Tag: Finance Minister

FM Arun Jaitley to present interim budget in February 2019, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance minister Arun Jaitley will present an interim budget for FY20 in February, four months before the Lok Sabha elections, which is expected to highlight the government’s achievements and lay out its plan for the next five years, The Economic Times reported.

Jaitley has rejected all the speculations that claimed that he would present a full budget before the general elections, ET reported on Friday.

The report said, “There have been reports that the government will present a full budget, taking advantage of its decision last year to bring forward the presentation by a month to the start of February rather than the end.” However, the officials denied the claims and termed them as “inaccurate”, the report added.

The finance ministry, however, may mention few tax measures in the budget, according to the report. The ministry has sought inputs from different central ministries for the budget which will be presented on February 1, 2019, the report said.

This will be the sixth budget in a row to be presented by Arun Jaitley.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Committee for RBI surplus transfer to be formed within a week

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and RBI governor Urjit Patel will together decide the composition of the committee for transferring the RBI surplus, multiple sources told CNBC-TV18.

The committee could have members from outside the ministry and the central bank circle as well, said one of the source close to the matter.

The differences with RBI led to the government invoking, for the first time, a provision in the RBI Act-Section 7 to start the formal process of consultation with the RBI governor on issues such as easing the PCA framework for PSU banks, boosting liquidity and transferring additional surplus from the RBI to the government.

The transfer of RBI’s surplus reserves to the government to help bridge the fiscal deficit was one of the contentious issues between the two sides.

The Modi government is concerned about low crop prices and difficulties small businesses face in borrowing to improve its prospects in numerous state elections over coming weeks, and a nationwide election due by May next year.

The funds from the RBI can be used, for example, to recapitalise public sector banks, help them expand their loan book and provide aid to struggling businesses.

At Monday’s board meeting of the central bank, it was decided to set up a panel to discuss the issue of surplus.

On November 6, the Indian Express reported that a proposal by the Finance Ministry seeking to transfer a surplus of Rs 3.6 lakh crore, more than a third of the total reserves of the central bank, to the government was not accepted by the RBI. The government, however, denied the report.

The total reserves with the RBI stood at Rs 9.6 lakh crore at the end of its financial year ended June 2018, up from Rs 8.38 lakh crore in the previous year, while its foreign assets were at Rs 26.4 lakh crore in FY18, up from Rs 23.7 lakh crore a year ago.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Government to merge Dena Bank with Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday blamed adventurous lending from 2009-2014 as the cause of non-performing assets (NPA) in Indian banks.

Blaming United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for not recognising the NPAs, Jaitley said that bad loans rose from Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2014 to Rs 8.5 lakh crore.

Jaitley said Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) was a defining moment in the creditor-debtor relationship and ended the culture of creditors chasing debtors.

Talking on bank merger, finance minister said boards of Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda will meet shortly to discuss this amalgamation and no employee will be faced with an adverse service condition post merger.

Jaitley said government’s announcement of bank merger indicate confidence, business as usual and added that procedure with respect to earlier amalgamations will all be followed.

Talking on basis of selecting banks for merger, Jaitley said stronger bank must have the strength to support the weak bank.

Earlier, department of financial services secretary Rajiv Kumar said government has decided to merge Dena Bank with Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda and the boards of three banks have been told to consider the amalgamation.

The amalgamated bank would be the third largest bank in India and will be strong competitive lender with economies of scale, he said adding the three would have synergies for network, low-cost deposits and subsidiaries.

Kumar said the asset quality pressures have peaked and steps have been taken to clean up the banking system.

Addressing the media,  he said the approach of the government is to make the foundation of banking strong to ensure no repeat of past errors.

Steps Taken For Clean Banking

The ministry of finance said, “The alternative mechanism comprising of its chairperson, the union finance minister Arun Jaitley and cabinet ministers, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman met in New Delhi on Monday and decided that Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank may consider amalgamation of the three banks. The envisaged amalgamation will be the first-ever three-way consolidation of banks in India, with a combined business of Rs 14.82 lakh crore, making it India’s third largest bank.”

In a press release, ministry of finance, said, “The consolidation will help create a strong globally competitive bank with economies of scale and enable realisation of wide-ranging synergies. Leveraging of networks, low-cost deposits and subsidiaries of the three banks has the potential of yielding significant synergies for positioning the consolidated entity for substantial rise in customer base, market reach, operational efficiency, wider bouquet of products and services, and improved access for customers.”

