Garib Kalyan Rojgar not implemented in WB as it did not provide info: FM

 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan was not implemented in West Bengal as the state did not provide any data regarding migrant workers who returned to their native places during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on June 20 launched the employment scheme for migrant workers.

The minister replied after the issue related to migrant labourers in West Bengal was raised by Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury during the Zero Hour.

Sitharaman said that the 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan' was implemented on a mission mode for 125 days in 116 districts of six states -- Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha -- that received at least 25,000 returning migrant workers by May 30.

"West Bengal government did not provide any data about migrant workers...then how we can include West Bengal...We did not get information about whether over 25,000 migrant workers returned to any district," she said, adding that it also needed to be considered if the state allowed them to return.

She was apparently referring to the state government's initial opposition to trains carrying migrant workers to their homes.

After the launch of the scheme, some states like Tripura and Chhattisgarh had demanded the inclusion of new districts, but we "could not", she said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Insolvency against corp debtors, personal guarantors can go together: FM

 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said law provides for carrying out insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings against corporate debtors as well personal guarantors together.

She was replying to a debate on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020, in the Rajya Sabha which passed the proposed legislation to replace an ordinance in this regard with voice vote.

"The corporate debtor often has guarantors. So for comprehensive corporate insolvency resolution and liquidation we felt it was necessary that the insolvency of the corporate debtor as well as its guarantors are considered together to whatever extent it is possible," Sitharaman said in response to some members raising the issue.

In June, an ordinance was promulgated to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) whereby fresh insolvency proceedings will not be initiated for at least six months starting from March 25 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Default on repayments from March 25, the day when the nationwide lockdown began to curb coronavirus infections, would not be considered for initiating insolvency proceedings for at least six months.

The minister also clarified that insolvency proceedings against corporates defaulting on loans prior to March 25 will continue and the amendment will not stall those cases.

On members' queries about urgency to bring the ordinance in the first place, Sitharaman said that "between sessions if there is a need for ordinance because the ground situation demands it, I would think a responsive government's duty is to at least use the ordinance to show that we are there with the people of India."

"So to that extent I am sure the House will appreciate that as and when the government decides for ordinance it is because of that, and whenever the next session happens we come back," she said.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said, businesses faced trouble.

So it was decided "that it was better to suspend Sections 7, 9 and 10 of IBC so that we can prevent corporate persons, which are experiencing distress on account of the unprecedented situation, being pushed into insolvency proceedings".

Sections 7, 9 and 10 deal with initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process by financial creditor, operational creditor and corporate debtor, respectively.

The minister further said the IBC is a critical part of business now, and cited data to show how the code had performed.

Citing data for NPAs of commercial banks during 2018-19, she informed the House that Lok Adalats recovered 5.3 per cent, Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) recovered 3.5 per cent and SARFAESI recovered 14.5 per cent.

On the other hand, IBC ensured 42.5 per cent of recovery.

Sitharaman further said that most of the resolutions are happening to make the company to be a going concern only.

"Priority is to keep the company to be a going concern rather than to liquidate them at the earliest," she said adding that 258 companies were saved from going bankrupt through the IBC process, while 965 firms went for liquidation.

"...258 companies were rescued which means employment is back again with them. Companies which have been liquidated in total, three-fourths of them were defunct and were also given liquidation solution and therefore at least loss of employment was reduced," she said.

According to her, 258 companies rescued had assets of Rs 96,000 crore and the 965 companies sent for liquidation had assets of Rs 38,000 crore.

So in value terms, the assets rescued were about two and a half times of the assets which went to liquidation, Sitharaman said.

The IBC, which came into force in December 2016, has been amended five times.

The amendment provides for suspension of Sections 7, 9 and 10 of the IBC for at least six months and extendable up to one year from March 25, 2020. In this regard, a new section '10 A' has been inserted in the IBC.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Centre releases Rs 6,195 crore to 14 states as devolution of taxes

 The Central government on Friday released Rs 6,195.08 crore to 14 states as the sixth equated monthly installment of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant (PDRDG) as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission.

Office of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet said that this would provide them with additional resources during the Covid-19 crisis.

"The government on September 10, 2020, released Rs 6,195.08 crore to 14 states as the sixth equated monthly installment of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. This would provide them additional resources during the Corona crisis," the ministry said.

ALSO READ: States may cut FY21 capex by Rs 3 trillion due to GST shortfall: Icra

The Budget had projected the share of the states in taxes at Rs 7.84 trillion for 2020-21. The 15th Finance Commission had recommended the share of states at 41 per cent of the divisible pool and 1 per cent for the newly-created Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The 14th Finance Commission had earlier recommended that the states be given 42 per cent share in taxes .

The Economic Advisory Council of the 15th Finance Commission had advised the Finance Ministry to treat the financial year 2020-21 and 2021-22 differently in comparison to the next four years. The advise came in the backdrop of the Centre is facing difficulties to disburse GST compensation to states on the low revenue collection.

The commission is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters over the next five years starting April 1, 2020.

An official statement said that during an online meeting of the advisory council with the commission, the council was of the view that the Finance Commission is faced with an "unprecedented situation of uncertainties". The advisory council felt that the government debt relative to GDP is likely to increase steeply in the initial years, however, the purpose should be to endeavour to bring it down in the subsequent years.

Coronavirus: FM takes stock of trade issues, sees no impact on prices

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Tuesday took stock of the impact of the Coronavirus epidemic in China on trade and said prices were unlikely to rise. She added that her ministry would hold a meeting and discuss with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) ways to formulate a response to disruption in exports and imports. Sitharaman said: "We need to ready our ports as the manufacturing sector is affected due to congestions and there might be a rush of raw materials from China when the situation improves in the coming months."
"Tomorrow, each secretary in the Finance Ministry will collate the issues and contact others from different ministeries and with that collated issues we expect to hold a meeting at secretary level. We will talk about a on possible solution and discuss with PMO and announce a response," The finance minister said.

