Petroleum and oil marketing companies raised the price of commercial liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders by Rs 350.50 per unit and domestic LPG cylinders by Rs 50 per unit with immediate effect from Wednesday.
While the Centre is criticised for not cutting excise duty on petroleum products, it is the states which gain more from the rise in their prices
According to FADA, automobile retail trade and service industry comprises a network of 9,500 automobile dealers and their service stations engaged in sale, service/repair and spares of vehicles across segments, is an essential link in automotive business and a significant stakeholder.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that the government would talk to its allies on the issue of fuel price hike but gave enough hints that a rollback would be difficult.
The FMCG sector's demand growth will be powered by effective reduction in the personal taxes and increased allocation under NREGA, though hike in excise duty lead inflation is a cause for concern
On the other hand, mobile accessories, medical equipment energy efficient CFL lamps, set top boxes, compact disc, toys and books will be cheaper on account of some tax concessions offered on these items by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Union Budget for 2010-11.
The sale of branded petrol and diesel, considered to be more efficient, has dipped by 27 and 50 per cent, respectively, in 2010-11 over the previous year (see chart), despite OMCs selling the products at a thin margin of less than a rupee.
The Reserve Bank is expected to go for another rate hike of 0.40 per cent at the scheduled review of the monetary policy next week, a foreign brokerage said on Friday. The central bank's rate setting panel will follow it up with a 0.35 per cent hike in rates at the next review in August, or make it into a 0.50 per cent hike next week and a 0.25 per cent increase in August, to make the total quantum of rate hikes at 0.75 per cent, the report by Bofa Securities said. On May 4, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked rates by 0.40 per cent, and Governor Shaktikanta Das has already called a rate hike at the forthcoming review as a "no brainer" given the pressure to maintain its core mandate of inflation in the targeted band of under 6 per cent.
The industry body also asked for extending cost subsidies to all cold chain projects ranging from 25-50 per cent of the total cost.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, through a notification on February 12, has slashed the duty on both the variants of motorcycles imported as completely build units (CBU) to 50 per cent.
Leading carmakers are considering raising prices of their vehicles across the board, if the government withdraws the excise duty benefit in the coming Budget.
For every rupee in the government coffer, 70 paise will come from direct and indirect taxes, while the government will spend 23 paise towards the states' share of taxes and duties.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday hinted at more changes in tax structure and phasing out of subsidies for textile sector while promising measures to facilitate additional investment
References to the repealed laws for service tax, purchase tax, etc, continue in the SEZ laws.
The government package, different from the RBI's announcements, is likely to be unveiled on Sunday by the prime minister's office, a source said. The government is expected to announce several fiscal measures such as cut in excise duty on some products, to boost the growth.
Calling upon the automobile manufacturers, realty firms and airlines to reduce prices, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday promised to consider excise duty cut for the sectors which are facing the heat of global financial meltdown.
The death toll in the Malad hooch tragedy on Saturday climbed to 84 even as the Excise department suspended four of its officials in connection with the incident.
The much awaited new indirect tax regime Goods and Service Tax (GST) is unlikely to be implemented from the scheduled date of April 1, 2011, a top government official said on Tuesday.
Common items between Centre and states - bread, eggs, milk, vegetables, cereals, books and salt - will continue to be exempted.
OCL India Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 37.70 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2002 as compared to Rs 6.50 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2001.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Ahluwalia on Tuesday ruled out any more stimulus package for industry as the Budget has given a substantial boost to the slowing economy.
P&G announced on Wednesday that it was reducing the prices of select stock keeping units of Whisper and Pampers by three and 15 per cent, respectively.
The government on Monday expressed its commitment to introduce a uniform indirect tax structure across the country, GST, from the next fiscal after consultation with states.
Total sales of vehicles across categories registered 21.32 per cent growth to 13,70,932 units in February, 2011.
"The December and February stimulus packages, which included a cumulative 4 percentage point excise duty cut, have helped the industry register this growth," said Nandi, adding that the festive season would bring more cheer, unlike last year, when the slowdown was taking effect.
Kamal Nandi is a relieved man. As vice-president (sales & marketing) of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing, Nandi has been seeing sales back on track for the last two months.
Grains, non-mineral water might be on the list; biscuits, butter and cheese might attract GST
Jet fuel prices on Thursday were hiked by the steepest ever 16 per cent to catapult rates to an all-time high in step with hardening international oil rates.
"Eighteen large tax payers have already given their consent to join the unit, which will be inaugurated by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday," an income tax official said in Mumbai on Monday. Rashtriya Chemical Fertiliser, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Bayer (India) Ltd, Cipla Ltd, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Bank of India and Union Bank of India are some of the major companies which have decided to come under LTU, the official said.
Union Budget 2010-11 has been fairly good for the power sector.
Prakash Karat, general secretary of Communist party of India-Marxist, termed the Budget 'flawed'. While speaking to rediff.com, he said, "The increase in indirect taxes will add to inflation. The government is neither going to achieve growth nor it will be able to contain inflation with this budget."
A day before the Budget, the Economic Survey on Thursday predicted up to 8.75 per cent growth in 2010-11 while recommending a gradual roll back of stimulus -- a move that could entail hike in excise duty and service tax.This is what the Economic Survey 2009-10 says!
The bench said the ED officers acting under the Section 19(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot ignore or not consider the material which exonerates the arrestee.
He also asserted that no one can take the place of Kejriwal in the AAP.
The government has already allowed reimbursement of service tax on about 19 services used by exporters while selling goods overseas. These include commission paid to foreign agents whose services are subscribed by exporters to book orders with overseas clients. However, a list of 16 services used by exporters is not reimbursed. These include service tax paid on bank charges, packaging services and travel agents' services.
The government will unveil a second stimulus package to give the economy traction through measures aimed at aiding specific sectors, including auto, realty and small and medium enterprises.
Automakers have asked the government to halve the excise duty on cars and utility vehicles to 16 per cent to spur demand.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The gross tax revenues have touched 65 per cent of the Budget estimates at Rs 17.81 lakh crore during the first eight months of the current fiscal till November, propelled by corporate and personal income tax mop-up, according to the Economic Survey 2022-23 presented in Parliament on Tuesday. The survey, authored by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, said the 'substantial reforms' in India's taxation ecosystem post-2014 and policy reforms have removed the distortionary incentives from the economy. Reforms like GST, reduction in corporate taxes, exemption of sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from taxes, and removing Dividend Distribution tax have reduced the tax burden on individuals and businesses.
