meet their day to day necessity should be exempted from making any

contribution and only employers contribution in their case is payable.

Section 6C

EDLI Scheme Presently, contribution to the EDLI Scheme is 1% of the total wage as per ceiling.

Since wage ceiling has been enhanced by more than two times, it is recommended that 1% contribution be also reduced to 0.50 per cent. It is also on record that lot of money is lying unutilized in this head.

Section 7A

Determination of money due from Employers

Proposed amendment is welcome whereby proceedings to determine any dues has been limited to 5 years. This was a long pending issue which led to enumerable disputes. As you are aware, all labour legislations requires an employer to keep records upto three years only. While making this amendment, we suggest that let it in consonance with other labour legislation which requires an employer to maintain records for inspection of labour Authorities upto three years only.

Section 7 D

Employees Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal Presently, composition of Appellate Tribunal is of one person only and that also of judicial person with qualification to be appointed as a Judge of the High Court or a District Judge.

It is now proposed that Tribunal shall consist of three members one from Judiciary and other two from administration to be appointed by the Central Government. It is further added that administrative members one will be to the rank of Joint Secretary and other Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner. It is mentioned that orders under Section 7A have been passed by the officials of the Department of EPFO and further supported by the Appellate Officer of the Department, if the proposed amendment

are enacted. Then again the officials of the Department will dominate the proceedings in the Tribunal having not only majority but also will be influenced by the proceedings conducted by their own Department. It is, therefore, strongly recommended that this proposal to have three members Appellate Tribunal shall be dropped and in its place only Judicial persons to be qualified as Judge of the High Court or District Court be appointed, as per the present provisions. If the Government wants to make any addition to the Appellate Tribunal, additional person should not less than a retired High Court Judge.

Section 7-O

Deposit of amount due on filing appeal In the present law and in the proposed law, it is mandatory to deposit 75% of the amount as determined in the proceedings under various Sections by the Authorities appointed by the Department.

Though the Tribunal has power to reduce or waive off the amount to be deposited, but in view of this provisions mostly it is taken as if the employer can proceed only when an amount equal to 75% is deposited. Thus the deposit of amount should be reduced to 15% of the total determined amount and deposit of rest be decided on conclusion of the proceedings.

Section 14

Penalties

While amending the Act, it is perceived that enhancement of penalties is only way to tackle employers. All fines and penalties have been enhanced by seven to twenty times. It is relevant to mention here that this is a social security legislation where one of the major stakeholder is

employers. Hence, the Act and the Schemes framed thereunder must be employers’ friendly. Enhancement of fines and penalties will amount to more harassment and shall ultimately lead to corruption. It is suggested that present provisions of Section 14 are already too harsh and should not be made more stringent. Hence, the proposal should be dropped. Besides that there should not be any imprisonment clause which is too deterrent for employers to do the business.

No.BAI/DO/42/2015 Date: 10th March 2015 Shri Bandaru Dattatreya Hon’ble Minister of State for Labour & Employment (Independent Charge) Government of India Room No.120, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi – 110 001

Sub : Central Board of Trustees, Employees Provident Fund – Nomination of members.

Respected Sir

Builders’ Association of India is an apex all India body of Engineering Construction Contractors, founded in 1941 at Pune, and continuously serving the Construction Industry for the last 74 years. This is the largest body of employers in the country.

Our Head quarter is in Mumbai and we have 150 centres spread across the country including one in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and one in the far east at Tejpur, Assam. We have more than 15000 direct members and, inclusive of strength of our members of affiliated Associations, it will be more than a lakh of members. We are a very active & vibrant body being run in a very transparent way through democrative process. In our general Council / Managing Committee meeting held at least 4-5 times a year more than 300 members participate in the deliberations and take suitable decisions concerning the construction industry.

Sir, in the Central Board of Trustees, Employees Provident Fund, which is chaired by you, there are provisions for inducting members from employers side and it will only be fitting with facts if, being the largest body of Employers in the country, our association, Builders’ Association of India, is represented in the aforesaid board; Construction Sector being the 2nd largest employer of workforce, this will also be in line with the country’s present aspirations to bring 100% workforce under the umbrella of this social scheme.

Sir, we request you to kindly consider the above proposal

and, it will be an honour for us to personally brief you in this matter, if you kindly give us an audience on any day of your convenience.

Thanking you, Yours truly,

SUSHANTA KUMAR BASU

President Builders’ Association of India

BAI Secretariat received the following letter from E.P.F. Department informing about the various modernisation scheme.

Phone / Fax: 011 – 28050412 Email : [email protected]

EMPLOYEES’ PROVIDENT FUND ORGANISATION (Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India)

Regional Office: Delhi (South) EPFO Complex, Plot No. 23, Sector – 23, Dwarka, New Delhi –

110 075 RO/DL(S)/WP (C)/3588/2002/Builder Association/L-1398/___/6426 Dated: 13 November 2014 To, M/s. Builder Association of India Delhi Centre, Through its Hon. General Secretary, Mr. Raj Pal Arora, 203, Ashirwad Complex, D-1, Green Park, New Delhi Sub: Action taken by EPFO for Computerization and implementation of Universal Account Number. Sir, Reference is made to the Hon’ble High Court, Delhi order dated 28.08.14 in the matter of Builders Association of India & Ors. Vs UOI & Ors. [WP(C) 3588/2002], Skyline Engg. Contracts vs UOI & & Ors. [WP(C)8956-57/2005], Som Dutt Builders Ltd. & Ors. Vs. UOI & Ors. [WP(C) 12-13/2006] and Tirath Ram Ahuja Pvt. Ltd. (WP(C) 9500/2009] wherein the LD. Judge has been pleased to dismiss the Write Petition filed by the Petitioners with a direction that the respondents must put in place a scheme which would facilitate the withdrawal of money by a peripatetic worker from any place in country. In this regard, it is informed that EPFO has taken several initiatives in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to improve the operational efficiency and quick delivery of services. The business process of various function of employees’ Providen Fund Organisation have been computerized. Settlement of Claims such as withdrawal, pension, claim settlement, transfer etc. have also been fully computerized. Receipt of payment through employers has not only been computerized but has also been made mandatorily online through Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR). Member portal has been developed which allows the beneficiary to get registered online on the portal and view the balance in his account. Further, the following initiatives have been taken by the EPFO to bring greater transparency and operational efficiency:-

1. Implementation of Universal Account Number (UAN): The EPF Organization has already allotted Universal Account Number (UAN) to all the contributing members of the fund. The UAN so allotted by EPFO would act as an umbrella for the multiple Member IDs allotted to same individual. This Universal Account Number is much more fruitful, convenient and practicable against the 10 digit number. With the implementation of UAN, the P.F. members would be able to get rid of the problem faced earlier in terms of change of their employment for getting their money transferred from one account to the other. It is also going to pave the way for temporary/peripatetic workers who change their employment very frequently.

2. Now, the UAN will remain the same irrespective of the employment a member changes and he would be able to avail of the facility of withdrawal of benefits from any part of the country. Introduction of UAN will facilitate the following services to subscribers:-

a) Portability of PF Account Numbers of same person across different employments by linking the old accounts of the member with UAN.

b) Member balance details via updated member passbook. c) Downloadable dynamic UAN card. d) Personalized member log – in. e) Bulk SMS & e-mail service for multifarious services to

member such as credit of monthly contribution and at other significant events.

3. Facility of Electronic Challan cum Returns (ECR) The

employers were earlier submitting paper returns at the end of the Accounting Year while remitting the dues every month and sending a summary on the payments. Launch of the ECR facility has enabled the employers to submit their returns electronically and online through the portal, generate the challan and remit the same online if a customer of the SBI’s CINB or otherwise through a branch of SBI. The requirement of the annual return has been since dispensed with and the members account is getting credited every month instead of the earstwhile practice of annual updating at the end of the Accounting Year.

4. Facility to members for online generation of their e-pass book Since the ECR facility has enabled EPFO to credit the members account every month and the data is being received and reconciled with the remittance electronically, it has become possible for the provision of an e-pass in a one line summary having the total credits and debits during the year, only at the end of the year. Now the e-pass book is more elaborate and gives month wise details.

5. Know your claim status link where the status of the claims

can be had easily apart from getting SMS alerts at each stage of the claim processing.

6. Know your P.F. balance. Even now a member who has

downloaded the e-pass book can get the monthly updates.

7. Payment through National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) resulting in the reduction in time of credit to members account and increase in transparency/robustness in reconciliation.

8. Auto annual interest crediting enabling to credit the

annual interest in members’ account on the basis of the monthly returns submitted during the payment.

9. Facility of Online submission of transfer claims: To

smoothen the process of transfer of accounts, a revised transfer claim settlement process has been launched in the month of October 2013, which has the following features:-

(i) The claim can be submitted through previous or present

employer.

(ii) An additional facility has been provided o submit the claim in the online mode.

(iii) There would be no paper movement between two offices. In view of the above, you are, hereby, called upon to comply with the provisions of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 and scheme framed there under in order to cover the eligible workers including casual/ peripatetic.

Yours faithfully, Sd/-

[Narender Kr. Sing] Regional Provident Fund Commissioner – II [Legal]

Copy to:

1. M/s. Skyline Engg. Contracts India Pvt. Ltd., Through its Managing Director, Mr. Ashok Guliani Plot No. 4, Ground Floor, Kehar Singh Estate, Westend Marg, Said – U1 – Ajab, M.B. Road, New Delhi – 110 030

For information and compliance 2. M/s. Tirath Ram Ahuja Ltd.

11 Friends Colony, New Delhi – 110 065

3. M/s. SDB Infrastructure (P) Ltd. 56-58 Community Centre, East of Complex, New Delhi – 110 065

Sd/-

[Narender Kr. Singh] Regional Provident Fund Commissioner – II [Legal]

What you need to know about ‘Portable Provident Fund. An effective step towards labour reforms, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on October 16, 2014 has announced the launching of Provident Fund Portability through the Universal Account Number (UAN). This new facility will help over 4 crore subscribers to transfer the funds lying in their provident fund accounts when they change jobs. To start with, though provident fund balances essentially belong to employees, they are forced to access these accounts primarily through the organisations which employ them. Thus, whenever the employee switches jobs, as one does quite often these days, transferring the provident fund balance from one firm to another is quite a cumbersome task, with forms to be filled and correspondence to be routed to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) via both the employers. BENEFITS OF UAN Direct access of PF accounts will address the issue of dormant accounts and lead to better social security cover. The launch of Universal Account Number will also enable subscribers to consolidate all their previous accounts. Approximately Rs.27,000 crore is currently lying with Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) 5.8 crore out of the 8.9 crore in inoperative accounts.

The new process is expected to help employees transfer their PF money instead of withdrawing it when they change jobs. The provident fund accounts of employees will now be updated monthly and at the same time they will be informed through SMSes. The EPFO can be quite tardy with processing these requests too, buried as it is under tons of paperwork. (In 2013-14, it processed 1.2 crore transactions and 12 lakh transfer requests). The Universal Account Number is key to provident fund portability and easier PF transfer. The UAN will be portable throughout the working career of employees and can be used anywhere in India. Presently, most employees withdraw their PF every time they shift jobs leaving them with hardly any nest-egg at retirerment. This Universal Account Number will be linked to employees’ provident fund accounts. Employees would not be issued a new provident fund account number on joining a new firm. Instead, they would get a member identification number which would be linked to the UAN. This will help in smoothening out the process of provident fund transfers on changing jobs. Initially, UAN has been allotted to employees whose PF contribution was received between 1st January and June 30, 2014, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation said on its website. Universal Account Number (UAN), however, becomes portable only when it is seeded with Know Your Customers (KYC) details like bank account number, PAN, Aadhaar etc. verified by the Employer. Members of the Employees’ Provident Fund can check if UANs have been allotted to them on the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) website or with their Employers. The employees need to activate their UANs on the EPFO website to download UAN cards, view updated PF account, file and view transfer claims, and also update KYC information. Allowing employees to seamlessly port their accounts between employers will also ensure that the EPFO serves its basic objectives more effectively. Provident Fund wage ceiling hiked . . .

Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (Ministry of Labour, Govt. of India)

Bhavishya Nidhl Bhawan, 14-Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi – 110066

www.epflndia.gov.in, www.eofindia.nic.ln

No.Co-ord/3(6)2011/Amendment Scheme/13637Date: 28.08.2014

To,

All Additional CPFCs (Zones) All Regional PF Commissioners In-Charge of Regional/Sub Regional Offices

Subject : Gazette Notification on enhancement of statutory wage ceiling to Rs. 15,0001•, minimum penslon of Rs. 1,000/• per month and 20% additional relief on the amount of assurance benefit admissible under EDLI Scheme, 1976 - regarding.

Sir,

Instructions were issued vide Head Office letter dated 14.07.2014 (placed at Sl. No. 268 of the circular segment of the website), dated 23.07.2014 placed at Sl. No. 289 of the circular segment of the website} and dated 01.08.2014 (placed at Sl. No 311 of the circular segment of the website} wherein field offices were directed to start preparatory activities pending issue of notification on the above subject.

2. Now, the Government of India, Ministry of Labour & Employment issued notifications enhancing statutory wage ceiling from existing Rs. 6,500/- to Rs. 15,000/-, fixing minimum pension of Rs. 1000/- per month and 20% additional relief on the amount of assurance benefit admissible under EDLl Scheme, 1976 . The copies of the said notifications are enclosed herewith.

3. All the Additional CPFCs (Zones) and all Regional PF Commissioners, In-Charge of Regional/ Sub-Regional Offices are requested to ensure implementation of the said notifications in letter and spirit.

Yours faithfully

P.K. Udgata Additional Central P.F. Commlssloner-1 (Compliance)

The trend . . .

Change of wage limit {Para 2(f) of EPF Scheme 1952}

Period Wage limit per month

01.11.1952 to 31.05.1957 Rs. 300/-

01.06.1957 to 30.12.1962 Rs. 500/-

31.12.1962 to 10.12.1976 Rs. 1,000/-

11.12.1976 to 31.08.1985 Rs. 1,600/-

01.09.1985 to 31.10.1990 Rs. 2,500/-

01.11.1990 to 30.09.1994 Rs. 3,500/-

01.10.1994 to 31.05.2001 Rs. 5,000/-

01.06.2001 to 31.08.2014 Rs. 6,500/-

01.09.2014 onwards Rs. 15,000/- CEMENT CARTEL PETITION WITH COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA BAI Secretariat made a representation to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of India, New Delhi, which is reproduced here below.

Ref: 108/J/2014-15 dated July 3, 2014 Shri Narendra Modiji Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Government of India Prime Minister’s Office, South Block, NEW DELHI – 110 001 Respected Sir,

Sub: Abnormal increase of cement price due to the cartelisation by Cement Manufacturers.

Builders’ Association of India (BAI) is an apex all India body of Engineering Construction Contractors and Builders, founded in 1941, it has more than 15,000 business entities as members through its 150 plus Centres (Branches) throughout the country. The fundamental aim of the Association is to bring about all round improvements in the construction sector, while striving towards resolution of operational as well as policy level problems faced by the Construction Industry. This involves making efforts to obtain from policy makers and authorities, the level of attention that the construction industry deserves in view of its tremendous contribution and importance to the economy. Cement is one of the major construction materials used in all segments of Construction Industry namely, Housing (55% - 65%), Infrastructure (15% - 25%), Commercial and Industrial Construction (10% - 15%), and Industry (5% - 15%). There is no consumer other than Construction Industry for cement. For the past 2 – 3 years, the growth of Construction Industry is ranging between 1% - 2%, which means that additional demand of cement from Construction Industry is nominal. Sir, normally during the monsoon season, cement is available at lower price comparing to the cement price during the non monsoon season because of abrupt fall in demand. Sir, however, through this letter, we would like to draw your kind attention that, Cement Manufacturers in Southern and Western part of India have increased the cement price from Rs.60/- to Rs.100/- per bag without any corresponding increase either in demand or in input costs. Sir, the Construction Industry feel this cement price increase is the result of pre-arranged price fixing by Cement Manufacturers with profiteering purpose. Sir, we would like to remind you that, in the past, Cement Manufacturers were found engaged in cartel type of arrangement for jacking up the price and the following decisions of Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Commission and Hon’ble Competition Commission of India (CCI) will prove our points.

a) In Enquiry No.RTPE 99/1990 on 28th November 2006, Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commision directed Cement companies with ‘cease and desist order’. The Hon’ble M.R.T.P. Commission again in Enquiry No.RTPE 21/2001 decreed on 29th February 2008 observed that, “Cement companies are guilty of forming cartel and issued to cease and desist order. The M.R.T.P. Commission also directed them to file the Affidavit with effect that, they won’t do cartelization again”. Builders’ Association of India filed an application in the MRTP Commission in the year 2006, alledging the cartelization by cement companies which was registered vide No.RTPE 52/2006. Consequent upon closure of the MRTP Commission, the case was transferred to Competition Commission of India (CCI). The matter was investigated by the Director General – Investigation and CCI found Shree Cement Ltd., on the basis of matter investigated under case No.RTPE-52/2006 guilty and the Competition Commission of India imposed a panelty of Rs.397.51 Crores as well as served ‘cease’ and ‘desist’notice against Shree Cement Ltd. vide its order dated 30th July 2012.

b) On 20th June 2012, the Hon’ble Competition Commission of

India in case No.29/2010 filed by BAI, conclusively found the existence of cartel arrangement amongst the Cement Manufacturers resulting the manipulation of sale price of cement, and imposed a penalty of Rs.6,307.32 Crore on 10 Cement Manufacturers plus Cement Manufacturers

Association (CMA) and also issued ‘cease and desist order’.

Sir, inspite of the finding by both M.R.T.P. Court and Hon’ble Competition Commission of India about the cartel type arrangement engaged by Cement Manufacturers, they have not restrained themselves from continuing with the practice and still continue to exploit the hapless consumers of cement,as and when they wish.. Sir, any increase of cement price will have consequential effect on the cost of housing and also will affect the infrastructure projects adversely, causing huge negative impact on the national economy. Sir, we therefore, request you to kindly look into the matter and if satisfied, may kindly appoint a high level enquiry on the reasons of abnormal cement price increase when there is neither any corresponding demand from the Construction Industry nor any substantial rise in input cost, with a view to have a long term solution to the unethical practice being followed by Cement Manufacturers. Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

SUSHANTA KUMAR BASU


BAI Secretariate made representation to the Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport, Highways & Shipping, in the matter of Anti competitive Policy by Cement Industry, which is reproduced here below.

No. BAI/DO/17/2015 Dated : 11th March 2015 Shri Nitin Gadkari Ji, Honourable Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Government of India Transport Bhawan, Parliament Street, New Delhi – 110001

Sub : Cement Industry’s Anti-competitive Policy.

Respected Sir, This has reference to your statement on “Cartelisation” by

Cement Companies, extensively reported in Economic Times on 18th February 2015, Financial Express on 19th February 2015 and Business Line on 19th February 2015 (Enclosed). We are very much pleased & encouraged by your show of concern on the unethical & illegal practice of cartelization of cement prices by the manufacturers. We bring to your kind notice our concern & actions against such practices.

Sir, we enclosing herewith all relevant papers alongwith a synopsis

of BAI’s fight against this very unethical & illegal practice of Cement manufacturers. We request you to kindly look into the matter and ensure that such practices are stopped immediately and the country progresses forward in line with the dreams of our Prime Minister.

Sir, if granted an audience, we shall come & brief you in

person about the seriousness of the matter. Thanking you,

Yours truly,

SUSHANTA KUMAR BASU


Details of Complaint filed with the MRTP Commission / Competition Commission of India (CCI) against Cement

Manufacturers in the chronological Order.

1. Builders Association of India (BAI) filed a complaint with the Monopoly & Restrictive Trade Practice Commission (MRTP Commission) in February 2006 with regard to involvement of cement manufacturers in unfair trade practices / cartelization and requested the Commission to investigate the matter. Later on Commission sought some more information in support of complaint which were made available to them in November 2006. MRTPC registered the complaint vide case RTPE-52/2006. Consequent upon coming into existence the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the year 2009, the case was transferred to CCI.

2. In July 2010, BAI filed another complaint with the CCI

alleging unfair trade practices being adopted by the Cement manufacturing companies in jacking up artificially the price of cement. CCI registered the complaint as Case No.29/2010 and investigated the matter. The Director General (Investigation) investigated the matter and submitted his report to CCI. CCI forwarded the investigation report to the respective companies and directed them to file their replies. The case was heard by CCI on 21st, 22nd & 23rd February 2012. CCI passed the order dated 20th June 2012, declaring 10 cement companies along with Cement Manufacturers Association indulging into unfair trade practices and ordered to deposit Rs.6307.32 Crore, as penalty within 90 days from the date of the order and directed companies to “Cease and Desist” from indulging in such activities in future.. Name of Companies and penalty amount are as under :-

Sr. No. Name of Company Penalty

Amount in Rs. Crore

1. A.C.C Ltd. 1147.59 2. Ambuja Cement Ltd. 1163.91 3. Binani Cement Ltd. 167.32 4. Century Textile Ltd. 274.02 5. India Cement Ltd. 187.48 6. J.K. Cement Ltd. 128.54 7. Lafarge India Pvt. Ltd. 480.01 8. Madras Cement Ltd. 258.63 9. Ultratech Ltd. 1175.49 10. Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. 1323.60 11. Cement Manufactures Association

(CMA) 0.73

Total 6307.32

3. CCI by its order dated 30th July 2012, in the case of RPTE-52/2006, found 12 cement companies to be indulging into unfair trade practice. Since penalties were already imposed on 11 companies including CMA, other than Shree Cement Ltd, in Complaint No.29/2010, a penalty of Rs.397.51 Crore was levied on Shree Cement Ltd. with “Cease & Desist” order for not indulging in such practice in future.

4. All the cement companies, aggrieved with the orders

of CCI, approached to Competition Appellate Tribunal to seek a stay on deposit of the penalty

amount and for setting aside the orders of “Cease & Desist” in June / July 2012.

5. Competition Appellate Tribunal first heard the matter

of stay on penalty amount till April 2013. Vide its order dated 17th May 2013, the Tribunal ordered Cement Companies to deposit 10% of amount of penalty imposed by CCI before proceeding further in the matter.

6. Being aggrieved again, cement companies

approached Supreme Court of India to get stay on the orders passed by the Tribunal on 17th May 2013. Supreme Court of India dismissed the applications filed by cement companies vide its order dated 12th June 2013.

7. Cement companies have deposited 10% of the penalty

amount imposed by Tribunal, in June 2013, and matter is being heard in the Tribunal. The matter came up for hearing in the Tribunal on 21st August 2013, 18th Nov 2013, 4th Feb 2014, 11th March 2014, 28th April 2014, 18th July 2014, 3rd Sept 2014, 26th Nov 2014 and 25th February 2015. Now the matter will come up for hearing on 22nd April 2015. Hearings were adjourned from time to time due to the process of retirement of the then Chairman and appointment of a new Chairman initially and later due to retirement of other two members of Tribunal and appointment of new members.

BAI have again complained to CCI, in December 2013, about the violation of the order of “Cease & Desist” passed by CCI against cement companies on 20th June 2012 and 30th July 2012 because they were still indulging into unfair trade practices / cartelization and jacking up the price of cement artificially. Cement Cartel In its endeavour of getting justice for Construction Industry viz-a-viz Cement price, BAI have filed complaints with Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission and Hon’ble Competition Commission of India. Reproduced below is the favourable order pronounced by Competition Commission of India against Cement Manufacturers levying a hefty penalty of Rs.6,307 Crore.

