New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Tuesday put the opposition on the mat for alleging that Budget 2024-25 had not made any allocation to states as their names were not mentioned in her speech on July 23.

The Finance Minister cited budget speeches of the Congress-led UPA government which in some years had not mentioned as many 26 states by name. In the other years of the UPA rule, she cited that 12 to 20 states were not mentioned in budget speeches.

“Does this mean that the UPA government ignored these states?” She asked to drive home her point that if the name of a state is not mentioned in the budget speech it does not mean that the state will not get any funds from the Centre.

She said the opposition was distorting facts to spread falsehoods among the people.

FM Sitharaman then cited data from the budget to show that the Budget had allocated funds to opposition-ruled states.

She pointed out random examples from the budget such as Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh being allocated Rs 1,900 crore for a bulk drug plant and both Kerala and Telangana being allocated funds for setting up textile parks.

Similarly, large railway projects have been announced which will cover projects in opposition-ruled states such as West Bengal and Telangana, she added.

She also pointed out that another big railway project entailing an investment of Rs 12,314 crore for doubling railway lines in Telangana and Maharashtra has also been announced even though the names of the states had not been mentioned in her budget speech.

Citing more “random examples”, the Finance Minister said that Rs 9,667 crore had been allocated for a major highway project (NH 66) in Kerala even though the name of the state was not mentioned in her speech.

Similarly, the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra highway project with a massive allocation of Rs 18,274 crore would benefit Punjab, Haryana and J&K but the names of these states had not figured in her budget speech.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday reiterated her defence of the Union Budget 2024-2025 and said that the government didn’t ‘discriminate’ between BJP and non-BJP states, as claimed by the Opposition parties.

She also lashed out at the Opposition over a ‘motivated and misleading’ campaign and said that not naming any state didn’t mean that it was deprived of its right and revenue.

FM Sitharaman, who presented her seventh consecutive Budget this year, also sought to turn the tables on the Congress by recalling the financial documents of UPA eras, which didn’t mention all the states.

“In 2004-05, the Budget didn’t name 17 states, in 2005-06, there was no mention of 18 states, in 2006-07, 13 states were missed out, in 2009-10, a whopping number of 26 states were left out while the 2012-13 budget didn’t mention 13 states,” the FM pointed out.

“Does that mean no money was allotted to these states? Does that mean that these states were bereft of funds?” she asked.

Flagging statements of Opposition leaders on cooperative federalism, she said that a deliberate attempt was made to delude and mislead the public at large.

A misleading campaign is being run by the Opposition parties and as part of this gameplan, they are spreading canards and fake information. She added that they are trying to create fear in people’s minds by distorting the facts.

The Finance Minister also shared details of various allocations and outlays in the current Budget for the states, which were not named in her speech.

“Talking about Railway projects alone, the one in Bihar, Bengal and Jharkhand has been allocated Rs 12,000 crore while the one in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will entail a cost of Rs 770 crore,” FM said, citing random figures.

“In terms of road highway projects, Kerala has been allocated Rs 9,600 crores while Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi together have been sanctioned Rs 18, 274 crores,” she added.

She further lambasted the Congress-led Opposition for keeping mum on years of ‘malpractice’ (of not naming states in the Budget) and said that an unnecessary controversy has been created because a chaiwala turned Prime Minister is running an efficient administration.

Notably, the INDIA bloc had raised questions over Budgetary allocations and also accused the Modi government of favouring two states Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, ruled by BJP and its allies. Protesting against the Budget 2024, they called it an “assault on the sanctity of the federal structure of India.”

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Leader of the House J.P. Nadda hailed the Union Budget 2024-25 presented by Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23 as “inclusive, sustainable, and economically resilient”.

He also said that the focus of the Budget — the first in the third term of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — was on the four pillars of ‘GYAN’ — Gareeb (poor), Youth, Anndata (farmers), and Naari Shakti (women’s empowerment).

He also congratulated PM Modi and the nation for the presentation of the Budget, highlighting that it was the first time in 60 years that a Prime Minister has been elected for a third consecutive term.