"There are no concerns about price rise so far due to Coronavirus," she said, adding it is too early to talk about the impact of Covid-19 outbreak on the Make in India initiative. She also said there were no reports of shortage of medicines or medical equipment, instead the pharma industry is asking for lifting of ban on exports of certain items.
Earlier in the day, the finance minister interacted with leaders from various sectors of the economy on challenges and opportunities in the export-import supply chain.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Paracetamol prices jump 40% in India after shutdowns in China
"The industries have raw material flowing from China and there is no shortage as per the interaction," Sitharaman said.
Business leaders have been demanding cuts in import duties on antibiotic drugs, mobile parts and other items as the outbreak of the coronavirus has disrupted supplies. The Covid-19 outbreak has hit India's manufacturing and exports of medicines, electronic, textile and chemicals as China is the biggest source of intermediate goods, worth $30 billion a year, Reuters had earlier said, quoting a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report.
The traders' body showed the presentation to Sitharaman during the day when she met over 200 business leaders to assess the impact of the virus and discuss plans to contain the damage. The government should "remove higher import duties on certain products, primarily imported from China" but available in other countries, the presentation by the CII said. "The government may offer credit with a backstop facility of guarantee for companies which have the capability to start immediate production of items that can feed into domestic consumption," it said.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: Wuhan hospital director dies of COVID-19, 72,436 infected
The pharmaceutical industry, one of the worst affected in the weeks after the epidemic, is reeling under pressure as prices of drugs shoot up. Prices of several drugs including antibiotics have shot up by at least 15-50 per cent over the fear of supply issues. "The prices of some antibiotics, vitamins and other medicines have gone up by 15-50% following fear of disruption in the supply of ingredients," Reuters quoted Daara Patel, secretary-general of the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association as saying.
CoronavirusAn employee works on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a medical supply factory in Xinzhou district of Wuhan. Reuters
The pharmaceuticals industry is concerned that stocks of active ingredients for drugs like paracetamol, ibuprofen, could last for 15 days and for two-three months for other drugs, the presentation by the unnamed industry chamber showed.
The death toll in the outbreak surged past 1800 as China struggles to contain the situation in the worst affected Hubei and Wuhan provinces. The central Hubei province reported 93 deaths, while in the provincial capital of Wuhan, 72 people died. Across mainland China, there were 1,886 new confirmed infections on Monday, bringing the total so far to 72,436.

Why the new optional tax regime could adversely affect dwindling savings

The government's proposal to introduce new optional tax regime without exemptions and deductions will adversely effect the savings in India, according to experts.
Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in Budget 2020-21 provided option to personal income tax payers to remain in existing tax scheme with exemptions and deductions or opt for a new simplified tax regime with lower tax rates but without exemptions and deductions.

NIPFP professor N R Bhanumurthy said as the economy is slowing down due to fall in demand across the segments, the government has tried to provide stimulus by cutting direct tax rates (both on personal and corporate incomes).
"Although marginally, this could help in reviving demand...This could have impact on households' savings as reduction in tax rates is accompanied by elimination of deductions for tax exemptions," Bhanumurthy told PTI.
According to reports, over the past six years, India's savings rate has been considerably declining. In 2012, the overall saving rate in India was around 36 per cent but it is now down to 30 per cent.
Noting that as the savings are already dwindling, there was expectations of having additional tax savings bond, Bhanumurthy said, "But, the Budget has come up with measures that could result in exactly opposite impact".
Commenting on the proposal, eminent economist and former Union Minister Yoginder Alagh said, "it (proposal) will definitely reduce savings incentives".
Rohit Azad, assistant professor at JNU, said due to this proposal, savings rate may fall but that is not a bad thing during slowdown.
"But, what is more egregious is the impression created that the tax burden will go down whereas in net terms, for the middle and lower middle classes it will, in all likelihood, not go down," Azad said.
The finance ministry expects at least 80 per cent of the taxpayers to move to the new income tax regime, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey had earlier said.
Under the new tax proposal, people with an annual income of up to Rs 2.5 lakh will not have to pay any tax. For income between Rs 2.5 lakh to 5 lakh, the tax rate (as earlier) is 5 per cent.
Further, those with an income of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh will have to pay a reduced tax rate of 10 per cent; between Rs 7.5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh 15 per cent; between Rs 10 lakh and 12.5 lakh 20 per cent; between Rs 12.5 lakh and 15 lakh 25 per cent; and above Rs 15 lakh 30 per cent.

Economy fundamentals strong; markets show faith in Budget 2020: Sitharaman

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said on Saturday that key macroeconomic parameters of the country were “sound” and the government was working towards the goal of reaching an 8 per cent growth rate.
“The economy is strong, foreign exchange reserves are at its highest, and investments from abroad continue steadily,” Sitharaman said while interacting with economists, traders, and industry associations at an event in Chennai.

“We are sound in macroeconomics. Even though there are discussions on whether the economic growth has come down to 5 (per cent) or 6 (per cent) from 8 per cent, our base is as strong as it was when there was 8 per cent growth. If not, will foreign exchange reserves be at the current level? They are higher than ever. Similarly, foreign direct investment is the highest ever. If it (the government’s work) is being criticised with a good intend to improve performance, it is good. We will return to 8 per cent growth,” she said.
She said people who blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for growth falling from 8 per cent to 5 per cent should consider that industries were coming to India like never before. “When international markets are fluctuating, and coronavirus and the US-China trade war are impacting the markets, if one Budget has been able to maintain all the three markets at good levels, it is the Narendra Modi government’s Budget,” she said.
She was referring to the performance of the equity, bond and currency markets since the Budget presentation on February 1. She said the government had responsibly used public funds, unlike the previous Congress-led governments that gave bank loans to “uncles and brothers-in-law” when the economy was slowing down in 2008-2010.
Sitharaman said goods and services tax (GST) collections were growing as the government was taking help of improved technology and plugging the loopholes. She said during the past three months, GST collections had exceeded Rs 1 trillion.
Ajay Bhushan Pandey, revenue secretary, said new individual income-tax proposals would help taxpayers in many ways. He said the Vivad se Viswas scheme was expected to get passed by Parliament this month and an electronic interface would be introduced where taxpayers could find out the details of their dispute and apply instantly for a settlement.
He said the duty imposed on some electric vehicle components and medical devices was to promote 'Make in India', in line with the Centre's plans.

