Tag: nirmla sitaraman

Budget 2025 relief: Will FM Sitharaman raise tax-free income, tax exempt income threshold to Rs 10 lakh

The Union Budget for the year 2025 is scheduled to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2025. The middle class is anticipating the Narendra Modi government to offer relief in income tax. 

Various proposals have been presented by organisations linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during pre-budget discussions with Finance Minister Sitharaman. These include increasing the tax-free income threshold to Rs 10 lakh, introducing a stimulus package specific to agriculture, extending the number of work days under MGNREGA to 200, expediting GST refunds, and developing a comprehensive manufacturing strategy to address Chinese imports.

Representatives from the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), led by Pawan Kumar, shared their recommendations with Sitharaman on Monday.

“Raise income threshold for income tax to 10 lakhs with exemptions existing as of now. Constitute the 8th Pay Commission immediately. Pensioners must be made exempt from paying tax on pensions,” the BMS said in a statement,

Other demands

The BMS proposed an extension of the MGNREGA program to guarantee 200 workdays per family each year. They also recommended a specialized assistance program for industries such as agriculture, plantation, beedi, and fisheries. The organization called for the implementation of the 8th Pay Commission, tax exemption up to Rs 10 lakh, and a preference for OPS over NPS and UPS.

Furthermore, they suggested increasing the gratuity calculation period to 30 days per year from 15 days and eliminating tax obligations for pensioners.

The union also urged the finance ministry to consider raising the minimum pensions for EPS-95 pensioners to Rs 5000 initially, followed by 50% of the minimum wages set by the government, with a linkage to Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA). 

They have also suggested extending the Ayushman Bharat scheme to EPS-95 pensioners and providing old age pensions to all individuals. Additionally, the organisation has requested adequate funding for various industrial boards like the beedi workers welfare board and the contract labour board, which were previously financed through a cess before the implementation of the GST regime.

Big Changes in Direct Tax Code 2025

Major Changes in Direct Tax Code 2025:

  1. Removal of Assessment and Previous Year Concepts: The code removes the terms “Assessment Year” and “Previous Year”. Only the term- “Financial Year” will be applicable for tax filing.
  2. Capital Gains Tax Changes: Capital gains will be taxed as regular income. Short-term gains on financial assets will be taxed at 20% (up from 15%), while long-term gains will be taxed at 12.5% (down from 20%).
  3. Simplified Residential Status: Taxpayers will be classified as either residents or non-residents, eliminating the RNOR (Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident) category.
  4. New Income Category Names: “Income from Salary” is now called “Employment Income,” and “Income from Other Sources” is renamed “Income from Residuary Sources.
  5. Expanded Tax Audit Roles: Company Secretaries (CS) and Cost and Management Accountants (CMA) may now be allowed to conduct tax audits, which was previously limited to Chartered Accountants (CAs), making tax audits more accessible.
  6. Unified Company Tax Rates: Both domestic and foreign companies will now pay the same tax rate, making compliance easier and encouraging foreign investment.
  7. TDS and TCS on Most Income: Under the new tax system, Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS) will apply to nearly all types of income. This ensures taxes are paid more regularly. The TDS rate for many payments will drop from 5% to 2%. For e-commerce operators, the TDS rate will significantly decrease from 1% to 0.1%, offering relief to taxpayers and simplifying compliance for e-commerce businesses.
  8. Fewer Deductions and Exemptions: Most deductions and exemptions will be removed, streamlining tax filing. However, the standard deduction for salaried employees in the new tax regime has increased to 275,000, a 50% rise.

CA Raj Chawla

Key Taxpayer Expectations for Budget 2024

Here are some of the key expectations of taxpayers and salaried individuals from the Budget 2024.

Budget 2024: Hike in 80C deduction limit to tax benefits for homebuyers, here’s what taxpayers want from FM

Hit hard by high inflation, fall in real wages and the rising cost of living, taxpayers and the common man are looking towards Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with much hope as the Budget 2024 is going to be presented in just a couple of days, and they expect the FM to do something for them despite this being an interim budget.

Rationalization of the income tax slab rates, increase in the Section 80C deduction limit, de-cluttering of Section 80C, hike in the standard deduction limit, more tax sops for homebuyers and investors are among the key expectations of taxpayers. Taxpayers are also expecting some changes in the New Tax Regime to make it more attractive.

