India, which had in 2019 overtaken the UK to become the fifth-largest economy in the world, was knocked off course somewhat due to the carnage that the pandemic and the ensuing strict lockdown unleashed -- businesses were shut, consumption slumped, investments took a hit and jobs were lost.
The year 2020 has been a difficult year for NGOs in India (not just because of the pandemic) and the next year also potentially appears to be a difficult one. "Most NGOs are heavily reliant on their funders and with institutional funding drying up this year, several NGOs, especially the smaller ones, have suffered a lot", said Priya Naik.
Infrastructure upgradation, manpower augmentation, regulatory reforms and IT enablement have resulted in speedy disposal of intellectual property application, DPIIT said in a statement.
Since December 31, 2019, when the nationwide average price was as high as Rs 100 per kg, it has fallen to Rs 40 per kg now, giving much relief to consumers, Nandan said.
Infrastructure output, which comprises eight sectors including coal, crude oil and electricity and accounts for nearly 40% of industrial output, showed an 11.4% year-on-year contraction for the April-November period, the data showed.
As per the detail of the case a company was winding up its business and was selling all its assets including its depreciable assets. Depreciable assets could include machinery, manufacturing equipment or even vehicles.
Net tax receipts were 6.88 trillion rupees, while total expenditure came to 19.06 trillion rupees, the data showed.
Indian agriculture sector achieved record foodgrain production and registered positive growth despite the coronavirus pandemic but the massive farmers' protest at the borders of the national capital against the new farm laws overshadowed its remarkable performance this year.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feels that while the poor received free rations and businesses got state-guaranteed loans and other concessions, the economy will benefit from slimming the tax bill for the middle class with more generous standard deductions.
"An enterprise business system (EBS) is being implemented at five major ports with a project cost of about Rs 320 crore to provide a digital port ecosystem," Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has said in a document. The system will adopt international best practices without losing its alignment to existing local needs, it added.
The Finance Ministry has notified such dealers in precious metals and stones and also real estate agents with over Rs 20 lakh turnover under the ambit of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Public debt accounted for 91.1 per cent of total outstanding liabilities at end-September 2020, as per the latest quarterly report on public debt management.
Only the prospect of financial support will encourage farmers to switch from grain crops, with their government-set prices, to the less predictable gains of oilseeds. "We've requested the government to give that kind of support to farmers," said B. V. Mehta of industry body the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA).
Currently, the share of transactions by FASTag is hovering around 75-80%. In a communication to NHAI, the ministry has said the highways authority can obtain the needed regulatory requirement from it for ensuring 100% cashless fee collection from February 15.
Dipam, the government's disinvestment manager, believes that it was responsible only to achieve a target of Rs 1.2 lakh crore and blames Covid for the shortfall. This is not the first time that Dipam is accusing the finance ministry of using it to show higher receipts and consequently a lower fiscal deficit.
"There has been regular monitoring of the progress of these projects since these are mega projects. Some of these projects also came up in the past two Pragati meetings chaired by the Prime Minister. Many of these projects have been delayed due to various reasons including non-availability of land and green clearances," said a source who did not wish to be named.
Indian economy has shown resilience amid Covid and low GoI debt creation may aid recovery. But without deep reforms new normal will be 6%, not 8%
After largely keeping its purse strings in check as the coronavirus pandemic choked businesses and threw millions out of jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is keen to bring the economy back onto a solid growth path with the budget to be presented on Feb. 1.
According to District Cane Officer R D Trivedi, the eight sugar mills comprise Khatauli, Mansurpur, Tikola, Bhudhana, Morna, Khaikhedi, Titawi and Rohana.
The Union Cabinet also approved a proposal to set up industrial corridor nodes at Krishnapatnam and Tumakuru under CBIC, said Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar.
"Over 4.37 crore Income Tax Returns for AY 2020-21 have already been filed till 28th of December, 2020," the Income Tax department tweeted.
"We are confident that a V- shaped recovery will be witnessed in world trade and we will recover much more from what we lost in 2020. Since the first and second quarter have been pretty bad, we may end the financial year 2020-21 with exports of around USD 290 billion," FIEO President Sharad Kumar Saraf said in a statement.
As the think tank continues to work with various stakeholders to boost the country's economy, its Vice Chairman and economist Rajiv Kumar said the government has already used COVID-19 crisis for taking several steps to lay the foundation for a "rapid and sustained growth in the coming years".
In an interview with ET Now, former RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao, emphasised on the need for the government to loosen its purse strings and meet the RBI's fiscal policy with adequate fiscal measures, instead of leaving the central bank to do most of the heavy lifting.
