Page 38 - Nirmala Sitharaman

FM Nirmala Sitharaman seeks RBI help to clear RRB dues with states

The finance minister also directed RRBs to become more customer-friendly and use their local connections to further improve performance

MCA likely to bring out internship scheme guidelines within two weeks

The MCA has held industry consultations on the scheme before finalising the guidelines. The ministry will also put in place checks and balances in the scheme to ensure transparency

FM Sitharaman urges regional rural banks to reduce high attrition rates

RRBs were established regionally and are oriented towards rural areas, with capital contributed by the Government of India, state governments, and sponsored banks under the RRB Act, 1976

Use simpler language in tax notices, don't instil fear: FM tells officials

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday asked tax officers to use simple language in income tax communications so that notices do not instil fear in the minds of taxpayers. Advising the income tax officers not to take "disproportionate" action and use enforcement measures only, as the last resort, Sitharaman said tax officers should use "power judiciously". "Taxpayers must not be subject to unnecessary harassment," she said, adding that tax authorities should mention the reason for sending tax notice and present their side of the story in a "crystal clear" way. "It would be better if the tax-related communication is simpler in language, becomes devoid of technical words and is not convoluted so that an average taxpayer understands what he/she needs to do or what the notice is about," Sitharaman said at the 165th Income Tax Day celebration here. Stating that tax authorities are not for instilling fear in the minds of people, Sitharaman said the department should collect wha

Focus on deposits, strengthen cybersecurity: FM Sitharaman to banks

The FM also met top officials of regional rural banks in a separate meeting, where banks were asked to expedite one state-one RRB initiative

FM asks RRBs to devise suitable products aligning with MSME clusters

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to devise suitable products aligning with MSME clusters to increase banking penetration. During a review meeting with chairpersons of RRBs and CEOs of their sponsored bank, the finance minister emphasised active outreach by the RRB branches located in MSME clusters to ensure credit to small and micro enterprises in areas like textile, wooden furniture, leather, food processing, packing materials etc. that hold immense potential for increasing the loan portfolio. Sitharaman also asked sponsor banks and RRBs to recognise the challenges ahead and continue focusing on maintaining asset quality, expanding digital services, and ensuring robust corporate governance. During the meeting, Sitharaman underlined that all RRBs must have their own up-to-date technology stack to stay relevant and noted that digital banking services like mobile banking will be a boon for regions with relatively challenging physical ...

FM Sitharaman meets heads of PSBs, exhorts banks to improve deposit growth

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Monday held a performance review meeting with heads of public sector banks and urged them to improve their deposit growth. Deposits have been growing 300-400 basis points lower than the credit growth in the last few months, creating an asset-liability mismatch for banks. According to sources, the finance minister reviewed the financial performance of banks and progress made in the implementation of various flagship schemes of the government, including PM Awas Yojana, PM Surya Ghar and PM Vishwakarma Yojana. Sitharman also took stock of deposit growth, credit-to-deposit ratio (CD ratio) and asset quality, sources said. The minister asked the banks' chief to focus on core banking business and increase the pace of deposit growth by introducing innovative products. Earlier this month, the finance minister had said there is a mismatch between deposit and lending growth. "Growth in lending is higher...I will be meeting banks (on August 19) for vari

FM to discuss bad loans taken over by NARCL with PSBs, RRBs on Monday

Sitharaman had last chaired a meeting with heads of PSBs in December 2023

Urgent need to address $4 trn financing gap to accelerate SDG progress: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that inadequate access to developmental finance is hindering developing economies from achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and underscored the urgent need to address this USD 4 trillion annual financing gap. Addressing the third Voice of Global South Summit virtually, Sitharaman said that recent reports reveal that the implementation of many SDGs in developing economies is stagnating, with some indicators even regressing. The SDG financing gap is estimated to be USD 4 trillion annually for developing countries, she said. Observing that the global South is affected by global uncertainties, she said one in four developing countries will be poorer by the end of this year than they were before the pandemic as per a recent World Bank report. "Growth thus remains insufficient to drive progress in development and poverty reduction. To accelerate progress on SDGs, there is an urgent need to address the USD 4 trillion financing

India must focus on skilled workforce to become developed by 2047: Gopinath

India has grown well in terms of its overall growth rate, and at 7 per cent, it is the fastest growing major economy in the world, she said

Foreign exchange rules amended: Cross-border share swaps eased by govt

Now, transfer of all shares in firms having FDI with countries sharing land borders, would require prior government approval

Financial bids for Chhattisgarh-based NMDC Steel likely in two months

The Union Budget has set the target for miscellaneous capital receipts, including disinvestment, at Rs 50,000 crore for FY25 compared to the revised estimate of Rs 30,000 crore for FY24

Wish I could bring down taxes to nil, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

But there are challenges to overcome and the country needs money for that, says the finance minister

Govt needs money to meet challenges, fund R&D, says FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday justified the present taxation regime, saying that the country needs resources to meet the challenges facing the nation and also to fund research and development activities. Sitharaman was addressing the 11th convocation of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Bhopal. While appealing to the scientist community to do more research on the storage of renewable energy, Sitharaman said the world has promised a lot of money towards transitioning from fossil fuel to renewable energy but that money is yet to come. "But India didn't wait. The promises given in Paris (Paris Agreement) were fulfilled with our own money. There are times when being the finance minister, it doesn't give me motivation when I have to answer people about why our taxes are like this? Why can't we even be lower than this? I wish I can bring it down to almost nil. But India's challenges are severe and challenges will have to be overcome," the

Centre sets up team to implement internship scheme announced in Budget

The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs is holding discussions with corporate HR leaders in Delhi and Mumbai to finalise the contours of the scheme

Uncertainty in garment sector amid Bangladesh crisis, normalcy soon: FM

FM Sitharaman addresses concerns over garment sector investments in Bangladesh and urges banks to boost deposit mobilisation amidst rising economic challenges

Banks should bring in innovative products to mobilise deposits: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday asked banks to come up with innovative and attractive schemes to mobilise deposits. Addressing the media after the board meeting of the Reserve Bank of India, she said that deposits and lending are the two wheels of a cart and "deposit is moving slowly." The banks, she stressed, need to focus on core banking business which is mobilising deposits and lending to those who need funds. In order to overcome the mismatch between deposits and lending, Sitharaman asked banks to come up with "innovative and attractive" deposit schemes to mobilise funds from the people. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that interest rates are deregulated and often banks raise deposit rates to attract funds. "Banks are free to decide on interest rates", Das added. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das while unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policy earlier in the week, also had expressed concern of deposit-lending mismatch in the banking sector. He had said that banks

Banking laws Bill extends tenure of cooperative banks' directors to 10 yrs

Changes to banking laws have a consumer tilt; no proposal that would allow change in ownership pattern of PSBs

Govt tables banking laws bill in LS, seeks to raise nominees per a/c to 4

The government is scheduled to introduce the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which seeks to increase the option for nominees per bank account to four, from existing one, among others. Another proposed change relates to redefining 'substantial interest' for directorships, which could increase to Rs 2 crore instead of the current limit of Rs 5 lakh, which was fixed almost six decades ago. As per the revised list of business of Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to introduce the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 later in the day. Besides, sources said there are some changes with respect to cooperative banks. In addition, the Bill also seeks to give greater freedom to banks in deciding the remuneration to be paid to statutory auditors. The Bill also seeks to redefine the reporting dates for banks for regulatory compliance to the 15th and last day of every month instead of the second and fourth Fridays. The Bill, which was approved by the Union Cabinet l

No back-door entry for defaulting promoters: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Statement comes in response to concerns over haircuts in insolvency cases