Tag: finance minister nirmala sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today(30th Nov.2021) clarified in Rajya Sabha that the government is not considering a ban on cryptocurrency advertisements and that a bill will be introduced in Parliament after Cabinet approval. "This is a risky area and not in a complete regulatory framework. We are not considering a ban on advertisements, but we've been taking steps to caution the public through RBI and SEBI. The guidelines of the Advertising Standards Council of India are being studied and the regulations that they have are being looked into so that we can make a decision on how to handle it, if necessary," said Sitharaman. The government will soon introduce a Bill related to cryptocurrencies once the Cabinet clears it, she added. Last week, the government had listed a bill for the ongoing winter session of Parliament seeking to ban all private cryptocurrencies. Read more

The much-awaited LIC IPO is expected to hit the market by the fourth quarter of the current fiscal, said Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secy Tuhin Kanta Pandey. The government is seeking to raise as much as Rs 10 trillion ($133 billion) by selling up to a 10% stake. The sale of a 5% stake would make it India’s largest IPO, while a 10% dilution would make it the second-biggest of an insurer globally, Bloomberg reported. Read more

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Yesterday (13th Sept. 2021) said that she would look into bottlenecks that push SaaS companies to register outside India. Sitharaman interacted with industry representatives from CII and FICCI, where she heard requests and took feedback from various sectors. Entrepreneurs from Tamil Nadu, a hub for the SaaS sector, urged the Finance Minister to look into issues that may hinder IT products which are set to lead to value creation, a report said. The founder of Kissflow, Suresh Sambandam, said that with a $1-trillion opportunity, the SaaS sector can play a key role in the government’s ambitions of reaching a $5-trillion economy. India, however, is losing out on wealth creation as entrepreneurs prefer to register the companies outside India due to various bottlenecks. Read more

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman does not agree with the sentiment that there is a disconnect between the stock market's current run and the real economy. She said the rally had sustained through 2020 and the second wave and was “not a blip”. “Stretched valuations of financial assets pose risks to financial stability. Banks and financial intermediaries need to be cognisant of these risks and spillovers in an interconnected financial system,” wrote Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das in the Financial Stability Report earlier this year. Read more

To help the revival of the economy battered by COVID-19 related issues, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures today(28th June 2021) including a Rs 1.1 lakh crore (Rs 1.1 trillion) credit guarantee scheme for improving health infrastructure and enhancing the limit under the ECLGS by 50 percent to Rs 4.5 lakh crore for the MSME sector facing a liquidity crunch. Sharing the stimulus package details, the finance minister said this comprises eight relief measures and other eight measures to support economic growth. She announced Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for COVID-affected sectors, including the health sector, which includes guarantee cover for expansion or new projects. Besides, she said, additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore limit enhancement done for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) scheme. Read more

In its 44th meeting today(12th June 2021), the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, approved all recommendations of GoM on rate rationalisation. The GoM, set up by the Council on May 28, was mandated to look at tax exemption and concessions on various Covid items including vaccines, drugs, and equipment. GST on ambulances has been reduced to 12% from the current 28%. GST Council slashed the tax rate from 12% to 5% on medical grade oxygen, BiPaP machines, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, hand sanitisers, temperature check equipment, high flow nasal cannula, pulse oximeter. Also, the tax on Covid testing kits has been brought down to 5% from 12%. "Today's meeting was a single-agenda meeting on the Group of Ministers which was constituted in last GST Council meeting to come up with recommendations on tax relief for Covid-19 essentials," said Finance Minister. Read more