Within three weeks of launching the rescue act, the RBI's rate setting panel's meeting got advanced to deliver a deep cut of 0.70 per cent in key rates, a reduction in cash reserve ratio by 1 percentage point, and an announcement of a three-month repayment moratorium on loan repayments and an assured liquidity support through the Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTROs).
The government has set up an expert group under the chairmanship of Professor SP Mukherjee to provide technical guidance to the Labour Bureau with respect to these surveys. The expert group consists of eminent economists, statisticians and government functionaries.
This year has also been a challenging year for the workforce as well as for employers due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government imposed a nationwide lockdown from March 25, which had an adverse impact on economic activities and resulted in the exodus of migrant workers from large cities to their homes in the hinterland.
The government is set to extend the deadline for 100% collection of toll charges on the National Highway (NH) network through FASTag. Earlier, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had announced to completely do away with cash transactions for paying toll charges from January 1.
Government spending is key to staving off a prolonged crisis in the nation that’s home to the world’s second-largest coronavirus outbreak.
The government had banned exports in September this year as prices were rising after a low harvest. Major buyers of Indian onions include Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Middle East.
India on Tuesday deferred the requirement of obtaining a certificate of inspection from a government agency to ship both basmati and non-basmati rice to European countries to July 1, 2021. Earlier the date was January 1 next year.
The challenge for the government in the months and years ahead is clear: to put the economy back on a healthy growth trajectory and ensure that growth is inclusive, with lower income households too enjoying the benefits of rapid growth.
Jeonbuk Business Centre, a B2B trade promotion agency launched early this year to promote India-Korea trade, said it is getting above 20 inquiries daily from Korean companies which want to buy industrial items and organic products from India amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Govt notifies dealers in precious metals and stones as designated businesses under PMLA to tackle money laundering through multiple cash deals up to or above Rs 10 lakh.
Farmers say the new laws will shut the regulated wholesale markets they depend on to take their produce. But FCI has racked up huge debts from the purchases required to meet its role as a buyer of last resort and to supply India's food welfare program.
"Over 4.37 crore Income Tax Returns for AY 2020-21 have already been filed till 28th of December, 2020. Hope you have filed yours too! If not filed as yet, don't wait. File your #ITR for AY 2020-21 TODAY!," the Income Tax department tweeted.
"India's economy could prove the most resilient in the subregion over the long term. FDI inflows have been steadily increasing and positive, albeit lower, economic growth after the pandemic and India's large market will continue to attract market-seeking investment," the report said.
"Issue for the development of the respective states and different segments were presented to the Finance Minister. Farmer's concern, expectations of labour force and trade and industries' wish list including middle-income group's concerns were extensively discussed in the meeting," it stated.
As farmers continue their protests demanding repealing of the three new laws, Kumar also emphasised that continued negotiations with protesting farmers is of course the way forward.
Input tax credit on any brand promotion item (goods) where name of a company is mentioned would attract GST, Karnataka Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) said in a ruling recently.
Dun & Bradstreet expects growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in November 2020 to have moderated from the levels seen in October 2020, primarily due to two factors: the high base of the previous year and the dip in demand after the festive period. Dun & Bradstreet expects the IIP to have grown by 0.5% - 0.7% during November 2020.
Many Industry veterans believe that there won't be any material impact because the U.K. already has a good Visa regime for Indian techies.
Nearly three-fourth of the respondents felt their firms’ business would be significantly impacted post the availability of a vaccine, with 35% of these firms expecting a return to normal growth levels within six months from this point.
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry took timely measures to facilitate smooth functioning of all the central government offices and provided safe working conditions to over 48 lakh employees.
"Another major outcome of COVID-19 is the likely shift in global supply chains away from China to other economies. Nearly 70 per cent of the survey participants have said India could benefit from this move and they expect a fair share of manufacturing to shift from China to India in the near future," said Ficci on the findings of the survey.
The government in November approved the PLI scheme for ten key sectors, including telecom, automobiles and pharmaceuticals, taking the total outlay for such incentives to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore over a five-year period.
That, together with stable domestic demand, higher contribution from ethanol due to higher cane diversion for ethanol production, and increased ethanol prices, will lead to a 100-200 basis points (bps) increase in the operating margin of sugar mills to 10.5-11.5% this fiscal.
While PM Modi will inaugurate a portion of the dedicated freight corridor on Tuesday, he will launch six light house construction technology projects in six cities on January 1.
The swift recovery displayed by the economy after the bruising impact of one of the strictest lockdowns in the world to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 infection has surprised many. It has also brought some cheer for policy makers in an otherwise gloomy year. Never before has so much attention been devoted to GDP growth figures as has been for June and September quarters.
Besides 115 basis points reduction in the benchmark repo rate, the rate at which RBI lends to bank, the central bank has infused liquidity into the system through unconventional tools such as LTRO/TLTRO operations to make loans cheaper.