Govt to reintroduce FRDI Bill, no timeline yet: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The government is in the process of reintroducing the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, but the timeline has not been decided, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said on Friday.
FRDI was withdrawn in August 2018 after a backlash on a clause that put the onus on depositors to ‘bail in’, in case of bank failure. Considering that the deposit insurance cover was only Rs 1 lakh at the time, the Bill led to a huge outcry as it said deposits could be used to nurse a failing bank back to health.
In the recent Budget, the government increased deposit insurance cover to Rs 5 lakh. Besides, insolvency laws were also tweaked to accommodate financial institutions.
“It (FRDI Bill) was once introduced and withdrawn for some reasons. We have started to work on it again. I don’t know when I will introduce it,” the finance minister said.
Sitharaman said meeting depositors of PMC Bank during her last visit to Mumbai was “heart-wrenching”.
However, she did not clarify if the increased deposit insurance cover would apply to PMC Bank depositors as the proposal hadn’t been passed by Parliament.
Sitharaman was in Mumbai with finance ministry secretaries as part of the government’s outreach efforts on the Budget. The team will visit other cities, including Chennai on Saturday and Kolkata on Sunday to answer queries on the Budget. In Mumbai, Sitharaman and her team met social workers, scholars, academicians, economists, fund managers and journalists.
Sitharaman said she will assess how her new personal tax scheme will be accepted by the people, and she will take a call on whether exemptions should be discontinued altogether based on that. In the Budget, the finance minister created a personal income tax structure with two options, one without exemptions but at a lower tax rate, and another with exemptions and the existing tax rates.
“Eventually, we want to have an income tax framework for India, which will be simple. The rates will come down to the minimum, which will help people to comply. I am not forcing anybody, I am giving an alternative. We will see this year, how many will be comfortable to move here, through the year understand it, and based on that we can move further,” Sitharaman said.
Defending the tax structure, Sitharaman said in another session earlier in the day that last year when the government offered a similar tax structure to Indian companies, 90 per cent accepted lower tax rate bereft of any exemption. The minister expressed concerns that while the government wanted to lower income tax rate, the exemptions wouldn’t allow that. The government now hopes that 80 per cent of individual taxpayers would move to the new regime. The government ran a simulation of 578,000 returns that showed that 69 per cent of taxpayers would be better off under the new regime, while 11 per cent wouldn’t be impacted. The government expects the latter group to accept the new regime as it would help them.
According to the finance minister, the government doesn’t want to dictate to people about where they should save. The choice should be of taxpayers themselves, Sitharaman said.
Similarly, when in the interactive session some promoters of financial firms raised the issue of high dividend distribution tax, the finance minister defended her stance in letting the dividend tax be assessed in the hands of the receivers and not the company, as that would help the middle class pay lower taxes. However, the high income group need to pay about 43.5 per cent tax on an instrument that has been distributed to them after the company paid its taxes to the government already, the promoters argued.
On LTCG
Under criticism for not abolishing the long term capital gains tax (LTCG), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said her ministry will wait for one "normal year" before taking a call on the cess.
Govt to reintroduce FRDI Bill, no timeline yet: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

FinMin working on FRDI Bill but not sure when it will be tabled, says FM

The finance ministry is working on the contentious Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill but not sure when it will be tabled in the house, Union minister NirmalaSitharaman said.
The comments assume importance given the massive five-fold hike in deposit insurance and the recent changes in the insolvency laws that included insolvency solutions for financial institutions.

"We are working on the FRDI Bill; but not sure when it can get through the House," the minister said.
She also welcomed the liquidity measures announced by the RBI for retail customers in general and for MSMEs and realty players in particular at the sixth monetary policy review on Thursday.
The FRDI Bill seeks to offer a bail-in clause to banks, which many fear will be detrimental to depositors.
The budget has increased by five-folds the deposit insurance to Rs 500,000.

Pollution regulator threatens to shut 14 thermal plants over emission norms

Taking a strict view of thermal power stations’ failure to meet emission standards, the Central Pollution Control Board (CBCB) has issued warnings to 14 plants across six states of the country.
In a notice dated January 31, a day before Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman hinted in her Budget 2020 speech that coal-fired power stations failing to meet standards might be shut down, the pollution watchdog has asked the operators of these 14 thermal stations to respond within 15 days why they should not be closed down.
In her Budget speech on February 1, Sitharaman had said in Parliament: “For the thermal power plants which are old and whose carbon emission levels are high, we propose that utilities running them should be advised to close them... The land so vacated could be put to an alternative use.”
“In large cities with population above one million, clean air is a matter of concern. The government proposes to encourage such states that are formulating and implementing plans to ensure cleaner air in cities above one million,” Sitharaman added.
Delhi pollution, Delhi metro, haze and low visibility
The notices were issued to plants located in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act. The CPCB warned the power plants of immediate closure and imposition of an environmental compensation if they failed to respond.
Of the 14 stations, nine are located within a 300-km radius of Delhi. Their emissions worsen the city’s already-poor air quality. These plants have failed to meet the regulation standards with regard to the emission of Particulate Matter (PM), Sulphur Dioxide (So2) and Nitric Oxide (NOx).
Coal-based power plants have been one of the biggest contributors to air pollution, with power generation accounting for over 80 per cent of the industrial SO2 emissions in India. The CPCB measure is particularly significant against the backdrop of the government’s thrust on reducing dependence on non-renewable resources and switching to renewable energy.
The measures to regulate SO2 and NOx were first introduced by the Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2015, and all coal-fired power stations were expected to retrofit and reduce pollution emissions within two years. The plants were asked to install Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) to remove SO2 from exhaust flue-gas by the end of 2017. The deadline, later extended by another two years, ended in December 2019.
In the national capital region (NCR) alone, 33 power units were to be upgraded through installation of the FGD. Of those, only two units, at Mahatma Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project, Jhajjar Power Station, CLP India Pvt Ltd, completed the installation. The other 31 units in the NCR, with a combined capacity of 9,470 Mw, are yet to complete the process.
No coal for plants, no e-vehicle subsidy for Delhi: Satyendra JainReacting to the development, Avinash Chanchal, a senior climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace India, said: "If the government is serious about public health, it must take strict action against thermal power plants, which have already missed the new emission standards. The government needs to penalise non-compliant power generators by imposing heavy fines, as well as shutting them down, to set a precedent."
The plants that have received notices from CPCB Chairman SPS Parihar are Indira Gandhi TPS (Jhajjar), Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram TPS (Yamunanagar), Panipat TPS, Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power project (Hissar), North Chennai TPS (Tamil Nadu), Rajpura TPS (Patiala), Talwandi Sabo Power Plant (Mansa), Guru Hargobind Singh TPS (Bathinda), NTPC TPS in Dadri, Harduaganj TPS (Aligarh); Kothagudem TPS, Khammam and Singareni TPS in Telangana, and Damodaran Sajeevaiah TPP and Vizag Hinduja TPP in Andhra Pradesh.

