Page 85 - Nirmala Sitharaman

India, US to boost ties, look for alternatives to fund energy transition

India and the US on Monday committed to strengthening bilateral ties and actively pursue the G20 agenda, which includes taking coordinated action to deal with climate change and look forward to alternate mechanisms to fund energy transition. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting here. Sitharaman, in her statement, expressed commitment to strengthening bilateral ties and looked forward to new investment opportunities through alternate investment platforms for renewable energy. The US and India's collaboration spans across a range of economic issues, including commercial and technological collaboration, strengthening supply chains, and catalysing the clean energy transition, Yellen said. "In particular, we look forward to working with India on an investment platform to deliver a lower cost of capital and increased private investment to speed ..

India and Indonesia plan local currency trade, fast payments links

The proposed agreements with Indonesia comes as India inked similar pacts with the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, which will see more trades done in rupees and dirhams

Top headlines: Ola advances plan for IPO, Govt's FDI push in space sector

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G20 FMCBG: Sitharaman for attracting pvt investment to develop urban infra

Debt relief framework: China a stumbling block

Sitharaman for strengthening global architecture to combat financial crimes

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday made a case for further strengthening of global architecture to combat financial crimes, money laundering and sharing of information about different asset classes including crypto currencies. Addressing a 'G20 High-Level Tax Symposium on Combating Tax Evasion, Corruption and Money Laundering', the minister exuded confidence that G20 will continue to assist the jurisdictions in enhancing their law enforcement capacity. Under the G20 Presidency, Sitharaman said, India has taken the lead for building capacity in tax and financial crime investigation in the South Asian region in collaboration with OECD. India has decided to launch a pilot on tax and financial crime investigation in collaboration with OECD for the South Asian Region beginning at the Regional Campus of National Academy of Direct Taxes in New Delhi on July 18. Observing that G20 has helped spearhead a number of reforms to the global tax, anti-corruption and anti-money launderi

FM Sitharaman stresses on attracting pvt investment to develop urban infra

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday underlined the need for embracing innovative strategies to attract private investment, bridge financing gaps and foster sustainable development of infrastructure in cities. Addressing the 'G20 Infrastructure Investment Dialogue', the minister said that the situation with regard to financing infrastructure has become even more challenging in the wake of monetary policy tightening in key markets. The tight monetary policy leads to the hardening of interest rates and the burgeoning debt repayment burden. Against this backdrop, she said, "Innovative financing and funding mechanisms for cities could have significant potential to fill the increasing (funding) gaps. "It can complement the pool of funds available for infrastructure in addition to public investment and financing provided by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), she added. "We need alternate solutions to leverage private sector participation in this context. Innovative financin

FM suggests AIIB to use innovative financing ways to address infra needs

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday suggested the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to use innovative financing ways to better address infrastructure needs of member countries. Sitharaman met Jin Liqun, President, AIIB, in Gandhinagar on the sidelines of the 3rd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors #G20FMCBG meeting and discussed the role of #MDBs, including @AIIB_Official in addressing the current global developmental challenges. "While discussing issues of relevance to India and @AIIB_Official, FM Smt. @nsitharaman suggested that @AIIB_Official should further use innovative financing and financing instruments so as to better address the #infrastructure requirements of member countries," the finance ministry tweeted. While appreciating AIIB's support for #G20India Presidency, the minister highlighted the need for #MDB reforms and the importance of coordination and collaboration among #MDBs. "Being the Governor of second largest shareholder of ...

FM Sitharaman discusses trade negotiation progress with Canadian Dy PM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Sunday discussed the progress being made on ongoing bilateral trade negotiations. The two ministers met on the sidelines of the 3rd Finance Ministers and central bank governors meeting in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Freeland, who is also the finance minister of Canada, said Canadian Pension Funds would be keen to explore investing in Indian Infrastructure Funds as India offers a stable investment climate. "The two ministers also discussed the progress being made on the ongoing various trade-related negotiations between India and Canada," the Indian finance ministry tweeted. The ministers discussed continued constructive participation in building consensus on the G20 Finance Track work streams, it added.

BJP rule marked by Seva, inclusion, MSME growth: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The NDA government at the Centre has provided excellent governance with zero corruption and efficient use of money in the last nine years, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday. Addressing an intellectuals' meet organised by the district unit of BJP in Udupi, she said the BJP rule was marked by Seva, inclusion and improvement of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The reforms brought in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led union government in the financial sector has helped the ease of doing business, particularly in the small and medium sector in the country, she noted. She further said the Modi government has accorded priority to the growth of MSMEs by removing archaic laws and compliance burden. As many as 1,500 archaic laws and 39,000 compliances have been completely removed which rules out the possibility of them becoming instruments of corruption. The elements of the Companies Act which were troubling people have been decriminalised to help the ...

