India's peak power demand is projected to hit 270 GW this summer, surpassing last year's record of 250 GW.
With the Union Budget three months away, major industry chambers have submitted to the government proposals on common taxes, seeking simpler compliance and a quicker resolution of tax disputes.
Retirement fund body EPFO has extended the deadline for filing EPF return or ECR (electronic challan-cum-return) by one week for the wage month of September till October 22, 2025. The employers are mandated to file the ECR by the 15th of every month.
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.
'It will increase the contribution to gratuity, which is something the employer has to give.'
India's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) - which contribute over 45 per cent to outbound shipments - are facing a major disruption following the United States (US) decision to impose 50 per cent additional tariffs on the country's exports. MSME industry bodies have raised an alarm over the deep impact, seeking immediate government intervention.
Farmer representatives and agricultural stakeholders urged the government to provide cheaper long-term credit, implement lower taxes, and double the PM-KISAN income support during a comprehensive pre-budget consultation with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday. The two-hour meeting saw a detailed discussion of proposals, aimed at addressing multiple challenges in the agricultural sector, with key demands focusing on financial relief, market reforms, and strategic investments.
'Caring for one's parents is the husband's responsibility, especially if he is the earning member of the family.' 'The wife may be financially dependent on him but that does not create a legal obligation for her to serve or care for her in-laws.'
Businesses are testing new markets, tapping into domestic demand, and pushing the government for relief.
Radical Islamist networks are deliberately targeting Muslim youths embedded within the country's professional and academic ecosystems, leveraging their skills, mobility, and digital reach to quietly strengthen operational capabilities. This trend highlights a dangerous evolution in terror recruitment -- one that exploits ideological faultlines, online echo chambers and transnational radical Islamist influences to attract individuals who outwardly embody India's modern and aspirational narrative, points out Dr Kanchan Lakshman.
The government will set up a special purpose vehicle to push ahead with plans to start manufacturing commercial aircraft in India, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Wednesday as he highlighted the potential of the country's fast-growing aviation sector. The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill 2024, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in August, includes provisions to regulate the design and manufacturing of aircraft, supporting the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative for self-reliance.
India SME Forum, an organisation for small and medium businesses, has called for creating a dedicated fund of Rs 5000 crore for the export capacity development, promotion, and marketing of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in its Budget recommendation. The forum for MSMEs with over 98,000 members said that to enhance India's global competitiveness and increase its market share in global exports, it was "crucial to increase the number of active exporters and enable at least 3-4 lakh first-time micro, small, and medium exporters while supporting them in promoting Indian products globally."
India Inc on Thursday pitched for lowering income tax burden on common man, increase in capital expenditure, and firm steps to contain food inflation in their nearly two-hour long interaction with finance minister Nirmala Shitharaman ahead of the Union Budget. During pre-Budget consultation with Sitharaman, the industry leaders and associations also urged the government to focus more on infrastructure development with a view to maintaining the economic growth momentum. The industry leaders also laid stress on boosting the MSME (micro, small, and medium enterprises) sector, considered a backbone of the Indian economy and main employment generator.
The report suggests that one of the major impacts of COVID-19 on the media and entertainment industry is the instability caused and the downfall in the advertising revenues across all media segments
Industry body PHD Chamber suggested that the government should create a $ 35 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) from the $ 293 billion foreign. reserves.
Leading industry and export chambers like PHDCCI and Federation of Indian Export Organisation on Tuesday demanded 1.0 per cent cut in bank rate and cheaper export finance in Reserve Bank of India's' forthcoming busy season credit policy.
Wholesale inflation fell to a 3-month low of 2.04 per cent in July on decline in prices of food items especially vegetables, government data released on Wednesday showed. The decline in wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation in July came after it rose for four months in a row till June, when it was 3.36 per cent. It was (-) 1.23 per cent in July last year. In April wholesale inflation stood at 1.19 per cent.
India's merchandise exports in April 2024 marginally rose to $34.99 billion from $34.62 billion in the year-ago month, according to government data released on Wednesday. Imports too increased to $54.09 billion from $49.06 billion in April 2023.
The wholesale inflation rose to a 13-month high of 1.26 per cent in April fuelled by rising prices of food articles, especially vegetables, amid expectations of RBI holding interest rates in the policy review next month. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation has been rising for two months in a row.
Three industry bodies suggested changes in India's tax regime in their pre-Budget discussions with Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra in New Delhi on Tuesday. The bodies - Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) - held separate meetings with Malhotra during the day and put across their suggestions for the upcoming Budget.
The government is trying through industry chambers to get corporate world incorporate data on SC/ST recruitment, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Bilateral trade between India and Japan stood at $16.31 billion by the end of fiscal 2013-14.
Bilateral trade between India and Japan stood at $16.31 billion by the end of fiscal 2013-14.
As Chandigarh braces for a fierce contest between Congress candidate Manish Tewari and the BJP's Sanjay Tandon, its industry leaders harbour a fervent wish: Replicate the success of the National Capital Region model in this Union Territory.
Service Tax Commissioner Gautam Bhattacharya asked India Inc to be more pro-active in sharing inputs with government officials.
In an effort to improve Indo-UK bilateral trade, the British Chamber of Commerce and Industry will bring out an India Fact File on September 1, Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Kamalesh Sharma said in London.
The Youth Economics: Career Expectations survey by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry paints an optimistic picture.
Industry chambers on Thursday said all soft drink manufacturers must adhere to international norms, while criticising the government for going slow in implementing stringent rules.
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.
The farmers' agitation against new agri laws will lead to economic loss of over Rs 70,000 crore in the December quarter owing to supply chain disruptions, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and border areas of Delhi, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Thursday. The chamber's president Sanjay Aggarwal said "the 36 days farm agitation so far will have more than Rs 70,000 crore economic loss in the Q3 FY 2020-21 due to...disruption in supply chains and day-to-day economic activities particularly in the progressive states of Punjab and Haryana and border areas of national capital Delhi."
The government will settle almost all the retrospective tax cases this month, closing a chapter that plagued India's reputation as an investment-friendly destination, a top official said on Friday. A 2012 amendment that gave taxmen powers to go back 50 years and slap capital gains levies wherever ownership had changed hands overseas but business assets were in India, was used to raise Rs 1.1 lakh crore demand against multi-nationals such as telecom group Vodafone, pharmaceuticals company Sanofi and brewer SABMiller, now owned by AB InBev, and Cairn Energy Plc. Such demands brought uncertainty in the minds of investors.
Electronic filing of service tax will be made compulsory in the next two months," CBEC member Y G Parande told reporters on the sidelines of a PHD chamber seminar.
Addressing a meet organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi, GAIL chairman and managing director B C Tripathi said his company was laying new pipelines to connect cities like Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Punjab and Haryana.
Expressing concern over India's huge import bills on energy, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the situation regarding the international energy supplies figured promptly during his discussions with the US defence secretary Donald Rumsf
Larsen and Toubro, I-flex and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation were presented PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Awards for Excellence 2004 on Friday.
Non-resident Indians have offered to invest $2.7 billion for developing a city within a city, Minister for Non-Resident Affairs Jagdish Tytler said on Thursday.
Canada and India would soon sign an agreement envisaging greater cooperation in the field of entertainment, especially animation films, Canadian High Commissioner Peter H Sutherland said on Friday.
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