The number of people earning above Rs 1 crore annually has risen to over 2.16 lakh as on December 31, 2023, for Assessment Year 2023-24, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary gave assessment year-wise details of the number of individuals submitting ITR with income of more than Rs 1 crore. The number has increased from over 1.09 lakh in AY 2019-20 to about 1.87 lakh in AY 2022-23. The number of ITRs filed till December 31, 2023, with income over Rs 1 crore for AY 2023-24 has risen to 2.16 lakh. Chaudhary further said the total number of individuals who reported income from 'Profession' in AY 2023-24 is 12,218, up from 10,528 reported in AY 2022-23. In 2019-20, the number of people reporting income from 'profession' was 6,555. In reply to a separate question, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said direct tax collection (for the financial year 2023-24 up to January 31, 2024), personal income tax has grown at a rate of 27.6 per cent ...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the inflation has come down within the tolerance band as a result of the steps taken by the government to check price rise, especially in perishable commodities. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is working with the government on de-humidification of onions through Gamma Rays to give it a longer shelf life. "The government is seized of the difficulties, which arise due to shortage of perishable goods, which are not grown in India. The committee sits and reviews periodically, and the efforts have shown on the ground that inflation is now within the tolerable band," she said. India's retail inflation has declined from an average of 6.8 per cent in April-December 2022 to 5.5 per cent in the corresponding period of 2023. The retail inflation is now stable and within the notified tolerance band of 2 per cent to 6 per cent. The minister said that in order to check the volatil

India on Tuesday signed a USD 78 billion deal to extend LNG imports from Qatar by another 20 years till 2048 at rates lower than current prices. Petronet LNG Ltd, India's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer, in a statement said it has signed a pact with QatarEnergy to extend the deal to buy 7.5 million tonne a year of gas for producing electricity, making fertilizers and converting it into CNG. The deal was signed on the sidelines of India Energy Week (IEW) here. Sources said the renewal is at a "significantly" lower price than the current deal. At current prices, India will save about USD 0.8 per million British thermal unit at the renewed terms. This translates into savings of USD 6 billion over the contract period. Petronet imports 8.5 million tonne per annum (MTPA) of LNG from Qatar under two contracts. The first 25-year deal is to expire in 2028 and has now been extended for 20 additional years. The second deal for 1 MTPA entered into in 2015, will be negotiated ...

The RBI MPC meeting will conclude on February 8, following which the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the decision of the committee

The expression 'animal spirits' was coined by celebrated economist John Maynard Keynes to refer to investors' confidence in taking action in terms of investment

'April policy would be a better time to take a fresh view on liquidity situation for FY25'

Announcements of measures in the interim Budget such as high capex, three major economic railway corridors, and a target to increase seafood exports would help boost the country's overall outbound shipments, exporters say. The government has proposed to step up the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) by enhancing aquaculture productivity from existing 3 tonne to 5 tonne per hectare, and setting up five integrated aqua parks. CII National Committee on Exports and Imports Chairman Sanjay Budhia said that the announcement of a Rs 1 lakh crore corpus for innovation with a 50-year interest-free loan for long-term financing, refinancing at no or nil interest rates will encourage the private sector to scale up R&D and innovation in sunrise domains and new age technologies. "There is a reinforcement of continued thrust on exports. Announcement of three economic corridors, multi-modal connectivity, emphasis on additional airports, etc. and doubling the target of .

The foundation stone for the key infrastructure project was laid during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Assam during the festival of Bihu last year

India is likely to sign on Tuesday a multi-billion dollar deal to extend LNG imports from Qatar till 2048 at rates that are lower than current prices, sources said. Petronet LNG Ltd will sign the deal with QatarEnergy to extend import of 7.5 million tonne a year on sidelines of India Energy Week here. Sources said the price will be "significantly' lower than current price. Petronet currently imports 8.5 million tonne a year of LNG from Qatar under two contracts. The first 25-year deal is to expire in 2028 and is now being extended for 20 additional years. The second deal for 1 million tonne a year entered into in 2015, will be negotiated separately, sources said. India, the world's third biggest energy consumer, sees natural gas as a transition fuel for migrating to net zero carbon emissions by 2070. As part of this, the government is targeting to raise the share of natural gas in the country's energy mix to 15 per cent by 2030 from 6.3 per cent now. Sources said the current deal

The Persian Gulf producer will hold high-level talks with Gail India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. during India Energy Week in Goa, according to traders with knowledge of the discussions

Imports of Waaree panels raise questions about how US Customs and Border Protection officials are enforcing a ban on products tied to the repression of Uyghur people in China's Xinjiang region

Banks parked Rs 18,750 crore at the auction against a notified amount of Rs 50,000 crore at a weighted average rate of 6.49 per cent

