Latest news with #UnionBudget2025
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
ADB President Masato Kanda pledges $10 billion for Indian urban infrastructure
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda announced that the ADB will invest $10 billion in Indian urban infrastructure over a period of five years. This investment aims to transform urban infrastructure across India, including metro extensions, new regional rapid transit system (RRTS) corridors, and urban services, ADB said in a statement. 'Cities are engines of growth,' Mr Kanda said after meeting PM Narendra Modi. 'ADB will mobilise capital, accelerate delivery, and scale solutions that keep India's urban economy moving and people thriving on the road to Viksit Bharat @ 2047," he added. Masato Kando arrived in India last week, marking his official state visit after becoming the ADB President. These proposed funds include sovereign loans, private sector financing, and third-party capital, led by Urban Challenge Fund (UCF), which is a government initiative announced in the Union Budget 2025. ADB has announced a commitment of $3 million in technical assistance to design bankable projects and strengthen the capacity of states and urban local bodies. The towns and cities across the country are expected to house over 40% of the population by 2030. ADB has collaborated with over 110 cities across 22 states on projects related to water supply, sanitation, housing, and solid waste management, with an active urban portfolio comprising 27 loans amounting to $5.15 billion. In terms of urban transport, ADB has committed $4 billion for metro projects and RRTS covering 300 kilometres in eight cities over a decade, including Delhi–Meerut RRTS, Mumbai Metro, Nagpur Metro, Chennai Metro, and Bengaluru Metro, aiming to cut congestion and emissions and provide access for vulnerable populations. Additionally, ADB plans to invest in skills development programmes through the National Industrial Training Institute Upgradation Program with the motive to boost the manufacturing sector, encourage private sector growth, and create jobs. Kanda met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during his visit to discuss the expansion of metro networks, including transit-oriented development (TOD), supporting rural prosperity, scaling rooftop solar capacities, and operationalising the UCF. He also met Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal to outline the next steps for channelling private capital into urban projects.
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
India's defence production hits ₹1.46 trn, exports at ₹24k cr: Rajnath
India's domestic defence production has reached an all-time high of ₹1.46 trillion, while exports have crossed ₹24,000 crore, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday. Addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Annual Summit 2025, Singh said this transformation highlights the strength of the Make in India initiative, which has reduced dependence on imports and bolstered national security. 'India's defence export was less than ₹1,000 crore a decade ago; it has now reached a record ₹23,500 crore,' he said. 'This growth shows the credibility of Indian-made systems globally.' Referring to Operation Sindoor —India's counter-terror strike after the Pahalgam terror attack —Singh said it proved the strategic value of indigenous defence capabilities. 'Our home-grown systems surprised the world with their strength and precision,' he added. Focus on new defence technologies Beyond conventional defence systems like fighter aircraft and missile technologies, Singh said India is investing in cyber warfare, space-based capabilities, and AI-driven systems. In the Union Budget 2025, India allocated ₹6.81 trillion to the Defence Ministry, a 9.5 per cent rise from last year's ₹6.22 trillion. This allocation accounts for 13.45 per cent of the total budget and around 1.9 per cent of projected GDP. Singh said the government is encouraging private sector involvement in advanced defence manufacturing, alongside increased funding for R&D. On Pakistan and PoK dialogue Rajnath Singh reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks about recalibrating dialogue with Pakistan. 'Now, whenever talks happen, they will only be on terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK),' he said. 'The business of terrorism is no longer cost-effective,' Singh said, adding, 'Pakistan now understands this new reality.' He expressed hope that people in PoK, separated 'geographically and politically,' would one day return to India's mainstream. 'We are committed to the resolve of 'One India, Great India',' Singh concluded.
