Page 52 - Finance Ministry

Energy of young minds keeps country motivated: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said it is the energy of the young minds which motivates the country to keep moving forward. She also said the country now has a leadership that is not corrupt and works for the good of the people. "It is so invigorating. I am so touched by the presence of such young brains. It does give a lot of motivation when you have such energy. It is that energy that keeps India going forward," Sitharaman said while addressing a 'Yuva Shakti Samvad' here. She said the Centre is working on establishing a medical college in every district of the country and increasing medical and engineering seats by setting up more institutes. Asked about digital university, Sitharaman said significant progress has been made on this front. "Several far-flung areas that lack coverage of the conventional universities. So Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned the concept of digital university to utilize technology for ensuring the reach of universities to thes

Govt engaging with diff layers to ensure EoDB aid reach ground level: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the central government is engaging with states and local administrations to ensure that benefits of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) initiatives reach the ground. EoDB is not just the Centre's responsibility but that of states as well, she added. "Central Government can bring in rules, meaningful regulations, remove many of the burdens and give it as a policy. It can be implemented in Union Territories for which the Government of India is directly responsible but further down it is the State governments, which also equally have to do it," she said. Similarly, municipal areas will have to do their part and panchayats will have to also pitch in, Sitharaman said while interacting with students here. The Government of India is engaging with different layers of administration so that this ease continues across the country, she noted. The World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report 2019 placed India at the 63rd spot in Doing Business, compa

Remittance cost for workers outside India may drop to 3% by 2027: Official

G20 leaders have attached a lot of importance to the high remittance cost for workers outside India, and efforts are underway to bring the rate down to an average of 3 per cent by 2027, a top official said on Sunday. At present, the remittance cost, on an average, stands at around 6 per cent of each transaction, he said. "Workers and labourers employed outside India have to bear a high remittance cost, and G20 leaders have attached a lot of significance to reduction of this rate. "The aim is to bring it down to an average of 3 per cent by 2027," said Chanchal Sarkar, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs. Sarkar was speaking at a briefing ahead of the first Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion meeting of the G20, scheduled to be held in Kolkata from January 9-11. He said remittance cost will be one of the key topics of discussion at the three-day event, along with digital financial inclusion principles and finance availability for SMEs. Indi

HDFC Ltd assigns 19% higher loans worth Rs 8,892 cr in Q3 ending Dec 2022

Mortgage lender HDFC Ltd on Tuesday said it has assigned (sold) 19 per cent higher loans to the tune of Rs 8,892 crore in the third quarter ended December 2022. The corporation had assigned loans amounting to Rs 7,468 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, HDFC Ltd said in a regulatory filing. "All the loans assigned during the quarter ended December 31, 2022, were to HDFC Bank pursuant to the buyback option embedded in the home loan arrangement between the Corporation and HDFC Bank," it added. Loans sold in the preceding 12 months amounted to Rs 35,937 crore against Rs 27,591 crore in the year-ago period. Gross income from the dividend for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, was Rs 482 crore compared to Rs 195 crore a year ago, it added. During the December 2022 quarter, the profit on the sale of investments was nil, the mortgage lender said. Last April, the country's largest private lender HDFC Bank agreed to take over the biggest domestic mortgage lender in

Govt retains 7.1% interest rate on GPF, other similar funds for Q4

The government on Tuesday kept the interest rate unchanged at 7.1 per cent for the subscribers of the General Provident Fund and other similar funds. In the previous quarter ended December 31, the GPF interest was similar at 7.1 per cent. The rate is valid from January 1, 2023, to March 31, 2023, the finance ministry said in a notification. The rate will be in force with effect from January 1, 2023, it said.

FinMin may shift tax liability on share buyback to shareholders in Budget

The shift will bring the taxation of share buybacks on the same page as the dividend income

GST mop-up about Rs 1.5 trillion in Dec, third-highest ever: FinMin data

Surge of 15% on annual basis; might exceed BE by Rs 1.3-1.4 trillion

Dec 2022 GST collections stand at Rs 1.49 trillion, shows govt data

The GST collections for December 2022 stood at Rs 1.49 trn-- 2.5 per cent more than Rs 1.45 trn collected in November 2022, according to figures released by the Finance Ministry on Sunday

Finance Ministry sharply raises small savings rates for March quarter

Small savings rates for 1-year time deposit (6.6 per cent), 2-year time deposit (6.8 per cent) and 3-year time deposit (6.9 per cent) were raised by 110 bps

Unregistered persons can claim tax refunds for cancelled contracts: FinMin

Unregistered persons can claim Goods and Services Tax refunds for cancelled contracts or premature termination of insurance policies by obtaining temporary registration on the GST portal, the finance ministry has said. The new functionality 'Refund for Unregistered person' has been made available on the GST portal and the unregistered person, who wants to file an application for a refund shall obtain a temporary registration on the common portal, using his Permanent Account Number (PAN). In a circular, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said it had received representations requesting for providing a facility to unregistered buyers/ recipients for claiming a refund of the amount of tax borne by them in the event of cancellation of the contract/agreement for the supply of services of construction of flat/ building or on termination of a long-term insurance policy. "In order to enable such unregistered person to file application for a refund..., in cases where the .

