India’s direct tax collections for 2023-24 surged to Rs 19.58 lakh crore, exceeding the budget estimate by 7.40%. Gross collections reached Rs 23.37 lakh crore, with corporate tax at Rs 11.32 lakh crore and personal income tax at Rs 12.01 lakh crore. The government issued Rs 3.79 lakh crore in tax refunds, up 22.74% from the previous year.
The government is considering further liberalizing foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for banking, insurance, and defense sectors, following recent relaxations in other sectors like space and satellite.
FDI equity inflows fell 13% year-on-year to $32.03 billion during April-December 2023. Despite this, India aims to relax FDI rules further, already being more liberal than many ASEAN countries. Current policies include 74% FDI in private banking and 49% in insurance, with potential for 100% in certain cases. Defense FDI is subject to industrial license, with up to 74% allowed automatically and up to 100% in small arms and ammunition manufacturing.
Overseas fund managers increased bearish bets on India due to rising crude oil prices amid Iran-Israel conflict and uncertainty over US interest rate cuts. Foreign portfolio investors pulled out ₹18,601 crore from Indian equities last week, with a net selling of ₹5,254 crore in April.
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