Nirmala Sitharaman News

debt-to-GDP ratio at 18.7%, its debt service ratio at 6.7% and foreign exchange reserves-to-external debt ratio at 97.4% are «within the comfort zone» and way better than many middle-income countries, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. In a foreword to a status report released by the finance ministry, Sitharaman underscored that India's external debt «remains sustainable and prudently managed». The country's external debt rose 6.4% from a year before to touch $663.8 billion as of March 2024, according to the status report, firmed up by the department of economic affairs.

Viksit Bharat 2047 and institutional capacity building would play a key role in that, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Sunday. Viksit Bharat 2047 is the NDA government's roadmap to make the country a developed nation by 2047, when India celebrates its centenary of achieving independence. The FM said the Centre has left no stone unturned towards enhancing self-sufficiency in defence capabilities. «We will also need to look after our banks, overall infrastructure, health of the companies in the market and prioritising the digitisation of the Indian economy,» she said at the Pondy Lit Fest.

Indian economy recording 7 per cent growth rate for the fourth consecutive year. The budget for the next financial year would focus on reforms to be pushed to further accelerate growth momentum and measures to generate jobs and boost demand in the economy. "Pre-budget meetings chaired by Secretary (Expenditure) shall commence in the second week of October 2024. Financial Advisers shall ensure that necessary details...are properly entered in UBIS (Union Budget Information System) before/latest by October 7, 2024," Budget circular 2025-26 issued by the Department of Economic Affairs said. Hard copies of the data in the specified formats should be submitted for cross-verification, it said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday launched NPS Vatsalya Yojana to give an early head-start to children to save for retirement. Parents can open an account for their child from birth to up to 17 years of age.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said India is standing out globally in terms of economic growth and will continue to do so in the next few years. Sitharaman said the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government employees approved by the Cabinet last month, balances the interests of government employees as well as taxpayers by not overburdening future generations with heavy pension bills. «We are much better off than many other countries, even if they are advanced countries, today they are struggling to grow. We are standing out as an economy which is growing at the fastest rate in the last few years, this year and the next few years also for which we can do prediction,» Sitharaman said. The Indian economy grew at 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. The Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament in July projected the economy to clock 6.5-7 per cent growth this fiscal year.

RINL) is struggling to tide over a financial crisis, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday said he would try his best to ensure that the state-owned steel plant is not privatised. Addressing a press conference here, he also cautioned the employees and trade unions of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to implement proper management policies and bring it out of the woods. Noting that it was he who got the RINL's debt restructured and paved way for smooth functioning during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime, Naidu blamed the previous YSR Congress government for not taking the plant's health seriously. «The union and employees ( of RINL) have a responsibility to ensure smooth flow of operations and turn the loss-making project into a profitable one. While steel plants in the private sector are making profits, the management should think why a government undertaking has to face such a situation,» he said.

The officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence and the US State and Defence Departments attended the 2+2 Intersessional. In a post on X, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, «India and the US held the 2+2 Intersessional today with officials from India's Ministry of External Affairs and Defence, and the U.S. State and Defense Departments. Key discussions covered bilateral strategic and defense priorities, alongside regional and global issues.»

Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday met Nasdaq Executive Vice Chairman Edward Knight and shared key initiatives of the government and the potential investment opportunities in India. Knight led the delegation of the US-India Business Council and called upon the finance minister here. «FM Smt. @nsitharaman spoke about the key initiatives of Government of India and the potential #investment opportunities in India,» the finance ministry said in a post on X. Sitharaman also interacted with a delegation from the US International Development Finance Corporation led by Deputy Chief Executive Officer Nisha Biswal.

Annapoorna restaurant owner who allegedly apologised to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman following his GST rant, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi attacked the BJP government by saying that request of small business owner is met with arrogance and outright disrespect. «When the owner of a small business, like Annapoorna restaurant in Coimbatore, asks our public servants for a simplified GST regime, his request is met with arrogance and outright disrespect. Yet, when a billionaire friend seeks to bend the rules, change the laws, or acquire national assets, Modi Ji rolls out the red carpet. Our small business owners have already endured the blows of demonetisation, an inaccessible banking system, tax extortion and a disastrous GST,» said Rahul Gandhi. Video:

₹10,000 crore earlier this year, prompting an international travel body to caution that India's complex tax laws may spark an exodus by foreign operators. On Monday, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will take up the issue, along with proposals to provide tax relief for certain helicopter services, work related to software exporters such as Infosys Ltd, and core research by private enterprises, two people aware of the development said.

