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The Hindu
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Centre pegs 9.4% growth in FY26 cess, surcharge collections at ₹5.91 lakh crore
The central government has budgeted to collect about ₹5.91 lakh crore from cess and surcharge in the current fiscal, a 9.43% growth over the collections in FY25, Parliament was informed on Tuesday (July 29, 2025). As per data shared by the government in the Rajya Sabha, the Centre has budgeted to collect about ₹4.18 lakh crore from cess and ₹1.72 lakh crore from surcharge in FY26. This is higher than FY25 cess and surcharge collection of ₹3.87 lakh crore and ₹1.53 lakh crore, respectively. Read:Parliament Monsoon session Day 7 LIVE In a written reply to a question in the House, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said cess and surcharge are levied by the central government for the purposes of the Union under Article 271 of the Constitution. "The proceeds of such surcharge and cess go towards meeting certain specific needs such as financing of Centrally Sponsored Schemes. The benefits of such expenditure also percolate to States," he said. Replying to a separate question in the House, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government collected ₹83,071 crore in 2024-25 by levying health and education cess, while it spent ₹87,199 crore from the kitty. Giving details of the amount of health and education cess collected from income tax payers in addition to income tax during the last three years, Ms. Sitharaman said in 2023-24 and 2022-23 the government collected ₹69,891 crore and ₹60,616 crore, respectively from the cess. During FY24 and FY23, spendings from health and education cess kitty stood at about ₹80,010 crore and ₹70,589 crore, respectively. Gross tax revenue collected by the Centre forms part of the divisible pool and distributed between the Centre and states. Collection from surcharges and cess do not form part of the divisible pool and are hence not shared with States. Currently, 8 different cesses are in operation. These are agriculture infrastructure, development cess, cess on crude oil, cess on exports, GST compensation cess, health and education cess, national calamity contingent duty and infrastructure cess. Surcharges are levied on corporate tax, income tax, and social welfare surcharge under Customs. States, especially those ruled by Opposition parties, have been making a case for including cess collection in the divisible pool. Currently, the Centre devolves 41% of the taxes collected to States.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Govt aims to collect Rs 4.18 lakh cr from cess, Rs 1.72 lakh cr from surcharge in FY26
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Centre aims to collect cess of over Rs 4.18 lakh crore in the current fiscal, an 8 per cent growth over the collections as per Revised Estimates (RE) of Union Budget FY25, Parliament was informed on collections from surcharges are expected to increase about 13 per cent to over Rs 1.72 lakh crore in the ongoing 2025-26 fiscal year (April-March).In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said cess and surcharges are levied by the central government for the purposes of the Union under Article 271 of the Constitution."The proceeds of such surcharge and cess go toward meeting certain specific needs such as financing of Centrally Sponsored Schemes. The benefits of such expenditure also percolate to states," he per data shared with the House, the Centre has budgeted to collect over Rs 4.18 lakh crore from cess in FY26, higher than about Rs 3.87 lakh crore as per RE of collection is budgeted to rise to over Rs 1.72 lakh crore in FY26, from Rs 1.53 lakh crore collection as per RE in from surcharges and cess do not form part of the divisible pool and are hence not shared with states. Gross tax revenue collected by the Centre forms part of the divisible pool and distributed between the Centre and 8 different cesses are in operation. These are agriculture infrastructure & development cess; cess on crude oil; cess on exports; GST compensation cess; health cess; health and education cess; national calamity contingent duty; and road & infrastructure are levied on corporate tax, income tax , and social welfare surcharge under Customs.
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
‘No plan for GST on UPI transactions exceeding ₹2,000', says MoS Finance in Rajya Sabha. What we know…
The Union Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has clarified in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament that the government does not intend to charge GST on UPI transactions over ₹ 2,000. Speaking in the Upper House on July 22, while answering questions the minister clarified speculations that the Finance Ministry is plans to impose goods and service tax (GST) on unified payments interface or UPI transactions that exceed ₹ 2,000 in value. 'There is no recommendation of levying GST on UPI transactions of over 2000 from the GST Council,' Pankaj Chaudhary stated on July 22, according to an Economic Times report. He added that GST rates and exemptions are decided on the basis of recommendations of the GST Council, which is a Constitutional body comprising of members from both the Centre and States and Union Territories (UTs), it added. Further, Chaudhary added that the Centre does not foresee revenue shortfall at this stage, and aims to achieve Budget estimate targets for 2025-26. The fiscal deficit for 2025-26 is estimated to be around ₹ 15.69 lakh crore, at 4.4 per cent of GDP. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, he said the government supports state finances through Finance Commission grants, Centrally Sponsored Schemes, and Special Assistance as loans to states for capital expenditure. Total-transport-systems-share-price-nse-bse-s0004808" data-vars-anchor-text="Total" data-vars-link-type="Auto" data-vars-page-type="story">'Total resources being transferred to the states, including the devolution of state's share in taxes, grants/loans and releases under Centrally Sponsored Schemes, etc, in Budget Estimates for 2025-26 is about ₹ 25.01 lakh crore,' he added. In reply to another question, Chaudhary said, as per inputs received from Public Sector Banks (PSBs), as on March 31, 2025, 96 per cent staff are in position against their business requirement. 'The small proportion of gap is attributable to attrition on account of superannuation and other usual factors, including unplanned exits. During the last 5 years (FY 2020-25), banks have recruited 1,48,687 employees, and for FY 2025-26, recruitment of 48,570 employees is underway,' he added. Replying to another question, the minister said that insurers are required to decide on the request for cashless authorisation within 1 hour of receipt of such request and grant final authorisation within 3 hours of the receipt of discharge authorisation request from the hospital as per IRDAI Master Circular on Health Insurance Business dated May 29, 2024. 'However, the data related to the average time taken by insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs) for the claim settlement is not maintained by IRDAI. IRDAI has informed that during FY 2023-24, 58.39 per cent of total claims were settled through cashless mode in terms of count and 66.16 per cent in terms of amount,' he said.
