Nirmala Sitharaman News

Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday asserted that investigative agencies are free to chase those who contravene law irrespective of their political affiliation, rejecting any perception that the NDA government is seeking to coerce opposition parties into submission by setting the enforcement agencies after them. Speaking at the Times Now Summit, themed 'India Unstoppable', Sitharaman also said that she was given the option by BJP president JP Nadda to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. However, she expressed inability on the grounds that «I don't have the kind of money» required to fight polls, among others. The minister is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka. «After thinking over a week or ten days, I just went back to say… maybe not. I do not have that kind of money to contest. I also have a problem whether it is Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. It's also going to be a question of various other winnability criteria that they use… Are you from this community or are you from that religion? Are you from this? I said no, I do not think I am going to be able to do it,» she said.

Women are now not only running startups but are also increasingly occupying positions on company boards, said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. «In 2018, only 13.8% of women were reaching the boards; today, that figure has gone up to 18.3%,» she said on Tuesday. According to Sitharaman, out of the 111 unicorns created in India, 20 of them have women in leadership positions.

Nirmala Sitharaman said Tuesday that Atal Pension Yojana or APY has been designed as an affordable scheme with a guaranteed pension amount. In a post on X, Sitharaman noted that the scheme has given 9.1% since inception, which is quite competitive even compared with other saving schemes. «Any upside above assured pension is completely with the beneficiary,» she noted. There were 4.53 crore subscribers under the scheme till March 4. Sitharaman observed that the feature under APY to automatically continue the premium payment unless the subscriber opts out is deliberate and a beneficial feature which is in the best interest of the subscribers. «Instead of requiring people to decide each year to continue, they have to take a decision to discontinue. This makes many of them take the right decision and save for their retirement,» she noted adding that APY maintains a robust communication channel with its subscribers. «Regular updates are sent via messages, ensuring that subscribers are well-informed about their accounts and the scheme's details,» she said in her post.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consciously taken several women-centric policy decisions for their emancipation and empowerment. Reeling out some of the decisions, she said, permanent commissioning of women officers, entry of girls in Sainik School, raising maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, and Poshan Abhiyan benefitting 10 crore women are some of them. To promote entrepreneurship among women, she said, the government is providing credit facilities under the PM Mudra Scheme without collateral and at a concessional rate. So far, she said, 70 per cent of loans sanctioned belong to women category and 30 crore beneficiaries are enrolled.

Congress charges, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is designed based on the best practice choice architecture and guarantees a minimum of 8 per cent return. «Atal Pension Yojana is designed based on best practice choice architecture to automatically continue the premium payment unless the subscriber opts out. This is a deliberate and beneficial feature which is in the best interest of the subscribers,» Sitharaman said in post on X. Instead of requiring people to decide each year to continue, they have to take a decision to discontinue, she said, adding, this makes many of them take the right decision and save for their retirement. Earlier in the day, the Congress attacked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over the Atal Pension Yojana, alleging it is a «very poorly-designed scheme» and a «paper tiger» that needs officials to hoodwink and coerce people into participating in it.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday asserted every penny that was due to Karnataka from the Union Government had been paid on time, a day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced moving the Supreme Court over the “five-month delay” in the release of drought relief. The FM, who represents Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, rejected Karnataka’s charge of fiscal bias against the Centre, speaking at an interaction organized by Thinkers Forum in Bengaluru. “The claim that Rs 5,495 crore as a special grant was not released for Karnataka is totally false. The Finance Commission, in its final report, did not recommend any such special grants.”

fiscal bias against Congress-ruled Karnataka and non-provision of funds, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday every penny due to the state is accounted for and was released on time. Speaking at an informal interaction organised by the Thinkers Forum here in the Karnataka capital, Sitharaman said, «The claim that Rs 5,495 crore as a special grant was not released for Karnataka is totally false. The Finance Commission, in its final report, did not recommend any such special grants.» «Under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, 80 crore people all across the country and 30.5 lakh from urban Bengaluru get free rations at home every month. I want to flag those guarantees that we fulfilled to help the common people, especially the poor. In urban Bengaluru, 14.68 lakh Jan-Dhan accounts were opened as against 52 crore across the country,» the Union Finance Minister added.

₹2 crore to a level more in sync with today’s realities, Sudhir Kapadia, Tax Partner at EY said. A higher and realistic turnover threshold incentivises voluntary compliance.

Also Read: RBI Bulletin: From GDP growth to inflation - here are five key highlights Accordingly, agency banks are advised to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on March 31, 2024 (Sunday), it said. The RBI added that the banks shall give due publicity on the availability of the above banking services on this day.