Nirmala Sitharaman called on various ministries and departments to expedite capital spending and set quarterly targets. On Tuesday, Sitharaman chaired the first of a series of meetings lined up to review the productive spending, and the resultant asset creation, across infrastructure and other ministries. She held meetings with the ministries of road, transport and highways, and communication. She asked them to meet the targets well on time to make up for the decline, witnessed in the first and second quarters of this fiscal, in the third quarter itself, the finance ministry said in a statement.

₹48,000 crore to J.C. Flowers Asset Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd in December 2022 for ₹11,183 crore.

ET Wealth Online. Removal of 18% GST on insurance premiums has been a longstanding demand of the various stakeholders of the insurance industry. Insurance customers also want the government to remove GST as the additional tax increases their financial burden. The debate over the 18% GST levied on life and health insurance premiums came to the forefront last month after various political leaders, including Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to rollback the tax. Will the central government finally remove 18% GST and bring down your life and health insurance premium? Read on to find out what experts are saying.

Over 2.3 million central government employees are expected to be delighted by the recently announced Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which, for 25 years of service or more, offers an assured pension of half an employee’s average basic pay over the last 12 months before retirement. “The UPS is an attempt to improve the existing National Pension System (NPS)," in the words of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

₹72,264 crore through sovereign gold bonds since 2015. This issuance is backloaded, with ₹46,000 crore of the total amount being raised since 2021-22. The latest two SGB issues, made in December and February, raised about ₹15,500 crore cumulatively.

industrial revolution with its new biomanufacturing policy designed to tackle food, energy and climate challenges, officials said on Sunday. Approved by the Union Cabinet on Saturday, the BioE3 policy for fostering high-performance biomanufacturing aims to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in different fields. High-performance biomanufacturing involves the production of products ranging from medicine to materials, tackling farming and food challenges, and promoting the manufacturing of bio-based products through the integration of advanced biotechnological processes. Laying the foundation of the BioE3 policy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Interim Budget had announced «a new scheme of bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry» to provide environment-friendly alternatives such as biodegradable polymers, bio-plastics, biopharmaceuticals and bio agri inputs.

In the budget for 2024-25, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, aiming to make it concise, lucid and easier to understand.  

The Department of Atomic Energy and Tata Consulting Engineers are redesigning the PHWRs to develop the Bharat Small Modular Reactor. «We are going to take the old design of the PHWR and then reconfigure and redesign it to be modular, scalable and safety-aligned to post-Fukushima standards,» Amit Sharma, the managing director and CEO of Tata Consulting Engineers, told PTI.

In Pimpri near Pune, when Tata Motors set the ball rolling to set up a pioneering all-woman line at its Harrier and Safari SUV plant, prospective employees —and their parents —had concerns about how they would travel and where they would stay. The management realised that for their mission to succeed, an important piece that had to fall in place was an assurance that the female workers would have a safe commute and accommodation. Says Sitaram Kandi, chief human resources officer, Tata Motors: “Where they would stay became our biggest concern since we didn’t have hostels. We shortlisted hostels near the plant and each one was visited by three different teams at different times of the day so that we could give the girls and their parents confidence.” After a tough initial phase, Tata Motors was able to increase the share of women on the shopfloor from 4% to 12%. “When you think of women’s employment, three big infrastructural barriers end up being the lack of safety, mobility and childcare,” says Pooja Goyal, founding CEO of Udaiti Foundation, which focuses on women’s economic empowerment. “For women to go out of the house to work, the benefit needs to be significantly more than what it is for a man since they are the ones doing the caregiving.”

₹11.11 trillion for the infrastructure sector. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech last month, said the government will look at a market-based financing framework to address infra funding challenges.

India may allow certain foreign investors to raise capital in rupees for investments in select countries, a government official said, in a move aimed at boosting the international use of the South Asian nation's currency. The plan comes after Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in July the nation will simplify its foreign direct investment and overseas investment rules to promote opportunities for use of the Indian rupees as a currency for overseas investments. The new provision could enable investments in rupees in select nations of «strategic interest» to India, said the official with direct knowledge of the plans.