Budget 2020: DDT cut comes as a boon for firms, bane for shareholders

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday granted the stock market a long-pending wish — scrapping of dividend distribution tax (DDT).
However, the measure came with a twist, leaving a bitter taste on investors, particularly those falling in the higher income tax slabs.
While the Centre abolished DDT, dividends will now be taxed in the hands of recipients at their applicable rate — which can be as high as 43 per cent for the ultra-rich.
“This is another bold move which will further make India an attractive destination for investment,” said Sitharaman. She said the government has forgone estimated annual revenue of Rs 25,000 crore by abolishing the DDT and the move will increase the attractiveness of the Indian equity market.
Under the existing regime, a company declaring dividend has to pay 15 per cent DDT (17.64 per cent, including surcharge and cess), while the recipient has to pay an additional tax of 10 per cent if the total dividend exceeds Rs 10 lakh in a fiscal year.
Experts said besides companies, DDT removal will benefit foreign investors, multinational companies (MNCs), holding companies and investors in the lower income tax bracket.
On the other hand, it will end up hurting domestic promoters and individuals falling in the 30 per cent-plus tax bracket.
While dividend payouts by companies will go up, the net realisation for these investors could be lower.
The move to remove DDT comes within months of the Centre lowering corporation tax from 30 per cent to 22 per cent. Both these measures could provide a boost to India Inc’s financials at a time when the economic slowdown has been weighing on growth.
“The widely expected removal of DDT completes the revamping of the corporate tax structure in India and truly makes India one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world. This step alone should considerably improve the return on equity for foreign investors in Indian companies,” said Sudhir Kapadia, national tax leader, EY India.
The tax structure for the domestic markets is considered to be one of the highest globally with taxes such as DDT, long-term capital gains tax and securities transaction tax.
“Moving to globally-accepted regime for shareholder taxability in terms of dividends is also equitable and benefits most taxpayers, including MNCs,” said Vivek Gupta, partner, KPMG India.
The current regime pinched foreign investors, particularly due to non-availability of DDT credit, which led to multiple tax incidence.
Interestingly, MNCs will end up making higher return on their investments than domestic promoters under the new tax structure.
To illustrate: Suppose, a company has Rs 1,000 as surplus income pre-tax which has to be given as dividend. At present, the company has to pay about Rs 850 post DDT. Furthermore, the promoter has to pay Rs 10 as additional tax on every Rs 100 of dividend received.
Under the new regime, the company can now pay the entire Rs 1,000 to shareholders. However, promoters will have to pay Rs 43 on every Rs 100 dividend received.
Market players said, given the change in dynamics, cash-rich companies may opt for buybacks over dividends, as a promoter-friendly measure.
Share buybacks had lost appeal this fiscal year following the introduction of 20 per cent buyback tax.
The Centre has not tinkered with this new tax introduced in last year’s Budget. In the previous two fiscal years, the domestic markets had seen record amount of buybacks.

Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2020: Balancing act or leap of faith?