S&P said following nearly a decade of rule by the BJP-led NDA govt, a change in the ruling coalition could bring a period of policy uncertainty

Hiring activity saw a 5 per cent decline in January, while sequentially it was up 3 per cent, a report said on Monday. The sequential increase was largely due to an improvement in demand for skilled talent in the tourism, telecom, and Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) industries, foundit Insights Tracker said in the report. The hiring activity was down 5 per cent in January compared to the same month last year, it said. "...we could trace the steady growth of the tourism industry, which aligns with global trends and the government's interests," Sekhar Garisa, CEO, foundit (previously Monster APAC and ME), a Quess company, said. He said the Budget's focus on developing iconic tourist destinations and promoting spiritual tourism aligns with the increasing demand for unique and immersive travel experiences. "This forward-thinking approach aligns perfectly with the evolving trends we observed at foundit, where the travel and tourism sector has seen an impressive 21 per

The Ministry of Finance has released loans worth Rs 66,745 crore to 28 states under the Scheme for 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment'. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the scheme is aimed at boosting capital expenditure by states. Under the scheme, special assistance is being provided to the state governments in the form of a 50-year interest-free loan up to an overall sum of Rs 1.3 lakh crore during the financial year 2023-24. Between April 1, 2023, and February 1, 2024, Rs 66,745.21 crore has been released to 28 states under the Scheme for 'Special Assistance to States for Investment', Chaudhary said. In the 2022-23 fiscal, Rs 81,195.35 crore was released under the scheme. Capital investment projects in diverse sectors have been approved, including health, education, irrigation, water supply, power, roads, bridges and railways. Funds for meeting the state share of Jal Jeevan Mission and Pradhan Mantri Gram S

Employment fell marginally in 2020-21 due to the pandemic but gained momentum in 2021-22 with 7 per cent year-on-year growth in the manufacturing sector, according to the Annual Survey of Industries. "In fact, the estimated number of persons engaged in this (manufacturing) sector in 2021-22 has exceeded the pre-pandemic level (that is 2018-19) by more than 9.35 lakh," a Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) statement said. At the same time, it added that average emoluments also registered an increase. Average salary earned per employee in this sector had gone up by 1.7 per cent in 2020-21 and 8.3 per cent in 2021-22, in comparison to respective previous years, it explained. "Due to the Covid pandemic, there had been a marginal fall in employment in 2020-21, which was more than compensated in the subsequent year i.e. in 2021-22, with total estimated employment in the sector showing a robust growth of 7.0 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y)," it said. The number of .

For FY26, OECD has kept its growth forecast for India unchanged at 6.5 per cent

The government is making constant efforts to bring the prices of compressed natural gas under control and has delinked Indian gas prices from four international hubs based in US, Canada, UK and Russia, and aligned them to the Indian crude basket, Oil minister Hardeep Puri informed the Rajya Sabha. Responding to supplementaries during the Question Hour, he said the government is encouraging consumption of compressed natural gas as it is relatively a cleaner fuel. "The government has ensured that while global prices were witnessing turbulence, massive increases and shortfall. Lockdown prices do not reflect reality prices, as during the lockdown crude prices came down to USD 19.56 per barrel and then shot up to USD 128 and USD 130 per barrel. "In April 2023, we rationalised the CNG prices and as a result while global prices shot up, domestic gas price was much lower, 83 per cent lower," the minister told the upper house. "It is our constant effort to provide more gas for domestic cook

The government has taken several steps to ramp up domestic production of coal and is committed to reducing shipments of all substitutable grade coal, Parliament was informed on Monday. Coal import for blending dropped 44.3 per cent in April-November FY24 over the year-ago period, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. "The focus of the government is on increasing the domestic production of coal and to eliminate non-essential imports of coal in the country. Most of the requirements of coal in the country are met through indigenous production/supply," he said. The country imported 169.08 MT of coal in April-November FY24. The import was 237.67 MT in FY23, 208.63 MT in FY22 and 215.25 MT in FY21.

The government on Monday sought Parliament's nod for a net additional spending of Rs 78,673 crore in the current financial year, including Rs 10,798 crore expenditure towards MGNREGA. The second batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2023-24 was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also provides for additional spending of Rs 9,231 crore and Rs 3,000 crore towards food and fertiliser subsidy, respectively. The supplementary demands for grants include a gross additional spending of over Rs 2 lakh crore, which would be matched by savings of over Rs 1.21 lakh crore. The proposal involves net cash outgo aggregating to Rs 78,672.92 crore, said the document tabled in Parliament. The Interim Budget for 2024-25 has pegged the government's total expenditure in the current financial year at Rs 44.90 lakh crore, up 7.1 per cent from 2022-23. Other major spending heads include Rs 9,162 crore for payments to defence services and Rs 3,890 crore towards defence ...