{"id":46424,"date":"2025-04-29T04:53:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T23:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=46424"},"modified":"2025-05-17T22:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T16:35:17","slug":"tax-exemption-for-national-mission-for-clean-ganga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/tax-exemption-for-national-mission-for-clean-ganga\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax Exemption for National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Latest News<\/li>\n<li>Namami Gange Programme<\/li>\n<li>Recent Developments<\/li>\n<li>Background and Legal Transition of NMCG<\/li>\n<li>Income Tax Issues Related to NMCG<\/li>\n<li>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Central Board of Direct Taxes (<strong>CBDT<\/strong>) has notified the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as <strong>an authority under the Income Tax (IT) Act, 1961<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>This grants NMCG <strong>income tax exemptions<\/strong>, aiding its functioning under the Namami Gange Programme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Namami Gange Programme<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image image_resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/image3_0cf75a3e74.webp\" alt=\"image3.webp\" \/><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>It is <strong>an integrated conservation mission<\/strong>, approved as \u2018Flagship Programme\u2019 by the Union Government in <strong>2014 <\/strong>with budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crores.<\/li>\n<li>It is administered by the <strong>Ministry of Jal Shakti<\/strong>&#8216;s Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, <strong>to accomplish the twin objectives of<\/strong> &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>Effective abatement of pollution,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The program would be implemented by the <strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga<\/strong> (NMCG), and its state counterpart organisations i.e., State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).\n<ul>\n<li><strong>NMCG is the implementation<\/strong> wing of National Ganga Council (NGC), which replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority.<\/li>\n<li>NGC was created in <strong>2016 <\/strong>under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016.<\/li>\n<li>NGC oversees efforts to clean and rejuvenate the Ganga River, and is headed by the PM.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In order to implement the programme,<strong> a three-tier mechanism<\/strong> has been proposed for project monitoring comprising of:\n<ul>\n<li>A high-level task force chaired by <strong>Cabinet Secretary <\/strong>assisted by NMCG at the national level,<\/li>\n<li>State level committee chaired by <strong>Chief Secretary<\/strong> assisted by SPMG at the state level, and<\/li>\n<li>District level committee chaired by the <strong>District Magistrate.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Its implementation has been divided into &#8211;\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>Entry-Level Activities (for immediate visible impact),\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Medium-Term Activities (to be implemented within 5 years of time frame) and\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Long-Term Activities (to be implemented within 10 years).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Recent Developments<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Legal basis of the CBDT notification:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Clause 46A of Section 10, IT Act, 1961:<\/strong> Exemption for income of bodies constituted under a Central\/State Act for specified purposes. NMCG was constituted under the <strong>Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Effective from: <\/strong>Assessment Year (AY) 2024-25.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Condition:<\/strong> NMCG must continue as an authority under the Environment (Protection) Act with relevant purposes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Significance: It ensures financial autonomy and operational efficiency for NMCG, crucial for the effective execution of the Namami Gange Programme.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Background and Legal Transition of NMCG<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Initial status:<\/strong> Registered as a <strong>society <\/strong>(August 12, 2011) under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Upgradation:<\/strong> Declared an \u2018authority\u2019 (October 7, 2016) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Technical issue: <\/strong>Despite this transition,PAN status continued as Association of Persons (AOP), attracting scrutiny and tax demands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Income Tax Issues Related to NMCG<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tax demands:<\/strong> NMCG faced income tax demands totaling \u20b9243.74 crore.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Condonation by CBDT:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Allowed delayed filing of revised returns for the three assessment years.<\/li>\n<li>Enables NMCG to claim tax exemptions retrospectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reason for relief:<\/strong> Jal Shakti Ministry intervened with the Ministry of Finance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong> Under which legal provision has the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) been granted income tax exemption by the CBDT?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> NMCG has been granted tax exemption under Clause 46A of Section 10 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.<\/strong> What is the significance of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, in the context of NMCG\u2019s current status?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>NMCG was upgraded from a society to an authority under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, making it eligible for tax exemptions under the notified clause.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3. <\/strong>What major administrative challenge did NMCG face with the Income Tax Department despite its change in status?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> Despite being an authority, NMCG\u2019s PAN continued as an Association of Persons (AOP), causing repeated income tax notices and demands.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4.<\/strong> How did the intervention of the Jal Shakti Ministry influence the CBDT\u2019s decision regarding NMCG\u2019s tax matters?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>After the Jal Shakti Ministry\u2019s intervention following media reports, the CBDT allowed NMCG to revise its returns and granted retrospective tax exemption.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5.<\/strong> Why is the CBDT\u2019s notification regarding NMCG important from a governance and policy implementation perspective?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> It ensures financial autonomy and operational efficiency for NMCG, crucial for the effective execution of the Namami Gange Programme.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/national-mission-clean-ganga-tax-relief-declared-authority-it-law-9969791\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The CBDT has notified the NMCG as an authority under the IT Act, 1961, granting NMCG income tax exemptions, and aiding its functioning under the Namami Gange Programme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-46424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}