Reserve Bank of India has appointed V Ramachandra as a member of the Advisory Committee of the two Srei Group companies undergoing insolvency proceedings — Srei Infrastructure Finance and Srei Equipment Finance.
The Advisory Committee also comprises Venkat Nageshwar Chalasani, former deputy MD at State Bank of India, TT Srinivasaraghavan, former MD of Sundaram Finance.
National miner and India’s largest producer of iron ore, NMDC, has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with World Boxing Champion and gold medal winner of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Nikhat Zareen to represent NMDC as its brand ambassador.
Nikhat Zareen is Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist.
Shri Sumit Deb, CMD, NMDC.
➛NMDC was Incorporated in 1958 as a Government of India public enterprise.
World Wetlands Day is celebrated annually on 2 February. The day is observed to create awareness among people about the importance of wetlands and different ways to restore their rapid loss and degradation. Wetlands play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance. Approximately, 40 percent of all plant and animal species live, breed, and flourish in wetlands.
The theme of World Wetlands Day 2023 is "It’s Time for Wetlands Restoration,”
Reserve Bank of India’s Digital Payments Index, a measure of the extent of digitisation of payments across the country, rose to 377.46 in September 2022 from 349.30 in March. RBI introduced the composite Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) on January 1, 2021 with March 2018 as the base, to capture digitisation of payments.
The Ministry of Defence was the top procuring ministry of goods and services from MSME sellers in the calendar year 2022, said the government’s public procurement e-commerce marketplace Government eMarketplace (GeM). In terms of state, Uttar Pradesh ranked top buyer of MSME goods worth Rs 9,642 crore through GeM in 2022.
The central government will spend ₹ 10 trillion on longer term capital expenditure in 2023/24, extending a strategy adopted to revive growth in the aftermath of the Covid crisis. The allocation is higher than the ₹ 7.5 trillion budgeted in the previous year and the highest on record. The year-on-year increase of 33% is only marginally lower than last year's 35% jump.
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to revise National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) on specified cigarettes upwards by about 16 percent. The NCCD on specified cigarettes was last revised three years ago. The year 2020 was when one of the biggest hikes in tax on cigarettes was levied as excise duties went up by 212-388 percent.
The Government has proposed to reduce the basic customs duty rates on goods, other than textiles and agriculture, to 13 per cent from 21 per cent. This has necessitated minor changes in the basic customs duties, cesses and surcharges on some items including toys, bicycles, automobiles and naphtha.
The Finance Minister further stated that the fiscal deficit is estimated to be 5.9% of GDP in BE 2023-24. To finance the fiscal deficit in 2023-24, the net market borrowings from dated securities are estimated at Rs. 11.8 lakh cr. The balance financing is expected to come from small savings and other sources. The gross market borrowings are estimated at Rs. 15.4 lakh crore.
The Finance Minister proposed to increase capital investment outlay for the third year in a row, by 33% to ₹ 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3% of GDP and almost three times the outlay in 2019-20. The direct capital investment by the Centre is complemented by the provision for creating capital assets through Grants-in-Aid to States.
The Union Budget has pegged India’s nominal GDP at 10.5% in the financial year 2023-24. Nominal GDP includes changes in prices due to inflation and presumes importance in the Budget as other numbers are calculated on this projection. According to the Fiscal Policy statements the Nominal GGP was projected to grow at 15.4 % year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in FY2022-23.
Finance Minister proposed an allocation of ₹ 35,000 crore for priority capital investments towards energy transition and net zero objectives, and energy security by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. An additional Rs 19,700 crore towards the government's Green Hydrogen Mission to lower carbon intensity and reduce fossil fuel use was announced.
India’s target to reach an annual production of green hydrogen 5 MMT by 2030
At least 50 destinations will be selected and developed as a complete package of tourism. These destinations will be selected through challenge mode using an integrated and innovative approach while the focus of development of tourism would be on domestic as well as foreign tourists.
Smt. Sitharaman announced that the revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs, proposed in the previous Budget, will take effect from 1st April 2023 through infusion of ₹ 9000 crore in the corpus. “This will enable additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of ₹ 2 lakh crore. Further, the cost of credit will be reduced by about 1%,” she said.
In order to improve socio-economic conditions of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs). Under Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission Rs.15,000 crore will be made available to implement the Mission in the next three years under the Development Action Plan for the Scheduled Tribes.
Speaking in line with green growth Minister proposed that coastal shipping will be promoted as the energy efficient and lower cost mode of transport, both for passengers and freight, through PPP mode with viability gap funding. A part of the State’s outlay of fifty year loan to be spent on capital expenditure is also linked or allocated for scrapping old government vehicles
Smt. Sitharaman mentioned that an Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) will be established through use of priority sector lending shortfall. This will be managed by the National Housing Bank, and will be used by public agencies to create urban infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
The Finance Minister stated that a capital outlay of ₹2.40 lakh crore has been provided for the Railways. This highest ever outlay is about 9 times the outlay made in 2013- 14. One hundred critical transport infrastructure projects, for last and first mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertilizer, and food grains sectors have been identified.
The Union Budget proposal to re-envision teachers’ training through innovative pedagody, curriculum transaction, continuous professional development, and ICT implementation by developing District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) as institutes of excellence is expected to benefit the State considerably.
Increasing the FY24 healthcare budget to Rs 89,155 crore from the previous year's estimate of Rs 86,200 crore, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced a plan to set up 157 new nursing colleges in co-location with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has increased the rebate limit for individual taxpayers from ₹ 5 lakh to ₹ 7 lakh a year. She also announced new tax slabs and scrapped the old twin-structure system that was unboxed in 2020, which taxed citizens under 25 per cent without exemptions and 30 per cent with exemptions allowed.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a big announcement to provide affordable houses to the people of the country. Presenting the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, she said that the outlay for 'Prime Minister Awas Yojana' is being enhanced by 66% to over Rs. 79,000 crores. This comes as a boost to the poor strata of the country, who struggle for basic amenities.
