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Finance Ministry
A parliamentary panel on Tuesday suggested that the Department of Economic Affairs should develop a strategic energy mitigation framework to protect the economy from oil shocks and ensure long-term stability. In addition, the Standing Committee on Finance, in its report, emphasised that the rapidly evolving global competition for critical minerals and rare earth elements, which are essential for semiconductors, renewable energy systems, electric mobility, defence technologies, and the development of alternative fuels, requires a coordinated national strategy. The panel, headed by senior BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab, has, therefore, recommended that the government accelerate efforts to secure diversified international supply chains for critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements, while simultaneously strengthening domestic exploration, processing, and value-addition capabilities to support emerging sectors, including renewable energy, electric mobility, and ..
The Finance Ministry has amended rules for minimum public offers floated by companies for getting listed on stock exchanges and linked it with post-issue capital. The Securities Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2026, notified on March 13, states that companies with post-issue capital of more than Rs 1,600 crore and below Rs 5,000 crore will have to increase their public shareholding to at least 25 per cent within three years from the day of listing in the manner specified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The rules further state that at least 2.5 per cent of each class of securities must be offered to the public at the time of listing, irrespective of the post-issue threshold. It also said that a company with post-issue capital of up to Rs 1,600 crore, at least 25 per cent of each class of equity shares or debentures convertible into equity shares issued by the company must be offered to the public. If the post-issue capital is more than Rs 1,600 crore, bu
The government on Tuesday sought Lok Sabha approval for gross additional expenditure of over Rs 2.81 lakh crore in current fiscal year. The second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. "Approval of Parliament is sought to authorise gross additional expenditure of Rs 2,81,289.26 crore. Of this, the proposals involving net cash outgo aggregate to Rs 2,01,142.96 crore and gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of the Ministries/Departments or by enhanced receipts/recoveries aggregates to Rs 80,145.71 crore," said the Supplementary Demands for Grants.
Capital market regulator Sebi is examining the application seeking voluntary exit of the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) from its business, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on Monday. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Chaudhary said Sebi has constituted a Working Group on the matter and appointed a valuation agency for verification and valuation of CSE's assets and liabilities. Certain information sought by Sebi from CSE is awaited, he said. "Sebi would be passing a speaking order giving an exit to CSE from stock exchange business after taking a view on exclusively listed companies of CSE, its assets and liabilities, and relaxation from any regulations in order to facilitate exit," he said. The Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE), in its February 18, 2025, letter to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), sought voluntary exit as a Stock Exchange under the Sebi Exit Policy for stock exchanges. "The proposal is at the stage of examination befor
The Budget proposal of a 20-year tax holiday to foreign companies which provide cloud services globally will be available only to those which have set up a MeitY-notified data centre in India, and there will not be any risk for such overseas firms of their global income being taxed in India on this account, sources said on Wednesday. Finance Ministry sources also said that the Budget announcement would also give certainty to foreign companies that are in the business of providing cloud services and procurement services from a data centre in India. "Now Indian data centres can confidently offer their services to such global cloud entities, without these global entities perceiving any tax risk if they use Indian data centres," sources added. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her 2026-27 Budget, had proposed to provide a tax holiday till 2047 to any foreign company that provides cloud services to customers globally by using data centre services from India. It will, however, need
The government, along with the regulator, is carefully watching the rupee, which has slipped below the 90 mark against the US dollar, and may take measures once the situation becomes uncomfortable, Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur said on Monday. "Anything above 90, everyone starts talking about it. Even, we start watching it carefully. It is a question of flows, and we are impacted by that," he told PTI in an interview. However, she said, a depreciating rupee does have a certain value in terms of export competitiveness whenever it happens. "We are watching together with regulators and other stakeholders. We will see how to handle it if a situation more than uncomfortable happens," she said. According to the Economic Survey 2025-26, the rupee depreciated by around 6.5 per cent between 1 April 2025 and January 22, 2026, making it one of the weakest-performing currencies in this period. Its fall was comparable to that of the Japanese yen, which lost about 5.5 per cent, and