Indian Express
28-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Zepto workers' strike: In India's gig economy, the continuing struggle for dignity
In the past week, hundreds of Zepto delivery workers in Hyderabad have gone on an indefinite strike. Their demands are basic: Fair pay, decent working hours, social security, and dignity. These are not new demands, nor are they unreasonable. Coordinated by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers' Union (TGPWU), the strike follows a growing pattern of worker unrest across India's platform economy — from Blinkit to Swiggy — where the promise of entrepreneurial freedom has worn thin under the weight of wage theft, surveillance, and hyper-precarity. In Delhi, 50 Zepto workers recently filed a complaint alleging they were lured from rural areas with promises of ₹30,000 per month, free food, and accommodation. Upon arrival, they faced substandard living conditions, pay cuts, and withheld wages. Zepto has since responded with a familiar script: Distancing itself from the workers through legalistic disavowals. 'We are a technology platform,' the company claims. 'Vendors are responsible for hiring and payment.' This arm's-length logic is by design. It allows platforms to maintain granular algorithmic control — via GPS tracking, performance ratings, and app-based scheduling — while denying any legal responsibility as employers, as has been documented by People's Union for Democratic Rights' Report 2021. Meanwhile, Zepto Cafe pausing services in some locations, thereby affecting 44 stores and 700 gig workers, shows platform capital treats labour as disposable — plugged into the supply chain when needed, discarded when not. It's not just a pause; it's the logic of exploitation in motion. These are not isolated incidents of corporate malfeasance. They reveal something far more structural: The hollowness of India's legal and policy framework for gig and platform workers. Despite repeated gestures toward recognition — most recently in the Union Budget 2025 and the Code on Social Security, 2020 — India's gig and platform workers remain in a zone of legal abandonment. The Zepto strike shatters the illusion that formal recognition in law translates into material rights. State as database manager, not protector The contradictions in India's approach to platform labour are stark. In 2008, the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act was passed to provide a basic welfare framework for workers outside the formal economy. It defined 'unorganised workers' broadly enough to arguably include gig workers. Yet, when Senior Advocate S Muralidhar recently appeared before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), the petition did not even seek relief — it sought a mere clarification. Do gig workers fall under the Act's scope? The fact that this question still lacks a definitive legal answer reveals the abyss in which workers are suspended. The 2020 Code on Social Security was hailed as a breakthrough: It was the first time 'gig and platform workers' were defined in Indian law [Section 2(35) and 2(61), respectively]. Yet this recognition remains inert. The Code has never been notified, which means it has no legal force. Meanwhile, the government insists that schemes under the Code are 'being formulated.' This formulation has now been 'ongoing' for over four years. Under the Code on Social Security, 2020, two key schemes were envisioned for gig and platform workers: National Social Security Board for Gig and Platform Workers: A body meant to recommend and oversee social security schemes for gig workers without ensuring universal social security for platform workers. Voluntary Registration and Contribution-Based Welfare: The Code allows for workers to self-register on a central portal. Aggregators (platform companies like Zepto, Swiggy, Ola, etc.) are expected to register their workers on the e-Shram portal. Upon registration, platform workers will receive a Universal Account Number (UAN), which will allow them access to key social security benefits. The e-Shram portal, introduced in 2021, was supposed to be a central database for unorganised workers, including gig workers. But data without rights is surveillance, not welfare. Registration has not translated into healthcare, accident insurance, or pension. The machinery of welfare exists on paper but is void of substance. The contradiction is clear: Gig workers are visible enough to be surveyed, counted, and claimed as beneficiaries in policy announcements. But they remain invisible in enforcement, excluded from labour protections, and denied bargaining rights. Beyond welfare: The struggle for power Despite the Centre's inaction, certain states have begun experimenting with more robust protections for gig and platform workers — signaling that labour governance may be forced from the margins inward. In 2023, Rajasthan enacted the Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, mandating the creation of a welfare board and compelling platforms to contribute to a dedicated welfare fund. Karnataka followed in 2024 with the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, proposing a welfare cess ranging from 1 per cent to 5 per cent on each transaction or payout made by platforms to gig workers. The state government aims to operationalise the gig workers' welfare fund by August 2025. These subnational laws reflect growing political recognition of gig workers as a distinct labour constituency — one increasingly vocal, organised, and electorally visible. Yet their success depends on implementation, especially amid pushback from industry lobbies and jurisdictional ambiguities over labour regulation in a federal setup. Nonetheless, these initiatives challenge the Centre's narrative of policy sufficiency and demonstrate that meaningful recognition can — and must — begin with redistributing control, not merely registering the governed. Proposals like the 2 per cent deduction from workers' earnings for social security raise further concerns. Without enforceable benefits, such deductions are not contributions — they are taxes on the poor. Moreover, corporate executives are candid in acknowledging that any costs related to worker welfare are ultimately passed on to consumers, revealing the inherent limits of voluntary corporate social responsibility. In this way, the state's role has shifted from genuinely transforming the gig economy to managing its precarious consequences: Offering health insurance or social security schemes funded through deductions may provide temporary relief, but these measures merely patch the symptoms of a deeper problem — platform business models that systematically externalise labour costs and evade employer responsibilities. Recognition becomes a technique of pacification, not empowerment. This is the new face of labour governance under platform capitalism: Symbolic inclusion in exchange for structural abandonment. The ongoing protests go beyond demands for welfare — they call for dignity, accountability, and control over working conditions. Gig workers are not seeking handouts but power: The right to unionise, bargain collectively, and reject exploitation. The Zepto strike, like recent actions at Swiggy and Blinkit, exposes the hollowness of legal recognition without enforceable rights. Unless the labour codes are implemented and platforms held accountable, India's digital economy will remain a site of extraction. Real recognition must begin by acknowledging gig workers not as data points or beneficiaries, but as rights-bearing workers demanding justice and dignity. The writer is Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) and editor of the book Feminist Perspectives on Social Media
NDTV
27-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
ITR Filing 2025: What Is The Minimum Income Required To File Income Tax Return In India?
