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Hike in premium exemption, indication on GST cut on premium budget expectations of insurers

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GST

An indication on reduction in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate on health insurance, giving infrastructure status to healthcare facilities, hiking tax deduction for insurance premium are some the budget wishes listed out by the insurance sector.

Senior industry officials also urged the government to take steps to increase the insurance penetration in the country.

Even though the GST rates does not form part of the union budget, insurers want an indication towards slashing of the rates on insurance premium in the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech.

“Health insurance is an essential commodity and needs to be slotted in the five per cent GST tax slab to make it more affordable to access quality healthcare,” said Anup Rau, MD & CEO, Future Generali India Insurance

A significant reduction in the GST on all personal lines of products-from the existing 18 per cent to five per cent will encourage more people to buy health insurance. For senior citizens, it should be exempted.

According to Rau, increasing the tax deduction limit in Section 80D of the Income Tax Act – from Rs 25,000 to Rs 150,000 – can further help in penetration of health insurance.

“The rising medical costs and the increase in the incidence of critical illnesses make it an unmanageable expense for middle-income and lower-income groups. So, a higher tax deduction limit for health insurance plans is the need,” he argued.

Given the under-penetration of insurance in India and the need to bring a wider gamut of population under the safety net, small ticket size insurance products like micro-insurance, sachet products, etc. can be exempted from GST, Rau added.

The services by the healthcare providers don’t fall under the GST radar while at the same time buyer of the health insurance product pays the same given a large portion of the coverage is directed towards the cost of hospital bills, remarked Yogesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, Onsurity, an insurance-health tech startup.

“In the upcoming union budget, we request the Government to intensify steps towards increasing insurance penetration in the country, since even today a large part of the population in the country still remains underinsured or uninsured,” Roopam Asthana, CEO & Whole-Time Director, Liberty General Insurance said.

Citing the 2020-21 annual report of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Asthana said, the insurance penetration in India stands at 4.2 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) as against a global average of 7.4 per cent.

Asthana said as of March, 2021 the non-life insurance penetration in India stood at barely one per cent and urged the government to slash the GST from 18 per cent.

“Further even though GST is not covered under budget, however policy makers’ should also look towards exempting or lowering GST rates on life insurance products and these should ideally be classified under essential product category,” Tarun Rustagi, Chief Financial Officer, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance said.

According to Rustagi, life insurance premium should be given a separate deduction limit of Rs 100,000 under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.

Also, pension products should be given parity with NPS in tax incentives.

Further, for annuity products, deduction for principal component should be allowed and only the interest accretion should be taxed similar to fixed deposits.

Suitable changes should also be made under section 10(10D) to allow exemptions for all Life Insurance products where life insurance coverage is present which may be on the basis of policy term and sum assured ratio.

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Adani Power signs pact to supply 2,400 MW power to Bihar

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New Delhi, Sep 13: In a significant development, Adani Power Ltd (APL) has signed a 25-year power supply agreement with Bihar State Power Generation Company Ltd (BSPGCL) to supply 2,400 megawatt (MW) of power to the state, the Adani Group’s firm said on Saturday.

Under the agreement, the India’s largest private sector thermal power generator would supply the proposed power from a greenfield ultra super critical plant to be set up at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district of Bihar.

The development came after a Letter of Award (LoA) by BSPGCL to APL, on behalf of North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd (SBPDCL) in August.

Adani Power won the project by offering the lowest supply rate at Rs 6.075 per kWh.

“The company is planning to invest approximately $3 billion to build the new plant (800 MW X 3) and its supporting infrastructure under the Design, Build, Finance, Own, and Operate (DBFOO) model,” the APL informed.

The coal linkage for the power plant has been allocated under the SHAKTI Policy of the government of India.

During the construction phase, the project will generate around 10,000 to 12,000 direct and indirect employment. Once it becomes operational, it will employ 3,000 people.

APL aims to commission the plant in 60 months.

Earlier, in a first-of-its-kind adoption of the greenshoe option in a thermal power tender in India, APL was awarded a total of 1,600 MW capacity by MP Power Management Company Limited (MPPMCL).

The company received a LoA from MPPMCL, awarding 800 MW additional capacity under the ‘Greenshoe Option’.

Both units (800MW x 2) in Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh, will be commissioned within 60 months of the appointed date.

APL said that it will invest around Rs 21,000 crore towards setting up the plant and related infrastructure.

The project is expected to generate direct and indirect employment of 9,000-10,000 during the construction phase, and 2,000 once in operation.