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman delivered the longest Budget speech in history on Saturday, clocking in at two hours and 37 minutes. In the course of the speech, the FM sought to restore confidence in the Budgetary process by restructuring the fiscal consolidation path while staying within the confines of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.
Accordingly, the fiscal deficit for the ongoing fiscal year, 2019-20, was modified to 3.8 per cent of GDP; next year’s fiscal deficit target was set at 3.5 per cent. Sitharaman achieved this feat in spite of constrained tax revenue, a larger giveaway to the states, and tax cuts for the middle class. The government also continued its commitment to capital expenditure by raising it by 18 per cent.
The deficit slippage has been confined to only 0.5 percentage points in both FY20 and FY21 as against the previously announced fiscal consolidation path. In FY20, expenditure was compressed, and dividends from the public sector and the Reserve Bank of India came in handy. For FY21, Sitharaman expects to raise an unprecedented Rs 2.1 trillion from disinvestment, including a sale of some of the government stake in the Life Insurance Corporation of India through an initial public offer.
chart
In response to wide criticism of opaque off-Budget borrowing, the FM included a statement of extra-Budgetary resources. When these borrowings are included — especially by the Food Corporation of India for the food subsidy from the National Small Savings Fund — the actual fiscal deficit would go up to 4.5 per cent of GDP in 2019-20 and to 4.36 per cent in 2020-21.
The FM sought to assuage middle-class worries by insisting that wealth creators would not be subject to harassment through “tax terrorism”. She promised a “taxpayer’s charter” would be legislated, and announced an opportunity for taxpayers to settle outstanding disputes with the government by paying only the tax in dispute, without interest or penalty. Other changes addressed to the middle class included an increase in deposit insurance for bank accounts to Rs 5 lakh per depositor.
A major reorganisation of personal income tax was announced, providing an option of lower rates for those who do not wish to take advantage of various exemptions. Income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 7.5 lakh would then be subject to a rate of 10 per cent; between Rs 7.5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh at 15 per cent; and so on till Rs 15 lakh. This would alter the decision-making, especially for younger Indians, when it comes to investment in tax-saving schemes.
Markets responded negatively to the Budget, with the Sensex closing at 39,735.53, down 987.96 (2.43 per cent) and the Nifty at 11,661.85, down 300.25 points (2.51 per cent).
In spite of the FM conceding a long-standing demand to remove the requirement that companies pay dividend distribution tax. Market participants suggested this reflected both concerns about market liquidity in the context of a large disinvestment programme, and a general disbelief that the Budget did enough to stimulate demand or undertake structural reform.
Sitharaman continued the government’s recent turn towards protectionism by announcing a slew of measures that further raised tariff walls.
Anti-dumping and safeguard measures against import surges are to be strengthened. Furniture, household goods and appliances, and inputs into electronics, all saw higher tariffs, in some cases doubled from 10 per cent to 20 per cent. Mobile phones assembled in India will become more expensive following tariff hikes in several components, such as screens and fingerprint readers.
The Budget also announced some measures for the financial sector. Retail investors will soon be able to invest in G-Secs through an exchange traded fund. Some government securities will be “opened fully” to non-resident investors, reducing the drag of government borrowing on domestic savings and hopefully speed up the inclusion of Indian debt in global indices, catalysing the flow of global finance into India. Legal support for credit default swaps — and thus a deeper corporate bond market — has been promised.
chart
The remaining government holding in IDBI Bank is also to be sold. MSMEs, which have borne the brunt of the slowdown, received less in the Budget than they would have hoped. Other than the protectionist measures, the FM also promised that MSMEs with a turnover of up to Rs 5 crore would not be subject to automatic audits. Entrepreneurs were also promised that banks would provide subordinate debt that would in turn be guaranteed by the government.
The FM promised major allocations for many existing schemes in the future, including for the Jal Jeevan drinking water scheme, which she reiterated would be provided Rs 3.6 trillion in all; but the actual Budgetary allocation was only Rs 11,500 crore.
Expenditure compression was a feature of the Budget; subsidies for food, fertilisers and petroleum will remain at Rs 2.3 trillion in FY21. Defence expenditure has not risen as much as real GDP, being increased only two per cent. Sharp expenditure compression has aided the FM in containing fiscal slippage — but has also given rise to concern about the possibility of a continuing slowdown in demand.

FM Sitharaman unveils Rs 102-trillion infrastructure plan to boost growth

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Tuesday launched a National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), unveiling projects worth Rs 102 trillion, to boost economic growth and help the economy reach the $5-trillion target by 2024-25.
The NIP has identified projects across 23 sectors and 18 states and Union Territories, which will be funded over the next five years by the central and state governments as well as the private sector.
Addressing a press conference while launching the NIP report, Sitharaman said that of the proposed projects, 39 per cent each would be implemented by the Centre and states, and the rest 22 per cent by private players.
She said the government was expecting the private sector’s share to go up to 30 per cent by 2024-25, and added that some additional projects worth Rs 3 trillion would be identified in the coming weeks, taking the total commitment to Rs 105 trillion.
FM Sitharaman unveils Rs 102-trillion infrastructure plan to boost growth
The pipeline includes brownfield and greenfield projects by the Centre, states, the private sector, and state-owned companies, as well as those under the public-private partnership model. According to the data given in the report, some Rs 42.7 trillion (43 per cent) worth of projects are under implementation, Rs 32.7-trillion (about 33 per cent) projects are at a conceptualisation stage, and Rs 19.1-trillion (19 per cent) projects are under development.
The NIP follows a commitment by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech, that more than Rs 100 trillion would be invested in infrastructure over the next five years.
A task force led by Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty identified the Rs 102 trillion worth of projects after conducting 70 stakeholder consultations in a short period of four months, Sitharaman said. The first meeting of the task force was held in September 2019. Subsequently, several meetings were held with various central and state departments and corporates engaged in infrastructure development.

FM Sitharaman unveils Rs 102-trillion infrastructure plan to boost growth
Chakraborty said the investment on infrastructure by the Centre, states and the private sector combined was 0.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) currently, and the government expected to improve that to 1.1 per cent by 2024-25.
The sectors identified include traditional power and renewable power, railways, roads, urban development, irrigation, aviation, education, and health. The lion’s share of the funding is expected to go to the energy sector. Nearly Rs 24 trillion in energy projects have been lined up, while projects worth Rs 20 trillion in roads and Rs 14 trillion in railways have been planned. These sectors will form the bulk of infrastructure investment under the NIP, Sitharaman said.
The finance minister admitted concerns regarding financing of these projects, given the current economic slowdown. However, the government believes, and the NIP report states, that India’s GDP growth was expected to gradually swing upwards over the next five years, starting fiscal 2020, following on the clean-up of financial sector balance sheets, corporates starting to leverage for funding capital expenditure, and payoff from various government policies. Sitharaman said the government would look at deepening the debt market and alternative investment funds, which would provide the bulk of the debt financing necessary for this. She said the first edition of the Annual Global Investors' Meet on Infrastructure would be held in the second half of the coming year.

FM Sitharaman unveils Rs 102-trn infrastructure projects for next 5 years

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Tuesday unveiled Rs 102 trillion of infrastructure projects, including Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed rail, in the next five years to help achieve the target of $5 trillion (around Rs 356 trillion) economy by 2025.
Addressing a press conference, she said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in his Independence Day speech spoken of investing Rs 100 trillion in infrastructure.