To transform Indian banking in to responsible and responsive, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has initiated several measures including clean credit, leveraging honesty, appointments on merit and no interference in commercial decisions.

For clean banking, DFS has introduced new reforms like no interference in commercial decisions, 2.96 lakh shell companies struck off, consortium number limited to 7 to 9, ring fencing of cash flows ensured, strict enforcement of sanction conditions before release, specialised monitoring for loans in excess of Rs 250 crore, now mandatory for loans in excess of Rs 50 crore and resolution through IBC-connected party debarred.

Additionally, strict enforcement of conditions of loan sanctions, stressed asset vertical in banks, transparent recognition of NPAs, upfront provisioning for losses on NPAs, agenda for reforms,  recalling of expensive AT1 bonds, rationalisation of overseas branches and effective management of operational risks, collection of past details of borrowers for loans of over Rs 50 crore.

Udyamimitra portal as one stop portal for Mudra and other MSME loans, TReDS operationalised for MSMEs – All PSBs registered, over 142 corporates as buyers, National Financial Reporting Authority, auditors’ regulator initiated, Negotiable Instruments Act amended, ban on Unregulated Deposits Bill introduced in parliament and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act are other reforms introduced by government.

Reaction From Banking Industry

On proposed merger of three banks, Sanjiv Bhasin, executive vice president-markets and corporate affairs, India Infoline, feel positive for the deal and the biggest gainer in the market will be Dena Bank.

Bhasin said market will be unkind to Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda and stocks will fall tomorrow.

“You have Rs 3,700 crore market of Dena Bank and it gets merged with ten time more market cap of Rs 36,000 crore of Bank of Baroda and somewhere in between Rs 7,800 crore is Vijaya Bank,” Bhasin said.

“So combined you will have a Rs 48,000 crore market capitalisation. The synergies seem very positive in the longer-term and in short run the government has got away without infusing further capital and it may have been a lull in the storm. The market momentarily will try and balance the three but in the longer run it will create a strong franchise,” Bhasin added.

Bank of Baroda managing director and chief executive officer PS Jayakumar said that according to Rajiv Kumar, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is on board with respect to the merger and personally, I am not privy to the discussion between the government and the apex bank.

Jayakumar said, “One of the slides that financial secretary had was that capital is going to be available if required. So with benefit of scale working in, with greater distribution, with more opportunities for products for our customers etc., a reasonable assumption is that there will be good opportunity to go, but it is something that will happen in due course.”

RK Bakshi, former executive director, Bank of Baroda believes that bank merger is a very big bold and a very intelligent move by the government, “We have been hearing of amalgamation, mergers and consolidation in banking industry right from early 2000’s. But no proposal could really materialise. State bank merger was a different and that also happened very recently.”

“Main thing was, do we merger five banks and which banks to choose. They have chosen very intelligently as Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda are Gujarat and Mumbai-based banks. They have got large networks and will offer a lot of scope for consolidation of branches and therefore efficiency of operation. They can cut expenditure by that and render good service,” Bakshi said.

“Vijaya Bank will offer further stronger footprints in the south, which will send the Bank of Baroda footprints or the merged entities footprints in the south. Vijaya Bank has slightly better NPA and capital ratios and Dena Bank has adverse. So combined entity has more or less similar to Bank of Baroda existing ratio,” Bakshi added.

Vijaya Bank, managing director and chief executive officer, Sankara Narayanan, said, “We are not interested in a consolidated entity than thinking about who is the head of the organisation. The issue is a sounder entity, probably the third largest banking organisation in India with better reach better capital and definitely wide range of products to meet all customer needs.”

According to Narayanan, he was informed about the merger just a few minutes back, “We will take it to the board. The honourable FM also suggested that the board will take a call as far as the amalgamation is concerned.”

Talking on board meeting, he said, “In another 10 days’ time, we will meet and take a call. There is no timeline and it will go as per the normal schedule time which may take. We will probably meet with other two banks and decide how to proceed.”

R Gandhi, former RBI deputy governor, said, “I agree with RK Bakshi views, that it’s an intelligent move, because there has always been one end of the expectations of how to deal with band banks and banks which are in problem.”

