Marching ahead with Responsibility and Growth - Keynote Address[Contributions by RBI colleague Shri Mohammed Majidullah, General Manager] delivered by...
CCI directs Trustees’ Association of India, IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd, Axis Trustee Services and SBI CAP Trustee Company to cease and desist fro...
Personal security frameworks evolved from elite guards into intelligence-led protection systems, while VIP culture can distort their necessity. Personal security evolved from elite guards into structured systems combining physical protection, intelligence, technology and specialised protocols. Prime Ministerial security in India was reorganised after the 1984 assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards. A commission recommended a single protective agency, leading to the formation of the Special Protection Group in 1985. Statutory parameters introduced in 1988 sought to rationalise and scientifically streamline protection arrangements. Advanced technology, training, intelligence and protocols do not eliminate personal-protection vulnerabilities, and security is characterised as a necessity rather than a status symbol.
Rupee exchange-rate movement reflects foreign-currency deposit inflows, central-bank intervention, oil-price risks and changing market risk appetite. Foreign-exchange liquidity measures, including a special central-bank programme for foreign-currency deposits, generated substantial inflows that supported the rupee. Inflows from foreign-currency deposits, overseas foreign-currency borrowings and external commercial borrowings strengthened market conditions. Rupee appreciation was also supported by foreign equity inflows and risk appetite, but remained vulnerable to higher crude-oil prices, US-Iran tensions, safe-haven demand for the US dollar and possible disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trade agreement consultations safeguard farmer, worker, MSME and sectoral sensitivities while phased bilateral tariff negotiations continue. India-US bilateral trade agreement negotiations are being pursued on the stated basis that Indian sensitivities will not be compromised. The agreement's text remains non-public, while the government position identifies farmers, fishers, micro, small and medium enterprises, workers, handloom and handicrafts sectors, and the automobile industry as protected considerations. The arrangement is described as a first tranche, with further engagement contemplated following changes in the United States tariff landscape.
Unauthorised toll collection apps allegedly generated fake receipts, concealed non-FASTag collections, and triggered a money-laundering investigation. Unauthorised digital applications allegedly enabled toll collection from vehicles without FASTag stickers outside the official reporting system. Mobdata and Any were allegedly used to generate unauthorised or fake toll receipts, conceal collections from NHAI, and monitor such collections through dedicated portals. A PMLA investigation followed an FIR alleging fraudulent toll collection, with digital forensic material indicating use of the mechanism across around 100 toll plazas. Searches resulted in seizure of financial and digital records and freezing of bank accounts.
Economic offence investigations: cross-border training strengthens officers' practical skills in investigation, prosecution, procedures, and handling complex financial crimes. Capacity-building training under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme equipped officers from member countries with practical skills for investigating economic offences. It covered varied forms of financial and economic crime, cross-border impact, challenges in investigation and prosecution, standard operating procedures, and investigative best practices. The specialised law-enforcement engagement aims to strengthen international cooperation and investigative capacity in economic-offence matters.
Unauthorised Aadhaar credential use triggers blacklisting and procurement debarment following alleged post-termination enrolment and update transactions. Alleged unauthorised use of Aadhaar Registrar/EA Code credentials after termination of an operational engagement led the Delhi Construction and Other Workers Welfare Board to blacklist MDS Solution Pvt Ltd. UIDAI communication indicated that Aadhaar-related activity allegedly continued after cancellation through the Board's credentials. The Board lodged a police complaint, barred the firm from its tenders, procurement processes, empanelment and contract awards, and recommended consideration of action under applicable rules and policies.
FCNR(B) deposits strengthen foreign-exchange liquidity and support rupee appreciation alongside foreign portfolio inflows into government securities. Foreign-currency inflows through FCNR(B) deposits, overseas foreign-currency borrowings and external commercial borrowings strengthened foreign-exchange liquidity and supported appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar. Foreign portfolio investment in government securities was linked to the abolition of withholding tax and long-term capital gains tax on such investment. Currency-market conditions were also influenced by foreign institutional equity purchases, global risk appetite, crude-oil prices and geopolitical tensions.
Electric vehicle adoption can reduce transport import dependence while domestic battery manufacturing increases projected long-term savings. Electric-vehicle adoption across road-transport segments is projected to reduce dependence on imported petrol and diesel, notwithstanding continuing battery imports. Accelerated electrification could reduce vehicle-related import expenditure substantially by 2050 because reduced oil imports are expected to exceed battery-import costs. Domestic cell-manufacturing capacity may further increase savings by combining rapid vehicle electrification with battery localisation.
Women's livelihood credit access will extend beyond self-help groups through standardised loan formalities and coordinated banking support. Women's access to credit for livelihood expansion is to extend beyond Self-Help Groups to individual women members. Loan accessibility concerns include distance from bank branches, repeated visits to complete formalities, and inconsistent banking procedures. Regular State Rural Livelihood Mission meetings, bank participation, training, helplines, process improvements and coordination with bankers are intended to reduce barriers. Loan formalities are to be standardised across banks through a uniform process involving RBI and NABARD.
