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Budget 2025-26: CII seeks cut in income tax, 3-tier Customs duty to spur growth

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New Delhi, Dec 30: Apex business chamber CII on Monday urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to reduce personal income tax for individuals earning up to Rs 20 lakh per annum, introduce a three-tier customs duty structure with higher tariffs on finished goods and go for a 25 per cent increase in government capex in the Union Budget 2025-26 to spur growth in the economy.

At a meeting held here with the Finance Minister in the run-up to the Budget, CII president Sanjiv Puri CII suggested the adoption of a 3-tier customs tariff structure with rates of inputs at 0 – 2.5 per cent, intermediates at 2.5 – 5.0 per cent, and final goods at 7.5 per cent over a period of time, with certain exceptions.

CII also underlined the need to build on the success in manufacturing in certain sectors, with similar targeted interventions for sectors, that can create large-scale employment, like readymade garments, footwear, furniture, tourism, real estate and construction.

CII said FTAs with countries like the EU and the UK should be expedited and lower duties should be levied on imports of raw materials like cotton.

The introduction of Next Gen reforms, particularly Labour reforms would go a long way in unlocking the potential of such labour-intensive sectors, according to the CII presentation.

CII emphasised the need for a continued increase in the government’s capex spending by 25 per cent over the Rs 11.1 lakh crore budget for FY 25, with an enhanced focus on rural infrastructure which would have a multiplier effect on the economy and spur growth.

CII further emphasised the need to develop an integrated foreign trade, investment and industrial policy. An expert group under the Finance Minister’s leadership could be constituted with industry participation to draft the policy, the chamber said.

The CII presentation favours a fiscal deficit at 4.5 per cent for FY26 as a sharper contraction could impact demand.

Debt targeting from FY27, with a glide path to bring the Central government’s debt to below 50 per cent of GDP by 2030-31. This is likely to have a positive impact on India’s sovereign credit rating and interest rates, the CII presentation states.

Various measures to boost consumption suggested by CII include a reduction in excise duty on fuel to reduce overall inflation and boost disposable incomes. Reducing marginal tax rates for personal income up to Rs 20 lakh per annum to trigger the virtuous cycle of consumption, higher growth and higher tax revenue.

The CII presentation also favours the divestment of government stakes in select PSEs to retain 51 per cent to unlock about Rs 10 lakh crore which could be utilised for — enhancing public capex, retiring government debt, and setting up a Sovereign Wealth Fund for investing in strategic assets overseas towards acquiring critical technologies and minerals.

CII is of the view that the fundamentals of the Indian economy remain strong given the sound economic policies that India has pursued. Despite some softening of domestic demand in the first half, a progressive recovery is expected. However, global uncertainties, including excess capacity in China, a climate emergency and consequent food inflation, are clearly challenges.

National

BJP accuses Congress of opposing voter verification to shield fake votes in Bihar

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New Delhi, June 27: Following Congress’ objection to the Election Commission of India’s special revision of the state’s voter list ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar, the BJP has launched a sharp counterattack, accusing the grand old party of attempting to protect fake voters.

BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal defended the ECI and called Congress’ objections baseless.

“The Election Commission is an independent body which works independently. It is its responsibility to ensure that elections are conducted with complete transparency. If any political party opposes this, it is wrong. Fake voting can be prevented by the revision of the voter list. Voters who have died will be identified. This process will also make it clear whether the voter is actually in Bihar or voting somewhere else. This is a very necessary step for transparency. I congratulate the Election Commission for this,” Jaiswal said.

Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar on Thursday criticised the ECI for initiating the voter list revision process in a limited time frame.

He alleged that the move is part of a conspiracy to suppress the electoral rights of marginalised communities.

Reacting strongly to these allegations, BJP leader and Minister Nitin Nabin questioned Congress’ intent behind opposing the exercise.

