The panel cautioned against falling into a debt trap.
November 8 marks 6 years after demonetisation. A K Bhattacharya reveals how the prime minister and the RBI worked together for months before Modi's 8 pm speech. A riveting excerpt from The Rise Of Goliath: Twelve Disruptions That Changed India.
FIPB rejected the proposal on the grounds that it did not comply with the 26 per cent cap on foreign direct investment in insurance ventures, government sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invited investors here to participate in the proposed divestment of Navratna PSUs
The Railway ministry has been allocated budgetary support of Rs 140367.13 crore in the Union Budget on Tuesday - Rs 20,311 crore more than the revised figures of the previous fiscal. Overall, the national transporter is set to get a capital expenditure (CapEx) push of Rs 2.45 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23, 14 per cent higher than the budgeted capital expenditure of Rs 2.15 lakh crore for the current financial year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech for 2022-23 said that India will manufacture 400 new, energy-efficient Vande Bharat trains in the next three years.
Over the past six months Rajasthan has introduced some of India's most radical free-market labour, land and welfare reform.
The Centre and states are looking to further tighten the GST registration process and legal measures to deal with the rising cases of fake invoicing. A meeting of the law committee of the GST Council has been convened on Wednesday to discuss these issues, finance ministry sources said. The committee, comprising senior central and state tax officers, would also discuss the GST fake invoice frauds, further tightening of the GST registration process and work out other legal measures including necessary law amendment required in the GST Act to curb the menace of fake invoicing, they added. Also the provisions related to deemed registration under Goods and Services Tax (GST) law may be tightened to prevent the misuse of such provisions by fake dealers and the provisions related to suspension of registration may also be streamlined to make the procedure of suspension and cancellation of registration more efficient and faster, so that such fraud operators can be prevented in time from continuing to pass on fake credit down the chain.
Changing tracks helps. But, not taking the beaten path isn't always helpful. This is the story of two of India's biggest privatisations - Air India and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL). Nearly two decades after the last privatisation, a landmark divestment concluded this year when the loss-making national carrier Air India was sold to the Tatas.
The NCLAT said the RBI cannot restrict it from prohibiting banks from 'asset classfication' and observed that any change in this order would upset the entire resolution process of the IL&FS
The move would retain the public sector character of these banks, as the holding company will be wholly owned by the government, finance ministry officials said. This company, in turn, will own a majority stake in the banks.
Senior bureaucrat Tarun Bajaj was appointed revenue secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle by the Centre on Tuesday.
India Post had applied for a bank licence under RBI guidelines issued on February 22, 2013.
The country's exports grew 5.37 per cent year-on-year to $27.24 billion in January 2021, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharma and engineering sectors, according to provisional data of the commerce ministry. Trade deficit during the month narrowed to $14.75 billion from $15.3 billion in January 2020. It was $15.44 billion in December 2020. Imports in January 2021 rose 2 per cent to $42 billion.
Air India Chairman Rajiv Bansal has been appointed as the new aviation secretary as part of a major top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre on Wednesday. K Rajaraman, additional secretary in the department of economic affairs, has been appointed as secretary, department of telecommunications, a personnel ministry order said.
The Income-tax department has conducted searches at multiple premises of Chinese telecom company Huawei in the country as part of a tax evasion investigation, official sources said on Wednesday. The raids were launched at the company's premises in Delhi, Gurugram (Haryana) and Bengaluru in Karnataka on Tuesday. Sources said the officials looked at financial documents, account books and company records as part of a tax evasion investigation against the company, its Indian businesses and overseas transactions.
The appointments committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared Bhalla's appointment as OSD in the ministry with immediate effect.
India's inflation trajectory in the coming months will be influenced more by the geo-political situation due to the war in Europe and its impact on supply chains and commodity prices. However, the country is better placed than most to "weather the storm" and achieve growth of close to 8 per cent in the current fiscal year, the finance ministry said in its latest monthly economic report on Thursday. "Through the channel of imports, elevated global crude and edible oil prices now have a significant impact on India's inflation outlook. "Government measures to keep the prices of these commodities in check, along with the recent hike in policy rates by the RBI, are expected to temper inflationary pressures in the economy," the monthly economic report for April, drafted by the finance ministry's economic division, said.