Subsequently, a task force headed by the Economic Affairs Secretary identified Rs 102 trillion worth of projects after conducting 70 stakeholder consultations in a short period of four months, she said.
The minister said another Rs 3 trillion of projects will be added to this pipeline that includes Jewar Airport and Jal Jeevan Mission.
"However, even as we are talking, I'm happy to say that projects are coming in and in the next couple of weeks, we get additional projects of worth Rs 3 trillion. ... So in all I think we have about Rs 105 trillion in total of projects for Rs 100 trillion commitment we made," the minister told reporters here.
Of the Rs 102 trillion projects, Rs 42.7 trillion (43 per cent) projects are under implementation, Rs 32.7 trillion (about 33 per cent) worth of projects are at conceptualisation stage and Rs 19.1 trillion (about 19 per cent) worth of projects are under development, she said.
The projects are spread across 22 ministries and 18 states and union territories, she said, adding the government also intends to launch NIP, National Infrastructure Pipeline, a coordination mechanism consisting of the Centre, states and also the private sector for information dissemination together with monitoring the implementation of this entire framework.
These projects are on top of Rs 51 trillion spent by the Centre and the states during the last six years, she said.
With regard to investment, Sitharaman said that the new pipeline consists of 39 per cent projects each by the Centre and states and the balance by 22 per cent by private sector which could increase to 30 per cent by 2025.
Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said projects worth Rs 13.6 trillion would be implemented during the current fiscal, followed of Rs 19.5 trillion in 2020-21 and Rs 19 trillion in 2021-22.
In the remaining three years, he said, during 2022-23 it would be Rs 13.8 trillion, Rs 12.8 trillion in 2023-24 while Rs 11.1 trillion in the terminal year of 2024-25.
The finance minister said the projects identified are in the sectors of power, railways, urban development, digital sector, irrigation, mobility, education, health, and others.
These sectors will form the bulk of the infrastructure investment under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, Sitharaman said.
Nearly Rs 25 trillion of energy projects have been lined up, the minister said, adding that another Rs 20 trillion in road and nearly Rs 14 trillion spending in railway projects have been lined up.
The finance minister said Rs 102 trillion National Infrastructure Projects will help make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
On the financing, she said, the government will look at deepening of debt market and alternative investment funds which will provide bulk of the debt financing necessary for this.
"We are looking at various steps to reform the PPP based contracts which have to be implemented. Dispute resolution related, enforcement of contracts which is a very critical component, all this is also being looked at when we're talking about reforming the entire process as per the suggestion given by various sub-groups under the task force," she said.
She also announced that the first edition of Annual Global Investors' Meet will be held in the second half of the coming year to meet investors at a single platform.
The first meeting of the Task Force was held in September 2019. Subsequently, several meetings were held with various Departments/Ministries engaged in infrastructure development, Corporates engaged in infrastructure development.
This exercise, the first of its kind, is expected to be followed up by a periodical review process, she said.
NIP, which includes economic and social infrastructure projects, will enable a forward outlook on infrastructure projects which will create jobs, improve ease of living, and provide equitable access to infrastructure for all, thereby making growth more inclusive.

FM's New Year gift: No MDR charges on RuPay, UPI payments from Jan 1

In a bid to promote digital payments, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday said no MDR charges will be applicable on transactions through homegrown RuPay and UPI platforms beginning January 1, 2020.
Department of Revenue (DoR) will soon notify RuPay and UPI as the prescribed mode of payment for digital transactions without any Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), she said after meeting with CEOs of public sector banks here.

Accordingly, all companies with a turnover of Rs 50 crore or more will be mandated by DoR to provide the facility of payment through RuPay Debit card and UPI QR code to their customers, she said.
MDR is the cost paid by a merchant to a bank for accepting payment from their customers via digital means. The merchant discount rate is expressed in percentage of the transaction amount.
"After extensive consultation with stakeholders, banks and so on. I'm happy to say that announcement which was made in the budget will see the notification coming on January 1, 2020 whereby those modes which are getting notified will not have charges under the MDR being levied on them," she said.
Indigenously developed digital payment medium like RuPay and BHIM UPI will now have edge over the payment gateway promoted by foreign companies.
In her Budget speech in July, Sitharaman had proposed that businesses should offer low cost digital modes of payment such as BHIM UPI, UPI QR Code, Aadhaar Pay, Debit Cards, NEFT, RTGS etc. to their customers, and no charge or MDR shall be imposed on customers to promote digital payment.
"I, therefore, propose that the business establishments with annual turnover more than Rs 50 crore shall offer such low-cost digital modes of payment to their customers and no charges or Merchant Discount Rate shall be imposed on customers as well as merchants.
"RBI and banks will absorb these costs from the savings that will accrue to them on account of handling less cash as people move to these digital modes of payment," she had said.
She further said that all banks will also start a campaign to popularise RuPay Debit card and UPI in order to strengthen the digital payment eco-system and move towards less-cash economy.
The finance minister said the government has already amended two laws -- Income Tax Act and the Payments and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 -- to give effect to these provisions.
The meeting was attended chief executive of Indian Banks' Association and representatives of leading private sector banks.
Finance Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Electronics and Information Technology Secretary, CBI Director, RBI representative and the chief executive officer of NPCI were also present in the meeting.
Besides, the minister launched a common e-auction platform to sell attached assets of defaulters for improved realisation of value.
The platform is equipped with property search features and navigational links to all PSB e-auction sites, provides single-window access to information on properties up for e-auction as well as facility for comparison of similar properties, and also contains photographs and videos of uploaded properties.
As per the latest data, a total of 35,000 properties have been uploaded on the platform by PSBs.
PSBs have attached assets worth over Rs 2.3 lakh crore over the last three financial years.
To strengthen banks, in addition to the recent infusion of Rs 60,314 crore, additional infusion of Rs 8,855 crore (Rs 4,360 crore to Indian Overseas Bank, Rs 2,153 crore to Allahabad Bank, Rs 2,142 crore to UCO Bank and Rs 200 crore to Andhra Bank) has been approved and would be released shortly.
Having improved asset quality and internal resource generation, PSBs are now fully poised to support prudential credit growth towards a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025.