Here are some of the key expectations of taxpayers from the Budget 2024:

De-cluttering of Section 80C

The last review of Section 80C of the Income Tax Act was done way back in 2014. So, it’s time to adjust this crucial element of tax savings. Section 80C encompasses a diverse range of financial commitments, including housing loan principal repayments, tax-saver fixed deposits, employees’ provident fund, children’s school fees, and life insurance premiums.

“To optimize the benefits for taxpayers, it may be good to have a strategic de-cluttering of Section 80C. By distinctively separating loan repayments and insurance premiums, the budget can provide more targeted and effective tax breaks on investments,” says Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bankbazaar.com.

Additionally, “we propose the introduction of a separate deduction specifically tailored for home loans. This move aims to streamline the tax-saving process for homeowners, recognising the unique financial commitment they undertake. Further, we suggest the de-coupling of prepayments from Section 80C, recognising that the current structure may not fully align with the diverse financial strategies of individuals,” adds Shetty.

Increase in Section 80C deduction limit

Along with de-cluttering of Section 80C of the I-T Act, increase in the Section 80C deduction limit is also on the wishlist of individual taxpayers for a long time as it was last revised in the year 2014 to Rs 1.5 lakh. It is the most important tax benefit deduction used by individual taxpayers under the old tax regime. Taking in view the soaring cost of living, an increase in the deduction limit to at least Rs 2 lakh from the current Rs 1.5 lakh will provide the much-needed relief to most of people.

Increase in Standard Deduction limit

For salaried persons, travel allowance exemption and medical reimbursement were done away with from the Financial Year 2018-19 in lieu of standard deduction. To keep pace with the ever-rising medical cost and the fuel cost, there is need for the standard deduction limit to be increased from the existing Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000 per annum. This move will also bring parity with those earning income from business or profession, who can claim actual expenses or opt for a presumptive basis of taxation, where a certain percentage of gross income is considered as an expense.

Tax Benefits for Homebuyers

Individuals buying their home by taking a housing loan are entitled for tax benefits. Under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act, homebuyers can claim a deduction of up to Rs 2 lakh on the annual interest paid on their home loan EMI, while a deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh can be claimed for the principal amount paid under Section 80C of the I-T Act. According to tax experts, the deduction u/s 24 needs to be raised to at least Rs 5 lakh as both home loan interest rates and housing prices have gone up significantly. Similarly, the limit for housing loan principal repayments u/s 80C should be further enhanced by increasing the limit of Section 80C deduction or there should be a separate deduction specifically tailored for home loans.

Make the New Tax Regime more appealing

The New Tax Regime has become the default option now and has lower tax rates than the Old Tax Regime. Still various recent studies have revealed that taxpayers still prefer the Old Regime because of variuos reasons. Therefore, to further increase the appeal of the New Tax Regime, the Finance Minister needs to take several steps, including lowering the highest tax rate from 30% to 25% and increasing the income threshold for this highest rate from Rs 15,00,000 to Rs 20,00,000.

“Additionally, the government should allow the set-off for house property loss under the new regime. This would be a major incentive for taxpayers to switch to the new system, as it could potentially offset some of the lost deductions from the old regime,” advises Maneesh Bawa, Partner, Nangia Andersen LLP.

Apart from these, a majority of taxpayers also want several other sops from the government, including increase in the limit of deduction on the health insurance premium paid under u/s 80D of the I-T Act, inclusion of more cities in the 50% HRA tax exemption list, etc. However, whether the wishes of taxpayers and salaried individuals are fulfilled by the FM or their hopes are belied in this interim budget, remains to be seen!

Boosting India’s Ship-Building Capacity: Financing, Insurance, and Arbitration

Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that financing, insurance and arbitration and creation of more diverse options is required to boost the country’s ship-building capacity. The Finance Minister was addressing in a session on ‘Maritime Financing, Insurance and Arbitration’ in the Global Maritime India Summit (GMIS) 2023, in Mumbai today.

Speaking about the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “We are looking at reaching Europe, Central Asia through maritime plus land route, thus cutting out on logistics costs”.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman said that GMIS 2023 is important because it is being held at a time when globally there is a lot of challenge – in security of supply, in disruption of supply, in value chains being broken. Shipments of major commodities are at risk sometimes, and food insecurity and energy insecurity all creep in because of this and add to inflation. Economies which are coming out of COVID are facing this challenge, she added.  

