Page 2 - Budget And Infrastructure

CM Nitish Kumar unveils Rs 1,107 crore development projects in Madhubani

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar unveiled developmental projects worth Rs 1,107 crore in Madhubani district on Sunday. Kumar inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 139 projects in the district. He also announced that the state government would urge the Centre to start flight services from the Madhubani airport under the UDAN scheme. The CM chaired a meeting at Mithila Haat in the Jhanjharpur area to review the ongoing developmental schemes in the district. District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Verma gave a detailed presentation about the ongoing projects and schemes, including the Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, CM Nishchay Self Help Allowance Scheme, CM Rural Solar Street Light and CM Agricultural Electricity Connection Scheme, a statement said. The CM instructed the officials to resolve the issues raised by the elected representatives in the meeting at the earliest, it added. Kumar also inspected the Saksham Anganwadi Center in Durgipatti village of Khutauna block. During th

Gujarat CM approves Rs 188 crore for road safety measures, upgrades

This funding will support 76 projects over a total length of 786.41 kilometres. This decision by CM Patel is expected to significantly reduce road accidents in the state, ensuring safer transportation

NFRA to release 7 papers to help stakeholders ask key audit questions

To enhance the quality and the level of interactions between auditors and companies' audit committees, NFRA chief Ajay Bhushan Prasad Pandey has said the watchdog plans to come out with six to seven papers having sets of questions that will cover various aspects of statutory audits. "The papers will also help the stakeholders in asking the right questions related to audits," he told PTI. Constituted in October 2018, the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has been making efforts to improve audit quality and has passed over 80 orders against various entities for auditing lapses. "These papers will also act as a guidance for companies' audit committees, independent directors, and board of directors in understanding the nuances as well as critical aspects of auditing," the NFRA Chairperson said. In the planned series, the first paper on 'Audit of Accounting Estimates and Judgments Part 1: Expected Credit Losses (ECL) under Ind AS 109' was issued on January 10. "NFRA plans t

CII calls for fuel excise cut, consumption vouchers to boost demand

Industry body CII in its budget suggestions for 2025-26 has recommended lowering the excise duty on fuel to boost consumption, especially at the lower income level, arguing that fuel prices significantly drive inflation. The budget could also consider reducing marginal tax rates for personal income up to Rs 20 lakh per annum. This would help trigger the virtuous cycle of consumption, higher growth and higher tax revenue, said CII. Asserting that the gap between the highest marginal rate for individuals at 42.74 per cent and the normal Corporate Tax Rate at 25.17 per cent, is high, it said, inflation has reduced the buying power of lower and middle-income earners. "The central excise duty alone accounts for approximately 21 per cent of the retail price for petrol and 18 per cent for diesel. Since May 2022, these duties have not been adjusted in line with the approximately 40 per cent decrease in global crude prices. Lowering excise duty on fuel would help reduce overall inflation and

States' sops may divert resources away from infra development: RBI article

Sops announced by several states in their 2024-25 Budgets may divert resources away from critical social and economic infrastructure development, an RBI article said on Tuesday. The gross fiscal deficit as per cent of budget estimate moderated in April-September 2024-25 over H1:2023-24 in case of both Centre and states, primarily on account of robust receipts, deceleration in their revenue expenditure growth and decline in capital expenditure, the article published in December RBI Bulletin said. This provides fiscal room to them to boost capex in the latter half of 2024-25 which would aid in sustaining the post pandemic gains in expenditure quality and support medium-term growth prospects. However, several states have announced sops in their 2024-25 Budgets; such spending may divert resources away from critical social and economic infrastructure development, it said. Many states, including Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand have announced sops including free electricity to

Bihar receives record Rs 1.81 trillion investment proposals, says minister

"Ab humara samay hai" - The time for Bihar has come, said state's Industries and Tourism Minister Nitish Mishra after it received a record Rs 1.81 lakh crore worth of investment proposals in its only second investor meet. Mishra said the focus will now shift to providing all the promised support to the investors so that the units could start quickly. "I am very happy personally and very satisfied, and I am thankful to my team in the industry department who has been for the last few months working on their toes, holding a series of events in different states, interacting with the business community, trying to pitch Bihar and the advantage Bihar," he said. The state signed with an array of companies' memorandum of understanding (MoUs), committing Rs 1.81 lakh crore of investment at the second edition of the Bihar Business Connect investor summit last week. "To be very honest, even we were not expecting this kind of figure," he said. "From now on it will be the emergence of a new ...