FM says no income tax up to Rs 7.27 lakh per annum under new tax regime

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Narendra Modi government has provided several tax benefits to middle class people, including income tax exemption for those earnings up to Rs 7.27 lakh per annum. Asserting that no section of the society has been left out by the government, she mentioned about skepticism in certain quarters when it was decided to provide income tax exemption for those earnings up to Rs 7 lakh in the Union Budget for 2023-24. The skepticism was about what will happen to those earnings little more than Rs 7 lakh, she noted. "So, we sat as a team and went into the details (to find out) at what stage you pay tax for every additional Re 1 you earn... (for instance) for Rs 7.27 lakh, you don't pay any tax now. It is only at Rs 27,000 that the break even comes. After that you start paying tax. "You have a standard deduction of Rs 50,000 also. Under the new scheme, the grievance was that there was no standard deduction. It is given now. We have brought

Holding shares in firms' subsidiaries exempted, clarifies GST Council

The clarification came amid GST officers sending notices to both Indian and foreign companies, demanding tax on share capital held in their subsidiaries at 18%

28% GST an opportunity for gaming companies to compete: Gamezop co-founder

Gaurav Agarwal, co-founder of Gamezop, said those firms that are able to adapt faster will 'emerge victorious'

Centre has 'murdered' online gaming with 28% GST, says Ashneer Grover

The new tax puts fantasy gaming tax at the same level as gambling and betting

GST Council okays 28% tax on online gaming, casinos and horse racing

To be levied on full face value; effective roll-out after amendments to GST law

50th GST Council meet underway, taxation on online gaming on agenda

The 50th GST Council meeting started on Tuesday and is likely to deliberate on a host of issues including taxation of online gaming, definition of utility vehicles and tightening of norms for registration and claiming of ITC. At the beginning of the meeting taking place in the national capital, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released a short film titled 'GST Council - 50 steps towards a journey'. In 49 meetings held so far, the Council has taken approximately 1,500 decisions in the spirit of co-operative federalism, the office of Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted. "The 50th meeting is a milestone which indicates success of cooperative federalism and establishment of a good & simple tax regime," the tweet said. Sitharaman also released a Special Cover and customised 'myStamp', which was presented to her by the Chief Post Master General, Delhi Circle India Post Office, the finance ministry tweeted. The GST Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and comprises ministers from .

FM nudges PSU banks to take swift action against frauds, wilful defaulters

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to take swift action in cases concerning fraud and wilful defaults to reduce bad loans and take steps to accelerate growth momentum, sources said. Banks have written off Rs 11.17 lakh crore bad loans from their books in the last six years till the financial year 2021-22. The non-performing assets (NPAs), including those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance sheet of the bank concerned by way of write-off. In a recent meeting with heads of PSBs, the finance minister urged them to focus on having robust risk management practices and mitigating Cyber Security risks. During the meeting, it was also emphasised that banks should follow a strong internal audit framework and adherence to caveats of internal policies, sources said. Some of the challenges highlighted during the meeting included the declining share of market share in terms of advanc

PM's firm policy is to ensure development of all states: FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intention is that all States and Union Territories should progress as it would ensure a wholistic development of the country. Launching 'Credit Outreach programme' at a function organised by State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) here, she said, "Prime Minister is keen that the poor and have-nots, women and weaker sections in all the States and Union Territories should benefit under the various schemes." The Finance Minister sanctioned loan letters to 1.41 lakh beneficiaries in the Union Territory to the tune of Rs 2,628 crore under different programmes including Housing and Mudra schemes of the Central government operated by the public sector banks. Sitharaman said that she had found during the review meeting earlier held here that Puducherry had implemented various schemes completely. "The coordinated work and implementation of 22 flagship programmes by the territorial administration, ministers

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HDFC merger poses increased competition in deposits segment for PSBs: Govt

PSBs told to take swift action on fraud and willful defaulters cases

FM Nirmala Sitharaman to soon review performance of Regional Rural Banks

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to meet heads of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and review their performance soon, sources said. RRBs play an important role in financial inclusion and serving the credit needs of rural economy. According to sources, the finance minister would review the progress with regard to issuance of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to farm and allied sector by RRBs. With an aim to provide the benefits of KCC loans to maximum number of farmers, a special KCC saturation drive was launched under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to cover 2.5 crore farmers under KCC with a credit boost of Rs 2 lakh crore. She is also expected to review capital position of some of the weak RRBs, sources added. The need for technology upgradation of RRBs, strategies for NPA reduction, IT initiatives, improving financial inclusion, enhancing credit delivery to rural areas and support being given by sponsor banks to the RRBs are other issues that may be discussed in the meeting, it ...