The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed that a “Marine Cargo Pool” was created with the support of IRDAI and domestic insurance companies’ insurers together with General Insurance Corporation of India Limited (GIC Re) in the aftermath of COVID to support maritime trade. FM also said that the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has approved a series of modifications in the reinsurance sector to support growth avenues in India’s Blue economy services with maritime reinsurance, and bringing in a greater number of reinsurers to set up their operations in India. 

Speaking about arbitration, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed that India has passed an arbitration bill, has got an arbitration centre and is improving its  strength in arbitration. FM said that a need has been felt to have a full-fledged Indian-owned and India-based Protection and Indemnity (P&I) entity in order to: 1) Reduce India’s vulnerability to international sanctions and pressures and to provide greater strategic flexibility in shipping operations. 2) Provide protection of liabilities to the ships operating in coastal waters as well as inland waters during their operation. 3) Provide India a foothold into the specialized segment of Protection and Indemnity (P&I) business, which is currently dominated by very few players internationally where presently India does not have any presence and 4) Indian Protection and Indemnity (P&I) services can also help in encouraging and increasing Maritime arbitration in India. 

Finance Minister stated that an expert committee has also been constituted to relook at the Harmonized Master List (HML) and to streamline the understanding of infrastructure among all financing/regulatory institutions. The framework being developed by this committee would be instrumental in updating HML from time to time to categorize relevant sectors as infrastructure.

Finance Minister said that 31 projects have been identified in 9 major ports for monetisation under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) launched in 2022 with total estimated capex of Rs 14,483 crore for FY 2022-25.

The Finance Minister also informed about the establishment of ‘SAROD-Ports’ (Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes – Ports) which provides an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism. 

Finance Minister also stated that India has risen in the Global Ranking in International Shipments category from 44th rank in 2014 to 22nd in 2023. She mentioned that the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index report 2023, the “Turn Around Time” of Indian ports is now 0.9 days, which is less than countries like Singapore (1 day), UAE (1.1 days), Germany (1.3 days), USA (1.5 days), Australia (1.7 days), Russia (1.8 days) and South Africa (2.8 days).

FM Nirmala Sitharaman also spoke about the IFSCA located in GIFT City which notified ‘ship lease’ as a financial product, and provided a framework for enabling ship finance and operating leases through the ‘Framework for Ship Leasing’. Various tax incentives and exemptions are offered for ship-leasing entities in the IFSC, including tax holiday for 10 years, no capital gains during tax holding, stamp duty exemption for five years, etc. Additional exemptions have been granted on income generated by way of royalty or interest paid on account of lease of ship to foreign entities and ‘no Capital Gains tax’ on transfer of ship by a IFSC Unit enjoying 100% tax exemption. The Government of India, in the Union Budget 2022, provided for the establishment of an International Arbitration Centre (IAC) in GIFT City to provide a faster dispute resolution process, informed the Finance Minister. 

Speaking on how the Union Government has prioritized port-led development in the last nine years, FM highlighted various maritime-related policies and financial support given by the Centre, like:

  • 75% of the FDI received in the sea transport sector between 2000 and 2023 happened in the last 9 years – The sea transport sector has received FDI inflows of more than USD 4.2 billion over the last 9 years
  • Total cargo handling capacity of Indian ports has almost doubled – from nearly 1,400 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) in 2014 to more than 2,600 MTPA. 
  • Cargo volumes have more than doubled – from 74 MTPA in 2014-15 to 151 MTPA in 2022-23.

Nirmala Sitharaman reviews progress of implementation of Budget schemes

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 4 July reviewed progress of implementation of Budget schemes with secretaries of Finance Ministry and Corporate Affairs Secretary.

The meeting was attended by Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi, Corporate Affairs Secretary Manoj Govil and other senior officials.

“Union Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman chaired a review meeting on the implementation of various Union Budget announcements with Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, @SecyDIPAM, Secretary @DFS_India, Secretary @MCA21India and senior officials of the @FinMinIndia, New Delhi, today,” a Finance Ministry tweet said.

Besides the review of implementation of various schemes of Union Budget, the Minister underlined the importance of continuous assessment of progress to ensure that the schemes are implemented in a time bound manner.