“So, if more number of them are brought into merger with a big bank, a one bad bank and one good bank again there will be quite a bit of a negative impact could have been there. So, this move of one real large bank and one good bank and one bad bank that combination works out very nicely, so that way the selection have definitely been chosen very well thoughtfully,” Gandhi added.

Former Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) executive director, JN Gupta, consider bank merger as a very bold move on the part of the government, “Again, somebody will gain and somebody will lose in the merger. But ultimately, long-term benefit will be seen.”

Gupta said there was no need for 33 public sector banks to be there in the first place, “There were unnecessarily doing competition. The competition was driving bad loans and all that nonsense. So, we are on the right path where you need three or four strong public sector banks where the competition is a healthy competition rather than the unhealthy competition.”

G Kannan, chief executive officer, Indian Banks Association, said mega merger is a good step and having 20 banks in public sector doesn’t really make sense, “Two-three years ago, there was a discussion on the merger – a need for having 3-4 large global banks which can compete in international market and it will also have large capital, risk bearing capacity.”

“So, whatever be the reasons, we have been considering and this step of creating one single banks by merging two strong banks and one relatively weaker bank could be the first step for consolidation and merger,” Kannan said.

We have some advantages along the way. It cannot happen overnight but 6-12 months down the line, there are strengths for each of the banks and there are weakness of some of the banks. Overall, they will come out stronger,” he added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

PM Modi’s economic review meet: Here’s what experts have to say

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold an economic review meeting with key policymakers on Saturday to discuss possible interventions by the government to address the macroeconomic challenges arising out of the depreciating rupee and steep rise in fuel prices.

The high-level meeting has been called to analyse the economic situation precipitated by record depreciation in rupee and unprecedented rise in fuel prices.

“We have to hold our nerves,” said a finance ministry official. So what should the government do on Saturday? Should they unveil measures to stem the fall in rupee and rein in the fuel prices? CNBC-TV18 conducted a poll among top market participants and here is what they are expecting.

A majority of 80 percent believe that there is no need for the government to act at the moment. Only 20 percent of respondents feel the need for any action.

In fact, a similar majority of 80 percent are not even expecting any major announcements after Saturday’s meeting.

CNBC-TV18 caught up with TCA Anant, former chief statistician, Upasna Bhardwaj, senior economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank and Samiran Chakraborty, chief economist at Citi to discuss the state of the Indian economy and what we should expect from PM’s economic review meeting.

“I am not aware of what the context of the meeting is, but government regularly hold meetings of its senior economic policymakers to basically take stock of the situation,” said Anant.

As far as the rupee is concerned, we are reading far too much into its depreciation vis-à-vis the US dollar, he said.

“If you look at all the composite indicators looking in terms of what the real exchange rate is and what is happening to rupee against other competing currencies and trade-weighted exchange rates, I don’t think we have such a ground to worry, added Anant.

“We have to look at it with a slightly broader context,” said Chakraborty. “It is important now to identify what is the root cause of the problem.”

If the problem is a structural trade deficit issue then the government make a framework to address the issues, he said.

The framework that the government is thinking at this moment itself will be a big guidance for the market, Chakraborty said, adding that for now the only signal that has come through the announcement of this meeting is that the level of exchange rate is not comfortable from the government’s standpoint which in itself is a signal for the market.

“If we look at the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) flows, we really haven’t seen much of an outflow since the month of July,” said Bhardwaj, adding that it has stabilised briefly in September we will again see the resumption of the outflows.

Right now since February till now the rupee has depreciated around 12-13 percent after a significant period of stability so clearly, somewhere we need to realise that the speculative positions are not as dominant right now, she said.

“Any intermittent rate hike or an aggressive rate hike is really not warranted because we do not achieve much with that,” Bhardwaj added.

The government have to keep this in mind that rest of the other emerging markets are also hiking rates and at this point, we need to take into account what is the impact of the rupee depreciation on the inflation trajectory going forward, she said.

“If that is really providing upside risk then that is where we can expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act and hence we are expecting a rate hike in October,”  Bhardwaj said. “But I don not see a reason for an immediate policy rate hike or even an aggressive rate hike.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Finance minister Arun Jaitley rejects charge of meeting Vijay Mallya in Facebook blog

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday denied embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya’s charge that he had met finance minister before leaving the country in 2016.

Jaitley in a Facebook post said that Mallya’s “statement is factually false in as much as it does not reflect truth”.

