Finance ministry asks bank, insurance & market regulators to issue notifications
GST collections rose 12 per cent to over Rs 1.61 lakh crore in June, the finance ministry said on Saturday. The gross GST collection has crossed Rs 1.60 lakh crore mark for the fourth time since the roll-out of the indirect tax regime six years ago on July 1, 2017. The average monthly gross GST collection for the first (April-June) quarter of the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 are Rs 1.10 lakh crore, Rs 1.51 lakh crore and Rs 1.69 lakh crore, respectively, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Owing to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman being new to her role, a number of crucial announcements in the Budget bore Garg's imprint, especially the decision to borrow in overseas markets, reduce the fiscal deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product, and resort to off-Budget borrowing to meet that target, says Arup Roychoudury.
Farmer representatives and agricultural stakeholders urged the government to provide cheaper long-term credit, implement lower taxes, and double the PM-KISAN income support during a comprehensive pre-budget consultation with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday. The two-hour meeting saw a detailed discussion of proposals, aimed at addressing multiple challenges in the agricultural sector, with key demands focusing on financial relief, market reforms, and strategic investments.
Finance ministry has halved the tax rate on foreign dividend from 30 per cent to 15 per cent, but the rebate is allowed only for the financial year 2011-12.
The Union Budget 2025-26 on Saturday allocated Rs 2,33,210.68 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs with the majority of the fund -- Rs 1,60,391.06 crore -- being given to central police forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which are responsible for internal security, border guarding and security of vital installations.
In order to boost its deposit base, State Bank of India (SBI) is focusing on various segments, including JanDhan account holders, trusts, societies, and the segment below the affluent class but above the normal account holders. According to Ashwini Tewari , managing director, SBI, the bank is focusing on three broad segments. One is wealth banking, where the bank is focusing on individuals who perhaps do not qualify for private banking but are above regular accounts and require individual attention.
'I think today RBI supervision is much sharper than what it was earlier.'
Public-sector lenders Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and Uco Bank are likely to raise funds through qualified institutional placement (QIP) next month. Punjab & Sind Bank is likely to follow suit later this financial year to meet the public shareholding norm of 25 per cent. When a public-sector unit raises funds through QIP, the money goes to the company because it involves issuing new shares whereas in the case of offer for sale (OFS), the money raised goes to the government because its shares are sold.
The deportation of Indians from the United States, deaths in the Maha Kumbh stampede and the joint Parliamentary committee report on the Waqf bill were among the issues that led to heated exchanges and some disruptions in an otherwise smooth first part of the Budget session that ended on Thursday.
Any government support or incentive to help exporters deal with high freight and insurance costs is unlikely.
Proliferation of home chargers of around 7 KWh and above, which take six to seven hours to fully charge a car depending on the model, bring running costs down by a third or so. That, coupled with the increasing range of modern electric cars, can lead to a massive increase in sales.
Top government officials in New Delhi have started discussions with stakeholders ranging from shipping and container companies to export promotion councils to understand the impact of the Iran-Israel tensions and plan ahead. Inter-ministerial talks are also being lined up amid the crisis situation in West Asia, sources confirmed. While the crude flows are not directly under any threat, elevated oil prices remain a concern, according to officials.
India is pushing for greater disclosures by credit card companies, fintech firms, and payment aggregators (PAs) at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), so that the sender and recipient in a cross-border financial transaction can be easily identified and the information shared with law enforcement agencies. Separately, the inter-governmental group, which sets standards to curb money laundering, will release the fourth round of its mutual evaluation report on India on September 19. FATF in June had adopted the mutual evaluation report on India and placed the country in the "regular follow-up" category - the highest rating given by the global watchdog and a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries.
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.
Cricket icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni and industrialist Anand Mahindra were on Thursday named in a 15-member panel constituted by the defence ministry to carry out a comprehensive review of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in order to make it more relevant.
The finance ministry has turned down a proposal for shifting the exporters' tax refund plan to the commerce ministry, which has been lobbying hard to take charge of the duty entitlement pass book scheme.
As Pranab Mukherjee resigned to contest the Presidential poll, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday took charge of the finance ministry portfolio at a time when the country's economy is going through a bad phase.
Good monsoon is likely to create more jobs in the agriculture sector, which in turn could save the exchequer around Rs 10,000 crore
>According to the latest RBI data, PPF receipts have already experienced a decline between April 2023 and February 2024. Other schemes like the Sukanya Samriddhi Account and National Savings Certificate are also witnessing reduced inflows.
Prospects of a bumper kharif harvest are expected to lower food inflation in the coming months, making the country's inflation outlook benign, the Union Ministry of Finance (FinMin) said in its monthly economic report for October released on Monday.
It had earlier proposed cutting it down to Rs 250 crore due to slow progress in enrollment of new employees.
Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday didn't join his cabinet colleagues Devendra Fadnavis and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in visiting the Nagpur-based memorial of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh founder.
The fitment committee under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, comprising central and state officials, has begun a rate rationalisation exercise afresh, checking the possibility of dropping some of the rates, particularly the 12 per cent slab, to achieve a revenue-neutral structure, a senior official with direct knowledge of the matter
A decision to this effect has been taken after Arun Ramanathan retired as finance secretary on Thursday. Currently, Chawla is the senior-most official in the finance ministry. In addition, G C Chaturvedi, currently serving as additional secretary in the ministry of health and family welfare, has been appointed as additional secretary in-charge of the financial services department.
UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents.
The government has set up a search committee under Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to shortlist names for the appointment of the next chief election commissioner, sources said on Monday, citing an order.
The finance ministry has rejected the formula and, instead, suggested an alternative that takes into account well-head prices of suppliers in Qatar, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Malaysia.
The ministry of railways has dropped its proposal for monetisation of stations on public-private partnership mode, and projects are now being taken up under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode, a source said. The source also told PTI that the ministry of railways has been asked to expedite monetisation of other assets, including trains, goodsheds, hill rail, stadiums, railway colonies and railway land parcels among others. "Largest asset class (stations) dropped. Stations earlier proposed on PPP mode are now being taken up under EPC mode," the source said.
The central government has mandated all ministries, public departments and public sector units to use the telecom services of State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).
To offer additional support at the low end of the income ranges, the Centre will consider a large-scale jump in exemption rates under the old income-tax regime in the vote on account, or interim Budget, according to a senior official in the know. Those will include an extension of the income tax exemption rates close to Rs 7 lakh and additional measures for women farmers.
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
In FY24 alone, 1.34 million fraud cases were reported, amounting to losses of Rs 1,087 crore.
Finance firms in these SEZs likely to get tax breaks.
The issue of his wife appearing as counsel for the revenue department has caused P Chidambaram a lot of embarrassment. Tell us if he should quit.
