News Analysis India

Tag: Nirmala Sitharaman

  • Petrol tax slashed, but you aren’t getting full relief

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Consumers were in for a shock on Sunday as the reduction in petrol prices thanks to the excise duty cut was lower than they had thought. Vehicle users in Delhi were expecting Rs 9.50 cut in petrol prices but the reduction was only Rs 8.69. Consumers in other cities also had to shell out more than expected. Reason: the state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) raised the base price of petrol overnight, which jacked up the net retail price.

    OMCs update the base price as and when backend crude and refining prices change. According to the price notification of OMCs, the oil companies increased the base price on petrol by 58 paise, making petrol almost Rs 1 dearer. Following the hike in base price, the petrol costs Rs 96.72 per litre in Delhi, instead of Rs 95.91 per litre. It means people in Delhi were paying 81 paise per litre more at petrol pumps. 

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Saturday announced slashing the Central excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and Rs 6 per litre on diesel. She claimed it would reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre in Delhi. 

    After confusion prevailed among consumers in Kerala on the real impact of the excise duty cut on fuel prices, the state’s finance minister K N Balagopal clarified that consumers in the state should have got a price reduction of Rs 10.41 following the 8 cut in excise duty and the Rs 2.41 reduction in state tax but the unexpected base price shrank the benefit to Rs 9.40. 

    Base price may be changed on a daily basis or less frequently as the OMCs prefer, said Gaurav Moda, India Energy Leader, EY. The final price comprises base price, central excise, dealers’ commission and state VAT. Some taxes are absolute (like Central excise), some are levied as a percentage of the base price. So, the exact price reduction may vary from state to state.

    There is no such issue in the case of diesel.

    ‘Price benefits could be wiped out in a month’ The benefits of the excise duty cut would be lost in a month if the Centre allows fuel prices to be hiked like this, warned Kerala finance minister K N Balagopal

  • Ensure quality power supply at reasonable rates to industries: FM tells state governments

    By PTI

    CHENNAI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday appealed to states to build infrastructure and do “energy planning” thereby ensuring uninterrupted, quality supply of power is made available to industries at reasonable rates, enabling them to grow their businesses.

    At an event here, she said the Centre would extend all its support to help states build the necessary infrastructure and this does not pertain to Tamil Nadu but to the others also.

    Referring to her budget announcement of allotting Rs 7.50 lakh crore to the infrastructure sector in the country, she said it was comparatively higher to the Rs 5.50 lakh crore that was allotted last year.

    “My appeal to states is that they should ensure electricity and it should be made available 24 hours, all 365 days at reasonable rates.Industries should get quality power,” she said.

    Sitharaman said every stakeholder should work towards ensuring uninterrupted power supply so that ‘power shortage’ does not occur since it poses as a major hurdle for the industry’s growth.

    The Finance Minister was speaking at the Stakeholder’s Outreach Programme organised by Directorate General of Foreign Trade on the occasion of India signing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Arab Emirates and the Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement (ECTA) with Australia.

    Sitharaman stressed on ‘ease of doing business’ following the signing of two agreements with Australia and UAE, respectively, so that adequate infrastructure and energy was readily available to respective states.

    “To states we have released Rs 50 lakh as interest-free loans to build infrastructure,” she said. “States should build infrastructure and tap various forms of energy, including solar energy, so that there is no power shortage,” she added.

    “Though I am standing in Tamil Nadu and making this comment, I am making this request to all the other states as well,” she said.

    To the industrialists present at the venue, she said at the time of making investments, the companies should give a thought about tapping various forms of renewable energy in their respective unit. “The government is also ready to extend its support if you need,” she said.

    Sitharaman said that businesses should come forward and make use of the benefits CEPA and ECTA so as to further boost trade between the countries.

    According to Director General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi, India was the second largest trading partner for UAE while UAE was the third largest trading partner for India.

    CEPA would propel the two nations (India and the UAE) going forward and this agreement will lead to seamless flow of goods, development between the two countries, he said.