Mallya, who is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore, said he repeated his offer to finance minister on settling dues with the banks.

Jaitley said Mallya has misused his position as a member of member of Rajya Sabha for his personal gains, “Since 2014, I have never given him any appointment to meet me and the question of his having met me does not arise. However, since he was a Member of Rajya Sabha and he occasionally attended the House, he misused that privilege on one occasion while I was walking out of the House to go to my room.”

“He paced up to catch up with me and while walking uttered a sentence that ”I am making an offer of settlement”. Having been fully briefed about his earlier “bluff offers”, without allowing him to proceed with the conversation, I curtly told him “there was no point talking to me and he must make offers to his bankers.” I did not even receive the papers that he was holding in his hand,” Jaitley said.

“Besides this one sentence exchange where he misused his privilege as a Rajya Sabha Member, in order to further his commercial interest as a bank debtor, there is no question of my having ever given him an appointment to meet me,” Jaitley added.

Mallya, who left India on March 2, 2016, also claimed that he was disliked by both the major parties in India — the BJP and Congress.

“I am a political football… As far as I am concerned, I have made a comprehensive settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court. I hope the honourable judges will consider it favourably.”

Asked if he could settle his dues, Mallya, who headed the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines and the United Breweries, said: “Obviously. That is why a settlement offer has been made.”

Mallya, who faces charges of defrauding banks, said he did not file any clemency plea in the Karnataka High Court where he was ready to settle all dues.

“I put almost Rs 15,000 crore offer on the table of the Karnataka High Court. I feel like a scapegoat. Both political parties don’t like me,” he said, adding that the banks had rejected his settlement offers.

(With inputs from IANS)

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Devaluation of rupee not attributable to domestic factors, says Jaitley

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday attributed the fall in rupee to global factors and stressed that the domestic unit was better off as compared to other currencies.

The rupee’s unabated fall continued for the sixth straight session Wednesday as it hit yet another closing low of 71.75 against the US dollar, tumbling 17 paise.

The battered rupee has lost 165 paise in the last six trading sessions.

“If you look at the domestic economic situation and the global situation, there are virtually no domestic reasons which are attributable to this. The reasons are global,” he told reporters on the falling value of rupee.

He further said the dollar has strengthened against almost every other currency and added that the rupee has consistently either strengthened or remained in a range.

“It has not weakened…the rupee is better-off,” he said, adding that the rupee has strengthened against other currencies like the British Pound and the Euro.

The minister further said the government has consistently maintained 4 percent inflation during the last four years.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Arun Jaitley defends note ban, outlines demonetisation’s achievements

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Responding to criticism over the failure of the note ban by the BJP government in 2016, union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the larger purpose of demonetisation was to move India from a tax non-compliant society to a compliant society.

In a Facebook post, Jaitley questioned widely stated comment that demonetisation has not succeeded, “A widely stated comment has been that just because most of the currency came back into the Banks, the object of Demonetisation has not succeeded. Was the invalidation of the Non-deposited currency the only object of demonetisation? Certainly Not.”

Jaitley said the demonetisation led to the formalisation of the Indian economy and a blow to the black money after Reserve Bank of India released its report yesterday, saying that 99.3 percent of demonetised currency has returned.

Outlining the positive impact of demonetisation, Jaitley said, “WHEN cash is deposited in the Banks, the anonymity about the owner of the cash disappears. The deposited cash is now identified with its owner giving rise to an inquiry, whether the amount deposited is in consonance with the depositor’s income. Accordingly, post demonetisation about 1.8 million depositors have been identified for this enquiry. Many of them are being fastened with Tax and Penalties. Mere deposit of cash in a bank does not lead to a presumption that it is Tax paid Money.”

“In March 2014, the number of Income Tax returns filed was 3.8 crores. In 2017-18, this figure has grown to 6.86 crores. In the last two years, when the impact of demonetisation and other steps is analysed, the Income Tax returns have increased by 19% and 25%. This is a phenomenal increase,” he added.

The finance minister said the number of new returns filed post demonetisation increased in the past two years by 85.51 lakhs and 1.07 crore and for 2018-19, advance tax in the first quarter has increased for personal income tax assesses by 44.1 percent and in the corporate tax category by 17.4 percent.