It firmly believes that changing geopolitics, security concerns, and waning trust in China will dovetail to enable India to marry technology and manufacturing. A day before the announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and external affairs minister S Jaishankar sent across the message, underlining the Narendra Modi government’s milestones, as they addressed some of the best minds of India Inc at The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence in Mumbai on Friday.

direct tax collections, which may now surpass the upwardly revised target of Rs 19.45 lakh crore by the end of this fiscal, people aware of the matter told ET. Net direct tax collections from April 1, 2023, to March 15, 2024, stood at Rs 18.95 lakh crore, up 14.05% year on year, buoyed by advance tax collections of Rs 9.10 lakh crore, officials said. So far, corporates have paid Rs 6.72 lakh crore in advance tax while individuals accounted for Rs 2.37 lakh crore.

inflation within tolerable limits, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said on Friday at ET Awards 2023. «Inspite of Covid, and value chain disruptions, droughts, and floods, this government has been very focused on keeping inflation within tolerable limits,» she said. While talking about the labour market, the FM added that it is going through a massive transformation with formalisation of the economy, including women participation in labour force.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday denied any link between the functioning of investigative agencies, including ED raids, and electoral funding to the ruling party, saying these allegations are just assumptions. «What if the companies gave the money, and after that, we still went and knocked at their doors through ED (Enforcement Directorate). Is that a probability or not...It is an assumption that the ED went and knocked at their doors, and to save themselves they came up with funds. The second assumption is that are you sure that they have given (electoral bonds) to BJP. What if they probably gave to regional parties,» she said while speaking at India Today Conclave. The finance minister's comments came a day after the Election Commission of India published a list of subscribers of the electoral bonds and funds mobilised by various political parties. The list provided by State Bank of India, the issuer of electoral bonds, was published after the order of the Supreme Court.

Nirmala Sitharaman said that Northeast region of our country has transformed into the driving force of our nation’s development. Sitharaman participated in Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati Viksit Bharat Ambassador Dialogue held at the institute. The developmental dialogue centered around the topic of the Prime Minister of India’s 'Viksit Bharat 2047' goal, aimed at transforming India into a developed nation by 2047, marking 100 years of independence. Delving into India's ambition to achieve developed nation status by 2047.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday held deliberations with stakeholders from various sectors to identify actionable ideas to boost growth and realise the goal of turning India into a developed nation by 2047. The participants included experts from various industries, start-ups, sunrise and emerging sectors, fintech, infrastructure, banking and financial services, social sector, academia and think tanks, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs (CBIC) is planning to prepare a list of products which end up in litigation purely due to classification issues. The fitment committee is likely to look into such items where there is a minor change in composition but the tax slabs are different, creating confusion in tax liability, mostly in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, which recently attracted many tax notices. The list will be referred to the group of ministers on rate rationalisation committee when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meets next, said people aware of the matter.

Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is creating an environment that will allow the country’s intellectual property rights (IPRs) ecosystem to flourish. At the same time, the need to protect the IPRs of innovators has to be balanced with the imperative of using them for the benefit of all, she said, listing the steps taken by the government to bolster research and development (R&D). “We are trying to make them (IPR laws) work as a facilitator, a booster, and not as a barrier to the process of R&D,” Sitharaman said on Saturday, asserting that India’s IP regime remains compliant with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) framework of the World Trade Organization.

policy are all being given a certain push as research and development are happening in very big scale in India now because the environment is being made conducive for that purpose, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. «So, we are trying to make them (IPR laws) as a facilitator, booster, and not certainly a barrier in the process of R&D. We've taken quite a few steps and I singularly thank the prime minister for this particular policy, which after a lot of consultation has come up in 2016,» she said. The law is a balance of protection for those who innovate, and the commercial propositions with which patents can be of use for the society, she said at the book launch event of Justice Prathiba M Singh on Patent Law. Sharing details of the law, Sitharaman said, eight different items which have something to do with intellectual property have all been brought together under one umbrella.

As per an internal assessment, there are about 10,000 cases where taxpayers have received notices from both the central and state GST authorities. Courts have made adverse comments in many such cases of parallel investigations. The matter was discussed at a recent meeting of enforcement officials from the central and state GST departments, chaired by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. «There are instances where both the Centre and states have issued notices or have started investigations in the same case. We are working on a detailed directive on that,» a senior official told ET.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday critcised RJD chief Lalu Prasad's «no family» jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserting that people do not expect such comments from a senior leader like him. Speaking to reporters in Patna, Sitharaman said there is a need to maintain dignity in politics. «What the PM said is correct, the entire country considers him their family. The entire country is the PM's family. Making such petty statements is not correct and is highly condemnable,» she said. «He (Lalu Prasad) has spent decades in politics and was also a CM of the state. People don't expect such comments from a senior leader like him. It disheartens the people. One has to maintain dignity in politics. The BJP has given a befitting reply to the RJD chief for making such comments against the PM,» she added.

UPI users said they will stop using the application if transaction fees are levied on the same, said a survey of 34,000 respondents by Local Circles, a pollster on governance and public issues. UPI recorded a transaction value of over ₹16 lakh crore in February 2024, up from over ₹12 lakh crore in February last year, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The most common example of a transaction fee is the ₹20 fee by IRCTC for UPI payments. Fintech companies urged finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to raise issues about implementing a merchant discount rate (MDR) in UPI transactions. «The MDR on UPI payments has been a long standing demand from the fintech industry, asserting they don't generate revenue from such transactions. MDR is the rate charged to a merchant for payment processing services on various payment instruments», said the report.