The government on Friday received financial bids for the strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) said in an official statement on X.
'If you go by the capital expenditure, this is a good defence budget. But we will have to see if the government can keep defence spending at 2 per cent or higher in 2027-2028.'
Suresh Prabhu on the priority being given to safety and the need for more funds for railways to move ahead.
The first leg of the Budget session concluded with debates over the India-US trade deal and a former army chief's memoir, and will reassemble on March 9.
To digitise Customs processes, the Union finance ministry is planning to integrate the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE), Risk Management System (RMS), and Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange System (ICES) into a single unified national Customs platform, according to government sources.
In 2025-26, the government allocated Rs 6,81,210 crore for defence budget.
The finance ministry on Friday said it has proposed a two-slab GST rate structure to the Group of Ministers (GoM), along with special rates for select items.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tursday placed before the Supreme Court the finance ministry file on the issue of fixing the price of 2G spectrum in 2008, but it could not be taken on record and returned to the agency as some pages of the file were missing.
The government is finalising a major GST overhaul with automated refunds, pre-filled returns, and analytics-based scrutiny to simplify compliance and boost liquidity for MSMEs.
It is difficult to make conveyor belt and baggage-scanning scenes thrilling -- which is how most people trying to sneak out through the Green Channel are caught -- but Neeraj Pandey and co-director Raghav M Jairath and co-writer Vipul K Rawal make sure there is enough going on to make the series watchable, raves Deepa Gahlot.
New Delhi was reluctant to spook investors by clipping the bank's wings
With less than six months left for this financial year and poor response from applicants, launching the scheme this year is unlikely.
As the new Income Tax (I-T) Act, 2025 moves towards implementation from April 1, 2026, the finance ministry is reviewing and simplifying the compliance forms used by charitable institutions. Debjyoti Das, principal chief commissioner of income tax (exemption), said the new Act has already reorganised exemption provisions into a clearer and more coherent structure, and the accompanying procedures and forms are now being examined.
Analysts have sharply reduced cigarette maker ITC's earning estimates for the next two years, fearing a significant dent in the company's profitability and margins. This is owing to a steep hike in excise duty on tobacco by the government.
New Delhi will substantially reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods while continuing to protect sensitive sectors. Tariffs on some agricultural products that are not traditionally considered sensitive will be brought down to zero, while in the case of relatively sensitive items, duties will be reduced in a graded manner and quotas will be imposed.
The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) adoption rate has risen to over 4.35 per cent, with more than 100,000 people out of 2.3 million eligible individuals opting for it, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman S Ramann said in an exclusive interview with Business Standard on Monday. He also said that six states had approached the PFRDA for help in adoption of the scheme.
India's merchandise exports grew in the first three weeks of November compared with the same period last year, according to preliminary government data, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. The uptick comes despite globa
It is learnt that India was mulling various options relating to the project after Trump administration threatened a 25 per cent additional tariff on countries doing business with Tehran.
The total expenditure on the MGNREGA programme, as per the revised estimates from 2025-26, was Rs 88,000 crore, while initially, a sum of Rs 86,000 crore was allocated.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Thursday called for sharper disclosures in IPO (initial public offering) offer documents, particularly around risk factors, valuation rationale, objects of the issue, and utilisation of proceeds.
Ajit Pawar, who was the finance and planning minister, would have tabled his budget for 2026-27 next month when the state legislature's budget session begins in Mumbai on February 23.
Beginning next month, a bank customer can opt for up to four nominees in her or his account with a view to ensure uniformity, and efficiency in claim settlement across the banking system. The key provisions relating to Nomination under the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 will come into effect from November 1, 2025, a finance ministry statement said on Thursday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha, which seeks approval for a gross additional expenditure of Rs 1.32 lakh crore.
"Cash is still quite high in the system. There is also stocking of Rs 2,000 notes in evidence. The expansion of digital payments is taking place all over the world. It is happening in India as well. The pace is much slower," S C Garg, who took VRS from government service after he was abruptly shifted out of the finance ministry, said in a note.
In an interview with the Press Trust of India on Sunday, Finance Minister P Chidambaram explained that there was no "antagonism" between his ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
India's gems & jewellery exports witnessed 30.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) contraction in October to $2.17 million, amid the imposition of a steep 50 per cent tariff by the United States (US) on several Indian products.
Ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27, Indian business houses have urged the government to make demergers tax-neutral, particularly in cases involving transfer of investments in associate companies with 25 per cent or more shareholding, under the new Income Tax Act. This may possibly help some companies planning to go public, according to a source.
'Grassroots-level corruption, which disrupts the last-mile work, cannot be ignored in your enthusiasm and drive to get going to complete the project.' 'Like it was in MGNREGA, in some states, it is the case with the Jal Jeevan mission.' 'The last minute levels of corruption can ruin the intent of the project itself.' 'When you see that people can game a particular well-intended and well-crafted project, you need to correct that.'
By enabling real-time data sharing, the platform will help prevent scams and ensure secure transactions.
'If in our cities, all urban bus transport services are free, then the taxpayers are paying for it, or if electricity were to be made free, that's a huge cost to the rest of the people'
'If the near-term economic pain is absorbed more by those who have the ability and the financial strength to do so, then small and medium enterprises in downstream industries will emerge stronger from the trade imbroglio.'
Total pending Customs arrears, including amounts under litigation, court stays and cases where the appeal period has not expired, stood at about Rs 1.36 trillion at the end of December 2024.
A Delhi Police SWAT commando died after allegedly being brutally assaulted by her husband, who reportedly announced the killing during a phone call with the victim's brother. The family alleges prolonged torture and dowry harassment.
The Indian government has appointed Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Pandey, a 1987-batch IAS officer, will replace Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year tenure ends on February 28. Pandey's appointment comes at a time when the markets are experiencing bear pressure due to withdrawals by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Pandey has extensive experience in the finance ministry, having served as the longest-serving secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). He also played a key role in the framing of the 2025-26 Budget and the drafting of the new Income Tax Bill. Pandey's appointment is for an initial period of three years.
A 500 per cent tariff would effectively shut out India's goods and services exports to the US.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has launched an integrated audit across 32 states and Union Territories to assess the ease of doing business for the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.
'Each state is unique, but when it comes to finance, the fundamentals cannot be different.'
The highest collection target has been given to Mumbai at Rs 4.39 trillion, followed by Delhi and Bengaluru.
State Bank of India has 18,000 pending cases and Bank of Baroda has around 1,000 cases.
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