India is ideally placed to attract businesses looking to move out of China, finance minister<\/a> Nirmala Sitharaman<\/a> said in an interview to Deepshikha Sikarwar and Bodhisatva Ganguli<\/strong>. She also said the telecom ministry was looking into the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue. Edited excerpts 印度是理想情况下将吸引中国企业想要搬出去,财政部长吧Sitharaman在接受采访时说,Deepshikha Sikarwar Ganguli Bodhisatva。她还说电信部门正在调查调整后总收入(AGR)问题。编辑摘录 印度是理想情况下将吸引中国企业想要搬出去,财政部长吧Sitharaman在一次采访中说Deepshikha Sikarwar Ganguli Bodhisatva。她还说电信部门正在调查调整后总收入(AGR)问题。编辑摘录
Inflation has eased a bit, but the RBI has raised its forecast. Do you see the recent spike as transient and expect the RBI to maintain its accommodative monetary policy<\/a>?<\/strong>
I get the feeling from the RBI that they understand what a very hasty withdrawal of the surplus liquidity (means). They will not be in a hurry to do it, which is good. This inflation is one question which has come to the surplus liquidity and its impact, which inflation watchers will have to keep watching also. However, purely on the supply side triggered inflation, we are very conscious.
Therefore, item by item, perishables, seasonal, supply dependent edibles are all being monitored. I'm glad to say that the state governments have also been very cooperative and they've been following up on any suspicious hoarding anywhere, trying to release them into the market and so on. As a result of which even a persistent challenge has been now addressed steadily. And you’re seeing the indicators — WPI, CPI — are both coming down. And, if I might just add, between 2014 and 2019 and 2019 to today, we have largely been conscious of the inflation and responding in time. I don’t think went beyond six.
The RBI has expressed concerns over oil prices feeding into inflation. You have said this government was repaying borrowings done by the UPA earlier toward oil bonds. This government has also reaped the advantage of revenues from the oil price rise. From consumers’ point of view and RBI’s concerns, shouldn’t the Centre do something?
<\/strong>Fuel prices definitely will feed into inflation, all of us are aware of it. We also know what it means for the middle class, a poor household. But I also equally want to highlight to you, who are the discerning observers of the economy, that even as the government wants to respond to situations, there are factors that cannot be ignored. When the global oil prices were low, it is a charge put on us that you did not pass that benefit on to customers. Yes, because we needed resources for the infrastructure and those were the times where we were very clearly coming up with a big plan for building the fundamental infrastructure.
Also, you know, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was completely filled. Now the question arises why do you not want to do it now. And I'm not seeking an excuse, but it is a matter of fact, with the global prices, which had gone down to the extreme low. Where are we today? So, whilst I did make use of the fall in the price for doing these kinds of things at a time, when I probably would have said, all right, let's see if we can do something – prices are at 73 (dollars a barrel). It touched 82. So, it’s not as if we’re being blind to this, you know, challenges or ordinary family faces in having to pay so much for fuel, but it is a totally imported product. I will also have to see where a fine balance can be drawn.
A lot of positivity in the economy is flowing from the stock market, a lot of IPOs like Zomato<\/a>. It is also expected that at some stage, the Fed will start raising interest rates, perhaps earlier than expected, because they also have their own inflationary challenge, which it is anticipated might reduce the amount of liquidity globally, which will also have its impact on markets. To whatever extent there is a fallout, how will the government deal with that?<\/strong>
We are taking the inputs from RBI, which is also monitoring this situation. And even now, even in the last one year, RBI has periodically intervened in the market to make sure that there is a reasonable balance to the extent that the US authorities thought that RBI is playing around with the market, and also put them on a watch list and things like that. So, the global situation emanating from the possible decision of the Fed is something which I don’t want to speculate on. But all of us are watching the situation. And there is close coordination between RBI and the finance ministry. We’ll have to see how it goes.
I wouldn’t for a minute credit the positivity in the economy purely on the stock markets. There is definitely positivity. More importantly, I think there is a paradigm shift in the way Indian investors and also Indian small saving public are slowly moving on to a completely different way of looking at the savings. All these are very critical changes, independent of the government. And if you were to constantly observe the government and the economy, we will miss out on the people in the economy. These very systemic changes which are happening, which itself will bring in a different hue to the Indian economy. Like the way now constantly all of us are talking about startups determining the colour and the contours of the Indian economy, the investing and the saving public's behaviour is also bringing in change to the Indian economy. We really cannot miss that. So, while we were sitting around and making policies or legislating, we'll have to take all this on and see how best we can enable and facilitate these changes.
Do you think there's some disconnect between the stock markets and the real economy?<\/strong>
No, I would say that is a matter of discussion which is going on. But it couldn't have sustained itself through 2020 Covid and through the second wave Covid and enter into the second half of 2021. So, it's not a blip is what I feel.
On the ongoing privatisation of BPCL and Air India, where are we? Will we be able to complete them by year-end?<\/strong>
Yes. And that’s my very optimistic and effort-driven belief. It’s one thing for the government to buy a thing. But when the government lets go of its ownership, there is far more due diligence that has to be adhered to. There is the complete unglamorous backdoor work. They cannot be defining it every day, describing it every day. And therefore, for a long past, you have not heard of Air India.
