Britannia Industries is looking to drive volume-led growth as it looks to target regions, consumer-centric products and distribution. The company also wants to make sure that it is price-competitive in each of the regions.
The exemption of individual life and health insurance premiums from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) enables the insurance industry to make products affordable and attractive, said Ajay Seth, chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025.
The change in the government's engagement with the economy's need for reforms is more nuanced than how analysts have so far perceived it, points out A K Bhattacharya.
After issuing notices to hotels across the country for allegedly underpaying goods and services tax (GST) on restaurant services, the revenue department has now widened its scrutiny by seeking information from online travel platforms.
These losses increase insurance premiums for customers and reduce insurer margins on the other.
India's manufacturing sector activity eased to a nine-month low in November, mainly owing to softer rise in sales and production amid reports of challenging market conditions, a monthly report said on Monday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) falling to 56.6 in November from 59.2 in October, highlighted the slowest improvement in operating conditions since February.
Companies are squeezing more profits from their operations relative to the capital they put to work, the highest now since 2011. Profit after tax relative to capital employed came in at 10.47 per cent in September, shows data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), higher than the 8.41 per cent seen in September last year. This is the highest since March 2010.
Customs duty cannot be levied on electricity supplied from a special economic zone (SEZ) to the domestic market, ruled the Supreme Court on Monday while upholding Adani Power's appeal against a 2019 judgment of the Gujarat high court. The 2019 judgment had denied relief to Adani Power from Customs duty on electricity supplied from its Mundra SEZ unit to the domestic tariff area (DTA).
Recent years have been turbulent for the insurance industry due to direct and indirect tax reforms, regulatory overhaul and other external pressures. The events cumulatively slowed growth rate to single digits from the high teens seen earlier.
As the rupee has been on a downward slide and crossed 90 a dollar, consumer electronics firms are looking to raise prices of products ranging from air conditioners (ACs) to television panels up to 10 per cent.
The consolidated net profit of Marico, the maker of Parachute coconut oil, declined 0.7 per cent in the second quarter (July-September) of 2025-26 (Q2FY26).
While top officials of the force, which protects the country's vital installations like nuclear plants and airports, say the service tax is to be paid by its clients and not by CISF and hence there is nothing to be worried about, middle level and ground personnel say they are upset on being 'compared to guards of other private security agencies'.
Both the life and non-life insurance segment posted over 20 per cent premium growth in November for the first time in this financial year (FY26), supported by the reduction in goods and services tax (GST) on premiums from 18 per cent to zero and a favourable base effect.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
Eighteen new-age technology firms went public during the year, a near triple increase from the five firms that debuted in 2023 and 38 per cent more than 2024's tally of 13.
In October, small car wholesales of the auto industry -- excluding Tata Motors -- went up by 8.4 per cent Y-o-Y to 116,601 units, the data showed. However, the utility vehicle (UV) segment which includes sports utility vehicles (SUVs) as well as multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), saw a bigger growth in October.
While clarifying the provisions of service tax to be levied on services provided by air conditioned restaurants with licence to serve liquor, the CBEC said the value added tax excluded from the taxable value.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) have tightened noose on commercial renting of immovable property and telephone companies by receiving information through other sources to detect any possible evasion of service tax.
Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS release a joint manifesto for Mumbai civic polls, promising free power, allowances for domestic helps, and property tax waivers.
While GST on ICE vehicles was brought down significantly, for electric cars it remained at 5 per cent.
In October 2024, Jindal Stainless challenged a Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice in the Delhi high court. It was about corporate guarantees issued to related parties by its former group company, Jindal Stainless (Hisar), before their merger in March 2023.
Many of the legal outfits, which provide consultancy services to corporates that include drafting merger and acquisition agreements, preparing MoUs, rendering advice etc, operate as sole proprietorships.
Gross GST collection rose 9.1 per cent to over Rs 1.89 lakh crore in September on the back of increased sales due to rate rationalisation, as per government data released on Wednesday.
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As of September, account for bulk of applications for availing of the government's amnesty scheme.
The reduction in the goods and services tax (GST) rates has increased the momentum in India's economic activity both on the supply and demand sides, while robust agricultural activity - reflected in the strong onset of rabi sowing and adequate reservoir levels - has reinforced the outlook for food supply and rural incomes, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
The core dilemma remains: Why provide further stimulus to an economy that is already booming at an 8 per cent growth rate? asks Rajeswari Sengupta.
Even as non-life insurers reported muted premium growth in October, standalone health insurers saw a robust 38 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) surge. This growth was driven by pent-up demand in the retail health insurance segment.
The Union Budget, while keeping the service tax rate unchanged at 10 per cent, has expanded its ambit to include services provided by legal consultancy and advisory firms. The tax would, however, not be applicable if the service provider or receiver is an individual.
The proposed 'Next Gen GST' with sweeping reforms, lower tax rates, and just two slabs, aims to boost the economy amid tariff threats and set the stage for a single tax rate regime by the time India becomes a developed nation, government sources said.
Traders on Tuesday threatened to launch a nation-wide agitation to protest against imposition of service tax.
In the mid-1990s, when the shares of listed companies first began to be held in electronic form, they accounted for less than 1 per cent of the stocks bought and sold on the stock exchanges. This climbed to 99.5 per cent by 2001.
Some restaurants and hotels are adding 'service charges'.
ICICI Bank on Wednesday said tax authorities have slapped a demand notice of Rs 49.11 crore on it for alleged short payment of GST.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Following Axis Max Life Insurance's second-quarter results for 2025-26, Sumit Madan, managing director and chief executive officer of the company, speaks to Aathira Varier and Subrata Panda/Business Standard about growth aspirations, strategies to offset the impact of the input tax credit (ITC) withdrawal, reverse merger plans, and more.
Nearly 96 per cent of new applicants will benefit from this simplified approval route.
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