Finance Bill 2023 passed in Lok Sabha, key amendments

Finance Bill 2023 was passed in the Lok Sabha without a discussion on Friday. The Bill, which gives effect to tax proposals for the fiscal year starting April 1, A total of 64 official amendments were proposed in the Bill.

Some of the amendments in the Finance Bill 2023 are:

1. Mutual Funds (MFs) having less than 35 percent AUM (Assets under management) in domestic equity are to be taxed as short-term capital gains.

2. Enhanced tax benefits to offshore banking units operating in GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City). Offshore banking units to get 100 percent deduction on income for 10 years.

3. Tax on Royalty or technical fee earned by foreign (non-resident) Cos hiked from 10 percent to 20 percent.

4. No Change in tax on non-par savings insurance products (Rs 5 lakh cap remains).

5. No change in taxation on REITS/INVITS despite representation (‘Repayment of loans’ from REITS to the investor to be taxed as ‘income from other sources and NOT as capital gains).

6. No change in residential housing Rs 10 crore cap on capital gains re-investment.

7. All credit cards payments for foreign tours to be considered under LRS. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to look into the payments made through credit cards for foreign tours which escape tax at source.

8. A committee to be set up under the finance secretary on the pension system to address the needs of employees and also maintain fiscal prudence.

9. Tax Collection at Source (TCS) shall apply to all Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) even if within India.

10. Tax proposed on the income from debt mutual fund at the applicable rate since it is of the nature of interest income

11. Marginal relief proposed to the tax that one pays should not be more than the income that exceeds 7 lakh (Rs 100 in this case).

12. The Securities Transaction Tax on sale of options hiked to Rs 2,100 on a turnover of Rs 1 crore, compared to the earlier Rs 1,700.

Finance Bill cleared in Lok Sabha with 60 amendments, including taxation of mutual fund gains

Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Finance Bill 2023 giving effect to tax proposals without debate amid slogans by opposition members demanding a JPC probe into the allegations against the Adani group of companies.

The Fiance Bill was passed with with over 45 amendments. Among the amendments is the governments’ move to tax investments in debt mutual funds as short-term capital gains.

Besides this, 20 more sections have been added to the Bill.

While the House was taking up the Bill, several opposition members were in the well raising slogans and holding placards demanding probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the allegations against Adani group of companies following a report by a US based short-seller.

As sloganeering continued, the chair adjourned the proceedings of the House till Monday.

On Thursday the Budget was passed without any discussion.

Nirmala Sitharaman announced nine legislative changes in the GST law

In the Union Budget 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama n announce d nine legislative changes in the GST Law 

Decriminalisation 

The compounding amount is reduced from the present range of 50 per cent to 150 per cent of tax amount to the range of 25 per cent to 100 per cent. This was done to raise the minimum threshold of tax amount for launching prosecution under GST from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore. Except for the offence of issuance of invoices without supply of goods or services or both. 

obstruction or preventing any officer in discharge of his duties; deliberate tempering of material evidence; failure to supply the information are some of the offences that have been decriminalised. 

Facilitate e-commerce for micro enterprises 

Amendments are being made to enable unregistered suppliers and composition taxpayers to make intrastate supply of goods through E-Commerce Operators (ECOs), subject to certain conditions.

Amendment to Schedule III of CGST Act, 2017 Activities or transactions which shall be treated neither as a supply of goods nor a supply of services

The changes made in Schedule III of CGST Act, 2017 with effect from February 1, 2019 kept certain transactions/activities, such as supplies of goods from a place outside the taxable territory to another place outside the taxable territory, high sea sales and supply of warehoused goods before their home clearance, outside the purview of GST. 

In order to remove the doubts and ambiguities regarding taxability of such transactions/ activities during the period July 1, 2017 to January 31, 2019, the provisions are being incorporated to make the said changes effective from July 1, 2017. 

However, no refund of tax paid shall be available in cases where any tax has already been paid in respect of such transactions/ activities during the period July 1, 2017 to January 31, 2019. 

Return filing under GST 

Amendment is made to restrict filing of returns/statement to a maximum period of three years from the due date of filing of the relevant return/statement. 

Input Tax Credit for expenditure related to CSR 

CGST Act is being amended to provide that input tax credit shall not be available in respect of goods or services or both received by a taxable person, which are used or intended to be used for activities relating to their obligations under corporate social responsibility. 

