Banks have written off bad loans worth Rs 10,09,511 crore during the last five financial years, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed Parliament on Tuesday. The non-performing assets (NPAs), including those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance sheet of the bank concerned by way of write-off, she said in a reply to Rajya Sabha. "Banks write off NPAs as part of their regular exercise to clean up their balance sheet, avail tax benefit and optimise capital, in accordance with RBI guidelines and policy approved by their boards.
The engineering and construction (E&C) sector delivered an excellent performance in the last two financial years (FY2021-22 or FY22 and FY23's nine-months) and there's reason to believe that FY24 will also see outperformance. The sector has emerged from the pandemic with stronger balance sheets and more rational cost structures. It has a big order book and it should see new order flows accelerate in FY24.
These consistent performers are expected to maintain momentum.
S&P BSE Midcap index and S&P BSE Smallcap were down 2% and 1.3% respectively
The GST has been a great achievement, but it does suffer from weaknesses, says Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian.
Stock to watch: Shipping Corporation and Great Eastern Shipping
The Union Budget on Wednesday outlined several initiatives to drive India's technology agenda and boost digital infrastructure, including new centres of excellence for artificial intelligence, National Data Governance Policy, and Entity DigiLocker.
Small and medium enterprises had complained of tedious compliance burden under the Goods and Services Tax
It takes eight to nine months for developing a robust software from the time the rules are decided, warns Bharat Goenka, managing director of Tally Solutions, one of the entities entrusted as a 'Suvidha Provider' with developing ready software for customers to get them ready for the coming Goods and Services Tax.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said underlying economic activity in India continues to be strong, but external factors will cause some "dent" to the economy. Speaking at the BFSI Insight Summit 2022 organised by Business Standard, Das said the RBI tracks 70 fast moving indicators and most of them are in the "green box". It is the external sector, mired by a fear of recession or clear visibility about slowing growth in a large part of the world, where the challenges lie, he said, adding that the impact of external demand will "dent" the economy.
Some states are taking a legal view on the state GST rate and the compensation rules ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting, which is likely to be held in mid-June, said people in the know. While the agenda is still being finalised, several states are likely to take up the matter related to GST compensation and may pitch for its continuation beyond the June 30 deadline. States would like to know how they would divide the compensation collected after June 2022 for payment of principal and interest of compensation shortfall borrowing and arrears to states, sources said.
A well-established tax system would have a predictable buoyancy - how fast the collections grow as a proportion to the growth of the economy. But that is not the case with GST. It is still undergoing substantial changes as the government responds to structural as well as administrative glitches.
The GST Network's chairman Navin Kumar speaks to Dilasha Seth and Indivjal Dhasmana on various aspects of the new tax regime.
The impact of GST is particularly stark in the highly fragmented synthetic textile industry, which attracts different GST rates at different stages of production and sale
The government is going all out to spread awareness about the new indirect tax regime, and training lawmakers is being seen as a necessary first step.
S&P Global Ratings on Thursday said about half of the Indian companies that it rates are getting a boost in their core profitability from rupee depreciation. "Much of our rated India corporate portfolio has sizable US-dollar linked revenue and, therefore, is not exposed to rupee depreciation. "This encompasses entities in the IT, metals, and chemicals sectors. About half of the firms we rate are getting an EBITDA boost from currency weakening," the US-based rating agency said in a report.
Security and intelligence agencies will soon be provided with a new platform which is technologically advanced, secure and helpful in dealing with new age criminals and anti-social elements, officials said on Wednesday.
Nirmala Sitharaman's messaging was clear when she presented a well-balanced Budget with an eye on state elections in nine states followed by a general election next year, observes Ramesh Menon.
5 commodities namely crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were kept out of GST's purview given the revenue dependence of state governments on these sectors.
The CAG audit and other data suggests it could be far from the efficient new alternative that was once conceptualised. A conclusive review remains elusive till the government begins to release more granular and comparable data on the complex backend of GST to a deeper scrutiny, by researchers, auditors and the public.
"This rationalisation is 3-4 month exercise," he said, adding that the GST Council decided on the rate cut on the recommendation of a Fitment Committee.
One hopes in his next term, Narendra Modi will take up the mission of inculcating respect for following rules in Indians as a mission. Therein lies the chance for India to become a developed country, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Coming Wednesday, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 2023 Union Budget - the last full Budget ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. While India exited 2022 as a relatively bright spot in the global economy, the FM will endeavour to present a Budget that insulates India's economy against global headwinds and recession in advanced economies, while sticking to the path of fiscal consolidation. In this, she is being helped by her core team of trusted advisors.
There is much work to be done to design a good GST.
The mop-up could have been much higher, but tax on imports fell 2 per cent y-o-y.
Here's everything you need to know about the Goods and Services Tax Bill.
'We have promised to ensure reduced tax rates.'
Moody's Investors Service has warned that India, along with the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are highly vulnerable to volatile food and energy prices in the Asia-Pacific region as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to disrupt supplies and raise the cost of agricultural products, especially cereals and vegetable oils, as well as fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. This is so because these countries have a higher weighting of energy and food prices in their consumer price index (CPI) baskets, Moody's said in its report released on Tuesday. The weighting of energy and food in overall Indian CPI stands at over 55 per cent.
Experts share their views on the steps that will help businesses become GST-ready.
Surat houses more than 650,000 powerlooms. Of this, at least 60 per cent have been shut since a month, a loss of Rs 900 crore, finds out Vinay Umarji.
About 13 million first time car/two-wheeler buyers are entering the market every year. If employment creation is such a big issue, where are these people coming from, asks Mahesh Nandurkar.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has arrested a person who the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) said has emerged as the mastermind of the racket of incorporating a large number of shell companies with Chinese links in India.
Travel time, too, has not fallen much after the abolition of octroi with trucks still queued up at regional transport offices and toll tax plazas.
At present, 70% of the mobile handsets sold in India are imported.
'These provisions may even be seen to be a threat to burgeoning businesses, since they would view every announcement of a rate cut as a starter's pistol that triggers a long race to adjust prices and to justify the adjustment,' argue Rashmi Deshpande and Anjali Krishnan.
Here's everything you need to know about the Goods and Services Tax Bill.
After staging a strong recovery from COVID-induced slowdown in 2021, India's exports are likely to extend the growth story to the New Year also on increased demand in the global markets, boost in domestic manufacturing due to production-linked incentive schemes and implementation of some interim trade pacts. Expectations of positive growth in the country's exports are also backed up by the outlook of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which predicts a 4.7 per cent expansion in the global merchandise trade volume in 2022. Exporters believe that the outbound shipments would cross $400 billion mark in this fiscal going by the current momentum and may reach $475 billion in 2022-23.
Pulse oximeters, hand sanitisers, temperature check equipment and ambulances too will attract lower 5 per cent tax.
Assocham president Niranjan Hiranandani said his talks with government officials showed dues to industry and states were pending in the form of refunds of income tax, value-added tax, and GST, and compensation, payments to discoms in the power sector, fertiliser subsidies, etc.
