Page 75 - Nirmala Sitharaman

Interim Budget may see measures to boost consumption demand, rural economy

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to step up efforts to boost consumption and rural economy while keeping inflation under check when she presents her sixth straight Budget on February 1. Experts said one way to boost consumption is to put more money in the hands of people, and one of the possible ways of doing it is by reducing the tax burden through tinkering with tax slabs or increasing the standard deduction. Another proposal is related to increasing the funds under the rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA and higher payout for farmers. Women and marginalised communities may get additional sops as part of Sitharaman's effort to boost consumption ahead of the general elections, experts said. Usually, interim Budgets, which are presented in the Lok Sabha ahead of the general elections, do not contain fresh tax proposals or new schemes. In the interim Budget, the government will seek permission from Parliament to meet its expenses for 4 months of the 2024-25 ...

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FM seeks more participation from French financial institutions at GIFT City

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday met French President Diplomatic Advisor Emmanuel Bonne and sought greater participation from French financial institutions and operations in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City. "They discussed approaches for further enhancing collaborative positions on climate actions, strengthening international financial institutions and addressing the debt vulnerability in low-and-middle-income countries," the finance ministry said in a post on X. Recognising the synergy between Indian UPI and French Targeted Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS), they explored avenues for closer financial integration, it said. "Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman encouraged greater participation from French financial institutions and corporations in pathbreaking initiatives and operations in IFSC at @GIFTCity," it said. Bonne is in the national capital ahead of the upcoming visit of French President Emmanuel Macaron as the chief guest for the

Parliament session from January 31, FM to present Interim Budget on Feb 1

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the Interim Budget session will commence with President Droupadi Murmu addressing both Houses of Parliament

Direct listing of stocks at GIFT City soon, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman also expressed that IFSC should become the platform for the trade of carbon credit

Budget 2024: What is interim budget

On 1st Feb, Nirmala Sitharaman will present an "interim Budget". Watch the video to understand what this is and how it's different from full Budget. #interimbudget #budget2024 #nirmala > >

IFSC needs to ready platform where green credits can be traded: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said India has a USD 10.1 trillion funding gap to meet its net zero commitment and asked IFSC to set up a platform where green credits can be traded. Speaking at a session 'An aspiration of modern India' at the GIFT City, the minister said companies in India will be able to access global funds soon with direct listing on IFSC exchanges. "The much awaited direct listing of stock in Gift IFSC was announced earlier. We are going through the process in a systematic manner and I'm confident that it will happen at the earliest. With that Indian companies should be able to access global funds easily being listed in India," she said. Last year the government had decided to allow listed and unlisted companies to directly list themselves on the IFSC (International Financial Services Centre) exchanges at GIFT City. Currently, Indian companies can access foreign equity markets only through issuing depository receipts or by listing their debt ...

India growing rapidly, to be $30 trn economy by 2047: FM Sitharaman

Relationship between states and centre is of collaborative federalism, she says at Vibrant Gujarat Summit

Interim Budget 2024-25: Funds to boost reach on fintech industry wishlist

They hope for provisions to ease financial burden on fintechs and tax-saving benefits to startups

Sikkim achieved extensive financial inclusion covering remote villages: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday lauded the Sikkim government for helping the Himalayan state achieve extensive financial inclusion, covering remote villages and habitats. She also congratulated banks and other financial institutions for the success story in Sikkim. "Sikkim has done extremely well to set up bank branches and ATM kiosks in all six districts, covering remote villages and habitats to make the mission of financial inclusion a great success," Sitharaman said at a credit outreach programme here. The minister said there are 32 bank branches and 36 ATMs in Sikkim per one lakh population in comparison to the national average of 14. "The state capital Gangtok alone has 43 bank branches and 58 ATMs per one lakh population," she said, adding that women and youth are the biggest beneficiaries of financial inclusion in Sikkim. Sitharaman also handed certificate of loans worth Rs 402 crore to 3,828 beneficiaries under various central schemes, noting that the

