Tax: How you are affected

1. The salaried class: Finance Minister P Chidambaram has announced changes in the Income Tax slabs. The threshold of exemption for all Income Tax assesses raised from from Rs 1,10,000 to Rs 1,50,000.
   Every income tax assessee will get a relief of a minimum of Rs 4,000.
   New tax slabs will be: 10 per cent for Rs 1,50,000 to Rs 3,00,000, 20 per cent for Rs 3,00,000 to Rs 5,00,000 and 30 per cent above 5,00,000.
   An additional deduction of Rs 15,000 under Section 80D has been allowed to an individual who pays medical insurance premium for his/her parents.
   For government employees, there is further godo news as the Sixth Central Pay Commission will submit report by March 31, 2008. Direct tax proposals to be revenue neutral.
2. Women : For women, the income tax limit goes up from Rs 1,45,000 to Rs 1,80,000. In case of senior women citizens, it increases from Rs 1,95,000 to Rs 2,25,000.
   However, there are few more things that the finance minister has done for the women and housewives. The reduction in some of the customs and excise duties would lead to some goods becoming cheaper, especially medicines, two-wheelers, washing machines, refrigerators, small cars, etc, and this would be a relief to the housewife as she struggles to manage her household within a limited budget.
   The new tax proposals will give an extra Rs 4,000 per year to her to spend or save.
3. Senior Citizens : Senior citizens will now have the exemption limit of Rs 2,25,000 from Rs 1,95,000.
   An additional deduction of Rs 15,000 under Section 80D has been allowed to an individual who pays medical insurance premium for his/her parents.
   Senior Citizens Saving Scheme 2004 and the Post Office Term Deposit Account have been added to the basket of saving instruments under Sec.80(C) of the Income Tax Act.
   Income Tax Act to be amended to provide that reverse mortgage would not amount to transfer; and the stream of revenue received by the senior citizen would not be income.
4. Small trader, businessman : For the small trader, shopkeeper or corporate, there is some good news too.
   Central Sales Tax cut to 2% from 3%.
   No change in corporate income tax.
   No change in rate of surcharge.
   Banking Cash Transaction Tax (BCTT) being withdrawn with effect from April 1, 2009.
   Law being amended to exclude entities carrying on regular trade, commerce or business or providing services in relation to any trade, commerce or business and earning incomes from claiming that their purposes also fall under �charitable purpose;� Genuine charitable organisations not to be affected in any way.
   Parent company allowed to set off the dividend received from its subsidiary company against dividend distributed by the parent company; provided that the dividend received has suffered Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) and the parent company is not a subsidiary of another company.
   Corporate debt instruments issued in demat form and listed on recognised stock exchanges exempted from TDS. Creche facilities, sponsorship of an employee-sportsperson, organising sports events for employees and guest houses excluded from the purview of Fringe Benefit Tax.
   Threshold limit of exemption for small service providers increased from Rs 8 lakh per year to Rs 10 lakh per year; about 65,000 small service providers go out of the tax net.
   Fm proposes to insert a new sub-section (11C) in Section 80-IB to grant a five-year tax holiday to hospitals located in any place outside the urban agglomerations especially in tier-2 and tier-3 towns; this window will be open for the period April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2013.
   Five-year holiday from income tax being granted to two, three or four star hotels established in specified districts having UNESCO-declared 'World Heritage Sites'; the hotel should be constructed and start functioning during the period April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2013.
5. Professionals, self-employed : Four services brought under service tax net namely, asset management service provided under ULIP, services provided by stock/commodity exchanges and clearing houses; right to use goods, in cases where VAT is not payable; and customized software, to bring it on par with packaged software and other IT services.
   Tax income arising from saplings or seedlings grown in a nursery exempted.
   Business of production of seeds and manufacture of agricultural implements added to the list of companies allowed weighted deduction of 150 per cent on any expenditure on in-house scientific research.
   Benefit of amortisation of certain preliminary expenses under Section 35D allowed to assessees in the services sector.
6. Brokers, stock market players : The stock market players will, however, not find the going very amusing.
   The rate of tax on short term capital gains under Section 111A & Section 115AD increased to 15 per cent.
   However, Securities Transaction Tax (STT) paid will be treated like any other deductible expenditure against business income.
   Levy of STT, in the case of options to be only on premium, where the option is not exercised; liability to be on the seller; where the option is exercised, levy to be on the settlement price and the liability on the buyer; no change in the present rates.
   No change in STT and DDT unchanged at 15%. However, there is no tax for the investor.
   Permanent Account Number (PAN): Requirement of PAN extended to all transactions in the financial market subject to suitable threshold exemption limits.
   National market for securities: Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers to be requested to work with the central government to create pan Indian market for securities that will expand the market base and enhance the revenues of the State governments.
   Measures to expand the market for corporate bonds: Exchange-traded currency and interest rate futures to be launched and transparent credit derivatives market to be developed with appropriate safeguards; Tradability of domestic convertible bonds to be enhanced through the mechanism of enabling investors to separate the embedded equity option from the convertible bond, and trade it separately;
   Development of a market-based system for classifying financial instruments based on their complexity and implicit risks to be encouraged.
   Meanwhile, a new Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT) to be introduced on the same lines as STT on options and futures.