    On account of the India-UAE CEPA agreement immediate market access at zero duty accounting for 90 per cent of India’s exports in value terms was available to UAE and immediate duty free in labour incentive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles and apparels, leather and footwear. “Bilateral trade was at USD 59 billion in FY2019-20 in goods”, he said.

    On the ECTA agreement with Australia, the bilateral ties was expected to reach USD 45 billion from USD 27.5 billion in next five years which would lead to generation of one million new jobs.

    “The UAE acts as a gateway to other markets like Middle East, Africa, CIS countries”, he said, adding India was importing large amount of cooking coal from Australia.

    From India, he said agriculture products were shipped to Australia while a majority of Indian students take up studying in that country contributing USD 4 billion every year.

    On the ties between Tamil Nadu and UAE, he said the state government shipped goods worth USD 1.4 billion in 2021-22 while Tamil Nadu export value to Australia stood at USD 349.7 million.

  • Ensure quality power supply at reasonable rates to industries: FM tells state governments

    Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre would extend all its support to help states build the necessary infrastructure.

  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets heads of FedEx, Mastercard, others during US visit

    By PTI

    WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met CEOs of large American firms like FedEx and Mastercard and discussed various opportunities for investment in India as the country is poised to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world.

    The Finance Minister is in the US to attend IMF-WB Spring Meetings 2022. FedEx President and CEO-elect Raj Subramanian, during the meeting with the Finance Minister, mentioned that he is positive about India and has significant expansion plans, including in skilling.

    Appreciating the government’s commitment to integrated development through PM Gati Shakti Master Plan, Subramanian said the company is looking at R&D Centres in India.

    Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs 100 lakh crore national master plan for multi-modal connectivity that aims to develop infrastructure to reduce logistic costs and boost the economy.

    PM Gati Shakti targets to cut logistic costs, increase cargo handling capacity and reduce the turnaround time.

    The plan aims to lend more power and speed to projects by connecting all concerned departments on one platform.

    As per the Economic Survey 2021-22, India is projected to grow at 8-8.5 per cent during the current financial year ending March 2023. Sitharaman also held a meeting with Accenture Chair and CEO Julie Sweet.

    “Ms Sweet lauded the proactive & transparent approach of the GoI & said @Accenture is adding a presence in more Tier-II cities in India & focusing on upskilling talent to prepare for emerging opportunities. Ms Sweet also informed that 47% of their workforce in India are women,” the finance ministry said in a tweet.

    During the meeting with Mastercard CEO Miebach Michael, Sitharaman informed about the government of India’s commitment to Digital Financial Inclusion with a focus on women and SMEs by developing world-class homegrown technology solutions.

    “FM Smt.@nsitharaman enquired from Mr @MiebachMichael @Mastercard on how lessons from India’s #FinancialInclusion programme can be used to develop solutions for the world,” the ministry tweeted.

    Mastercard informed the Finance Minister about its plan to set up huge data centres in India and the company’s focus on training and digitisation of small businesses.

    In another such engagement, she also met the global CEO of the consultancy firm Deloitte Punit Renjen.

    “Mr @PunitRenjen mentioned that @Deloitte is expanding its India operations to smaller cities like Coimbatore & Bhubaneswar. Besides, he said, @Deloitte has developed tools to improve the access of rural poor to health facilities & also committed for #ClimateAction in India,” a separate tweet said.

  • Ministry of I&B constitute AVGC Promotion Task Force

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has constituted an Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force.

    Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced to set up of the force in February during the budget speech, to suggest ways to markets and global demand.

    The secretary of I&B will head the task force, which will submit its first action plan within 90 days.

    “The creation of an AVGC Promotion Task Force with the participation of Government of India, State Governments and key industry players will provide focused thrust for the growth of the sector by driving the institutional efforts to guide the policies of growth for this sector, establish standards for AVGC education in India, actively collaborate with industry and international AVGC institutes, and enhance the global positioning of the Indian AVGC industry,” said the ministry on Friday.

