Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said that the government proposes to increase the benefit of carrying forward losses for startups to 10 years.
'There can be no dispute over the adverse impact such a policy will surely have on India's manufacturing competitiveness,' notes A K Bhattacharya.
If Tesla comes in, India's position as a manufacturing hub will rise many notches, as it will become only the second country, after China, to have both Apple as well as Tesla.
Automobile dealers' body FADA said the Budget lacked immediate demand boosters for the automobile industry.
India and Australia would now implement the free trade agreement on a mutually agreed date as the Australian Parliament on Tuesday approved the pact between the two countries. "BREAKING: Our Free Trade Agreement with India has passed through parliament," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a tweet. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) needed ratification by the Australian parliament before its implementation.
Union Budget 2014-15 is positive for metals and mining companies.
As much as Rs 8,000 crore worth of mobile phones in this segment - out of a total of Rs 15,000 crore - come into the country through the grey market. The government imposed the duty on these phones primarily to encourage domestic production but the strategy has failed as the bulk of high end mobile phones are currently imported.
The talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Canada may have taken a pause but will resume once the political row between the two countries is resolved as the pact has economic benefits for both the nations, trade experts and exporters said on Friday. However, they said that India may not hurry for the trade agreement as 60 per cent of New Delhi's exports are already entering Canada at zero duty. Earlier this month, India and Canada paused the negotiations for the agreement due to political reasons.
The government on Thursday imposed import restrictions on laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra small form factor computers, and servers with immediate effect. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in a notification said exemption from import licensing is provided up to 20 items per consignment for R&D, testing, benchmarking and evaluation, repair and return and product development purposes.
Metal sector is not too happy from Budget announcements for the sector
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman undertook a day long review of the Customs activities at Nhava Sheva in Raigad district off the Mumbai coast on November 25.
After facing significant flight disruptions recently, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan on Thursday told the airline staff that the "worst is behind us" and operations have already stabilised. Pilot woes have forced the Tata Group airline to temporarily cut down capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights daily. While acknowledging that things should have been planned better, Kannan said it has been a "learning experience".
Levy in India one of the highest in the world; finance minister urges banks to tell customers not to invest in the metal.
Any revision in gold import duty is unlikely to take place before the Budget, says finance ministry official.
For India to be atmanirbhar, domestic manufacturers cannot remain merely assemblers of imported parts. Manufacturing in India cannot survive on support of imports forever.
The Union Budget has proposed to extend concessional basic customs duty of 5 per cent with full exemption from excise/countervailing duty to six specified life-saving drugs and vaccines, even as the stress has been laid on vaccine security.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
The budget has been neutral with positive bias for the auto component industry.
'We have essentially tried to set out an agenda for the next five years and it, in essence, represents the political commitment to that agenda.'
The finance minister has stayed true to her commitment to fiscal consolidation, even though the pace of the decline in the deficit could have been faster, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The hike in Custom and Excise duty on crude oil and petroleum products will be passed on by the refineries as well as oil marketing companies
Rising fuel prices, intense competition and inability to pass on spiralling expenses have been negatively impacting the domestic airlines.
The industry expects 0% duty on all types of fuels, low duty rate of 2% on basic building blocks like benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene etc.; moderate duty rate on Intermediates of 5% and high duty rate on finished products of 7.5%.
Reinvent and innovate will be the key mantra for the Indian pharma industry in the New Year as the 'pharmacy of the world' looks to move from volume to value leadership, amid emerging challenges of inflation and pricing pressures in the global markets. While R&D investment, market competitiveness, regulatory scrutiny, and domestic price regulations are expected to shape the growth of generics and injectable products, concerns such as price control and customs duties on medical equipment will continue to bother the healthcare industry in 2023. The industry believes that in view of India's G20 Presidency, digital health innovation, achieving universal health coverage, improving healthcare infrastructure and delivery will continue to be the key driving factors in 2023.
The reason? Price of open cell panels has gone up 15%. One of the main components in the manufacturing of TV sets, open cells contribute to 60%-65% of the manufacturing cost.
From the rollback of customs duty on key electronic components to fast tracking delivery of goods imported from China, players are looking for incentives on several counts.
Currently, domestic supplies and commercial imports of vaccines attract a 5 per cent Goods and Services Tax, while COVID drugs and oxygen concentrators attract a 12 per cent levy.
India's gross tax revenue, comprising both direct and indirect taxes between April and July, reported a growth rate of merely 2.8 per cent to Rs 8.9 trillion compared to the same period a year ago, as shown by government data on Thursday. This growth was dampened by direct tax figures, offsetting the healthy growth in goods and services tax collections and Customs duties. While net tax revenue contracted by 12.6 per cent to Rs 5.8 trillion up to July, accounting for 25 per cent of the Rs 23.3 trillion full-year target, this could be attributed to the increased tax devolution to states during the period.
A security guard posted at the Station Road branch of Bank of Baroda in Bareilly on Friday allegedly opened fire at a customer who was trying to force his way inside without a mask, the police said.
Among the Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Nestle were the major laggards. Maruti, Power Grid, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, NTPC, HDFC Bank, ITC and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.
The Vivad Se Vishwas scheme provides for settlement of disputed tax, disputed interests, disputed penalty or disputed fees in relation to an assessment or reassessment order on payment of 100 per cent of the disputed tax and 25 per cent of the disputed penalty or interest or fee.
A string of measures includes specific provisions in rules governing anti-dumping, safeguards, and basic Customs duties.
Bangladesh provides huge business opportunties in different sectors and Indian companies should explore areas of investments, Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said on Tuesday. He said that government policies in Bangladesh are in favour of businesses. "Please do come and invest in Bangladesh," Munshi said in New Delhi while addressing businesses of both the countries.
Recently, the finance ministry waived off basic customs duty and health cess on imported oxygen and related equipment for three years.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced increasing customs duty on imported footwear and furniture. In her second Budget presentation, the finance minister also imposed health cess on import of medical equipment.
US-based Tesla is working through a lot of challenges with the government to launch its products in India, the electric car major's founder and CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday. Responding to a tweet on the company's plans to launch its products in India, Musk tweeted: "Still working through a lot of challenges with the government." Last year, Tesla had sought a reduction in import duties on electric vehicles (EVs) in India.
Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover will start producing its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport in India, marking a first for the iconic models in their 54-year long history, to be rolled out from a country outside of the UK. Till now the two models were only produced in Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant in the UK and then exported to around 121 markets globally, including India.
All eyes will be on whether Sitharaman provides the much-expected tax relief for the middle class, leaving more money in their hands, as there is tax buoyancy
From real estate to metals, what Sitharaman's Budget has in store.
Petrol attracts a total excise duty of Rs 17.46 per litre.
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