Tag: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's stand on the Russia-Ukraine war was predicated on the security challenges in its own neighbourhood and the US should understand that though it has a friend in India, that "friend can't be a weak friend (and) the friend should be not weakened".

The minister pointed out that in the last 7 years and 9 months of the present government till December 2021, India recieved FDI inflows of $500.5 billion, which is 65 per cent higher than the inflows during the 10 years of the UPA government.

Replying to a discussion on the Finance Bill, Sitharaman said India was probably the only country that did not resort to new taxes to fund the recovery of the economy hit by the COVID pandemic.

The EPFO has proposed cutting down the interest rate on provident fund deposits from 8.5 per cent in 2020-21 to 8.1 per cent for 2021-22.

Questioning ongoing delimitation process, Tewari said that as per his knowledge local political parties are not happy with the process and they need to be actively involved in the whole exercise. He demanded for provision of representation of Sikh minority in the assembly.

While underlining the importance of synergy among various government departments, she said: "Hon'ble Prime Minister's Gati Shakti plan is an umbrella for several projects of different departments and envisages states' participatory role leading to synergy and a multiplier effect especially in infrastructure."

A sustained recovery is what we would want. The budget has growth revival as a priority along with messages for sustainability as a priority and on predictable tax regimen, she said.

Replying to the Opposition's comments on Bangladesh growing faster than India, she informed the House that India's economy is 10 times bigger than Bangladesh, so if Bangladesh grew at 10 per cent and India grew just at 1 per cent, the absolute number in terms of growth will be the same.

Modi released a commemorative postal stamp on the occasion of ICRISAT's 50th Foundation day. He also launched the Climate Change Research Facility on plant protection.

According to Aniket Jindal, Co-founder of developer platform Biconomy, Such a Blockchain-based digital rupee has the potential for being a big step in onboarding hundreds of millions of Indians into the Blockchain economy.

As per the proposals made by the finance minister in the Union Budget for 2022-23, many commonly used items, including electronic items like mobile phones and chargers, are going to be cheaper. 

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the economic survey, which said that India's economy is expected to grow at 8-8.5 per cent in the next fiscal.

"The ministry of finance maintains secrecy about the budget... before presenting his/her speech, the finance minister is bound to keep secrecy about the Budget provisions," an official said.

States like Gujarat, West Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have said they are not in favour of a hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate on textiles to 12 per cent, from 5 per cent, with effect from January 1, 2022.

GST, which subsumed indirect taxes like excise duty, service tax and VAT, was rolled out from July 1, 2017. The five year period for compensation ends in June 2022.