    The Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) sector in India has the potential to become the torchbearer of ‘Create in India’ & ‘Brand India’, said the ministry.

    “India has the potential to capture 5 percent (40 billion dollars) of the global market share by the year 2025, with an annual growth of around 25-30 percent and creating over 1,60,000 new jobs annually,” it added.

    Besides framing a national AVGC policy, the task force will recommend a national curriculum framework for Graduation, Post-Graduation and Doctoral courses in AVGC related sectors.

    It will also facilitate skilling initiatives in collaboration with academic institutions, vocational training centers and industry, which will, in turn, boost employment opportunities.

    According to the term and references of the panel, the Force will facilitate promotion and market development activities to extend the global reach of the Indian AVGC Industry, enhance exports and recommend incentives to attract FDI in the AVGC sector.

    The other members of the force are secretaries of ministries– skill development and entrepreneurship, education, electronics and information technology and departments like promotion of industry and internal trade.

    The Task Force also includes state governments of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana; heads of education bodies such as the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), and representatives of industry bodies – Media and Entertainment Skill Council (MESC), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry(FICCI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) including industry stakeholders.

  • RS to continue discussions on Finance Bill 2022

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday will continue discussions on the ‘Finance Bill 2022’ and ‘Appropriation Bill, 2022’ moved by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman the previous day.

    The two the bills were moved for consideration and also for it to be returned.

    “The Bill to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2022-23, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration,” said the Rajya Sabha business list.

    Regarding the Finance Bill, the list said: “That the Bill to give effect to the financial proposals of the Central Government for the financial year 2022-23, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration.”

    MPs Naresh Bansal and Vivek Thakur will lay on the table, a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the statements showing further action taken by the Centre on the observations, recommendations of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development, contained in the different reports.

    Union Ministers Rao Inderjit Singh, Shripad Yessor Naik, Krishan Pal, Pankaj chaudhary, Rameshwar Teli, Bhagwant Khuba, Bhagwat Karad, Bharati Pravin Pawar, Shantanu Thakur and Munjapara Mahendrabhai will lay papers related to different Ministries.

  • Post removal of Article 370, terror activities declined & investment environment created in J-K: FM

    She added, 250 “unjust and discriminatory” state laws too have been removed, and 137 were modified.

  • Ukraine crisis may hit edible oil imports: Nirmala Sitharaman

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Russia-Ukraine war will impact edible oil imports to some extent and India is already looking at other alternatives to import it.“Sunflower oil is imported to India from Ukraine, which is a large producer of sunflower oil. So edible oil supply will be affected to some extent,” the minister told the media in Bengaluru.

    Stating that the Union Government is already looking at other alternatives to import edible oil, the minister said they are looking at various other places from where any other edible oil, if not sunflower oil, that can be used in India and can be imported. “Edible oil is also going to be an area in which we may have challenges and see how we can address it,” she elaborated.

    In the long run, to reduce India’s dependence on other countries for importing edible oil, the Centre is encouraging the cultivation of palm, groundnut and sesame. Sitharaman said they are supporting farmers taking up palm cultivation in the north east. However, the problem with palm cultivation is that it will take six years to bear fruit and farmers will have to be supported through that period.

    On the impact of Ukraine crisis on crude oil prices, the Finance Minister said they are watching the developments post the full-blown war. “Global oil supplies and other indicators are going much higher than what was expected, but we have to see and also identify if there are ways in which we will be able to procure additional quantities. We have to see how it goes and how we can handle it,” she added.

    ‘GST relief cess extended to repay loans’Bengaluru: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Goods & Services Tax (GST) compensation cess has been extended up to March 2026 to repay loans taken for the states to overcome the shortfall in GST compensation during 2020-2021. “The GST council has extended the compensation cess to up to March 2026 for paying the loans which were taken for all the states in 2020 for the compensation which could not be paid that year and somewhat paid in 2021,” she said responding to a question on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s request to extend the GST compensation to the states at least for another three years. The GST council had decided that the Centre would borrow back-to-back and pay compensations to the states. The loan together with the interest itself required that the compensation cess be extended till March 2026, she explained. Many states, including Karnataka, are demanding an extension of GST compensation as the window ends in June 2022. 