The central government has agreed in-principle to Air India employees' main demands. It fears an industrial dissension now could impede the process of privatisation. It has agreed to bear the cost of liquidation loss on account of transfer to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) from company-owned trusts, inclusion of employees in the central government health scheme (CGHS), and encashment of leaves. The template of the Air India process will be followed for other public sector undertakings up for privatisation at a later date.
In April 2004, the ministry had permitted banks to purchase new vehicles for replacement or otherwise on "need basis".
Foreign investment firms, especially private equity, are jittery about the Indian market as uncertainty continues to shroud the energy sector.
Employees across segments, including those involved in specialised jobs such as technology, compliance and risk management, have started leaving the bank fold in hordes, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
It was touted as a game changer but big-ticket privatisation has been a mixed bag as the government faces unanticipated challenges of lukewarm investor response, employee union agitation and legal hurdles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's often-repeated statement 'the government has no business to be in business' guided the drawing up of an ambitious privatisation pipeline. While Air India sale succeeded, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) divestment failed.
Valuers have found almost no assets to pay for their claims against the Videocon group that entered the insolvency process in 2018. But the dissenters suggest that the money is elsewhere, possibly in the group's oil and gas assets, which are not part of the group's bankruptcy case.
Inflation print for food articles, as a basket, remained nearly flat at 7.47 per cent during the month.
India's current account deficit is expected to deteriorate in the current fiscal on account of costlier imports and tepid merchandise exports, according to the Finance Ministry's monthly economic review. The review released on Thursday by the ministry also said that global headwinds would continue to pose a downside risk to growth as crude oil and edibles, which have driven inflation in India, remain major imported components in the consumption basket. For the present, it said, "their global prices have softened, as fears of recession have dampened prices somewhat. This would weaken inflationary pressures in India and rein in inflation."
Reliance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging over 3 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy, Maruti and ITC.
A government panel said policymakers and regulators should have an open mind regarding the introduction of an official digital currency in India.
The immediate concern for all companies is to prepare themselves - and their vendors and suppliers - for the new GST return filing mechanism, being test piloted from April 1.
So far 2,06,024 pensioners have submitted DLCs.
Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg is the finance ministry's primary liaison with the RBI.
In a festival gift to borrowers, the finance ministry on Wednesday approved guidelines for a scheme for grant of ex-gratia payment of the difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months of loans up to Rs 2 crore.
Tata Sons has emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of debt-laden State-run airline Air India but the bid is yet to be approved by a group of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said.
India's exports recorded a flat growth of 0.59 per cent to $31.99 billion in November, even as trade deficit widened to $23.89 billion during the month, according to the data released by the government on Thursday. Exports stood at $31.8 billion in November last year. Imports rose by 5.37 per cent to $55.88 billion in November as compared to $53.03 billion in the corresponding month a year ago, the data showed. During April-November 2022, exports rose by 11 per cent to $295.26 billion as against $265.77 billion in the same month last year.
Tuesday's meeting at the PM's residence, attended by all the five secretaries in the finance ministry besides top officials of other economic ministries and NITI Aayog, cleared a five-year vision plan for the government to make India a $5-trillion economy by 2024.
A lot of work is needed to be done on the part of the insurance sector behemoth, and the government, before it is ready for its market debut.
The Panama Paper leaks were originally revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on April 4, 2016, following which, the government had set up the MAG to probe the matter.
The finance ministry has asked public sector banks to monitor cases where insolvency proceedings could be initiated against individuals who are guarantors of corporate debtors that have defaulted on loans.
India Inc on Thursday pitched for continuation of reforms while ensuring tax and policy stability in the forthcoming Budget to prop up the economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the virtual pre-Budget consultation held with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, industry chambers said that government measures will help firmly entrench the nascent signs of recovery being currently seen in private investment. Capital expenditure by the government through enhanced infrastructure spending should in the meantime continue to support growth, CII president TV Narendran said.
As per ICC norm, the host nation is required to get tax exemption from the government for hosting tournaments organised by the global body. Since India's tax rules don't allow such exemptions, the BCCI has already lost close to Rs 193 crore as the government didn't exempt tax surcharge for hosting the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup. The ICC is expecting US$ 533.29 million (Rs 4400 crores approx) from the broadcasting revenue of the 2023 event in India.
ICAI intends to investigate the chartered accountants of PNB but the bank allegedly refuses to give the information sought.