Page 33 - Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman to meet state FMs for pre-Budget, GST Council meet on Dec 21-22

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to meet her state counterparts on December 21-22 for pre-budget consultations and meeting of the GST Council, an official said. The meeting assumes significance as states finance ministers would present their recommendations for 2025-26 Budget to be unveiled on February 1, 2025. The 55th GST Council meeting would be held during one of these two days in which the much awaited decision on exemption or lower GST rate on health and life insurance would be taken. The Council may also take up some rationalisation exercise and reduce tax rates on a host of common items from 12 per cent to 5 per cent as per the recommendations of a panel of state ministers. The two-day meeting is slated to take place in Rajasthan, either in Jaisalmer or Jodhpur, the official added. Last month, the group of ministers (GoM) on health and life insurance GST broadly agreed on exempting insurance premiums paid for term life insurance policies, and senior ...

May ease tariffs if no harm to economy, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

According to Sitharaman, she has the responsibility to protect existing domestic companies producing goods locally, while balancing the needs of those dependent on imports

AIIB should strive for more innovative financing models: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) should strive for greater provision of innovative financial models and scale up efforts for private capital mobilisation. The minister in her meeting with the AIIB delegation, comprising 11 officials of the Board of Directors of AIIB and senior representatives and staff, said India could act as a sandbox for AIIB's piloting of innovative financing models and technologies. Sitharaman, who is also Governor on the AIIB Board, stated that the multilateral institution should broaden its investment in priority sectors of climate adaptation and resilience, infrastructure development, energy security, urban development and extend support for India's next generation reforms, an official statement said. She also stressed upon the importance of continually incorporating finance plus and budget plus elements in AIIB's project design and implementation. "Sitharaman further suggested that AIIB shou

Manickam Tagore writes to Sitharaman over LIC's policy restructuring

In the letter dated November 5, Tagore said that the changes in LIC policies are troubling

Govt to decide soon on Rs 100 crore credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the Rs 100 crore credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs which was announced in the budget this year will soon be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval. Highlighting the five announcements made in this budget for MSMEs she said, "the introduction of a special credit guarantee corpus to help MSMEs will be very helpful during the time of distress...." "The Rs 100 crore credit guarantee scheme will soon be placed before the cabinet. Immediately after getting approval from cabinet, the scheme that will provide guarantee through MSME ministry and banks will be implemented," the Union Finance Minister said, while attending the National MSME Cluster Outreach Programme here. "The grievance, which has been there for a very long time, is that the MSMEs can get working capital from banks but they don't get term loans, loans for plant and machinery. Now the guarantee will be provided under the scheme," she explained. Further stat

Patriarchy didn't stop Indira Gandhi from becoming PM: Nirmala Sitharaman

If patriarchy stopped women from achieving what they want in India, how come Indira Gandhi made it as prime minister, asked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She met the students of CMS Business School here on Saturday and discussed various measures undertaken by the Centre to support innovation as well as the government schemes available for young people, including the 1 crore internships for the unemployable youth' in the age group of 21 to 24 years old. Replying to a question about women empowerment, Sitharaman insisted that patriarchy is a concept invented by the Left. "Don't get carried away by fantastic jargons. If you stand up for yourself and speak logically, patriarchy will not stop you from achieving your dreams," she advised the women in the audience. However, she admitted that women are not facilitated adequately and that more facilitation is needed. Answering a question about the prospects of innovators in India, the finance minister said the Modi government

Finance Minister Sitharaman reviews progress of Mysuru planetarium

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday reviewed the progress of the planetarium, being built with assistance from her MPLADS fund. The COSMOS high-tech 15-metre LED dome planetarium, with an 8K resolution, will be the first 'Tilted LED dome' Planetarium in the world, the finance ministry said in a post on X. The finance minister has allocated Rs 5 crore of her Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds for the Cosmology Education and Research-training Centre project and laid the foundation stone in March 2022, it said. The project, with a budgetary estimate of Rs 91 crore, is executed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) through an MoU with the University of Mysore for construction and operation. The implementation of the project is being carried out under the guidance of the Principal Scientific Advisor, and an advisory board co-chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. The centre is expected to create knowledg

Finance ministry asks PSU banks to meet loan targets for agri-allied sector

The finance ministry has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to meet loan targets for the agri-allied sector during the current financial year. Department of Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju in a meeting held on Tuesday reviewed the progress of credit disbursement to agri-allied activities like animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries with Public Sector Banks (PSBs), NABARD and State/ UT Level Bankers' Committee. Representatives of state governments/UTs, the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying and the Department of Fisheries also participated in the discussions, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. The secretary urged PSBs to take all necessary steps to ensure that respective targets are met during the current financial year and stressed the state governments to facilitate banks in improving the flow of credit to these sectors. Nagaraju underscored the importance of the allied sector in driving agricultural growth and its employment potential in rural areas and ...

