CCI imposes penalty on Rekha Agencies and SS Marketing for indulging in anti-competitive conduct in respect of Himachal Pradesh Tender 2013 for the pr...
DGGI unearths clandestine pan masala and tobacco manufacturing network in Uttar Pradesh; 27 undeclared pouch-packing machines seized, evasion of about...
India’s Foreign Exchange Markets: Getting ready for the next Decade [Keynote Address delivered by Deputy Governor Shri Rohit Jain on the Annual Day ...
Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary participated virtually in 21st Award Ceremony of Security Printing and Minting Corporation o...
Bid rigging through pre-bid exchange of sensitive price information attracted penalties and cease-and-desist directions in tyre procurement. Bid rigging in tyre procurement was established where Rekha Agencies and SS Marketing exchanged commercially sensitive price-bid information before submitting bids for the Himachal Pradesh Tender 2013. The concerted conduct contravened the prohibition on anti-competitive agreements and bid rigging. Monetary penalties and cease-and-desist directions were imposed on both enterprises. An official of Rekha Agencies was also penalised for liability arising from the contravention, while proceedings against the official of SS Marketing stood abated following his death.
Import tariffs on Canadian products trigger potential retaliatory levies after bilateral negotiations fail to reach agreement. Import tariffs on Canadian products are set to be imposed by the United States at a 50% rate after bilateral negotiations did not produce an agreement. The measures cover products including hockey sticks and tongue depressors and affect a limited share of Canada's annual exports to the United States. Canada has indicated possible retaliatory levies, intensifying the bilateral trade dispute.
Rupee exchange-rate movement reflected geopolitical tensions, crude oil conditions and market intervention, while export payment rules expanded rupee invoicing. Foreign Trade Policy amendments facilitate export invoicing and receipt of payments in Indian rupees. For exports to countries outside the Asian Clearing Union, export contracts and invoices may be denominated in Indian rupees or any foreign currency. The earlier general requirement that export earnings be received in a freely convertible currency is thereby eased, while applicable rules continue to vary according to destination.
Non-controlling land-bordering country ownership permits eligible foreign investment through the automatic route, subject to sectoral conditions and reporting. Foreign direct investment may use the automatic route where non-controlling beneficial ownership from a land-bordering country in the investor entity does not exceed 10%, subject to sectoral caps, entry routes and other applicable conditions. The beneficial ownership test applies at the investor-entity level. Eligible investors need not obtain separate prior Government approval after reporting relevant information to the Government. The framework replaces the earlier approval requirement applicable even to minimal beneficial ownership from land-bordering countries.
Climate-resilient urban water security modernises Chennai's supply and sanitation systems through ring-main infrastructure, digital monitoring, and safer sewer operations. Chennai Climate-Resilient Water Security and Sewerage Project modernises and expands water supply and sanitation infrastructure through a loan arrangement between the Government of India and the Asian Development Bank. Measures include new pipelines, upgraded pumping stations, performance-based utility operations, and a comprehensive ring-main system to improve water-pressure balance, distribution efficiency, reliability and climate resilience. Digital monitoring and advanced blockage-detection technology are intended to improve operational decisions, customer responsiveness and worker safety while eliminating hazardous manual sewer inspections.
Capacity-based taxation targets undeclared pouch-packing machinery used for clandestine pan masala and tobacco production and untaxed clearances. Capacity-based taxation of pan masala and specified tobacco products is determined by the number, type and capacity of installed pouch-packing machines. Searches at interconnected manufacturing and trading premises detected unregistered operations using undeclared machinery for clandestine manufacture and clearance of pan masala, scented jarda and gutkha without payment of GST, HSNS cess and central excise duty. Finished goods, raw materials, packing materials and machinery were seized. The manufacturing firm's proprietor was prima facie identified as managing the operation and was arrested under the applicable cess and central excise laws.