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
‘No plan for GST on UPI transactions exceeding ₹2,000', says MoS Finance in Rajya Sabha. What we know…
The Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has clarified in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament that the government does not intend to charge GST on UPI transactions over ₹ 2,000. Speaking in the Upper House on July 22, while answering questions the minister clarified speculations that the Finance Ministry is plans to impose goods and service tax (GST) on unified payments interface or UPI transactions that exceed ₹ 2,000 in value. 'There is no recommendation of levying GST on UPI transactions of over 2000 from the GST Council,' Pankaj Chaudhary stated on July 22, according to an Economic Times report. He added that GST rates and exemptions are decided on the basis of recommendations of the GST Council, which is a Constitutional body comprising of members from both the Centre and States and Union Territories (UTs), it added. The Central government does not foresee any revenue shortfall at this stage and aims to achieve the targets fixed in the Budget Estimates for 2025-26, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed Parliament on Tuesday. As per the Budget, the Centre has estimated the fiscal deficit for 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of GDP, amounting to ₹ 15.69 lakh crore. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said the Central government supports state finances through Finance Commission grants, Centrally Sponsored Schemes, and Special Assistance as loans to states for capital expenditure. Total resources being transferred to the states, including the devolution of state's share in taxes, grants/loans and releases under Centrally Sponsored Schemes, etc, in Budget Estimates for 2025-26 is about ₹ 25.01 lakh crore, he said. In reply to another question, Chaudhary said, as per inputs received from Public Sector Banks (PSBs), as on March 31, 2025, 96 per cent staff are in position against their business requirement. The small proportion of gap is attributable to attrition on account of superannuation and other usual factors, including unplanned exits, he said. Further, during the last 5 years (FY 2020-25), banks have recruited 1,48,687 employees, and for FY 2025-26, recruitment of 48,570 employees is underway, he added. Replying to another question, Chaudhary said, insurers are required to decide on the request for cashless authorisation within 1 hour of receipt of such request and grant final authorisation within 3 hours of the receipt of discharge authorisation request from the hospital as per IRDAI Master Circular on Health Insurance Business dated May 29, 2024. However, the data related to the average time taken by insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs) for the claim settlement is not maintained by IRDAI, he said. IRDAI has informed that during FY 2023-24, 58.39 per cent of total claims were settled through cashless mode in terms of count and 66.16 per cent in terms of amount, he said. As per the data provided by National Health Authority, he said, the number of hospitals onboarded to National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) is 450 as on March 28, 2025. In another reply, Chaudhary said, enforcement action has been taken against 886 entities during the period April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, for violation of provisions of SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003. Continuous monitoring of key parameters is done to assess the effectiveness of measures implemented in the market, he said. Surveillance systems, data analytics tools and digital forensics tools are constantly upgraded to detect manipulations, he added.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Forest encroachment in Karnataka sparks demand to halt working plan approvals
In view of rampant forest encroachment in Hassan, Shivamogga, and other circles in Karnataka, and the failure of the State machinery to clear the evictions, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has been urged to withhold approval of draft working plans for all forest divisions in the State. The demand is based on the Centre's own circular issued more than 23 years ago (May 3, 2002), which categorically states that approval of forest working plans and diversion proposals must be linked to the eviction of illegal encroachments. The Centre's directive, based on a Supreme Court order dated November 23, 2001 (W.P. No. 202/95), warned that failure to act would jeopardise not only forest clearances, but also funding under Centrally Sponsored Schemes. Based on the above circular, an enraged activist Raghavendra, has written to the MoEF&CC, dated July 21, 2025, that working plans should not be approved until substantial eviction drives are undertaken, and erring officials face disciplinary action. Mr. Raghavendra has flagged the alarming rise in fresh encroachments over the past two years, and pointed out that Karnataka recorded 1,385 new forest encroachment cases in 2023–24, and 992 cases in 2022–23, with a significant number reported from Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kanara, Hassan, and Shivamogga circles, as per the annual report of the Karnataka Forest Department. He cited the 2002 circular which described forest encroachments — then totalling over 12.5 lakh hectares nationally — as a growing menace, often driven by powerful local lobbies. The Ministry, said Mr. Raghavendra, had mandated the formation of multi-tiered committees at State, circle, and district levels to monitor, report, and assist in evictions. However, he has complained and alleged that these committees are non-functional in Karnataka. Citing the example of Dharwad and Belagavi circles, the complainant alleged that not a single district-level encroachment monitoring meeting was convened from 2020 to 2024, flouting both Central and State directives. In subsequent circulars, the Ministry reiterated that senior officials including Deputy Commissioners, Superintendants of Police, and forest officials would be held personally accountable for any fresh encroachments, and liable for disciplinary action. 'But despite these directives and fresh encroachments being reported, the MoEF&CC continues to approve working plans and diversion proposals in Karnataka,' remarked Mr. Raghavendra. He said that this was a violation not only of Supreme Court orders, but also of the Ministry's own binding circulars. 'While funds are being disbursed under Centrally Sponsored Schemes, the forests are disappearing at an alarming rate,' he added. The complainant has called for a moratorium on working plan approvals for all forest divisions in Karnataka until a credible eviction drive is carried out and accountability is fixed.
