City New Delhi Financial News

NEW DELHI : The number of persons reporting zero-tax liability for their previous year’s income continued to climb, with 44.6 million tax returns, or two-thirds of all 2021-22 assessment year filings, making this claim, according to data available from the income tax department. This represents a 4% increase in zero-tax returns filed in 2021-22 from the previous assessment year, despite the overall income of individuals and businesses growing by more than 14% in the tax returns filed in 2021-22, according to official data from the tax department.

NEW DELHI : The government plans to make it mandatory for consultants working on road construction projects to enter into ‘integrity pacts’ in keeping with global best practices. Such consultants will also have to show how much local sourcing they have in their service to bring in sync with the government’s public procurement guidelines.To be sure, the anti-corruption pact for consultants is not legally enforceable. However, it has also been made mandatory for builders contractors working on projects for individual public sector units such as the National Highway Authority of India.

New Delhi: Swapnil Jain and Tarun Mehta didn’t know each other when they entered the portals of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in 2007. By the time they graduated a few years later, the two design engineers had become friends. For a time, they went their separate ways, with Mehta going to Ashok Leyland while Jain ended up in General Motors.

NEW DELHI : The stock market regulator plans to run a pilot for an ASBA-like facility in the secondary market in December, under which money will be transferred only after the actual share transfer. Till then, the funds remain in the investor’s bank account, and continue to earn interest. ASBA, which stands for Application Supported by Blocked Amount, is currently available only for share purchases in the primary market.

basmati rice exports, government and industry sources said on Tuesday, after farmers and exporters complained it was damaging trade. The government is likely to bring down the floor price, or minimum export price (MEP) for basmati rice, to $950 per metric ton from $1,200 a metric ton, said the sources, who did not wish to be named because the decision has not been made public. India imposed a $1,200 per ton MEP on basmati rice shipments in August to keep a lid on local prices ahead of key state elections.

HCLTech, India’s third largest IT services company, is set to start its wage-hike process, excluding the middle- and senior-level employees of the current cycle to reflect the growth constraints faced by the $250-billion industry. “We will move forward with compensation reviews for employees in E0 to E3 bands. The effective date for increases will be retroactive to Oct 1, 2023 for E0 – E2 and effective Jan 1, 2024 for E3," the company’s chief people officer Ramachandran Surdararajan said in a communication to all employees. The formal communication email has been reviewed by ET.

NEW DELHI : JSW Steel Ltd, India’s second-largest maker of the alloy, plans to establish a green steel manufacturing facility by 2030 as part of its response to the European Union’s (EU’s) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), said Jayant Acharya, joint managing director and chief executive. “We are looking to set up a lower carbon-emitting facility for steel in the western part of India, subject to board approval. With this, we will be able to provide low-carbon steel for both the international and domestic markets," Acharya said in an interview.

NEW DELHI : Increasing use of labour-saving technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence in manufacturing warrants creation of more jobs in agriculture and allied sectors, where new opportunities are emerging, according to NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand. The idea of labour transition from agriculture to industry was envisaged in the model of economic growth pioneered by British economist Arthur Lewis but the emerging opportunities for job creation in the evolving agriculture sector needs to be explored given that manufacturing is becoming less labour-intensive with adoption of technology, Chand said in an interview. “That (transition of labour from farm sector to industry) was the earlier model of Arthur Lewis.

NEW DELHI : India-backed Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) is looking for more countries to join it from South-east Asia and Africa after the Philippines and Tanzania became the latest entrants. The move is strategically significant as it is expected to give India an upper hand over China which has interests in both South East Asian and Africa and has been opposed to joining the alliance. The alliance launched on 9 September on the sidelines of the G20 Leadership Summit was initially conceptualized with a view to getting all G20 members on board.

NEW DELHI : India’s coal stock currently stands at around 71.35 million tonnes, 18.05% higher on a year-on-year basis, the coal ministry said on Monday. In a statement, the ministry said daily supplies of coal to power plants are now higher than demand. After a long rain spell in early October in coal-producing states, production has picked up in the last 10 days.

