India's latest bid round for 21 oil and gas blocks attracted just three bidders, two of whom were state-owned explorers Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL), according to upstream regulator DGH. As many as 21 blocks or areas were offered for exploration and production of oil and gas in the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Round-VI, for which bidding closed on October 6. Besides ONGC and OIL, Sun Petrochemicals was the only other company to have bid, according to 'Summary of Bids Received Against Offered Blocks' posted by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).
The Centre on Tuesday permitted 20 states to raise Rs 68,825 crore through open market borrowings to bridge the GST revenue shortfall.
The government should bring natural gas under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for a gas-based economy and raising the share of the environment-friendly fuel in India's energy basket, an industry body that represents the likes of Reliance Industries as well as state-owned firms, has said. Natural gas is currently outside the ambit of GST, and existing legacy taxes -- central excise duty, state VAT, central sales tax -- continue to be applicable on the fuel. In its pre-Budget memorandum to the finance ministry, Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI), which boasts of members from across the oil and gas spectrum, also demanded rationalisation of GST on transportation of natural gas through pipeline as well as on re-gasification of imported LNG to help bring down cost of the environment friendly fuel.
What could be more uncertain than Virat Kohli's agonising wait for a century for over two years? Perhaps it's what you will pay tomorrow morning to fill your vehicle's tank. Pump prices have joined cricket scores as the country's favourite discussion topic. Steep increases invite widespread protests, while moderate additions make the government anti-reformist. The ongoing fuel price conundrum is no different.
Assembly elections coming up in November and December could offer a window of opportunity to the government to make GST attractive through rate cuts.
A businesswoman from Gujarat tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar what she would like to see in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget.
By any economic theory or doctrine, this is no Budget that supports economic recovery, whether through supporting aggregate demand, or through expansionary stimulus, declares Rathin Roy.
The mop-up could have been much higher, but tax on imports fell 2 per cent y-o-y.
The oil sector has been quite lucky for the Modi government. It has often provided an opportunity to the government to mend its finances, notes A K Bhattacharya.
When the Centre collects money through cess, it can retain the entire fund for the particular scheme.
If international crude oil prices zoom past the current level of about $90 per barrel and move towards $100 and beyond, middle-class consumers are not going to keep quiet about their discomfort, points out Arun Balakrishnan, former chairman and managing director, Hindustan Petroleum.
Optimistic buying in blue-chip stocks ahead of release of industrial production data for July and retail inflation for August drove stocks higher.
Participating in the debate on the budget, leaders of parties like the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party and Left launched an all-out attack on the BJP government for allegedly selling off the country's assets and PSUs to big industrialists.
Higher reliance on GST receipts for revenue reduces states' autonomy as these receipts depend on tax rates decided by the GST Council, a report by Delhi-based non-profit, PRS Legislative Research shows.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced increasing customs duty on imported footwear and furniture. In her second Budget presentation, the finance minister also imposed health cess on import of medical equipment.
The move comes after the Punjab assembly earlier this month adopted a resolution against the farm laws and unanimously passed four bills to counter the Centre's contentious legislations.
The ministry of labour & employment has now been mandated to seek the 12-digit unique identification number Aadhaar from people like employees and unorganised sector workers seeking registration, benefits, availing services or receiving any payment under various schemes under the Social Security Code 2020. Aadhaar would not be made mandatory for delivery of services under various social security schemes under the purview of the ministry because Social Security Code 2020 has not been fully implemented so far. The rules under the Code are finalised by the ministry but those rules are yet to be notified.
Banerjee asked Modi not to allow "an insufferable blow to the federalist polity of the nation" by depriving the states of the GST compensation. "I am deeply anguished by the Goods and Services Tax imbroglio which tantamounts to a betrayal of the trust and moral responsibility of the Government of India towards the states, violating the very premise of federalism."
'Tax cuts will have only marginal effects in the short run and significant positive effects in the medium term,' says Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
Reaching a consensus might also get tougher, as already seen with issues like inclusion of natural gas in GST and imposition of a sugar cess, both central proposals being resisted.
How do you feel about Modi 2.0's first Budget? Does it meet your expectations? Or do you feel let down?
Sitharaman said surcharges on individuals having taxable income of Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore; and Rs 5 crore and more have been raised.
GST revenue for the month of June stood at Rs 92,849 crore, a 2 per cent increase over the same month a year ago, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of June 2021 stands at Rs 92,849 crore of which central GST is Rs 16,424 crore, state GST Rs 20,397, Integrated GST Rs 49,079 crore (including Rs 25,762 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 6,949 crore (including Rs 809 crore collected on import of goods), the ministry said. The GST revenues for the month of June 2021 are 2 per cent higher than Rs 90,917 crore collected in June 2020.
On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, rallying over 11 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC, M&M and Axis Bank. On the other hand, Dr Reddy's, Tech Mahindra and TCS were among the laggards.
Before 2019, an estimated 22 million individual income-tax returns did not have to pay any taxes. But after the change in the exemption level, another 13 million individual tax returns did not require to pay taxes. Thus, of about 58 million returns, as much as 63 per cent or 35 million went out of the direct tax net, A K Bhattacharya points out.
The shortfall in the Centre's GST collections has raised concerns over it meeting the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP, reports Ishan Bakshi.
Stocks to watch: Container Corp, Snowman Logistics & Transport Corp
Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill, after approving more than two dozen official amendments, by voice vote, thus completing the Budgetary exercise for 2019-20 in the Lower House.
After the 2019 election, one thing is sure: GST will see a number of changes, explains Indivjal Dhasmana.
In Budget 2015, the finance minister has opted to take the slow road and has doubled the cess on coal to "balance the need to tax pollution and the price of power" in his words.
Two issues dog the sale of the national carrier. One is the $2 billion bank guarantee the winning bidder will need to furnish. The other is the nearly 5000 lawsuits filed against Air India, many of them overseas. Anjuli Bhargava reports.
The oil crisis could not have come at a worse time for the Modi government as its tax collection has fallen short of its 2020-2021 target by Rs 5.2 lakh crore.
'We have already given Rs 1.59 trillion to states.' 'So, there is no question of giving them more.'
The challenge before the government now is to use the factors that are favourable to its benefit.
The total gross GST revenue collected in the month of June, 2019 is Rs 99,939 crore
That's a big change that was made possible due to corporate tax cuts. Corporation tax collection in FY22 will be lower than even the FY18 levels, reports
The GST Council on Friday left taxes on COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies unchanged after the BJP- and Opposition-ruled states sparred over whether tax cut benefits will reach the common man. Congress and other Opposition ruled states have been demanding a reduction in taxes but the central government felt the move may not result in tangible gains for people. "It is one thing to rush to say - do this, it will benefit the common man. But when the technical, fitment and law committees go into the details, you realise that that could have collateral impact on many others," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. "I am not talking about the revenue generation aspect, but how many other items will get included in it as a result of which how you are going to implement it," she added.
Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections at Rs 95,480 crore in September touched the highest level so far this fiscal, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
Rationalisation of rates will be taken up for smaller items that do not have major revenue implications but are commonly consumed at the GST Council meet on Saturday
Mercedes sells models ranging from A Class to Maybach, priced between Rs 28 lakh and Rs 1.67 crore.
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