Builders’ Association of India (BAI) have been taking up the matter of cement cartelization at all available platform i.e. Ministries / Parliament Committees / Member of Parliaments / Courts etc. BAI filed a complaint with the Monopoly & Restrictive Trade Practice Commission (MRTPC Commission) in February 2006 with regard to involvement of cement manufacturers in unfair trade practices / cartelization and requested the Commission to investigate the matter. Later on Commission sought some more information in support of complaint which were made available to them in November 2006. MRTPC registered the complaint vide case RTPE-52/2006. Consequent upon coming into existence Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the year 2009, the case was transferred to CCI.

In July 2010, BAI filed another complaint with the CCI alleging unfair trade practices being adopted by the Cement manufacturing companies in jacking up artificially the price of cement. CCI registered the complaint as Case No.29/2010 and investigated the matter. The Director General (Investigation) investigated the matter and submitted his report to CCI. CCI forwarded the investigation report to the respective companies and directed them to file their replies. The case was heard by CCI on 21st, 22nd & 23rd February 2012. CCI passed the order dated 20th June 2012, declaring 10 cement companies along with Cement Manufacturers Association indulging into unfair trade practices and ordered to deposit Rs.6307.32 Crore, as penalty within 90 days from the date of the order and directed companies to “Cease and Desist” from indulging in such activities in future

CCI by its order dated 30th July 2012, in the case of RPTE-52/2006, found 12 cement companies to be indulging into unfair trade practice. Since penalties were already imposed on 11 companies including CMA other than Shree Cement Ltd. in Complaint No.29/2010, a penalty of Rs.397.51 Crore was levied on Shree Cement Ltd. with “Cease & Desist” order for not indulging in such practice, in future.

All the cement companies, aggrieved with the orders of CCI, approached to Competition Appellate Tribunal to seek a stay on deposit of the penalty amount and for setting aside the orders of “Cease & Desist” in June / July 2012.

Competition Appellate Tribunal first heard the matter of stay on penalty amount till April 2013. Vide its order dated 17th May 2013, the Tribunal ordered Cement Companies to deposit 10% of amount of penalty imposed by CCI before proceeding further in the matter. The relevant part of the orders are in para 37 & 38 which are reproduced below :

37. “In that view, we find that there is a prima-facie case for granting of stay at least in respect of the penalties, which are of very substantial nature. The total penalties would come in the range of Rs.6000 crores. While inflicting the penalties, the CCI has also taken into consideration, not only the 10% turnover, gross-turnover and other factors, it has also taken into consideration the net profits earned by these appellants, which are to say the least fabulous. The Commission has chosen to impose the penalty at 0.5 times of the net profit for 2009-10 that too from 20th of May, 2009. It is pointed out by the Commission that the amount of 3 times of net profit calculated, is higher than 10% of the average turnover. In that view, the Commission has inflicted the penalties of 0.5 times of the net profit for one year that is from 2009 to 2010 that too taking from 20th May, 2009 and 2010-11. Under such circumstances, we would chose to grant stay to the penalties, however with a condition that the appellants deposit 10% of the penalties inflicted. We make it clear that the deposit of the penalty should be within one month from today. We also make it clear that if the penalties are not so deposited, the appeal shall be treated as dismissed without further reference to the Court.

38. As regards, the orders of ‘cease’ and ‘desist’, we do not find anything wrong at least prima-facie. We, therefore, refuse to stay that order against the appellants, including the Cement Manufacturers Association.”

Being aggrieved again, cement companies approached

Supreme Court of India to get stay on the orders passed by the Tribunal on 17th May 2013. Supreme Court of India dismissed the applications filed by cement companies vide its order dated 12th June

2013 with minor modification of the Order of the Tribunal to the extent that

“10% amount towards penalty be deposited with the Tribunal by each company and the Tribunal will ensure that a separate account is opened in a nationalized bank with a provision that the said amount is kept in a short term fixed deposit in the name of a company which will be initially for a period of six months renewable after the end of its expiry, if necessary. It goes without saying that the principal amount and the interest which is fetched by the account holders will be dealt with in the manner which would be considered appropriate by the Tribunal at the relevant stage of disposal of the appeals pending before it.”

Cement companies have deposited 10% of the penalty amount imposed by Tribunal, in June 2013, and matter is being heard in the Tribunal. The matter came up for hearing in the Tribunal on 21st August 2013, 18th Nov 2013, 4th Feb 2014 and 11th March 2014. During the year 2014 0 15, the matter came for hearing on 28th April 2014, 18th July 2014, 3rd Sept 2014, 26th Nov 2014, 25th February 2015 and 22nd April 2015.. Now the matter will come up for hearing on 3rd August 2015 for final disposal.

Hearings have been adjourned from time to time because the cement companies wants to linger on the final outcome of matter as far as possible. There is also delay in the hearings because the Tribunal is functional only with one member out of total strength of three. It is almost one year since the two members of the Tribunal were retired and appointment of new members have not yet taken place. As cement price was going up, BAI Secretariat again filed a petition with Hon’ble Competition Commission of India on 19th May 2014. This petition covered for the period of 1.4.2011 to 31.3.2013. As BAI did not receive any response from the Hon’ble Competition Commission of India, we have written a reminder, which is reproduced here below.

Ref: 537/M/2014-15 dated March 30, 2015 To, The Chairman Hon’ble Competition Commission of India Hindustan Times House, 18-20, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi – 110 001 Sub:- Our complaint on Anti-Competitive pricing policy of

cement producers from 1.4.2011 till October 2013 vide letter No. 377/D/2013-14/2.12.2013 and No.44/2014-15/19.5.2014.

Respected Sir,

Your honour was kind enough to allow us to give oral submission on 22.5.2014 when other members were present. It appears that due to your preoccupation with other pressing issues, no decision could be taken on caption subject.

We however are adding additional evidence in support of

anti-competitive pricing policy of cement producers as follows:-

1) Due to slowing down of economy in 2012-2015 period, affected housing and infrastructure sector, resulting in underutilization installed capacity.

2) Low demand normally results in lowering of price. Cement Industry being exception to the rule, increases price by maintaining supply discipline.

3) Due to Cement Manufacturing Association’s initiative that

construction of Highways in concrete is economical, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) invited tender for supply of cement at Ex-factory.

4) After opening of the tender, Hon’ble Ministry of Surface

Transport & Highway alleged “cartelisation” by cement companies.

5) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways gave advertisement in leading dailies on 24.3.2015 under the heading “Historical step…. Delivering Cement at Economical Price”. BAI has worked out rate by adding excise duty and VAT. List of the 33 cement companies who have agreed to supply cement at economical rate.

6) Comparative statement of pozzolona cement rate per bag of lowest tenderer in response to Ministry of Road Transport & Highways with that of economical rate offered by cement companies to Ministry of Surface Transport is given in Annexure.

Sir, all the above annexure clearly proves of cartelisation by

cement producers. We request you to look into our submission and initiate suitable action.

Thanking you, Yours truly,

D.L. DESAI (SHANKARBHAI) TRUSTEE

BUILDERS ’ ASSOCIATION OF INDIA

WRITS / REPRESENTATIONS MADE BY BAI ON INDIRECT TAXES

1. Andhra Pradesh High Court in case of Seven Hill Construction held that “Additional Composition Scheme” under which “purchase price” of construction material was treated as “Sale price” for the purpose of works contract tax now VAT in respect of contracts having more than 12 months period under APVAT Act is not in conformity with Supreme Court order in Gannon Dunkerly case. Almost all major contractors working in Andhra Pradesh have taken advantage of this scheme under rule 6 (3) (i) will now have to pay higher tax amount. High Court has not directed authorities to deal with all pending matters accordingly stated as such past assessment can be re-opened. BAI has filed Special Leave Petition against this order of Andhra Pradesh High Court which is pending admission. 2. Andhra Pradesh Commissioner of Commercial Taxes issued circular No. AIII(2)/143/2919 dated 19th July 2010 clarifying that the contractee in Andhra Pradesh can not issue “C” form for interstate purchase of goods by contractors. As a result benefit of “C” form available to contractors is now being denied. 3. Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in case of Ramky – Satya Murthy J.V. and Maytas-Nagarjuna J.V. in Appeal Nos. ST/476/2009, ST/1589/2010, ST/432/2010 and ST/260/2010 dated 14-5-2012 held that the

EPC contracts for A.P. Irrigation project under works contract services effective from 1-6-2007 is service taxable. Reasons are (a) “Irrigation” is not included u/s 65 (105) (zzzza) of Finance Act 1994. (b) Exemption notification No.41/2009 do not contain anything purported to act “retrospectively”. (c) Circular dated 15-9-2009 refers to “canal system” in context of definition of “Commercial and industrial construction” and not that of “works contract”. 4. R.M.C. plant put upon site for self consumption at present is subject to 1% Excise duty. Necessary representation made by B.A.I. to Finance Minister and circular is expected to be issued by Finance Ministry. 5. B.A.I. filed Writ Petition No.3533/2010 in Guwahati High

Court against levy of VAT, for lack of mechanism to claim deduction of sub-contractors turnover.

UNION BUDGET 2014-15 Presentation to the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue –

Pre Budget suggestions Union Budget 2014-2015 – Construction Industry

Direct Taxes � Income Tax

Indirect Taxes � Central Excise � Service Tax � Customs

Direct Taxes – Income Tax S.No. Issue Suggestions 1 ALTERNATE MINIMUM TAX a) Applicability of

Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) on all persons including Association of persons (AOP).

Exclude Association of Persons / JVs from the provisions of Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT), as the same would - − Increase cost of infrastructure projects − JV / AOP is generally formed for a specific project having duration ranging from 5 to 10 years. − AMT credit would lapse in view of shorter duration of the projects. New entrants will be reluctant to enter new infrastructure projects thru JV route

b) Amendment to section 115JB The member’s share in the income of the AOP is taxed separately in the hands of AOP joint venture. Such income when credited to the profit and loss account in the books of corporate member, by virtue of Accounting

Definition of book profits under section 115JB be amended to exclude the member’s share in income (including loss) of association of persons. Moreover on introduction of AMT on AOP, this will amount to double taxation Moreover on introduction of AMT on AOP, this will amount to

Standard Requirement (AS-27), it is subjected to tax again under section 115JB of the Act. This amounts to taxing the same income twice.

double taxation.

2 Disallowance under Section 14A of the Act –Investment by Holding Co in its subsidiaries considered for computing disallowance – Rule 8D.

• Multi Tier corporate structure generally adopted for infrastructure development sector. • Major projects to be undertaken by SPVs – a requirement of contract awarding agencies (e.g. NHAI) • SPVs engaged in infrastructure sector generally have long gestation period • No income is earned by Holding Co from SPVs during gestation period. • Disallowance under Section 14A of the Act made even though no exempt income is earned by the Holding Co from investment in SPVs.

Investment by Holding Co in group companies / subsidiaries through which it executes projects should be excluded while computing average investments’ – Rule 8D. Alternatively, disallowance may be made only against investments which have actually earned exempt income during relevant year & wherein nexus is established towards borrowed funds.

3 Applicability of Transfer Pricing provisions to domestic transactions between related resident parties (From AY 2013-2014)

The scope of Transfer pricing regulations is expanded to include “Specified Domestic transactions” as outlined below if the aggregate value of such transactions exceeds INR 5 crores during the year : 1. Expenses or payments made to domestic related persons as specified in Section 40 A (2) (b) Scope of Section 40 A (2) (b) has been expanded to include companies having a common parent company. 2. Transactions between undertakings of the same taxpayer or

The existing section 40A(2)(b) already had the provision for disallowance of any excessive or unreasonable expenditure in respect of payments made to related persons. Therefore it is felt the said amendment is not necessary. Without prejudice to the above clarity is required as to whether the said provision will apply to; a) Transactions on revenue account or capital account also as provision refers to ‘expenses or payments’. b) Expenditure/payments directly by such related undertakings or also indirectly or step down related parties. c) Further there are different reporting requirements as well as definition of ‘related parties’ under Company’s Act/ SEBI making it difficult to comply.

transactions by a taxpayer with closely connected persons for the purpose of Chapter VIA (deductions in respect of certain tax holidays) and section 10AA of the Act (Tax holiday for SEZ units).

INDIRECT TAX – Central Excise S.No. Issue Suggestions 1 Proposal for duty

exemption notification: Non-availability of excise duty exemption for supply of goods to Nuclear Power projects which are on national high priority.

All goods including those required for civil construction of Nuclear Power projects should be exempted from excise duty

2 Amendment to Sr. No. 233 of Notification No. 12/2012-C.E. dated 17.03.2012 for Water Treatment Plant: Water Supply project consists of the following: • Water pumping station at the source of water . • Water treatment plant. • Water storage facility Pipeline for distribution of water.

Excise duty exemption presently available only for water treatment plant be extended to all stages/units of water supply project.

3 Amendment to Sr. No.206 of Notification No.12/2012-C.E. dated 17.03.2012: Due to change in technology, fabricated structures need specialized testing, galvanizing and other technical treatments before erection at site

Notification may be suitably amended to enable contractors to send out of site goods, for testing, galvanizing etc. without payment of duty and receive back within a specified period and clearly specify the procedure for the same. Also, Site should not have restrictive meaning. Any land allotted by project owner should be construed as `Site’.

To notify Rule 5 as Place of Provision of Service for Projects in non-taxable territories irrespective of location of Service Provider & Service Receiver :

Services provided for a projects other than taxable territories ((i.e. J & K, Bhutan etc) where both the Service provider and service receiver are located in taxable territory, there is an ambiguity that by virtue of Rule 8 read with Rule

By virtue of Rule 13, we request to notify Rule 5 as Place of Provision of Service for Projects in non taxable territories irrespective of location of provider and receiver of services since it relates to immovable property.

14, such service could be taxable.

2 a) Amendment to Sr. No 29 (sub-clause(h) of Mega Exemption Not. No.25/2012-ST dated 20.6.2012:

Sr. No. 29 [(sub clause(h)] exempts sub-contractors providing services by way of Works contract to another contractor providing Works Contract Services for exempt services.

This sub-clause be suitably amended to exempt pure services provided in respect of services mentioned at Sr. No.12, 13 & 14 of the Mega Exemption Notification

b) Exemption for site formation and clearance, excavation and earth moving and demolition:

Site formation and clearance, excavation and earth moving and demolition is an important and primary activity in the execution of various infrastructure projects.

Exemption to such activities also be extended to projects exempted at Sr. No. 12, 13 & 14 of the Mega Exemption Notification No. 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012.

Withdrawal of partial Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM)

As per Sr. No. 1(v) of Not. No. 30/2012-St dated 20.6.2012, an unincorporated JV, being an AOP, for specified services, would be liable to pay only 50 % of its service tax liability,

There will be huge accumulation of cenvat credit with JV since JV is formed for a specific project, utilizing the credit for any other purpose is also ruled out. Hence, the same is not workable. Example: Joint Venture Projects –(JV) – Adverse Effect of Tax Project Owner :- To pay balance 50% of Service Tax = Rs. 7.41 Joint Venture (AOP) : - To charge 50% of Service Tax i.e., 6.18% on Rs. 120 = Rs. 7.41 Sub-Contractor : - Recovers 100% Service Tax from JV with i.e., 12.36% on Rs. 100 Taxable values. Adverse Effect : Accumulation of Cenvat Credit with AOP = Rs. 4.95 with JV i.e., 12.36 – 7.41 Direct effect on cash flow

Indirect Taxes – Service Tax Partial reverse charge in

respect of certain services mentioned in the above Notification is also creating multiple problems like registration, filing of ST3 returns etc.

Suggest that the Notification be amended to enable service providers/service receivers are responsible for discharge 100% service tax instead of partial reverse.

4 Retrospective effect to Not.No.18/2012-C.E. (N.T.)

dt.17.03.2012: Rule 14 of the CRR, 2004

substituted to read as taken and utilized instead of taken or utilized.

Being a substitution, will apply since introduction of said rule from 10.09.2004 i.e. retrospectively.

5 Exemption from service tax – Management of roads As per Sr. No 13 of Mega

Exemptions, the word management is not included in the exemption for roads, bridges etc.

The word ‘management’ may also be included so that management of roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects is not subject to Service tax.

6 Clarification regarding non applicability of service tax on Annuity, Grant, user fees etc.

As per Sr. No. (h) of Negative List of Services, the following service is exempt: “Service by way of access to a road or a bridge on payment of toll charges” Consideration other than toll (such as Annuity, grant, user fees etc.) may be received by Concessionaire for management of roads from NHAI/ users.

Suggest negative list should be suitably amended to provide that consideration, such as Annuity, grant, user fee etc., by whatever name called, whether or not in the name of toll, received by Concessionaire for access to road, construction, management, repair, maintenance, etc. should be exempt from Service tax.

7 Export of Service to neighboring countries: Services are required to be

exported to neighboring countries like Nepal, Bhutan etc. and these countries are not in a position to pay for the services in convertible foreign exchange.

In view of the genuine reason, payment in currencies other than convertible foreign exchange may be allowed to qualify as export

8 Sharing of expenses between associated companies: Sharing of cost/ expenses

between associated companies is a business requirement and common practice. This could be periodical, occasional or one time depending on the nature of cost/ expense. There is no activity of service nor any consideration is passed on from one company to another company.

Sharing of cost/ expenses between associated companies is not an activity which amounts to service nor cost/ expenses is shared by one associated company with another company is not for any consideration but as a business requirement. Therefore, suitable entry may be incorporated in the Exemption Notification so that sharing of cost/ expenses is not considered by Revenue as service to avoid litigation.

9 Exemption from Service Tax for expenses incurred towards training/upgradation of Construction Worker s

Skill development is an important area to cope up with the growth of infrastructure construction development. In this context, skill training is important to construction workers through Construction Skill Development Council of India (CSDCI).

Any expenses incurred for imparting skill training/ upgradation of skill to construction workers & certified by CSDCI/NSDA should be excluded from payment of service tax.

10 Event of applicability of Service Tax on Sale of Flat Hon’ble Supreme Court in

case of L&T Ltd.Vs State of Karnataka on 26.9.13

Same principle should be adopted for applicability of service tax as well

has decided that sale of under construction flats on ownership is a works contract and as such VAT is applicable on it. It further stated that value of goods utilised in a given flat only after the date of agreement of sale will be taxable.

Indirect Taxes – Customs S.No. Current Provision Suggestions 1 Clarification required on Custom Circular No. 49/2011

dated 4th November, 2011 issued under F.No. 528/14/2008-Cus (TU):

Condition No. 4 of the above circular states that”it is clarified that the construction equipment may be permitted to be transferred to other registered project under CTH 9801, after completion of its intended use, on recommendations of sponsoring authority”.

The Contractor may be allowed to withdraw the equipment from the site on production of project completion certificate from the Project Authority and the contractor should be free to utilize such equipment in any other projects.

2 Not.No.4/2014-Cus. dated 3.2.2014 – Withdrawal of cvd & SAD on import of Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM):

TBM is costly equipment and withdrawal of duty @ 16.854% has direct impact on the cost of the national priority projects as the cost of the TBM is part of the project.

TBM is more of project specific equipment and chances of reuse in another project are practically very low Request for reinstatement of exemption for cvd & SAD. import of TBM as well as parts and components

3 Amendment in explanation to Sr. No 512 of Custom Notification No. 12/2012-Cus dated 1.3.2012:

Water Supply project for supply of water for human or animal consumption consists of the following: i) Water pumping station

at the source of water such as river, lake etc.

ii) Water treatment plant iii) Water storage facility iv) Pipeline for distribution

of water

The explanation to the notification should be amended to include all the stages/unit.

UNIFIED STANDARD CONTRACT DOCUMENT . On BAI’s representation to the Hon’ble Union Minister of Urban Development for necessary change in CPWD Contract Conditions, decision was taken to form a ‘Drafting Committee’ comprising representatives from BAI and Government Department to look into the matter and recommend required changes. Shri B. Seenaiah, Imm. Past President; Shri M. Karthikeyan, Committee Chairman of BAI; Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee of BAI; Shri Lal Chand Sharma, Vice

President, BAI; Shri D.C. Awasthi, Trustee, BAI; Shri Ram Avtar, Chairman, CPWD Co-ordiantion Committee; Shri Arun Sahai, State Co-ordinator, BAI, Delhi, and Shri Raju John, Executive Secretary, were representing BAI. Shri B.B. Bhatia, Shri V.K. Rokade, and Shri S. Jethwani, all ADG (T.D), CPWD; Shri Sarvayya Srivastava, Chief Engineer, Delhi PWD; Shri D.K. Saini, Director (Project), Delhi Metro; Shri Abhay Sinha, Member Engineering, DMRC; Shri Dinesh Kumar, E-in-C, Delhi PWD; Shri A.K. Mittal, CMD, NBCC; Shri A.K. Gupta, CE(P), DMRC, and Shri Deepak Kumar, CE, Delhi PWD Zone-II, were representing Union Ministry of Urban Development. Drafting Committee discussed matter spread over three meetings held on 10.4.2013, 23.5.2013, and 26.7.2013 and finalized its recommendation. Director General, CPWD accepted certain recommendations with necessary changes and obtained sanction of competent Authority. The same is attached as Annexure. No.CSQ/CM/Standard Document 4/6/1 Date: 22.04.2013 The Builders’ Association of India G-1/G-20, 7th Floor, Commercial Centre, J. Dadajee Road, Tardeo, Mumbai – 400 034 Sub: Uniform Standard Contract Document for Construction Companies and Departments associated with Construction activities. Dear Sir, Please find enclosed the office memorandum DG/CON/272 & 273 and DG/MAN/285 & 291 vide which CPWD has made modifications in General Condition of Contract and CPWD Works Manual 2012 based on the recommendations of standard drafting committee on Uniform Standard Contract Document for Construction Companies and Department associated with construction activities. This issues of the approval DG, CPWD. Yours faithfully, SANJEEV RASTOGI Superintendent Engineer (C&M) LAND ACQUISITION AND REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT BILL

The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, 2011 Bill is also known as LARR Bill 2011 and LARR 2011. The Bill has 107 clauses.

LARR 2011 seeks to repeal and replace India’s Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The Bill seeks to enact a law that will apply when: Government acquires land for its own use, hold and control.

Government acquires land with the ultimate purpose to transfer it for the use of private companies for stated public purpose. The purpose of LARR 2011 includes public-private-partnership projects, but excludes land acquired for state or national highway projects.

Government acquires land for immediate and declared use by private companies for public purpose.

LARR Bill 2011 aims to establish the law on land acquisition, as well as the rehabilitation and resettlement of those directly affected by the land acquisition in India.

The scope of LARR 2011 includes all land acquisition whether it is done by the Central Government of India, or any State Government of India, except the State of Jammu & Kashmir.

Clause 26 of LARR 2011 defines the method by which market value of the land shall be computed under the proposed law. Schedule I outlines the proposed minimum compensation based on a multiple of market value. Schedule II through VI outline the resettlement and rehabilitation entitlements to land owners and livelihood losers, which shall be in addition to the minimum compensation per Schedule-I.