Technology risk oversight requires Urban Co-operative Banks to retain accountability while building shared and role-specific capabilities. Urban Co-operative Banks must strengthen digital and risk-management capabilities as technology dependence exposes them to cyber threats, fraud, service-provider failures and common-platform vulnerabilities. Outsourcing critical systems does not transfer the bank's responsibility for oversight, safeguards and continuity. Boards and senior management must retain sufficient knowledge to supervise external providers effectively. Mission SAKSHAM supports role-specific, continuous capability building through physical and online learning, while collective infrastructure and shared expertise can supplement individual institutional capacity.
Foreign exchange market modernisation prioritises delegated decisions, customer transparency, digital workflows, local-currency settlement and accountable risk management. Foreign exchange market modernisation advances a facilitative, principles-based framework based on delegated decision-making by Authorised Dealers, risk-based reporting, and customer-centric service standards. Authorised Dealers must apply clear internal policies, avoid unnecessary documentation, disclose charges, timelines and grievance mechanisms, and ensure consistent treatment of comparable transactions. Local-currency settlement requires viable trade corridors, competitive hedging, correspondent relationships and robust AML/CFT controls. Digital workflows, electronic trading and reporting infrastructure should improve transparency and resilience, while automated tools remain subject to explainability, review and data-protection safeguards.
Sugar price containment measures restrict stockholding, permit duty-free imports, and strengthen inventory verification to deter hoarding. Sugar price containment measures include stock limits for dealers, consumption-based inventory restrictions for bulk consumers, duty-free raw sugar imports, and physical verification of mill stocks to prevent hoarding and artificial scarcity. Price increases are attributed to lower domestic output, festive demand, crop damage, tighter global supplies, and speculation rather than sugar diversion for ethanol. Earlier crushing is advised to improve seasonal availability, while the ethanol programme supports management of sugar surpluses, mill liquidity, and timely sugarcane payments.
Cross-border insolvency enforcement constrains asset recovery as Evergrande liquidation, founder asset confiscation, and audit-related claims continue. Evergrande's insolvency process involves liquidation proceedings for its mainland property-development unit and its Hong Kong-listed holding company. Cross-border recovery is constrained by separate Hong Kong and mainland China legal systems, particularly because most operational assets are located in mainland China. Liquidators are pursuing asset-tracing and recovery measures against the founder and connected persons, as well as claims concerning pre-collapse audits. Investigations identified revenue overstatement through manipulated financial data. Creditor recoveries are expected to be limited due to substantial liabilities and constraints on asset realisation.
Foreign exchange reserves rose through higher currency assets and gold holdings amid measures to attract external forex inflows. India's foreign exchange reserves increased during the reporting week, led by higher foreign currency assets and gold reserves. Foreign currency assets include the dollar-value effects of movements in non-US currencies held as reserves. Special drawing rights declined marginally, while the reserve position with the International Monetary Fund increased marginally. Concessional swap arrangements formed part of measures to attract foreign-exchange inflows, while earlier reserve movements were linked to rupee pressure and dollar-sale intervention in the foreign-exchange market.
Incremental tariff recovery aligns airport user charges with completed infrastructure, preventing passengers from funding non-operational capital projects prematurely. User development fees and airport tariffs for Bengaluru International Airport have been revised for the April 2026 to March 2031 control period. The incremental Average Revenue Requirement framework excludes costs of identified high-value capital projects from tariffs until the relevant assets are completed, commissioned and available for users. Incremental tariff recovery may begin only upon operational availability, aligning charges with infrastructure use, reducing premature recovery risk for passengers and airlines, and encouraging timely completion of major capital works.
Customer experience analytics enables banks to convert real-time feedback into operational improvements across high-value customer journeys. Customer experience analytics is used in banking to transform customer data and real-time feedback into operational improvements across key customer journeys. Operational teams retain responsibility for strategy and execution, supported by in-house analytics and technology platforms for multi-channel journey mapping, journey analytics and prioritisation of high-value customer segments. AI-driven customer experience management tools capture customer signals, analyse journey performance and operationalise actionable insights across teams.