You will feel probably it’s not happening. But the details of what happens at the back, unglamorous but absolutely necessary. Otherwise, you’re just asking them to rush through something, and however genuine the intention, maybe it can create paragraphs by CAG, people can go to the courts saying you didn’t take care of things. So, we are going steadily, but surely.
What about the two public sector banks?<\/strong>
In this session, I had not brought in the necessary relative legislation for it, but the work is going on.
What about general insurance companies?<\/strong>
I have explained the usual emotional response, oh my god, the government is selling it all off in the insurance. No, insurance is also part of my core and strategic sector listed items, where my bare minimum presence will be there. Insurance, as I described, consists of life insurance, general insurance and reinsurance. So, the government will be present in all these. Over and above this, if there are such companies which can’t be merged or brought in for a bigger scale, I will have to dispose of.
Is the LIC IPO on course?<\/strong>
Yes, and that’s the only life insurance company, the big one, which the government has and as I explained the minimum presence will be there in the three — life, general and reinsurance.
Do we have a fix on how much stake the government will be divesting in LIC?<\/strong>
We will have a fix obviously, but I will tell you only when I’m ready to tell you. The time which has been consumed for this is only to get the mechanisms put in place. You will know how unprepared public sector companies are for even facing their own realities. They (LIC) did not have an embedded valuation mechanism. Will you believe it!
In the case of LIC, will the government maintain its stake at about 51%?<\/strong>
Yes, it is an IPO.
What about general insurance companies — will you also maintain your stake at 51%?<\/strong>
They are all IPOs to start with.
Have you given a commitment that the government stake would stay above 51%?<\/strong>
First of all, when you go on an IPO, you’re not talking about it. The policy is very well explained. In the insurance sector, which you’re particularly asking, having put it under the strategic, I will have the government's presence in these areas. When I say government's presence, obviously, it will be holding stake.
The government decided to bite the bullet on retrospective tax finally. In hindsight, shouldn’t the government have avoided appeals and accepted arbitration awards?<\/strong>
No, the arbitral awards had to be studied. The arbitral awards meant the conclusion of the logical course. But what is the outcome of the award? I need to actually know what is in the award. If there was an element of confusion or ambiguity, saying government’s right to tax has been (questioned), by the usage of word and the wordings in the award, leaving room for doubt that even the right of the government of India has been questioned… I can’t afford it. Also, I can’t tell an appellate court, hey, hang on, we take five months in this government of India to study the awards, you shouldn’t have a time bar.
In most of the awards, there is a time bar of 90 days. Now, respecting the time bar, I will also have to make sure that there are critical aspects on which we have to go in appeal. So, while my commitment for not supporting retrospective is intact, I will also have to understand my role as a government in the continuum. I just can’t reject lock, stock and barrel and create another issue for the government of India. So, appeal happens, study happens, time bar is respected. After the study, you realise, no, it’s all right, you’re not anywhere going to be affected in terms of your right to tax then you go ahead.
You've come to the conclusion that the right to tax is not being affected?<\/strong>
Absolutely. At least by the way in which we have approached the problem and found a solution to the retrospective settling of the problem. I reiterate nothing that we’re doing now, or nothing that we have left anywhere affects the right of a sovereign government.
But will the appeals go ahead?<\/strong>
I have not gone and looked at it now whether it will become infructuous.
How have companies reacted in discussions with the ministry. Are they happy with the settlement scheme?<\/strong>
I don't know yet because I have not had anything formally yet from them. They have met with one level of officers. The rules are being made and being made pretty quickly because the law has not left anything for us to work out on, it's all laid there. So, the rules will come out. It’s after that, I suppose formal interaction at the level of the secretary or anybody who he deputes.
How difficult was it to take this call? Did you have any doubts?<\/strong>
I wouldn't say it was difficult, but it was intense. There were quite a few meetings, consultation with the AG (attorney general), consultation with the ministry officials, with the law ministry. There were quite a few rounds of discussion. And that is why I couldn’t have done it during the budget session.
Is there any thinking on accelerating the free trade agreement with the EU?<\/strong>
I think the commerce minister has been saying it, also that with the US, and with the EU, and also with the UK because post-Brexit, FTA is really being worked with a good sense of the time. These three are going fast. And recently, we had the former Prime Minister of Australia visiting India, who incidentally was the PM in 2014-15. He’s now come as the special ambassador of the current Prime Minister of Australia. Even they have expressed a keenness to have FTA done at the earliest.
There is a kind of a dichotomy we are seeing in the sense that the organised sector, the salaried, they’ve had kind of surplus savings. On the other hand, the informal sectors, the services, those people have seen a massive loss of jobs. Is there anything in mind for that sector because a lot of demand is also going to come from them?<\/strong>
Informality is not exclusively urban. Indian economy, largely informal, exists in rural areas as well. So, our approach has been the informal sector. We’ve been looking at it from all these dimensions, saying how are we going to give them access to liquidity. How are we going to give them any succour in terms of, you know, the expenses that they would want to take? We are looking at strengthening the network of MFIs (microfinance institutions). Informal is MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises), whose definition has been expanded. We are looking at it also from the point of view of affordable housing, giving subsidy for people who want it. SWAMIH (Stalled Affordable and Middle-Income Housing Projects) — what a success it has been.