Highlights of Union Budget 2008-09

Source: http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/feb/29budget5.htm

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented his fifth Budget in Parliament on Friday. Following are the highlights:

• Changes in I-T slab. Threshold of exemption for all Income Tax assesses raised from from 1,10,000 to 1,50,000.
• Every income tax assessees to get relief of minimum of Rs 4,000.
• No change in rate of surcharge.
• New tax slabs will be: 10 per cent for 150,000 to 300,000, 20 per cent for 300,000 to 500,000 and 30 per cent above 500,000.
• For women, the income tax limit goes up from Rs 1.45 lakh to Rs 1.80 lakh. In case of senior women citizens, it increases from Rs 1.95 lakh to Rs 2.25 lakh.
• Fresh facilities, encouragement to sports and guest houses exempted from Fringe Benefit Tax.
• Five year tax holiday for setting up hospitals in tier II and tier III regions for providing healthcare in rural areas from April 1, 2008.
• Five year tax holiday for promoting cultural tourism.
• Short-term capital gains increases to 15 per cent.
• Commodities Transaction Tax to be introduced on the lines of Securities Transaction Tax.
• Banking cash transaction tax withdrawn from April one, 2009.
• Direct tax proposals to be revenue neutral. Indirect tax proposals to result in loss of Rs 5,000 crore.
• Rs 500 crore for corpus fund to subsidise all women Self Help Groups for LIC [Get Quote] cover for permanent disability.
• Agricultural loans given by scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions up to March 31, 2007 and due for December 31 that year will be covered under the waiver scheme to address the problem of indebtedness.
• No change in corporate income tax.
• To protect tigers, Rs 50 crore for National Tiger Conservation Programme. Bulk of it to be used to raise Tiger Protection Force.
• Plan expenditure fixed at Rs 2,43,000 crore and non plan expenditure at 5,74,000 crore.
• Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.1 per cent and revenue deficit at 1.4 per cent.
• Tax to GDP ratio increased from 9.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 12.5 per cent 2007-08.
• No change in peak rate of customs duty for non Customs duty on specified life saving drugs reduced from ten per cent to five per cent.
• Special Countervailing Duty on power imports.
• Customs duty on specified sports goods machinery down from 7.5 per cent to five per cent.
• Duty withdrawn on naptha for production of polymers.
• Duty on crude and unrefined sulphur reduced from five to 2 per cent to help raise domestic fertiliser production.
• General Centvat on all goods to be reduced from 16 per cent to 14 per cent. Excise duty reduced from 16 per cent to eight per cent on all pharmaceutical goods manufacture.
• Excise duty on small cars reduced to 12 per cent from 16 per cent and hybrid cars to 14 per cent.
• Excise duty reduced from 16 to 8 per cent on water purification items.
• Duty on non filter cigarettes to be raised.
• Asset management service under mutual funds, services by stock exchanges to be brought under Services Tax net.
• Threshold for small service providers raised from Rs eight lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
• Allocation for defence to be increased by 10 per cent from Rs 96,000 crore to Rs 1,05,600 crore.
• 75 lakh people to be covered by health insurance scheme.
• Allocation for Textile Upgradation Fund to be more than doubled.
• Micro, small and medium enterprises to continue to get special attention.
• Risk Capital Fund to be set up in SIDBI.
• PAN requirement to be extended to all transactions in capital market subject to a threshold.
• Rs 750 crore for upgradation of 300 ITIs in 25 districts.
• Rs 32,676 crore as subsidy to Public Distribution System.
• PDS through smart cards in Haryana and Chandigarh on pilot basis.
• Three schemes to be introduced for providing social security to unorganised sector workers.
• Sixth central pay commission to submit report by March 31, 2008.
• Rs 624 crore allocated for Commonwealth Games
• Farmers' debt to be waived
• Complete waiver of loans for marginal farmers owning land up to one hectare and small farmers owning land up to 1 and 2 hectares.
• Agricultural loans given by scheduled commericial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions up to March 31, 2007 and due for December 31 that year will be covered under the waiver scheme to address the problem of indebtedness.
• One time settlement of loans for other farmers.
• Agriculture loans restructured and rescheduled by banks from 2004-06 and other loans normally rescheduled under RBI guidelines will also be eligible under the waiver scheme.
  Implementation of debt waiver and debt relief will be completed by June 30 this year.
• Loan waiver scheme to involve loans liability of Rs 60,000 crore and to benefit four crore farmers.
• By loan waiver scheme, the country is discharging a deep debt and sense of gratitude to farmers, says Chidambaram.
• The corpus of rural infrastructure development fund to be raised to Rs 14,000 crore.
• More reforms needed in coal and electricity sectors to ensure double digit growth in manufacturing sector.
• Rs 800 crore for accelerated power reforms programme.
• National Fund for Transmission and Distribution Reforms to be launched.