Sharing of information 

A new section in CGST Act is being inserted to enable sharing of the information furnished by the registered person in their return or application of registration or statement of outward supplies, or the details uploaded by them for generation of electronic invoice or E-way bill or any other details on the common portal, with other systems in a manner to be prescribed. 

Amendments in section 2 clause (16) of IGST Act, 2017

Clause (16) of section 2 of IGST Act is amended to revise the definition of “non-taxable online recipient”. This will be done by removing the condition of receipt of online information and database access or retrieval services for purposes other than commerce, industry or any other business or profession so as to provide for taxability of OIDAR service provided by any person located in nontaxable territory to an unregistered person receiving the said services and located in the taxable territory. 

Further, it also seeks to clarify that the persons registered solely in terms of clause (vi) of Section 24 of CGST Act shall be treated as unregistered person for the purpose of the said clause.

Online information and database access or retrieval services 

IGST Act is being amended to revise the definition of “online information and database access or retrieval services” to remove the condition of rendering of the said supply being essentially automated and involving minimal human intervention. 

Place of supply in certain cases 

Under IGST Act (Proviso to sub-section (8) of section 12 of the IGST Act) is being omitted so as to specify the place of supply, irrespective of destination of the goods, in cases where the supplier of services and recipient.

Snapshot of Economic Relief Package related announcements

Economic Relief Package

  • Rs 1.1 Lakh Crore Loan Guarantee Scheme for COVID affected sectors announced. Rs 50000 crore for the Health sector and Rs 60000 crore for other sectors.
  • Government to provide an additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).

  • Government announces Credit Guarantee Scheme to facilitate loans to 25 Lakh persons through MFIs.

  • In order to help revive the tourism sector, financial support will be provided to more than 11,000 registered tourism stakeholders.

  • In order to help revive the tourism sector, tourist visas will be issued free of cost to five lakh tourists til 31 March 2022.

  • An additional amount of Rs. 23,220 crore would be spent on Public Health with special emphasis on children and paediatric care.

  • It has been proposed to provide additional corpus to the National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) Trust over five years to allow it to underwrite additional Rs. 33,000 crore of project exports.

  • It has been proposed to infuse equity in Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) over five years to boost export insurance cover by Rs. 88,000 crore.

  • An additional amount of Rs. 19,041 crore will be provided to ensure broadband connectivity for every village.

  • To incentivise reforms in the power sector, it has been decided to provide Rs 3.03 lakh crore for Reform Based Result Linked Power Distribution Scheme.

  • New policy will be formulated for appraisal and approval of PPP proposals and monetization of core infrastructure assets, including through InvITs.

  • Twenty one Climate Resilient Special Traits varieties of rice, peas, millet, maize, soyabean, etc. will be dedicated to the nation in order to fight malnutrition and improve farmers’ income.

  • Rs 77.45 crore have been proposed for financial restructuring and infusion of funds for the revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC).

[embeddoc url=”https://taxconcept.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Relief_Package.pdf” download=”all”]

Read more at: Announcements By Finance Minister: Economic Package for Travel Sector and Tourism

Read more at:

WEALTH

Important rules regarding nomination

44th GST Council Meeting Updates & Decision as per Press Briefing By Union Finance Minister

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 44th meeting of the GST Council through video conferencing. giving information about the decisions taken in this-

  • GST on electric furnaces and temperature checking equipment has been reduced to 5 per cent and on ambulances to 12 per cent. These rates will be valid till September. GoM had recommended reduction in these by August: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
  • No GST will be levied on Amphotericin, an antifungal drug used in the treatment of black fungus: Sitharaman.
  • No change in GST on corona vaccine: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
  • The GST Council has approved the proposal to reduce the GST on Corona’s drug Remdesivir from 12 percent to 5 percent. Tocilizumab will not attract any tax: Sitharaman.
  • GST Council cuts GST on medicines of black fungus and other items needed in the war against Covid

Government withdraws the decision to reduce the interest rates of small savings schemes

The government has withdrawn the decision to reduce the interest rates of small savings schemes.

The Finance Ministry’s tweet states, “The interest rates of small savings schemes will remain the same as the rates in the last quarter of this financial year.” The Ministry has also said that the order for reduction in interest rates was issued by mistake. It is being withdrawn.