Recalling the historical context, he said, “When former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru resumed power for the third time 60 years ago, there was the euphoria of Independence. The Congress had contributed to the fight for Independence. The Opposition was also weak then. However, during the 2024 general elections, the Opposition was strong, and in this situation, the people of the country chose PM Modi for the third consecutive time. “

Describing the election victory as a “mandate for stability, continuity, good governance, the vision of a Viksit Bharat (developed India), and pro-poor policies”, the BJP President said, “I will tell you that some people were not able to cross the mark of 100 even after trying for the third time. If all the (opposition) parties were combined, the number is still less than the BJP.”

Characterising it as “inclusive, sustainable and economically resilient”, he said, “This Budget is visionary, addressing both immediate needs and long-term prosperity within a robust framework.”

The Union Minister also emphasised the “comprehensive” nature of the Budget, focusing “on infrastructure development, technological innovation, social welfare, and creating equal opportunities”.

The Budget aims to “enhance India as a global startup hub and drive growth”, he said.

“No matter what kind of Budget it is, it all depends on three things — income, spending, and leakage. The larger the size of the economy, the larger the capacity to spend, and the larger the benefit to the people,” the Rajya Sabha leader added.

Accusing the previous Congress governments of not addressing economic leakage, Nadda said, “The country does not run on numbers but on a leak-proof system and last-mile delivery. Under PM Modi’s leadership, Rs 37 crore is directly reaching the common man through direct benefit transfers.”

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) The Centre on Tuesday informed that it collected nearly Rs 98,681 crore from long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax in FY23, a nearly 15 per cent growth from Rs 86,075 crore in FY22.

Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, gave the details of LTCG collections between fiscal 2018-19 and 2022-23 in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

The minister also informed that there is no proposal to abolish the LTCG tax on equities or mutual funds during FY2024-25.

The Union Budget 2024-2025 offers big-ticket bang tax reforms to simplify and streamline the entire tax regime.

The Budget proposes an increase in short-term capital gains (STCG) tax from 15 per cent to 20 per cent and long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent.

It may affect sentimentally for the short term but the way the long-term outlook of the equity market remains positive, it will not change inflow to the equity market, according to analysts.

Some mutual funds were taxed with marginal rates of taxation and some mutual funds had this concept of indexation. With this Budget, all of this gets simplified and the concept of indexation has gone away.

For listed securities, the LTCG tax rate has increased from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent which is a marginal hike.

For assets which are not listed in the markets, which include immovable property, the tax rate has been reduced from 20 per cent with indexation to 12.5 per cent without indexation.

When it comes to real estate, the LTCG tax rate is now lower and around 95 per cent of sellers will not be affected.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Indian embassy in Beijing has issued an advisory asking Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to take certain precautions before doing any business with Chinese companies in China.

The advisory states that these precautions are needed as the Embassy has regularly come across several problems faced by Indian companies doing business with Chinese entities in China.

The advisory recommends that before doing business with any Chinese entity, Indian companies write to the Indian Embassy (com.beijing@mea.gov.in, ccom.beijing@mea.gov.in) or Indian Consulates at Shanghai (hoc.shanghai@mea.gov.in), Guangzhou (com.guangzhou@mea.gov.in) and Hong Kong (commerce.hongkong@mea.gov.in) to verify the credentials of the entity. The respective Mission will respond in 4-5 working days.

In case of large transactions, it is highly recommended that Indian companies consult a Business Service Company which can provide a report on the business transparency, financial health, reputation, reliability and credentials of the Chinese entity, the advisory further states.

The advisory also recommends that before doing business with any Chinese entity, Indian companies collect and retain copies of both the Resident Identity Card (Chinese Identity Number) and passport of the proprietor and other responsible interlocutor(s) of the Chinese entity.

The embassy has observed that the majority of the trade dispute cases involve companies registered in Shandong, Hebei, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Therefore, Indian companies are advised to take extra precautions before trading with companies from these provinces.

The advisory that has been posted by the Indian embassy on X also has some annexure documents which businesses need to look at.

Annexure 1 contains a list of typical problems that Indian companies face. It also contains a checklist of precautions that Indian companies are advised to take while dealing with Chinese entities. Annexure 2 contains descriptive accounts of typical modus operandi adopted by offending Chinese entities while Annexure 3 contains a list of Chinese entities involved in trade disputes with Indian companies from 2009 to April 2024.

–IANS

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