“I say that Congress should clarify what exactly they are objecting to. If genuine voters are being verified and fake voters are being removed, is Congress sitting here to commit fraud? I want to ask the opposition members who are opposing this, are you trying to gain power through fake votes? Such fake voters will definitely be stopped, and the parties doing fraud will also be taught a lesson,” Nabin asserted.

The ECI has issued instructions for holding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, where polls are to be held by year-end. This means electoral rolls for the state will be prepared afresh.

The special voter list inspection has been undertaken by the ECI as a standard pre-election procedure to ensure the accuracy of electoral rolls.

Officials have stated that the process will help remove deceased or duplicate voters and correct errors, ensuring a fair and transparent election.

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Crime

Kerala HC judge files complaint of theft at his residence, police probe on

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Kochi, 27 June: The Kochi police have received a theft complaint from Kerala High Court Judge, Justice A. Badharudeen, according to officials on Friday, stating that six sovereigns of gold were missing from his residence.

The complaint, which was filed on Thursday, mentions that the gold has been stolen from the judge’s bedroom. The police have registered an FIR under Section BNS 305.

What has surprised many is that the thief has decamped with gold from a high-security guarded house located in the heart of the commercial capital of the state.

The judge registered the complaint with the Kalamassery police under which his residence falls.

After the preliminary probe, the police are now planning to prepare a list of those who need to be spoken to, as this incident occurred in the bedroom of the senior judge.

More details are awaited.

The incident has raised concerns regarding the security situation in the state. The Congress-led UDF has been accusing the state government of failing to curb the crimes.

It has been found that Kerala is a haven for organised gangs hailing from neighbouring states who specialise in robbing homes, and the cases against non-Keralaite thieves are also on the increase.

According to information prepared by the home department, which was placed before the Assembly last year, it showed 192 cases of theft involving non-Keralites were registered in 2021, and the numbers have been steadily increasing. This rose to 360 in 2022.

In 2023, the number increased further to 519, and by September 2024, a total of 307 such cases were registered. But the image of the Kerala Police got a boost when over 1,350 thieves during this period were put behind bars.

However, with regards to the case being registered in the burglary at the home of a judge, the police appear to have a tough job ahead.

Likewise, with other crimes also on the increase, the Ernakulam Police have come out with a directive to landlords who are seeking to rent out their properties. The police have urged the landlords to get a police clearance certificate from the prospective tenants from their local police station where they stayed.

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National

Thackeray brothers will jointly hold one anti-Hindi protest: Sanjay Raut

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New Delhi, June 27: Amid plans to hold two protests against imposition of Hindi in schools in Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday announced that there would be only one demonstration and the two Thackeray brothers would participate in it together.

Even though there has been no formal announcement on this till now by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) or the Shiv Sena (UBT), but Sanjay Raut’s post on X, in which he has also put up a picture of the two cousins together with a photograph of the late Bal Thackeray in the background, has fuelled speculation of rapprochement between Uddhav and Raj Thackeray and the possibility that they might hold the protest jointly.

Earlier, close to Raj Thackeray’s birthday Uddhav Thackeray had also hinted at a rapprochement between them but nothing concrete had come out of it.

On Thursday MNS chief Raj Thackeray announced the change in morcha date to July 5 instead of July 6 to protest the imposition of Hindi in Marathi and English-medium schools for classes 1 to 5 in Maharashtra.

This was done as the auspicious Ashadhi Ekadashi falls on July 6 when the devotees fast for the day and walk all the way to Pandharpur to pay tribute to the presiding deity Vitthal.

Significantly, Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday extended his party’s support to a morcha organised on July 7 in Mumbai by The Tribhasha Sutra (Three language formula) committee.

Raut’s post is significant because even though both the brothers and their parties had declared that they would not allow the imposition of Hindi, they had announced two different protests.

Insiders from both the parties said that efforts are on to fight as one, in order to avoid a split in the Marathi speaking people opposing the imposition of Hindi.

Now, it remains to be seen whether Sanjay Raut’s post was his own initiative or whether it had the blessings of the leaders of both the parties and the two estranged brothers have finally decided to come together for a cause close to their heart and fight for it jointly.

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