Top Headlines: Direct tax collections jump, broken rice exports, and more

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The provisional gross direct tax collections for FY23 till September 8 stood at Rs 6.48 trillion, which is 35.5 per cent higher than the same period last year, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Friday. The government’s ban on broken rice exports and restrictions on other grades of the cereal comes amid export gains that were at a multi-year high, shows a Business Standard analysis of trade data. Read more on these in our top headlines.

Direct tax mop-up jumps 35.5% to Rs 6.48 trillion in FY23: Govt

The provisional gross direct tax collections for FY23 till September 8 stood at Rs 6.48 trillion, which is 35.5 per cent higher than the same period last year, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

“Direct tax collections, net of refunds, stand at Rs 5.29 trillion, which is 30.2 per cent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year, the ministry said, adding that this was 37.2 per cent of the net direct tax Budget Estimate for FY23. Read more

India's broken rice exports had gained over 90% in FY22, shows data

The government’s ban on broken rice exports and restrictions on other grades of the cereal comes amid export gains that were at a multi-year high, shows a Business Standard analysis of trade data.

While India’s exports of broken rice jumped 90.2 per cent to $1.1 billion in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), they had been $595.7 million in FY21. The share of broken rice in overall rice exports had risen from 6.7 per cent in FY21 to 11.7 per cent in FY22 (chart 1). Read more

India opts out of trade talks with a US-led group of Asian nations

India opted out of trade talks with a US-led group of Asian nations, again avoiding easing access to its markets via a multi-country deal, while moving ahead with the others in areas including supply chains and clean energy.

The South Asian nation was the only participant in the 14-nation Indo-Pacific Economy Framework that didn’t sign on to the group’s negotiation track on trade, according to statements released after two days of meetings in Los Angeles. Read more

Crowdfunding under govt's Ni-kshay Mitra comes to the aid of TB eradication

The crowdfunding model – a large number of people contributing small amounts for a common purpose usually through a website – made its way into public healthcare on Friday as President Droupadi Murmu launched the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative that seeks to ensure adequate and nutritional food for those being treated for tuberculosis (TB).

Each food-basket is likely to cost Rs 1,000-1,200 a month to the donor. There are 1.3 million people being treated for TB in India, of which 890,000 have already agreed to be part of this programme. The Centre expects this initiative will help in achieving the target of eliminating TB by 2025. Read more

High EU gas costs, an opportunity for Indian chemical companies

There’s an interesting investment thesis arising out of the squeeze on Russian gas supplies to the EU. Europe’s chemicals producers, which depend on Russian natural gas for feedstock, are struggling. At the same time, gas shortages have led to a sharp spike in electricity tariffs. As a result, EU production of chemicals, such as ammonia, caprolactam, methanol, and melamine, has been drastically curtailed.

Since the EU is a large producer of ammonia, this results in downstream shortages in industries like nitrogen-based fertilisers and other chemicals like caustic soda and soda ash, which are vital for downstream industries. Read more