Industrial development facilitation prioritises infrastructure, services, policy utilisation, and dry-port trade connectivity for businesses and agro-based farmers. Industrial development facilitation extends beyond allocation of industrial plots to infrastructure development, services, and a favourable business environment. Industry-support policies seek to encourage participation by entrepreneurs, promote growth across sectors, and improve investment conditions without distinction between small and large enterprises. Dry-port infrastructure strengthens national and international trade connectivity, supporting import and export expansion for industrial and agro-based businesses.
Regulated fintech infrastructure recognition highlights integrated payment, identity and collections capabilities across embedded financial product delivery. Decentro operates an integrated fintech infrastructure platform combining payment acceptance, identity verification, banking and AI-led collections through a unified integration layer. It holds Payment Aggregator authorisations for online and physical payments, a Payment Service Provider licence through its GIFT City entity, and certification for offline identity-verification workflows. These capabilities support embedded financial products, payment acceptance, lending collections and related financial workflows for enterprise users.
Debenture trusteeship fee fixing constitutes cartelisation by constraining independent pricing and restricting service availability in the market. Collective minimum-fee fixing for debenture trusteeship services prevented trustees from making independent commercial pricing decisions and constituted cartelisation. Prescription of a benchmark fee limited and controlled the supply or market for such services by directing association members and non-members not to serve debenture issuers below that fee. The conduct contravened Section 3(3)(a) and Section 3(3)(b) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.
Digital textile printing enables flexible industrial production, shorter lead times, reduced screen dependency and sustainability-focused manufacturing for export markets. Digital textile printing is presented as an industrial alternative to conventional screen printing, allowing direct production from digital design files with faster design changes, shorter lead times and flexibility across varying order quantities. Single-pass systems support high-volume production through fixed printing units and continuous fabric movement, while multipass platforms provide flexible production across natural, synthetic and specialised textiles. Digital production is associated with printing closer to demand, eliminating physical screens, reducing unnecessary production, and addressing wastewater reduction, chemical compliance, traceability and responsible manufacturing expectations.
Economic growth and infrastructure investment were presented as supporting exports, skilled employment, connectivity, and long-term development. Economic growth, export expansion and infrastructure investment are presented as interconnected drivers of India's development, global standing and employment opportunities. Infrastructure expenditure, railway expansion and improved transport connectivity are identified as measures intended to facilitate movement, simplify transportation, support trade and exports, and strengthen industrial and commercial activity. These measures are associated with the objective of a developed India by 2047 and enhanced employment, business and growth opportunities.
Co-location and dark fibre settlement addressed allegations of preferential market-data access and speed advantages in trading. SEBI's co-location and dark fibre matters involving NSE concerned allegations that certain stockbrokers obtained unfair preferential speed advantages to access market data and execute trades ahead of other investors. NSE pursued settlement applications covering both matters, and revised settlement terms increased the cumulative amount. Payments made by NSE together completed the agreed settlement amount.
Preferential tariff treatment remains the condition for finalising the bilateral trade agreement and improving Indian export competitiveness. Finalisation of the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement is contingent on the United States extending preferential tariff treatment to India relative to competing supplier countries. Further negotiations are required following changes in the United States tariff environment. A comparative tariff advantage is intended to improve the price competitiveness of Indian goods in the United States market, particularly against competitors benefiting from lower duties under least-developed-country preferences or trade agreements.
MSME secured lending equity capital, subject to regulatory approval, supports expansion without management-control change in operations. Business Nextgen Finance Private Limited, a non-deposit taking non-banking financial company registered with the Reserve Bank of India, has raised Rs 215 crore in equity capital to expand secured credit for micro, small and medium enterprises. The transaction received prior Reserve Bank of India approval. The capital base will support secured lending scale-up, geographic expansion, technology investment and wider access to formal credit in underserved markets. The investment does not involve a change in management or day-to-day control.
Money-laundering probes into narcotics trafficking rely on predicate police and narcotics cases and examine cross-border linkages. Money-laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act involves coordinated searches in connection with multiple narcotics-trafficking matters. The investigation is founded on police and Narcotics Control Bureau FIRs and linked chargesheets concerning separate drug-trafficking allegations, including alleged trafficking in methamphetamine, marijuana and MDMA with suspected cross-border linkages.
Conversational AI account management enables businesses to access payment information, settlement support, refunds, and payment links through WhatsApp. RAY is a conversational AI account manager on WhatsApp that enables businesses to access payment information, support, and operational actions through messages or voice notes. It can provide payment summaries, analyse payment activity, monitor settlement status, generate payment links, and issue refunds. The AI assistant is designed to proactively identify payment-health issues, flag settlement events, recommend actions, and use merchant-specific context to support payment management without dashboard navigation.
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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