Predicate-offence dependency limits retrospective addition of old FIRs to preserve money-laundering proceedings after the original scheduled offence is closed. Predicate-offence dependency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act requires an ECIR to rest on a subsisting scheduled offence. Closure of the FIR forming its basis through an accepted cancellation report prevents continuation of money-laundering proceedings unless that closure is overturned. A previously registered FIR cannot be belatedly added merely to preserve an existing ECIR and coercive powers. Where statutory requirements are met, an independently registered ECIR may be required. Expansion of an ECIR cannot rest solely on tenuous factual links between successive disputes.
Indian rupee export invoicing rules now permit overseas contracts and invoices in rupees or foreign currency for eligible destinations. Foreign Trade Policy provisions were amended to facilitate invoicing of overseas exports and receipt of export payments in Indian rupees. For exports to countries outside the Asian Clearing Union, export contracts and invoices may be denominated in Indian rupees or any foreign currency, replacing the earlier general requirement that export earnings be received in a freely convertible currency. The applicable requirements vary according to the destination country.
Dealer inventory financing supports working-capital flexibility, vehicle inventory management and electric-vehicle network expansion for authorised dealers. Dealer inventory financing is to be provided by Federal Bank to VinFast India's authorised dealer network under a memorandum of understanding. The tailored financing is intended to improve dealers' working-capital flexibility, support maintenance of vehicle inventory, strengthen operational capability, and enable timely response to demand as the electric-vehicle distribution network expands.
Sugar supply pressures drive festive-season price increases as imports, stockholding limits and ethanol diversion shape market conditions. Sugar prices in Bengal have risen sharply ahead of the festive season, with higher prices also affecting jaggery and other sugar-derived products. Supply constraints, mill stock releases, lower production in Brazil, ethanol diversion and possible hoarding have been identified as contributing factors. Raw-sugar imports have been permitted to augment availability, while stockholding restrictions limit inventories of specified bulk consumers. Lower projected closing stocks and possible future production effects from El Nino may sustain pressure on sugar availability and increase costs for sweetmeat producers.
Foreign currency inflows and FCNR(B) deposits supported rupee sentiment, while oil prices and geopolitical risks constrained currency strength. The rupee strengthened marginally against the US dollar as the dollar index softened, but elevated crude oil prices, geopolitical uncertainty, reduced foreign participation and net foreign equity outflows constrained currency sentiment. RBI measures to attract foreign currency inflows, including FCNR(B) deposits, were expected to generate substantial inflows, although these had not produced meaningful rupee strength. Energy-market disruption and restrictions on fuel exports through the Strait of Hormuz added to external-sector pressures.
Sovereign security production priorities emphasise compliance, modernisation, employee innovation and operational excellence across currency, passport and coinage manufacturing. SPMCIL performs a sovereign production mandate covering secure currency, coinage, passports and other products of national importance through its mints, currency presses, security presses and paper mill. Modernisation, compliance, transparency, efficiency, productivity, quality and corporate governance support the fulfilment of sovereign requirements. Individual employees and units were recognised for performance in productivity, environment and safety, energy conservation, knowledge and development, vigilance, and official-language implementation.
Customs enforcement against suspected gold smuggling leads to baggage seizure and apprehension of the alleged intended receiver. Customs officers intercepted an arriving passenger at the green channel on intelligence inputs and examined baggage after X-ray screening indicated suspicious images. The examination recovered two oval capsules containing gold paste concealed in the baggage. Interrogation indicated that an alleged receiver was waiting outside the airport to collect the suspected smuggled gold. Customs officers apprehended the alleged receiver, and further investigation remains underway.
Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee released the first Budget Manual of the Union Government, here today. Releasing the Manual, the Finance Minister said that the Union Budget has evolved over the past six decades to reflect the strength of India's democratic processes in shaping its economy, and has emerged as a crucial tool for Public Finance Management. He said that this Manual is an attempt to bring together the entire Budget related activities and procedures etc. which were hitherto available in a dispersed manner in the form of executive instructions and guidelines . The Manual has been prepared by the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs. Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee congratulated the Division for taking this initiative.