• The loan waiver scheme will benefit three crore small and medium farmers and cover loans totalling Rs 50,000 crore.
• One crore other farmers will benefit to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore in the waiver.
• Foreign investment of 3.5 to 8 billion dollars expected for exploration and development of new oil blocks.
• Rs 7,200 crore to be allocated to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, marking an increase of 24 per cent.
• Rs 500 crore for corpus fund to subsidise all women Self Helf Groups for LIC cover for permanent disability.
• A target of Rs 2.80 lakh crore for agriculture credit set for the coming year.
• Rs 20,000 crore for irrigation projects under AIPB, showing an increase of Rs 9,000 crore over last year.
• National Horticulture Mission to be given Rs 1,100 crore in 2008-09 with special focus on coconut cultivation.
• Rs 75 crore to be given to Agriculture Ministry for providing mobile soil testing laboratories in 250 districts.
• Rs 644 crore for National Agriculture Insurance Scheme, which will be continued pending evolving an alternative crop insurance scheme.
• National Plant Protection Training Institute at Hyderabad to be made autonomous body and Rs.29 crore will be allocated to it.
• A scheme of debt waiver and relief for small and marginal farmers announced.
• NREGA scheme to be rolled out in all the 596 rural districts in the country in 2008-09.
• Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission to get Rs 6,865 crore this year against Rs 5,482 crore past year.
• Allocation for Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission to be increased to Rs 7,300 crore. Rs 200 crore for potable water in schools.
• Rs 300 crore to be set aside for desalination plant in Chennai for drinking water.
• Rs 500 crore for identifying urgent needs of development programmes of border areas like Arunachal Pradesh.
• SC, ST and minority students to continue to get special attention.
• Allocation for several schemes in North East raised from Rs 14,365 crore to Rs 16,400 crore.
• Rs 75 crore sanctioned for Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Programme for SC/ST students pursuing M.Phil.
• Rs 230 crore will be extended as additional equity to developmental organisations looking after the welfare of SC, ST, socially and economically backward classes and minorities.
  Allocation for Minority Affairs Ministry to be doubled from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.
• Rs 540 crore for multi-sectoral development plan for minority concentration districts.
  288 public sector bank branches to be opened in districts having minority community concentration.
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will be provided Rs 13,100 crore, Mid Day Meal scheme Rs 8,000 crore, Secondary education Scheme Rs 4,554 crore.
• 410 additional Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya to be set up in backward blocks.
  Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened in 20 districts with special focus on regions having SC/ST concentration. Allocation of Rs 130 crore for this purpose.
• Rs.750 crore more to be given for merit scholarship to students up to 10th and 12th class.
• Mid day Meal scheme extended to upper primary level in 3479 schools.
• 16 central universities to be opened in 2008-09.
• Three IITs to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.
• Schools of architecture and planning in Bhopal and Vijaywada. More institutes of higher education to be opened.
• Rs 100 crore to be given to Information Technology Ministry to set up national knowledge centres.
• Allocation for NRHM increased to Rs 12,050 crore
• Rs 992 crore for national AIDS programme.
• A national programme for the elderly to be started at a cost of Rs. 400 crore.
• Rashtra Swasthya Beema Yojana to start from April one in Delhi and Haryana. Rs 30,000 for each family belonging to unorganised sector.
• Allocation for ICDS increased to Rs 6300 crore.
• Rs 85 crore sanctioned for scholarships to students pursuing science education.
• Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research to be set up at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram.
• Agriculture credit doubled in the first two years of the government to reach Rs.2.40 lakh crore by March 2008.
• Eleventh Plan started on a robust growth.
• Gross budgetary support to be raised to Rs 2,43,386 crore, an increase of more than Rs 38,000 crore from the current level.
• Allocation for Bharat Nirman to be raised to Rs 31,280 crore.
• Twenty per cent hike in education budget this year from Rs 28,674 crore to Rs 34,400 crore.
• GDP growth slows down to 8.4 per cent during quarter ended December 31, 2007 as compared to 9.1 per cent a year ago.
• Economy grew over eight per cent over 12 successive quarters since 2005, says Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
• Growth rate of agricultre extimated at 2.6 per cent during the current year.
• Services and manufacturing sectors expected to grow by 10.7 per cent and 9.4 per cent, says Chidambaram.
• Keeping inflation under check is one of the cornerstones of the Government's policy.
• Rice production estimiated at 94.08 million tonnes, maize 16.78 mt, soyabean 9.45 mt and cotton 23.38 million bales.

