Nirmala Sitharaman News

India Budget: The need to reignite India’s economic growth to 7-8% took center stage at a high-level pre-Budget meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leading economists on Tuesday. The discussions, held as part of pre-Budget consultations, focused on strategies to maintain growth momentum amidst global economic uncertainties and position India on track to achieve developed nation status by 2047.

NATHEALTH has asked the government to address systemic gaps such as acute shortage of medical specialists, escalating cancer care costs, and inadequate hospital infrastructure to meet the demands of a growing population in the upcoming union Budget. In its pre-Budget recommendations, NATHEALTH sought increasing budgetary allocations of the healthcare sector to over 2.5 per cent of GDP and asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to address the growing burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, compounded by long standing challenges.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present her second comprehensive budget after the 2024 general elections. The budget proposals are expected to focus on the ongoing theme of helping India transition to the envisioned "Viksit Bharat" of “Amrit Kaal." Hence, the focus will be on employment generation, skill development, and providing relief to a large mass of people distressed by inflation, with the overall objective of pushing up the GDP growth rate.

The Centre has also proposed an additional `5,000 crore incentive under the scheme to encourage urban planning. A set of guidelines for availing of loans under this window has been circulated to state chief secretaries, the officials said. This follows an assurance by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to state finance ministers at Friday’s prebudget discussions. The Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) provides financial assistance to states through the 50-year, interest-free loan for capital investment projects.

GST Council Meeting Live Updates: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is chairing the 55th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council which is underway in Jaisalmer of Rajasthan on Saturday.The participants in the meeting include the Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, Chief Ministers of Goa, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and Odisha.The Deputy Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana are also present in the meeting along with the Finance Ministers of States/UTs, Secretary of Department of Revenue, Chairmen and Members of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) and other senior officials of the Finance Ministry.GST Council Meeting Live Updates: The Deputy Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana are also present in the meeting along with the Finance Ministers of States/UTs, Secretary of Department of Revenue, Chairmen and Members of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) and other senior officials of the Finance Ministry.GST Council Meeting Live Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that states did not agree on bringing aviation turbine fuel under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax."States did not feel comfortable.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced exemption for payment aggregators who do less than Rs 2000 payment, reduction in rate of compensation cess to 0.1% on supplies to merch exporters, extension of exemption of missile parts and more. The council, chaired by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, decided to reduce the tax rate on fortified rice kernels to 5% from 18%. Furthermore, the council also decided to extend part of surface to missile parts exemption.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who arrived in Jaisalmer on Friday, will chair the 55th meeting of the council on Saturday. A government official familiar with the deliberations said the law panel under the council had recommended that gift vouchers be covered under the definition of prepaid instruments recognized by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that are used as a consideration to settle an obligation. They would thus fall under a category that can't be taxed under GST.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. State governments on Friday sought extra headroom for their borrowings and greater fiscal support for their capital expenditure from the Centre, while advocating an expansionary union budget for FY26 to arrest an economic slowdown and a weakening currency. States also advocated that macroeconomic challenges should be comprehensively addressed in the Union budget.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Punjab and Kerala have requested for special financial packages among other demands by states, reported ETNow quoting its sources. Additionally, states have demanded higher allocation for 50 year interest free loans, request for more flexibility in the Special Assistance for Capital Investment scheme under this category. «States urged for an increase in borrowing limits to support fiscal activities and highlighted the need for state-specific road development projects,» said sources, according to the ETNow report.

Realty developers’ body CREDAI has written to the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging a review of the proposal as the move would result in a substantial incremental impact on project costs, pushing housing prices up by around 10% across various property markets of the country. “FSI/ additional FSI charges constitute a significant part of the project cost, and the proposal to impose 18% GST on such charges could prove to be counterproductive and act as a deterrent to housing supply and demand, owing to additional financial obligations and increasing housing prices as a direct consequence. We strongly request and recommend to the Government to keep the FSI charges exempt from GST,” said Boman Irani, president, CREDAI.

A 2019 paper co-authored by Arvind Subramanian, former Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, and Josh Felman sheds light on the economic challenges India faced at the time. The authors highlighted a "Four Balance Sheet Challenge," warning that the economy was heading toward an «Intensive Care Unit» due to mounting financial stress. Subramanian argued that the roots of this issue could be traced back to the "Twin Balance Sheet Problem."

InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) and SpiceJet are likely to remain in focus today as the government, in its 55th GST Council meeting, may consider bringing ATF under the GST's ambit. As ET reported earlier, the 55th GST Council meeting is likely to discuss the possibility of bringing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, a significant development for the aviation sector.

Vijay Mallya on Wednesday said that banks have recovered Rs 14,131.60 crore from him «against the judgement debt of Rs 6203 crore» but he continues to be «an economic offender». He said in a post on X that unless the Enforcement Directorate and banks can legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt, he is entitled to relief. «The Debt Recovery Tribunal adjudged the KFA (Kingfisher Airlines) debt at Rs 6203 crores including Rs 1200 crores of interest. The FM announced in Parliament that through the ED, Banks have recovered Rs 14,131.60 crores from me against the judgement debt of Rs 6203 crores and I am still an economic offender. Unless the ED and Banks can legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt, I am entitled to relief which I will pursue,» Mallya said.

Nirmala Sitharaman as she prepares to present the Union Budget 2025. The trade deficit, driven by high import bills and fluctuating export growth, demands targeted interventions to ensure sustainable economic growth. India’s trade deficit in November widened to an all-time high of $37.84 billion from $27.1 billion in, which has put some pressure on the local currency. This year, the Indian Rupee often traded at around record lows against the US dollar.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal have both called for lower borrowing costs in recent months, and some economists have said the RBI could be doing more to encourage lending to boost growth. ALSO READ: RBI's MPC didn't cut rates this time around. But, there is more to this story...

Nirmala Sitharaman said, terming the growth deceleration in the three months through September to 5.4% as a «temporary blip.» Replying to a debate on the first batch of supplementary demands for grants in the Lok Sabha, the FM also ruled out any «generalised slowdown» in manufacturing, growth in which had slumped to 2.2% in the second quarter. The lower house later approved the first batch of supplementary demand for grants for FY25, involving an additional net spending of ₹44,143 crore.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the lower-than-expected GDP growth of 5.4 per cent in the second quarter was a «temporary blip» and the economy will see healthy growth in the coming quarters. Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants, she said India has seen «steady and sustained» growth and its GDP growth rate has averaged 8.3 per cent in the last three years. India continues to be the fastest-growing major economy in the world, Sitharaman added. The second quarter growth is only a «temporary blip», and the economy will see healthy growth in the coming quarters, Sitharaman said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to present the annual budget 2025, her eighth consecutive Union Budget, on February 1. The annual budget details the planned expenditures and revenues for the fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to March 31. Expenditures cover areas such as public welfare programs, imports, military funding, salaries, pensions, and debt interest. Revenue is generated through taxes, public sector enterprises, government borrowing via bonds, and other sources.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday initiated the debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha and launched a scathing attack on the Congress accusing the party of amending the Constitution to restrict civil liberties and to protect those in power. Starting with the First Amendment of the Constitution, she accused the Congress of curbing freedom of speech. «In the last seven decades, this living document, our Constitution, has seen many amendments,» she said, adding, "...The Supreme Court in 1950 had ruled in favour of the Communist magazine 'Cross Roads' and the RSS organisational magazine 'Organiser'. But in response, the (then) interim government thought that there was a need for a First Constitutional Amendment and that was brought in by the Indian National Congress and it was essentially to curb freedom. So India, a democratic country which prides itself even today on freedom of expression, saw the first interim government coming up with a constitutional amendment which was to curb the freedom of speech of Indians and that too within one year of adoption of the Constitution..." She added that the First Amendment was done by former PM Jawaharlal Nehru despite MPs being against it, to harm the press and it is still affecting the freedom of media.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Chapter 16 in the Book of Leviticus, Old Testament, enjoins Aaron (brother of Moses) to organize sacrifices and expiate the sins of all Israelites. The process involves, over and above the ritual sacrifice of a bull and a ram, the community of Israelites providing Aaron with a goat; Aaron is supposed to lay both his hands over the goat’s head and confess to all the sins of Israelites.