Page 62 - Nirmala Sitharaman

Modi govt has taken many women-centric decisions, says FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consciously taken several women-centric policy decisions for their emancipation and empowerment. Reeling out some of the decisions, she said, permanent commissioning of women officers, entry of girls in Sainik School, raising maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, and Poshan Abhiyan benefitting 10 crore women are some of them. To promote entrepreneurship among women, she said, the government is providing credit facilities under the PM Mudra Scheme without collateral and at a concessional rate. So far, she said, 70 per cent of loans sanctioned belong to women category and 30 crore beneficiaries are enrolled. Besides, she said, 80 per cent of the funds under Stand Up India have gone to women and there is 10 per cent reservation under Fund of Fund being run by SIDBI for women-led startups. She expressed happiness that 20 startups out of 111 unicorns are led by women. Talkin

Atal Pension Yojana poorly designed, says Cong; FM Sitharaman hits back

Hours after the Congress dubbed the Centre's Atal Pension Yojana as a "poorly-designed scheme" that "hoodwinks and coerces" people into participating in it, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hit back at the grand old party accusing it of "hoodwinking" people in the name of vote bank politics. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Atal pension scheme is a "fitting representation of the Modi Government's policy making: headline management, with few benefits actually reaching the people". His attack came after a media report claimed that nearly one of three subscribers who dropped out of the Centre's pension scheme for unorganised sector, did so because their accounts were opened without their "explicit" permission. The report cited a recent sample study by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). "The 'flagship' Atal Pension Yojana is a very poorly-designed scheme, a paper tiger that needs officials to hoodwink and coerce people into participatin

FM rubbishes K'taka's claim of injustice in fund's release from Centre

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday rubbished the Karnataka government's claim that the Centre was not releasing its due share of special grants' as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. She denied that there was any recommendation by the Finance Commission. Karnataka government claims that Rs 5,495 crore special grant was not released to Karnataka and this is totally false. The Finance Commission did not in its final report recommend any such special grant, the Finance Minister claimed. Sitharaman's statement came a day after Karnataka filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court requesting a direction to the Centre to immediately release grants under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state, which is reeling under acute drought. In February, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, Congress MLAs and other Congress leaders at the central level staged a demonstration in New Delhi alleging that the Centre was apathetic towa

RBI Guv, Sebi head meet FM ahead of interest rate meet next month

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, ahead of the central bank's interest rate-setting panel meeting next month. The minister separately held a meeting with Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch at her North Block office, according to a post by Sitharaman's Office on X. These meetings come at a time when the industry is pitching for an interest rate cut, and stock markets are witnessing intense volatility. The RBI has held the benchmark interest rate or repo rate at an elevated level of 6.5 per cent since February 2023. Das-headed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet from April 3-5, the first for the 2024-25 fiscal, in which it is expected to spell out inflation and growth trajectory for the financial year beginning April 1. The RBI, in its policy review last month, projected a GDP growth rate of 7 per cent and average inflation of 4.5 per cent for 2024-25. The Indian economy is estimated to have grown over

High base effect of last year to hit March growth business of life insurers

Several private insurers also reported to have moved towards Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and in the less than Rs 5 lakh segment to compensate for their loss of business in the higher ticket size

A developed India by 2047: Churning of ideas at Business Standard Manthan

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Railways & Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw along with other thought leaders will discuss the road ahead at summit next week

Competition Law 2.0 marks a new era for India's anti-trust regulations

The Competition Commission of India investigates Google Play Store over unfair service fees, tests new provisions of the Competition Amendment Act

Deeptech startup policy in final stages, says DPIIT secretary RK Singh

The development is in line with ongoing governmental efforts to bolster innovation in the deeptech sector

FM meets ADB vice prez, urges to become partner in development agenda

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday met Asian Development Bank's new Vice-President (market solutions) Bhargav Dasgupta and discussed ways to further the development agenda. "Both exchanged views on how @ADB_HQ may partner with India to further the development agenda. They also discussed harnessing ADB's convening power to crowd in other public and private sector institutions to participate in India's growth," the finance ministry said in a post on X. ADB in September 2023, appointed Dasgupta as VP for a period of three years. Prior to this, he was MD and CEO of ICICI Lombard General Insurance. Established in 1966, ADB is owned by 68 members 49 from the region. It is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

India will become third top economy in few years, says FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said India currently needs economic freedom to achieve developed nation status by 2047 and assured that the country would move to the third spot in world economy from the current fifth position in the near future. Criticising those who compared India with China, Sitharaman said that certain things could not be replicated from them. "India should attain self sufficiency on economic matters. It should become an economic power. The country has come from 10th position to 5th in global rankings and a few years down the line we will achieve the third spot", Sitharaman said, after unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Shrimati Indira Gandhi College here. Appealing to the students gathered at the venue to contribute to the progress of the nation, she said, "It is through the efforts of students like you that our country will become a developed nation by 2047." Referring to people talking about how China has progressed and comparisons wi

