Page 10 - Finance Ministry

Payments banks seek higher deposit limit, urge FinMin to raise to Rs 5 lakh

The previous increase was in April 2021, when the maximum end-of-day balance was raised from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh

Income Tax Bill 2025: Centre seeks public input on bill, launches eportal

The new income tax bill seeks to modernise the tax system by simplifying it and ensuring greater transparency

FM Nirmala Sitharaman to launch PM Internship Scheme app on Monday

The FM will also launch the first facilitation centre for the Internship Scheme being set up in Kolkata by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry

Govt seeks Rs 51k cr cash outgo in second supplementary demand for grants

The central government seeks Parliament's approval for Rs 6.78 trillion in additional spending for FY25

Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0: Govt working to boost trust-based governance, says FM

Govt plans to bring Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 to decriminalise over 100 provisions, said FM Sitharaman at a post-Budget webinar on 'Regulatory, Investment and EODB reforms'

Economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth gets additional charge of revenue dept

Economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth was on Saturday given additional charge of the post of secretary, Department of Revenue, according to a personnel ministry order. The vacancy was necessitated following the appointment of revenue secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on February 27. Pandey on Saturday assumed charge as the chief of the Mumbai-based capital markets regulator. The competent authority has approved the assignment of the additional charge of the secretary of the Department of Revenue to Ajay Seth, secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs till the appointment of a regular incumbent, the order said.

Sitharaman urges civil accounts officers to simplify Govt's annual accounts

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday asked civil accounts services officials to work towards making the government's annual accounts more approachable and user-friendly. Addressing the 49th Civil Accounts Day event here, Sitharaman lauded the Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officers, led by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) for the "silent technological revolution" in which states are finding a lot more ease of operation and ease of getting their government business done by adopting the public financial management system (PFMS). "I would also like you to examine, in consultation with the CAG, whether it would be possible to make the annual accounts more approachable and user-friendly and allow citizens to analyse easily and generate customisable and simpler reports," Sitharaman said. She said that since a lot of digital integration has already taken place with the states, more research can be carried out based on the data set available with the CGA. "If you're

BS Manthan: A thought-provoking day-1 of insights on economy, policies

Experts discuss India's growth, global trade shifts, climate action, EVs, defence, and more

FinMin defers performance review meeting with heads of PSU banks to Mar 5

The finance ministry has deferred performance review meeting with heads of public sector banks (PSBs) by a day to March 5. The meeting, to be chaired by Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju, would review financial performance and progress of financial inclusion schemes, among others, sources said. Earlier, Department of Financial Services had fixed March 4 for the meeting. This is going to be the first meeting after presentation of Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament. The 12 PSBs have posted highest-ever net profit of Rs 1.29 lakh crore in the April-December period of the current fiscal year, marking an annual increase of 31.3 per cent. The performance of PSBs has shown significant improvement on key financial parameters, like record net profit growth, improved asset quality, and build-up of adequate capital buffers, during the period under review. Further, improved asset quality is also visible from significantly low net NPA ratio at 0.59 per cent (aggregate net NPA outstandin

BS Manthan: FM Nirmala Sitharaman to speak on India in the new world order

BS Manthan 2025: Business Standard's flagship thought leadership summit returns on February 27-28, themed 'India and the Great Reset'

Cong slams BJP after FinMin says USAID projects not linked to voter turnout

Amid the ongoing row over USAID funding, the Congress on Monday claimed that the Union finance ministry has "thoroughly exposed" the BJP's "lies" with its annual report for 2023-24 stating that the US agency is currently implementing seven projects in collaboration with the Government of India and none of them has anything to do with voter turnout. The BJP has also rejected allegations of the Congress and accused Rahul Gandhi as well as the party of colluding with foreign forces in a bid to weaken India. The latest annual report of the finance ministry has disclosed that the agency funded seven projects worth USD 750 million in 2023-24. "Currently, seven projects worth a total budget of USD 750 million (approx) are being implemented by USAID in partnership with the Government of India," as per the finance ministry's annual report for 2023-24. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "None other than the Union Finance Ministry has thoroughly exposed th

FinMin to meet heads of PSBs on Mar 4, to review financial performance

The finance ministry has called a meeting of heads of public sector banks (PSBs) on March 4 to review financial performance of banks and progress of financial inclusion schemes, among others. The meeting is scheduled to be chaired by Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju. According to sources, the meeting would also discuss and review the progress of various financial inclusion schemes including PM SVANidhi Schemes. This is going to be the first meeting after presentation of Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament. PSBs have posted highest-ever net profit of Rs 1.29 lakh crore in the April-December period of the current fiscal year, marking an annual increase of 31.3 per cent. The performance of PSBs has shown significant improvement on key financial parameters, like record net profit growth, improved asset quality, and build-up of adequate capital buffers, during the period under review. The 12 state-owned banks recorded net profit growth of 31.3 per cent (year-on-year) to achieve

Govt extends Chief Economic Adviser Nageswaran's term until March 2027

Nageswaran was appointed to the position in 2022 and has also served as a part-time member of the economic advisory council to the prime minister from 2019 to 2021

FinMin to discuss hiking deposit insurance limit with PSBs on March 4

This is the first review meeting of the finance ministry with PSBs after the Union Budget 2025-26

Deposit insurance cover may increase from Rs 5 lakh: DFS secy Nagaraju

Currently, deposits of up to ₹5 lakh are covered under the deposit-insurance scheme of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation

Nearly Rs 1 trillion unspent welfare funds lying in states' accounts

For each scheme, the state government designates one SNA and opens its account in a scheduled commercial bank to ensure just-in-time release of funds based on the pace of expenditure

Select Committee of Lok Sabha to examine Income Tax Bill constituted

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday constituted a 31-member Select Committee of the lower house to examine the Income Tax Bill. To be headed by BJP's Baijayant Panda, the panel is mandated to submit its report by the first day of the next session. The ongoing Budget Session will conclude on April 4 and the Monsoon session could commence in the third or fourth week of July. While introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had urged Birla to refer the draft law to a Select Committee of the House. The much-anticipated Bill will replace terminologies such as "assessment year" and "previous year" with the easier-to-understand "tax year" as part of a move to simplify language while removing provisos and explanations.

Debt-to-GDP over fiscal deficit: Will FM Sitharaman's strategy pay off?

Since the finance minister announced a glide path based on debt-to-GDP ratio to measure fiscal deficit, opinion has been divided on the move since it would also reflect on government borrowings

Railways' capex meets targets, likely to remain at the same level

Despite not getting any additional outlay in the Budget 2025, Railways officials are not worried since their spending numbers sit well with Budget Estimates (BE) for FY25

Due diligence of IDBI Bank's qualified bidders underway: MoS Finance

The due diligence of qualified bidders for IDBI Bank, which is up for privatisation, is underway, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on Monday. The government, along with LIC, is selling nearly 61 per cent stake in IDBI Bank. This includes a 30.48 per cent stake of the Government of India and 30.24 per cent of LIC. In January 2023, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) received multiple Expressions of Interest (EoI) for buying stake in IDBI Bank. "After security clearance by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and fit and proper evaluation by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the due diligence by the qualified bidders is being done," Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. After the required clearances, investors would get access to the data room and a due diligence process will be initiated. At present, the government holds 45.48 per cent in IDBI Bank, while LIC's shareholding is 49.24 per cent. To a question on whether the gover