Finance Bill 2023: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the bill amid sloganeering from the opposition MPs.
Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill 2023 with over 45 amendments amid slogan shouting by opposition members. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Finance Bill 2023 amid an uproar by the opposition parties. The opposition demanded an inquiry into the Adani issue.
The Finance Bill 2023 was passed by the Lok Sabha without any debate, even as the opposition continued with its protests, demanding a JPC probe against Gautam Adani and his conglomerate.
Twenty more sections have been added to the Bill. The Budget was also passed without any discussion on Thursday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also proposed setting up a committee under the Finance Secretary on the pension system in order to address the issues of employees as well as maintain fiscal prudence. “I propose to set up a committee under the finance secretary to look into this issue of pension and evolve an approach which addresses the needs of employees while maintaining fiscal prudence to protect the common citizens. The approach will be designed for adoption by both central and state governments,” the minister said.
The minister said that the RBI should look into issues related to credit card payments for foreign tours not being captured under the Liberalised Remittances Scheme (LRS). “RBI is being requested to look into this with a view to bring credit card payments for foreign tours within the ambit of LRS and tax collection at source there on,” she announced.
Moreover, debt mutual funds will no longer enjoy long-term tax benefits if they invest less than 35 per cent of their assets in equities. The amendment in the Financial Bill 2023 stated: “Specified mutual fund means a mutual fund by whatever name called where not more than 35 per cent of its total proceeds is invested in equity shares of the domestic companies.”
The chair adjourned the proceedings of the lower house till Monday as several opposition members raised slogans demanding a probe into Adani and its companies.