Need to learn lessons from electoral bonds scheme, says FM Sitharaman

Sitharaman observed that more people are investing directly in stock market. Finance minister noted stability of Indian stock market, advocating for it to operate independently

No link between ED raids and political donations to BJP: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday denied any link between the functioning of investigative agencies, including ED raids, and electoral funding to the ruling party, saying these allegations are just assumptions. "What if the companies gave the money, and after that, we still went and knocked at their doors through ED (Enforcement Directorate). Is that a probability or not...It is an assumption that the ED went and knocked at their doors, and to save themselves they came up with funds. The second assumption is that are you sure that they have given (electoral bonds) to BJP. What if they probably gave to regional parties," she said while speaking at India Today Conclave. The finance minister's comments came a day after the Election Commission of India published a list of subscribers of the electoral bonds and funds mobilised by various political parties. The list provided by State Bank of India, the issuer of electoral bonds, was published after the order of the Supreme ...

Electoral bonds data: FM says party funding system needs transparency

Election Commission made public names of companies and individuals who had donated billions of rupees to political parties under the system that had kept their identities secret

NSE's social exchange listings swell to 5; FM Sitharaman hails fundraise

The market regulator last year reduced the minimum application size from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10,000 and cut the minimum issue size from Rs 1 crore to Rs 50 lakh

Completion of projects hallmark of PM Modi's development model, says FM

Sitharaman claimed that prior to 2014, when the Modi government came to power at the Centre, foundations were laid but projects were not completed on time

IPR laws facilitator, not barrier in process of research & development: FM

Intellectual property rights (IPR) laws, the policy are all being given a certain push as research and development are happening in very big scale in India now because the environment is being made conducive for that purpose, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. "So, we are trying to make them (IPR laws) as a facilitator, booster, and not certainly a barrier in the process of R&D. We've taken quite a few steps and I singularly thank the prime minister for this particular policy, which after a lot of consultation has come up in 2016," she said. The law is a balance of protection for those who innovate, and the commercial propositions with which patents can be of use for the society, she said at the book launch event of Justice Prathiba M Singh on Patent Law. Sharing details of the law, Sitharaman said, eight different items which have something to do with intellectual property have all been brought together under one umbrella. Everything to do with the policy ...

Nation moving ahead with vision of women-led development: Sitharaman

Asserting that women empowerment has been a pivotal focus of the NDA government at the Centre, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that India was moving ahead with the vision of women-led development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She was speaking after inaugurating a credit outreach programme at the Jai Prakash University in Bihar's Saran district. "Our PM has done a lot for the empowerment of women in the country, be it providing them with gas cylinders under Ujjwala Yojana, constructing houses and toilets in villages or getting the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam passed in Parliament. Today, the entire world is accepting the fact that the women of India are progressing a lot under the leadership of Modi ji," she said. "Women empowerment has been a pivotal focus of the NDA government. The country is moving ahead with the vision of women-led development under the leadership of Modi ji," she said. Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj ..

FM Sitharaman calls for clarity on GST classification-related issues

CBIC gave a presentation that it has detected fake input tax credit claim of Rs 1.14 trillion from the year 2020 till date

Restoration of Hindu places of worship done in all fairness: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday defended restoration of Hindu places of worship saying they are being done in all fairness and backed by proof, and not an attempt to emotionalise anything. The construction of the three-storeyed Ram temple in Ayodhya is underway after the Supreme Court verdict came in favour of the temple in 2019. Earlier in January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the 'Pran Pratishtha' of Ram Lalla idol as per prescribed rituals. "We need the right kind of storytelling, highlighting it and wherever necessary... so that the civilizational attempt to restore (temples) is done with fairness...we are not trying to emotionalise anything...emotion we have inside, but proof with which we go to the court should stand out for itself," Sitharaman said at a book release event here. Releasing a book titled 'Waiting for Shiva Unearthing the Truth of Kashi Gyan Vapi' written by Vikram Sampath, she said documentation has been an inherent part of the Hindu wa

Use tech to plug loopholes, improve taxpayer services: FM to GST officials

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked GST officers to leverage technology to plug loopholes and provide better taxpayer services. Inaugurating the first-ever National Conference of Enforcement Chiefs of the State and Central GST Formations, Sitharaman advocated for sharing of the emerging best practices, emphasising the need for seamless coordination across states in the larger national interest. "The Union Finance Minister urged all the GST formations to leverage technology to plug the loopholes as well provide better taxpayer services," an official statement issued after the meeting said. She also stressed that clarity on the classification of related issues should be looked into at the earliest through appropriate channels. Sitharaman also exhorted the GST officials to engage with stakeholders to understand their concerns, enhance compliance, streamline processes, and work collaboratively towards making the tax system more transparent and efficient. In her address