Has GST settled to the point where we can think of two big reforms — cutting rates and slabs?<\/strong>
If you're looking at it purely from the revenue generation from GST point of view, yes, you may say the time has come, now we can think in terms of rationalising the slabs and rates. But if you were to look at it from the economy and GST being indirect tax, many of the finance ministers in the council think maybe just not yet. They are seized of the problem, to be fair to them, that we have to now rationalise. We have been saying let the system stabilise. Even as we said that, we had the pandemic. So, they are right in saying, maybe not now. The revenue generation has picked up. If you look at it only from that prism, right, enough time. No, you have to look at it from the economy reviving prism also. And, maybe we'll have to wait a bit, slightly bit longer.
Telecom is another troubled area. Your ministry is a big player as ultimately it involves revenue. What are your thoughts?
<\/strong>This sector has really gone through a rollercoaster. Like the fuel prices, since all of us are end-users, we tend to think — is it going to increase the rate, is it going to make data cost more, are we going to go back to a rudimentary just the call was, and so on? The debate gets so emotional when we talk about the end-user. It gets a free marketer’s enthusiasm when you talk about no monopoly, no duopoly. Are there enough players so that there is true free market pricing? Today the situation is something where the telecom ministry is the one that is receiving all the representation. It is the one which has to work on it. Of course, we will have a role to play.
What is the government's latest thinking on crypto assets?<\/strong>
Our thinking has not changed. The latest is not very different from what it was. But I suppose the way technology is, even as you understand and take a position, the milepost is moved ahead. That has consumed a lot of what we’ve been doing for some time. It’s a very big potential area, a lot of global developments are happening.
However, it depends so much on cyber-based regulatory sophistication, which our regulators need… will have to be in place. At the same time, the potential and the opportunity that it gives, particularly for fintech cannot be overlooked. We cannot be moving ahead as this doesn’t exist. Quickly, we’ll have to come up with something which takes all these into consideration. I've already said that we are not saying no to cryptocurrency<\/a>. We are saying we’ll have to see how this technology can help fintech to maximise the potential that it has. But how sophisticated regulation can be is something which I want to work with the Reserve Bank. I can say the work is nearly complete. It is now for the cabinet to go into it.
Will you bring in legislation?<\/strong>
Let's see how it's going to be handled. Is it possible with just a notification and a rule or definitely legislation is required? It's a call which the cabinet will have to take. The proposal will go with all its potential.
The RBI’s view has been that cryptocurrencies are distinct from blockchain technology. Its position has been that cryptocurrency should be banned.
We’ve had quite some discussion on it. Let's see how that plays out in the cabinet.
On the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, where are we?<\/strong>
We have crossed 8.8 million (vaccinations) on Monday. The capacity of the Indian vaccine manufacturers themselves is ramping up very well. Of late there has not been an issue of short supply. Ramping up of capacities is also happening. I think we’ll be able to largely address the issue with our Indian vaccines. That doesn’t mean that I’m shutting any option of foreign vaccines coming into the country. Moderna, Sputnik are all already on board.
China’s cracking down on its technology sector. Do you see any opportunities that might come India’s way?<\/strong>
It’s not just the crackdown. We've tasted a very restricted licence quota raj; we are coming out of it. We are also not extremely going to the other end where it is so free that sometimes it's becoming very mercantile, against the interest of the people and everything else. So, we are probably ideally situated, not so much geographically, but the principles. Therefore, people who want to relocate, see the virtues of this kind of evolution. We give the best of both worlds and a vibrant democracy being what it is, has its own way of pruning things. I've heard some very influential political thinkers, global business leaders tell me that India has it all now and we feel this is the best place to be. So, therefore, yes, opportunities exist.
Is GIFT City a part of this equation?<\/strong>
The sense of discretion, relaxations that have been offered so that they can compete globally, match itself with some of the global hubs but yet not become a tax haven within India. I think a lot of mind application has helped to bring IFSC to be what it is today. As a result, we find many of them unhesitatingly shifting from different places and locating and even the global companies which are here, finding it attractive and footfall have really gone up.
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没有什么,我们正在做复古的税收影响主权政府的权利:吧Sitharaman
通货膨胀的缓解了一点,但印度央行已经上调了预期。你看到近期的瞬态和预计印度央行维持宽松的货币政策吗?
我感觉从印度储备银行,他们了解一个非常草率的撤军的流动性过剩(手段)。他们将不会急于这样做,这很好。通货膨胀是一个问题及其影响的流动性过剩,通胀观察家也将继续关注。然而,纯粹在供应方面引发通货膨胀,我们很有意识。
印度储备银行已表示担忧油价在通货膨胀。你说这个政府早些时候偿还借款由UPA向石油债券。这个政府还获得收入来自石油价格上涨的好处。从消费者的角度来看,央行的担忧,中心不应该做些什么?
