TMS Ep207: Nirmala Sitharaman, GST in 5 years, oil & gas stocks, Web 5.0

In the summer of 2019, when Nirmala Sitharaman took over as the country’s finance minister, little did she know that she would have to steer the economy through one of its worst phases. One after another, three waves of Covid-19 ravaged the country over the next two years. And now, a war in Eastern Europe has set the commodity prices on the boil. The finance minister can be forgiven for thinking that she just cannot seem to catch a break. In a freewheeling interview with Business Standard, the FM spoke on an array of topics, including why she sees better days ahead, and why spend on capital assets may be a better bet than sector-specific fiscal steps. 

In the interview, finance minister Sitharaman called her experience as the chairperson of GST Council humbling. After the initial teething troubles, Goods and Services Tax (GST) completed five years last week. Our next report offers a peek into the journey so far.  

Revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj told Business Standard last week that recent tweaks in the GST regime might add Rs 15,000cr to government exchequer every year. Meanwhile, in another move to boost revenue, the government imposed windfall tax on gains made by domestic refiners. Index heavyweight RIL dropped over 7%, while other oil upstream and exploration-linked stocks slumped up to 15%. But should you buy these stocks on dips? 

Ever wondered how difficult trading would have been before the advent of the internet? The internet, on its part, too has come a long way. Web 1.0 or the first generation of World Wide Web was like one-way traffic-- a read only format. Then came the current format called Web 2.0, in which we can read and communicate too. The upcoming web 3.0 -- which is still in making -- boasts of decentralisation as its bedrock. And now, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has announced Web 5.0. Let us find out more about it in this episode of the podcast.