The market value of the proposed land to be acquired, shall be set as the higher of the minimum land value, if any, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds in the area, where the land is situated; or the average of the sale price for similar type of land being acquired, ascertained from the highest fifty per cent of the sale deeds registered during the preceding three years in the nearest village or nearest vicinity of the land being acquired.

LARR 2011 bill proposes that the minimum compensation be a multiple of the total of above ascertained market value plus a solatium. Specifically, the current version of the Bill proposes the total minimum compensation be:

At least four times the market value for land acquired in rural areas; At least two times the market value for land acquired in urban areas.

In addition to above compensation, the draft LARR 2011 bill proposes a wide range of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements to land owners and livelihood losers from he land acquirer.

For land owners, the Bill proposes: an additional subsistence allowance of IN Rs.36,-000 (US $ 800) for the first year an additional entitlement of a job to the family member, or a payment of IN Rs.5,00,000 (US $ 11,000) up front, or a monthly annuity totaling IN Rs.24,000 (US $ 550) per year for 20 years with adjustment for inflation – the option from these three choices shall be the legal right of the affected land owner family, not the land acquirer an additional upfront compensation of IN Rs.50,000 (US $ 1,100) for transportation an additional upfront resettlement allowance of IN Rs.50,000 (US $ 1,100) if the land owner loses a home in a rural area, then an additional entitlement of a house with no less than 50 square meters in plinth area if the land is acquired for

urbanization, 20% of the developed land will be reserved and offered to land owning families, in proportion to their land acquired and at a price equal to cost of acquisition plus cost of subsequent development if acquired land is resold without development, 20% of the appreciated land value shall be mandatorily shared with the original owner whose land was acquired.

In addition to minimum compensation explained above, and additional entitlements for the affected land owners, LARR 2011 bill proposes the following additional entitlements to each livelihood loser; an additional subsistence allowance of IN Rs.36,000 (US $ 800) for the first year an additional entitlement of a job to the family member, or a payment of IN Rs.5,00,000 (US $ 11,000) up front, or a monthly annuity totaling IN Rs.24,000 (US $ 550) per year for 20 years with adjustment for inflation – the option from these three choices shall be the legal right of the affected livelihood–losing family, not the land acquirer an additional upfront compensation of IN Rs.50,000 (US $ 1,100) for transportation an additional upfront resettlement allowance of IN Rs.50,000 of IN Rs.50,000 (US $ 1,100) whether the livelihood loser is homeless or has a home on the proposed land to be acquired, he or she shall have a right to a house with no less than 50 square meters in plinth area. GOODS & SERVICE TAX (GST)

The introduction of the GST appears to be certainty as Hon’ble Finance Minister tabled constitution amendment bill amending article 366 by 366(12A), 366(26A) and 366(29B) to confer simultaneous powers to Union and States to levy GST on 17th December 2014 pending approval. New Article 279A is also introduced. This is a significant step in the field of indirect tax reforms in India. By subsuming a large number of central and state taxes into a single tax, it would mitigate cascading or double taxation in a major way and pave the way for a common national market. From the consumer’s point of view, the biggest advantage would be in terms of a reduction in the overall tax burden on goods, which is currently estimated at 25 per cent- 30 per cent. Introduction of the GST is also expected to make Indian products competitive in domestic and international markets. Studies show that this would instantly spur economic growth. Because of its transparent character, it is expected that the GST would be easier to administer. Once GST is made applicable than following indirect taxes levied by centre and states would subsume in GST.

Central Taxes Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duties, Excise on Medicinal and Toilet preparations, Service Tax, Countervailing Duty, Special Additional Duty of customs, surcharges and cesses.

State Taxes VAT, Entertainment Tax save and except levied by local bodies, Luxury Tax on Lotteries, Betting and Gambling, Entry Tax, States surcharges and cesses. The broad features of the proposed GST model are as follows:

(i) GST would be applicable on supply of goods or services as against the present concept of tax on the manufacture or on sale of goods or on provision of services.

(ii) GST would be a destination-based tax as against the present concept of origin-based tax.

(iii) It would be a dual GST with the centre and the states simultaneously levying it on a common base. The GST to be levied by the centre would be called central GST (CGST) and that to be levied by the states would be called state GST (SGST).

(iv) An integrated GST (IGST) would be levied on inter-state supply (including stock transfers) of goods or services. This would be collected by the centre so that the credit chain is not disrupted.

(v) Import of goods or services would be treated as inter-state supplies and would be subject to IGST in addition to the applicable customs duties.

(vi) A non-vatable additional tax, not exceeding 1 per cent on inter-state supply of goods would be levied by the centre and retained by the originating state at least for a period of two years.

(vii) CGST, SGST, and IGST would be levied at rates to be recommended by the Goods and Services Tax Council (GSTC) which will be chaired by the Union Finance Minister and will have Finance Ministers of states as its members.

(viii) GST would apply to all goods and services except alcohol for human consumption.

(ix) GST on petroleum products would be applicable from a date to be recommended by the GST Council.

(x) Tobacco and tobacco products would be subject to the GST. In addition, the centre could continue to levy central excise duty.

(xi) A common threshold exemption would apply to both CGST and SGST. Taxpayers with a turnover below it would be exempt from GST. A compounding option (i.e.to pay tax at a flat rate on turnover without credits) would be available to small taxpayers below a certain threshold. However, a taxable person falling within the limit of threshold or compounding could opt to pay tax at the normal rate in order to be part of the input tax credit chain.

(xii) The list of exempted goods and services would be kept to a minimum and it would be harmonized for the centre and states as far as possible.

(xiii) Exports would be zero-rated. (xiv) Credit of CGST paid on inputs may be used only for

paying CGST on the output and the credit of SGST paid on inputs may be used only for paying SGST. In other words, the two streams of input tax credit (ITC) cannot be cross utilized, except in specified circumstances of inter-state supplies, for payment of IGST. Over the past four decades, the value added tax (VAT) has been an important instrument of indirect taxation, with 130 countries having adopted it, resulting in one-fifth of the world’s tax revenue. Tax reform in many of the developing countries has focused on moving to VAT. Federal countries like Canada, New Zealand, and Australia have successfully adopted the GST into their structure.

Implementation of a comprehensive GST in India is expected, ceteris paribus, to lead to efficient allocation of factors of production thus bringing about gains in GDP and exports. This would translate into enhanced economic welfare and higher returns to the factors of production, viz. land, labour, and capital. However, in the near term, as GST replaces a number of state-level and central taxes, revenue gains may not be significant.

Definitions Article 366(12A) :- GST means any tax on supply of goods or services or both except of supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption.

Article 366(26A) :- “Service” means anything other than goods. Definition is too broad and wide and can cover immovable property, actionable claims, money etc.

Article 366(29B) :- State to include union Territory with legislature.

New Article 279A :- Constitution of Goods & Service Tax council with union Finance Minister as Chairman, Union Minister of state in charge of Revenue or Finance and state Finance and Taxation Ministers as members to recommend subsumption of various taxes into GST and data of implementation.

As on date there is no unanimity on applicable rate of CGST and SGST between centre and states. It may however be noted that various bodies have suggested different rate as per table below :- Sr. No.

Name of Organisation

GST rate proposed

in percentage

Revenue Neutral

Rate Proposed (RNR) in

percentage

Remarks

1. National Centre for Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

- 6.2 to 9.2 States are feeling that Revenue Neutral Rate of 27% is not sufficient. It has to be higher centre feels that RNR is high and has to be lower. Besides centre has agreed to compensate states for revenue loss.

2. 13th Finance Commission.

12 11

3. Kelkar Fiscal Consolidation Panel.

16 -

4. National Institute of Public Finance & Policy.

- 26.88

Source: Department of Revenue and NCAER Working Paper No. 103 titled ‘Moving to Goods and Services Tax in India-Impact on India’s growth and International Trade’, 2009.

Budget 2015-16 introduced Service Tax on all Government projects. BAI Secretariat made a representation on this to the Hon’ble Finance Minister, Government of India, which is reproduced here below. SERVICE TAX MATTERS

Ref : 95/J/2014-15 dated 23rd June 2014 To Shri Arun Jaitley Hon’ble Finance Minister Government of India, North Block, NEW DELHI – 110 001

Respected Sir,

Subject : Levy and Collection of Service Tax on Irrigation Projects during the period from -1.-6.2007 to 30.06.2012 – reg.

We, the following from the Infrastructure Industry would like to bring the following in respect of levy and collection of Service Tax on Irrigation Projects for favour of perusal and judicious consideration of the Government.

A number of Irrigation Projects/Drinking Water Projects, Sewerage Projects were taken up by Government of Andhra Pradesh from 2004 onwards in order to provide water for irrigation, drinking and sanitation.

Most of these projects were awarded to various Contractors and all most all these projects were taken up under the concept of EPC/Turnkey Mode for various exigencies of Governmental Policy.

Government of India introduced a new levy under the category of “Commercial or Industrial Construction Service” under Section 65 (105) (zzq) of Chapter V of Finance Act, 1994, as amended (hereinafter referred to as ‘Finance Act’). The Service was defined under Section 65 (25b) of the Finance Act.

Under CIC Services any service provided for construction of a new building or a civil structure or part thereof is liable to service tax provided such building/civil structure is used or to be used primarily for commerce or industry. In addition the levy is excluded services in respect of roads, airports, railways, transport terminals, bridges, tunnels and dams.

In view of the above, in none of the projects the concept of Service Tax was considered by the Government (Principal) or by the Contractors as the Projects or basically non-commercial or non-industrial nature projects. With effect from 01.06.2007 Government of India in order to tax Composite Contracts introduced a new levy under the category of Works Contract Service under Section 65 (105) (zzzza) of the Finance Act. This new levy is amalgamation of three earlier Services, viz., (1) Erection, Commissioning or Installation Service [Section 65(105) (zzd)/ Section 65 (39a)] (2) Commercial or Industrial Construction Service [Section 65 (105)(zzq)/Section 65 (25b)] and (3) Construction of

Residential Complex Service [Section 65 (105)(zzzh)/Section 65 (91a)]. In addition to the above three services, services in respect of “Completion and finishing services, repair, alteration, renovation or restoration or, or similar services in relation to the above three services” is also included in the said category.

In addition to the above four services covered under sub-clause (a) to (d), a new sub-clause was also included which reads as “(e) turnkey projects including engineering, procurement and construction or commissioning (EPC) projects”

Even-though, the requirement for Construction of a new building or a civil structure or a part thereof or of a pipeline or conduit, primarily for the purposes of commerce or industry in order to levy Service Tax was retained under sub-clause (b), the Department started issuing Show Cause Notices demanding huge amounts of Service Tax with interest and equal penal clauses inasmuch as in sub-clause (e) the concept of “ used for commercial or industrial purposes” was absent.

This being the case, Government of India vide Notification No.41/2009-S.T., dated 23.10.2009 after satisfying that it is necessary in public interest exempted the services in relation to execution of a works contract in respect of Canals, other than those primarily used for the purpose of commerce or industry, from the whole of service tax leviable thereon.

After the advent of Negative List regime, Government of India brought the Agricultural Sector under Negative List under clause (d) of Section 66D of Finance Act.

Further, Government of India vide clause (d) and (e ) of Notification No.25/2012-S.T. , dated 20.06.2012 exempted the services in relation to Irrigation, Canals, Dams etc., and the relevant clauses reads as under:

(d) canal, dam or other irrigation works; (e) pipeline, conduit or plant for (i) water supply (ii)

water treatment, or (iii) sewerage treatment or disposal; or

From the above, a reasonable conclusion can be drawn that it is not the intention of Government to levy and collect tax on Agriculture related projects and other projects which are in the nature of non-commercial and which are meant for the public good. This is very clear from the statute from 10.09.2004 till July, 2012, wherein the policy of non-levy on Civil Structures which are not commercial in nature was consistently followed. Unfortunately, even-though all the Irrigation Projects/ Pipeline Projects that are being executed by various Contractors not only in Andhra Pradesh but in many parts of India are primarily not for commerce or industry the issuance of Show Cause Notices were not abated. The issue is being agitated at various forums, however, with almost negative success rate.

It is sincerely felt that the demands of Service Tax for the period between 01.06.2007 to 30.06.2012 on Irrigation Projects (except Canal Projects w.e.f. 23.10.2009) will raise the project costing on the Principal and in turn cast burden on the people for whom the projects are being executed.

The only way to extend the benefit is that the exemption as contained in Notification No.25/2012-S.T. dated 20.06.2012 needs to be extended for the intervening period by amending the same retrospectively in the interest of public.

In view of the above, it is respectfully requested that necessary retrospective amendment to the law may please be brought into effect during the Union Budget 2014-15 in the interest of justice and in the interest Agricultural/Irrigation Sectors.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Sushanta Kumar Basu


Canals other than those for commerce & industry — Exemption to works contract service

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994), the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the taxable service referred to in sub-clause (zzzza) of clause (105) of section 65 of the said Act, in relation to execution of a works contract in respect of canals, other than those primarily used for the purposes of commerce or industry, from the whole of service tax leviable thereon under section 66 of the said Act. [Notification No. 41/2009-S.T., dated 23-10-2009]

Exemptions from Service tax — Mega Notifications — Notification No. 12/2012-S.T. superseded

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994) (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) and in supersession of notification number 12/2012-Service Tax, dated the 17th March, 2012, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 210(E), dated the 17th March, 2012, the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the following taxable services from the whole of the service tax leviable thereon under section 66B of the said Act, namely :-

1. Services provided to the United Nations or a specified international organization; 2. Health care services by a clinical establishment, an authorised medical practitioner or para-medics; 3. Services by a veterinary clinic in relation to health care of animals or birds; 4. Services by an entity registered under section 12AA of the Income tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) by way of charitable activities; 5. Services by a person by way of -

(a) renting of precincts of a religious place meant for general public; or

(b) conduct of any religious ceremony; 6. Services provided by-

(a) an arbitral tribunal to -

(i) any person other than a business entity; or

(ii) a business entity with a turnover up to rupees ten lakh in the preceding financial year;

(b) an individual as an advocate or a partnership firm of advocates by way of legal services to,- (i) an advocate or partnership firm of advocates providing legal services ; (ii) any person other than a business entity; or (iii) a business entity with a turnover up to rupees ten lakh in the preceding financial year; or

(c) a person represented on an arbitral tribunal to an arbitral tribunal;

7. Services by way of technical testing or analysis of newly developed drugs, including vaccines and herbal remedies, on human participants by a clinical research organisation approved to conduct clinical trials by the Drug Controller General of India; 8. Services by way of training or coaching in recreational activities relating to arts, culture or sports; 9. Services provided to or by an educational institution in respect of education exempted from service tax, by way of,-

(a) auxiliary educational services; or (b) renting of immovable property;

10. Services provided to a recognised sports body by- (a) an individual as a player, referee, umpire, coach or team manager for participation in a sporting event organized by a recognized sports body; (b) another recognised sports body;

11. Services by way of sponsorship of sporting events organised,-

(a) by a national sports federation, or its affiliated federations, where the participating teams or individuals represent any district, state or zone;

(b) by Association of Indian Universities, Inter-University Sports Board, School Games Federation of India, All India Sports Council for the Deaf, Paralympic Committee of India or Special Olympics Bharat;

(c) by Central Civil Services Cultural and Sports Board;

(d) as part of national games, by Indian Olympic Association; or

(e) underPanchayatYuvaKreedaAurKhelAbhiyaan (PYKKA) Scheme;

12. Services provided to the Government, a local authority or a governmental authority by way of construction, erection, commissioning, installation, completion, fitting out, repair, maintenance, renovation, or alteration of -

(a) a civil structure or any other original works meant predominantly for use other than for commerce, industry, or any other business or profession;

(b) a historical monument, archaeological site or remains of national importance, archaeological excavation, or antiquity

specified under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (24 of 1958);

(c) a structure meant predominantly for use as (i) an educational, (ii) a clinical, or (iii) an art or cultural establishment;

(d) canal, dam or other irrigation works; (e) pipeline, conduit or plant for (i) water supply

(ii) water treatment, or (iii) sewerage treatment or disposal; or

(f) a residential complex predominantly meant for self-use or the use of their employees or other persons specified in the Explanation 1 to clause 44 of section 65B of the said Act;

13. Services provided by way of construction, erection, commissioning, installation, completion, fitting out, repair, maintenance, renovation, or alteration of,-

(a) a road, bridge, tunnel, or terminal for road transportation for use by general public;

(b) a civil structure or any other original works pertaining to a scheme under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission or Rajiv AwaasYojana;

(c) a building owned by an entity registered under section 12AA of the Income tax Act, 1961(43 of 1961) and meant predominantly for religious use by general public;

(d) a pollution control or effluent treatment plant, except located as a part of a factory; or a structure meant for funeral, burial or cremation of deceased;

14. Services by way of construction, erection, commissioning, or installation of original works pertaining to,-

(a) an airport, port or railways, including monorail or metro;

(b) a single residential unit otherwise than as a part of a residential complex;

(c) low-cost houses up to a carpet area of 60 square metres per house in a housing project approved by competent authority empowered under the ‘Scheme of Affordable Housing in Partnership’ framed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India;

(d) post-harvest storage infrastructure for agricultural produce including a cold storages for such purposes; or

(e) mechanised food grain handling system, machinery or equipment for units processing agricultural produce as food stuff excluding alcoholic beverages;

15. Temporary transfer or permitting the use or enjoyment of a copyright covered under clauses (a) or (b) of sub-section (1) of section 13 of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 (14 of 1957), relating to original literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works or cinematograph films; 16. Services by a performing artist in folk or classical art forms of (i) music, or (ii) dance, or (iii) theatre, excluding services provided by such artist as a brand ambassador;

17. Services by way of collecting or providing news by an independent journalist, Press Trust of India or United News of India; 18. Services by way of renting of a hotel, inn, guest house, club, campsite or other commercial places meant for residential or lodging purposes, having declared tariff of a unit of accommodation below rupees one thousand per day or equivalent; 19. Services provided in relation to serving of food or beverages by a restaurant, eating joint or a mess, other than those having (i) the facility of air-conditioning or central air-heating in any part of the establishment, at any time during the year, and (ii) a licence to serve alcoholic beverages; 20. Services by way of transportation by rail or a vessel from one place in India to another of the following goods -

(a) petroleum and petroleum products falling under Chapter heading 2710 and 2711 of the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986);

(b) relief materials meant for victims of natural or man-made disasters, calamities, accidents or mishap;

(c) defence or military equipments; (d) postal mail or mail bags; (e) household effects; (f) newspaper or magazines registered with the

Registrar of Newspapers; (g) railwayequipments or materials; (h) agricultural produce; (i) foodstuff including flours, tea, coffee,

jaggery, sugar, milk products, salt and edible oil, excluding alcoholic beverages; or

(j) chemical fertilizer and oilcakes; 21. Services provided by a goods transport agency by way of transportation of -

(a) fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, food grains or pulses in a goods carriage;

(b) goods where gross amount charged for the transportation of goods on a consignment transported in a single goods carriage does not exceed one thousand five hundred rupees; or

(c) goods, where gross amount charged for transportation of all such goods for a single consignee in the goods carriage does not exceed rupees seven hundred fifty;

22. Services by way of giving on hire - (a) to a state transport undertaking, a motor

vehicle meant to carry more than twelve passengers; or

(b) to a goods transport agency, a means of transportation of goods;

23. Transport of passengers, with or without accompanied belongings, by -

(a) air, embarking from or terminating in an airport located in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, or Tripura or at Bagdogra located in West Bengal;

(b) a contract carriage for the transportation of passengers, excluding tourism, conducted tour, charter or hire; or

(c) ropeway, cable car or aerial tramway; 24. Services by way of vehicle parking to general public excluding leasing of space to an entity for providing such parking facility; 25. Services provided to Government, a local authority or a governmental authority by way of -

(a) carrying out any activity in relation to any function ordinarily entrusted to a municipality in relation to water supply, public health, sanitation conservancy, solid waste management or slum improvement and upgradation; or

(b) repair or maintenance of a vessel or an aircraft;

26. Services of general insurance business provided under following schemes -

(a) Hut Insurance Scheme; (b) Cattle Insurance under Swarnajaynti Gram

SwarozgarYojna (earlier known as Integrated Rural Development Programme);

(c) Scheme for Insurance of Tribals; (d) Janata Personal Accident Policy and Gramin

Accident Policy; (e) Group Personal Accident Policy for Self-

Employed Women; (f) Agricultural Pumpset and Failed Well

Insurance; (g) premia collected on export credit insurance; (h) Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme or

the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme, approved by the Government of India and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture;

(i) Jan ArogyaBima Policy; (j) National Agricultural Insurance Scheme

(RashtriyaKrishiBimaYojana); (k) Pilot Scheme on Seed Crop Insurance; (l) Central Sector Scheme on Cattle Insurance; (m) Universal Health Insurance Scheme; (n) RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojana; or (o) Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme;

27. Services provided by an incubatee up to a total turnover of fifty lakh rupees in a financial year subject to the following conditions, namely :-

(a) the total turnover had not exceeded fifty lakh rupees during the preceding financial year; and

(b) a period of three years has not been elapsed from the date of entering into an agreement as an incubatee;

28. Service by an unincorporated body or a non-profit entity registered under any law for the time being in force, to its own members by way of reimbursement of charges or share of contribution -

(a) as a trade union; (b) for the provision of carrying out any activity

which is exempt from the levy of service tax; or

(c) up to an amount of five thousand rupees per

month per member for sourcing of goods or services from a third person for the common use of its members in a housing society or a residential complex;

29. Services by the following persons in respective capacities -

(a) sub-broker or an authorised person to a stock broker;

(b) authorised person to a member of a commodity exchange;

(c) mutual fund agent to a mutual fund or asset management company;

(d) distributor to a mutual fund or asset management company;

(e) selling or marketing agent of lottery tickets to a distributer or a selling agent;

(f) selling agent or a distributer of SIM cards or recharge coupon vouchers;

(g) business facilitator or a business correspondent to a banking company or an insurance company, in a rural area; or

(h) sub-contractor providing services by way of works contract to another contractor providing works contract services which are exempt;

30. Carrying out an intermediate production process as job work in relation to -

(a) agriculture, printing or textile processing; (b) cut and polished diamonds and gemstones; or

plain and studded jewellery of gold and other precious metals, falling under Chapter 71 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986);

(c) any goods on which appropriate duty is payable by the principal manufacturer; or

(d) processes of electroplating, zinc plating, anodizing, heat treatment, powder coating, painting including spray painting or auto black, during the course of manufacture of parts of cycles or sewing machines upto an aggregate value of taxable service of the specified processes of one hundred and fifty lakh rupees in a financial year subject to the condition that such aggregate value had not exceeded one hundred and fifty lakh rupees during the preceding financial year;

31. Services by an organiser to any person in respect of a business exhibition held outside India; 32. Services by way of making telephone calls from -

(a) departmentally run public telephone; (b) guaranteed public telephone operating only

for local calls; or (c) free telephone at airport and hospital where

no bills are being issued; 33. Services by way of slaughtering of bovine animals; 34. Services received from a provider of service located in a non- taxable territory by -

(a) Government, a local authority, a governmental authority or an individual in

relation to any purpose other than commerce, industry or any other business or profession;

(b) an entity registered under section 12AA of the Income tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) for the purposes of providing charitable activities; or

(c) a person located in a non-taxable territory; 35. Services of public libraries by way of lending of books, publications or any other knowledge - enhancing content or material; 36. Services by Employees’ State Insurance Corporation to persons governed under the Employees’ Insurance Act, 1948 (34 of 1948); 37. Services by way of transfer of a going concern, as a whole or an independent part thereof; 38. Services by way of public conveniences such as provision of facilities of bathroom, washrooms, lavatories, urinal or toilets; 39. Services by a governmental authority by way of any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a municipality under article 243 W of the Constitution.

