Page 73 - Indian Economy

Kudos to CBIC for instructions on GST investigations

For issue of summons, prior approval of an officer not below rank of assistant/deputy commissioner must be obtained and relevancy and propriety of information/documents being sought must be recorded

Europe is the saving grace for declining Indian exports in 2023

This was driven by demand for products such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, petroleum products, engineering products, machinery, as well as chemicals, government data showed

Statsguru: The private sector investment cycle shows revival signs

The current uptick is spread out across multiple sectors. There have been a slew of announcements in the past two months, including the ground-breaking for three semiconductor facilities

Businesses of saving planet, sustainability can prosper: Uday Kotak

Wish for India to see it in the third place in the next five years as an absolute GDP

India-Singapore bilateral trade grows 18.2% to $35.6 bn in FY 2022-23

The bilateral trade between Singapore and India rose to USD 35.6 billion in 2022-23, a growth of 18.2 per cent on the year, a senior diplomat at the Indian High Commission here said on Saturday. Singapore is India's eighth largest trade partner (2022-23), with a share of 3.1 per cent of India's overall trade, T Prabakar, the First Secretary (Commerce) at the high commission said. He was addressing the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) Third International Conference being held in Singapore from April 5-6. Trade between Singapore and India saw a growth of 18.2 per cent in the year and rose to USD 35.6 billion in 2022-23, Prabakar said. Our imports from Singapore in FY 22-23 were USD 23.6 billion, a growth of 24.4 per cent, and exports to the city-state totalled USD 12 billion, up 7.6 billion in the previous financial year," he told some 100 delegates at the conference. In terms of India's exports, Singapore is the sixth largest export destination in the world, and in

India's forex kitty jumps $2.9 billion to new high of $645.6 billion

Das says confident of meeting external financing requirements

Need huge pool of company secretaries to manage capital flow: ICSI chief

As the Indian economy progresses towards the USD 5 trillion target over the next two years and the USD 10 trillion target by 2030, the demand for company secretaries will be tremendous to manage the inflow of capital both from the Indian and international investors, a top domain expert said on Friday. "We have to increase the pool of Company Secretaries (CS) to 95,000 by 2030 and to 1.4 lakh by 2047, the year of Viksit Bharat economy driven by capital flow and the government-initiated infrastructure development, B Narasimhan, President of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), said here. Currently, ICSI has around 70,000 CS members and over 2 lakh students, he told PTI. Narasimhan gave an insight into the aspects resonating with the Indian economy. We, as CS, are the most recognised profession in the capital market, handling compliances across the board of listed and unlisted companies. SEBI has appointed us as the compliance offices and it is mandatory, he said. Ca

Consumer confidence in India at more than four-year high, RBI survey shows

The 'future expectations index', which judges consumer sentiment for the upcoming 12 months, also improved to its highest since mid-2019, the survey showed

India's forex kitty jumps $2.95 bn to new all-time high of $645.58 bn

India's foreign exchange reserves increased USD 2.951 billion to USD 645.583 billion for the week ended March 29, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday. This is the sixth consecutive week of a jump in overall reserves. The kitty had increased USD 140 million to USD 642.631 billion in the previous reporting week. The country's forex kitty had in September 2021 reached an all-time high of USD 642.453 billion. The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year. For the week ended March 29, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased USD 2.354 billion to USD 570.618 billion, data released on Friday showed. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. Gold reserves increased USD 673 million to USD 52.16 .

India-EFTA agreement aligns tariff concessions with investment promotion

In exchange for tariff reduction, EFTA countries will increase foreign investments in India

PM Modi sets ambitious India economic goals for probable third term

For the next six years, Modi's goal is to raise per capita income to $4,418 from around $2,500, the document says, without specifying the spending or reforms needed to achieve that

How monetary transmission may hold key to policy stance, Das clarifies

The monetary policy committee of the RBI had hiked the policy repo rate by 250 basis points (bps) between May 2022 and February 2023 before hitting a pause

Indirect tax collection for FY24 exceeds RE by significant margin: CBIC

The indirect tax collection for FY24 has exceeded the revised estimates (RE) of Rs 14.84 lakh crore by "a handsome margin", helped by a record GST mop-up, a top government official said. Lauding the efforts of tax officials, CBIC chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, in a letter to field officials, said, "I am happy to inform that the indirect tax collections for the Financial Year 2023-24, including Customs and Union Excise Duty have exceeded the Revised Estimates by a handsome margin". This achievement not only reflects professionalism but also underscores the strength of teamwork and perseverance within the CBIC community, he said, adding that "your relentless efforts have not gone unnoticed, and I extend my heartfelt appreciation to each and every member for their invaluable contributions throughout the year". The gross GST mop up for 2023-24 also marks a milestone with the collection of Rs 20.18 lakh crore -- comprising state GST, Central GST, integrated GST and compensation cess -- .

Best of BS Opinion: Democracy, autocracy, or both? Against the flow & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

'Goldilocks' economy to prompt RBI to keep rates on hold: Economists

As India heads into a general election this month, the economy is growing faster than expected amid signs prices are trending lower though food inflation remains a risk

Manufacturing PMI in March rises to 16-yr high, employment improves

Sharpest uptick in output, new orders since Oct 2020, says survey

Consumer sentiment of urban Indians dips to a 4-month low, shows data

Rural consumer sentiment is at its highest level thus far in 2024

'Govt meets tax collection target of over Rs 34.37 trn for 2023-24'

The government has broadly met the tax collection target of over Rs 34.37 lakh crore for 2023-24 on the back of robust economic activity and improved compliance, an official said. "Overall targets for tax revenue have been met," the official told PTI. The government had raised the target for direct tax collection in FY24 (April 2023 to March 2024) to Rs 19.45 lakh crore, while for indirect taxes (GST+ Customs + Excise) the target was lowered to Rs 14.84 lakh crore in the revised estimates (RE) presented in Parliament on February 1, 2024. The net direct tax collections (comprising corporate tax and personal income tax) reached over Rs 18.90 lakh crore as of March 17. GST remained a high point during the last fiscal with collections reaching a record high of Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023 and the second highest collection coming in at Rs 1.78 lakh crore in March 2024. The gross tax collection target as per the revised estimate stood at Rs 34.37 lakh crore for FY24. Tax collection

16-yr high: At 59.1 in March, India's manufacturing PMI highest since 2008

The manufacturing PMI has remained above the 50-mark for more than 30 consecutive months

Indian firms collect Rs 9.41 trn from private placement of corporate bonds

Indian companies garnered Rs 9.41 lakh crore through the issuance of bonds on a private placement basis in 2023-24, a surge of 10 per cent from the preceding fiscal amid surge in credit demand. The 2024-25 fiscal is expected to be very robust as companies will continue to raise capital for capex post-election results. "In an unprecedented era of economic development aided by pro-business reforms and macroeconomic stability, India is set to become the third largest economy globally by 2027 and will continue to see strong flows. "In this backdrop, we expect FY25 to also be a very strong year from a primary capital perspective as companies will continue to look to raise capital for capex post-election results," Neha Agarwal, Managing Director & Head of Equity Capital Markets at JM Financial Ltd, said. According to data compiled by Prime Database, the amount raised through debt private placement in 2023-24 stood at Rs 9.41 lakh crore, up 10 per cent from Rs 8.52 lakh crore in 2022-23.