Jindal Stainless seeks zero customs duty on ferro nickel, ferro molybdenum

Jindal Stainless on Friday said it has sought continuation of zero customs duty on stainless steel scrap, steel scrap and pure nickel. "As we approach the Union Budget for 2024-25, we request continued support from the Ministry of Steel. In particular, we propose a long-term exemption of basic customs duty on ferro nickel and ferro molybdenum to ensure the industry's access to this important raw material at competitive rates. Additionally, we advocate for the continuation of zero customs duty on stainless steel scrap and steel scrap, besides pure nickel," Jindal Stainless Managing Director Abhyuday Jindal said in a statement. The present customs duty on ferro nickel is 2.5 per cent while in the case of ferro molybdenum it is 5 per cent. According to the statement, Jindal Stainless is confident that these proposals will help the stainless steel industry thrive. "We also request continuing export duty of 30 per cent on exports of chrome ore from the country. The issue of dumping and

Centre not hostile to TN on funds flow, even made advance payment: FM

The Centre was never hostile towards Tamil Nadu, Kerala or any other state on ensuring funds flow and had made advance payments and even released funds to foster infrastructure development, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. Responding to a criticism from the DMK government that the central government was not disbursing funds or settling its share, she said from 2014 to 2023 the Centre received Rs 6.23 lakh crore as direct tax (income tax and corporate tax) from Tamil Nadu but gave back Rs 6.96 lakh crore to the state during the same period. "I will get the update on the current figures only in March. But as per the available statistics, from 2014 till 2022-23, Tamil Nadu's direct tax collection was Rs 6.23 lakh crore. But we gave Rs 6.96 lakh crore to the state," she said while speaking at the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra programme here. "It is a wrong assumption that this Rs 6.23 lakh crore is paid only by the people of Tamil Nadu. Among them were ...

Centre expected to maintain fiscal discipline in Interim Budget 2024

Interim budget likely to prioritise fiscal consolidation over populist spending, anticipating fiscal deficit at 4.5% of GDP by FY26

Real estate players seek a host of benefits from the upcoming Budget

In 2023, the Indian real estate sector - both housing and commercial - witnessed a strong momentum fueled by demand, supply, and absorption

India launches a single-window portal for medical devices management

The Drugs Controller General of India said that the National Single Window System (NSWS) has been established as a 'genuine single-window system which acts as a one-stop shop for all approvals'

NARCL, PSBs should work to expedite on-boarding of stressed accounts: FM

The Finance Minister, during the review meeting, also asked the banks to put more effort into recovery from accounts declared as fraud and wilful default while also monitoring early warning signals

Sitharaman meets heads of public sector banks, reviews performance

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Saturday held a meeting with heads of public sector banks and reviewed their financial performance. During the meeting, concerns related to cyber security and the risks on the financial sector were discussed, sources said. Issues related to fraud and wilful defaulters and progress on the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) also came up for discussion, they said. This is the probably last full review meeting before the presentation of Budget 2024-25 and general elections later next year. On the performance front, PSU banks have earned a net profit of about Rs 68,500 crore during the first six months of the current financial year. During 2022-23, it said banks' balance sheets grew at a healthy pace, with both deposits and credit growth accelerating. The Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) fell to a decade low of 3.9 per cent at the end of March 2023 and further to 3.2 per cent in September

Fiscal deficit for Apr-Nov narrows to 50.7% at Rs 9.07 trillion: Govt

Earlier this month, finance minister for state Bhagwat Karad said that the Centre was confident of meeting the fiscal deficit target of 5.9% in FY24

RBI, Mumbai banks receive bomb threat demanding resignation of FM

Mumbai Police are investigating an email claiming bombs planted have been at 11 locations, calls for resignation of RBI governor and finance minister

FinMin to meet heads of PSBs on Sat; review implementation of govt schemes

Finance minister Niramala Sitharaman is scheduled to meet managing directors of public sector banks (PSBs) on Saturday to review the financial performance of lenders. PSU banks have earned a net profit of about Rs 68,500 crore during the first six months of the current financial year. The meeting is going to take stock of the progress made by banks in achieving targets set for the various government schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Kisan Credit Card (KCC), Stand-Up India, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), sources said. This is the probably last full review meeting before the presentation of Budget 2024-25 and general elections later next year. She will also discuss on measures to improve customer service and cyber security, sources said. The finance minister would also review financial inclusion, credit growth, asset quality, and business growth plan of banks for the next financial year, the sources said, adding non-performing assets (NPAs) and the reco