In order to cripple and check the activities of wilful tax defaulters, the Income Tax department has decided to "block" Permanent Account Number (PAN) of such entities, get their LPG subsidy cancelled and take measures to ensure that they are not sanctioned loans.
Is it a case of poor targeting of a welfare scheme, or is it a reflection of the government's desire to expand the scope of this benefit to secure greater electoral dividends? asks A K Bhattacharya.
Various estimates of the extra cost to the government for an improved food security Bill are doing the rounds, but many agree the Union government's proposed food subsidy bill would double.
India's plan to double gas prices from April threatens to hit government efforts to cut its fiscal deficit.
The interest subvention on pre-shipment credit for seven sectors, including handlooms, handicrafts, carpets, leather, gems and jewellery, marine products will now be available till March 31, 2010. "Our exporters by virtue of their close links to the external sector have borne the brunt of the global economic crisis. It is appropriate that we continue to provide them all possible assistance to them overcome the short term disadvantages," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said
Major subsidies must be knifed before unwinding excise cuts
According to a new subsidy sharing formula, the payout of upstream oil producers like ONGC is to be reduced to the extent of Rs 4,500 per tonne oil development cess they pay to the government, sources privy to the development said.
The textile ministry, in its Budget wish list, has recommended additional tax benefits and increased interest subsidy for exporters.
The government estimates the food subsidy bill to be Rs 490-500 billion this year from Rs 190 billion earlier, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told Rajya Sabha during Question Hour. The Centre issues rice at Rs 5.65 a kg and wheat at Rs 4.15 per kg to the states for supply through ration shops to families covered under the BPL category. Pawar, however, was non-committal on increasing the coverage of subsidised foodgrains to include more people.
The government will provide private companies subsidy equivalent to that given to state retailing firms on LPG, petroleum secretary B K Chaturvedi said.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava has said that reducing carbon emissions does not require making a choice between hybrid and electric cars, and that both can play key and complementary roles if the government wants to achieve its aggressive emissions target. Responding to the fact that the sales numbers of hybrid cars have been higher than electric cars in the last quarter of 2024, Bhargava pointed out: "It has never been about electric versus hybrid. "Both have a clear role to play. By 2030 we expect electric car penetration to be around 20 per cent.
The two PSUs have been losing revenues as well as market share.
'Election funding needs a little more transparency.'
Suggestions have been invited from the public to improve the draft bill and July 19 is the last date for it.
Gogoi and Sarma have been locked in a war of words on 'X' since Wednesday on the issue of the chief minister's wife's company allegedly being given a credit subsidy of Rs 10 crore.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
India has already sent its team of officials to negotiate on agricultural subsidies, which would be followed by talks on industrial tariffs or Non-Agricultural Market Access.
The Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG scheme was rolled out in 291 districts from June 1, 2013 in six phases to do away with the practice of selling the fuel at below cost rates.
Critics have slammed a bloated subsidy that has been proposed for the food security bill, but officials in the government strongly believe that the resultant additional burden will not be above Rs 27,000 crore to meet the commitments under the proposed legislation.
The current retail selling price of Rs 65.64 per litre in Delhi is short of actual cost by Rs 8.60 a litre.
India on Friday lashed out at the developed countries for enhancing subsidies to the agriculture sector, apart from high tariffs and trade distorting domestic support and asked them to take immediate corrective steps.
Government's fuel subsidy estimate was based on crude oil at $70.
In September 2012, the government had capped the number of LPG cylinders at six to reduce the subsidy burden.
Nothing is more promising than countries putting aside hubris and ideological differences to invest in our shared future, observes Durga Sreenivasan, a delegate at COP28.
'Our expectations are that we will be able to double our market share from 14-15 per cent currently to around 30 per cent by the end of the financial year.'
ONGC is likely to pay Rs 17,000 cr to subsidise products by the end of this fiscal.
The state government decided to provide the subsidy to bus, minibus and taxi operators in the state effective from August 1, Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta told the Assembly while speaking on the West Bengal Appropriation (No 2) Bill, 2010.
In a post on X, the prime minister also urged the people to make contributions to the Armed Forces Flag Day fund.
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown on Wednesday came down rich countries' subsidy to their agriculture sector.
The Oil Ministry has fixed the subsidy payout by upstream firms like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd at Rs 15,546.65 crore (Rs 155.46 billion) for the April-June quarter.
When it comes to electric cars, the electric dream is turning out to be a six-letter word starting with f, ending with y, and having antas in between, notes Suveen Sinha.
Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana announced by the Centre to incentivise formal sector job creation, all 'new employees', who were never a part of the EPF system in the past, and those who made an exit from employment during the Covid-19 pandemic from March 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020, will be eligible for the benefit.
Domestic cooking gas consumers in Delhi and Mumbai will from Wednesday get cash subsidy for buying cooking gas refils as the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme will be extended to 105 more districts.