Total govt debt increases to Rs 147 trn in Q2, shows FinMin report

The total liabilities of the government increased to Rs 147.19 lakh crore at September-end from Rs 145.72 lakh crore at the end of June this fiscal year, according to the latest data on public debt. In percentage terms, it reflects a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1 per cent in second quarter of 2022-23. Public debt accounted for 89.1 per cent of total gross liabilities at September-end 2022, up from 88.3 per cent as on June 30, the quarterly report on public debt management released by the finance ministry on Tuesday said. Nearly 29.6 per cent of the outstanding dated securities had a residual maturity of less than 5 years, it said. During the second quarter, it said, the central government raised Rs 4,06,000 crore through dated securities, as against notified amount of Rs 4,22,000 crore in the borrowing calendar, while repayments were at Rs 92,371.15 crore. The weighted average yield of primary issuances hardened to 7.33 per cent in Q2 FY23 from 7.23 per cent in Q1 FY23, it said

Govt raised Rs 4.06 trn via dated securities in July-Sept: FinMin report

The weighted average yield of primary issuances hardened to 7.33 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal from 7.23 per cent in first quarter of 2022-23

Gross direct tax collections up by 30% at Rs 10.93 trn in current fiscal

The Central government has set a target of Rs 14,20,000 crore for collection of direct taxes as per budget estimates for 2022-23

Pent-up demand, infra spend drove growth amid global headwinds: FinMin

In its latest Monthly Economic Review, the Ministry said global economic developments remain complicated in November, and that fiscal and monetary policymakers need to remain vigilant

Law on crypto only after international collaboration, risk evaluation: Govt

Policy related to crypto is with the FM and any legislation on it would be effective only through international collaboration after proper risk evaluation, the Parliament was told

FinMin asks banks not to use unethical practices to sell insurance policies

Concerned over rising incidence of mis-selling, the finance ministry has directed heads of public sector banks to put in place strong mechanisms to avoid unethical practices for selling insurance policies to customers. The Department of Financial Services has received complaints that fraudulent and unethical practices are adopted by banks and life insurance companies for procuring policies from the bank customers, a letter addressed to chairpersons and managing directors of public sector banks said. There have been instances where life insurance policies were sold to customers aged above 75 years in Tier II-III cities. Usually, branches of the banks push products of their subsidiary insurers. When resisted by customers, branch officials would sheepishly convince that they are under pressure from top. Insurance products are pushed when customers go to seek any kind of loan or buy a term deposit. In this regard, it said, the department has already issued a circular wherein it has been

Govt keeping eye on inflation, WPI fallen to 21-month low: FM in Parliament

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the government is keeping an eye on inflation which is purely "extraneous" nowadays because of fuel and fertiliser prices. Replying to the debat on the Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said wholesale inflation has fallen to a 21-month low. Later, the Rajya Sabha returned the Supplementary Demands for Grants to the Lok Sabha, thus completing the process of authorising the government to spend an additional Rs 3.25 lakh crore in FY2022-23. Retail inflation based on consumer price index which remained above the Reserve Bank's tolerance level of 6 per cent since January this year has declined to 5.88 per cent in November. The minister also said private investment capex is taking place in India because of favourable policies like PLI and cited few examples. Sitharaman also stressed that the supplementary demand for grants is essentially for food security, fertiliser requirements and providing support

India GDP grew by 9.7% in H1FY23, says Finance Ministry

The Ministry said it could not present the Medium Term Expenditure Framework in Parliament, as mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act

Indian govt raises over Rs 4 trillion via disinvestment since 2014

The government has raised over Rs 4.04 lakh crore through disinvestment and strategic sale of public sector enterprises since the Modi government came into power in 2014, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday. Of this, the largest amount totalling over Rs 1.07 lakh crore through offer for sale in 59 cases. This was followed by a stake sale through Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in 10 tranches, aggregating to Rs 98,949 crore. Strategic sales in 10 companies, including Air India, yielded Rs 69,412 crore to the exchequer in the last 8 years. Share buyback in 45 cases fetched Rs 45,104 crore. 17 CPSEs were listed since 2014-15, which yielded Rs 50,386 crore. Of this, the initial public offering (IPO) of LIC alone fetched the government Rs 20,516 crore. The additional market capitalisation of Rs 7.31 lakh crore was achieved through new listings, the ministry said. Besides, the government has sold its residual stake in Paradeep Phosphate Ltd, IPCL, and Tata Communication for Rs 472 crore, Rs

Top 50 wilful defaulters in India owe Rs 92,570 crore to banks: MoS Karad

Karad also said that in the last five years, the banks in India have written off loans worth Rs 10.1 trillion