Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday announced a stimulus package for the economy, the third this financial year, cutting excise duty and service tax two percentage points each, effective midnight, and extending previous excise cuts beyond March 31, 2009.
Service tax accounts for one-third of the total indirect tax collection in the country and the government expects to raise Rs 1.8 lakh crore (Rs 1.8 trillion) through the levy this fiscal.
Amid an outcry over record high petrol and diesel prices, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Centre and state governments will have to together work out a mechanism to bring retail rates to reasonable levels.
At present, 70% of the mobile handsets sold in India are imported.
Fiscal deficit in first half of FY19 has already reached 95.3 per cent of full-year budget estimates.
Till now ready-made garments and textile made-ups were under an optional excise duty regime and manufacturers were required to pay duty only if he wishes to avail of the Central value-added tax (Cenvat) credit.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
After much persuasion by the UPA government in the aftermath of the petrol price hike, some Congress-ruled states made part-relaxations in taxes.
Cigarette pricing in India can go the liquor way as ITC, the undisputed leader in the sector, may consider state-specific pricing for its popular brands. This comes after the ad valorem duty imposed in the Union Budget, coupled with the varying value added tax (VAT) rates across states.
Union Budget 2012-13 has been a great disappointment for the Power Plant Equipment makers who were drumming up for imposition of import duty of 14%-19% on mega/UMPP projects, which currently allows concession duty imports.
Fertilizer demand is set to get a boost on account of cheaper credit availability to farmers. Reduction in basic customs duty on some water-soluble fertilizers and liquid fertilizers may increase their usage, resulting in a positive impact on revenues and profitability of fertilizer players.
Oil and gas exploration policy will be reviewed to move from profit sharing to revenue sharing contracts.
Investors shunned shares of oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Friday as they feared that the government's decision to cut retail prices of petrol and diesel could hurt the companies' profit margins in the near term. On Thursday, the government announced that OMCs will reduce pump prices of petrol and diesel after a record 22 months, making them cheaper by Rs 2 per litre in the national capital. The changes were effective from Friday.
The government on Friday slapped an export tax on petrol, diesel and jet fuel (ATF) while also joining nations like the UK in imposing a windfall tax on crude oil produced locally. A Rs 6 per litre tax on export of petrol and ATF and Rs 13 per litre tax on export of diesel is effective from July 1, finance ministry notifications showed. Additionally, a Rs 23,250 per tonne tax was levied on crude oil produced domestically.
The Union government's finances witnessed significant improvement in August after a stressful first four months of the current fiscal year. India's gross tax revenue, comprising both direct and indirect taxes, for the first five months of 2023-24 surged 16.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 11.8 trillion. During the April-July period, gross tax revenue increased by a mere 2.8 per cent compared to the Budget Estimate of 12.1 per cent growth for FY24.
The industry expects 0% duty on all types of fuels, low duty rate of 2% on basic building blocks like benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene etc.; moderate duty rate on Intermediates of 5% and high duty rate on finished products of 7.5%.
Globally, gold declined from the highest level.
GST will lead to consolidation of multiple indirect taxes
Jewellers in Ahmedabad were baton-charged when they tried to block traffic on busy Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway.
Overall the Union Budget 2011-12 has been a balanced budget. The government is moving in right direction with regard to reforms.
Reversing a concession given by the commerce ministry to the embattled exporters in the midst of recession in the West last year, the Central Board of Excise and Customs has directed chief commissioners of customs and excise to recover the drawbacks from exporters who have not realised their proceeds.
The facelift now begins at Rs 399,000.
Govt may not announce any new concessions in excise duty
Petrol and diesel prices on Tuesday were hiked for the sixth time this month, propelling prices to cross the Rs 100-a-litre-mark in places from Nanded in Maharashtra to Rewa in Madhya Pradesh to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. Petrol price was hiked by 27 paise a litre and diesel by 30 paise per litre, according to a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers. The increase took petrol and diesel prices to their highest-ever level across the country. In Delhi, petrol now comes for Rs 91.80 per litre and diesel is priced at Rs 82.36.
Petrol price on Friday scaled to Rs 102 per litre in some parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh after rates were raised for the fourth straight day after ending more than two-week-long hiatus during assembly elections in states like West Bengal. On Friday, petrol price was hiked by a steep 29 paise per litre and diesel by 31 paise a litre, according to a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers. This took the price of petrol in Delhi to Rs 91.27 per litre and that of diesel to Rs 81.73.
Proposal to provide weighted deduction at 150 per cent of expenditure incurred on skill development in manufacturing sector.
GST necessarily includes service tax, but VAT can only be on goods without including service tax
Union Budget 2013-14 was positive for the Aluminium products sector.
5 MMTPA LNG terminal in Dabhol will be fully operational in 2013-14
The rise in excise duty will have a negative impact on FMCG companies, which FMCG companies will pass on to consumer.
In the 2012-13, car sales in India fell 6.69 per cent, which was the first decline in a decade.
In 2015, India chemicals industry had a market size of $144 billion.
Firms also said the excise duty hike by two per cent will be passed on to consumers and it may hurt sales further.
The government seems to have come to the rescue of potential car buyers.
The price reduction by Nissan is in the range of 4 to 6 per cent.
Pharmaceutical companies in Himachal Pradesh are queuing up to register new products at the drugs controller's office before the seven-year tax holiday window for hill states ends on March 31
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth straight Budget ahead of the Parliamentary elections, matching the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which technically is a vote on account and popularly termed an interim Budget, will seek Parliament's nod for a grant in advance to meet the central government's essential expenditure for the first four months of the new fiscal year that starts in April. A new government elected after the April/May general elections will present the full Budget, likely in July.
Overall, the budgetis positive for the Consumer Durables & Electronics Industry.
Petrol will cost Rs 17.46 per litre and diesel Rs 18.07 in Delhi if all duties and taxes on the two fuels are removed, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Tuesday.
