Issue: 1326
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FSSAI initiates legal action against Nestle India for
non-compliance.
·
India stands firm on Russian oil amid US tariff threat.
·
India has borne nearly $45 million in interest payments on
Maldive’s T-bill facility: MEA.
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Net direct tax collection rises 13% to Rs.12.12 lakh cr till
Sept 17 on higher advance tax mop-up.
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India faces 100% tariff threat as Trump signs Russia
sanctions bill.
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Under 20th Rozgar Mela, PM to distribute more than 51,000
appointment letters on 19 September.
India's first
district-level labour data released: Surat leads in workforce participation,
Darbhanga records the lowest: India has got its first district-level picture of
the labour market, with new data from the National Statistics Office (NSO)
showing differences in labour force participation, employment, unemployment and
youth participation across districts. The “Labour Market Snapshot of Selected Districts”,
released on September 18 by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme
Implementation, said 57.8% of districts recorded a female Labour Force
Participation Rate (LFPR) of 40% or more. For people aged 15 years and above, about 98.8% of
districts had LFPR estimates between 40% and 80%, while around 98.3% had Worker
Population Ratio (WPR) estimates in the same range. Among the 100 most populous districts, Surat in
Gujarat recorded the highest LFPR at 68.6%. It was followed by Araria in Bihar
at 68% and Salem in Tamil Nadu at 67.8%.Darbhanga in Bihar recorded the lowest
LFPR and WPR among the 100 most populous districts.
(Moneycontrol)
Advance tax collection
rises over 16%: With
strong growth from corporate side, advance tax collection after the first two
instalments jumped over 16 per cent, data made public by the Income Tax
Department on Friday showed. Meanwhile, overall net direct tax collection rose
by around 13 per cent. According to data, while advance tax from companies grew
by 18 per cent, collection from non-corporate taxpayers (includes taxes paid by
individuals, Hindu undivided families, firms, association of persons, body of
individuals, local authorities and artificial juridical persons) increased by a
little over 9 per cent.
(Business Line)
Moody’s raises India’s GDP
forecast to 7%: Moody’s
rating on Friday upped India’s growth forecast to 7 per cent for the current
fiscal from 6 per cent. However, it said that risks on account of West Asia
crisis and El Nino could push the inflation and further widen the current
account deficit. This observation has been given after review by a rating
committee on September 10. It reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in
the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), and recent
developments. India has ‘Baa3’ with stable outlook rating from Moody’s. In
a statement, the rating agency said India’s real GDP growth accelerated to 8.2
per cent year-over-year in the first six months of calendar year (CY) 2026, up
from 7.3 per cent for the full year in CY 2025, supported by stronger private
consumption, robust gross fixed capital formation that reflects continued
public infrastructure spending and a likely revival of private sector
investment, and sustained strength in the services sector.
(Business Line)
UPI MDR from October 15:
Govt plans daily monitoring to stop merchants passing 0.4% fee to customers: The government is in
negotiations with payment aggregators over new UPI transaction fees, ensuring
that these charges will not be imposed on consumers, as stated by officials.
The finance ministry will closely monitor adherence to the new guidelines on a
daily basis. Revenue generated will aid small merchants in embracing UPI,
striking a balance between managing costs and fostering digital payment
expansion.
(Economic Times)
Cash-flow-based lending to
become important for new-age sectors: SBI MD: Cash-flow-based lending will
become increasingly important for financing new-age industries like data
centres, solar manufacturing and technology-driven businesses, a senior bank
official said on Friday. With traditional collateral
often absent, banks such as the State Bank of India are actively researching
this funding model. To extend financing effectively, a deep comprehension of
technology and anticipated revenue is crucial, as banks frequently encounter obstacles
in determining revenue and cash flow for innovative projects.
(Economic Times)
Apple Pay set for India
launch next month with Axis Bank credit cards: Report: Apple is poised to launch
Apple Pay in India next month with Axis Bank's credit cards, three sources
familiar with the matter said, as it works to expand support among the
country's lenders. The launch, starting with a
single major banking partner, would help the US company offer its payment
service in the world's most populous country, one of the few major economies
where it is not available.
(Economic Times)
Indian Bank to explore
partners for insurance, mutual fund businesses: Indian Bank plans to enter the
insurance and mutual fund businesses within two years and will prefer a
partnership approach rather than setting up wholly owned subsidiaries, its MD
and CEO Binod Kumar told Business Standard in an interview. The bank has not
shortlisted any partner yet and will evaluate potential tieups based on
valuation, due diligence and regulatory requirements. “In terms of assets and
balance sheet, including State Bank of India, Indian Bank is the
seventh-largest public sector bank. All six banks above us have either a tieup
or a standalone subsidiary in insurance or asset management. I have a timeline
of 1.5-2 years. Finding the right partner, due diligence, valuation,
discussions and regulatory approvals will take time. We have not shortlisted
any partner yet,” he said.
(Business Standard)
FCNR(B) may generate Rs.5
trn notional profit for banks over 5 years: SBI: The $127 billion mobilised by
banks through Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) could generate a notional
profit of around Rs.5 trillion for them over five years, according to SBI
Research. The deposits, through the
concessional swap scheme, could support around Rs.25 trillion of additional
bank credit. The mobilisation happened in less than three months before the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) advanced the closure of the deposit window. At a
7.5 per cent yield, this could generate about Rs.1.8 trillion in income each
year, SBI Research has estimated.
(Business Standard)
UPI MDR could cost FMCG
trade up to Rs.2,300 crore a year, distributors seek B2B exemption: A proposed 0.4 per cent charge on UPI merchant
payments could cost India’s traditional retail and FMCG distribution network as
much as Rs.2,300 crore a year, as distributors warn that payment charges could
recur at different stages of selling the same product. The reason lies in how India’s FMCG trade works. A
consumer buys a packet of biscuits from a neighbourhood shop and pays the
retailer. The retailer, in turn, pays a distributor to replenish its stock,
while the distributor pays the FMCG company for the goods it supplies. These
are separate transactions, but all are part of getting the same product from
the manufacturer to the consumer.
(Business Line)
Screaming buys: Large-cap
companies trading closer to their 52-week lows: India’s largest companies have become some of
the cheapest firms over the last three years where price-to-earnings (PE)
multiples have crashed and investors have given up on growth. The Nifty 100
trades at 19x earnings against a three-year average of 22x. Of the 100
companies that Business Standard screened in terms of market capitalisation
(mcap), there are 29 stocks that are within 10 per cent of their 52 week lows. Ten
stocks that are 2 per cent away from their 52 week lows included Reliance,
Hindustan Lever, Britannia, Maruti, Trent, and Power Finance Corporation (PFC).
(Business Standard)
CBDT removes arrest,
detention provisions from tax recovery rules: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
removed provisions relating to arrest and detention from the prescribed process
for tax arrears recovery. It also gave valuers and authorised income-tax
practitioners six more months to complete their registration under the new
Income Tax Act, 2025 framework. In a notification issued on September 17, the CBDT
amended Rule 225 of the Income Tax Rules, 2026, which deals with tax arrears
recovery. The amendment omits a provision referring to the power to arrest and
removes the words “except arrest and detention” from another provision. It also
deletes several other sub-rules of Rule 225. The amendments to Rules 2 to 4,
including Rule 225, have been given retrospective effect from April 1, 2026.
(Business Standard)
Trai lowers threshold for
action against spam calls: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(Trai) has tightened its crackdown on spam calls, allowing telecom operators to
initiate action against a sender when at least three unique consumers complain
about it within 10 days and the sender’s number is also flagged by the
operator’s AI system as suspected spam. The move lowers the complaint threshold
for action against suspected spammers. Earlier, action could be triggered by
five or more unique complaints within 10 days. Under the amended Telecom
Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018, a telecom
service provider (TSP) will be required to identify customer-line numbers
(CLIs) with a high probability of being used for spam and share such
information with other operators. Further investigation will be mandated after
five reported incidents.
(Financial Express)
FASTag users can now switch
issuer without replacing tag: FASTag users who want to move to a different
issuer can now do so without replacing the physical tag that is already fixed
on their vehicle. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has launched
OneTag, a FASTag portability service available through its RajmargYatra mobile
app. Through this new facility, eligible users can change their FASTag issuer
while retaining the same physical FASTag and FASTag ID linked to the vehicle. Sharing
details of the service on its official X handle, NHAI said the feature provides
users “greater flexibility and convenience” without requiring them to buy or
replace their current FASTag. The OneTag facility also expands the range of
FASTag and highway-related services available through the RajmargYatra app.
(Financial Express)
India's foreign exchange
reserves drop by $4.9 billion from record high: India’s foreign exchange reserves declined
$4.9 billion to $780.8 billion in the week ended September 11, according to
data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. This was the first
decline in reserves after 10 consecutive weeks of increase. The fall came a week
after reserves posted their biggest-ever weekly increase of $44.9 billion,
taking them to a record $785.7 billion, following strong foreign currency
inflows under the RBI’s concessional swap window. Foreign currency assets, the
largest component of reserves, declined $2.4 billion to $645.8 billion during
the week. Gold reserves fell $2.6 billion to $111.2 billion.
(Business Standard)
FINANCIAL
REPRESSION
§ Financial
Repression refers to a set of government policies that channel funds from savers
to the government at below-market interest rates. It may include interest rate
caps, high reserve requirements, directed lending, and restrictions on capital
movement.
§ While
it helps governments reduce debt burdens and finance fiscal deficits cheaply,
prolonged financial repression can distort resource allocation, discourage
savings, and reduce financial sector efficiency. The term is often discussed in
the context of sovereign debt management.
RBI KEY RATES
Repo
Rate: 5.25%
SDF:
5.00%
MSF
/Bank Rate: 5.50%
CRR:
3.00%
SLR:
18.00%
FOREX RATES (RBI REF. RATE)
INR
/ 1 USD : 95.7910
INR
/ 1 GBP : 128.0882
INR
/ 1 EUR : 109.9885
INR
/100 JPY: 60.9900
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex:
74294.96 (-19.63)
NIFTY:
23346.40 (+75.80)
Bnk NIFTY: 56358.70 (+302.95)
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