Chinese cos to pump in Rs 8,735 cr in Karnataka

BANGALORE: Chinese conglomerate Xinxing group and China National Metal products, which have forged a joint venture with three Indian partners, on Wednesday announced an investment of Rs 8,735 crore to set up iron ore pellet plant in Karnataka in two phases. The JV, Xindia Steels is being promoted by the Xinxing Group, China National Metals products, a part of China Minmetals Corp, along with Manasara Investments, Kelachandra Group and Sigma Minmet. Under the JV, a two million tonne iron ore pellet plant will be set up at Koppal in the phase I and expanded to six million tonnes with the setting up of a five million tonne steel plant in the phase II, Liu Mingzhong, Chairman Xinxing group told reporters here.

The Indian partners hold 45 per cent stake in Xindia and the Chinese companies, 55 per cent. The new facility would use Xinxing's leading edge elletization and steel making technology and be fully equipped with best-in-class safety, health and environment compliance systems. The project is expected to provide direct and indirect jobs to over 16,000 people in the local community in both phases. Mingzhong said the facility would meet the growing local demand of the Indian steel industry. Its design allows for additional capacity expansion to accommodate growth in future. The investment is in line with the company strategy to be an active contributor to the emerging Indian steel industry.

He said Indian infrastructure has seen rapid growth in recent years resulting from investments in all sectors of the economy. "Our Indian team has demonstrated that Xinxing has the products and capability locally to bring these to the Indian market in a way that provides better value for customers." : Chinese conglomerate Xinxing group and China National Metal products, which have forged a joint venture with three Indian partners, on Wednesday announced an investment of Rs 8,735 crore to set up iron ore pellet plant in Karnataka in two phases. The JV, Xindia Steels is being promoted by the Xinxing Group, China National Metals products, a part of China Minmetals Corp, along with Manasara Investments, Kelachandra Group and Sigma Minmet.

