Reality Check India

A sign of things to come ,

”We want to make education in India affordable for our overseas students,”

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said at the two-day Economic Editors’ Conference that began Tuesday in New Delhi.

The full story is here  India to extend affordable education to diaspora.

In the meantime, a project that NRIs can look forward to is the setting up of the PIO (persons of Indian origin) university—fully funded by NRIs and PIOs. According to ministry officials, the government has already okayed the proposal in principal. Ravi said the new policy for the proposed PIO university is in the final stages.

The university, spread over 100 hectares, is likely to be set up in a special economic zone, which would give the investors tax exemptions.

The SEZ policy itself is atrocious, this just takes the cake. Does anyone actually know the meaning of the word “NRI” ? It is someone who has said goodbye to India for greener pastures. There is nothing wrong with that, but it must be remembered that they have factored into account the education conditions in their adopted country.

We all know that all incompetent desi kids who fail to make it to pre-med state schools in USA or Carribean would now flock to this PIO university established on the soil of an impoverished country. Of course, our government would lobby with the appropriate US Justice department to get the coursework approved. There is absolutely no way a US NRI kid will come to India if he has an admission from a med school in the USA.

NRI students have always faced discrimination in India where education was concerned. There are huge disparities in fee structures in private professional colleges—overseas students oftentimes have to pay five times more than the general category.

However, there is hope of justice. According to Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, India will take the necessary steps to extend affordable education for NRI students.

Yes Mr Ravi, NRIs are charged more than locals because their daddy and mommy are earning in dollars , pounds and dirhams.

Note to NRIs / Diaspora : Please be loyal to your adopted country that has given you everything.  Let your kids join the US Marines, law enforcement,  rock bands, get season tickets to baseball games, celebrate thanksgiving,  integrate into american society. The PIO card can be used to reduce visa hassles. Please do not lobby for special universitites, schools, parks, or zones for you and your kids to play around.  There are others in this poor country that need attention.

( I had to document this story)

The SEZ fever is upon us. Dont expect Shenzhen  / Pudong / Hainan / Sharjah / Jebel Ali style cities in these SEZs ? They will be mostly small units enjoying unprecedented tax benefits (estimated direct tax loss to government is 90,000 crores) walled off from the surrounding unfortunate non-SEZ areas. Is this economic aparthied ?  You decide.

Chat with SEZ officials

In the meantime, the government has an online chat where you can ask questions to SEZ officials at http://www.sezindia.nic.in/ and http://commerce.nic.in/ If you cant access these sites try : http://dippserver1.nic.in/commerce_chat/welcome.html

I went online and left a few questions for them. I will post replies when someone answers them.

Consider this tax scheme for Chinese SEZs (details).

• No tax in startup years (when you dont make a profit).
• The year you make a profit is “year one”. Your tax clock starts now.
• Year one and two after your tax clock starts – you pay NO TAX
• Year three and four after – you pay 50% TAX
• Year five onwards – you pay FULL TAX

This my friends is China. Contrast with Indian SEZ (more details).

• Note: Most SEZ units (esp IT Services) are hugely profitable from day one
• 100% TAX FREE for the first 5 YEARS (even for already hugely profitable units just emerging from the STPI tax holiday scheme – eg, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, etc)
• 50% TAX FREE for the next 5 YEARS
• Open ended tax rebates thereon subject to ploughback of profits
• Excise duty and Import duty exempted

Side note: Does anyone know of any country in the world that has private SEZs ? All of Chinas SEZs are huge (eg, Pudong, entire province of Hainan, etc) and setup by the government.

Think about this : SEZs are allowed to build golf courses, hotels, shopping, schools, and educational institutions inside their “walled hectares”. I wonder if those unfortunate enough not to be employed by an SEZ unit (read 90% of India) can access these facilities freely.

Unfortunately, I dont have too much time at the moment to write more.  I had written another post about this earlier.