Buckling under pressure from various quarters, the government on Monday withdrew the harsh provisions relating to excise and customs duty evasion cases. In Finance Bill 2012-13, it had earlier proposed to make certain excise and customs duty evasion cases non-bailable until the court had heard the public prosecutor.
In a significant policy shift aimed at boosting agri-productivity and rural prosperity, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new agricultural schemes while increasing the subsidised Kisan Credit Card loan limit to Rs 5 lakh from the existing Rs 3 lakh, benefiting 7.7 crore farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman has presented a forward-looking Budget, reinforcing the government's commitment to 'Reform, Perform, and Transform'.
According to experts, even if an additional 5 per cent of people opt to buy new vehicles, it may bring a huge boost to the sector.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has booked cases at Mumbai and Delhi against private airlines Jet Airways and Air Sahara for non-payment of customs duty, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
'The scrapping of import duty would help Indian companies compete in international markets, thus paving the way for India becoming a space manufacturing hub for the world.'
Anticipating US action on tariffs, India seems to have made the first move by revamping its tariff structure by reducing the slabs to eight rates, points out Mukesh Butani.
India should accelerate the pace of reduction of customs duty rather than merely carry on building up the foreign exchange reserves, according to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former finance secretary and one of the authors of India's economic reforms.
'Additionally, the significant employment multiplier will boost direct and indirect jobs of up to 1.1 million.'
The government will cut excise and customs duty on petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene to contain the effect of spike in international crude oil prices, which touched an all-time high of $47 a barrel.
Gold prices tumbled by Rs 3,350 to Rs 72,300 per 10 grams in the local market in New Delhi on Tuesday amid subdued demand by jewellers after the government announced the customs duty cut on the yellow metal and silver to 6 per cent.
The government may cut customs duty on petrol and diesel by 5 per cent each to avoid increasing prices that had been necessitated due to a spurt in international oil prices.
As domestic metal prices will rise faster than global prices if customs duty on metals is hiked, the capital goods sector seeks retaining them at current levels.
The Union government is likely to cut import duties on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to cushion the impact of high international crude oil prices on the domestic market.
Market reaction to the Union Budget was overall neutral. The income tax "gift" wasn't enough to move the needle. There was some apparent rationalisation of Customs duty structure as well as cuts on import duties of some key components for the telecom and IT industry and duty cuts on vehicle imports. Other proposals related to development of agriculture and rural economy and renewables seem to be generally positive.
'When compared to many of America's treaty allies in Asia, Modi 3.0 is on a much stronger footing.'
Government should provide a level playing field to domestic manufacturers by making customs duty @ 10 per cent, CVD @ NIL and SAD @ 4 per cent on all categories of power projects including power generation, transmission and distribution projects in line with other infrastructure projects like roads, airports, ports, railways, transport terminals, bridges, tunnels and dams.
Of the total proposed allocation, over Rs 1 lakh crore is meant for BSNL and MTNL-related expenses, including Rs 82,916 crore infusion in BSNL for technology upgradation and restructuring at BSNL.
'Customers are coming in; if they aren't buying, they are at least visiting the stores, which was not the case before the Budget.'
Any reduction in the customs duty on smartphone parts in the forthcoming budget will harm India's developing component ecosystem, discourage investment, increase imports, and make local firms uncompetitive, potentially resulting in job losses, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. India's smartphone industry is a 'Make in India' success story, with 2023-24 production reaching $49.2 billion and exports at $15.6 billion, making smartphones the fourth-largest export after diesel, aviation fuel, and polished diamonds.
Exemption of custom duty on coal would help Chlor Alkali companies to lower their power cost wherever they have captive power generation based on coal.
Driven by smartphone, electronics exports have reached $22.5 billion in value in the first eight months of the current financial year (FY25), a near 28 per cent growth over the $17.66 billion electronics exports during the corresponding period of FY24.
In a moved aimed at bringing inflation under control, the government cut customs duty on 11 product categories, including portland cement, capital goods, project imports and raw materials, late Monday night.
Following the lacklustre growth numbers in the second quarter (Q2FY25), economists believe the upcoming Union Budget for 2025-26 should focus on reforms that will stimulate consumption, manufacturing and spur employment. India's growth unexpectedly slowed to 5.4 per cent in the second quarter, due to low capital formation, weak consumption, besides adverse weather impact.
US President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to impose high tariffs on three of its trading partners, including China will provide huge export opportunities for India and the domestic industry should prepare itself to tap into that, Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said on Wednesday. Trump last week vowed to introduce 25 per cent tariffs (or customs duty) on imports from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 per cent on China.
10 largecaps stocks which stand to gain from the Budget.
'... that it once again shies away from renewing its commitment to strategic divestment,' points out A K Bhattacharya.
Highlights of the Union Budget 2024-25 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
'He needs to see results while he is in office.'
Gold, silver and other precious metals along with imported mobile phones, certain cancer drugs and medical devices are set to become cheaper with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing cuts in customs duty in the Union Budget 2024-25.
Considering rising dumping of steel into India, steel sector seeks hike in customs duty on steel and steel products from 5% to 15%, and hike export duty on iron ore.
Excise duty at 4% should be imposed on man-made fibres, POY and filament yarns.
Exporters on Thursday sought a fund of Rs 750 crore for three years to tap USD 25 billion export potential in the US, aiming to seize potential opportunities that may arise as the US President-elect, Donald Trump, has threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods. In its pre-Budget meeting with the finance ministry, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwani Kumar has also demanded extension of the five per cent Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES).
The company is eyeing sales of 8,000 units per month for the Kylaq, which starts at Rs 7.89 lakh (ex-showroom) and boasts 96 per cent localisation.
The revised duty will come into effect from midnight on February 24.
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