Under the JV, a two million tonne iron ore pellet plant will be set up at Koppal in the phase I and expanded to six million tonnes with the setting up of a five million tonne steel plant in the phase II, Liu Mingzhong, Chairman Xinxing group told reporters here. The Indian partners hold 45 per cent stake in Xindia and the Chinese companies, 55 per cent. The new facility would use Xinxing's leading edge elletization and steel making technology and be fully equipped with best-in-class safety, health and environment compliance systems. The project is expected to provide direct and indirect jobs to over 16,000 people in the local community in both phases. Mingzhong said the facility would meet the growing local demand of the Indian steel industry.

Its design allows for additional capacity expansion to accommodate growth in future. The investment is in line with the company strategy to be an active contributor to the emerging Indian steel industry. He said Indian infrastructure has seen rapid growth in recent years resulting from investments in all sectors of the economy. "Our Indian team has demonstrated that Xinxing has the products and capability locally to bring these to the Indian market in a way that provides better value for customers."

Special trains to clear rush

HUBLI: In order to clear thess extra rush during summer, South Western Railway (SWR) has decided to run special trains between Hubli-Bangalore (tri-weekly), Hubli-Kochuveli (weekly) and Mysore- Bangalore with effect from April 1, according to a press release.

Accordingly, Train No 0689 Hubli- Bangalore City Tri-weekly Special will depart Hubli at 22.20 hrs on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday commencing from April 2 and arrive Bangalore City at 8.10 hrs on the next day.

The last service from Hubli is on June 29 ( total 32 services).In the return direction, Train 0690 Bangalore City-Hubli Tri-weekly Special will leave Bangalore at 23.10 hrs on Monday, Thursday and Saturday commencing from April 3 and reach Hubli at 7.45 hrs on the next day. The last service from Bangalore is June 30.

Computer skills test planned for mid-March

BANGALORE: The Computer Skills Proficiency Test (CSPT), which was introduced by the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology, Science and Technology, will be held on March 14 and 15 in six test centres across the State.

Further plans and the name of patrons it has found in IT and software majors in the State will be disclosed next week, Vidyashankar M.N., Secretary, Department of IT, BT and Science and Technology, told The Hindu. More than a dozen IT majors have evinced interest in this programme and have come forward to fund the expenses.

“Almost all Fortune 500 companies in the State have evinced interest which is a huge deal for the programme,” he said. According to sources, out of 29 districts in the State, sponsors have agreed to fund candidates from a set of districts and the certificates issued to candidates will carry a mark of recognition from the IT giants. The programme, which was introduced in October 2007 and was scheduled to take off in January, has been delayed but has already received more than 17,000 online applications.

“The costs, including logistics applications, connections and test centres and so on, work out to around Rs. 600 for a candidate, but we will collect only a nominal amount of Rs. 50 from applicants at this introductory stage,” said Mr. Vidyashankar. The test will be held in collaboration with MeritTrac Services Private Ltd at Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Belgaum, Hubli and Gulbarga.

Benefits
The programme will not only benefit students who will get their certification from the Government of Karnataka but it will also help industries formulate a district-wise assessment of computer literacy and skill levels. “This will help companies decide where they want to set up their units in the State. Such data is usually missing and it will attract investors to Karnataka by providing them with clear district-wise statistics and helping them locate talent pools," said Mr. Vidyashankar.

Basic skills
The department has tried to rope in industry majors and is currently holding talks with several big names in the business. “The test is designed to determine basic skills which are employment-centric. It will create and document a talent pool in tier-II and tier-III cities in the State, which is what investors have their eye on,” said Madan Padaki, CEO, MeritTrac Services. Though they have not publicised the programme, most of the responses are from outside Bangalore. This is a positive sign, as that is largely our target audience, said Mr. Padaki.

Two phases
The CSPT is aimed at promoting computer literacy and providing a certification for those with basic skills. The test will be conducted in two phases – it will test the e-ail writing skills and basic skills with MS Word and MS Excel.

The department also plans to send out notifications to around 200 colleges in the State, informing them about the CSPT. Students need to send emails to apply and the result of the tests will be declared within a month.