Key infra sectors' growth drops to 3.1% in Oct from 12.7% last year

The eight core sectors contribute 40.27 per cent to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which measures overall industrial growth

90 infra projects worth Rs 3,417 cr sanctioned for North East over 4 yrs

The responsibility to sanction the infrastructure development projects in the North Eastern Region lie with the respective state governments, while the ministry maintains oversight

India's 26 major realty firms sell Rs 35,000 cr worth properties in Q2

India's 26 major listed real estate firms have sold properties worth nearly Rs 35,000 crore during the September quarter with Godrej Properties reporting highest sales bookings. According to the data compiled from regulatory filings, the 26 major listed realty firms have reported a combined sales bookings of Rs 34,985 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. Bulk of pre-sales (sales bookings) came from residential segment. In terms of sales bookings, Godrej Properties emerged as the largest listed player during July-September quarter with pre-sales of Rs 5,198 crore. Mumbai-based Macrotech Developers Ltd, which sells properties under the Lodha brand, reported sales bookings of Rs 4,290 crore during the quarter under review. Delhi-NCR-based Max Estates sold properties worth Rs 4,100 crore, while Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates Projects Ltd clocked sales bookings of Rs 4,022.6 crore during the quarter. Delhi-NCR based Signature Global achieved sales bookings of Rs 2

Challenges and opportunities loom in equal measure ahead of FY26 Budget

While the formal meetings of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with various stakeholders seeking their wishlist for Budget 2026 is expected to begin next month, the budget-making exercise is gaining

Festival season lifts retail auto sales by 12%, two-wheelers top demand

Dealers' association expects inventory to reduce, helped by sales during weddings

Maharashtra secured 52% national investment under BJP, says Fadnavis

However, Fadnavis claimed that with the formation of the new government, Maharashtra quickly regained its position at number 1. Citing the latest RBI report, he pointed out that Maharashtra

Andhra Pradesh govt presents Rs 2.9 trn budget; see all major allocations

The estimated revenue deficit stands at Rs 34,743 crore (2.12 per cent of the GSDP), while the fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 68,743 crore (4.19 per cent of the GSDP)

Construction of 12 river bridges completed for Gujarat bullet train project

The construction of 12 out of the total 20 river bridges in Gujarat for the 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor has been completed, officials said on Sunday. The 120-metre-long bridge on the Kharera river in Navsari district is the 12th such structure to be recently completed in Gujarat, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) said. The bullet train project covers Gujarat (352 km) and Maharashtra (156 km), with a total of 12 stations planned at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand/Nadiad, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati. The train is expected to sharply reduce the travel time between Ahmedabad and Mumbai to around 3 hours from the current 6 to 8 hours. "The bridge on the Kharera river, Navsari district, has been completed on October 29, 2024 for the bullet train project which marks the completion of all nine river bridges between Vapi and Surat bullet train stations (in south Gujarat) of Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train

Focus on Infra, investment to make India developed by 2047: FM Sitharaman

Infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness are the four key focus areas for the Narendra Modi government to make India a developed nation by 2047, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. She made the remarks during an interaction with the students of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The minister arrived here on Tuesday afternoon to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. She drove from New York to Washington DC with a stopover at the University of Pennsylvania. "In the year when we will be celebrating 100 years of Independence from British rule, that is 2047, we want to be and we aspire to be a developed country," Sitharaman told the students. To achieve that, the government has identified four key areas -- infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness, the finance minister said. "The first is infrastructure, whether it is physical such as bridges and ports or digital which i

