In comments seen as defending income tax raids on Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the same persons were raided in 2013 as well, but no issue was made out then as it is being done now. Refusing to comment on individual cases, she said it is in the national interest to know if some evasion is happening. First of all, I am not commenting on any A or B individual. (But) since the names were taken, (I want to say) the very same names were raided in 2013, she said in an interaction with journalists at IWPC (Indian Women s Press Corps).
The government is considering launching a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme in the chemical sector to boost domestic manufacturing and exports. Addressing a webinar on Implementation Strategy of Budget Announcement 2021-22 , Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Friday said the government is working on a consultative approach in forming the policies for India s chemicals and petrochemicals sector. The webinar was organised by the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals and FICCI. Implementations of the Budget announcements cannot be done only by the government. We should take our industry in confidence so that implementations can start from first week of April. The challenge for the government is to now match the suggestions of the industry with the implementation part, he was quoted as saying in a FICCI statement.
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan today said that metals and mining sector can play an important role in the making of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Speaking at the 58th National Metallurgists Day and at the 74th Annual Technical Meeting of the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM), he said that this is a vibrant and growing sector, and it holds tremendous amount of potential and promise of growth not only for the sector but for the economy as well.
Describing the Budget 2021 as path-breaking, progressive and pro-growth, Pradhan said that it provides unprecedented focus on infrastructure creation for future. He said that this will certainly result in increased demand for steel. Investments in core sectors like railways, roadways, and petroleum and natural gas, which have the potential for spurring demand for metals, has seen a healthy increase across the board.
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the Union Budget 2021-22 is about the role of government as a facilitator and the private sector as a key driver of economic growth, without which the country would be losing a big opportunity. The most important component or input required here is the participation of the private sector. Unless the private sector is energised enough, unless it is facilitated enough, India is just losing a very big opportunity, Sitharaman said here during the interactive session organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Sitharaman underlined that the nation s growing and aspiring needs and demands across the various sectors cannot be served just by the state government and central governments put together.