  • Centre may intervene to tackle fuel price rise: Nirmala Sitharaman

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: The Union Government, which is concerned about the rising crude oil prices in the international market owing to the Russia-Ukraine war, may make use of budgetary provisions to tackle the situation. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that since the spike in crude oil prices will have a bearing on fuel prices in the country, the government will look at ways to cushion the impact.

    “Since we import over 85-90 per cent of crude oil, the rise in price is a matter of concern, but alternative sources will also be considered. We are watching the situation closely as to how it pans out. I am conscious about it,” she told a select audience during an interactive session on ‘Atma Nirbhar Indian Economy’, organised by the BJP. The minister hinted at compensating Indian oil companies for the price hike to ensure that consumers do not feel the pinch.

    On the Ukraine crisis, Nirmala Sitharaman, while observing that it has posed a lot of challenges, also felt that it has thrown opportunities for countries like India which had seen an increase in wheat export. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the country, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took the opportunity to push the ‘Atma Nirbhar’ mantra, as over five crore PPE kits were manufactured, one vaccine was developed indigenously and put at the disposal of the world. “The CoWin application was also a contribution to the world, which means the PM’s Atma Nirbhar is not just for me and you, but for global welfare”, she remarked. 

    ‘Customs duty hike to boost Atma Nirbhar’

    Defending the hike in Customs duty on certain imports, Nirmala Sitharaman said that it is to bolster the Atma Nirbhar initiative and is not applicable to intermediary raw materials used by start-ups in the semiconductor sector. India, which had an edge in the past in export of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients used in the pharma sector, lost out due to predatory pricing by other exporting nations.

    Hence, Production Linked Incentives have been implemented to make the pharmaceutical sector Atma Nirbhar and to generate jobs, she explained. Sitharaman pointed out that the sex ratio has also improved to 1,026 females for every 1,000 males between 2014 and 2019, which was previously 970 females for every 1,000 males in 104 gender-sensitive districts across India.  The representation of women in panchayats, which was 36 per cent in 2014, has increased to 46 per cent and many states followed the Gujarat model of increasing women’s reservation to 50 per cent, she said.

    ‘The middle class is everywhere’Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserted that her budget had addressed the concerns of the ‘middle class in every sector’. When a participant at an interactive session asked what her budget meant for the middle class, especially as there was no difference in the taxation slabs, she replied, “People will never be happy with what I say, because they want ‘a particular answer’ and I don’t give that. I see the middle class in farmers, those in informal jobs, doing their own business and taking loans from banks, those who want to send their children to study abroad and send money. I also see the middle class in startups looking at the government to support them. So, I will see the middle class everywhere,” evoking a huge round of applause.

  • Russia-Ukraine conflict: Sitharaman says India’s development challenged as world peace threatened

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that never has the globe peace faced challenges of this significance since World War-II, and India’s development is “challenged” by the recent events.

    She said human welfare needs a conducive environment without any disruptions or disturbances to make the post-pandemic economic recovery sustainable.

    “India’s development is going to be challenged by the newer challenges emanating in the world. Peace is being threatened and after the Second World War, (a) war of this significance, this impact, on the globe probably is not felt,” Sitharaman said.

    She was speaking at the annual Asia Economic Dialogue organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and think-tank Pune International Centre.

    “Hopefully, some kind of restoration of peace at the earliest will happen, based on which, recoveries can be sustainable,” she added.

    Fearing that the economic recovery not just in India but across the world will be “severely hampered”, Sitharaman said the welfare of humanity requires the recovery to be sustainable without facing any disruptions.

    The comments come a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military offensive against its neighbour Ukraine by attacking the eastern European country from multiple sides.