ITR Filing 2025: As the Income Tax Return (ITR) filing season begins, one question often confuses many taxpayers: Do I need to file an ITR if my income is below the taxable limit? According to Indian tax laws, filing ITR is mandatory only if your income exceeds the basic exemption limit, which varies depending on the tax regime chosen - old or new. Minimum Income Required To File ITR: Under Old Tax Regime: Below 60 years: Rs 2.5 lakh 60-80 years (Senior citizens): Rs 3 lakh Above 80 years (Super senior citizens): Rs 5 lakh Under New Tax Regime: The exemption limit for all individuals is Rs 3 lakh. However, the Union Budget 2025 raised this limit to Rs 4 lakh under the revised new regime tax slabs. When You Must File ITR Even If Your Income Is Below The Threshold: Even if your income is below the basic exemption limit, filing ITR becomes mandatory in certain situations: Deposits over Rs 50 lakh in a savings account during the year Deposits over Rs 1 crore in a current account (not applicable to businesses) Annual turnover exceeding Rs 60 lakh (for businesses) Professional income over Rs 10 lakh Electricity bill payment of over Rs 1 lakh in a year TDS/TCS deduction of Rs 25,000 or more (Rs 50,000 for senior citizens) Foreign assets or accounts - including signing authority or beneficiary status Spending over Rs 2 lakh on foreign travel (self or others) Why Filing ITR Can Be Beneficial Even If Not Mandatory: To claim TDS refunds To carry forward capital losses To establish financial credibility In essence, while not everyone is legally required to file an ITR, doing so can open the door to various financial benefits and help in long-term planning.
Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
NITI Aayog proposes concessional loan scheme for medium-sized firms
A new report by NITI Aayog has proposed a concessional loan scheme for India's medium-sized enterprises, arguing that these firms face higher capital costs than both large and small companies. The report titled 'Designing a Policy for Medium Enterprises' released Monday also called for streamlining research and development (R&D) efforts and expanding cluster-based quality testing to help medium firms scale and become more export-competitive. The latest push to support medium-sized firms with cheaper credit comes after the definition of 'medium' was broadened in the Union Budget 2025. Until April 1, medium enterprises were defined as those with a turnover between Rs 50–250 crore and investment of Rs 10–50 crore in plant and machinery. The revised thresholds—Rs 100–500 crore in turnover and Rs 25–125 crore in investment—have expanded the category to cover more firms. 'Medium Enterprises receive much lesser priority sector loans, compared to micro enterprises. Additionally, the interest rates for Medium Enterprises are on average 4% higher than for larger firms, making capital more expensive,' the report said. It proposed a dedicated financing scheme under the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to allow medium firms to avail loans at concessional rates, capped at Rs 25 crore, with a maximum of Rs 5 crore per request. The report also suggested launching a medium enterprise credit card with a pre-approved limit of up to Rs 5 crore at interest rates aligned with market rates. From over 6 crore registered MSMEs in India, medium enterprises are only 0.3 per cent, the report said. However, average employment per entity is significantly higher amongst medium firms at 89 people, compared to 19 for small and 6 for micro. Medium firms also account for 81 per cent of all MSME investment in R&D. To boost R&D, the report recommended reserving 25-30 per cent of the Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund for exclusively financing projects by medium firms. The SRI Fund has an allocated of Rs 10,000 crore from the Centre and Rs 40,000 crore from private equity. Since its launch in 2021, a total of Rs 4,885 crore has been invested in MSMEs. 'Adopt EU type funding mechanism in which the government after due process will identify a set of major R&D gaps and invite proposal from the Medium Enterprises to bridge those gaps,' it also said. On quality testing, the report noted key challenges faced by medium enterprises. 'Limited access to affordable, sector-specific testing facilities forces them to rely on distant or private testing centres, increasing operational costs, certification delays, and barriers to global market entry,' it said. It recommended extending the Micro & Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP)—which, among other benefits, provides access to shared testing infrastructure—to medium enterprises as well. At the report launch, NITI Aayog's Vice Chairperson Suman Bery said focussing on skilling and medium enterprises together is crucial. 'On the labour market side, we need to make the transition from informal employment, which is typically associated with micro and small enterprises, to formal employment, associated with the medium enterprise sector. It is with formal employment that firms get an incentive to invest in the training of their workforce,' Berry said. The report by India's apex public policy think tank noted that the availability of skilled labour in India stands at 55 per cent, compared to 88 per cent in South Korea, 85 per cent in the United States, and 81 per cent in Japan. The report recommended real-time skill mapping via the MSME Sampark Portal, expanding skill development schemes like the Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme (ESDP), and introducing subsidized, customized training programmes aligned with technology trends. Aggam Walia is a Correspondent at The Indian Express, reporting on power, renewables, and mining. His work unpacks intricate ties between corporations, government, and policy, often relying on documents sourced via the RTI Act. Off the beat, he enjoys running through Delhi's parks and forests, walking to places, and cooking pasta. ... Read More
