Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to address the post-budget meeting of the RBI's central board on Monday and highlight key points of the Union Budget 2022-23, including the fiscal consolidation roadmap and high capex plan. It has been a custom that the finance minister addresses the RBI board, consisting of RBI Governor and existing four deputy governors, after the Budget. The meeting has been scheduled for February 14 where she would be addressing the board members and talk about announcements made in the Budget to perk up growth hit by three waves of COVID-19, sources said.
The market capitalisation of listed companies on the NSE surpassed $5 trillion (Rs 416.57 trillion) on Thursday on a day when the Nifty 50 index touched an all-time high of 22,993.60. The Nifty 500 index also touched an all-time high of 21,505.25 on Thursday indicating that growth in the equity market is not restricted to only the large capitalised stocks, a statement by NSE said.
Research and development (R&D) spending by BSE 100 companies has grown steadily, rising from 0.89 per cent of revenue in FY20 to 1.32 per cent in FY24, averaging around 1 per cent over the period in-between, according to data compiled from Bloomberg and company annual reports. Also, these companies more than doubled their R&D spending in absolute terms over these five years: From Rs 25,041 crore to Rs 63,072 crore. While this reflects a prioritisation of innovation, corporate R&D investment remains relatively conservative.
The Survey is authored by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran and his team.
The proposed exemption in customs duty on import of lithium, cobalt and other rare minerals in the Union Budget 2024-25 is likely to lower the battery production cost and help in making electric vehicles more affordable for the buyers, auto industry leaders said on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday pitched for front loading of capital expenditure, saying it is critical for revitalisting the economy post the coronavirus pandemic. During a virtual meeting with senior government officials to discuss the infrastructure roadmap ahead, she also asked ministries to aim to achieve more than their capital expenditure (capex) targets. The Union Budget 2021-22 provided a capital outlay of Rs.5.54 lakh crore, a sharp increase of 34.5 per cent over the Budget Estimate of 2020-21.
'Any finality in such matters requires political views. We will review it closer to the full Budget.'
Thrust on infrastructure and capital expenditure is expected to continue in the Union Budget for FY25.
Tata Sons Private Limited, the holding company of the Tata group, witnessed a precipitous drop in its net debt to Rs 5,656 crore in the 10 months ended January this year, as its cash reserves burgeoned to Rs 9,516 crore during this period. Eight years ago, in 2015-16, Tata Sons reported a net debt of Rs 5,132 crore; from March 2017 until March 2023, this figure was above the Rs 14,700 mark, peaking at Rs 27,437 crore at the end of March 2019, according to data sourced from Capitaline. The company's gross debt nearly halved to Rs 15,173 crore until January 2024 on a standalone basis, down from a peak of Rs 31,363 crore reported in the financial year ended March 2019.
Power Grid was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 2.54 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv and HCL Technologies. In contrast, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Titan were among the laggards.
rediffGURU Samkit Maniar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
An increase in the farmer income support scheme PM Kisan Nidhi, the introduction of a 'robot tax' to fund reskilling of people who lose their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), and a reduced income-tax (I-T) to bring relief to the middle classes - these are some of the items in the Budget wish list submitted by Sangh Parivar affiliates to Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman. Representatives of the affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), such as the farmer organisation Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS); trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS); Laghu Udyog Bharati, which works for micro and small industries; and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which works on economic and policy issues, met the FM and other officials over the last couple of weeks as part of the pre-Budget consultations.
Treasury gains helped ICICI Bank post a nearly 10 per cent increase in the consolidated net profit for the April-June quarter at Rs 11,696 crore on Saturday. Growth in the core income slowed for the country's second largest private sector lender, but the treasury operations helped it report a 14.62 per cent rise in its post-tax profit at Rs 11,059 crore on a standalone basis. The core net interest income (NII) growth came at a multi quarter low of 7.3 per cent to Rs 19,553 crore for the reporting quarter.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies hit a record high of Rs 429.32 lakh crore on Wednesday as the BSE benchmark Sensex ended higher amid a largely positive trend in global equities. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 149.98 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 76,606.57. During the day, it jumped 593.94 points or 0.77 per cent to 77,050.53.
Atishi will have a brief tenure in office as assembly elections in the national capital are due in February.
