Clause 15 - Amendment of Section 80-IB - FINANCE BILL, 2008

15. In section 80-IB of the Income-tax Act,—

(a) in sub-section (9), after the second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—

''Provided also that no deduction under this sub-section shall be allowed to an undertaking engaged in refining of mineral oil, if it begins refining on or after the 1^st day of April, 2009.";

(b) after sub-section (11B), the following sub-section shall be inserted with effect from the 1^st day of April, 2009, namely:—

 '(11C) The amount of deduction in the case of an undertaking deriving profits from the business of operating and maintaining a hospital located anywhere in India, other than the excluded area, shall be hundred per cent. of the profits and gains derived from such business for a period of five consecutive assessment years, beginning with the initial assessment year, if-

(i) the hospital is constructed and has started or starts functioning at any time during the period beginning on the 1^st day of April, 2008 and ending on the 31^st day of March, 2013;

(ii) the hospital has at least one hundred beds for patients;

(iii) the construction of the hospital is in accordance with the regulations or bye-laws of the local authority; and

(iv) the assessee furnishes along with the return of income, a report of audit in such form and containing such particulars, as may be prescribed, and duly signed and verified by an accountant, as defined in the

Explanation to sub-section (2) of section 288, certifying that the deduction has been correctly claimed.

Explanation.— For the purposes of this sub-section,—

(a) a hospital shall be deemed to have been constructed on the date on which a completion certificate in respect of such construction is issued by the local authority concerned;

(b) "initial assessment year" means the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which the business of the hospital starts functioning;

(c) "excluded area" shall mean an area comprising-

(i) Greater Mumbai urban agglomeration;

(ii) Delhi urban agglomeration;

(iii) Kolkata urban agglomeration;

(iv) Chennai urban agglomeration;

(v) Hyderabad urban agglomeration;

(vi) Bangalore urban agglomeration;

(vii) Ahmedabad urban agglomeration;

(viii) District of Faridabad;

(ix) District of Gurgaon;

(x) District of Gautam Budh Nagar;

(xi) District of Ghaziabad;

(xii) District of Gandhinagar; and

(xiii) City of Secunderabad;

(d) the area comprising an urban agglomeration shall be the area included in such urban agglomeration on the basis of the 2001 census.'.