燃料价格肯定会带动通货膨胀,我们所有人都意识到了这一点。中产阶级的我们也知道这意味着什么,一个贫穷的家庭。但是我也同样要突出,经济的观察者,即使政府想要回应的情况下,有些因素是不容忽视的。当全球油价很低,这是一个电荷穿上我们,你没有将有利于传递给客户。是的,因为我们需要资源的基础设施,这些都是《纽约时报》,我们很清楚地拿出一个大计划建设的基本的基础设施。
另外,你知道,战略石油储备完全填满。现在的问题是你为什么不想现在就做。我不是找借口,但事实上,随着全球价格已经极低。我们今天在哪里?同时我利用了下降的价格做这些事情,我可能会说,好吧,让我们看看我们能不能做,价格在73美元一桶。它感动了82人。好像不是我们失明,你知道,挑战或普通家庭面临不得不支付这么多的燃料,但它是一个完全进口产品。我也将可以看到一个很好的平衡。
很多积极的经济从股市流向,大量的ipoZomato。也期望在某个阶段,美联储将开始提高利率,也许比我们预期的要早,因为他们也有自己的通胀挑战,预计可能减少全球的流动性,还将其对市场的影响。在什么程度上影响,政府将如何应对?
我们从央行正在输入,也是监测这种情况。甚至即使是现在,在过去的一年,央行已经周期性地干预市场,以确保有一个合理的平衡在一定程度上,美国当局认为央行和市场,并把它们放在一个观察名单等等。因此,全球局势来自美联储的决定是,我不想猜测。但是我们都是看情况。有央行和财政部之间的密切协调。我们必须看看它是怎么回事。
我不会一分钟信用经济的积极性纯粹在股票市场。肯定有积极性。更重要的是,我认为有一个范式转变印度投资者和公众也印度小储蓄是慢慢在一个完全不同的看待储蓄的方式。这些都是非常关键的变化,独立于政府。如果你不断观察政府和经济,我们将错过的人经济。这些非常系统性的变化正在发生,这本身将给印度经济带来不同的色调。喜欢现在的方式不断我们所有人谈论的是创业公司确定色彩和印度经济的轮廓,投资和储蓄的公共的行为也将改变印度经济。我们真的不能错过。所以,当我们坐在周围,使政策或立法,我们将不得不接受这一切,看看我们能启用和促进这些变化。
你认为有一些股票市场与实体经济之间断开?
不,我想说这是一个问题的讨论。但是它不可能持续到2020年Covid并通过第二波Covid和进入2021年下半年。所以,这不是一个短暂就是我的感觉。
BPCL和空气进行私有化的印度,我们在哪?我们会在年底前能够完成他们吗?
是的。这是我非常乐观和effort-driven信仰。政府购买是一回事。但是当政府允许其所有权,有更多的尽职调查,必须坚持。有完整的乏味的秘密工作。他们不能定义它每一天,每天都描述它。因此,在很长一段过去,你没有听说过印度航空公司。
你可能会觉得这是不会发生。但是后面发生的详细情况,乏味的但是绝对必要。否则,你只是要求他们赶什么,然而真正的意图,也许它可以创建段落CAG,人们可以去法院说你没有照顾的事情。所以,我们要不断,但肯定。
两家公共部门银行呢?
在这个会话中,我没有了必要的相关立法,但研究工作。
一般保险公司呢?
我有解释常见的情绪反应,哦,我的上帝,政府出售的保险。不,保险也是我的核心和战略部门上市项目,我最少会存在。保险,如我所描述,包括人寿保险、一般保险和再保险。所以,政府将出现在所有这些。超过这一点,如果有这样的公司不可能合并或带来了更大的规模,我将不得不处理。
地方政府投资公司的IPO在课程?
是的,这是唯一的人寿保险公司,大的,政府和我解释了最低的存在将在三个——生活,一般和再保险。
我们有解决多少股份,政府将在地方政府投资公司剥离?
我们将会有一个修复很明显,但我只会告诉你当我准备好告诉你。这只是已消耗的时间机制到位。你就会知道如何准备公共部门企业,即使是面对自己的现实。他们(LIC)没有嵌入式评价机制。你会相信!
在地方政府投资公司的情况下,将政府持股比例保持在51%左右?
是的,这是一个IPO(首次公开募股)。
一般保险公司——将你也保持在51%的股份?
他们都是ipo。
你给的承诺,政府将保持51%以上的股份?
首先,当你在IPO,你不谈论它。政策很好解释。在保险行业,你特别要求,有战略下,我将让政府在这些领域的存在。当我说政府的存在,显然,它将持有的股份。
政府决定咬紧牙关终于回顾税。事后看来,政府不应该避免上诉并接受仲裁裁决吗?