JMT Auto Signs MOU With Timken India for Dharwad project expansion

Source:http://machinist.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=973&Itemid=2

Mumbai: JMT Auto Ltd has informed BSE that the Company and M/s. TIMKEN INDIA MANUFACTURING PVT LTD has signed and entered into a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on certain terms and conditions on February 21, 2008 for expansion of their existing project at DHARWAD, KARNATAKA specially set up for M/s. TIMKEN INDIA MANUFACTURING PVT LTD and also for investing of backward integration.
JMT Auto Ltd., formerly known as Jamshedpur Metal Treat (JMT), is one of the leading Auto component manufacturers in Eastern region.

JMT Auto Ltd has also informed that the Company has bagged order from giant Auto and Engineering Companies like VOLVO (Sweden) for high Precision Pins, EATON (USA) for Gears, Shafts, Hydraulic Pump Shafts. Company expects its business with international OEMS to increase by 200 % by 2007 - 08 and 100% in year 2008 - 09.

The company identified Transmission Components as it's key business area and acquired core competency in manufacturing products like Transmission Gears, Engine Gears, Gear Box Assembly, Carrier Assembly, Shafts, Rear Axle Shafts, Synchro Rings, Seal were Rings, Synchronising Cone, Fly wheels, Drums, Housing Pipes, Spindles and Pins.

Later on, based on specific market/customer needs, the company also started producing Sheet Metal Parts, Rocker Lever Assembly, Bushes, fabrications & other automotive components.

RCom announces rural phone scheme in Karnataka

Reliance Communications announced a special scheme targeted towards the rural segment, named Gramada Phone which runs under the guidelines of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

Under the USOF programme, nine million people living in over 10,000 villages in parts of Kodagu, Mandya, Tumkur, Hassan, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Kolar, Chickkaballapur, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts will be covered.

The phone will be available for Rs.699 with 2 year free incoming service. Call charges have been fixed at 80 paise for three minutes for local calls to fixed lines and to any Reliance phone in Karnataka. Calls made to other mobile service providers’ phones will be charged 80 paise per minute.

Gramada phone contains patch-panel-Antenna (PPA) that will be fixed at every household in areas that have near zero or even zero phone penetration, which will help offer superior connectivity and voice clarity.

BangaloreOne centres in Hubli-Dharwad soon

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=3&autono=312568

The Karnataka government plans to open citizen services centres in Hubli-Dharwad later this month modelled on the lines of ‘BangaloreOne’ centres, which offer 21 different services ranging from payment of utility bills to applying for passports.

The state’s IT/BT Secretary M N Vidyashankar told reporters on Monday that the ‘BangaloreOne’ centres were not only successfull, but had become very popular among the citizens.

“BangaloreOne offers multiple services under a common roof. Buoyed by the success of BangaloreOne, we intend to replicate it in other cities,” he added.

The citizen services centres proposed in Hubli-Dharwad will commence trial operations on February 16.

“Based on the feedback from citizens, we will increase the number of such centres in the twin cities. Later this year, we also intend to roll out the services in other cities of the state,” Vidyashankar said.

At present, there are 19 ‘BangaloreOne’ centres in the city with the latest being opened in Indiranagar. The twentieth ‘BangaloreOne’ centre will be opened at KHB Colony in Yelahanka shortly.

Though the government is keen on increasing the number of ‘BangaloreOne’ centres, spiralling real estate price is posing a major hurdle. Consequently, the government is forced to operate out of properties given on lease by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) or Greater Bangalore City Corporation (GBCC) where there is less scope for expanding services on account of space constraint.

In an effort to overcome this problem, the government plans to install manned kiosks to offer the citizen services.

According to Vidyashankar, 20 such kiosks will be installed in various parts of the city.

“They will be just like any other Bangalore One centre offering all the 21 services. They will be installed in areas where BangaloreOne centres are not located,” he added.

He said the government has planned to include more services under ‘BangaloreOne’. It has tied up with Innovative Multiplex and Vision Cinemas to book movie tickets.

More than 15 private bus operators have also tied up with ‘BangaloreOne’ to provide ticket booking facility.

Vidyashankar said the government was in talks with the KSRTC to provide ticket booking for passengers at the ‘BangaloreOne’ centres. At present, KSRTC operates online ticketing booking centres at more than 100 locations in the city on a franchise model.

He said the government was also engaging the LIC and Regional Provident Fund office in an effort to offer their services at the ‘BangaloreOne’ centres.