The government can heave a sigh of relief as the Goods and Services Tax collection for January have come in slightly stronger than what many expected. The final number for January is Rs 88,929 cr, an increase of 6.3% over Rs 82,716 cr recorded in the previous month. The declines were a matter of concern […]
The following is the full text of Arun Jaitley’s speech on the Union Budget for 2018-19. The major highlight of the budget in terms of taxation was the imposition of a 10% tax on long-term gains from equity investments. “Madam, four years ago, we pledged to the people of India to give this nation an […]
The following are the important highlights of the budget speech by finance minister Arun Jaitley for the year 2018-19. UPDATE: To read what Jaitley said about the imposition of tax on equity transactions, click here. To read his full speech, click here. The following are the major announcements of the Budget 2018-19. EQUITY MARKETS Long-term […]
FICCI’s latest quarterly survey on Manufacturing indicates a pause in the steady improvement seen in optimism on quarterly production levels. The percentage of respondents expecting production in the current quarter (Oct-Dec) to be higher than last quarter fell to 47% from 50% three months ago. It is among the lowest scores in the last two-and-a-half […]
Adi Godrej, chairman of one of India’s largest manufacturing and real estate groups, said most of the complaints about the new Goods and Services Tax is coming from businesses that have been built on a model of tax evasion. “The complaints about the GST are mainly coming from people who used to evade taxes in […]
Net bank deposits by non-resident Indians have fallen by nearly 90% so far this financial year as more and more foreign workers dipped into their bank accounts in the face of a crisis in the Gulf region, industry association ASSOCHAM said. Net bank deposits — the difference between total deposits and not withdrawals — came […]
The Indian government is likely to announce a new industrial policy in October, the ministry of commerce and industry said, and sought feedback from the public. Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Seetharaman will hold a final round of consultations with stakeholders soon, it added. “Sitharaman will hold consultations with stakeholders, including industry captains, think tanks […]
India’s energy sector is facing low capacity utilisation in power generation as plant load factor is estimated to remain low at around 62 per cent until 2018-19, noted a recent ASSOCHAM-Crisil joint study. The study also expressed concern over the slow pace of reform implementation in certain areas. The study noted that India had made […]
The write-off of farm loans in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra seems to be encouraging farmers in other states to stop paying back their farm loans to make sure that they will get the benefits of any farm loan waiver program in their state. This has led to a sharp increase in farm loan defaults for […]
The Forum for IT Employees, arguably the IT workers rights organization with the largest number of well-wishers and supporters, accused IT companies of using illegal and unethical means to force their workers to submit their resignations. In a meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the organization accused the companies of using harassment techniques that […]
The demonetization of currency notes late last year has doubled the number of card transactions and helped push India’s payment digitisation by three years, State Bank of India said in a note. “Even after seven months post demonetization, the transaction value is quite large and approximately double of what it had been corresponding month last […]
Indian IT companies are bound to see “some laying off” of their work force back home due to various negative forces impacting the industry, Assocham — an association of various industries — warned. “With the US tightening the norms for H-1B visas under the President Donald Trump’s ‘Buy American, Hire American’ campaign, the Indian IT […]
The Indian banking system is likely to get a permanent liquidity boost of Rs 1.7 lakh cr due to the demonetization of high-denomination bank notes, State Bank of India chief economic adviser said in a note to bank clients. He said people were not making the large cash withdrawals that everyone expected them to after the […]
After missing its targets by wide margins in the previous two five-year plans, India is all set to comfortably meet or exceed all its power sector targets for the 12th five-year plan that ends this month. Five-year plans, borrowed from the Soviet Union, are a legacy of Nehruvian policy of setting development targets every five […]
High fuel prices, particularly that of diesel, lifted India’s wholesale price index to its highest level since the Narendra Modi government took power almost three years ago. On an overall level, wholesale price of various items jumped 6.55% in February when compared with the prices of the same basket of commodities in the same month […]
The Indian government has no immediate plans or proposals to institute a scheme of ‘unversal basic income’ in place of the myriad social welfare scheme run by the country at present, the finance ministry said in response to a query. The clarification that there is ‘no proposal for a universal basic income scheme’ comes in […]
Nitin Gadkari, who is slowly building up a reputation as a pragmatic and capable minister, is likely to face major disappointment in the ongoing financial year as his ministry is unlikely to meet the steep road construction target it set for itself. Unlike the term of the previous government, when an average of 5,000 km […]
The country’s largest bank, State Bank of India, said today that it expects the growth in India’s gross domestic product to fall to 6.1% or lower in the current year from 7.9% last year due to the impact of demonetization. It said the projection by government of India’s Central Statistical Office for a GDP growth […]
Narendra Modi announced several ‘prize schemes’ to promote cashless transactions. Under the schemes announced today, there will be two sets of prizes for consumers and another for small merchants. Under the first scheme, any customer who uses any electronic form of payment, including wallets and debit cards, will qualify for a ‘lucky draw’ of Rs […]
The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 3.15% for the month of November, 2016 as compared to 3.39% for the previous month and -2.04% during the corresponding month of the previous year. The fall is largely expected due to the impact of the withdrawal of high-denomination currencies during the month. Build […]