Budget 2020: FM to meet heads of PSBs to discuss credit situation, economy

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday will hold a meeting with heads of public sector banks to discuss various issues including the recently announced government measures to prop up the economy, sources said.
The finance minister's meeting with chief executives and managing directors of banks ahead of the Union Budget assumes significance in view of the critical role the banking sector plays in boosting consumer demand across sectors.
Sitharaman is expected to present her second Budget on February 1, 2020.
According to sources, she will also review Budget announcement on absorption of Merchant Discount Rate charges by banks, overdraft facility to PM Jan Dhan Yojana account holders through RuPay debit Card.
"I, therefore, propose that the business establishments with annual turnover more than Rs 50 crore shall offer such low-cost digital modes of payment to their customers and no charges or Merchant Discount Rate shall be imposed on customers as well as merchants.
"RBI and banks will absorb these costs from the savings that will accrue to them on account of handling less cash as people move to these digital modes of payment," she had said in her Budget speech in July.
Performance review of online platform for auction of secured assets under SARFAESI Act is also one of the agenda for the meeting, sources added.
The meeting is also expected to take up discussion on non-performing asset recovery through both NCLT and non-NCLT means, the sources said.
Banks have recovered Rs 4,01,393 crore over the previous four financial years, including record recovery of Rs 1,56,702 crore during 2018-19.
The meeting is expected to take stock of the banking sector and pushing loan growth, the sources said adding that the banks may be nudged to further cut interest rates to fully pass on transmission of the repo rate cut.
Despite the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) making credit cheaper, lending rates are rising for borrowers after accounting for inflation and falling economic growth.
Economic growth has fallen to an over six-year low of 4.5 per cent in the September quarter and is widely expected to slip further with almost all key components of the economy contracting.
The RBI has responded by cutting rates by 110 basis points to a nine-year low of 5.40 per cent.
As bad loan recognition process nears completion, gross non-performing loans of banks improved to 9.1 per cent as of end-September 2019, compared to 11.2 per cent in 2017-18, says an RBI report.
However, the numbers indicate major improvement on a full-year basis, as in 2017-18, the ratio stood at a high of 11.2 per cent and slipped to 9.1 per cent in 2018-19, the RBI said in its annual report on trends and progress of banking in 2018-19.

Come out of self-doubt and unleash animal spirits: FM to India Inc

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Friday asked India Inc to come out of "self doubt" mood and unleash the animal spirit as she stressed that steps taken post Budget have started showing some results on the ground.
The government has shown conviction to change India's system, take some tough decisions and make sure it is responsive to industry, she said at industry body Assocham's event here.

According to the minister, major steps taken in the past few years make India stand out in the world and industry is part of the change.
"I would appeal to you that please get out of the mood of self doubt. Can we do it? Can India do it?... why is this negative mood? Get out of this self doubt," she said and emphasised that most of the macro economic indicators are strong.
Inflation has been under control, macro economic fundamentals absolutely strong, FDI inflow has been strong, foreign exchange reserve is at record high, PSU banks have been professionalised, Sitharaman said.
Her comments assume significance in view of muted private investment and economic slowdown.
Urging India Inc to participate in the growth story, Sitharaman said they should participate in the disinvestment programme by becoming the first bidders.
"This government does not want businesses to close. We want to help them to be revived by legislative and other administrative changes... we are with you. I want this mood of self doubt to be completely removed from your minds.
"Believe in India. You have done that for last 100 years. There is a need for all of you do it even more now. You have to be the change agent and don't ask animal spirits to be brought to you. You have inside, get it out," she noted.
Emphasising that development and growth are the two priorities, she said this government remains committed to reform.
"Several steps (have been) taken post Budget which were essentially responding to the industry and some of them are probably showing some impact on the ground now," she said.
Highlighting some of the steps taken by the government post Budget, she said, liquidity crunch was addressed, capital was infused in public sector banks as well as NBFC sector and professionalisation of PSU boards was done.
Besides, the government announced Rs 100 lakh crore for infrastructure sector and provided relief to real estate sector, she added.
Further, the minister said the government has slashed corporate tax in September which has made a difference and a lot of new investments are expected to flow into India.
The Finance Minister also emphasised that the government has brought in transparency and technology in tax collection and eliminate harassment.
With introduction faceless assessment, tax harassment is going to be a thing of past, she added.

FM hints at I-T rate cuts, more stimulus measures to boost slowing economy

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday said the government was looking at lowering and rationalising the personal income tax rates, as well as working on more sector-specific measures to boost the slowing economy.
“(This is) one among the many things we are looking at,” she said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, while responding to a question on the personal income tax rate cuts and rationalisation.