2. Definitions. - For the purpose of this notification, unless the context otherwise requires, – (a) “Advocate” has the meaning assigned to it in

clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Advocates Act, 1961 (25 of 1961);

(b) “appropriate duty” means duty payable on manufacture or production under a Central Act or a State Act, but shall not include ‘Nil’ rate of duty or duty wholly exempt;

(c) “arbitral tribunal” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (d) of section 2 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996);

(d) “authorised medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered with any of the councils of the recognised system of medicines established or recognized by law in India and includes a medical professional having the requisite qualification to practice in any recognised system of medicines in India as per any law for the time being in force;

(e) “authorised person” means any person who is appointed as such either by a stock broker (including trading member) or by a member of a commodity exchange and who provides access to trading platform of a stock exchange or a commodity exchange as an agent of such stock broker or member of a commodity exchange;

(f) “auxiliary educational services” means any services relating to imparting any skill, knowledge, education or development of course content or any other knowledge – enhancement activity, whether for the students or the faculty, or any other services which educational institutions ordinarily carry out themselves but may obtain as outsourced services from any other person, including services relating to admission to such institution, conduct of examination,

catering for the students under any mid-day meals scheme sponsored by Government, or transportation of students, faculty or staff of such institution;

(g) “banking company” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (a) of section 45A of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934(2 of 1934);

(h) “brand ambassador” means a person engaged for promotion or marketing of a brand of goods, service, property or actionable claim, event or endorsement of name, including a trade name, logo or house mark of any person;

(i) “business facilitator or business correspondent” means an intermediary appointed under the business facilitator model or the business correspondent model by a banking company or an insurance company under the guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India;

(j) “clinical establishment” means a hospital, nursing home, clinic, sanatorium or any other institution by, whatever name called, that offers services or facilities requiring diagnosis or treatment or care for illness, injury, deformity, abnormality or pregnancy in any recognised system of medicines in India, or a place established as an independent entity or a part of an establishment to carry out diagnostic or investigative services of diseases;

(k) “charitable activities” means activities relating to - (i) public health by way of -

(a) care or counseling of (i) terminally ill persons or persons with severe physical or mental disability, (ii) persons afflicted with HIV or AIDS, or (iii) persons addicted to a dependence-forming substance such as narcotics drugs or alcohol; or

(b) public awareness of preventive health, family planning or prevention of HIV infection;

(ii) advancement of religion or spirituality; (iii) advancement of educational programmes or skill development relating to,-

(a) abandoned, orphaned or homeless children;

(b) physically or mentally abused and traumatized persons;

(c) prisoners; or

(d) persons over the age of 65 years residing in a rural area;

(iv) preservation of environment including watershed, forests and wildlife; or

(v) advancement of any other object of general public utility up to a value of,- (a) eighteen lakh and

seventy five thousand rupees for the year 2012-13 subject to the condition that total value of such activities had not exceeded twenty five lakhs rupees during 2011-12;

(b) twenty five lakh rupees in any other financial year subject to the condition that total value of such activities had not exceeded twenty five lakhs rupees during the preceding financial year;

(l) “commodity exchange” means an association as defined in section 2(j) and recognized under section 6 of the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952 (74 of 1952);

(m) “contract carriage” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (7) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988);

(n) ”declared tariff” includes charges for all amenities provided in the unit of accommodation (given on rent for stay) like furniture, air-conditioner, refrigerators or any other amenities, but without excluding any discount offered on the published charges for such unit;

(o) “distributor or selling agent” has the meaning assigned to them in clause (c) of the rule 2 of the Lottery (Regulation) Rules, 2010 notified by the Government of India in the Ministry of Home Affairs, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R. 278(E), dated the 1st April, 2010 and shall include distributor or selling agent authorised by the lottery-organising State;

(p) “general insurance business” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (g) of section 3 of General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 (57 of 1972);

(q) “general public” means the body of people at

large sufficiently defined by some common quality of public or impersonal nature;

(r) ”goods carriage” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (14) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988);

(s) “governmental authority” means a board, or an authority or any other body established with 90% or more participation by way of equity or control by Government and set up by an Act of the Parliament or a State Legislature to carry out any function entrusted to a municipality under article 243W of the Constitution;

(t) “health care services” means any service by way of diagnosis or treatment or care for illness, injury, deformity, abnormality or pregnancy in any recognised system of medicines in India and includes services by way of transportation of the patient to and from a clinical establishment, but does not include hair transplant or cosmetic or plastic surgery, except when undertaken to restore or to reconstruct anatomy or functions of body affected due to congenital defects, developmental abnormalities, injury or trauma;

(u) “incubatee” means an entrepreneur located within the premises of a Technology Business Incubator (TBI) or Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park (STEP) recognised by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and who has entered into an agreement with the TBI or the STEP to enable himself to develop and produce hi-tech and innovative products;

(v) “insurance company” means a company carrying on life insurance business or general insurance business;

(w) “legal service” means any service provided in relation to advice, consultancy or assistance in any branch of law, in any manner and includes representational services before any court, tribunal or authority;

(x) “life insurance business” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (11) of section 2 of the Insurance Act, 1938 (4 of 1938);

(y) “original works” means has the meaning assigned to it in Rule 2A of the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006;

(z) “principal manufacturer” means any person who gets goods manufactured or processed on his account from another person;

(za) “recognized sports body” means - (i) the Indian Olympic Association, (ii) Sports Authority of India, (iii) a national sports federation recognised by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs of the Central

Government, and its affiliate federations, (iv) national sports promotion organisations recognised by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs of the Central Government, (v) the International Olympic Association or a federation recognised by the International Olympic Association or (vi) a federation or a body which regulates a sport at international level and its affiliated federations or bodies regulating a sport in India;

(zb) “religious place” means a place which is primarily meant for conduct of prayers or worship pertaining to a religion, meditation, or spirituality;

(zc) “residential complex” means any complex comprising of a building or buildings, having more than one single residential unit;

(zd) ”rural area” means the area comprised in a village as defined in land revenue records, excluding-

the area under any municipal committee, municipal corporation, town area committee, cantonment board or notified area committee; or

any area that may be notified as an urban area by the Central Government or a State Government;

(ze) ”single residential unit” means a self-contained residential unit which is designed for use, wholly or principally, for residential purposes for one family;

(zf) “specified international organization” means an international organization declared by the Central Government in pursuance of section 3 of the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 (46 of 1947), to which the provisions of the Schedule to the said Act apply;

(zg) ”state transport undertaking” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (42) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988);

(zh) ”sub-broker” has the meaning assigned to it in sub-clause (gc) of clause 2 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Stock Brokers and Sub-brokers) Regulations, 1992;

(zi) “trade union” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (h) of section 2 of the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (16 of 1926).

3. This notification shall come into force on the 1st day of July, 2012. [Notification No. 25/2012-S.T., dated 20-6-2012]

As there are many deficiencies in the current Arbitration Act, BAI Secretariat requested the Government to make suitable amendment. The letter is reproduced below. ARBITRATION MATTER

Date : 3-8-2014 To, The Honorable Minister of Law and Justice Government of India, New Delhi, Sub: Request for a meeting – Amendments to Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Respected Sir, Builders’ Association of India (BAI) is an apex all India body of Engineering Construction Contractors and Real Estate Companies founded in 1941, with more than 15,000 business entities as members through its 150 plus Centres (Branches) throughout the country. Regional Associations Affiliated to BAI form indirect membership of more than 1,00,000. The fundamental aim of the Association is to bring about all round improvements in the construction sector, while striving towards resolution of operational as well as policy level problems faced by the construction industry. This involves making efforts to obtain from policy makers and authorities, the level of attention that the construction industry deserves in view of its tremendous contribution and importance to the economy. BAI by virtue of its size, it is the only true spokesman for this core industry and it safeguards the interests of its members. Arbitration Act, 1940 was the law of Arbitration in British India and it was a betterment of the Arbitration Act, 1899. After the Act of 1940 was in operation for more than four decades many lacunae were found and a need was felt to Amend the Arbitration Act of 1940. During that time, the commercial activity of our business houses got extended to outside India, a need for setting up of a mechanism which would be sensitive to the quick resolution of any disputes that might arise in the course of commercial transactions between different nationalities became imperative. At the same time, the UN Commission on International Trade Law had adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration in 1985 as a result of which, The General Assembly of the UN had recommended that all countries give due consideration to the said Model Law, in view of the desirability of uniformity of the law of arbitral procedures and the specific needs of international commercial arbitration practice and thus our Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 came in to effect thereby repealing the earlier Arbitration Act, 1940. The new Act of 1996 also aimed at reducing the intervention of courts, making the award as decree of court, But with passage of time it has unearthed many deficiencies in the new Act and most importantly the Arbitration proceedings

have now become a very expensive affair and also very time consuming as the awards are not being given for more than 3 to 5 years which was never the intent of the legislation while drafting the new Act. We hereby request your good self, through Amendments, make the Arbitration proceedings to be an Institutionalised Arbitration in place of Adhoc Arbitration thereby reducing the cost of Arbitration and also specify time frame for declaring the awards. Currently, there are many specialised and dedicated Arbitration Institutions which are conducting Arbitration proceedings in India namely, Indian council of Arbitration (ICA), Nani Palkhivala Arbitration centre (NPAC), Construction Industry Arbitration Council (CIAC), Council for National and International Commercial Arbitration (CNICA), Singapore International Arbitration centre (SIAC), Indian Institute of Technical Arbitration(IITArb), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) to name a few. Each of these Arbitration Institutions have their set of rules, schedule of Fees and more importantly the time frame within which the Award shall be declared The concerned Government departments can specify the name of any of these Arbitration Institutions in their Tender which will then conduct Arbitrations in case of any disputes. We request your good self to kindly give us an opportunity to meet you in person and explain the difficulties with examples and possible solutions. Best regards, Sd/- Susanta Kumar Basu President, Builders’ Association of India BAI’s interaction with various Ministries and Department Heads. BAI President alongwith Senior Members and Executive Secretary of BAI have visited the office of Shri Amar Aggarwal, Hon’ble Minister of Labour, Health & Family Welfare, Medical, Education, Commercial Tax, Chhattisgarh; Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport, Highways & Shipping; Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Skill Development, Entrepreneourship, Youth Affairs and Sports; Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, the then Hon’ble Union Labour Minister along with Shri K.K. Jalan, Central Provident Fund Commissisoner; Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge); Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Hon’ble Union Minister for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge), and submitted representations of various issues concerning BAI. A delegation lead by BAI President also visited the office of the then Finance Secretary, Shri Rajiv Takru, for presenting BAI’s budget proposal for 2014-15.

BAI and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). BAI’s representation on BIS Committees under Civil Engineering Division Council. Standardization is sine-qua-non for development of the national economy all over the world. The goals of quality are set by standardization. Generally the activity consists of the process of formulating, issuing and implementing standards. Standards have always been closely connected with exchange of goods and services between suppliers and consumers. Bureau of Indian Standards has provided traceable and tangible benefits to economy in a number of ways - providing safe, reliable, quality goods; minimizing health hazards to consumers; promote exports and imports substitute; control over proliferation of varieties etc. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body has been successfully promoting and nurturing standards movement within the country since 1947. BIS came into existence on 01 April 1987 through an Act of Parliament dated 26 November 1986. It took over the staff, assets, liabilities and functions of the erstwhile Indian Standards Institution (ISI) with an enlarged scope and enhanced powers for harmonious development of activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Builders’ Association of India (BAI) has been given representation on many BIS Committees under Civil Engineering Division Council. BAI have re-constituted various Sectional Committees of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which was widely appreciated by BAI Members. BAI’s association with Asian Development Bank

ADB Business Opportunity Seminar. Asian Development Bank (ADB) conducted International Business Opportunity Seminar (BOS) in New Delhi on 24th November 2014; in Hyderabad on 26th November 2014; in Kolkata on 28th November 2014, and in Mumbai on 2nd December 2014, to disseminate business opportunities available globally to Indian business community. A total of 598 consultants, contractors, suppliers and technology providers, representative of Embassies, representative of partnering organisations and executing agency staff attended the BOS.

The BOS was conducted in collaboration with Builders’ Association of India (BAI) at the respective places. Mr. R.N. Gupta, Chairman, BAI Delhi Centre; Mr. S.K. Dutta, Chairman, BAI Eastern (Kolkata) Centre, and Mr. Neerav Parmar, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre, addressed the Business Opportunity Seminar (BOS).

BAI @ bauma China 2014 bauma China 2014, the 7th International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Construction Vehicles and Equipment, was held from 25th to

28th November, 2014 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in Shanghai. Builders’ Association of India (BAI) was an International Supporter of bauma China 2014. A strong delegation of BAI led by Mr. Jagdish Parekh, Trustee, BAI visited bauma China 2014. Mr. Jagdish Parekh was one of the dignitaries to inaugurate bauma China 2014 in the morning of 25th November, 2014. BAI also had a booth in bauma China 2014. Mr. Vilas Nagaonkar, Executive Assistant, BAI managed the BAI booth. The BAI delegation consisted of BAI members from across India. Notable amongst them were : Mr. G. Ramamoorthi, Past Chairman, BAI Coimbatore Centre; Mr. N. M. Patel, Past State Chairman, BAI Gujarat; Mr. R. Krishna Swamy, Past Chairman, BAI Coimbatore Centre; Mr. Tarak Mamlatdarna, Past State Chairman, BAI Gujarat; etc. bC India 2014 – a bauma CONEXPO Show

bC India 2014 – a bauma CONEXPO show was held between 15th and 18th December 2014 in the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida/Delhi. bC India 2014 is organized by M/s bC Expo India Pvt. Ltd. – joint venture between M/s Messe Muenchen International and Association of Equipment Manufacturers. BAI is the joint organiser of bC India 2014. bC India 2014 – a bauma CONEXPO show was inaugurated in the morning of 15th December, 2014. Present during the inauguration were : Mr. John McCaslin – Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, Embassy of the United States of America; Dr. Martin Hanz – Deputy German Ambassador / Deputy Chief of Mission; Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu; Mr. Eugen Egetenmeir, Managing Director, Messe Munchen; Mr. Igor Palka, Chief Executive Officer, M/s bC Expo India Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Dennis Slater, President, Association of Equipment Manufacturers. bC India 2014 – a bauma CONEXPO show consolidated its position on the market. A total of 26,000 visitors and 635 exhibitors from 25 countries attended the third edition of this International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines and Construction Vehicles. BAI also had a booth in bC India 2014 – a bauma CONEXPO show, wherein publications and other information on BAI and its activities were displayed.

On 17th December, 2014, the fourth meeting of the Managing Committee of BAI for the year 2014-15 was held in the Conference Hall of India Exposition Mart. Mr. Shivpal Singh Yadav, Hon’ble Minister for Public Works Department, Irrigation, Co-operative, Flood Control, Land Development & Water Resources, Waste Land Development, Irrigation (Mechanical), Revenue, Disaster & Rehabilitation and Public Service Management, Government of Uttar Pradesh was the Chief Guest in a brief inauguration function. Mr. Shivpal Singh Yadav addressed the members and also distributed the trophies

of ‘BAI Award 2013-14’, which were announced during the 73rd AGM of BAI held Jaipur on 20th September, 2014.

BAICON 2015 BAI Southern (Chennai) Centre organised 'BAICON 2015 International Construction Equipments and Technology Expo' on 9th, 10th & 11th January 2015 at Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, Chennai. On Friday, 9th January 2015, exhibition was inaugurated by Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon'ble Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs. Also present on the occasion were: Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI; Mr. L. Moorthy, Vice-President, BAI; Mr. B. Seenaiah, Imm. Past President, BAI & Chief Patron, 'BAICON 2015'; Mr. R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI; Mr. J. R. Sethuramalingam, Trustee, BAI & Chairman, 'BAICON 2015'; Mr. R. Sivakumar, Chairman, BAI Southern (Chennai) Centre and Mr. A. N. Balaji, Hon. Secretary, BAI Southern (Chennai) Centre. While addressing the gathering during the inauguration of 'BAICON 2015', Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu and Mr. R. Radhakrishnan highlighted some the grievances' of the Indian construction industry and memorandum regarding this was submitted to the Hon'ble Minister. In his address the Hon'ble Minister assured BAI that he will look into the grievances' highlighted by BAI and solve them. Mis Schwing Stetter, Mis Wirtgen Group, Mis Universal Construction Machinery, M/ s Ammann Apollo and Mis Sany were the Principal Sponsors of 'BAICON 2015'. More than 50 Exhibitors showcased their machinery I products. Hon'ble Minister unveiled a 'Self Loading Mixer' of Mis Schwing Stetter during 'BAICON 2015'. The footfall for the exhibition for 3 days was around 3000. On 10th January 2015, the exhibitors were honoured by presentation mementoes on behalf of BAI Southern (Chennai) Centre. ConMac 2015 ‘ConMac 2015’, first Construction Equipment Exhibition for North East Region of India, was held on 27th, 28th February & 1st March 2015 in Maniram Dewan Center, Guwahati. BAI organized a ‘Conference on Indian Construction Industry – present scenario’ concurrent with ‘ConMac 2015’ on Sunday, 1st March, 2015. The Exhibition was covered more than 20,000 Sq.mtr area and more than 16,000 business visitors visited the Exhibition. BAI arranged a Conference at the venue with the theme ‘Conference on Indian Construction Industry – present scenario’, Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu addressed the gathering on ‘Labour laws applicable to Construction Industry, particularly the Provident Fund Act’, Mr. D.L. Desai (Shankarbhai), Trustee, BAI spoke on ‘Cement and Taxation Issues’ and Mr. Neerav Parmar, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre and Chairman, Legal, Arbitration and Grievances Committee; Sr. Vice President (West), Indian Institution of Technical Arbitrators spoke on ‘Issues of Contract Conditions and Arbitration Matter’.

5th South Asia – Sichuan Business Promotion Round Table Conference, Chengdu, China. – BAI President attends and gives a presentation. The 5th South Asia – Sichuan Business Promotion Round Table Conference was organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT Sichuan) and Sichuan Chamber of International Commerce in Chengdu, Sichuan (China) on 10th June, 2014. “New Opportunities in the Infrastructure Construction of the South Asian Countries” was the theme for the round table. Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI was invited by the organizers as the head of an important association of stakeholders in the Indian construction industry. Sichuan is the number one economy in South Western China, which has made a long-term strategy to work with South Asia. The round table was organized in order to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation mechanism and promote the practical cooperation between the enterprises by valuable discussion with the industry stalwarts and prominent members of trade associations from South Asian countries. India China Economic and Cultural Council (ICEC) was the representing partner for Indian entries in this round table discussion. ICEC Council is an autonomous, membership based organization working towards the strengthening of India and China ties. Dr. P. S. Swarup, Director General, Construction Industry Development Council and Dr. Y. R. Reddy, Director General, Infrastructure Industry and Logistics Federation of India were the other participants from India. Mr. Zhang Wei, Vice Chairman of CCPIT; Mr. Gan Lin, Vice Governor of Sichuan Provincial Government; Mr. Asif Ismail, President of South Asian Association for Region Co-operation – Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) and Mr. Tariq Sayeed, Founder of SAARC CCI, set the ball rolling at the round table by speaking initially. Sichuan companies shared their experiences and China Development Bank, Sichuan Branch introduced financial policies of overseas investment. Leaders of Chambers of Commerce spoke on potential and investment opportunities on infrastructure sectors in their respective countries. Mr. Mohammed Saqib, Secretary General, ICEC Council spoke on behalf of India. In a session dedicated to ‘Projects Presentations and B2B Matchmaking Meetings’, Mr. Sushanta Kumar Basu made a presentation on ‘Opportunities in Indian Infrastructure and Building Industry’. In his PowerPoint Presentation, he highlighted the National Highway works being undertaken in India, Metro Rail works, works in the Aviation sector, water supply & sanitation social sector, etc. He informed about the massive urbanization India is expected to undergo. He also gave details of the procurement policy prevailing in India. He

informed the gathering that India is seized of the importance of having a skilled workforce and that Indian Government has undertaken a massive skilling programme in which BAI is also involved. The presentation of Mr. S. L. Basu was widely appreciated and he also answered queries raised. XXVII ALL INDIA BUILDERS ’ CONVENTION The Managing Committee has appointed Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, as Chairman, Convention Committee of XXVII All India Builders’ Convention to be held at Hyderabad in January 2016. The President has communicated about this to Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI, by vide his letter dated 10th February 2015.The Convention Committee have already shortlisted the venues for the Convetion. Shri B. Seenaiah, Imm. Past President is nominated as Chairman, Organising Committee of the Convention. The theme of the Convention is “BULAND BHARAT”. The Committee is making all out efforts to bring the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to inaugurate the Convention. 42ND IFAWPCA C ONVENTION The 42ND IFAWPCA Convention will be held in Tokyo, Japan between 16th – 19th November 2015. The Convention will be organized by The Overseas Construction Association of Japan, Inc. BAI WEBSITE ‘www.baionline.in’ BAI launched its website ‘www.baionline.in’ at the Managing Committee Meeting at Nashik on 9th August 2008. With the launch of www.baionline.in, BAI too aims at giving its members top-of-the-line service. As of now www.baionline.in offers the following services :

� All circulars meant for BAI Centres and senior functionaries will be hosted.

� Important Judgements, Circulars and Notifications by Government(s) and /or Departments will be hosted.

� Tender information. � Latest Price Index Numbers. � Construction industry related exhibition/trade fair

information. � Information on all publication of BAI and its Centres. � Details of office-bearers of BAI. � Links to important websites i.e. like minded national

& international organisations, Government organisations concerning having dealings with construction industry, service providers, construction companies, etc.

BAI members / visitors can download :

� BAI Constitution (BAI Rules & Regulations) � Membership Application Form � Membership Data Updation Form

BAI members can get their membership number through www.baionline.in. Services to be introduced over a period, include :

� Website based email service to BAI members. � ‘News & Discussion Board’ – news concerning the

construction industry will be hosted and members/visitors can air their opinion on the same.

� ‘Meeting Room’ – akin to the concept of ‘chatting’, senior functionaries can hold meetings via video conferencing.

� Archives of ‘Indian Construction’ and other publications by BAI Centres.

� Total detailed membership database of BAI. ‘Wheeling & Dealing’ – is a platform for BAI members and others for offering machinery to be given on hire or request machinery on hire / offer specialised service or request for specialised service, etc. FINANCE OF THE ASSOCIATION The Headquarter, due to its better financial discipline, was generating surplus for the last 13 years, and the current year also we have a surplus of Rs.57.00 Lakh. This is a major achievement, though there was a marked decline in interest income. It is also a fact that, the Trustees are prompt and alert in keeping the Fixed Deposits with Banks which offers the highest return. FUNCTIONS OF BAI HEADQUARTER OFFICE BAI Headquarter and BAI Delhi Office with a staff of 14 members functioning exceptionally well under the control of Executive Secretary, Shri Raju John. M EETINGS During the financial year under report, 5 (five) Managing Committee and 4 (four) General Council Meetings were held at: � Kolkata on 26th April 2014 � Nashik on 26th July 2014 � Jaipur on 20th September 2014 � Greater Noida on 17th December 2014 � Chennai on 10th January 2015 COMMITTEES : The Managing Committee authorised the President, Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu to re-constitute the Committees for the year 2014-2015. Accordingly, the following Committees were constituted with its Chairpersons as under: - Name of Committee Chairpersons Central Govt. Dept. PSU.