不,仲裁裁决必须研究。仲裁裁决意味着逻辑的结论。但奖项的结果是什么?我需要知道是什么奖。如果有一个元素的混乱或模棱两可,说政府的税收(质疑),词的用法和文字奖,离开房间甚至怀疑,印度政府一直在质疑的权利…我买不起。我不能告诉上诉法院,嘿,等一下,我们在这五个月印度政府研究奖,你不应该有一个时间限制。
在大部分的奖项,有90天的时间限制。现在,尊重酒吧的时候,我还必须确保有至关重要的方面,我们必须去上诉。因此,尽管我的承诺不支持回顾是完好无损,我还必须理解我作为一个政府的连续体。我不能拒绝锁,股票和桶,为印度政府创建另一个问题。上诉情况,研究发生,酒吧是尊重。研究后,你意识到,不,没关系,你不是会影响地方的税收,那么你继续你的权利。
你已经得出结论,正确的税收是不受影响呢?
绝对的。至少我们有接近的方式问题,发现解决问题的回顾沉降。我重申,我们现在正在做的,或没有剩下任何影响一个主权国家的权利。
但是上诉继续吗?
我没有去看现在是否会成为徒劳的。
在讨论公司如何反应。他们是满意的解决方案吗?
我还不知道,因为我还没有任何正式。他们会见了一个级别的军官。规则是很快,因为法律没有给我们留下任何在工作,这都是铺设。所以,规则将出来。之后,我想正式的互动层面的秘书或任何人他委任。
困难的是如何把这个电话吗?你有任何疑问吗?
我不会说它是困难的,但它是强烈的。有不少会议,磋商与AG(司法部长),与铁道部官员协商,法律部门。有不少的讨论。这就是为什么我不能做它在预算会议。
有没有想在加速与欧盟自由贸易协定?
我认为商务部长一直在说它,也与美国,欧盟,也与英国因为post-Brexit,自由贸易协定是与一个好工作的时间。这三个要快。最近,我们有澳大利亚前总理访问印度,顺便说一下是谁在2014 - 15点。他现在是澳大利亚的现任总理的特别大使。即使他们已经表达了自贸区做最早的迫切愿望。
我们看到有一种二分法,组织部门,受薪,他们已经过剩储蓄。另一方面,非正式部门,服务,那些工作的人们看到一个巨大的损失。有什么记住部门因为很多的需求也将来自他们吗?
不拘礼节不仅仅是城市。印度经济,非正式的,存在于农村地区。因此,我们的方法是非正规部门。我们已经从所有这些维度,说我们怎么给他们获得流动性。我们如何给他们任何帮助的,你知道,他们将想要的费用吗?我们正在研究加强小额信贷机构的网络(小额信贷机构)。非正式MSME(微观、中小企业),其定义已经扩大。我们从的角度看它还负担得起的住房,给补贴的人想要它。SWAMIH(停滞的负担得起的和中等收入住房项目)——这是一次成功。
销售税定居,我们能想到的两大改革——降息和板?
如果你看着它纯粹从创收销售税的观点来看,是的,你会说的时候了,现在我们可以考虑合理化石板和利率。但是如果你从经济和销售税是间接税,许多的财政部长理事会认为也许只是还没有。他们抓住了问题的,公平地说,现在,我们必须合理化。我们一直在说让系统稳定。即使我们说,我们有大流行。所以,现在他们就在说,也许不是。收入一代了。如果你看着它只从棱镜,足够的时间。不,你必须从经济复苏棱镜。,也许我们需要等一等,稍微有点长。
电信是另一个问题。你是一个大玩家最终它涉及收入。你的想法是什么?
这个行业确实经历了过山车。像燃油价格,因为我们都是终端用户,我们倾向于认为,它会增加率,会使数据的成本更多,我们要回到基本的电话,等等?辩论变得如此激动当我们讨论最终用户。得到一个免费的营销人员的热情当你谈论没有垄断,没有垄断。有足够的球员,有真正的自由市场定价?今天的情况是电信部门是接受所有的表示。这是一个有工作。当然,我们将有一个角色要扮演。
加密资产的政府最新的想法是什么?
我们的思维没有改变。最近不是很不同。但我想技术,即使你理解和位置,里程碑是感动。消耗很多的我们一直在做一段时间。这是一个非常巨大的潜在领域,很多正在发生的全球发展。
然而,它在很大程度上取决于遭到网络监管复杂,我们的监管部门需要…必须到位。与此同时,它的潜力和机会,特别是对于fintech不容忽视。我们不能前进,因为这根本不存在。很快,我们必须想出一些考虑所有这些。我已经说过,我们不是说“不”cryptocurrency。我们说我们会看到这种技术如何帮助fintech潜力最大化。但如何是复杂的监管,我想与储备银行。我可以说工作接近完成。现在的内阁进入它。
你会带来立法吗?
让我们看看它是如何处理。有可能只有一个通知和一个规则或肯定立法是必需的吗?这是一个叫内阁将需要。建议将所有的潜力。
印度央行的观点是,cryptocurrencies从区块链技术是不同的。的立场是,cryptocurrency应被禁止。
我们有很长一段讨论它。让我们来看看,在内阁。
辉瑞和现代化的疫苗,我们在哪?
