Parliament watch: From debt to GST to NPA, govt shares key data as Monsoon Session kicks off
The Finance Ministry Tuesday informed
Parliament
that the Centre has foregone ₹99,000 crore of corporate tax revenue in FY24 on account of tax incentives. The corporate tax revenue foregone in 2023-24 stood at ₹98,999 crore, followed by ₹88,109 crore and ₹96,892 crore in 2022-23 and 2021-22, respectively, MoS for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to
Rajya Sabha
. In 2020-21 and 2019-20, the total corporate tax revenue foregone was ₹75,218 crore and ₹8,043 crore, respectively.
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At $736.3 b, External Debt Hits 19.1% of GDP
India's external debt stood at $736.3 billion as of March 2025, which was only 19.1% of gross domestic product and 90.8% of forex reserves, MoS for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told RS Tuesday. 'These debt vulnerability indicators are benign and indicate India's external debt remains sustainable and prudently managed,' he said. He added that external debt of nations rises over time as it is associated with increasing investment and productivity, which has also been the case with India. "India has managed its external debt prudently with the overarching objective of keeping the current account deficit within sustainable limits."
PM Internship Scheme: 22,500 Offers Accepted So Far
About 71,000 offers were made by companies to the youth under the second round of the PM Internship scheme as of July 17 and about 22,500 were accepted by them, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. In a written reply, minister of state for corporate affairs Harsh Malhotra said about 327 companies had posted over 118,000 internship opportunities against over 4,55,000 applications.
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No GST Compensation Pending, Except to Arunachal & Manipur
The Centre Tuesday informed Parliament that no amount is pending for release of the final GST compensation to states and Union Territories except Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. In the case of these two states the Centre has not received the certificate of Auditor General, required to release the payment, MoS for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
₹72,275 cr
Sovereign Gold Bonds
Issued
The government issued sovereign gold bonds worth ₹72,275 crore–equivalent of 146.96 tonnes of the precious metal—between the scheme's launch in late 2015 and March 2025, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Tuesday. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the minister also said the mopup under the gold monetisation scheme (through medium-and-long-term deposits) was to the tune of 37.81 tonnes during this period.
This suggests the gold bond scheme was far more popular than the monetisation one. The government, however, would consider the cost of garnering funds via such gold bonds before issuing any fresh tranche, he added. The government hasn't budgeted any mopup through such bonds this fiscal due to high borrowing costs. 'The recent global geopolitical unrest has impacted gold prices significantly, increasing the cost of borrowing through sovereign gold bonds,' Chaudhary added.
PLI Scheme Drives ₹1.76 L crore Investments
Actual investment of ₹1.76 lakh crore have been realised till March 2025 across 14 sectors covered under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, leading to incremental production/sales of over ₹16.5 lakh crore and employment generation of over 12 lakh. The production of mobiles in value terms has increased almost 146% to ₹5.25 lakh crore in 2024-25 from ₹2.13 lakh crore and their exports rose 775% to ₹2 lakh crore in FY25 from ₹22,870 crore in 2020-21. The pharmaceuticals sector has witnessed cumulative sales of ₹2.66 lakh crore which includes exports of ₹1.7 lakh crore achieved in the first three years of the scheme. The scheme has contributed to India becoming a net exporter of bulk drugs ( ₹2,280 crore) from a net importer of ₹1,930 crore. 'A number of foreign companies have established or expanded their operations in India under the PLI scheme. For example, Apple, a global smartphone company, has shifted its suppliers to India viz. Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron,' the commerce and industry ministry told Lok Sabha.
Over ₹35,105cr Tax Demands Raised Under Black Money Law
The finance ministry told Parliament Tuesday that the government has raised tax and penalty demands of over ₹35,105 crore from 1,021 assessments and filed 163 prosecution complaints till March 31 under the foreign black money law. The government has recovered ₹338 crore under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, towards tax, penalty, interest between July 1, 2015 and March 31, 2025, MoS for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
Renewables Sector Creates Over 600,000 Jobs in 5 Years
An estimated 6.61 lakh jobs were created in the last five years from FY21 to FY25 in the renewable energy sector, minister of state for renewable energy Shripad Yesso Naik said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
VGF Scheme Extended
The power ministry has recently extended the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for battery energy storage systems for additional 30,000 MWh capacity through the Power System Development Fund, MoS for renewable energy Shripad Yesso Naik informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Action Taken Against 886 Entities
Enforcement action has been taken against 886 entities between April 2024 and June 2025 for fraudulent or unfair trade practices relating to the stock market, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha Tuesday.
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