: Shri Ram Avtar

Cement & Bulk Material Purchase

: Shri H.N.Vijaya Raghava Reddy

CIDC Co-ordination : Shri Arun Sahai Constitutional Amendment

: Shri M. Karthikeyan

Contract Conditions : Dr. D.C. Awasthi Corporate Membership Development & Communications

: Shri Ranjeet R. More

Housing & Real Estate & Infrastructure Development, ISO, Green Building & Recreation..

: Shri K. Sriram

Indian Construction Bulletin

: Shri D.L. Desai (Shankarbhai)

Labour Welfare, Provident Fund, ESIC & Labour Cess.

: Shri Abhay Garde

Legal, Arbitration, Grievances.

: Shri Neerav Parmar

Mechanisation : Shri V.G.Sakthikumar Membership Development & New Centres.

: Shri Narendra Kumar

MES : Shri G.K. Gupta MSME : Shri Saumil A. Patel Public Relations : Dr. Anand J. Gupta Railways : Shri Alex P. Cyriac Skill Development : Shri Chandrakant Raipat Taxation, Royalty, Entry Tax, Direct Tax & Indirect Tax.

: Shri K. Viswanathan

BAI MEMBERSHIP /AFFILIATIONS • Affiliated to International Federation of Asian & Western

Pacific Contractors’ Associations (IFAWPCA).

• Founder Member of Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), New Delhi.

• Member of Indian Merchants’ Chamber, Mumbai.

• Member of Indian Council of Arbitration, New Delhi.

• Member of Employers’ Federation of India, Mumbai.

• Member of Indian Roads Congress.

• Member of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi.

• Member and Promoter of Construction Skill Development

Council of India (CSDCI), New Delhi. BAI’ S REPRESENTATIVES ON VARIOUS COMMITTEES • Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu as Member, Board of Governors

of National Institute of Construction Management & Research.

• Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu as Member, Board of Governors of Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC).

• Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, Member, Board of Governors of National Academy of Construction (NAC).

• Shri B. Seenaiah, Member, Review Committee for Contract Management System formed by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MOSPI).

• Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, Member, National Council of Construction Federation of India (CFI).

• Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu in the focus group formed for WTO. `

• Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu represent BAI on the Working Group of Construction constituted by Planning Commission for the 12th Five year Plan (2012-17).

• Shri S.N. Subrahmanian as Board Member on the Executive Board of IFAWPCA.

• Shri Mahesh M. Mudda on the Expert Committee and Shri Neerav Parmar on the State Level Advisory Committee of Building & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1996 for Government of Maharashtra.

• Dr. Anand J. Gupta on Central Advisory Committee

constituted by the Ministry of Labour, Government of India, under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1996.

• Shri H.S. Pasricha, Member, Central Advisory Contract Labour Board, Ministry of Labour, Government of India.

BAI HEADQUARTER OFFICE RENOVATION The Managing Committee Meeting held at Patna on 20th December 2013, have unanimously approved renovation of BAI Headquarter office at Mumbai, and sanctioned an amount of Rs.50,00,000/- for the same. The Managing Committee also approved to earmark the royalty to be received from XXVI All India Builders’ Convention for the purpose of renovation. BAI have received an amount of Rs.16,91,178/- from Mumbai Centre as Royalty and the same have been kept as Fixed Deposit for the purpose of utilising for office renovation purpose.

BAI Headquarter also received an amount of Rs.10,00,000/- from organisers of bC India Exhibition as Royalty, which has also been kept as Fixed Deposit to be used for the purpose of renovation work. The plan of new office and blueprint of the renovation work is being ready and the Managing Committee meeting held at Jaipur on 20th September 2014, appointed Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman, Mumbai Centre; and Shri Ram B. Bhatia, Past Vice President, to oversee the renovation work. BAI Headquarter also circulated to Members / Centres, a donation chart as below. Conference Room No.1 (seating 45 persons) Rs.20 Lakh Conference Room No.2 (seating 10 persons) Rs.10 Lakh BAI Office Bearers / Executive Secretary’s Enclosure

Rs.10 Lakh

BAI Staff Enclosure Rs.10 Lakh Reception / Library Rs. 5 Lakh The whole BAI Secretariat is also being offered, wherein the BAI address will contain the donating person / company / centre name. This will be Rs.50 Lakh. ‘Plaques’ of persons, companies or centres donating more than Rs.5 Lakh will be put up in a prominent place in the BAI Secretariat. Many members are promised contributuons for renovating the BAI Headquarter office. OFFICES OF BAI CENTRES There has been a growing trend amongst BAI Centres to go in for their own office premises, with facilities for conducting meetings, training, etc. The premises owned by these Centres are registered under the name of “Trustees Builders’ Association of India”. As on date, the Centres who have their own office premises are Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad), Delhi, Eastern (Kolkata), Karnataka (Bangalore), Nanded, Nashik, Pune, Rajasthan (Jaipur), Sangli and Southern (Chennai). ‘I NDIAN CONSTRUCTION ’ Journal Shri D.L. Desai (Shankarbhai) was the Chairman, Indian Construction Journal Committee for 2014-2015. The printing of the magazine has been continued with a marked change and your journal is becoming more and more popular. The journal has admittedly established a numero-uno position in construction related trade magazines as is evident from non-member subscribers, which includes, Engineering Institutes, Government Departments and Undertakings including many Works Authorities. The Association is also sending around 1000 complimentary copies to like-minded organisations in the country and abroad, Government Authorities, Engineering Colleges, Department Heads, Works Authorities etc. The rising paper, printing and postal costs coupled with low advertisement revenue forces BAI General Fund to cross subsidise the publication as it is not self sufficient.

ORGANISATIONAL ELECTION 2014-15 The Managing Committee, in its Meeting held at Patna on 20th December 2013, approved the Election Programme for the year 2014-15 and appointed Shri Raju John, Executive Secretary as the Returning Officer. The Election was conducted as per the Constitution and the result of the same was declared on 28th March 2014 at 4.00 P.M. Following are the Office Bearers of BAI for the year 2014-15:- President : Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu Vice Presidents : Shri Lal Chand Sharma Shri L. Moorthy Shri Avinash M. Patil Shri Naresh M. Singh Hon. General Secretary : Shri Mahesh M. Mudda Hon. General Treasurer : Shri C.G. Deochake Imm. Past President : Shri B. Seenaiah State Chairmen / State Co-ordinators: Shri V. Satyamurthy (Andhra Pradesh) Shri Sachin Chandra (Bihar) Shri N.R. Prashar (Chattisgarh) Shri Amit R. Patel (Gujarat) Shri Kaushal K. Singh (Jharkhand) Shri K. Sridhar (Karnataka) Shri B. Chandra Mohanan (Kerala) Dr. Santosh Katiyar (Madhya Pradesh) Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi (Maharashtra) Shri G.K. Gupta (Rajasthan) Shri D.R. Sekar (Tamil Nadu) Shri Ravindra Tyagi (Uttar Pradesh) Shri Pradeep K. Chowdhury (West Bengal) As Andhra Pradesh is divided into two States i.e. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, BAI Headquarter has received letter from Shri R. Satyanarayana, Chairman, Visakhapatnam Centre, requesting the Headquarter to incorporate the name of Shri CH Ramakotaiah as State Co-ordinator of Andhra Pradesh. Shri V. Satyamurthy has become the State Chairman of Telangana State. The Election of BAI Trustee-West Zone was also conducted on 28th March 2014 in place of Shri Sajandas Mulchandani, Trustee, who expired on 13th October 2013. Shri Jagish Parekh has been unanimously elected as Trustee-West Zone. He has taken charge from 1st April 2014 for a period of 2 years (till 31st March 2016). BAI M EMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION . The subscription for various categories of membership with the Association were as follows :-

Annual Membership Annual Subscription Rs.2,400 Entrance Fee Rs. 100

‘I NDIAN CONSTRUCTION’ Rs. 100 Service Tax Rs. 309

Total Rs.2,909

Patron Membership One time subscription – Membership for 20 (Twenty) years.

Rs.25,000

Service Tax Rs. 3,090 Total Rs.28,090

Affiliated Association Membership Annual Subscription Rs. 4,400 Entrance Fee Rs. 500 ‘I NDIAN CONSTRUCTION’ Rs. 100 Service Tax Rs. 606

Total Rs. 5,606 Affiliated Association – Patron Membership Membership (One time subscription) Rs.30,000 Service Tax Rs. 3,708

Total Rs.33,708

Corporate Membership Memberships (One time subscription)

Rs.3,00,000

Annual Subscription Rs. 10,000 Service Tax Rs. 38,316

Total Rs.3,48,316 NEW CENTRES. For the year 2014-15, BAI opened Centres in Andaman & Nicobar; Rajahmundry & Ravulapalem in Andhra Pradesh; Guwahati & Silchar in Assam; Changanacherry & Kollam in Kerala; Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu; Greater Hyderabad in Telangana and Udaipur in Rajasthan. The BAI Movement – BAI opens new Centres in Assam and Andaman & Nicobar. 2014-15 was an eventful year for BAI as far as growth of the BAI movement is concerned. BAI Centres were opened in Andaman & Nicobar; Rajahmundry & Ravulapalem in Andhra Pradesh; Guwahati & Silchar in Assam; Changanacherry & Kollam in Kerala; Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu; Greater Hyderabad in Telangana and Udaipur in Rajasthan. The highpoint was the opening of BAI Centres in Guwahati and Barak Valley (Silchar) in Assam and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The foundation for forming of Guwahati Centre was laid by the organizing of an informal meeting by BAI in Guwahati in the

evening of Wednesday 11th February, 2015 convened with the active support of Rajasthan (Jaipur) Centre. Infrastructure construction contractors and real estate builders from in and around Guwahati were invited to the meeting. Mr. B. N. Malhotra, Additional Director General, CPWD was the Chief Guest. Mr. Sanjib Goyal was installed as the first Chairman of BAI Guwahati Centre. Shri Kulesh Goswami has been appointed as State Co-ordinator, Assam for 2015-2016.

The BAI Centre at Andaman & Nicobar Islands was

inaugurated on 20th February, 2015. Mr. Anand Prakash, IAS (Admin), Chief Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, was the Chief Guest. Mr. Surendra Prahladka, was installed as the first Chairman of BAI Andaman & Nicobar Centre. BAI Chengalpattu Centre and Shri D.R. Sekar, State Chairman, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry took active lead in co-ordinating enrollment of members from Andaman & Nicobar and facilitated opening of the BAI Centre in Andaman & Nicobar. The second BAI Centre in Assam i.e. Barak Valley (Silchar)

Centre was inaugurated on 15th March, 2015. Mr. Maloy Deb, Executive Engineer, Assam PWD, NH-Division was the Chief Guest. Mr. Pinak Pani Nath was installed as the first Chairman of BAI Barak Valley (Silchar) Centre. M EMBERSHIP STRENGTH . As on 31st March 2015, the membership was 15,353, which included 10,701 Patron Members and 4, 652 Annual Members. BAI AWARDS. BAI Awards for 2013-14, for different categories were announced at the 73rd Annual General Meeting held at Jaipur, on 20th September 2014. Trophies and Certificates of Award were issued to the following winner Centres / Members during the Managing Committee Meeting held at Greater Boida on 17th December 2014. 1. Overall Best BAI Centre (Below 200 Members) -

Tirunelveli Centre.

2. Overall Best BAI Centre (Above 200 Members) – Southern (Chennai) Centre.

3. Image Building Activities by a Centre – Karnataka (Bangalore) Centre.

4. Organising Best Training Programme or Seminar – (1) Thanjavur Centre (2) Coimbatore Centre.

5. Maximum Annual Membership Growth – (1) Kanyakumari Centre (2) Gujarat (Ahmedabad) Centre.

6. Best Efforts by any Centre for Quality Construction –Pune Centre.

7. Best Builders’ Day Celebrations – (1) Madurai Centre

(2) Tiruchirappalli Centre.

8. Maximum Membership Retention – Haldia Centre.

9. Best Publication by a BAI Centre – Mumbai Centre.

10. Best performing Chairman of BAI’s functional Committees – (1) Shri M. Karthikeyan , Chairman, Contract Conditions Committee, and (2) Dr. D.C.

Awasthi, Chairman, Taxation, Royalty, Entry Tax, Direct Tax and Indirect Tax Committee.

11. Best performing State Chairmen – Shri Alex P. Cyriac, State Chairman, Kerala.

BUILDERS ’ DAY 2014. The theme for the ‘Builders’ Day 2014” was ‘Build for Tomorrow with a Mind for Day After’. Builders’ Day was celebrated by almost all Centres in a befitting manner. OBITUARIES : The Association lost the following members who left for their heavenly abode. BAI in their death has lost sincere and hardworking members. • Shri Bhoghbhai Shamaljibhai Ajmera, a towering

personality in the Mumbai Real Estate Industry, expired on 7th April 2014.

• Shri Dhananjay M. Labhe, Past Hon. Secretary of BAI Butibori (Nagpur) Centre, expired on 20th April 2014.

• Shri Banda Prabhakar Reddy, Past Chairman, BAI

Warangal Centre, expired on 15th May 2014. • Shri C. Raghava Reddy, Past President, BAI, expired on

22nd June 2014.

• Shri R.J. Srinivas, Past Chairman, BAI Karnataka (Bangalore) Centre, expired on 14th October 2014,

• Shri Haresh Chuggani, Executive Committee Member,

BAI Mumbai Centre, expired on 14th November, 2014.

• Shri H.J. Shah, Past President & Past Trustee, expired on 16th January 2015.

• Shri S. Palani Mudaliar, Past Chairman, BAI Southern

(Chennai) Centre, expired on 27th April 2015.

ATTENDANCE SHEET FORMING PART OF ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2014-2015

ATTENDANCE (out of five meetings) Name Attendance Name Attendance Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President 5 Shri Sanjay Laxman Patil 2 Shri Lal Chand Sharma, Vice President 5 Shri Sudhir D. Gharge 2 Shri Naresh M. Singh, Vice President 2 Shri V.S.K. Moorthy 2 Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President 5 Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President 5 Members co-opted to Managing

Committee 2

Shri Mahesh Mudda, Hon. Gen. Secretary 5 Shri N.M. Patel 5 Shri C.G. Deochake, Hon. Gen. Treasurer 4 Shri P.K.P. Narayanan 1 Shri B. Seenaiah, Imm. Past President 5 Shri B.R. Badrinath 2 State Chairmen / State Co-ordinators Special Invitees to the Managing

Committee

Shri CH Ramakotaiah (Andhra Pradesh) 2 Shri Anuj Kanwal 0 Shri Sachin Chandra (Bihar) 1 Shri B.K. Chwla 0 Shri N.R. Prashar (Chattisgarh) 1 Shri Datta Ghule 2 Shri Amit R. Patel (Gujrat) 2 Shri Gibu Mathew 3 Shri Kaushal K. Singh (Jharkhand) 0 Shri K. Rajavel 1 Shri K. Sridhar (Karnataka) 3 Shri K. Ramkumar 1 Shri B. Chandra Mohanan.(Kerala) 4 Shri K.K. Raghavan 1 Dr. Santosh Katiyar (Madhya Pradesh) 3 Shri Lalit Kumar Oswal 0 Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi (Maharashtra) 5 Shri Madhukar S. Kodam 1 Shri G.K. Gupta (Rajasthan) 1 Shri Maneesh K. 1 Shri D.R. Sekar (Tamil Nadu) 5 Shri Manikram J. Halbe 2 Shri V. Satyamurthy (Telangana) 3 Shri Muralidhara 0 Shri Ravindra Tyagi (Uttar Pradesh) 1 Shri P.T. Gopal 0 Shri Pradeep K. Chowdhury (West Bengal) 3 Shri Pankaj N. Saraiya 2 Shri Pradeep G. Golangande 0 Members of the Managing Committee Shri R. Karna Boopathy 1 Dr. Anand J. Gupta 5 Shri Ramesh P. Marda 1 Dr. D. Thukkaram 3 Shri Subrata Das 2 Dr. S.K. Manjrekar 4 Shri Sudhir Chimanlal Motta 0 Dr. Tarro T. Manghnani 5 Shri Uday N. Gokhale 1 Shri A. Puhazhendi 4 Shri V. Narasimhan 1 Shri Abhay Garde 1 Shri V. Ramakrishnappa 1 Shri Alex P. Cyriac 5 Shri V. Sivarajan 1 Shri Ashok Agarwal 4 Shri B. Babu Rao 3 Past Presidents Shri B.R. Ravichandran 4 Shri B.N. Dikshit 1 Shri Baburao L. Shakkarwar 1 Shri H.S. Dugal 0 Shri Bhopinder R. Lal 4 Dr. Brahm Datt 0 Shri C. Devrajan 0 Shri Shriprakash Goel 4 Shri D. Kempanna 4 Shri A.S. Chinnaswamy Raju 1 Shri D.P. Singh 1 Shri V. Ramachandran 3 Shri G. Ramamoorthi 5 Shri R. Radhakrishnan 5 Shri Harkant G. Vachharajani 1 Shri M. Karthijeyan 3 Shri Harshad N. Bhayani 3 Shri A.K. Yussouf 2 Shri Jaideep P. Raje 2 Shri P.R. Mundle 4 Shri K. Sriram 3 Shri H.J. Shah 0 Shri K. Subramani 4 Shri Ajit Gulabchand 0 Shri K. Venkatesan 5 Shri S.A. Vichare 0 Shri K. Viswanathan 4 Shri Lalit Sangtani 0 Shri K.J. George 2 Shri Bhagwan J. Deokar 4 Shri L. Venkatesan 1 Shri Cherian Varkey 1 Shri M. Dhandavakrishnan 4 Shri M. Ramesh 4

Shri Mohamed Iqbal Qureshi 0 Shri Mohanlal S. Kataria 3 Chairpersons of Committees Shri Mu. Moahan 2 Shri Ram Avtar 2 Shri N. Raghunathan 3 Shri H.N. Vijaya Raghava Reddy 1 Shri N. Ramalingam 0 Shri Arun Sahai 1 Shri N. Sachitanand Reddy 4 Shri Neerav Parmar 3 Shri N. Shanmugam 1 Shri V.G. Sakthikumar 3 Shri N.C. Sundaramurthy 2 Shri Narendra Kumar 2 Shri O.K. Selvaraj 2 Shri Saumil A. Patel 1 Shri P. Narasimhulu 1 Shri Chandrakant Raipat 1 Shri P. Subramani 2 Shri Prabir Kumar Mukherjee 2 Representing Affiliated Associations Shri Pratap B. Salunkhe 0 Shri K.G. Janakiraman 1 Shri R. Ethirajan 2 Shri Vinod C. Gamdiwala 1 Shri R. Prakash 2 Shri R.K. Jain 2 Trustees Shri Rajendra S. Athawale 1 Shri J.R. Sethuramalingam 3 Shri Ram Janam Singh 1 Shri P.K. Ramachandran 3 Shri Ram M. Bhatia 2 Shri R. Ramaraj 0 Shri Ranjeet R. More 4 Shri D.L. Desai (Shankarbhai) 2 Shri S. Ayyanathan 3 Shri Jagdish Parekh 4 Shri S. Ganapathy 4 Dr. D.C. Awasthi 5 Shri S. Prabhu 3 Shri S.K. Pradhan 0

BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF INDIA MANAGING COMMITTEE 2015-2016

President Shri Lal Chand Sharma

Vice Presidents

Shri Anilbhai R. Zinzuwadia Shri Ashok Agarwal Shri G.C. Gupta Shri V.M. Fazal Ali

Hon. Gen. Secretary Shri Mahesh M. Mudda

Hon. Gen. Treasurer Shri C.G. Deochake

Imm. Past President Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu

Trustees

Dr. D.C. Awasthi Shri D.L. Desai Shri J.R. Sethuramalingam Shri Jagdish Parekh Shri P.K. Ramachandran Shri R. Ramaraj Shri S.K. Pradhan

State Chairmen / Co-ordinator

ANDHRA PRADESH ASSAM BIHAR CHATTISGARH Shri Ch. Ramakotaiah Shri Kulesh Goswami Shri Manikant Shri N.R. Prashar

DELHI GUJARAT JHARKHAND KARNATAKA Shri Arun Sahai Shri Amit R. Patel Shri Chandrakant Raipat Shri A.R. Ravindra Bhat

KERALA MADHYA PRADESH MAHARASHTRA RAJASTHAN Shri R. Rajesh Shri Suresh Vaswani Shri Sunil Balkrishna Mundada Shri Ravi Kumar Kheria

TAMIL NADU TELANGANA UTTAR PRADESH WEST BENGAL Shri N. Raghunathan Shri N. Nagesh Reddy Shri Sanjay Tyagi Shri S.K. Nag

Members

Dr. Anand J. Gupta Dr. D. Thukkaram Dr. Dharmesh C. Awasthi Dr. S.K. Manjarekar Shri A. Puhazhendi Shri Abhay Garde Shri A.N. Balaji Shri Alex P. Cyriac Shri Ashok Kumar Sharma Shri Avinash M. Patil Shri Baburao L. Shakkarwar Shri Basavaraj S. Totad Shri Bhopinder R. Lal Shri C. Devarajan Shri Girish I. Patel Shri G.M. Ravindra Shri Harshad N. Bhayani Shri H.N. Vijaya Raghava Reddy Shri K. Padmanabhan Shri K. Subramani Shri K. Venkatesan Shri K.J. George Shri K.S. Someshwar Reddy Shri L. Moorthy Shri L. Venkatesan Shri M. Dhandavakrishnan Shri M.M. Mohandas Shri Mohan D. Bhate Shri Mu Mohanan Shri Mohanlal S. Kataria Shri N. Raghunathan Shri Narendra Kumar Shri N. Sachitanand Reddy Shri N.K. Gunasekaran Shri N.M. Patel Shri Naresh Agarwal Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi Shri P. Subramani Shri P.P. John Shri Prabir Kumar Mukherjee Shri Pradeep Kumar Jain Shri Pratap B. Salunkhe Shri R. Ethirajan Shri R. Sivakumar Shri R. Subburaman Shri Ram M. Bhatia Shri Rajendra S. Athawale Shri Ravindra Pradhan Shri S. Ayyanathan Shri S.D. Kannan Shri S. Ganapathy Shri S.I. Chunkhare Shri Ved Khurana

Co-opted Members

Shri Mukesh Verma Shri N. S. Muralidhara Dr. Tarro T. Manghnani Shri Vinod C. Gamdiwala

Special Invitees Shri A. K. Srivastava Shri Agrawal Ashishkumar Subhash Shri Ahire Deepak Daulatrao Shri Ashok Goyal

Shri Bata G. Gopalakrishnan Shri Birendrasingh K. Bhadoria Shri C. K. S. Panicker Shri C. Satish Kumar

Shri Dhanwant Lal Gupta Shri Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Shri D.P. Balaji Shri Harkant G. Vachharajani Shri Jaideep P. Raje Shri K. Rajavel Shri K. Rama Rao Shri K. Sudarshan Reddy

Shri K.J. Saminath Shri K.K. Patel Shri Kirtibhai Thakkar Shri Kunal Arvind Domadiya

Shri Lal Chand Ralhan Shri Mafatbhai Patel Shri Mukesh V. Patel Shri N. Raja Reddy

Shri N.C. Sundaramurthy Shri N.M. Krishnamurthy Shri Navinbhai B. Vasoya Patel Shri P. M. Harshe

Shri R. Karna Boopathy Shri Rajendra Madhukar Upadhye Shri Ramesh P. Marda Shri R. Saravanan

Dr. S. Kanagasundaram Shri S. Prabhu Shri S. Shiva Prakash Shri Sanjay S. Desale

Shri Shitalkumar Nawle Shri Shiv Kumar Kasana Shri Shrenik Manikant Shah Shri Surinder Sharma

Shri U.M. Gurushanthappa Shri Uday N. Gokhale Shri V. Sivarajan Shri V. Venkatesan

Shri V.S.K. Moorthy Shri Vikram Kumar

Builders’ Association of India (All India Association of Engineering Construction Contractors & Builders)

Reports from BAI Centres

2014-15

www.baionline.in

Reports from BAI Centres

BARODA CENTRE On 12th April 2014, the Centre organized a informal meeting in Baroda during the visit of Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI to Baroda. He was accompanied by Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI; Shri Amit Patel, State Chairman, BAI Gujarat; Shri Jagdish Parekh, Trustee, BAI and Shri Mohan Katariya, Past Vice President, BAI. Shri N.M. Patel, Past State Chairman, BAI Gujarat was also present on the occasion. CHANGANACHERRY CENTRE The Centre celebrated “Builders’ Day 2014-15” on 28th October 2014. Shri Shaji Zachriah, CE, DMRC, Kochi, was the Chief Guest. Shri C.F. Thomas, MLA of Changanacherry formally inaugurated the celebrations. Mrs. Krishnakumari Rajasekharan, Municipal Chairperson and Shri Alex P. Cyriac, Imm. Past State Chairman, BAI Kerala, were also present on the occasion. BAI Members along with their family and friends attended the celebrations. CHENGALPATTU CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 16th April 2014. Shri B. Bose, Syndicate Member, Tiruvallur University, Vellore was the Chief Guest. Shri A. Puhazhendi, Past Vice President, was the Guest of Honour. Shri D.R. Sekar, State Chairman, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry was also present on the occasion. Members of the Centre arranged first factory visit to Ashiwade Pipe Company at Bangalore on 17th & 18th October 2014. The Centre celebrated Builders’ Day on 30th October 2014 in a befitting manner. Shri Pulavar Mahalingam T.V. Pugaz was the Chief Guest. District Superintendent of Police was the Guest of Honour. Around 150 members and 600 workers were participated on the occasion. Foods were served to 750 people. On 6th January 2015, the Centre along with Kanchipuram Civil Engineers Association arranged a hunger strike against cement price hike. Around 500 members participated in the strike. On 20th February 2015, inaugural function of newly opened BAI Centre at Andaman & Nicobar, was held, which was sponsored by BAI Chengalpattu Centre. 200 Members participated in the inaugural function. On 21st February 2015, a State level Meeting was also arranged at Port Blair.