周一我们跨越了880万(疫苗)。印度疫苗制造商自己的能力增加。最近没有供应短缺的问题。增加的能力也发生了。我认为我们可以很大程度上解决这个问题和我们印度的疫苗。这并不意味着我关闭任何选择外国疫苗进入该国。现代化,人造卫星都已经在船上。
中国打击其技术部门。你看到了,可能有机会来印度吗?
不仅仅是镇压。我们尝过一个非常受限制的许可证配额统治;我们出来。我们也不是非常的另一端,它很自由,有时变得很商业,对人们的利益和一切。所以,我们可能是理想的位置,不是地理位置,但原则。因此,那些想要搬迁,看到这种进化的美德。我们给予最好的两个世界,一个充满活力的民主国家就是这样,有自己的修剪方式。我听说过一些非常有影响力的政治思想家,全球商业领袖告诉我,印度现在这一切,我们觉得这是最好的地方。因此,是的,机会存在。
是礼物的城市这个等式的一部分?
自由裁量权,风头被提供,这样他们可以参与全球竞争,比赛本身的全球中心,但还没有在印度成为一个避税天堂。我想很多的应用程序帮助IFSC今天。结果,我们发现很多人毫不犹豫地从不同的地方和定位,甚至全球公司在这里,找到它的吸引力和客流量真的上涨了。
读到
India is ideally placed to attract businesses looking to move out of China, finance minister<\/a> Nirmala Sitharaman<\/a> said in an interview to Deepshikha Sikarwar and Bodhisatva Ganguli<\/strong>. She also said the telecom ministry was looking into the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue. Edited excerpts
Inflation has eased a bit, but the RBI has raised its forecast. Do you see the recent spike as transient and expect the RBI to maintain its accommodative monetary policy<\/a>?<\/strong>
I get the feeling from the RBI that they understand what a very hasty withdrawal of the surplus liquidity (means). They will not be in a hurry to do it, which is good. This inflation is one question which has come to the surplus liquidity and its impact, which inflation watchers will have to keep watching also. However, purely on the supply side triggered inflation, we are very conscious.
Therefore, item by item, perishables, seasonal, supply dependent edibles are all being monitored. I'm glad to say that the state governments have also been very cooperative and they've been following up on any suspicious hoarding anywhere, trying to release them into the market and so on. As a result of which even a persistent challenge has been now addressed steadily. And you’re seeing the indicators — WPI, CPI — are both coming down. And, if I might just add, between 2014 and 2019 and 2019 to today, we have largely been conscious of the inflation and responding in time. I don’t think went beyond six.
The RBI has expressed concerns over oil prices feeding into inflation. You have said this government was repaying borrowings done by the UPA earlier toward oil bonds. This government has also reaped the advantage of revenues from the oil price rise. From consumers’ point of view and RBI’s concerns, shouldn’t the Centre do something?
<\/strong>Fuel prices definitely will feed into inflation, all of us are aware of it. We also know what it means for the middle class, a poor household. But I also equally want to highlight to you, who are the discerning observers of the economy, that even as the government wants to respond to situations, there are factors that cannot be ignored. When the global oil prices were low, it is a charge put on us that you did not pass that benefit on to customers. Yes, because we needed resources for the infrastructure and those were the times where we were very clearly coming up with a big plan for building the fundamental infrastructure.
Also, you know, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was completely filled. Now the question arises why do you not want to do it now. And I'm not seeking an excuse, but it is a matter of fact, with the global prices, which had gone down to the extreme low. Where are we today? So, whilst I did make use of the fall in the price for doing these kinds of things at a time, when I probably would have said, all right, let's see if we can do something – prices are at 73 (dollars a barrel). It touched 82. So, it’s not as if we’re being blind to this, you know, challenges or ordinary family faces in having to pay so much for fuel, but it is a totally imported product. I will also have to see where a fine balance can be drawn.
A lot of positivity in the economy is flowing from the stock market, a lot of IPOs like Zomato<\/a>. It is also expected that at some stage, the Fed will start raising interest rates, perhaps earlier than expected, because they also have their own inflationary challenge, which it is anticipated might reduce the amount of liquidity globally, which will also have its impact on markets. To whatever extent there is a fallout, how will the government deal with that?<\/strong>
We are taking the inputs from RBI, which is also monitoring this situation. And even now, even in the last one year, RBI has periodically intervened in the market to make sure that there is a reasonable balance to the extent that the US authorities thought that RBI is playing around with the market, and also put them on a watch list and things like that. So, the global situation emanating from the possible decision of the Fed is something which I don’t want to speculate on. But all of us are watching the situation. And there is close coordination between RBI and the finance ministry. We’ll have to see how it goes.
I wouldn’t for a minute credit the positivity in the economy purely on the stock markets. There is definitely positivity. More importantly, I think there is a paradigm shift in the way Indian investors and also Indian small saving public are slowly moving on to a completely different way of looking at the savings. All these are very critical changes, independent of the government. And if you were to constantly observe the government and the economy, we will miss out on the people in the economy. These very systemic changes which are happening, which itself will bring in a different hue to the Indian economy. Like the way now constantly all of us are talking about startups determining the colour and the contours of the Indian economy, the investing and the saving public's behaviour is also bringing in change to the Indian economy. We really cannot miss that. So, while we were sitting around and making policies or legislating, we'll have to take all this on and see how best we can enable and facilitate these changes.