New Delhi: Karma Group, a members-only hotel enterprise overseeing 45 resorts worldwide including 15 in India, is looking to invest $100 million over the next three to four years, a top company executive said. The company is working with EY to assess financing options including debt, private equity, and a potential initial public offering (IPO), chairperson and CEO John Spence said in an interview. The funds will be used to develop and acquire new resorts to support its current 10-15% annual revenue growth.

NEW DELHI : The coal ministry has for the first time carried out ground verification of coal blocks ahead of commercial auctions in a bid to to attract investors.It has also prepared videos on the 40 major blocks that will go under the hammer in the 8th round of commercial auctions, set to be begin soon. The secretary to the ministry, Amrit Lal Meena, said a team was constituted under the Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDI) which visited the blocks to get to know the issues that may restrain investors from bidding.

NDTV Q2 Results: New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV), part of the Adani Group, announced its July-September quarter results for fiscal 2023-24 (Q2FY24), reporting a drop of 51 per cent in net profit at ₹6 crore, compared to ₹12 crore in the corresponding period last year. The decline in consolidated profit came on the back of businesses cutting back on advertising spends in the face of rising interest rates.

New Delhi: The government has identified eight more pollution hotspots in addition to the existing 13 in the national capital, and special teams will be deployed there to check pollution sources, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Monday. After a meeting with 28 departments to ensure the effective implementation of pollution mitigation measures in the capital, Rai said the government has also decided to use dust suppressant powder to prevent dust pollution in the city.

Hindenburg Research flagged a 85% downside in Adani shares, Adani Total Gas Ltd. has become the first of the group’s seven listed companies to achieve that valuation. The shares of the conglomerate’s city-gas distributor slid as much as 2.6% to Rs 575.7 on Monday, taking losses from their Jan.

By Mohi Narayan

Israel-Hamas war news: The India's Ministry of External Affairs has informed that the sixth flight under the rescue Indians from war-torn Israel and Gaza- Operation Ajay- has landed in national capital Delhi. This comes even as Israel's retaliatory strikes on Hamas in Gaza entered its 15th day.

Godrej Properties subsidiary ₹5 lakh for not following environmental safety rules during construction in New Delhi, PTI reported.In a statement on Saturday, Godrej Properties said that its subsidiary, Godrej Vestamark LLP, was served this penalty on October 16 under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957.The violation by the subsidiary pertains to not complying with the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) order from April 10, 2015, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests Guidelines from 2010 regarding safety measures during their New Delhi project's construction. (Read More)In the second quarter of fiscal year 2023-24, ICICI Bank demonstrated substantial growth, with its standalone net profit climbing by 35.8% year-on-year (YoY) to reach ₹10,261 crore.

NEW DELHI : Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) based in the Netherlands face tax concerns following a Supreme Court verdict last week pertaining to the interpretation of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs). In its verdict, the Supreme Court clarified that the most favoured nation (MFN) clause in a tax treaty is not automatically triggered and has to be notified separately by the central government. It is common for FPIs based in the Netherlands to believe that their dividends will be subject to a 5% withholding tax in India.

NEW DELHI : The government plans to review the list of state-run banks slated for privatization amid improved profitability and a significant drop in non-performing loans. A new panel with representatives from the finance ministry, NITI Aayog and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is being considered to draw a fresh list of candidates for privatization, two people close to the matter said on condition of anonymity. In the 2021-22 budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to privatize two state-run banks, along with IDBI Bank and a general insurance company in the fiscal year.

NEW DELHI : Companies expect a significant surge in luxury goods demand in the ongoing festive season amid a thriving economy. Categories such as fashion, jewellery, footwear and even cigars are set for substantial growth, with some categories likely to rise by up to 20% in the third quarter. DLF, a leading luxury mall in northern India, is witnessing a growth of 50% for watches, branded jewellery and ready-to-wear items from a year earlier.