The suspense over the possible composition of the National Democratic Alliance cabinet is nearly over.
New exchange will provide an electronic platform for trading.
Budget planners for now have been told to prepare with the assumption that GST will apply from April 1.
The infrastructure spending target for 2020-25 was revised because of additional and amended data provided by central ministries, state governments since the release of the summary NIP Report in December 2019 when it was pegged at Rs 100 trillion.
The Union government will limit its investigations to financial irregularities and tax violations by the Indian Premier League (IPL), its 10 franchisees, as well as the broadcaster. The government does not want to interfere in the functioning of existing sports institutions, a top functionary of the finance ministry said.
The defence budget was increased to Rs 5.94 lakh crore for 2023-24, up from last year's allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore.
It emphasised that agricultural infrastructure needs considerable investments and hence Section 80IA benefits must be extended to all such investments like IT infrastructure, computers, VSAT, solar panels, water harvesting facilities, storage etc.
The silver lining for India's presidency is likely to be the support by almost all G20 countries to its proposal to include the African Union as a permanent member of the bloc that has emerged as perhaps the most influential multilateral forum after the United Nations.
The aim of the exercise was to further simplify GST forms and make the filing process more user-friendly, the finance ministry said in a tweet, reports Dilasha Seth.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a meeting to discuss the preparations for launching Doordarshan's 'Kisan TV' on May 26, to coincide with the first anniversary celebrations of the National Democratic Alliance government.
The finance ministry on Wednesday allowed all private sector banks to participate in government-related business, like collection of taxes. pension payments and small savings schemes. At the moment, only few large private sector are allowed to conduct government-related business.
G C Murmu rarely speaks in public and when he does, his statements are always in lockstep with the thinking within this government.
Former CAG Rajiv Mehrishi says Centre has held back a report he submitted to the President, to end what he called "a nightmare of accounts that militates against good governance".
He said that even the security of the Supreme Court would have been put to a serious risk if any untoward incident were to happen.
PSB executives said loans to group holding company IL&FS and entities might still be treated as "standard".
It is unclear if he would be renamed the finance minister soon after his return.
Many farmers in drought hit states are seeking MGNREGA work but the state government's coffers do not have enough fund to pay the salaries of these workers.
Kaushik Basu, chief economic advisor in the finance ministry, said, "All I can say is, we are very serious about fiscal consolidation, and intend holding on to our fiscal targets, even if the crude price rises on a sustained basis."
Earlier this year, the Union Cabinet gave the management of state-run companies the freedom to decide on divesting their subsidiaries. However, the very next day a meeting was held at the top level of the Government of India, for the presentation of proposals for more autonomy for state-run companies. Interestingly, no chiefs of any of these companies were invited. It is a problem that will stare the government in the face with the state-owned banks too, as talks have again begun for inviting strategic investments in these companies.
Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday downplayed the row over the finance ministry note on Home Minister P Chidambaram's stand on the 2G spectrum issue, saying there is no scope for any worry over the document and inferences drawn out of it were "not correct". Khurshid also said the note was not worth keeping the media "preoccupied" for such a long time. "I have seen the note. I don't think the note has anything on which we should express worry," Khurshid said.
The commerce ministry is proposing a host of direct and indirect incentives such as deferral of import duties and exemption from export taxes to revamp Special Economic Zones through a new legislation, an official said. In the Union Budget this year, the government proposed to replace the existing law governing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) with a new legislation to enable states to become partners in 'Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs' (DESH). The official said the commerce ministry has sought views of different ministries, including finance, on the new bill.
Union Commerce and Industries Minister Kamal Nath on Friday said he disagreed with the finance ministry on the controversial fringe benefit tax, saying the tax laws should be made simpler.
Outward remittances under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) surged by 50.64 per cent to $9.1 billion in the April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24), driven by healthy growth across segments due to a revision in the timeline of tax collected at source under the LRS scheme and normalisation in international travel. Major drivers include equity and debt investments, deposits, and the international travel segment, among others. According to the latest RBI data, the amount remitted under LRS stood at $9.1 billion in Q1FY24, compared with $6.05 billion in the same quarter last year.
He said there was a tradition in the country to speak in one voice on issues such as external affairs and national security but there has been a departure from it in the last few years.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has unilaterally withdrawn the defamation case filed against Arun Jaitley, the Union finance minister.
Retirement fund body EPFO's trustees on February 5 will decide on amending its scheme to provide a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000, which will immediately benefit its 27 lakh pensioners.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered setting up of a six-member committee headed by former apex court judge Justice A M Sapre to investigate the recent Adani group shares crash triggered by the Hindenburg Research's fraud allegations and other regulatory aspects related to stock markets.
On July 31, one of the five shortlisted companies, IRB Infrastructure, had said it would not bid for MTHL.
Former Defence Minister A K Antony also demanded making public the inter-governmental agreement with France. He wondered how India would bridge the gap with respect to China and Pakistan by acquiring just 36 aircraft when the original plan was for 126.
Sources in the Rural Development Ministry said the actual expenditure incurred in 2020-21 will be higher than the allocated funds and it will at least be at par with this year's total estimated expenditure of MGNREGS.
Glimpses of the protests in Colombo against the worsening economic crisis
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi has written to Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha who is likely to consult the parliamentary affairs ministry before framing his response on the government's plans to advance the budget presentation to February 1, sources said.
'The finance minister has messed up the economy.'
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