Do you think there's some disconnect between the stock markets and the real economy?<\/strong>
No, I would say that is a matter of discussion which is going on. But it couldn't have sustained itself through 2020 Covid and through the second wave Covid and enter into the second half of 2021. So, it's not a blip is what I feel.
On the ongoing privatisation of BPCL and Air India, where are we? Will we be able to complete them by year-end?<\/strong>
Yes. And that’s my very optimistic and effort-driven belief. It’s one thing for the government to buy a thing. But when the government lets go of its ownership, there is far more due diligence that has to be adhered to. There is the complete unglamorous backdoor work. They cannot be defining it every day, describing it every day. And therefore, for a long past, you have not heard of Air India.
You will feel probably it’s not happening. But the details of what happens at the back, unglamorous but absolutely necessary. Otherwise, you’re just asking them to rush through something, and however genuine the intention, maybe it can create paragraphs by CAG, people can go to the courts saying you didn’t take care of things. So, we are going steadily, but surely.
What about the two public sector banks?<\/strong>
In this session, I had not brought in the necessary relative legislation for it, but the work is going on.
What about general insurance companies?<\/strong>
I have explained the usual emotional response, oh my god, the government is selling it all off in the insurance. No, insurance is also part of my core and strategic sector listed items, where my bare minimum presence will be there. Insurance, as I described, consists of life insurance, general insurance and reinsurance. So, the government will be present in all these. Over and above this, if there are such companies which can’t be merged or brought in for a bigger scale, I will have to dispose of.
Is the LIC IPO on course?<\/strong>
Yes, and that’s the only life insurance company, the big one, which the government has and as I explained the minimum presence will be there in the three — life, general and reinsurance.
Do we have a fix on how much stake the government will be divesting in LIC?<\/strong>
We will have a fix obviously, but I will tell you only when I’m ready to tell you. The time which has been consumed for this is only to get the mechanisms put in place. You will know how unprepared public sector companies are for even facing their own realities. They (LIC) did not have an embedded valuation mechanism. Will you believe it!
In the case of LIC, will the government maintain its stake at about 51%?<\/strong>
Yes, it is an IPO.
What about general insurance companies — will you also maintain your stake at 51%?<\/strong>
They are all IPOs to start with.
Have you given a commitment that the government stake would stay above 51%?<\/strong>
First of all, when you go on an IPO, you’re not talking about it. The policy is very well explained. In the insurance sector, which you’re particularly asking, having put it under the strategic, I will have the government's presence in these areas. When I say government's presence, obviously, it will be holding stake.
The government decided to bite the bullet on retrospective tax finally. In hindsight, shouldn’t the government have avoided appeals and accepted arbitration awards?<\/strong>
No, the arbitral awards had to be studied. The arbitral awards meant the conclusion of the logical course. But what is the outcome of the award? I need to actually know what is in the award. If there was an element of confusion or ambiguity, saying government’s right to tax has been (questioned), by the usage of word and the wordings in the award, leaving room for doubt that even the right of the government of India has been questioned… I can’t afford it. Also, I can’t tell an appellate court, hey, hang on, we take five months in this government of India to study the awards, you shouldn’t have a time bar.
In most of the awards, there is a time bar of 90 days. Now, respecting the time bar, I will also have to make sure that there are critical aspects on which we have to go in appeal. So, while my commitment for not supporting retrospective is intact, I will also have to understand my role as a government in the continuum. I just can’t reject lock, stock and barrel and create another issue for the government of India. So, appeal happens, study happens, time bar is respected. After the study, you realise, no, it’s all right, you’re not anywhere going to be affected in terms of your right to tax then you go ahead.
You've come to the conclusion that the right to tax is not being affected?<\/strong>
Absolutely. At least by the way in which we have approached the problem and found a solution to the retrospective settling of the problem. I reiterate nothing that we’re doing now, or nothing that we have left anywhere affects the right of a sovereign government.
But will the appeals go ahead?<\/strong>
I have not gone and looked at it now whether it will become infructuous.
How have companies reacted in discussions with the ministry. Are they happy with the settlement scheme?<\/strong>
I don't know yet because I have not had anything formally yet from them. They have met with one level of officers. The rules are being made and being made pretty quickly because the law has not left anything for us to work out on, it's all laid there. So, the rules will come out. It’s after that, I suppose formal interaction at the level of the secretary or anybody who he deputes.
How difficult was it to take this call? Did you have any doubts?<\/strong>
I wouldn't say it was difficult, but it was intense. There were quite a few meetings, consultation with the AG (attorney general), consultation with the ministry officials, with the law ministry. There were quite a few rounds of discussion. And that is why I couldn’t have done it during the budget session.
Is there any thinking on accelerating the free trade agreement with the EU?<\/strong>
I think the commerce minister has been saying it, also that with the US, and with the EU, and also with the UK because post-Brexit, FTA is really being worked with a good sense of the time. These three are going fast. And recently, we had the former Prime Minister of Australia visiting India, who incidentally was the PM in 2014-15. He’s now come as the special ambassador of the current Prime Minister of Australia. Even they have expressed a keenness to have FTA done at the earliest.