'It would be reasonable to assume that Modi 3.0 would be more focused on projects and schemes which do not require any legislative change or which have the support of its coalition partners,' asserts A K Bhattacharya.
The RBI said the board has been superseded "in view of the defaults by RCL in meeting the various payment obligations to its creditors and serious governance concerns which the Board has not been able to address effectively". It has also appointed Nageswar Rao Y (ex-executive director, Bank of Maharashtra) as the administrator of the NBFC.
From the Sensex basket, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, Reliance Industries, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank and JSW Steel were among the major laggards. Bajaj Finance climbed nearly 1 per cent higher.
The finance ministry expects a broad-based moderation in inflationary pressures on the back of an anticipated reduction in food prices as a result of the uptick in summer sowing. The retail inflation rate remained stubbornly clung to the 5 per cent mark in seven of the past eight months. "Core inflation is trending downwards, indicating a broad-based moderation in price pressures... Driven by strong domestic growth and benign global commodity prices, core inflation is declining continuously.
'We started AgniKul to show that space transportation should be as simple as road transportation.'
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The finance ministry is in favour of extending the August deadline for public sector banks (PSBs) as well as insurance companies to increase their minimum public shareholding (MPS) to the mandated 25 per cent, said a senior government official. "The election results will determine the course of action. "Most likely, those who did not receive an extension to meet the minimum shareholding norm will be granted one," the senior government official said.
Highlights of the Union Budget 2024-25 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The two-wheeler segment has shown signs of recovery in the first half (H1) of calendar year (CY) 2024, largely driven by improving performance in rural areas. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations, rural contribution to two-wheeler sales surged by 57-60 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2024-25, indicating a rising demand in these regions. Experts believe that this trend will continue, supported by a favourable monsoon season and government initiatives aimed at rural development.
Imagine transforming a modest Rs 10,000 monthly investment into a steady Rs 1 lakh monthly income in your retirement years. This is the power of compounding -- a strategy that rewards you for starting early and staying consistent with your investments, says Ramalingam Kalirajan.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy visited some inundated areas in their respective territories.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the securities transaction tax (STT) will be increased on futures and options (F&O) trade from October 1 to discourage retail investors from investing in the risky instrument.
Prominent exits by promoters included a Rs 15,300 crore share sale in Indus Tower by Vodafone Plc, a Rs 9,300 crore share sale by the Tata group in Tata Consultancy Services.
'There will be 200 ITIs developed as hubs, while 800 will be developed as spoke, connected with five National Skill Training Institutes.'
The Union government is projected to share about 32 per cent of central taxes with states during the financial year 2024-25 against the 15th Finance Commission's recommendation of 41 per cent. The Revised Estimates (RE) for FY24, too, show a similar share of states in the central taxes at 32 per cent. In absolute terms, however, there has been an increase in the amount devolved to states compared to the Budget Estimates (BE) for FY24 at Rs 11 trillion.
Power and money are at the heart of the sordid story -- and it isn't over yet.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'Like every Budget, this time, too, there is chatter around tinkering with the long-term capital gains tax.' 'Investors may not want to jump into the markets until there is clarity on this front.'
The Budget should use the extra RBI surplus to better effect, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
Users should be aware of "fake emails" sent in the garb of a government e-notice, said the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) in a public advertisement.
The NBFCs, which filed for ECB in January with the Reserve of India (RBI), include REC (over $500 million), Tata Motors Finance ($200 million), L&T Finance Holdings ($125 million), and Shriram Finance ($750 million), according to the RBI data. A senior executive with State Bank of India (SBI) said overseas borrowing by Indian companies, including highly rated NBFCs, was likely to grow because hedging costs were low and there was a softening bias in global interest rates.
The home loan top-up, a kind of secured multipurpose personal loan, is on the regulator's radar, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
While the coalition will not be unstable because of pressures, the effort from partners will be to constantly remind the central government and the BJP how much it is dependent on them.
The generation of quality jobs and skill development should be the focal point, cutting across ministries and departments, asserts Nivedita Mookerji.
'Despite rising inflows, many NRIs lack awareness about NRO and NRE accounts and mistakenly use family accounts or invest in a relative's name.' 'Many are unaware of tax implications.'
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