PM Modi unveils L3 Mumbai Metro, laid stone for Thane ring metro project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday laid the foundation stones of various initiatives of over Rs 32,800 crore including the Thane Integral Ring Metro Rail Project and Elevated Eastern Freeway Extension. He also laid the foundation stone of the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA) project at an event in Thane. In a major push to boost urban mobility in the region, the prime minister inaugurated the BKC to Aarey JVLR section of Mumbai Metro Line 3 costing around Rs 14,120 crore. This section will have 10 stations, of which 9 will be underground. Mumbai Metro Line - 3 is a key public transport project to improve commuting between Mumbai city and Suburbs. Fully operational line-3 is expected to cater to about 12 lakh passengers daily. The Thane Integral Ring Metro Rail Project will be constructed at around Rs 12,200 crore. The total length of the project is 29 km with 20 elevated and 2 underground stations. This ambitious infrastructure project is a key initiative

India doing well in infra; needs to do more to boost manufacturing: Rajan

India has done well in areas like infrastructure in the last 10 years, but it also needs to do more in other sectors to boost local manufacturing and job creation, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday. In an interview with PTI, Rajan further said the government's focus on production, whether it is goods or services is a good thing, but it is also important to do it the right way. Responding to a question on the Modi government's flagship initiative 'Make in India', he said, "I would say the intention is good. I think in some areas, we have done a lot, as I said, in infrastructure...we have done a lot that has been very useful". The Modi government's flagship initiative 'Make in India' was launched 10 years ago on September 25, 2014. "But we need to check the other places. And the best way to check is to ask critics, what do you think? What has happened? Has it happened the way you want it? Should we do more? You get feedback, and then you work along," Rajan said. T

Slower deposit growth pushing banks towards fund raising from bonds: ICRA

The slower deposit growth will push banks to mop-up up to Rs 1.3 lakh crore from bond issuances in FY25, a report said on Tuesday. The bond issuances, coming amidst a continuing wedge between deposit and credit growth, will come between Rs 1.2-1.3 lakh crore and will be the highest ever for the system, the report said. Nearly 85 per cent of the bond issuances will be by public sector banks, the report by domestic rating agency Icra said, adding that the higher appetite for infra bonds among such lenders will drive the market. "Tight liquidity conditions and credit growth continuously surpassing deposit growth has necessitated fundraising by banks from alternate sources," the agency said. Banks had raised Rs 1 lakh crore from the bond issuances avenue in FY24, while the previous all-time high was reached in FY23 at Rs 1.1 lakh crore. With the mid-fiscal year mark approaching, the report said banks have already raised Rs 76,700 crore from bonds till now, which is an over 225 per cen

Govt invites bids to empanel AI infra providers under Rs 10,372cr mission

The government has invited bids for the empanelment of entities for providing artificial intelligence services on cloud under the Rs 10,372-crore India AI mission, which was approved by the cabinet in March this year. The empaneled agencies, like data centers and cloud service providers, will have to provide access to high-speed computing AI infrastructure like graphics processing unit (GPUs), accelerators, Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), storage etc to academia, startups, researchers, government bodies among others at the lowest rate that will be discovered through the bidding process. Under the IndiaAI Mission, supercomputing capacity, comprising over 10,000 GPUs, will be made available to various stakeholders for creating an AI ecosystem. "With an objective to empanel service providers for making this possible, IndiaAI - an IBD under Digital India Corporation, MeitY has issued a RFE (request for empanelment)," Meity, Additional Secretary Abhishek Singh said in a social media ...

I-T Act review attempt to make it simpler for taxpayers: CBDT chairman

The budget announcement about a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, 1961, is an attempt to make the "bulky" law "simpler" to understand and comfortable to use for taxpayers along with aligning new technology processes with it, CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal has said. The Act that started its journey in 1922 contains 298 sections, 23 chapters and other provisions in its current form of 1961. Speaking to PTI during a post-budget interview on Wednesday, Agrawal said the Act has seen "redundancies" over a period of time making it "thick and bulky." "The taxpayers also feel that the Act is not so simple, as it ought to be...it is cumbersome...so the attempt is if we can make this Act simpler, simpler to comprehend, simpler in terms of language, simpler in terms of presentation, then that hitch of the taxpayer to actually not see the Act and take the help of a tax practitioner or someone (maybe eased)..." "We are working towards how can we make it (Income Tax Act) simple so that the