There is a kind of a dichotomy we are seeing in the sense that the organised sector, the salaried, they’ve had kind of surplus savings. On the other hand, the informal sectors, the services, those people have seen a massive loss of jobs. Is there anything in mind for that sector because a lot of demand is also going to come from them?<\/strong>
Informality is not exclusively urban. Indian economy, largely informal, exists in rural areas as well. So, our approach has been the informal sector. We’ve been looking at it from all these dimensions, saying how are we going to give them access to liquidity. How are we going to give them any succour in terms of, you know, the expenses that they would want to take? We are looking at strengthening the network of MFIs (microfinance institutions). Informal is MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises), whose definition has been expanded. We are looking at it also from the point of view of affordable housing, giving subsidy for people who want it. SWAMIH (Stalled Affordable and Middle-Income Housing Projects) — what a success it has been.
Has GST settled to the point where we can think of two big reforms — cutting rates and slabs?<\/strong>
If you're looking at it purely from the revenue generation from GST point of view, yes, you may say the time has come, now we can think in terms of rationalising the slabs and rates. But if you were to look at it from the economy and GST being indirect tax, many of the finance ministers in the council think maybe just not yet. They are seized of the problem, to be fair to them, that we have to now rationalise. We have been saying let the system stabilise. Even as we said that, we had the pandemic. So, they are right in saying, maybe not now. The revenue generation has picked up. If you look at it only from that prism, right, enough time. No, you have to look at it from the economy reviving prism also. And, maybe we'll have to wait a bit, slightly bit longer.
Telecom is another troubled area. Your ministry is a big player as ultimately it involves revenue. What are your thoughts?
<\/strong>This sector has really gone through a rollercoaster. Like the fuel prices, since all of us are end-users, we tend to think — is it going to increase the rate, is it going to make data cost more, are we going to go back to a rudimentary just the call was, and so on? The debate gets so emotional when we talk about the end-user. It gets a free marketer’s enthusiasm when you talk about no monopoly, no duopoly. Are there enough players so that there is true free market pricing? Today the situation is something where the telecom ministry is the one that is receiving all the representation. It is the one which has to work on it. Of course, we will have a role to play.
What is the government's latest thinking on crypto assets?<\/strong>
Our thinking has not changed. The latest is not very different from what it was. But I suppose the way technology is, even as you understand and take a position, the milepost is moved ahead. That has consumed a lot of what we’ve been doing for some time. It’s a very big potential area, a lot of global developments are happening.
However, it depends so much on cyber-based regulatory sophistication, which our regulators need… will have to be in place. At the same time, the potential and the opportunity that it gives, particularly for fintech cannot be overlooked. We cannot be moving ahead as this doesn’t exist. Quickly, we’ll have to come up with something which takes all these into consideration. I've already said that we are not saying no to cryptocurrency<\/a>. We are saying we’ll have to see how this technology can help fintech to maximise the potential that it has. But how sophisticated regulation can be is something which I want to work with the Reserve Bank. I can say the work is nearly complete. It is now for the cabinet to go into it.
Will you bring in legislation?<\/strong>
Let's see how it's going to be handled. Is it possible with just a notification and a rule or definitely legislation is required? It's a call which the cabinet will have to take. The proposal will go with all its potential.
The RBI’s view has been that cryptocurrencies are distinct from blockchain technology. Its position has been that cryptocurrency should be banned.
We’ve had quite some discussion on it. Let's see how that plays out in the cabinet.
On the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, where are we?<\/strong>
We have crossed 8.8 million (vaccinations) on Monday. The capacity of the Indian vaccine manufacturers themselves is ramping up very well. Of late there has not been an issue of short supply. Ramping up of capacities is also happening. I think we’ll be able to largely address the issue with our Indian vaccines. That doesn’t mean that I’m shutting any option of foreign vaccines coming into the country. Moderna, Sputnik are all already on board.
China’s cracking down on its technology sector. Do you see any opportunities that might come India’s way?<\/strong>
It’s not just the crackdown. We've tasted a very restricted licence quota raj; we are coming out of it. We are also not extremely going to the other end where it is so free that sometimes it's becoming very mercantile, against the interest of the people and everything else. So, we are probably ideally situated, not so much geographically, but the principles. Therefore, people who want to relocate, see the virtues of this kind of evolution. We give the best of both worlds and a vibrant democracy being what it is, has its own way of pruning things. I've heard some very influential political thinkers, global business leaders tell me that India has it all now and we feel this is the best place to be. So, therefore, yes, opportunities exist.
Is GIFT City a part of this equation?<\/strong>
The sense of discretion, relaxations that have been offered so that they can compete globally, match itself with some of the global hubs but yet not become a tax haven within India. I think a lot of mind application has helped to bring IFSC to be what it is today. As a result, we find many of them unhesitatingly shifting from different places and locating and even the global companies which are here, finding it attractive and footfall have really gone up.
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