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Department of Financial Services DFS Secretary Sanjay Lohiya on Tuesday urged Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to sustain good financial performance and further strengthen credit flow to the last mile. The net profit of RRBs increased to an all-time high of Rs 10,176 crore in 2025-26 against Rs 6,820 crore in FY25, a jump of 49 per cent. Both gross non-performing assets (GNPA) and net non-performing assets have reached all-time lows of 5.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively, the finance ministry said in a statement. Reviewing the financial performance here, Lohiya appreciated the commendable performance of all RRBs during 2025-26. At present, 28 RRBs are operating through 22,273 branches across 26 states and 3 Union Territories, covering about 700 districts. The total business of all 28 RRBs has crossed Rs 13.5 lakh crore, surpassing the business level of a few individual public sector banks (PSBs) in FY26. RRBs also continue to achieve all targets and sub-targets prescribed unde
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra preferred to wait for greater certainty on the inflation trajectory, as he and other members of the MPC voted to maintain the existing interest rate earlier this month, according to minutes of the meeting of the rate-setting panel released on Wednesday. The Governor-headed six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the benchmark policy rate (repo) unchanged for a fourth consecutive time, opting to wait for greater clarity on whether higher energy costs triggered by the US-Iran conflict feed into broader inflationary pressures. Despite the conflict in West Asia disrupting supply chains, heightened uncertainty, and an erratic monsoon so far, the Indian economy has performed better than expected in Q1:2026-27, the Governor said as per the minutes. Monetary response to a supply-side shock is warranted when there are signs of it leading to a generalisation of inflation, de-anchoring of inflation expectations or persistent inflation. While risk
Domestic donations to the PM CARES Fund fell by 30 per cent to nearly Rs 479 crore during the fiscal year 2024-2025 while foreign donations also declined by 18 per cent to Rs 92.8 lakh, according to its latest audit report. The total balance in PM CARES Fund stood at Rs 8,452 crore as on March 31, 2025, up from Rs 7,173 crore a year ago. Of this, Rs 7,846 crore was parked in fixed deposits and Rs 605 crore in savings bank accounts, the report said. The domestic donations received by the PM CARES in fiscal year 2023-24 stood at Rs 681.8 crore, while it had got foreign donations totalling Rs 1.13 crore. The fund spent Rs 87.8 lakh on PM CARES for Children Scheme during 2024-25, sharply down from Rs 15.37 crore in the previous year. Total payments made during the year 2024-25 was Rs 87.85 lakh, as against Rs 15.6 crore in the previous fiscal. A study of the audited statements on the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund website shows
President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026, and another law to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act of 2007. The bills were passed by Parliament on August 10. The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026, and an Act to further amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, have received the assent of the President on the August 17, 2026, the Ministry of Law said in a gazette notification. Through the taxation Act, the government seeks to attract more foreign capital, promote domestic electronics manufacturing and make it easier for foreign cloud companies to use Indian data centres by providing "process certainty". The amendment to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, gives a legal backing to the government to modify the zero-MDR framework on UPI and RuPay card transactions. The government can now decide, via notification, which electronic payment modes or transactions would remain free from MDR ...