Page 113 - Nirmala Sitharaman

FM asks taxmen to focus on faster processing of ITRs, grievance redressal

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked income tax officers to focus on quick processing of ITRs, speedy refund issuance and grievance redressal. Addressing tax officers, the minister said that collections from direct taxes exceed indirect tax and that has brought in equity in mop up. "That has brought in equity because taxation will have to be on those who can pay more and on the shoulders tax more and not on small items of daily use," Sitharaman said. With the faceless assessment coming in and technology usage, the fear of tax authorities has reduced, she said, adding taxpayers now feel taxes are being collected in a non-discretionary way without any subjectivity. She outlined three 'R's for the income tax department to follow -- quicker processing of return, speedier refund and redressal of grievance. "What is well within you and never going to change and never needs anything more are these three 'R's," she said, asking tax officers to quickly assess and process ..

Decoded: What are green bonds and how much will be the govt issue?

Green bonds are debt instruments the proceeds of which are utilised to finance projects that are beneficial to the environment

FM criticises states seeking more funds, says 'You, Me' culture won't work

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday criticised states seeking greater funds from the Central government on the basis of the fact that they generated more revenue

India to set climate resilient urban growth as G-20 infra agenda

Officials say that the issue climate resilient urban infrastructure is key for developing and developed economies

Rupee fall may or may not help exports, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman said the central bank has used nearly $75 billion to stop fluctuations and severe volatitlies in rupee-dollar exchange rate

Govt draws up plans to address concerns of green bond investors

A government official aware of the developments said the treatment for such bonds had to be different from that for the money raised through various types of cess

Cooperative sector happy with Centre's decisions, says FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the representatives of the local cooperative sector were "extremely happy" with the various steps taken by the Centre for their benefit. The minister was speaking to reporters after concluding her three-day tour of the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district. Those who exploited the cooperative sector for political gains never thought of creating a separate ministry for it, and it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who set up the cooperative ministry, she said. Notably, Baramati is the home-turf of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the former Union agriculture minister whose party has a significant presence in the cooperative sector. "I had a meeting with the representatives of different cooperative institutions such as banks and sugar (mills) and they are extremely happy and there were claps after claps for various steps being taken such as relief to be given to them, taxation concession that was extended, waiving of the long

Rupee has held back very well among peers against dollar: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the rupee has "held back very well" when compared to other currencies against the US Dollar. The Reserve Bank and the Finance Ministry are keeping a very close watch over the developments, the finance minister told reporters after the domestic currency sunk to a lifetime low against the greenback. "If any one currency which has held its own and did not get into fluctuation or volatility as much as other currencies it is the Indian rupee. We have held back very well," she told reporters here on the final day of her three-day visit to Pune district which is a stronghold of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. She also asked a reporter to do a study on how the other currencies are behaving against the US dollar in the latest round of depreciation. According to experts, the latest round of depreciation is triggered by adverse global developments starting with the geopolitical tensions triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this ...

Govt making efforts to keep inflation under 4%: Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government was making efforts to keep inflation under 4 per cent and steps were being taken to ensure people get essential goods at fair price and on time. Addressing a press conference near Pune city on the sidelines of a programme, she said steps were being taken to keep inflation at a certain level. Replying to a question on rising prices, the minister said, "As far as inflation is concerned, I have been answering questions (on the issue) in Parliament every time they have been raised. Steps were being taken to keep inflation at one level, for example, duty on imported edible oil is being removed so that affordable oil comes into the country." She said the issue of inflation should be understood in global context. "America is experiencing the kind of high inflation which was not witnessed in the last 40 years. Germany is facing high inflation which was not experienced in the last 38 years. We are taking efforts to ..

Government does not interfere in functioning of ED, says FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government does not interfere in the functioning of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and rejected the Opposition criticism that the central agency is often misused against opponents of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Addressing a press conference near Pune on the sidelines of a programme, she said the ED comes into picture only when there is suspicion of money laundering. Asked about ED actions against Opposition leaders, Sitharaman said the law enforcement agency, which comes under the Ministry of Finance, knows its responsibilities and the government does not interfere in its work. "Try to understand the functioning of the ED. It does not reach the spot when an incident happens. It's role comes into the picture only after it emerges that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been violated in a case. "The ED never comes into the picture directly. It comes when there is a doubt that money laundering has .

Delisting of lending apps will be an ongoing process on Google Play Store

Verification involves manual interventions that can be quite complex

Slowdown in West, on balance, would be positive for India: CEA Nageswaran

'Signs are very encouraging' are for the Indian economy, he says in an interview

Working to implement common KYC for financial transactions: FM Sitharaman

Says developed nations haven't done their bit on climate change

Sitharaman nudges fintech players to have more engagement with govt

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday nudged the fintech industry to break the distance barrier and have more engagements with the government and its agencies to enhance trust. Sitharaman was replying to a question by Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2022 Advisory Board, who wanted to know how to ensure trust among industry, regulators, and the government. "I don't want to sound cliche, but distance brings distrust. So, cut the distance down, have greater engagement with the government," the minister said. Sitharaman further said everyone in the government, whether the prime minister, ministers or think-tank Niti Aayog, is constantly available for engagement, discussions, and exchange of ideas. "So greater the engagement, greater the trust, which gets built up. So I think one sure shot way of retaining and building on trust is to keep the constant engagement going," she said. To a question related to the role of the central bank and the finance ...

Other nations showing interest in India's payment ecosystem: FM Sitharaman

India leading the way in building an inclusive financial world, she says

At it yet again! The sequencing problem in setting a base year for GDP

The current datelines imply the GDP changes will happen only after the general elections of 2024

Centre seeks hiring plan after public banks see dip in staff strength

In the last 10 years, the number of branches of PSBs across the country have gone up, but staff strength has fallen

IFC MD Diop meets FM Sitharaman, discusses lending opportunities in India

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday met International Finance Corporation (IFC) Managing Director Makhtar Diop and discussed increasing lending opportunities in India. IFC is the private sector funding arm of the World Bank. She reiterated India's expectation of a rise in IFC's lending to India to USD 2-2.5 billion in the next 1-2 years and USD 3-3.5 billion in next 3-4 years, the finance ministry said in a series of tweets. "Mr @Diop_IFC shared the sentiment of IFC's expansion into India & stated that IFC would adopt a proactive approach to enhance #investment in India and extend financing to MSMEs to enable capacity building to supplement India's effort to become a manufacturing hub," another tweet said. He further emphasised the potential of looking into sub-national financing for sustainable growth, and mobilise financing for women entrepreneurs.

Govt working on GST on crypto transactions, defining legal framework

The government is working on a comprehensive indirect tax regime for crypto assets which will check revenue loss to the exchequer

Centre plans to offer sops for natural farming under national mission

The central government is considering offering sops to farmers to adopt natural ways of farming, which will be part of a soon-to-be-launched national mission