“The Income Tax collections have increased from the 2013-14 figure of Rs 6.38 lakh crore to the 2017-18 figure of Rs 10.02 lakh crore. The growth of income tax collections in the pre-demonetisation two years was 6.6 percent and 9 percent. Post-demonetisation, the collections increased by 15 percent and 18 percent in the next two years. The same trend is visible in the third year,” he added.

Talking on one nation, one tax, Jaitley said, “The GST was implemented from 1st July, 2017 i.e. Post demonetisation. In the very first year, the number of registered assesses has increased by 72.5 percent. The original 66.17 lakh assesses has increased to 114.17 lakh.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Series of reforms transformed the Indian economy, says Arun Jaitley

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has cited IMF reports to highlight how the Narendra Modi-led government through a series of reforms has transformed the “weak economy” it inherited from the UPA government.

Jaitley, in a Facebook post, said an analysis of what the IMF had to say in 2014 was very clear — high inflation, high fiscal deficit, high current account deficit, a standstill infrastructure, power sector, allocation of natural resources.

The report of 2014 talks about weak economy during the UPA government and the latest points at near-term macroeconomic outlook broadly favorable and growth forecast rising to 7.3 percent in FY 2018-19, he said.

“We have come a long way. The last four years have seen a series of reforms, both legislative and otherwise, which have been carried at by the government,” he said.

“The system has been substantially cleaned up and made more transparent. Decisiveness has led to easier decision-making and made the economy stand out before several other countries. I would urge all to read these two reports, the copy of which are now publicly available,” he added.

The finance minister said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) holds bilateral discussions with its members usually every year.

“On the basis of the consultations with various experts and after analysing the economic data, they come out with their staff report. What political parties and their representatives normally say depends on where they stand, whether in opposition or in government,” he said.

Quoting the IMF report of 2014, released in February, Jaitley said there was high fiscal and current account deficits as well as a standstill in infrastructure, power and in the allocation of natural resources.

“Growth is expected to slow to 4.6 percent this fiscal year, the lowest level in a decade, reflecting global developments and domestic supply constraints. Headline CPI inflation is expected to remain near double digits for the remainder of the fiscal year,” he said quoting 2014 report.

The current account deficit was narrowing, driven by a significant improvement in exports, robust remittances flows, and a rapid diminution of gold imports, the report had said.

“Nonetheless, India has very little room to adopt countercyclical policies, constrained by persistently-high inflation, and sizeable fiscal and external imbalances. Spillovers from renewed external pressures interacting with domestic vulnerabilities are the principal risks,” it had said.

Taking leaf out of 2018 report, Jaitley said, “Stability-oriented macroeconomic policies and progress on structural reforms continue to bear fruit.”

“Following disruptions related to the November 2016 currency exchange initiative and the July 2017 goods and service tax (GST) rollout, growth slowed to 6.7 percent in FY2017/18, but a recovery is underway led by an investment pickup,” he said.

Headline inflation averaged 3.6 percent in FY2017/18, a 17-year low, reflecting low food prices on a return to normal monsoon rainfall, agriculture sector reforms, subdued domestic demand, and currency appreciation, he said.

Quoting from the report he said, economic risks were tilted to the downside.

“On the external side, risks include a further increase in international oil prices, tighter global financial conditions, a retreat from cross-border integration including spillover risks from a global trade conflict, and rising regional geopolitical tensions,” he said.

Domestic risks pertain to tax revenue shortfalls related to continued GST implementation issues and delays in addressing the twin balance sheet problems and other structural reforms, he added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Kerala looking to impose 10% cess on SGST to aid rebuilding

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As Kerala struggles to raise resources for rehabilitation in the wake of devastating floods, the state government has demanded that it should be allowed a special cess of 10 percent on the SGST.

State finance minister Thomas Isaac said that the government will request all the states to consider a special cess for Kerala. The state has already increased excise duty on liquor to mobilize funds.

The above measures will help garner Rs 750 crore on an annualized basis.

To those who ask what Kerala is doing other than demanding from Centre for resource mobilisation for Relief: Kerala has increased excise duty on liquor. Kerala will approach GST Council for imposing a cess of 10 % on SGT.Both together on annualised basis mobilise ₹750 Cr.

— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 23, 2018

The floods in Kerala, worst in a century, have claimed lives of 231 people besides rendering over 14 lakh people homeless.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow