Latest news with #Capex
Economic Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
MoSPI gets real with artificial intelligence: Surveys to use chatbots
The Statistics Ministry is adding Artificial Intelligence to its work. AI chatbots will be used in important surveys. This will give policymakers correct and current data. The Capex survey now has an AI chatbot. New surveys are coming, and old ones are being updated. A household income survey will start in February 2026. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The statistics ministry is integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its operations, with AI-enabled chatbots becoming part of key surveys, to provide accurate and up-to-date data to policymakers to help them make evidence-based policy decisions, the minister said."To facilitate self-compilation by enterprises in the web-portal based Capex survey, an AI-powered chatbot has been integrated into the portal," Rao Inderjit Singh, minister of state (independent charge) for statistics and programme implementation, told ET. "This chatbot assists respondents by providing guidance on the concepts used across various sections of the survey questionnaire," he explained. The Capex survey tracks capital expenditure trends of private ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) uses AI and machine learning-enabled chatbots for the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) as well. It is also introducing new surveys and updating existing ones to better reflect present-day economic and social realities, Singh said. The idea is to leverage technology to provide timely data to help the government bring in policies to improve quality of life of Indians and realise Viksit Bharat 2047.A pilot study on the unincorporated construction sector is scheduled for July- December, while a Household Income Survey will be launched from February 2026 to estimate the average income of rural and urban households, the minister Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) methodology was revamped in January. Under the new framework, reports are released monthly, with rural data included in quarterly releases. Annual reports will follow the calendar year rather than the earlier July-June cycle."The updated PLFS design will allow (with state participation) generation of annual district level estimates for most districts across India. It is also planned to release ASUSE results quarterly instead of annually," Singh MoSPI is set to launch two new surveys from July - National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES).NHTS aims to assess the spatial origin destination matrix for different transportation modes and influencing factors affecting the mode, destination choice, the price elasticity of travel demand by mode. The railway ministry and the government will use this data for transport planning, Singh said. DTES will gather information on trip purpose, mode of transport, accommodation, final destination within the country, and tourism-related expenditure.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
MoSPI gets real with artificial intelligence: Surveys to use chatbots
The statistics ministry is integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its operations, with AI-enabled chatbots becoming part of key surveys, to provide accurate and up-to-date data to policymakers to help them make evidence-based policy decisions, the minister said. "To facilitate self-compilation by enterprises in the web-portal based Capex survey, an AI-powered chatbot has been integrated into the portal," Rao Inderjit Singh, minister of state (independent charge) for statistics and programme implementation, told ET. "This chatbot assists respondents by providing guidance on the concepts used across various sections of the survey questionnaire," he explained. The Capex survey tracks capital expenditure trends of private enterprises. The ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) uses AI and machine learning-enabled chatbots for the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) as well. It is also introducing new surveys and updating existing ones to better reflect present-day economic and social realities, Singh said. The idea is to leverage technology to provide timely data to help the government bring in policies to improve quality of life of Indians and realise Viksit Bharat 2047. Ads By Google Ad will close in 29 Skip ad in 4 Skip Ad A pilot study on the unincorporated construction sector is scheduled for July- December, while a Household Income Survey will be launched from February 2026 to estimate the average income of rural and urban households, the minister said. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) methodology was revamped in January. Under the new framework, reports are released monthly, with rural data included in quarterly releases. Annual reports will follow the calendar year rather than the earlier July-June cycle. "The updated PLFS design will allow (with state participation) generation of annual district level estimates for most districts across India. It is also planned to release ASUSE results quarterly instead of annually," Singh said. The MoSPI is set to launch two new surveys from July - National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES). NHTS aims to assess the spatial origin destination matrix for different transportation modes and influencing factors affecting the mode, destination choice, the price elasticity of travel demand by mode. The railway ministry and the government will use this data for transport planning, Singh said. DTES will gather information on trip purpose, mode of transport, accommodation, final destination within the country, and tourism-related expenditure.
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Business Standard
21-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Net direct tax collection drops by 1.39% to Rs 4.58 trillion so far in FY26
Net direct tax collections till June 19 in the financial year 2025-26 (FY26) dipped by 1.39 per cent year-on-year to Rs 4.58 trillion, due to higher refunds, income tax relaxation provided to salaried individuals and the impact of increased capital expenditure by companies. Of this, non-corporate tax - which includes taxes paid by individuals, Hindu Undivided Families, firms, bodies of individuals, associations of persons, local authorities, and artificial juridical person - grew marginally by 0.71 per cent on yearly basis to Rs 2.72 trillion during the same period. Net corporate tax during the same period declined by 5.13 per cent to Rs 1.72 trillion, while securities transactions tax (STT) increased by 12.13 per cent to Rs 13,013 crore, according to the data. According to Samir Kanabar, tax partner with EY, the marginal dip in net tax collections is majorly due to tax relaxation given to salaried class in the Union Budget 2025. 'Since individuals are paying less tax, the government is receiving lower Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) from salaries. On the corporate side, the fall in tax collection is partly because companies are getting large refunds and also because many of them have made big Capex investments," said Kanabar. "When businesses spend on setting up factories, buying machinery, or expanding operations, they get tax deductions under the Income Tax Act, which reduces their taxable income and ultimately lowers the Corporate Income Tax they pay,' he added. Gross direct tax collections increased by 4.86 per cent year-on-year to Rs 5.45 trillion, while refunds rose significantly by 58.04 per cent to Rs 86,385 crore during the same period. Of the total refund, major chunk comprised of corporate refunds totalling Rs 76,832.08 crore which grew by 67.31 per cent. According to experts, this refund relates to past years which may have been cleared now. Of the total gross direct tax, corporate tax amounted to Rs 2.49 trillion, non-corporate tax contributed Rs 2.82 trillion , STT totalled Rs 13,013 crore and other taxes stood at Rs 259.61 crore. "The growth in corporate tax collections appears to be broadly in line with expected profit growth. In the case of non-corporates, collections may have been impacted by lower bonus payouts and modest salary increments. As for refunds, these likely pertain to previous assessment years and may simply reflect bunching of processing activity towards the end of the first quarter," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. Meanwhile, advance tax collections registered a moderate growth of 3.87 per cent in the first quarter of FY26. This is in comparison to last year's year-on-year growth of 27.34 per cent. Advance tax is paid by individuals and businesses in four installments within specific dues dates - June 15, September 15, December 15 and March 15. The non-corporate advance tax decreased by 2.68 per cent on year to Rs 33,928.32 crore till June 19, in FY26, while corporate advance tax rose by 5.86 per cent to Rs 1.21 trillion during the same period. The Centre is estimated to collect Rs 25.2 trillion as direct taxes in FY26. Net direct tax collection in FY25 grew at 13.57 per cent to Rs 22.26 trillion, exceeding the initial budgeted target of Rs 22.07 trillion.
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Business Standard
21-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Net direct tax collection dips 1.39% to Rs 4.58 trn till June 19 in FY26
Net direct tax collections from April 1 to June 19 in FY26 dipped by 1.39 per cent year-on-year to ₹4.58 trillion due to higher refunds, income tax relaxation for salaried individuals and the impact of increased capital expenditure by companies. Of this, non-corporate tax — which includes taxes paid by individuals, Hindu Undivided Families, firms, bodies of individuals, associations of persons, local authorities, and artificial juridical persons — grew marginally by 0.71 per cent on a yearly basis to ₹2.72 trillion during the same period. Net corporate tax during the same period declined by 5.13 per cent to ₹1.72 trillion, while securities transaction tax (STT) increased by 12.13 per cent to ₹13,013 crore, according to official data. According to Samir Kanabar, tax partner at EY, the marginal dip in net tax collections is mainly due to the tax relaxation extended to the salaried class in the Union Budget 2025. 'Since individuals are paying less tax, the government is receiving lower tax deducted at source (TDS) from salaries. On the corporate side, the fall in tax collection is partly because companies are getting large refunds and also because many of them have made big Capex investments,' said Kanabar. 'When businesses spend on setting up factories, buying machinery, or expanding operations, they get tax deductions under the Income Tax Act, which reduces their taxable income and ultimately lowers the corporate income tax they pay,' he added. Gross direct tax collections rose by 4.86 per cent year-on-year to ₹5.45 trillion, while refunds surged by 58.04 per cent to ₹86,385 crore during the same period. Of the total refunds, the major chunk comprised corporate refunds amounting to ₹76,832.08 crore, which grew by 67.31 per cent. According to experts, these refunds pertain to past years and may have been cleared now. Of the total gross direct tax, corporate tax amounted to ₹2.49 trillion, non-corporate tax contributed ₹2.82 trillion, STT totalled ₹13,013 crore, and other taxes stood at ₹259.61 crore. 'The growth in corporate tax collections appears to be broadly in line with expected profit growth. In the case of non-corporates, collections may have been impacted by lower bonus payouts and modest salary increments. As for refunds, these likely pertain to previous assessment years and may simply reflect bunching of processing activity towards the end of the first quarter,' said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. Meanwhile, advance tax collections registered moderate growth of 3.87 per cent in the first quarter of FY26, compared with last year's year-on-year growth of 27.34 per cent. Advance tax is paid by individuals and businesses in four instalments within specific due dates — June 15, September 15, December 15 and March 15. The non-corporate advance tax decreased by 2.68 per cent year-on-year to ₹33,928.32 crore till June 19 in FY26, while corporate advance tax rose by 5.86 per cent to ₹1.21 trillion during the same period. The Centre has estimated direct tax collections of ₹25.2 trillion for FY26. Net direct tax collection in FY25 grew by 13.57 per cent to ₹22.26 trillion, exceeding the initial budgeted target of ₹22.07 trillion.
Economic Times
20-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
ETMarkets Smart Talk: Axis Securities predicts Nifty could touch 27,600 in bull case by March 2026
In this edition of ETMarkets Smart Talk, we caught up with Neeraj Chadawar, Head of Fundamental and Quantitative Research at Axis Securities, to decode the market's direction for the rest of FY25 and beyond. With India's domestic growth trajectory holding strong despite global headwinds, Chadawar outlines why the Nifty 50 could scale up to 27,600 in a bull case scenario by March 2026. He shares insights on macro trends, policy moves, sector rotations, and why largecap, domestic-facing sectors are poised to lead the next leg of the market rally. Plus, his take on interest rates, rural revival, institutional flows, and what retail investors should do amid rising FOMO. Edited Excerpts – ADVERTISEMENT Q) Thanks for taking the time out. After a stable May, the market turned volatile in June. 1H2025 has been robust with Nifty closing in the red in just 2 out of the last 5 months; however, we still underperformed EM peers in 2025. How do you see markets in the medium-to-long term?A) Despite external risks, India's domestic growth trajectory remains intact, with key macroeconomic factors supporting a stronger FY26 versus FY25. Both the RBI and the government are providing support to the Indian economy through policy measures such as a 50 basis point CRR cut in December 2024, 100 basis points of rate cuts so far, improved bank liquidity, an additional 100 basis points CRR cut from September 2025 onwards, dividends from the RBI, a consumption boost provided in the budget, and an uptick in government Capex spending. Furthermore, macroeconomic uncertainty has reduced significantly over the last month. Most significant events are now behind us, with the majority of negative concerns regarding the domestic economy and earnings already factored into the forward, the market will closely monitor global developments around: 1) the U.S. government's policies, 2) the reciprocal tax, 3) further rate cuts by the U.S. Fed in 2025 (based on growth and inflation dynamics), and 4) the direction of currency and oil prices in the remaining part of 2025. ADVERTISEMENT These developments will continue to challenge market direction and valuations in the near term. Hence, we believe the market needs to navigate through another couple of months smoothly before entering into a concrete growth a result, we expect near-term consolidation in the market, with breadth remaining narrow in the immediate term. Our focus will remain on style and sector rotation, along with earnings recovery. ADVERTISEMENT Going forward, we expect the Indian market to be divided between domestic-facing and export-facing sectors, but the risk-reward balance would favor domestic-facing sectors due to the minimal to low impact of the reciprocal sectors will be in a wait-and-watch mode, and the impact and developments related to the reciprocal tax will be closely tracked. ADVERTISEMENT Based on the current development, we present 3 scenarios for the Nifty 50 by Mar'26:Bull Case: Nifty target of 27,600 by Mar'26, valued at 21x, assuming a Goldilocks scenario and private capex boostBase Case: Nifty target of 26,300 by Mar'26, valued at 20x on Mar'27 earnings (Recently, we have upgraded our Base case multiple to 20x from 19x earlier, supported by the favourable addition of high PE stocks in the index, in which Jio Financial and Eternal have replaced Britannia and BPCL). ADVERTISEMENT Bear Case: Nifty target of 22,300 by Mar'26, valued at 17x, assuming policy shifts, inflation challenges, and recession risks. Q) What is your take on the outcome of the MPC meeting in June? What is the trajectory you foresee for rates in 2025? A) It was a double delight from the RBI in Jun'25 MPC. The RBI's 50bps rate cut surprised markets, which expected a third straight 25bps cut. The regulator is in favour of front-loading rate cuts to support it has now changed its stance from Accommodative to Neutral, providing limited scope for further rate cuts. We believe any policy action on rates will be largely data-driven going RBI also surprised with a CRR cut of 100bps in four tranches, effective from Sep'25, which will provide more liquidity in the system, supporting credit growth for banks, (especially in H2FY26, which is characterised by the festive season).In BFSI, the pick-up in credit growth, which was subdued as banks exited FY25, remains are pinned on a recovery in H2FY26, supported by falling interest rates, consumption boost from the tax rate cut, expectations of a strong monsoon, and potential recovery in demand in the unsecured segments as stress subsides. Q) Which themes look attractive to you for the next 6-12 months amid trade war fears, a strong dollar and a possible scenario of falling interest rates? A) The valuations appear attractive for the Largecaps vs. the broader market, where the margin of safety is still this backdrop, we believe that the Largecap stocks, 'quality' stocks, monopolies, market leaders in their respective domains, and domestically-focused sectors may outperform the market in the near on the current developments, we 1) Continue to like and overweight Largecap private banks, telecom, consumption, hospitals, and interest-rate proxies,2) upgrading certain plays in retail consumption and FMCG sectors based on the recovery expectations in FY26, 3) prefer certain capex-oriented plays that look attractive in light of the recent price correction and reasonable growth visibility in the domestic market in FY26. Q) The IMD has predicted a normal monsoon in 2025 – do you see this supporting consumption stocks/auto stocks? A)Rural as a theme remains watchful for upcoming quarters based on the normal monsoon expectations, subdued inflation, and the pick-up in government spending. This theme has seen a long period of underperformance and may revive in FY26. It would also support entry-level 2-wheeler demand, which has lagged since Covid-19. Q) How do you see flows – FIIs have recently turned positive on Indian markets, while DIIs have supported the rally. Do you see a reversal of flows into Indian markets? A) FY26 is expected to present a more constructive environment for foreign flows compared to FY25, driven by improving domestic fundamentals in terms of earnings expectations and proactive policy of the earnings-related concerns are factored in FY25, and here onwards, the FY26 earnings prospects have improved will be supported by the RBI's liquidity support, including a CRR cut, the interest rate cut of 100 bps, which should support a recovery in corporate earnings in FY26, and a consumption-oriented Union said, global macro risks continue to warrant close attention. While India remains relatively better placed among emerging markets, foreign investors are likely to take a calibrated approach, balancing optimism around India's structural story with caution around global headwinds. Q) Is there any theme or sector where one should avoid fresh investments in the current environment? A) We continue to maintain underweight in export-oriented themes with a wait-and-watch approach and will closely monitor emerging developments related to the continue to maintain our underweight stance in the IT sector, as we foresee a slowdown in overall IT spending in the US market and a probable delay in discretionary spending, which may pose a downgrade risk in the upcoming quarters. Guidance and commentary remain critical for the sector going forward. Q) What is your call on the small & midcap space? Are they still trading at expensive valuations, and are large caps still a better play? A) The sector and style rotation will play a meaningful role in alpha generation going forward. The valuations appear attractive for the Largecaps vs. the broader market, where the margin of safety is still certain pockets in the Mid and Smallcap universe are looking attractive after the correction and the expectation of the earnings recovery in the near term, it will be a bottom-up stock picking market, and once we progress more towards FY26, more and more sectors are likely to join the rally based on the revival expectation of the domestic economic this backdrop, the broader market may deliver double-digit returns in the next one year. Q) Many investors who stayed on the sidelines at the beginning of 2025 and are now experiencing FOMO as markets have seen a significant rally, but it is still down by about 5% from the highs. Should they adopt staggered buying, keep cash or do a lump sum investment? A) We suggest staggered buying for the remaining part of FY26 with a 'Buy on Dips' strategy as the prospects for the domestic economy are slowly and gradually improving. Q) COVID cases are rising. Can this fuel hospital stocks, or should investors keep an eye on that theme? What are your views? A) We continue to like hospitals as a structural theme for the next couple of years, led by brownfield expansions, increasing insurance penetration, and the pick-up in medical tourism. All these factors are expected to remain sustainable over the next two to three years and will significantly drive the sector's growth. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
