Latest news with #Rs940
Time of India
10-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
In 4 months, bomb exports from Nagpur touch halfway mark of last fiscal
1 2 Nagpur: It's barely four months into the current financial year, and exports of war material like bombs, shells, rockets, grenades and other projectiles from Nagpur units have reached half of what was shipped out last fiscal in terms of value. By August, bombs and shells worth as much as Rs452 crore have been exported from units in Nagpur which recorded exports worth Rs940 crore under this category during the entire last fiscal. This is over and above the exports of prepared explosives, which include high-energy material like TNT, HMX and RDX, which are later filled into shells. This year, more than Rs60 crore of prepared explosives have been exported so far. Last year, over Rs 628 crore of prepared explosives were shipped out from the units in Nagpur, according to the data compiled by the ministry of commerce. It's strong demand from European countries that is fast swelling the order books. Lately, even export licences are coming fast as compared to a long-drawn process earlier. The requirement following Operation Sindoor that exporters must ensure there is no demand for a similar product by the Indian armed forces, has also been done away with now, said sources in the business. Nagpur has two major players in the segment, Yantra India Limited (YIL), a public sector entity formed in 2021, and Solar Group, a private company. Lately, Nagpur has emerged as a major destination for ammunition buyers. The global buyers are procuring both finished ammunition rounds and bombs as well as prepared explosives, said sources. Even Chandrapur, around 150 km away, has recorded major exports. Bombs worth over Rs 228 crore have been exported from Chandrapur district so far this fiscal. This accounts for 27% of the exports in the last financial year. In 2024-25, bombs worth Rs 840 crore were exported from Chandrapur. The Ordnance Factory Chanda located in Chandrapur is a part of Munitions India Limited (MIL), a Pune-based defence PSU. It is engaged in making shells, Pinaka rockets, apart from a whole gamut of mines and related products. The total exports of finished bombs from Vidarbha, which includes the manufacturing centres in Nagpur and Chandrapur, stand at Rs650 crore till August. Last financial year, exports worth Rs1,780 crore took place, according to the ministry of commerce data. Last year, apart from bombs, other cartridges worth Rs 250 crore were exported. Other cartridges include a wider range of ammunition not under the bombs category, said sources. Even Jabalpur in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh recorded bomb exports worth Rs 3.4 crore. Dushyant Deshpande, secretary of Vidarbha Defence Industries Association (VIDA), said strong demand from European countries has helped not only the bigger units but also the ancillary manufacturers. "A year-on-year growth of close to 50% is expected this fiscal," he said. Sandeep Agrawal of Sandeep Metallics, a company engaged in making fuses for artillery shells, said orders are full till 2031. Fuse helps in triggering the blast. "Export permissions are coming within 15 days or so, and the condition that the export order should not overlap with Indian demand is also no longer there," Agrawal said. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Express Tribune
24-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Retail sector pays extra Rs455b
Listen to article The Prime Minister's Office said on Wednesday that the retail sector paid an additional income tax of Rs455 billion in the last fiscal year, a startling claim made on the basis of a briefing given by tax authorities. In an official statement released by the PM Office, it was stated "in the retail sector, tax collection increased by Rs455 billion compared to the previous year, driven by the integration of point-of-sale systems and stricter enforcement". Officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) claimed that total income tax payments made by the retail sector in fiscal year 2024-25 were in fact Rs617 billion and the additional income tax was Rs455 billion. They said that the collection of Rs617 billion included Rs316 billion in quarterly advances given by three categories, wholesalers, retailers, traders and some companies. The surprising Rs316 billion in quarterly advance could be looked into with critical lenses due to the highly informal nature of the sector. Sources in the FBR told The Express Tribune that a loose definition of the retail sector was used, which included some corporate sector firms. The official statement added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a review meeting on the ongoing reforms in the FBR, lauding the progress made so far while stressing the need for sustained and time-bound efforts to overhaul the tax system in line with modern requirements. Sources said that during the meeting discussions took place on the share of retail and manufacturing sectors and the record tax contribution of Rs555 billion made by the salaried class. Some of the participants were of the view that the manufacturing sector and salaried individuals were highly overburdened compared to their contribution to the economy. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics' (PBS) data, the share of the manufacturing sector in the economy was hardly 12% while the share of wholesale and retail sectors was 18% in FY25. FBR spokesman Dr Najeeb Memon did not respond to a question about the breakdown of additional income tax of Rs455 billion collected from the retail sector. However, an FBR official said that it was a definitional issue as various categories were included in the retail sector and as a result total income tax contribution reached Rs617 billion. With the additional Rs455 billion, the total income tax collection from the retail sector should have been Rs940 billion. In fiscal year 2023-24, the collection was Rs484 billion on the basis of the new loose definition, said the sources. Retailers and traders are functioning under a highly informal mechanism. According to the input the FBR has used for claiming the collection of Rs617 billion and an additional Rs455 billion, the wholesalers, traders and retailers are treated as part of the retail sector. These three categories paid income tax in the shape of advance income tax on a quarterly basis, admitted income tax with annual returns, withholding taxes on sales, purchases, imports and electricity bills, and other taxes. FBR officials claimed that the collection of Rs617 billion included Rs316 billion in advance income tax. In the advance tax, Rs30 billion was paid by wholesalers, Rs49 billion by traders and Rs316 billion by retailers. Likewise, the admitted income tax stood at Rs28 billion, including Rs14 billion from traders, Rs5.3 billion from retailers and Rs8.5 billion from wholesalers, the sources said, adding that these three categories also paid Rs216 billion in withholding taxes. Of this, the wholesalers paid Rs28 billion, traders Rs119 billion and retailers Rs69 billion. In the category of others, Rs57 billion in income tax was paid by these three categories. However, if one goes by the definition of the retail sector and its contribution, the sources said, in FY24, payments by the retail sector were Rs484 billion and in this case the net increase was Rs133 billion. The PM Office statement said that Shehbaz Sharif told the meeting that recent improvements in the tax machinery were "encouraging," but reforms must lead to the creation of a sustainable, digitised and facilitative tax system. The PM directed the FBR to accelerate digital transformation, restructure its digital wing with a clear roadmap and enhance enforcement to curb the informal economy. He also stressed the importance of stakeholder consultation in the reform process, particularly with businesses, traders and taxpayers. He reiterated that improvement in the tax system should contribute to boosting national revenue while reducing the tax burden on the common citizen. The meeting was briefed that as a result of reforms and enforcement measures, the tax-to-GDP ratio registered a historic rise of 1.5% in FY25 compared to FY24. However, the FBR missed the IMF condition to increase the ratio to 10.6% despite imposing record taxes. The PM Office said that the number of income tax return filers surged from 4.5 million in 2024 to over 7.2 million by June 30, 2025. FBR officials also reported significant progress under the faceless customs clearance system, which increased revenue and was expected to reduce clearance time from 52 hours to just 12 hours in the next three months.
