UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on India’s fisheries sector and Income Tax Bill 2025 (Week 118)

QUESTION 1

What are the key components of the Indian government’s proposed regulatory framework for sustainable fishing in the EEZ and the High Seas, why is such a framework necessary, and how effective could it be in harnessing the full potential of the country’s marine fisheries?

QUESTION 2

Discuss how the new Income-Tax Bill, 2025, seeks to balance tax simplification with taxpayer protection.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

QUESTION 1:

What are the key components of the Indian government’s proposed regulatory framework for sustainable fishing in the EEZ and the High Seas, why is such a framework necessary, and how effective could it be in harnessing the full potential of the country’s marine fisheries?

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying recently released draft rules and guidelines to enable “sustainable” fishing in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the High Seas.

— India’s coast stretches 8,118 km, and has 1,457 landing centres and 3,461 fishing villages. India boasts an EEZ of 2 million sq km which has an estimated annual potential of 5.31 million metric tons for “capture fisheries” (harvesting of wild fish and seafood), according to data from the Department of Fisheries.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— India’s marine fish catch was recorded at 44.95 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 and 44.32 lakh tonnes in 2022-23, ten times less than the estimated potential, Department of Fisheries data show.

— Moreover, marine fish production has been uneven in the last two decades with several years seeing a contraction. There is thus significant potential to increase the harvest of marine fish, particularly high-quality tuna and tuna-like species.

— “To unlock the untapped potential of the marine sector, our Government will bring in an enabling framework for sustainable harnessing of fisheries from Indian Exclusive Economic Zone and High Seas, with a special focus on the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech on February 1.

— Conforming to the rules, “No Indian-flagged fishing vessel shall engage in fishing or fishing-related activities in the High Seas without a valid LOA (Letter of Authorisation) issued by the Issuing Authority under these guidelines.”

— The validity of the LOA is three years from the date of issuance. The standards restrict illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

— “Indian-flagged fishing vessels shall comply with applicable conservation and management measures of the concerned RFMO (Regional Fisheries Management Organisation), including catch limits, gear restrictions, bycatch mitigation, Fish Aggregation Devices (FADs) management, voyage reporting, etc., to ensure sustainable fishing,” the guidelines state.

Conclusion:

— The guidelines also envisage programs “to provide training and capacity-building of traditional and small-scale fishers to enhance skills for High Seas fishing and value-chain efficiencies.” The idea is to maximise India’s marine fisheries potential while also bringing in sustainable practices.

— The development of fisheries in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands will seek to harness its 6.60 lakh sq km EEZ — roughly a third of the total expanse of the Indian EEZ — with a potential of 1.48 lakh tonnes of fishing annually.

(Source: How India is attempting to harness its marine fisheries potential)

Points to Ponder

Read more about India’s marine sector

Read about EEZ, export and import of marine products

Related Previous Year Question

India needs to strengthen measures to promote the pink revolution in food industry for ensuring better nutrition and health. Critically elucidate the statement. (2013)

QUESTION 2: Discuss how the new Income-Tax Bill, 2025, seeks to balance tax simplification with taxpayer protection.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— India passed a new income tax Bill to replace the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961. The new Bill removes redundant provisions and archaic language, and is likely to come into effect from April 1, 2026.

— The new Income-tax Bill, 2025 was first introduced in February, and then sent to a Parliament Select Committee. On August 12, the government introduced a new version, the Income-Tax (No.2) Bill, 2025, incorporating most recommendations of the Committee.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

Key features of the new Bill

1. Rules about return filing, TCS on LRS

— The first draft of the Bill, introduced in February, had included a provision — Clause 263(1)(a)(ix) — that implied that taxpayers could only claim a refund if they had filed tax returns on or before the due date. The new version has removed this provision. The provision represented a significant departure from the established legal position, where refunds could be claimed even for belatedly filed returns.

— The new Bill also clarified that there will be nil TCS on Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) remittances for education purposes financed by any financial institution, a provision that had gone missing in the earlier version.

2. Changes for corporate taxpayers

— The Bill has corrected other drafting errors such as those related to inter-corporate dividend deductions for companies availing concessional tax rates. The applicability of the Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) for Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) has been aligned with the existing provisions of the I-T Act, by removing the expanded scope that would have included LLPs not claiming specific tax benefits and attracted a higher rate of 18.5 per cent as against the preferential rate of 12.5 per cent.

— The Bill has also allowed taxpayers who do not have any I-T liability to obtain a nil-TDS certificate.

— The government has corrected the anomaly regarding donations linked to non-profit organisations in line with the recommendation of the Select Committee. Exemption has been allowed to NPOs for 5 per cent of the ‘total’ donation instead of just 5 per cent of ‘anonymous’ donations, as is the case in the existing Act.

3. Tax year, digital searches

— The new Bill introduces the concept of “tax year”, which has been defined as the 12-month period beginning April 1. The concept was introduced in the first draft in February. The new Bill removes redundant provisions and archaic language and reduces the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Tax Act of 1961 to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23.

— The government has, however, retained the contentious definition of “virtual digital space” — the powers to call for information by income tax authorities during surveys, searches and seizures, including email servers, social media accounts, online investment, trading and banking accounts, remote or cloud servers and digital application platforms.

Conclusion:

— The government also brought in the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which amends the Finance Act, 2025. It has exempted income from dividend, interest, long-term capital gains or other incomes from investments made by the ‘Public Investment Fund of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, which make investment, directly or indirectly, out of the Fund in India under clause (23FE) of the Income-tax Act.

— The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill also extended income tax benefits under the market-linked national pension system (NPS) to the guaranteed unified pension scheme (UPS), by allowing tax-free withdrawal of lump sum payments or the accumulated UPS corpus, up to 60 per cent, at the time of retirement.

(Source: New Income Tax Bill 2025 passed in Parliament: key features, what changes)

Points to Ponder

Read more about the Bill

Read about taxes – direct and indirect

Related Previous Year Questions

Explain the rationale behind the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act of 2017. How has COVID-19 impacted the GST compensation fund and created new federal tensions? (2020)

Comment on the important changes introduced in respect of the Long Term Capital Gains Tax (LTCGT) and Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) in the Union Budget for 2018-2019. (2018)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 116)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 117)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 116)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 117)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 117)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 115)

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