A task force headed by Akhilesh Ranjan, former member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has already submitted its report to the finance minister, but its contents have not been made public. It is learnt to have recommended an increase in the threshold limit from the current level of Rs 2.5 lakh a year, and overhauling the tax slabs.
Sitharaman also said the government was taking steps towards creating a simplified taxation structure to ensure that assessees were not harassed. “I am duly following it. We have moved to faceless scrutiny in direct taxes. We have already started expanding it to indirect taxes as well,” she said.
She said she had asked businessmen to come to her office or that of the revenue secretary in case there was any harassment by tax officials.
The finance minister said the government wanted to remove complexities in the entire taxation structure in the long run. “We want to make sure that there are no ifs and buts in the entire taxation structure.”
Sitharaman was a bit evasive when asked whether more stimulus measures would be announced, but did say that the government was working on them. “If I say yes, you will ask when. You will get back to me to say ‘are you not too close to the Budget?’ I will not say yes…. At the same time, I will not say no, because we are working on them.”
She, however, said the government would remain within the glide path recommended by the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) panel, even as many economists were telling the government to pause on the path and give more stimulus.
The finance minister said the public and private sector banks had distributed nearly Rs 5 trillion to the people in the hinterland as part of the outreach drive to boost consumption in the month of October and November.
The latest official data showed that gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 4.5 per cent during July-September, its slowest pace in over six years.
“I would like to tell you that the 4.5 per cent figure is for July, August and September. Post July, through August and September, we kept coming out with announcements and interventions. Nearly Rs 5 trillion were given in 400 districts of the country, in the hinterland and not in metropolitan cities,” she said.
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Besides, she said, 72 million farmers benefited from the first two tranches of PM-Kisan, which gives Rs 2,000 each to farmers every four months. “The figure has come down a bit after that. But we are making sure that these accounts are Aadhaar-seeded so that the money does not go into the ghost accounts,” she said.
Without elaborating much, she said goods and services tax would be streamlined. “We shall have very good and streamlined GST.” She said distortions had crept into the GST structure as the rates were cut and input tax credit got smaller. “In enthusiasm to reduce more taxes, credit became miniscule and the framework agreed up on the phase one of GST got distorted.”
On the states’ concern over delay in the payment of compensation to them, she said the cess component of GST was not adequate to compensate states. “State finance ministers met me. Their concerns are genuine. We will honour our commitment.”
To a query whether the GST rates would be hiked, she said it was a prerogative of the GST Council and she did not want to pre-empt it.
On the current problems of the financial sector, she said banks started getting into the role of long-term finance institutions, resulting in the asset-liability mismatch. Later, non-banking finance companies also saw this mismatch, she added.
“The RBI is constantly monitoring the health of NBFCs and I am in touch with them. I don’t want anyone to fall off the cliff,” she said.
On the credibility of the official data, she said the government was seized of the matter.
The finance minister said while the target of $5 trillion economy was a macro picture, the government wanted to ensure that everyone had a house, each house had a toilet and electricity, and that people had good health insurance.

Cabinet approves launch of Bharat Bond ETF to pump money into public sector

After exchange traded fund for equities, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved launch of a exchange traded fund for bonds.
The fund will provide additional money for state-owned firms and other government organisations, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said.

Bharat Bond Exchange Traded Fund would be the first corporate bond ETF in the country.
ETF will be basket of bonds issued by state firms or any government organisation, and bonds will be tradable on exchange, she said adding that the unit size will be of Rs 1,000, allowing small investors to invest.
Each ETF to have fixed maturity date and will track underlying index on risk replication basis, she said adding that for now it will have two maturity series -- 3 and 10 years.

FM Sitharaman assures states of releasing GST compensation dues soon

Union Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Wednesday assured states that the goods and services tax (GST) compensation due to them for August and September will be released soon. She, however, did not specify a timeline.
Finance ministers (FMs) of Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh had met Sitharaman on Wednesday and urged that funds due for four months since August be released as soon as possible.

The issue could become a major one at the GST Council meeting on December 17-18 in New Delhi.
Punjab FM Manpreet Singh Badal said Sitharaman assured them the money will be released soon. “Compensation for October and November is also due,” he added.
The August and September compensation dues for Rajasthan are Rs 4,400 crore, for Punjab it is Rs 2,100 crore, for Delhi it is Rs 2,355 crore, for Kerala it is Rs 1,600 crore, and for West Bengal it is Rs 1,500 crore.
Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Sitharaman did not specify the reason why the compensation was being held up. “The Centre owes Rs 3,600 crore to Delhi for August, September, and October,” he added.
Cess collections under the GST to compensate states for revenue loss have fallen short of requirements in the current fiscal year on account of slowdown in demand. Under the law, if the states’ GST revenue does not grow by at least 14 per cent, the Centre pays them the difference after every two months.
Madhya Pradesh (MP) Commercial Tax Minister Brajendra Singh Rathore said the Centre owes the state Rs 3,000 crore for August to September.
The state has fared the worst in GST collection in 2019-20 (FY20), raking in 30 per cent of the annual target. Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu have collected about 33 per cent, shows the data on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India website.
In a letter to the state, the Centre has acknowledged that the compensation requirements of states will “unlikely” be met from the cess collected and hence has sought suggestions for revenue augmentation, including review of compensation cess and the GST rates.
Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Centre was duty bound to safeguard the interest of states.
This year, in the first six months, while the Centre collected compensation cess amounting to just above Rs 46,000 crore, the compensation actually released to states has run into Rs 66,000 crore.
On the collection side, while the fall in auto sales reduced the collection, the overall crunch in states’ GST revenue raised the need for compensation to be released.
The letter sent to the state GST commissioners, reviewed by Business Standard, said that “lower GST and compensation cess collections have been a matter of concern in the past few months… the compensation requirements have increased significantly and are unlikely to be met from the compensation cess being collected”.
It further sought suggestions with respect to compliance and rates to help augment revenues. This includes review of items currently on the exemption list. The exemption list covers essential commodities like grains, vegetables, fruit, etc.
States are demanding an extension of the compensation period by another three years, beyond the stipulated 2021-22, propelled by their under-confidence about economic revival and buoyancy in revenue collection. This will lock their annual revenue growth at a minimum of 14 per cent, irrespective of the actual collections till 2024-25.

India considers investing $1.39 trn in infrastructure to spur economy

India will unveil a series of infrastructure projects this month as part of a plan to invest Rs 100 trillion ($1.39 trillion) in the sector over the next five years, the finance minister said on Saturday, in a push to improve the country's economy.
NirmalaSitharaman's comments, as cited in local newspapers, followed data released on Friday that showed India's economic growth slowed to 4.5 per cent in the July-September quarter - its weakest pace since 2013 - upping the pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to speed reforms.

"A set of officers are looking into the pipeline of projects that can be readied so that once the fund is ready, it could be front-loaded on these projects," Sitharaman said at a business summit in Mumbai, the newspapers reported.
"That task is nearly completed. Before December 15, we will be able to announce frontloading of at least ten projects," she said.
Modi came to power in 2014 on the promise to improve India's economy and boost foreign investments, but he has struggled to meet those aims due to a lack of structural reforms. Modi won a second term in May and has taken various measures since 2014 to spur growth, including cutting the corporate tax and speeding up privatisation of state-run firms.
But several economic indicators show domestic consumption is weak, and many economists expect the current slowdown could persist for another two years.