Shrimi Choudhary

Government sources said that AI bubble was bound to burst at some point, while the Indian IT sector is likely to gain after the Nvidia episode.

The Railways is projected to exceed its passenger ticket revenue target for the current financial year, with collections expected to touch ₹64,000 crore against the budgeted ₹62,000 crore.

In its recommendations, FICCI has mainly sought the restoration of the LTCG exemption on listed shares, along with a predictable capital gains tax framework for the next decade. The demand comes as businesses seek greater certainty over tax treatment and long-term investment decisions.

MTNL's land assets are expected to be a major part of the government's monetisation drive. The Centre is targeting additional monetisation of MTNL properties worth Rs 4,000-5,000 crore over the next two years.

It has also suggested allowing tax-neutral switching between mutual fund schemes held for more than a year.

The move is designed to ensure an uninterrupted supply of cotton for textile mills and garment manufacturers, insulating them from volatile price spikes.

The panel will have six months to submit its recommendations.

RBI Deputy Governor Shirish Chandra Murmu, former Indian Bank MD Padmaja Chunduru & former RBI Deputy Governor N.S. Vishwanathan among members

The government clarified that the bidders conduct own valuation and submit bids confidentially and independent agencies are hired for fair valuation of the enterprises, which is further used as a measure to evaluate the reasonability of the bids submitted.

According to Finance Ministry sources, about 1,100 taxpayers have filed applications under the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers-Disclosure Scheme, 2026 (FAST-DS) so far.

Fairfax's winning bid for IDBI Bank has been fixed at Rs 81 per share, above the benchmark price of Rs 75.99 per share determined using two independent valuations.

However, investors with genuine commercial reasons for routing investments through Mauritius may continue to claim benefits, subject to the amended treaty provisions and applicable clarifications.

Robust direct tax and GST collections, along with stronger customs receipts, are expected to help the Centre meet its FY27 net tax revenue target of Rs 28.7 lakh crore, cushioning a potential shortfall in excise duty collections.

The Centre has put four to five planned stake sales on hold for H2 FY27, with Indian Overseas Bank and Hindustan Zinc among the potential transactions affected.

The CBIC is reviewing blocked input tax credit claims, refund processes and faceless assessments as it seeks to simplify GST compliance and improve predictability for businesses.

The decline comes even as the GST base continues to expand. Taxable supply has risen 25.8%, while GST revenue grew 11% in FY2026-27.

The council cut the GST refund acknowledgement timeline to 10 days from 15 days.

Apart from the two deferred ITC proposals, the GST Council has approved the remaining proposals on its agenda.

Traders' associations want the rollout to be delayed until after the festive season or early next year.

The CGST administration currently covers around 6.5 million registrations, which could eventually come under the proposed faceless assessment framework.