Cheers - Advance tax collections increases by 20 percent

(posted under - Advance tax collection) - Mumbai accounts for almost 40 per cent of the country's total tax collection.

The growth is likely to come on the back of a higher collection from banking, oil and gas and auto sectors, an Income Tax source said.

"Banks, auto and oil and gas sectors have done well. In fact, some of the banks have exceeded our expectations," the source said.

India's premier bank, State Bank of India has shelled out Rs 1,838-crore as advance tax while the country's second-largest, ICICI Bank, has paid Rs 501-crore as advance tax for Q2, the source said.


Another private bank, Yes Bank, has paid Rs 58-crore rpt Rs 58-crore as against Rs 33-crore it paid as advance tax in Q2 of last fiscal.

Tata Group companies, Tata Steel and TCS also paid a higher advance tax in Q2 at Rs 400-crore and Rs 220-crore respectively, source said.

While Tata Steel paid Rs 230-crore as advance tax in Q2 of FY 09, TCS paid Rs 81-crore.

Indian Industrial output rises by 6.8 percent

(posted under - Industrial output, Economy of india) - Industrial output as measured by the index of industrial production (IIP) clocked an annual growth rate of 6.8% in July, making it the second consecutive month of buoyant industrial growth after a weak show that started last October, data released by the Central Statistical Organisation on Friday showed. The provisional IIP figure of 7.8% for June was revised upwards to 8.2%.

Analysts pointed out that a key reason behind the robust performance by the mining sector is Reliance’s KG basin facilities coming on stream during the first quarter of the current financial year. Within the manufacturing segment, the 8.8% growth in consumer goods, the highest in eight month, suggested that the domestic consumption story remains strong in India.

Inflation rises to -0.12 percent from -0.21 %

(posted under - Inflation updates) India's food prices jumped an annual 14.8 percent by end of August after a dry spell hurted crops, adding to concerns inflation could climb above the comfort zone of policy makers and herald an end to a soft monetary stance.

The widely-watched wholesale price index fell by a steeper-than-expected 0.12 percent in the 12 months to Aug. 29, its 13th successive fall, mainly due to statistical aberration caused by last year's high energy prices. The WPI figure compares with last week's 0.21 percent annual decline and a market forecast for a decline of 0.08 percent.

The food articles index accelerated to a 14.8 percent rise, from a year earlier, from 14.5 percent the previous week, as drought engulfed nearly half India's districts, hurting summer crops and forcing the government to intervene to bolster supplies and crack down on hoarding.

Finance minister says not to exceed borrowing target

India's government will not borrow more from the market than its budget target for 2009/10.

The government plans to borrow 4.51 trillion rupees ($93 billion) in the fiscal year to fund a fiscal deficit forecast at 6.8 percent of gross domestic product.

-economictimes

India to invest upto $10 bn in IMF

India is to invest up to $10 billion in the International Monetary Fund as part of a major thrust to wrest a greater say in the running of international financial institutions, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in recent BRIC countries meetings being held at london.

"India has decided to invest up to $10 bn of its reserves in notes issued by the IMF," Mukherjee said after a meeting of the finance ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) in London.

The Indian pledge is part of a total of $80 billion that the four BRIC countries will invest into the IMF in order to replenish its fund aimed at helping out countries that are struggling in the current financial crisis.

China will account for $50 billion of this amount, and the rest will be borne by India, Russia and Brazil.

In return, the BRIC countries want a greater say in the running of the IMF and other international financial institutions such as the World Bank, including a larger share of quotas and voting, said Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega.

Part of the BRIC meeting was joined by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a move that Mukherjee described as "an acknowledgement of the group's emergence as a key voice in global economic and financial issues".