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Stock market ends week on positive note, clock 8 consecutive session gains despite uncertainties

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Mumbai, Sep 12: The Indian equity indices ended the week on a positive note on Friday, maintaining the winning streak for the eight consecutive trading sessions despite geo-political uncertainties.

Optimism over a potential rate cut by the US Fed, positive developments in India-US trade talks and buying in defence stocks fueled the market sentiment.

Sensex settled the session at 81,904.70, up 355.97 points or 0.44 per cent. The 30-share index started trading with a decent gap-up at 81,758.95 against last day’s closing of 81,548.73. The index extended the momentum further amid positive global cues to hit an intraday high at 81,992.85.

Nifty closed at 25,114.0, up 108.50 points or 0.43 per cent.

The national market closed at a three-week high, supported by renewed global optimism over a potential Fed rate cut. Sentiments improved further on reports that the EU may reject U.S. tariff proposals on India for buying Russian oil, analysts said.

Progress in the US-India trade talks is also expected to keep the positive momentum intact in the near term. The defence sector outperformed, aided by the Indian procurement authorities beginning negotiations for six next-generation conventional submarines, analysts added.

BEL, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj FinServ, Axis Bank, Maruti, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, L&T, Infosys, and PowerGrid were the top gainers from the Sensex basket. Eternal, Hindustan Unilever, Trent, Asian Paint, Bharati Airtel and ITC settled lower.

The majority of sectoral indices settled higher. Nifty Fin Services jumped 184 points or 0.70 per cent, Nifty Bank escalated 139 points or 0.26 per cent, Nifty Auto increased 122 points or 0.46 per cent, and Nifty IT settled the session 107 points or 0.3 per cent. Nifty FMCG fell.

Broader indices followed suit as well. Nifty Smallcap 100 moved 114 points or 0.64 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 jumped 183 points or 0.32 per cent, and Nifty 100 closed 106 points or 0.41 per cent.

Rupee traded positively with gains of 0.18 per cent at 88.27 as mixed FII inflows supported sentiment.

“The dollar index remained weak below 98, providing additional strength to the rupee, while ongoing trade deal talks with the US also added optimism. Weakness in crude prices offered further minor support,” said Jateen Trivedi f LKP Securities.

Overall, the rupee looks set to gain some lost ground with scope to test 87.75 in the coming days, while 88.50 is seen as a reversal resistance zone, he added.

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Icelandic collaboration to further boost India’s Blue Economy

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New Delhi, Sep 12: India and Iceland are set to enhance collaboration in fisheries and aquaculture, emphasising sustainable practices, zero-waste models, technology transfer and cluster-based development, the government said on Friday.

An Indian delegation, led by Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Secretary of the Department of Fisheries, completed a three-day official visit in Iceland’s Reykjavík to strengthen bilateral cooperation through strategic partnerships, investment promotion, and innovation exchange, an official statement said.

Likhi met with senior representatives of the Iceland Ocean Cluster and discussed cooperative innovation in fish processing, value addition, traceability, and certification. BRIM and Hampiðjan, leading Icelandic companies, provided insights into their advanced zero-waste models and cutting-edge processing technologies.

“Both sides explored investment opportunities for the Icelandic seafood processing industry in India, along with ways to deepen business-to-business (B2B) linkages,” the statement said.

The delegation also visited MATIS, Iceland’s top food and biotech R&D institute, to discuss cooperation in biotechnology, food safety, and marine resource utilisation. The visit opened new avenues for collaboration in research and technology transfer to bolster India’s fisheries value chain, the release added.

Emphasis was also laid on training and capacity building in deep-sea fishing technologies, alongside the adoption of advanced vessel monitoring and surveillance (VMS) systems, the ministry of Fisheries said.

The two sides explored opportunities in deep-sea fishing technologies, vessel monitoring systems, trout farming, and tuna innovations for India’s islands.

The government has adopted a cluster-based development model under the PMMSY, with 34 clusters notified so far. The cluster-based approach enhances competitiveness and efficiency by uniting geographically connected enterprises of all sizes – micro, small, medium, and large-across the entire value chain, from production to exports.

The country’s total fish production has grown by 104 per cent from 96 lakh tonnes in 2013–14 to 195 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, as inland fisheries expanded by 142 per cent for the same period from 61 lakh tonnes to 147.37 lakh tonnes, according to government data.

India stands as the second largest fish producing nation in the world, contributing around 8 per cent of global output.

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