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☆ India plans tax waivers for IDBI Bank buyer - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Nikunj Rajesh Ohri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The federal finance ministry is looking to relax a tax clause, which would require the buyer of IDBI Bank to pay additional tax if the share price rises post the final bid, one of the officials said. In case the share prices of IDBI Bank increase after financial bids are formally placed, the difference in share price may be considered as "other income" for the buyer as per tax laws, explained Om Rajpurohit, a partner at tax firm AMRG & Associates. The government and state-run Life Insurance Corp. (LIC) (LIFI.NS) together hold about 95% in IDBI Bank, and have sought initial bids from investors to buy a 60.72% in the bank. Last week, it extended the deadline for submitting initial bids until Jan. 7. Once the government receives initial bids expressing interest from buyers, the Reserve Bank of India would vet them to see if they meet the central bank's "fit and proper" criteria.

Dec 16 (Reuters) - India's rupee trade settlement mechanism, a means of using rupees instead of dollars and other big currencies for international transactions, is attracting interest from more countries. The four countries have shown interest in opening special rupee accounts, called vostro accounts, but partner banks in India have not yet provided those facilities, documents showed. Mauritius and Sri Lanka have also shown interest, and have seen their special vostro accounts approved by the RBI, documents showed. Details of potential rupee-dirham trade mechanism are being firmed up by the central banks of India and UAE, a second government official said, requesting anonymity. Talks with Saudi Arabia on a rupee-riyal trade mechanism also continue, the government official added.

☆ India plans changes to capital gains tax structure in next budget - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Nikunj Rajesh Ohri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - India is planning changes to its capital gains tax structure in the next budget, seeking to bring parity among tax rates and holding periods for investments across equity, debt and immovable property. Currently, asset classes are not taxed uniformly and have different holding periods for levying capital gains tax, which needs to be aligned, an official involved in the process said on condition of anonymity. The government has received several proposals from the industry to simplify the capital gains tax structure, and changes are expected in the Budget for 2023/24, the official said without disclosing more details as discussions are confidential. Investments in equity or equity-linked mutual funds for more than one year are considered as long-term, and attract a 10% tax on gains of more than 100,000 rupees. Investments in equity held up to one year are considered short-term and attract a 15% tax.

[1/2] Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks during a side event on the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, 14 July 2022. The proceeds from green bonds will not be used to fund hydropower plants larger than 25 MW, nuclear projects and any biomass-based power generation with biomass originating from protected areas, the government said in the green bond framework released on Wednesday. A green finance working committee headed by the Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran will select public sector projects for green financing from those submitted by government departments. The committee will annually identify fresh projects to be funded through green bonds. The Indian government had sought assistance for its green bond framework from the World Bank and CICERO Shades of Green, a Danish firm that helps with environment assessments on green bond frameworks.

☆ India's largest insurer LIC plans changes to revive battered stock - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Nikunj Rajesh Ohri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The state-owned insurer listed on Indian stock exchanges in May, but its stock has since dropped by more than 35%, wiping off nearly 2.23 trillion Indian rupees in investor wealth. LIC is now looking to looking at steps to revive its share price, said a government official, who did not want to be named. The company plans to transfer 1.8 trillion Indian rupees ($21.83 billion), a sixth of the 11.57 trillion rupees lying in its non-participating fund, to its shareholders' fund, according to an official aware of the matter. LIC parks the premium it collects from the latter in a non-participating fund. The surplus in the non-participating fund is earmarked for shareholders and can be transferred to shareholders fund with approval from LIC's board, which is yet to be sought, they said.

☆ India government must set moderate divestment targets -official
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Nikunj Rajesh Ohri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The Indian government should focus on privatisation of state-run companies instead of chasing high divestment targets, a top finance ministry official said on Tuesday, pointing to market volatility and investors' shaky appetite for risk. "We should actually have moderate targets and more focus should be on privatising," Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, told Reuters in an interview. High targets lead to a perception that the government will sell minority stakes in state-run companies, prompting a fall in share prices of such firms, Pandey said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last year announced plans to privatise all state-run companies barring a few in strategic sectors such as defence and telecommunications. Earlier this month, India invited initial bids to sell a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank.

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