Page 37 - Finance Minister

Govt not in 'crazy rush' to sell everything: FM Sitharaman on privatisation

The government is not in a "crazy rush" to sell everything and it will continue to have a presence in four strategic sectors, including telecom, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. In strategic sectors, a bare minimum presence of the existing public sector commercial enterprises at the holding company level will be retained under government control. The remaining enterprises in a strategic sector will be considered for privatisation or merger with another PSE or for closure. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, the minister said that the country will have government-owned professionally run companies in four broad strategic sectors. According to the PSE Policy, the four broad strategic sectors are - atomic energy, space and defence; transport and telecommunication; Power, Petroleum, Coal and other minerals; and Banking, Insurance and Financial Services. The policy, she added, "is not a crazy rushing out to sell everything..nor it is saying that the government will ru

As states table their Budgets, here's how the capex numbers stack up

Capex is not the favourite word in the lexicon of ministers despite the generous flow of resources for building assets

Create a roadmap to upscale organic farming in Sikkim: FM Sitharaman

To boost tourism, the state can take the initiative to call some of the tourism aggregators who facilitate homestays, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Bihar Finance Minister presents state's Economic Survey 2021-22 in Assembly

As the economic survey, the per capita income has increased by Rs 6,400

FM meets heads of World Bank, IMF, discusses issue of debt restructuring

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday held a roundtable with the heads of the World Bank and the IMF and discussed the issue of debt restructuring faced by some of the countries. The roundtable with World Bank President David Malpass and IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva held on the sidelines of the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting here discussed the issue of debt restructuring challenges and debt vulnerabilities. "Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman flagged the need to acknowledge today's diverse creditor landscape and build a common understanding of challenges and ways to address them," a tweet from the Finance Ministry said. She called for the voices of the vulnerable and under-represented debtor countries to be heard through the G20. "Ms@KGeorgieva, MD, IMF@IMFNews and Mr@DavidMalpassWBG, President @WorldBank called for faster debt restructuring processes and noted the debt forum was an opportunity to work together and help ...

Unprecedented rise of Rs 34,457 cr in capital expenditure in Gujarat Budget

Gujarat Finance Minister Kanu Desai presented the state Budget for financial year 2023-24, saying that a total budgetary outlay of Rs 301,021.61 crores has been proposed for the current discal

Funds deposited for NPS cannot be transferred to state governments: Centre

The central government on Monday again clarified that the funds deposited for National Pension Scheme (NPS) cannot be given to state governments as per the current laws. Both finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and finance secretary Vivek Joshi said that if any state is expecting that the funds deposited for NPS can be returned to them then it is impossible. Citing the recent crash in Adani group companies' shares, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot had earlier said that the employees of the state government cannot be left at the mercy of the share market where National Pension Scheme (NPS) funds are invested. He had also urged the Centre to give the funds of the state government employees deposited in NPS and said that the state will move to the Supreme Court if the funds are not transferred to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) being implemented by the state government. "If one state expects that the funds deposited with the EPFO should be given to the states. If this is the ...

Govt taking steps to control inflation, will continue to focus on it: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that the government is taking a lot of steps to control inflation and will continue to focus on it. For instance, in the case of pulses, the government is encouraging farmers to grow pulses to boost domestic production and has also reduced the import duty on some of the pulses to improve local availability. When asked whether Budget 2023-24 would bring down inflation, Sitharaman said: "The government is taking a lot of steps to control inflation and will continue to focus on it." She was in the city for a post-budget 2023 discussion with various stakeholders. "We have taken a lot of steps, for example, encouraging farmers to sow pulses so that the production of pulses in India increases in the coming sowing season," Sitharaman told reporters here. She further said that as a short-term step, "wherever we are importing, whether Masoor, Moong or whatever pulses, the government has reduced the import duty to single digit or has

RBI will take required action to keep inflation in check: FM Sitharaman

In a recent report the RBI said that the retreat of inflation is expected to be stubborn and beset by supply shocks in the upcoming year

Charts indicate robust bias for RIL, ONGC amid GST inclusion hopes

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and Reliance Industries can rise up to 8 per cent

Simplified filings: RoC approval not required for most corporate actions

The govt has introduced a new system called "file and forget," which is part of its ongoing revamp of the statutory filing website, MCA21

FM exhorts exporters to foresee impact of global slowdown, engage with govt

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday exhorted exporters to be receptive and 'foresee' how the recession or slowing economy abroad will pan out for them, while asking them to constantly engage with the government. Stating that external uncertainties are far more 'unpredictable' and therefore challenging, Sitharaman said in a post-pandemic, post-war world, and where there is a repeat occurence of virus, there is no fixed 'template' to deal with uncertainties. With regard to imports, she assured the industry that the government is looking at specific items to see which are going to be consistently needed for next few years as well as those whose import could hurt domestic manufacturers. "The changes abroad, recession abroad or the slowing economy abroad are all going to be challenge for Indian exporters. So Indian exporters will have to be far more receptive of what is happening there or even foresee how that will pan out for them and keep constantly engaging with the ...

Government focusing on public expenditure to propel growth, says FM

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the effort of the government over the years has been to increase public expenditure with a view to promote growth. Speaking at the Post-Budget interactive session with the members of the industry chamber PHDCCI, the minister said that the government in the 2023-24 budget increased the capital expenditure by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore. "Consistently for the last three-four years, the emphasis has been given on public capital expenditure. We have kept that up in this budget...capital expenditure, clearly can be said as a real focus of this budget," she said. On a question of including petroleum products under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the minister said it could be done if there is an agreement among the states. She further said that the states were being nudged to carry forward reforms in various sectors including power and also implement the 'one nation, one ration card' scheme.

Set up team to resolve MCA21 portal glitches: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The latest version was launc­hed on January 23

FinMin directs Corporate Affairs Ministry to resolve MCA21 portal issues

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday took cognisance of the technical glitches being faced by the companies while filing incorporation documents on the newly-launched MCA21 V3 portal, saying that the Corporate Affairs Ministry is working in cooperation with Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), and consultants Ernst & Young to resolve the matter on priority.

Crypto, web3 sectors need global ties for effective regulation: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said crypto assets and web3 sectors require significant international collaboration for effective implementation of domestic legislations. She said these are relatively new and still evolving sectors, with no specific regulations. "By definition, these sectors are borderless and require significant international collaboration for any specific legislation on these sectors to be fully effective," Sitharaman said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. The minister was replying to a question by DMK MP T Sumathy on whether the government has prepared any future roadmap to regulate virtual digital assets / cryptos/web3 sectors in the country. In reply to a separate question, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the government is engaging with G-20 countries to build international coordination on regulating crypto assets. He said India's G-20 presidency provides an opportunity to place different priorities, including crypto asset

FM Sitharaman asks states to expedite formalities to seek GST compensation

Finance Minister came down heavily in Parliament on states complaining about delay in getting GST compensation, saying that rather than blaming the Centre for delay in facilitating the payment

Sebi to update FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Adani Group probe this week

India's market regulator will provide an update on its investigations into the Adani Group's withdrawn follow-on public issue this week, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

If needed, will allocate more for NREGA, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Budget strikes balance between growth and fiscal prudence, she says in Lok Sabha

New tax regime to leave higher disposable income with people: Sitharaman

The Union Budget 2023-24, astutely balances the requirement for India's development imperatives within the limit of fiscal prudence, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tells Lok Sabha