During the year, the Centre conducted 11 Executive Committee Meetings. COCHIN CENTRE The Centre organised a Family Get-together on 13th July 2014 at Grand Hotel, Ernakulam. Shri Suresh Joseph, former General Manager of Dubai Ports World and a Limca book record holder for undertaking a solo expedition in a car, touching the capitals of all States of India, covering 23355 Km, was the Chief Guest of the function. A Workshop on ‘Piling Design & Practise’ was conducted by the Centre in association with Indian Geotechnical Society on 22nd & 23rd September 2014 at Hotel Raj Gateway, Ernakulam. 250 delegates attended the Workshop. The Centre conducted a Seminar on ‘ESI / PF’ on 15th December 2014. Shri Ashok B. Shenoy, renowned advocate of Kerala High Court, was the Speaker. More than 40 delegates attended the Seminar. On 31st October 2014, the Centre celebrated Builders’ Day 2014 in a befitting manner. The Keyote address delivered by the Chief Guest, Shri V.D. Satheesan, MLA, on the theme “Build for Tomorrow with a Mind for Day After”. Dr. Mathew Abraham, Eminent Neurologist was the Guest of Honour. The Centre celebrated Republic Day on 26th January 2015 at Gokulam Park Hotel, Kaloor, Ernakulam. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI; and Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President, were the Guests of Honour. The Centre hosted the 4th Kerala State Level Meeting of BAI on 26th January 2015. Shri B. Chandra Mohanan, State Chairman, BAI Kerala, chaired the meeting. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI; Shri L. Moorthi, Vice President, BAI; Shri P.K. Ramachandran, Trustee, BAI; and Shri Cherian Varkey, Past President, BAI also graced the meeting. The meeting discussed elaborately about the current issues in Kerala State regarding the construction industry, and all Centres from Kerala participated actively. The Centre conducted a Seminar on ‘VAT & Service Tax’, on 16th February 2015 at BAI Chamber. Advocate Jose Jacob, Head – Indirect Tax & Corporate Law Service Division, JB Arsen, Cochin, and Chartered Accountant Shri Balakrishnan Karyot, Head – Direct Tax & Corporate Finance Division, JB Arsen, Cochin, were the Speakers of the Seminar. About 40 members attended the Seminar.

The second batch of 78 students after completing their course in ITI Mala, in March 2014, were given internship training in BAI members owned companies for six months, with stipend. The trainees were given Certificates on completion of their training and many of them were absorbed by the companies. CSR Project: (a) Cleaning of Fort Kochi Beach inaugurated by Sub Collector Shri S. Suhas. The Beach was cleaned and leveled ahead of Fort Kochi Carnival. (b) The Centre is planning to conduct a training programme for fresh Engineering Graduates. The Centre and Trade Unions signed a district-wise labour agreement for both building construction sector and loading and unloading sector. The Centre conducted 12 Executive Committee Meetings during the year. COIMBATORE CENTRE Installation function of the office bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 20th April 2014. The Centre organised a ‘Workshop on Service Tax and Sales Tax Related to Construction Industry’ on 3rd May 2014. A book written by Shri Rangaraj on ‘Service Tax related to Construction Industry’ was released on the occasion. The Centre hosted the first Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry State Meeting of BAI for 2014-15, on 4th May 2014 in Coimbatore. Shri D.R. Sekar, State Chairman, BAI Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry chaired the meeting. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI; Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President, BAI also graced the meeting. Senior functionaries of BAI Centres from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry attended the meeting. Issues confronting the building and construction industry in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry in particular and on the national level in general were discussed. A special lecture was arranged on the use of M Sand for construction instead of purely depending on River sand particularly because of recent ban by the High Court for mechanized mining citing environmental reasons. Shri D.R. Sekar was installed as the State Chairman of BAI Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry for 2014-15 on 4th May 2014 at the hands of Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI. Dr. S.N. Subramaniam, Chairman, S.N.S. Group of Institutions was the Chief Guest. Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President, BAI; Shri K. Viswanathan, Past Vice President, BAI; Shri K.V. Rajagopal, Imm. Past State Chairman, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry were also present. On 15th June 2014, the Centre’s office bearers and Members associated with the Coimbatore

Corporation in the cleaning process at the Selvachinthamani Pond. On 31st July, 2014, a free Heart check-up Camp was organized by the Centre for Members and Public in association with K.M.C.H. at Jenneys Club, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore. Over 200 persons attended and benefitted from the Camp. On 14th September 2014, Construction Industry Training Programme Series-II was held on Properties of fresh and hardened Concrete, Strength Assessment of Structures and Maintenance of Tools and Plants at Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore. Members of the Centre along with Site Supervisors, Students, were participated in the training programme. The Centre celebrated “Builders’ Day 2014” on 19th October 2014. Shri Ramilaruvi, well known orator was the Chief Guest. Shri D.R. Sekar, State Chairman, BAI Tamil Nadu & Puducherry was the Guest of Honour. On the occasion, ‘BAI Coimbatore Centre Welfare Society’ distributed medical kits, educational kits, etc. to the Construction Workers and their families. Members of BAI attended the celebration along with their families. Members of other like minded organisations, Senior officials of Government Departments associated with the Construction Industry were also present on the occasion. DELHI CENTRE The Centre supported an event organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce on 21st April 2014 at New Delhi, where Shri Arun Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, was present. The meeting was on the issue of (i) Security & Safety of Women at workplace and (ii) Safety of Construction Workers, which was attended by the members from Delhi Centre and and members from the construction as well as other industry. The Centre extended support to Roof Top Solar Summit which was held on 8th August 2014 at Hotel Crown Plaza, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-II, New Delhi. The Summit was attended by Chairman, BAI-Delhi Centre and Executive Officer-Delhi Office. The Centre extended support to Electric Lamp and Component Manufacturers’ Association of India (Elcoma) organized Lighting Exhibition - Light India 2014 in September 2014 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi in which the latest trends of lighting at house, work place and factories were showcased. The Exhibition was visited by members of Delhi Centre. Asian Development Bank organized Business Opportunities Seminar on Monday, the 24th

November 2014 at Hotel Le Meridian, New Delhi. The Business Opportunities Seminar was supported by BAI – Delhi Centre and Chairman, BAI-Delhi Centre was one of the Speakers in the inaugural session of the Seminar. The Centre brought out Engineering Diary 2015 which contains the Engineering Data for the benefit of Members. The Engineering Diairy was distributed amongst the Senior officials / Senior Engineering Staff members of the CPWD, Delhi PWD and other construction related departments in Delhi / NCR. The Diary was also distributed amongst members of BAI – Delhi Centre. BAI – Delhi Centre organized farewell dinner for the two retiring Director Generals of CPWD on 18th February 2015 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi which was attended by Office Bearers & Executive Committee Members and other senior members of BAI-Delhi Centre. Serving as well as retired Senior officials of CPWD were extended the invitation for the Dinner. Shri Divakar Garg who took over the charge of Director General from the outgoing DG was also welcomed in the Dinner Party. Office Bearers and Executive Committee Members of Delhi Centre have the CPWD Officials to sort out the problems faced by member companies of the Association to find the remedial measures by issuance of contractors friendly Office Memorandum. During the year under report following Office Memorandum have been issued directly benefiting the member companies executing the CPWD in particular and construction industry in general. During the year BAI – Delhi Centre held 13 (thirteen) Executive Committee Meetings for smooth functioning of the Centre’s activities. As the EPF Case proceedings in Delhi High Court were in full swing, meetings were also held at the office of the Advocate/ Senior Counsel to brief them and making them available the latest information on the subject for the purpose of arguments in the Court as well as arrangement of funds for fighting the case. DINDIGUL CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 28th April 2014. Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President, was the Chief Guest. The Hon’ble Mayor of Dindigul Municipal Corporation, Shri V. Maratharaj was the Guest of Honour. More than 400 members participated on the occasion. Dinner was also arranged to the participants on the same day. On 19th June 2014, the Centre jointly with Kajaria Ceramics Limited was organised a technical Seminar on ‘Tiles & Tile Laying Techniques’. Shri P.N. Praveen delivered keynote address.

The Centre arranged a special inspirational talk for the benefit of members on the occasion of Builders’ Day celebration. A well know, story writer and State Executive Member of Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers & Artists Association, Shri Sathoor Lakshmanaperumal delivered a speech on the topic of ‘Human Home World. The programme was very much meaning ful and enjoyed by one and all. The Centre sponsored one day evening stage programme at the 3rd Book festival organized by Dindigul Illakkiakkalam at Dindigul, between 28th November 2014 to 7th December 2014. The Centre organized one day Dharna agitation in protest against the cement price hike by cement manufacturers. More than 100 members participated and handed over a Memorandum to the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Dindigul. The Centre celebrated a family get-together in the name of Kattunar Sanga Kudamba Vizha on 22nd February 2015. Almost all members of the Centre participated with great enthusiasm with their family and children. Social activist and Advocate Mrs. Ramani Methyu participated as Guest of Honour. A special awareness programme on ‘Construction Safety’ was arranged on 31st March 2015 by the Centre. Additional Director of Industrial Safety Health and Environment, Shri S. Nagarajan, participated and demonstrated the ways and means of safety aspects to be followed in the construction industry. DURGAPUR CENTRE The Centre celebrated its Silver Jubilee on 31st May 2014. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI, was the Chief Guest. Shri Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, State Chairman, BAI, West Bengal, was the Guest of Honour. Shri Sudeep Kumar Dutta, Chairman, BAI Eastern (Kolkata) Centre, was Special Invitee. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI, delivered the keynote address on ‘Skill Development in Construction Sector’ and highlighted BAI’s role in the same. Installation function of office bearers of the Centre was also held on the same day. On the occasion, Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI, inaugurated the official website of Durgapur Centre www.baidurgapur.org. The Centre celebrated “Builders’ Day 2014-15 on 12th October 2014 Simultaneously the 6th General Body Meeting (GBM) of the Centre was also held. For Builders’ Day, Shri Arpan Chatterjee, Town Planner, Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA), and Shri Srikant Mandal, Assistant Engineer, ADDA gave interesting speechs on the theme ‘Build for Tomorrow with a Mind for Day After’. They highlighted the potential of Durgapur

for becoming a Smart City in near future, they presented in detail their views and plans for Roads, Pollution Control, Sewage Treatment, Solar Power and Solid Waste Management through a multimedia presentation, comparing Durgapur with Rajkot. BAI members along with their family and friends attended the celebrations. EASTERN (KOLKATA) CENTRE A Press Conference was organised by the Centre on 1st April 2014, wherein newly installed President Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu and Office Bearers of the Centre met the Press at the Conference Room of BAI Eastern (Kolkata) Centre. The meet was covered by both the Electronic and Press Media. During the Press Meet, BAI President highlighted the various problems the industry is facing and demanded creation of a separate Ministry for the Construction. Shri Sudip Kumar Dutta, Chairman, BAI Eastern (Kolkata) Centre briefed the Press about BAI and its history. On 5th April 2014, the Centre felicitated Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI, along with the newly elected State Chairman, West Bengal, Shri Pradeep K. Chowdhury. The programme was attended by the Members along with their spouses. The Centre hosted the first Managing Committee and General Council Meeting for the year 2014-15, on 26th April 2014 at Hotel ITC Fortune, Panchwati. Hon’ble Finance & Industry Minister, Government of West Bengal, Dr. Amit Mitra; and Hon’ble Minister for Urban Development & Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal, Shri Firhad Hakim, graced the occasion as Guests of Honour. Hon’ble Finance Minister explained the policy and aim of Bengal Government and highlighted the opportunities of development work particularly in Construction Sector. Hon’ble Minister for Urban Development & Municipal Affairs wooed the builders fraternity from other States to work in Bengal. The Centre also hosted a Welcome Dinner on 25th April 2014 and a Farewell Dinner on 26th April 2014. On 15th October 2014, the Centre celebrated Builders’ Day in two Sessions on the theme ‘Build for Tomorrow with a mind day after’. In the morning Session, the Centre distributed Winter Garments & Footwear to 100+ underprivileged children who were being assisted in their education by the monks of Ramakrishna order at Udbodhon Karjalaya, Ramakrishna Math & Mission (Mayer Bari), Kolkata. The entire programme was graced by Swami Viswanathanandaji Maharaj and other monks of the order. The programme was attended by the President of BAI Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, who addressed the gathering and explained the idea behind celebration of Builders’ Day. The entire expenses of the programme, Rs.50,000/- was donated

by the Hon. Secretary, Shri Shankar Chandra Dey. In the evening Session, a Workshop was conducted on the theme at Calcutta Club, wherein eminent speakers like Shri Partha Ranjan Das, Chairman, Project Committee, West Bengal Heritage Commission; Shri Atri Bhattacharya, IAS, Principal Secretary, I&CA Dept., Government of West Bengal, were the theme Speakers. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Both the programmes were well attended by the Senior Members of the Centre with their spouses. The 64th Annual General Meeting of BAI Eastern (Kolkata) Centre was held on 9th December 2014. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI, was the Chief Guest and addressed the members and briefed them about the various issues being tackled by BAI at present. Shri Sudip Kumar Dutta, Office bearers of the Centre graced the dais during the AGM. The Centre started the process of Mutations of Kolkata Centre office premises after 30 years and the Centre have already deposited about 25% of the approssionate total update tax to be paid with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. ERODE CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 5th May 2013. Shri V. Rajagopal, Past State Chairman, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry was the Chief Guest. Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, was Keynote speaker. Members were attended the function in large numbers. The Centre celebrated Independence Day on 15th August 2014. The Centre Chairman, Shri R.P. Periyasamy was hosted the national flag. The Centre also arranged blood donation camp. About 85 members were donated blood. The Centre hosted second Tamil Nadu State level meeting on 24th August 2014. Members of Centres in Tamil Nadu State were attended the meeting. The Centre celebrated Builders’ Day 2014 on 19th December 2014 in a befitting manner. On the same day, the Centre has also arranged a full day sports competition at VOC Park for Construction Workers and Members. Prizes were distributed to winners. The Centre also arranged special meals to construction workers on the same day. The Centre has distributed three Gold Coins to Best outgoing Students BE Civil in Erode District and three Gold Coins to the outgoing students Diploma Civil in Erode Dist. for the academic year 2013-14. On 23rd September 2014, the Centre jointly with Confederation of Indian Industry organized one day

Seminar on ‘Conference Modern Trandes in Construction Industry’. 30 Members were attended the Seminar. The Centre and Builders’ Line, Chennai has jointly organized Buildcon Expo 2014 between 2nd October 2014 to 5th October 2014 at Parimalam Mahal Perundurai Road, Erode. GREATER NOIDA On 17th December 2014, the fourth meeting of the Managing Committee of BAI for the year 2014-15 was held in the Conference Hall of India Exposition Mart. Shri Shivpal Singh Yadav, Hon’ble Minister for Public Works Department, Irrigation, Co-operative, Flood Control, Land Development & Water Resources, Waste Land Development, Irrigation (Mechanical), Revenue, Disaster & Rehabilitation and Public Service Management, Government of Uttar Pradesh, was the Chief Guest in a brief inauguration function. Shri SHivpal Singh Yadav addressed the members and also distributed the trophies of ‘BAI Award 2013-14’, which were announced during the 73rd AGM of BAI held in Jaipur on 20th September 2014. GUJARAT (AHMEDABAD) CENTRE Shri Nimesh D. Patel was installed as the Chairman of Gujarat (Ahmedabad) Centre for 2014-15 by Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI. Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI; Shri Amit Patel, State Chairman, BAI Gujarat; Shri Jagdish Parekh, Trustee, BAI, were the Guests of Honour. BAI Gujarat (Ahmedabad) Centre and Gujarat Contractors Association (GCA) felicitated Shri S.S. Rathore, Additional Chief Secretary (Road and Building Department) on 20th May 2014 in Ahmedabad. Shri Vinod Gamdiwala, Chairman, GCA; Shri Navin Vasoya Patel, Vice Chairman, GCA; Shri Anil Zinzuwadia, Hon. Secretary, GCA; Shri Saumil Patel, Hon. Secretary, BAI Gujarat (Ahmedabad) Centre; Shri G.I. Patel, and Shri Kishor Bhatt, Executive Committee Members; Shri K.K. Patel, Co-ordinator and others, were present on the occasion. On 15th August 2014, ‘Independence Day’ was celebrated by BAI Gujarat (Ahmedabad) Centre along with Gujarat Contractors Association (GCA); The Gujarat Institute of Civil Engineers & Architects (GICEA); Institution of Valuers, Ahmedabad Centre; Indian Institution of Architects, Ahmedabad Centre and Lions Club by a flag hoisting programme and a ‘Blood Donation’ camp. Around 200 bottles of blood were collected.

HYDERABAD CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre was held on 18th April 2014. During the year, the Centre conducted meetings related to Irrigation, Road, Bridges & Buildings and also 27th All India Builders’ Convention to be held at Hyderabad in January 2016. During the Road Contractors meeting on several occasions, adoption of current SSR in R&B Department was discussed and the need to have new rate for the Road and on several time met higher officials like Principal Secretary, R&B, Secretary, R&B, EnC R&B for enhancing the rates and the Hon’ble Minister for R&B. After rigorous perusal with the Government, the rates of the R&B was enhanced. Even for the rates of Panchayat Raj Department and for other issues relating to the Panchayat Raj Department, Office Bearers of the Centre have met the concerned higher official and at last met the Minister for the Panchayat Deparment and solved the major problems crept in the Department. ICHALKARANJI CENTRE Shri Avinash M. patil, Vice President, BAI visited Ichalkaranji Centre on 16th November 2014. He was felicitated by the Centre. Shri Avinash M. Patil, addressed the members of Ichalkaranji Centre on issues of Membership Development, Skilled Labour Development and he was apprised of various projects / constructions in the Textile City of Ichalkaranji. INDORE CENTRE Following are the brief report on the activities of the Centre during the year:- • Arranged a meeting with Provident Fund Commissioner, Shri Ajay Mehta to discuss on Provident Fund matter. • Arranged meeting with Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh, Shri K.C. Gupta, regarding utilization of Labour Welfarte Cess amount deducted from works contracts. • Meeting with Principal Secretary, and Hon’ble Minister of PWD to discussed over the tender condition and other technical as well management issues. • Meeting with Chief Engineer, PWD (B&R), Indore Zone to discuss about the pendency of payments, revised estimate, supplementary scheduled and various technical issues etc.