Income tax dept receives 6,500 suggestions on review of income tax act

The income tax department has received 6,500 suggestions from stakeholders over the past month on review of the Income Tax Act. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday chaired a meeting on the Budget announcement of a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The meeting was attended by Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Ravi Agarwal, and senior CBDT officials. In a post on X, the finance ministry said that Malhotra informed the Finance Minister that 22 specialised sub-committees have been established to review the various aspects of the Income Tax Act. These committees have actively engaged in numerous meetings 'both in person and via VC' with domain experts to collaboratively explore and recommend improvements to the Act. "During the meeting, the Revenue Secretary also apprised FM Smt. @nsitharaman that 6,500 valuable suggestions have been received through the portal since it was opened on 6 October 2024, ...

Economist Bibek Debroy passes away, leaders reflect on his life and legacy

Condolences and tributes poured in from across India for renowned economist Bibek Debroy, including heartfelt messages from PM Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, and other leaders

Kerala CM Vijayan urges Centre to release grant for Vizhinjam seaport

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to release the Centre's share of Rs 817.80 crore in the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for the Vizhinjam seaport here without imposing the condition that the state has to repay it later. Vijayan, in a letter to the FM, said the condition imposed by the Empowered Committee constituted by the Department of Economic Affairs, that the VGF amount should be repaid by Kerala in Net Present Value (NPV) terms by way of premium (revenue) sharing, would result in a huge loss of Rs 10,000 to 12,000 crore to the state exchequer. "The state is investing resources to the tune of Rs 5,595 crore out of the total project outlay of Rs 8,867 crore. I am sure, the Hon'ble Minister would appreciate that given the financial situation of a small state, like Kerala with limited financial resources, this scale of investment involves tremendous sacrifice on the part of the state. "In addition, as the repayment of Rs 817.80

Proficient in ancient texts, economist Debroy had so much more to do: FM

Known for his knowledge of ancient texts and Sanskrit, economist Bibek Debroy profusely participated in policy making, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her condolence message on Friday. Debroy (69), who was the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), died on Friday morning. "As Chairman of PM Economic Advisory Council, he profusely participated in policy making. His interests, inter alia, wereancient texts, Vedic and classical Sanskrit, Devi, Railways. He was prolific in translating Sanskrit to English- our epics and puranas. His book Sarama and Her Children showed his uncanny knack in extracting nuggets from our ancient texts. Bibek, you had so much more to do and to complete for all our sake!," Sitharaman said in a post on X. Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das too described Debroy as a great scholar, author and economist with "amazing" knowledge of ancient Indian scriptures. Sanjeev Sanyal, member EAC-PM, said he "lost a friend, ...

FM Sitharaman urges G7, G20 members to boost support for African nations

Finance Minister Sitharaman participated in the G7 African Ministerial Roundtable on Saturday (local time), the Ministry of Finance stated

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Need fair sovereign ratings for capital access: Sitharaman at IMF meeting

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged greater engagement with credit rating agencies to improve rating methodologies

Soft landing of global economy increasingly a possibility: Sitharaman

A soft-landing of the global economy, which has experienced tremendous stress over the past several years, is increasingly a possibility, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Friday. Observing that better days are ahead primarily because of the coordinated action between countries and multilateral financial institutions, the finance minister at the same time sounded a note of caution that economies are not really picking up that much yet. The largest sense which prevailed in the two-day discussions, both of the (International Monetary) Fund and also of the World Bank, is that there will be a soft landing. The efforts by the Fund, the central banks and all institutions, governments have kept the inflation down for some meaningful period. Therefore soft landing is increasingly a possibility, Sitharaman told a Washington DC-based global think-tank. Then that reasonable growth numbers will come from even the advanced economies. certainly not in the negative area. And then the

Jobs most pressing global issue amid tech changes, says FM Sitharaman

Sitharaman called for the need to explore alternative growth strategies and the types of jobs they will generate, in addition to the traditional manufacturing-led development pathway

More jobs, investment: Space industry welcomes Rs 1K crore VC fund

Industry welcomes move to expand the space economy to $44 billion by 2033

India wants to enhance its influence over other countries: FM Sitharaman

While participating in discussion on 'Bretton Woods Institutions at 80: Priorities for Next Decade', FM stated that no country, whether US which is far or China which is very close cannot ignore India

Can't accept FDI blindly, need safeguards, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman said that to achieve the rate of growth India is aiming for, the country may need $100 billion to meet investment requirements, whereas the current figure stands between $70-80 billion