The Finance Minister said Budget Manual is a comprehensive document explaining in detail the procedures and activities connected with the preparation of Budget. Mr Mukherjee said that Budget Manual will serve as a guidance document to the officials involved in Budget making in the Finance Ministry as well as in other Ministries/Departments. He said that it is also expected to act as a good reference document for interested readers and stakeholders. He said that this document is an effort in the direction of fostering greater transparency and better understanding about procedures and systems relating to making of Union Budget.
At the outset, the Manual brings out the Constitutional provisions related to the Budget. It describes the contents of various Budget documents. The Finance Minister said that the Manual also deals with the Organizational aspects, roles and responsibilities of the Parliament, Parliamentary Committees and the responsibilities of various wings of the Executive in the Budget making process. The Union Government's accounting and classification systems have also been explained apart from the working of the Consolidated Fund of India, the Contingency Fund of India and the Public Account of India, the Finance Minister added.
Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena alongwith the Secretaries of different departments of the Ministry of finance including Finance Secretary, Shri Ashok Chawla, Revenue Secretary, Shri Sunil Mitra, Expenditure Secretary, Smt. Sushma Nath, Secretary, Financial Services, Shri R. Gopalan, Secretary, Disinvestment, Shri Sumit Bose and Chief Economic Advisor, Dr. Kaushik Basu were also present on this occasion among others.
The core sections of the Manual explain the entire chain of activities related to Budget preparation right from the issue of Budget Circular in September to the Budget Day in February, including the processes of estimation of receipts and expenditure, their firming-up and finalization through the Pre-Budget Meetings and their compilation. The comprehensive calendar of Budget related activities, their timelines, details of the related duties and responsibilities of the officers and staff together with the Security and 'Lock-in' procedures have also been brought out. Finally the Manual deals with the Implementation and Reporting of various Budget announcements. There are also a series of Annexes which provide a holistic perspective on the related subjects. An attempt has been made to incorporate all the Budget related issues in the Manual so as to make it a self contained and one stop guidance document.
Text of the Finance Minister's address on the occasion is given below:
"I am pleased to participate in this function to release the Budget Manual for the Union Government. The Budget process of our country predates the Independence and has evolved over the past six decades to reflect the strength of our democratic processes in shaping our economy. It has emerged as a crucial tool for public finance management.
Budget was first introduced on 7th April, 1860, two years after the transfer of Indian administration from East-India Company to British Crown. The first Finance Member, who presented the Budget, was James Wilson. Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, Member of the Interim Government presented the Budget of 1947-48. After Independence, India's first Finance Minister, Shri Shanmukham Chetty, presented the first budget of independent India on 26th November, 1947.
Toni Morrison, the famous author and winner of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize for literature, had once stated, I quote-
"If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it".
~Toni Morrison
The Union Government Budget Manual is one such book, the need for which has been felt for long. I am happy to note that the Budget Division has brought out this Manual. Large areas of the Budget making procedures and processes have not been in public domain, leading at times to some misinterpretations and conjectures. The Budget Manual will shed such misconceptions. I am sure this Manual will bring about greater transparency and better understanding about the Union Government Budget making procedures and systems.
The Manual attempts to outline the entire chain of events leading to the Union Budget. The purpose of this Budget Manual is to provide guidance and a training tool for the officers and staff engaged in the Budget preparation, not only in the Finance Ministry but in other Ministries/Departments as well.
Finally, I would also like to express my appreciation to the officials of the Finance Ministry for taking this initiative and completing the task of preparing the Union Government Budget Manual.
With these words I would now like to release the Budget Manual for the Union Government."
DSM/GN (Release ID :66030)
Budget Manual consolidates Union Budget procedures and roles, standardising accounting, timelines and transparency for public finance management.
The Budget Manual consolidates dispersed executive instructions into a single guidance document describing Constitutional provisions, contents of budget documents, accounting and classification systems, and the operations of the Consolidated Fund of India, the Contingency Fund of India and the Public Account of India. It delineates roles of Parliament, parliamentary committees and executive wings, and outlines the full sequence of budget formulation from the Budget Circular to Budget Day, including timelines, officer duties, security and lock-in procedures, implementation and reporting, with annexes for related subjects.
Note: It is a system-generated summary and is for quick reference only.
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