• Meeting with the Collector, Indore to discuss about organizing a medical camp for staff and labours at different work sites. • Meeting with various Tax Consultants for their expert view on various disputed issues for the benefits of members. JAMSHEDPUR CENTRE During the year, the Centre conducted Executive Committee Meetings regularly to discuss on various issues faced by the construction fraternity. KANYAKUMARI CENTRE Subsequent to the Tsunami disaster on 26th December 2004, many BAI member contractors from Kanyakumari Centre carried out construction works for NGOs and other agencies involved in the rehabilitation works, which included construction of houses and other related infrastructure. While all the rehabilitation and reconstruction works were exempted from TNVAT and Central Excise, no specific exemption was given for Service Tax. Now BAI members are receiving show cause notices, adjudication proceedings and harassments from Service Tax Department. In many cases even the interest and penalties being demanded from the contractors exceed the total cost of construction work done. BAI Kanyakumari Centre took up the matter with Shri Pon Radhakrishnan, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, who also represents Kanyakumari Parliamentary Constituency and presented him a memorandum requesting him to use his good offices and mitigate the hardships being faced by the contractors. The Centre celebrated Independence Day on 15th August 2014 by hoisting national flag. The Centre organized BUILD EXPO successfully from 19th September 2014 to 21st September 2014. Shri A.V. Varatharajan, Past State Chairman, Tamil Nadu, inaugurated the function. Municipal Chairperson Mrrs. Meena Dev was the Chief Guest on the occasion. All the three days lucky draws has been conducted and prizes distributed. The Centre along with Civil Engineers Association conducted a ‘hunger protest’ against abnormal hike in cement price. The Centre organized a Technical Seminar on 27th March 2015. Members of the Centre attended in large numbers. The Centre celebrated Builders’ Day on 29th March 2015 in a befitting manner. On the same day, the Centre have given a Cheque of Rs.2,00,000/- to

Daughter of Shri R. Thanam, who died on road accident on 10th November 2014. During the year, the Centre conducted 23 Executive Committee Meetings. KARNATAKA (BANGALORE) CENTRE An Interactive Meeting on the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act – Current Scenario (Manpower & Outsourcing) was held on 31st May 2014 at Builders’ NGV Club, Bangalore. Dr. Shripad S.B., Deputy Labour Commissioner, Government of Karnataka, was the Chief Guest. Shri K. Sridhar, State Chairman, Karnataka, was the Guest of Honour. Shri K.S. Someshwara Reddy, Chairman, BAI Karnataka (Bangalore) Centre presided over the meeting. About 50 members attended the interactive meeting. An Interactive Meeting on Works Contract ‘L&T Judgement & its implications with Dr. Murali Krishna B.V., Joint Commissioner of Commercial Tax, Government of Karnataka, was held on 17th June 2014 at Builders’ NGV Club, Bangalore. BAI Construction Academy & Research Trust had organized 18th Batch of Training Programme for 70 fresh Civil Engineering Graduates, which was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Commander (Retd.) Manjunath. Head L&T Corporate Technical Centre, on 7th July 2014. Shri K. Sridhar, State Chairman, Karnataka, BAI and Shri K.S. Someshwara Reddy, Chairman, BAI Karnataka (Bangalore) Centre, were the guest of Honours. Shri A.S. Chinnaswamy Raju, President BAI Construction Academy & Research Trust, had volunteered himself in offering his College premises for conducting training, extended hostel and canteen facility to the participants. The theme of training programme was ‘Heavy Infrastructure Engineering’. The Valedictory function of the training programme was held on 4th August 2014. The Chief Guest of the function was Shri A.S. Chinnaswamy Raju, President, BAI Construction Academy & Research Trust, and Past President & Past Trustee of BAI. The President along with Guests and Office Bearers distributed Certificates to all the trained graduates and addressed the gathering. All the trained Civil Engineering Graduates were given placement in reputed companies with good package. As a prelude to Builders’ Day 2014-15, the Centre organised a function on 2nd November 2014 to honour ‘Artisans’. Dr. D.S. Vishwanath, Commissioner of Labour, Government of Karnataka, was the Chief Guest. Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President, BAI; Shri K. Sridhar, State Chairman, BAI Karnataka, and Shri A.S. Chinnaswamy Raju, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI, President Karnataka State Contractors Association, President, BAI

Construction Academy and Research Trust, were the Guest of Honour. The Centre celebrated Builders’ Day 2014-15 on 7th November 2014. Shri Ramalinga Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Transport, Government of Karnataka and In-charge Minister, Bengaluru, was the Chief Guest. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI, was the Guest of Honour, and Shri K. Sridhar, State Chairman, Karnataka, BAI graced the occasion. On the occasion, Shri T.J. Thomas, Chairman, M/s. Gina Group of Companies was conferred the ‘Bharatha Rathna Sir M. Visvesvaraya Memorial Award’. Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Shri A.S. Chinnaswamy Raju and Shri M. Karthikeyan, Past Presidents & Past Trustees of BAI were also honoured for their meritorious service to the construction fraternity. On 22nd February 2015, Sports Meet 2014 was held at Meenakshi Resorts. Various sports were conducted for the members and their families from morning and ended with high tea in the evening. Bangalore and Mysore Centre jointly organized a meeting on 6th March 2015 at Heritage Grape Winery Pvt. Ltd., Chanapatna. During the meeting, it was discussed about abnormal increase in Cement and Steel prices and availability of Sand. During the year, the Centre conducted 10 Executive Committee Meetings. KERALA (TRIVANDRUM) CENTRE The Centre celebrated “Builders’ Day 2014-15” on 30th October 2014. Shri K.R. Jyothilal, IAS, Secretary, Department of General Administration, Government of Kerala, was the Chief Guest. Shri Jayakumar, GM, DMRC, delivered the keynote address on the theme ‘Build for Tomorrow with a Mind for Day After”. Shri R. Murugan, Past Vice President, BAI, was the Guest of Honour. BAI Members along with their family and friends attended the celebrations. KOLHAPUR CENTRE Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI visited Kolhapur Centre on 16th November 2014. He was felicitated by the Centre. Shri Avinash M. Patil addressed the members of Kolhapur Centre on issues of Membership Development, Skilled Labour Development and increasing the activities of Kolhapur Centre. KOTTAYAM CENTRE The Centre hosted the third BAI Kerala State level meeting at Kottayam on 28th October 2014. Shri Vinodh Ninan, Chairman, Kottayam Centre chaired the meeting. He was associated by Shri Gibu P.

Mathew, State Secretary, BAI Kerala. Office Bearers and senior functionaries of BAI Centres in Kerala attended the meeting. Issues concerning the infrastructure construction and real estate building industry were discussed as also BAI organizational matters. The Centre made representation regarding the cartelization of cement pricing to the concerned authorities. The Centre set up a full-fledged training centre for the workmen in the fields of welding, masonary, wiring, plumbing, carpentry etc., and also completed training for several batches of workmen. The Centre is training fresh Engineers in sites and these Engineers are also paid a monthly stipend during the training period. The Centre celebrated Builders’ Day on 28th October 2014. Shri K. Roy Paul, IAS (Retired) was the Chief Guest. Shri Gibu P. Mathew, State Secretary, BAI Kerala and Shri Maneesh Krishna, State Treasurer, BAI Kerala also graced the occasion. MADURAI CENTRE The Centre organised a Technical Seminar on ‘Kirloskar Green CPCB-II Gensets’ on 14th October 2014. Shri Kathiravan, Commissioner, Madurai Municipal Corporation, was the Chief Guest. Shri P.L. Kasi, Sonal Manager, M/s. Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited, Chennai, and Shri Jayakumar K. Kovilakom, Assistant General Manager, M/s. Gentile Engineering Pvt. Ltd., Madurai, were the Guests of Honour and gave a informative presentation. Shri V. Ramachandran, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI also graced the occasion. A large number of BAI Members and their strategic partners attended the Seminar. The Centre conducted a Technical Seminar on ‘Bayer Environmental Science’ on 23rd December 2014. Shri V. Ramachandran, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI, delivered the keynote address. Miss Anbukarrasi, Principal, Tamil Nadu Polytechnic, Madurai, was the Chief Guest. ‘Dairy 2015’ of Madurai Centre was released on the occasion. On 6th January 2015, the Centre along with Association of Madurai Civil Engineers, Madurai Corporation Contractors’ Association and All Civil Engineering Associations in Madurai, organized a ‘Strike, Procession and Agitation’ against the high cost of cement and other construction materials. Nearly 800 participants marched towards the district collectorate and presented a memorandum. Shri V. Ramachandran, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI; Shri P. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Association of Madurai Civil Engineers; Shri R. Subburaman,

Chairman, BAI Madurai Centre and Shri Raju, President, Madurai Corporation Contractors’ Association, led the ‘Strike, Procession and Agitation’. Problem Solving, Elocution Competition and Quiz Programme amongst engineering students from in and around Madurai had been conducted on 7th January 2015 in Thiagarajan College of Engineering, Madurai. The winners were presented certificates and mementos. Rolling Shields were given to the winning Engineering Colleges. Nearly 80 Students had participated. The Centre celebrated ‘Builders Day 2014-15’ on 20th January 2015. Shri G.R. Swaminathan, Asst. Solicitor General, was the Chief Guest. Shri V. Ramachandran, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI; Shri A. Puhazhendi, Past Vice President, BAI, and Dr. K. Arunachalam, OD Civil, Thiagarajan College of Engineering, Madurai also graced the occasion. The Centre organized a Technical Seminar on Elevators on 28th February, 2015. Shri V. Ramachandran, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI, delivered the keynote address. Shri R. Gopalakrishnan, Member of Parliament, Madurai, was the Chief Guest. Shri S. Ramaraj, Branch Manager, M/s. Kamai Elevators Pvt. Ltd., Madurai; and Shri S.K. Chandrasekar, Vice President, M/s. Kamai Elevators Pvt. Ltd. were the Guests of Honour. MUMBAI CENTRE The Centre hosted the first Western Zone Meeting of BAI for 2014-15, on 9th May 2014 at Hotel Courtyyard Marriott, Andheri (East), Mumbai. Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI, chaired the meeting. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI, also graced the meeting. Shri C.G. Deochake, Hon. Gen. Treasurer, BAI; Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi, State Chairman, BAI Maharashtra; Shri Amit R. Patel, State Chairman, BAI Gujarat; Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre and Shri Raju John, Executive Secretary, BAI, were also present in the meeting. Issues confronting the building and construction industry in Chattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra States in particular and on the national level in general were discussed. Shri Vinayak Patkar, Advocate and Hon. Advisor to BAI on VAT matters apprised the members on VAT of Sale of Flat. A ‘Blood Donation Camp’ was jointly organized on 16th September 2014 in Gulzarilal Nanda Hall, Grihanirman Bhavan, MHADA, Bandra (East), Mumbai, by Builders’ Association of India, Mumbai Centre; MHADA Contractors Association and MHADA Employees Association.

A team from the Transfusion Medicine’ (Blood Bank) Department of Hinduja Hospital and Research Centre facilitated the blood donation process. Shri Satish Gavai, Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, MHADA formally inaugurated the ‘Blood Donation Camp’ by lighting the traditional lamp along with Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre; Shri Syed Nabi Kasim, President, MHADA Contractors Association and Shri Madhukar Vichare, President, MHADA Employees Association. 88 bottles were collected during the ‘Blood Donation Camp’. BAI Members and their staff, Members of MHADA Contractors Association, and Members of MHADA Employees Association donated blood enthusiastically. Women employees of MHADA turned up in large numbers to donate blood. From amongst the BAI members, prominent donors were: Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre; Shri Mohinder Rijhwani, Hon. Treasurer; Shri Santosh Navle, Jt. Hon. Secretary; and Shri Prashant Dongre. BAI office staff also supported the ‘Blood Donation Camp’ by donating blood. Hinduja Hospital and Research Centre presented Certificates to the donors and beautiful keychain with their respective blood group mentioned on it. Breakfast and lunch was provided to the team from Hinduja Hospital and also to some of the guests and organisers. The event was sponsored by Shri Santosh Navle. Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre and Chairman, BAI”s Legal, Arbitration, and Grievances Committee, in his capacity as Sr. Vice President (West) of Indian Institution of Technical Arbitrators (IIT Arb) attended the ‘International Contracts’ held in New Delhi on 7th & 8th November 2014, by IITArb. Shri P.K. Malhotra, Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, was the Chief Guest. The Conference broadly covered all major issues concerning arbitration in the context of engineering contracts. ‘Construction Week India’ magazine for the Construction Industry has instituted annual awards, the 4th Edition of which was recently held. Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre was one of the Jury Members for deciding the recipient of the awards. The Award Ceremony was held on 19th September 2014 in Hotel Sahara Star. Members of the Jury were present and were felicitated. BAU – The World’s Leading Trade Fair for Architecture, Materials, Systems was held between 19th and 24th January 2015 at Messe Munchan, Munich’s Trade Fair Centre, Germany. BAU showcases architecture, materials and systems for industrial, commercial and residential construction and for interior work. With over 2,000 exhibitors from 46 countries BAU occupies the entire exhibition

site of Messe Munchen, filling all 17 halls and 4 entrance areas. BAI supports every edition of BAU and also promotes a delegation of visitors to BAU. A Press Conference-cum-Road Show of BAU 2015 was held on 26th September 2014 in Taj Lands End Hotel, Bandra, Mumbai. Many senior functionaries of BAI Mumbai Centre attended the event. Dr. Anand J. Gupta, Spokesperson of BAI and Past Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre was the Chief Guest and inaugurated a two day Seminar titled ‘Redevelopment of Buildings’ – a challenging and multi dimensional subject of relevance in city of Mumbai. The Seminar was organized on 23rd & 24th December 2014 by Veermata Jijabai Technologicval Institute (VJTI) – established in 1887, under the Central Government’s ‘Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme’. The Seminar consisted of nine Sessions by various Speakers from industry and academia. Total 45 delegates participated in the Seminar – 13 were Executives and working professionals from Institutes in and around Mumbai, while 23 were Students of undergraduate, post graduate studies from various Institutes including 14 from VJTI, M Tech Construction Management Course. Durirng the inaugural session, Dr. Anand J. Gupta, made the participants aware about this wonderful scheme of redevelopment and this happens only in city of Mumbai. The Centre arranged a ‘Technical Site Visit’ to the head-office of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation on 3rd January 2015. The state-of-the-art Green Building is an iconic structure. Its rainwater harvesting system, solar panels for harnessing solar energy, anti-reflective tiles fitted on the terrace so as to reduce the consumption of electricity by air-conditioners and many other unique features, makes it worthwhile to visit the building and see and understand it. Members from Mumbai Centre and Ulhasnagar Centre participated in the ‘Technical Site Visit’. The members were received by Shri Mohan Dagaonkar, City Engineer, Navi Mumbai Municiapl Corporation (NMMC) and his team. The members were then taken around the building to the various departments and important aspects were explained, particular the ‘Intelligent Building Management System’. Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman of the Centre was one of the dignitaries to be invited as a Guest of Honour in the ‘ICAI Awards 2014 Ceremony’ organized by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on 1st February 2015. A delegation led by Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman, Mumbai Centre and consisting ot Shri D.L. Desai (Shankarbhai), Trustee, BAI; Dr. Anand J. Gupta, Official Spokesperson, BAI and Shri Raju John, Executive Secretary, BAI called upon Shri Honaji Jawale, Commissioner of Labour, Government of

Maharashtra on 3rd March 2015, to discuss availing of Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Fund for skill training of construction workers. On 3rd March 2015, Shri Neerav Parmar, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre; Shri D.L. Desai (Shankarbhai), Trustee, BAI and Shri Raju John, Executive Secretary, BAI, called upon Shri R. Ramana of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) to congratulate him on him being appointed as Chief of ‘Mumbai Metro III’. During the brief interaction, Shri Ramana desired that, BAI be involved in some of the ‘Community Social Responsibility’ (CSR) activities of MMRDA. On 14th March 2015, the Centre celebrated ‘Construction Industry Day 2014-15’ by organising an Elocution Competition amongst Civil Engineering / Civil Diploma Students of Engineering Colleges and Polytechnics from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The theme for Construction Industry Day 2014-15, was ‘Build for Tomorrow with a Mind for Day After’. The Elocution Competition was held as ‘Dr. Narendra D. Patel Memorial Inter-Collegiate Elocution Competition’. This was done as a mark of respect to Late Dr. Narendra D. Patel, Past Vice President, BAI, who had introduced many years ago the concept of BAI Mumbai Centre organizing Elocution Competition, amongst Civil Engineering / Civil Diploma Students. MYSORE CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 12th April 2014. Justice Santosh Hegde, Former Judge of Supreme Court of India, was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Shri K. Sridhar, State Chairman, Karnataka installed the Chairman and his team Office Bearers and administered the oath of office. In his address, the Chief Guest Justice Santosh Hegde, former Judge Supreme Court of India, praised the efforts and activities of the Centre. The function concluded with a gala dinner for all the invitees. On 19th April 2014 was a day made memorable for all Spoorthians through a glittering installation programme. The function started with melodious invocation by Smt. Rekha Raviprakash along with lighting lamp by the dignitaries. Dr. D. Rekha, Director, Mana Shanti Psychotherauptic Centre for special children, Mysore, was the Chief Guest. As a project for the day, a Cheque of Rs.10,000/- was given to an Engineering student, daughter of a construction worker, Kum. Ashwini, towards her tuition fees. The Labour Day was celebrated by BAI Mysore Centre in association with Mysore Builders’

Charitable Trust and Spoorthi at Maharaja College Ground by honouring six construction workers. About 450 construction workers and their families participated and various sports were conducted for them. Cine Stars Smt. Usha Bhandari and Shri Ravi Teja were the Chief Guests for the Valedictory function. Six Artisans were honoured with citation. Prizes were distributed to the winners of various sports events. All the workers and their families were given lunch and a Kannada film ticket. The Great Property Show, MYREALTY was inaugurated on 23rd May 2014 by Shri V.K. Jagadish Babu, President (Elect) of CREDAI, Karnataka. Shri M.C. Mallikarjun, Chairman BAI Mysore Centre; and Shri Ajit Narayan, CREDAI President, addressed the gathering. The Joint Director of Town Planning, Shri Ashok was the Guest of Honour in the Valedictory function. ‘The World Environment Month’ was celebrated by the Centre in the month of June. With a variety of activities and programmes reaching out to all age groups and sections of society. The event was celebrated in association with CREDAI and IGBC under the agies of the Mysore Builders Charitable Trust (MBCT). BAI Mysore Centre in association with Mysore Builders Charitable Trust had organized felicitation programme for the toppers of 10th and 2nd PUC students of construction workers. Dr. L. Basavaraju, Principal, ATME Engineering College was the Chief Guest. Shri Keerthikumar, Chairman, MBCT was the Guest of Honour. About 8 toppers from 10th and 4 toppers from 2nd PUC were felicitated with a cash prize, college bag, books, and citation. On 21st & 22nd July 2014, the Centre in association with MBCT, and Ultra Tech Cement Ltd.,, a ‘Masonary Training Programme’ was held. All the Trainees were honoured with the Certificates and the stipend for the succeeful completion of the two days masonary training programme. Educational Tour to Lavasa: Around 70 Members of the Centre went to Pune on 25th July 2014 and visited smart cities – Magarapatta City created by Shri Satish Magar, Lavasa City and Amby Valley Resort (Sahara City). The Centre along with Spoorthi celebrated 68th Independence Day on 15th August 2014. MBCT Managing Trustee, Shri D. Keerthi Kumar; CREDAI Chairman, Shri K. Ajit Narayan; IGBC Chairman Shri M.G. Somshekhar, Spoorthi President, Smt. Madhuri Mallinath and Members from BAI Mysore Centre and Spoorthi were present on the occasion. Felicitation of Toppers in Civil Engineering & CTM was held on 26th August 2014. The Chief Guest Shri

C.V. Gopinath felicitated 15 students from 6 Engineering Colleges by giving Certificates. A mega health check-up camp for the Members of BAI Mysore Centre, Spoorthi and Construction workers along with their family members in co-ordination with BGS Apollo Hospital was held on 16th September 2014. Free medicines and blankets were distributed to the participants. Around 467 members and workers with their family members were benefitted and lunch was served. The Engineers’ and Teachers’ Day was celebrated on 29th September 2014. Prof. N.T. Chaluve, former Principal, Coorg Institute of Technology, was the Teacher Extraordinaire awardee. Brig. R.V. Seetharamaiah, VSM, who has many innovative construction projects at higher altitudes was the recipient of Engineer – par excellence award. 44 Members of the Centre including their families visited Europe from 5th to 15th October. They covered Paris, Switzerland, Rome, Vatican City and Venice. The Centre celebrated Builders’ Day on 31st October 2014 in a befitting manner. Study Tour to Calicut: Around 50 Members of the Centre visited Calicut on 16th & 17th of November 2014 to see the application of slack which is a by product to Blast Furnace. Slack is used in plastering, concreting, cement martar etc. in place of sand. On 10th December 2014, the Centre organized ‘My Build 2014’, an Exhibition of construction materials, interiors, lifestyle and real estate. The Exhibition was inaugurated by the Chief Guest worshipful Mayor R. Lingappa. During the year, the Centre conducted 11 Executive Committee Meetings. NASHIK CENTRE Shri Avinash M. Patil was formally installed as the Vice President of BAI for 2014-15 at a function organised by the Centre on 11th April 2014. Shri P.Y. Deshmukh, Chief Engineer, Maharashtra PWD, Nashik, was the Chief Guest. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI, was the Guest of Honour. Others who graced the dais, were Dr. Tarro T. Manghnani, Imm. Past Vice President, BAI; Shri C.G. Deochake, Hon. Gen. Treasurer, BAI; Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi, State Chairman, BAI Maharashtra; Shri Vilas Birari, Chairman, Nashik Centre and Shri Rameshwar Malani, Hon. Secretary, Nashik Centre. Office Bearers and senior functionaries of many BAI Centres from Western Region were present on the occasion.

On 25th July 2014, the Centre had organised a Seminar ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Construction and Infrastructure Industry of India’. The Keynote Speaker was Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Rural Development. Shri Harishchandra Devram Chavan, MP, Dindori, Nashik; Dr. Apoorva Hiray, MLC, Nashik; Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI; Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI; Shri B. Seenaiah, Imm. Past President, BAI; Shri Vilas Birari, Chairman, Nashik Centre and Shri Rameshwar S. Malani, Hon. Secretary, Nashik Centre, were graced the Seminar. Shri Nitin Gadkari addressed the gathering in Hindi and gave an insight of the Union Government plans as regards infrastructure development and also gave suggestions to the industry players. The Hon’ble Minister later answered questions, which the BAI Secretariat had called for from members. The media gave wide coverage to the Seminar. The Centre hosted the second meetings of the Managing Committee and General Council of BAI for the year 2014-15 on 26th July 2014 in Hotel Express Inn, Nashik. A Souvenir published by the Centre on the occasion of the meetings was released by BAI President. PUNE CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre was held on 9th April 2014. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI; and Shri Hemant Naiknavare, President, CREDAI Metro, Pune, were present on the occasion. Maharashtra State level meeting was also held on the same day under the stewardship of State Chairman , Maharashtra, Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI; Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President; Shri Sudhir Garge, Imm. Past State Chairman, Maharashtra; and Shri C.G. Deochake, Chairman, BAI Mumbai Centre, were present in the meeting. On the sae day, Shri Subhash Deshpande, Past Chairman and Senior Member of BAI Pune Centre, popularily known as ‘Plump Acharya’ organized a technical visit to the very prestigious Plumbing Laboratory at the COEP Pune for Dignitaries and Members. BAI Members from various Centres were astonished looking at the Laboratory which is only of its kind in Asia. On 29th May 2014, BAI – Students Internship Programme, 4th Edition, new concept for enhancing the capabilities of the participating students through internship in companies, this concept have been received very well both by the Institutions and the Industry. Altogether 8 Engineering Colleges and Polytechnics have participated. 500 plus Students have been the beneficiaries of this programme till

date and this ahs now become a bi-yearly event of the Centre. Student interns are paid stipend for their training period. The Students Interns were provided with Safety Gear consisting of Helmet, Shoes and Jacket at subsidized cost along with guidelines as to their responsibilities and attention to the safety aspects while on internship at the Site. On 10th July 2014, Farewell was given to Maj. Gen. R.K. Mattu, Chief Engineer, Headquarter, Southern Command and ad the same time the Centre welcomed Maj. Gen. Ajay Anand, Chief Engineer, Headquarter, Southern Command. On behalf of the Centre, Shri Sham Chunkhare, and Shri Chanranjit Singh Parhar welcomed and felicitated the members of BAI Southern (Chennai) Centre enroute their visit to Shirdi , Ellora and Nashik, on 24th July 2014. On 9th August 2014, Children’s felicitation programme, a yearly flagship event of the Centre was held to felicitate children and grand children of members of the Centre by acknowledging their outstanding achievements in arts, sports, academics and to encourage them for higher achievements in their future careers. 70 lus children were felicitated at the function. ‘Independence Day’ was celebrated by the Centre on 15th August 2014, by hoisting the National Flag. Members in large numbers attended the function. A Seminar on ‘Modern Plumbing Practices’ was organised by the Centre on 13th September 2014. Shri Subhash Deshpande and Shri Bhushan Bhalerao were the faculty members. 125 plus members of BAI and delegates consisting of Architects, Engineers, Builders and Developers attended the Seminar followed by fellowship dinner. On 24th September 2014, Members of the Centre and Shri Ranjeet More, Past Vice President, BAI, took initiative of interacting with Members of the Industry and invited them to the BAICON Road Show held at Pune, the industrialist, developers and manufacturers of Pune District participated in the Road show, wherein BAICON Team from South gave them lucrative discount offers and services for taking part in BAICON 2015 show for showcasing their products. Builders’ Day was celebrated by the Centre on 17th October 2014 in a befitting manner. The theme for the Builders’ Day was “Build for Tomorrow with a Mind for day After”. Senior Members and Past Chairmen of BAI Pune Centre were felicitated for their exemplary work in the field of construction at the hands of Chief Guest Shri Satish Magar, President, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce,

Industries & Agriculture, Pune. 70 plus members attended the function. Award ceremony of ‘Well Built Structure Competition 2014B in its 18th series had 40 plus participants. The competition was held on 26th December 2014, primarily to encourage Quality, Speed and Economy, Labour Welfare and Safety aspects are also considered as important aspects. Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI; and Dr. P.R. Swaroop, Director General, CIDC presided the award ceremony. On the same day, Engineering Diary 2015 of the Centre were published and released at the hands of Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President , BAI. On 27th December 2014, Certificates were awarded to the Civil Engineering Students on completion of their internship at the hands of Shri Sushanta Kumar Basu, President, BAI. The Centre celebrated ‘Republic Day’ on 26th January 2015 by hoisting the National Flag. Members in large numbers attended the function. A Seminar on Sewage Recycling System was conducted on 6th February 2015 at Hotel Deccan Rendezous, Pune. 100 plus delegates were beneficiaries in getting enhanced their knowledge and experience in the interactive study circle event, wherein other than BAI Members all were paid delegates. To resolve the issues of price rise of Stone, Metal and Crush Sand (Quarry Products), Members of the Centre have attended the meeting with the representatives of CREDAI and Marathi Bandhkam Vyavasayik Association with Quarry and Crusher Association, Pune. The Centre also submitted a representation to The Collector of Pune District for his intervention in this matter. CREDAI’s Kushal is offering skillupgradation to the construction workers for which BAI is responsible for the Certification. 7,000 plus labours were certified in the current year 2014-15. All activities of the Centre are made known to all Members of BAI at large through E-News article. RAJASTHAN (JAIPUR) CENTRE The Centre hosted the third meetings of the Managing Committee and General Council of BAI for 2014-15, in Hotel Jaipur Marriott, Jaipur, on 20th September 2014. The meetings were formally inaugurated by lighting of the traditional lamp by Shri Yoonus Khan, Minister for Public Works, Government of Rajasthan. Shri Ramcharan Bohra, MP, Jaipur also graced the occasion. After the Managing Committee and General Council Meetings, the 73rd Annual General Meeting of BAI was held.