In the April to June quarter of this year, the interest rates of the schemes will be like this

PPF                                          7.1 percent
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana     7.6 percent
Kisan Vikas Patra                    6.9 percent
NSC                                        6.8 percent
Bank savings account               4 percent
Monthly Income Scheme       6.6 percent

To read the daily business news, download our Android mobile application.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

 

Union Cabinet approves setting up of Development Finance Institution (DFI)

Union Cabinet has approved a bill to set up Development Finance Institution (DFI)  with an initial capital infusion of 20 thousand crore rupees.The bill will  be tabled in Parliament during the current Budget Session. 

DFI is expected to raise long-term funds for infrastructure development projects in the country. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the initial grant to the DFI will be  5 thousand  crore  rupees and additional increments of grants will be made within the limit of 5 thousand crore rupees. She said, the Government is also planning to issue some securities to this Institution  by which the cost of funding will come down and all this  will help  DFI  leverage  initial capital which  draws funds from various sources.

Further, she said through this the government is  expected to raise a considerable amount from the market. The  DFI is expected to raise up to  3 lakh crore  rupees in the next few years. The Institution will also have some tax benefits for a 10-year long period and the Indian Stamp Act too is  being amended. 

National Infrastructure Pipeline to play critical role in revitalizing economy post pandemic: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today highlighted that the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) will play a critical role in revitalizing the economy post pandemic. She said NIP is not only just central government budgetary expenditure on Infrastructure but also includes infra spending by states and the private sector.

Chairing a virtual meeting with CEO, NITI Aayog and Secretaries of 22 Infrastructure Ministries and Departments, she discussed post-budget action points for infrastructure roadmap ahead including NIP implementation. The NIP was launched with 6,835 projects; the project pipeline has now been expanded to nearly 7,600 projects. Around 216 projects worth Rs. 74,067 crore under central government infrastructure ministries have been completed till the third quarter of the current Financial Year. Around 678 projects worth Rs. 6 lakh crore have progressed from the lower stage to the upper stage of project formulation and implementation.

The meeting unanimously agreed that ministries need to work very hard in order to ensure achieving targets of the NIP. CEO, NITI Aayog gave a presentation on asset monetization and highlighted various models for monetization of core infrastructure assets and also spoke about finalizing targets for asset monetization.

This was the third review meeting by the Finance Minister with Ministries about the importance of (NIP) and infrastructure sector to ensure a faster post covid-19 recovery of the economy.

Read more at :- Step by Step Process to Online PAN Card Update/Correction

Union Finance Minister addresses Directors of Central Board of RBI

Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the Directors of Central Board of Reserve Bank of India. She explained the thinking behind Union Budget 2021-22 and priorities of the Government. During the discussion, board members made various suggestions for consideration of the government.

The 587th meeting of the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India was held under the Chairmanship of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor of RBI  through video conferencing.

The Board reviewed the current economic situation, global and domestic challenges and various areas of operations of the Reserve Bank including ways for the strengthening of Grievance Redress Mechanism in Banks.

Final stage of Budget 2021-22 begins with Halwa Ceremony

The Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the budget making process for Union Budget 2021-22, was held in North Block, New Delhi. The Finance Ministry said, a customary Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the lock-in process of Budget preparation begins.

The Union Budget will be presented in Parliament on 1st February. Finance Ministry said, in an unprecedented initiative, Union Budget 2021-22 will be delivered in paperless form for the first time.

On the occasion, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the – Union Budget Mobile App, for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience. The mobile App facilitates complete access to 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement, Demand for Grants and Finance Bill as prescribed by the Constitution.

The App has a user-friendly interface with embedded features of downloading, printing and search. It is bilingual, English and Hindi and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms. The Budget documents will be available on the Mobile App after the completion of the Budget Speech by the Finance Minister on 1st February.

 

G20 Finance Ministers’ virtual meeting attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Ministers of the G20 countries gathered to discuss their views on the global economic outlook and downside risks in wake of the COVID-19 crisis and how G20 could carry forward the collective global action initiated during the crisis. Union Minister for Finance Mrs Sitharaman emphasized the need for further efforts by the G20 members to end the crisis and highlighted affordability and accessibility of vaccines for Covid-19 for all as a crucial step in this direction.

also read Indian Naval Ship Airavat arrives at Port of Mombasa, Kenya

also read RBI PANEL RECOMMENDS LARGE NBFCS, WITH ASSET SIZE OF 500B RUPEES & ABOVE MAY BE