SANGLI CENTRE On 15th November 2014, the Centre hosted the 2nd Maharashtra State Level Meeting of BAI, for the year 2014-15. Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi, State Chairman, BAI Maharashtra chaired the meeting. The Centre celebrated ‘Builders Day 2014-15 on 15th November 2014. Shri Pramod Beri, Chairman, M/s. Beri Architects & Engineers Pvt. Ltd., Kolhapur was the Chief Guest. Others who graced the dais during the celebrations were, Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi, State Chairman, BAI Maharashtra; Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI; Shri Mohan D. Bhate, Past Trustee, BAI; Shri Sunil Kokitkar, Chairman, BAI Sangli Centre. All the Past Chairmen of BAI Sangli Centre were felicitated on the occasion. SATARA CENTRE Shri Ramdas Jagtap was installed as the Chairman of Satara Centre for 2014-15. Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI; Shri Neelkant S. Joshi, State Chairman, BAI Maharashtra; Shri Sudhir D. Gharge, Imm. Past State Chairman, BAI Maharashtra, were present on the occasion. SHIMOGA CENTRE Shri Ranganath Giri was installed as the Chairman of Shimoga Centre for 2014-15 on 9th July 2014, by Shri K. Sridhar, State Chairman, BAI Karnataka. Shri B.S. Balakrishna, SE, Karnataka PWD was Chief Guest. SOLAPUR CENETRE Shri Avinash Bachuwar was installed as the Chairman of Solapur Centre for 2014-15 by Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI on 3rd May 2014. Shri Neelkanth S. Joshi, State Chairman, BAI Maharashtra was also present on the occasion. SOUTHERN (CHENNAI) CENTRE A Seminar on Save Energy / Green Concepts’ was organised by the Centre on 13th June 2014 in Chennai. Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI, while addressing the gathering, recalled the olden days when Cooum River was user to transport foods and passengers through boats, now due to encroachment and improper maintenance, the Cooum River has become ugliest river in the city. Senior functionaries of Southern (Chennai) Centre, students from various Civil Engineering Colleges and others participated in the Seminar. On 23rd June 2014, Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI; Shri Mu. Moahan, Past State Chairman, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry; Shri R. Sivakumar, Chairman; Shri A.N. Balaji, Hon. Secretary; Shri s. Ramaprabhu, Hon. Jt. Secretary;

Shri S. Pandian, President, Paver Finish Road Builders Association, have met the Worshipful Mayor, Commissioner, Joint Commissioner of Chennai Corporation and explained the sudden price hike of construction materials and submitted a memorandum and requested to control the price hike of Construction Materials. On 23rd July 2014, the Centre has organized a meeting along with the Office Bearers of various Affiliated Association at Cosmopolitan Club, Chennai, to discuss for submitting a memorandum to Justice Raghupathy Enquiry Commission, which is enquiring about Moulivakkam 11 storey building collapse. Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President; Shri M. Karthikeyan, Past President; Dr. D. Thukkaram, Past Trustee; Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President; Shri Mu. Moahan, Past State Chairman, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry; Shri N. Raghunathan State Secretary, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, Shri R. Sivakumar, Chairman; Shri S. Ayyanathan, Imm. Past Chairman, and Office Bearers of the Centre, have participated in the discussion. A ‘Seminar on Construction Management’ was organized by the Centre on 31st July 2014, to enhance the knowledge about the vital activities related to construction industry. Shri R. Periasamy, Chartered Engineers and Registered Valuer delivered the key note address in detail and also answered queries raised by the participants. Shri M. Karthikeyan, Past President, BAI spoke on ‘Introduction to Construction Management’ and also answered to the queries. Shri Ajit Kumar Chordia, President, CREDAI also graced the occasion. Dr. D. Thukkaram, Past Trustee, BAI; Shri P. Narasimhulu, Past State Chairman, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry; Shri N. Raghunathan, State Secretary, Tamil Nadu & Puducherrt, and Shri S. Ganapathy, Managing Committee Member also spoke on the occasion. ‘House Hunt Expo 2014 – a Mega Property Fair’, was organized by BAI Southern (Chennai) Centre between 29th and 31st August 2014 at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai. The Property Fair was inaugurated on 29th August 2014 by Shri W. Anand, Architect by lighting the traditional lamp – Kuthuvilakku in the presence of Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI; Shri S. Ramaprabhu, Chairman, Property Fair Committee; Office Bearers and Senior Functionaries of Southern (Chennai) Centre. Shri Sathyanarayana, Assistant General Manager, State Bank of Travancore was also present on the occasion. More than 60 Exhibitors displayed their projects / products. State Bank of Travancore and State Bank of Hyderabad participated in the Property Fair to extend on-the-spot loan facilities to the buyers. More than 5,000 people visited the Property Fair. On the concluding of the Exhibition on 31st August 2014, the Exhibitors were honoured by presentation of mementoes.

In absence of sand quarrying sites around Chennai, sand is brought to Chennai from Tiruchirapalli. This is not only cumbersome to the sand transport but adds to the cost of sand. To highlight this and other related problems ‘Sand Lorry Owners Association, Chennai’ organised a one-day hunger strike in Chennai. A memorandum was submitted to the authorities requesting opening of sand quarrying sites around Chennai. BAI supported the hunger strike. Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI and Shri L. Shanta Kumar, General Council Member of BAI from Southern (Chennai) Centre visited the strikers in the evening and offered them fruits juice as a token of them breaking their hunger strike. Shri R. Radhakrishnan also addressed the strikers. Under the National Skill Development Corporation Scheme, a full day Training Programme for ‘Masons’ was organized on 25th November 2014, by Southern (Chennai) Centre in association with M/s. RMK Construction and Housing and M/s. Ultra Tech Cement Ltd. The training was conducted at the work site of M/s. RMK Construction. Trainers from M/s. Ultra Tech Cement Ltd. conducted the Training Programme. This was the first Construction Skill Development Programme – onsite Training of Masons under the National Skill Development Corporation scheme being conducted by Southern (Chennai) Centre. A meeting on Service Tax / VAT was organised on 26th November 2014, by Southern (Chennai) Centre. Shri G. Natarajan, Tax Consultant & Advocate and CA Rajendra Kumar P. addressed the gathering on Service Tax and VAT respectively through a Power Point Presentation. The Centre organised a “Builders’ Day / Family Meet – 2014” on 13th December 2014. More than 400 BAI Members with their families participated in the celebrations, which had elaborate arrangements for Ladies and Children and an entertainment programme also for all. The Centre organized ‘BAICON 2015 – International Construction Equipment and Technology Expo’ 3rd Edition at Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, Chennai, between 9th and 11th January 2015. Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Minister for Housing, Parliament Affairs & Union Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, has inaugurated the Exhibition by lighting the Traditional Lamp. The event was bridge between Machinery Manufacturers and Builders to know the Technological Development. On the final day of the Exhibition, the Exhibitors were honoured by presenting mementos on behalf of BAI Southern (Chennai) Centre. On 10th January 2015, the Centre hosted the Fifth Managing Committee and Fourth General Council Meeting for 2014-15 in a very grand way at Chennai

Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, Chennai. Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Hon’ble Minister of State for Labour & Employment, Government of India, inaugurated the meeting by lighting the Traditional Lamp. On 21st February 2015, The Centre was presented appreciation certificate for achievement of enrolling membership on behalf of State Chairman at the fourth State level meeting held at Andaman & Nicobar Island Centre, and the same was received by Shri O.K. Selvaraj, Vice Chairman and Shri K. Venkatesan, Hon. Treasurer of the Centre. Around 25 Members from the Centre have attended the meeting. The Centre organised ‘BATIMAT 2015’ Exhibition for Construction Materials & Technology in Chennai between 6th and 8th March, 2015. The Exhibition was inaugurated on 6th March, 2015, by Shri C.R. Raju, Chairman, Indian Institute of Architects, Tamil Nadu Chapter. Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI; Shri L. Moorthi, Chairman, BATIMAT 2015 Organising Committee and Shri R. Sivakumar, Chairman, BAI Southern (Chennai) Centre addressed the gathering during the inauguration. More than 60 Exhibitors showcased their products in the exhibition. On all three days more than 2500 visitors comprising of Builders, Contractors, Civil Engineers, Architects, Interior Decorators and the general public visited the exhibition. More than 900 Students girls and boys belonging to various Civil Engineering Colleges also visited the exhibition. On the concluding day on 8th March 2015, the Exhibitors were honoured by presenting mementos. THANJAVUR CENTRE Shri G. Somasundharabharathy was installed as the Chairman of Thanjavur Centre for 2014-15 on 11th May, 2014 by Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI. Shri D.R. Sekar, State Chairman, BAI Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and Shri K.V. Rajagopal, Imm. Past State Chairman, BAI Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry were also present on the occasion. Other office bearers were also installed. The new building of “Thanjavur Builders’ Welfare Trust”, an NGO under the aegis of BAI Thanjavur Centre was inaugurated on 20th March 2015. Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI, inaugurated the Conference Hall. Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President, BAI unveiled the plaque of the new building. Shri D.R. Sekar, State Chairman, and Shri N. Raghunathan, State Secretary, BAI Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry & Andaman Nicobar inaugurated the Dining Hall. Past Chairmen and Members of BAI Thanjavur Centre participated in the inaugural function.

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI CENTRE Installation function of the office bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 27th April 2014. Shri R. Manoharan, MLA, Chief Whip & Tiruchirappalli Urban District Secretary was the Chief Guest. Shri P. Kumar, MP & Secretary, Youth Forum (Tamil Nadu); Shri T. Rathinavel, MP & Tiruchirappalli Rural District Secretary; Shri M. Paranjothi, MLA & former Minister, Government of Tamil Nadu; Shri Manivel, MLA, Ariyalur; Shri R.P. Marudairaja, Union Chairman, Perambalur; Shri Venkatachalam, former MLA; Shri S.M. Balan; Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President, BAI; Shri A.K. Yussouf, Past President, BAI; Shri A. Puhazhendi, Past Vice President, BAI, were present on the occasion. The Centre celebrated the Builders’ Day 2014-15 as a full day function on16th November, 2014. In the morning session a medical camp was arranged for the construction workers, wherein more than 500 workers participated. The workers were treated to a humorous entertainment programme, lunch and also gifts. In the afternoon session, BAI members and their families participated in a get-together consisting of games, dance, fun and frolic with famous TV anchors co-ordinating it. In the evening session, Brig. B. Narayanaswamy, EME (Retd.) was the Chief Guest. Shri D.R. Sekar, State Chairman, BAI, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry was the Guest of Honour. On the occasion, the Centre felicitated five persons with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ – “Karikalan” viz. Shri A. Shanmugam, Architect; Shri V. Kannaian, Contractor; Shri A. Puhazhendi, Builkder; Shri P.G. Sivakumar, Architect, and Shri N. Ramasubramanian, Flat Promoter. Also nine deserving and needy Civil Engineering Students were given Rs.10,000/- each in memory of the nine BAI members from Tiruchirappalli Centre who had expired in September 2012 in the tragic plane crash in Nepal. Shri K. Palanikumar and Shri G. Jothi, Mahalingam jointly donated the nine awards. The Centre organized an Exhibition of building materials ‘BUILD ROCK 2014’ from 24th to 28th December 2014. Dr. S. Sethuraman, Chairman, Indian Medical Association, Tiruchirappalli, was the Chief Guest and inaugurated the exhibition by lighting the traditional lamp. During the valedictory function on 28th December, 2014 Shri V.P. Dandapani, Commissioner of Tiruchirappalli Centre was the Chief Guest. And Shri G. Thennarasu, Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments was the Guest of Honour. Awards were presented to the outstanding stalls. The exhibition consisting of 97 stalls had more than 10,000 visitors during the five days. The Centre celebrated its VII General Body Meetings as ‘Past Chairmen Day’, to honour the services of all Past Chairmen of the Centre on 16th March 2015.

Shri R. Radhakrishnan, Past President & Past Trustee, BAI, was the Chief Guest. On behalf of all the Past Chairmen, Shri A. Puhazhendi, Past Vice President and the Past Centre Chairman himself gave an acceptance speech. TIRUPUR CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 5th May 2015. Shri L. Moorthy, Vice President, BAI; Shri D.R. Sekar, State Chairman, Tamul Nadu & Puducherry, BAI; Shri K. Viswanathan, Past Vice President, BA, and Shri Ahill S. Rathinasamy, President, Knitma, were present on the occasion. Family Get-together, Dance programme and Singing songs etc. of children of BAI members were arranged. On 21st June 2014, the Centre was held a meeting and discussion was held on Price hike of cement, Schedule of rate finalization, Training for Masons etc. 13 Members were attended the meeting. On 8th July 2014, a meeting was held in Centre;s Chairman office regarding Dharna for cement price hike. 9 Members attended the meeting. On 7th August 2014, a meeting was held to discuss Income Tax matter, Legal Fund, Turkey & Greece trip, Sponsorship meeting etc. A tour programme was arranged by the members of the Centre to Bali, Indonesia, on 25th October 2014. On 28th December 2014, Siddha Camp was held at Le Pebble. About 65 members from BAI family attended the function and were given free medicienes. BAI daily sheet calendars were also distributed to all members. On 26th January 2015, Hindi class started for BAI Members. It was a very useful session. The Centre distributed ‘Nella Vembu Kashayam’ for more than 4,500 members to protect prom Tengu fever, on 7th February 2014. During the year, the Centre conducted six Executive Committee Meetings. THIRUVALLA CENTRE The Centre celebrated “Builders’ Day 2014-15 on 27th October 2014. Ar. Jose K. Mathew, renowned Architect and Architecture National Award Winner was the Chief Guest. Shri John Philip, Program Director was the Guest of Honour. BAI Members along with their family and friends attended the celebrations. New year celebration and family Get-together was arranged by the Centre on 22nd January 2015. Around 20 Members with their families attended the function.

Film Actors / Writers were also present on the occasion. TUTICORIN CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 7th April 2015. VELLORE CENTRE The Centre conducted six monthly meetings during the year to discuss about various problems faced by contractors and updated the members the information received from the Headquarters and State level Meetings etc. The Centre celebrated Builders’ Day on 16th November 2014 at GVRS Kalyana Mandapam, Gandhi Nagar, in a befitting manner. On the occasion Biriyani with Gift were distributed to around 220 workers. A technical presentation on Thermolite a heat resistant tile was arranged and it was very useful to all members. A meeting was arranged with State Bank of India, Housing and Project Division by General Council Member, Shri S. Rajagopal. In the meeting, the Bank officials explained about the schemes available for Contractors and Engineers. VISAKHAPATNAM CENTRE Installation function of the Office Bearers of the Centre for 2014-15 was held on 9th July 2014. Shri C. Rajendiran, IRS, Commissioner, Central Excise & Service Tax, was the Chief Guest, and Shri B.A.V. Srinivasarao, IRS, Addl. Commissioner, Central Excise & Service Tax, Visakhapatnam, was the Guest of Honour. On the occasion, a technical presentation on ‘Modern Concrete and Waterproofing Technology’ was made by M/s. BASF Construction Chemicals (India) Pvt. Ltd. On 1st February 2015, the Centre conducted a family Picnic 2015 at Saipriya Resorts, Rushikonda. The Centre conducted Executive Committee Meetings every month, to discuss on problems faced by the contractors in respect of departments like MES, VPT, DGNP, Railways, Steel Plant, and on Service Tax, Labour Welfare Cess etc. WAI CENTRE Shri Avinash M. Patil, Vice President, BAI visited Wai Centre on 16th November 2014. He was felicitated by Wai Centre. Shri Avinash M. Patil addressed the members of Wai Centre on issues of Membership Development, Skilled Labour Development, etc. Shri Sudhir Gharge, Past State Chairman, BAI Maharashtra was also present along with Shri Suhas Shinde & Shri Rahul Vakharia, Past Chairmen, Satara Centre.

BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF INDIA

Builders’ Association of India (All-India Association of Engineering Construction Contractors & Builders)

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PROXY

Name of the Member I/We, the undersigned of being a member of Builders’ Association of India hereby appoint of or failing him/her of or failing him/her of as my/our proxy to vote for me/us and on my/our behalf at the 74th Annual General Meeting of the Association being held on Saturday, 12th September 2015 at 4.00 P.M. at The Lalit Plaza, Hotel The Lalit, Sahar Airport Road, Andheri (East), Mumbai – 400 059. Signed this day of 2015.

Affix Re.1/-

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with Rubber Stamp) Note: Proxies, in order to be effective, must be received by the Association not less than 48 hours before the time of the Meeting.

Builders’ Association of India (All India Association of Engineering Construction Contractors & Builders)

FUNCTIONING CENTRES ANDHRA PRADESH STATE Mysore Ulhasnagar Karimnagar Nellore Raichur Wai Khammam Rajahmundry* Shimoga Medak Ravulapalem* RAJASTHAN STATE Mahaboobnagar Vijaywada KERALA STATE Jaisalmer Nalgonda Visakhapatnam Alleppey Jodhpur Nizamabad Aluva Ranga Reddy ASSAM STATE Angamalli Rajasthan (Jaipur) Warangal Guwahati* Calicut Udaipur* Silchar* Changanacherry* UTTAR PRADESH STATE Tezpur Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram) TAMIL NADU STATE Agra Kochi Chengalpet Agra Cantt. BIHAR STATE Kollam* Chettinadu Aligarh Patna Kottayam Coimbatore Allahabad North Malabar (Kannur) Dindigul Baghpat CHATTISGARH STATE Thripunithura Erode Bareilly Bilaspur Thrissur Kanyakumari Gautam Budha Nagar Durg-Bhillai Thiruvalla Kumbakonam Ghaziabad Jagdalpur Madurai Greater Noida Kanker MADHYA PRADESH STATE Madhuranthakam Hapur Raipur Bhopal Mayiladuthurai Loni Indore Musiri Lucknow DELHI STATE Jabalpur Nagapattnam* Meerut Delhi Namakkal Meerut Cannt. MAHARASHTRA STATE Nilgiri Modinagar GOA STATE Ahmednagar Neyveli Moradabad Goa Amravati Pudukkottai Moradabad Northern Railway Baramati Salem Muzaffarnagr GUJARAT STATE Butibori Southern (Chennai) Sitapur Baroda Dhule Thanjavur Kanpur Bharuch Ichalkaranji Thenni Kanpur-South Gujarat (Ahmedabad) Jalgaon Thiruvannamalai Surat Kolhapur Tiruchirapalli UNION TERRITORIES Malegaon Tirunelveli Andaman & Nicobar* JHARKHAND STATE Mumbai Tirupur Karaikal Hazaribagh Nagpur Tiruvallur Pondicherry Jamshedpur Nanded Tuticorin Jharkhand (Ranchi) Nashik Vellore WEST BENGAL STATE Phalatan Durgapur KARNATAKA STATE Pune TELAGANA STATE Eastern Centre (Kolkata) Belgaum Sangli Adilabad Haldia Karnataka (Bangalore) Satara Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad) Chitradurga Solapur Greater Hyderabad* * Opened during the year 2014-15.

AFFILIATED ASSOCIATIONS

• All Kerla Government Contractors Association • Amravati District Contractors’ Association, Amravati • Association of Builders for Chennai Development • Chennai Flat Promoters’ Association - North • Chennai Suburban Builders Association • Confedeartion of Real Estate Developers Association of India

(CREDAI), Karnataka • Contractors and Builders Association of Vidarbha • Earthmoving Contractors & Machinery Owners Association • Flat Promoters Association (Ambattur & Avadi) • Flat Promoters Association- Chennai South • Gujarat Contractors’ Association, Ahmedabad • Jharkhand Local Thekedar Sangh, Ranchi • Kancheepuram Civil Engineers Association (KANCEA) • Karnataka State Contractors’ Association, Bangalore

• Kerala CPWD Conatractors Association • Latur District Builders’ Association, Latur • Mumbai Housing & Area Development Contractors’ Association,

Mumbai • Nagpur Contactors Association • Pavers Finished Road Builders’ Association, Chennai • Singara Chennai Builders Association • Southern Region Petrolum Corporation Contractors Welfare

Association • The Association of Engineering Constractors CMWSS Board • Tamilnadu Fly Ash Bricks & Blocks Manufacturers Association,

Chennai • Tamil Nadu Solid, Hollow & Paver Blocks Manufactures

Association • The Southern Railway Engineering Contractors

Documents

BAI - Builders Association of India - All India ... Report 2014-15.pdf · Builders’ Association of India (All India Association of Engineering Construction Contractors & Builders)