Finance

Amendment of section 193  In section 193 of the Income-tax Act, in the proviso, in clause (iv), for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of October, 2024, namely:— “Provided that nothing in this clause shall apply to the interest exceeding ten thousand rupees payable during the financial year on 8% Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2003 or 7.75% Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2018 or Floating Rate Savings Bonds, 2020 (Taxable) or any other security of the Central Government or State Government as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf;”.

Amendment of section 192 In section 192 of the Income-tax Act, with effect from the 1st day of October, 2024,— (I)   in sub-section (1C), for the words, brackets and figures “clause (vi) of sub-section (2)”, the words, brackets and figures “sub-clause (vi) of clause (2)” shall be substituted; (II)   in sub-section (2A), the words, brackets and figure “sub-section (1) of” shall be omitted; (III)   for sub-section (2B), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—     ‘(2B) Where an assessee who receives any income chargeable under the head “Salaries” has, in addition,— (i)   any income chargeable under any other head of income (not being a loss under any such head other than the loss under the head “Income from house property”); or (ii)   any tax deducted or collected under the provisions of Part B or Part BB of this Chapter, as the case may be,     for the same financial year, he may send to the person responsible for making the payment referred to in sub-section (1), the particulars of— (a)   such other income; (b)   any tax deducted or collected under any other provision of Part B or Part BB of this Chapter, as the case may be; and (c)   the loss, if any, under the head “Income from house property”; in such form and verified in such manner as may be prescribed, and thereupon the person responsible as aforesaid shall take into account the particulars referred to in clauses (a), (b) and (c) for the purposes of making the deduction under sub-section (1): Provided that this sub-section shall not in any case have the effect of reducing the tax deductible from income under the head “Salaries”, except where the loss under the head “Income from house property” and the tax deducted in accordance with other provisions of Part B and tax collected in accordance with the provisions of Part BB, of this Chapter, has been taken into account.

More than 40.82 crore loans amounting to ₹23.2 lakh crore sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) since inception The Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) was launched on 8th April 2015 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with the aim to facilitate easy collateral-free micro credit of up to ₹10 lakh to non-corporate, non-farm small and micro entrepreneurs for income generating activities. The loans under PMMY are provided by Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), i.e., Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) and other financial intermediaries. Upon marking successful 8th anniversary of the PMMY, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Brought under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the scheme has enabled easy and hassle-free access to credit to micro-enterprises and has helped a large number of young entrepreneurs establish their businesses.” In reference to the PMMY data, Smt. Sitharaman said, “Since the launch of the scheme, as of 24.03.2023, about ₹23.2 lakh crore has been sanctioned in 40.82 crore loan accounts. About 68% of accounts under the scheme belong to women entrepreneurs and 51% of accounts belong to entrepreneurs of SC/ST and OBC categories. This demonstrates that easy availability of credit to the budding entrepreneurs of the country has led to innovation and sustained increase in per capita income.” Highlighting indigenous growth through MSMEs, the Finance Minister said, “The growth of MSMEs has contributed massively to the “Make in India” programme as strong domestic MSMEs lead to increased indigenous production both for domestic markets as well as for exports. The PMMY scheme has helped in the generation of large-scale employment opportunities at the grassroots level and also has proved to be a game changer while boosting the Indian economy.” On the occasion, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad said, “The PMMY scheme aims to provide collateral free access to credit in a seamless manner to micro enterprises in the country. It has brought the unserved and under-served sections of the society within the framework of institutional credit. The government policy of promoting MUDRA has led millions of MSME enterprises in the formal economy and has helped them to get out of the clutches of money-lenders offering very high cost funds.” As we celebrate the 8th anniversary of providing financial inclusion through the pillars of Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), let us glance through some of the major features and achievements of the Scheme: The implementation of financial inclusion programme in the country is based on three pillars, namely, Banking the Unbanked Securing the Unsecured and Funding the Unfunded These aforesaid three objectives are being achieved through leveraging technology and adopting multi-stakeholders’ collaborative approach, while serving the unserved and underserved as well. One of the three pillars of FI – Funding the Unfunded, is reflected in the Financial Inclusion ecosystem through PMMY, which is being implemented with the objective to provide access to credit for small entrepreneurs. Features The loans have been divided into three categories based on the need for finance and stage in maturity of the business.  These are Shishu (loans up to ₹50,000/-), Kishore (loans above ₹50,000/- and up to ₹5 lakh), and Tarun (loans above ₹5 lakh and up to ₹10 lakh).  Loans under PMMY are provided to meet both term loan and working capital components of financing for income generating activities in manufacturing, trading and service sectors, including activities allied to agriculture such as poultry, dairy, beekeeping, etc.  The rate of interest is decided by lending institutions in terms of RBI guidelines.  In case of working capital facility, interest is charged only on money held overnight by borrower. Achievements under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) as on 24.03.2023 More than 40.82 crore loans amounting to ₹23.2 lakh crore have been sanctioned since launch of the Scheme.  Approximately 21% of the total loans have been sanctioned to New Entrepreneurs. Approximate 69% loans of the total number of loans have been sanctioned to Women Entrepreneurs & 51% loans have been sanctioned to SC/ST/OBC categories of borrowers. Category-wise breakup:- Category No. of Loans (%) Amount Sanctioned (%) Shishu 83% 40% Kishore 15% 36% Tarun 2% 24% Total 100% 100%   Targets have been achieved since the inception of the Scheme barring F.Y. 2020-21 due to Covid-19 pandemic. Year-wise sanction amount is as follows:- Year No of Loans Sanctioned (in cr.) Amount Sanctioned (₹ Lakh crore) 2015-16 3.49 1.37 2016-17 3.97 1.80 2017-18 4.81 2.54 2018-19 5.98 3.22 2019-20 6.22 3.37 2020-21 5.07 3.22 2021-22 5.37 3.39 2022-23 (as on 24.03.2023)* 5.88 4.32 Total 40.82 23.2    *Provisional Any other relevant information Interest Subvention of 2% on prompt repayment of Shishu loans extended under PMMY for a period of 12 months to all eligible borrowers’ Announced by the Finance Minister on 14.05.2020 under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The Scheme was formulated as a specific response to an unprecedented situation and aimed to alleviate financial stress for borrowers at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ by reducing their cost of credit. The Scheme was operational till 31.08.2021. ₹636.89 crore have been disbursed by SIDBI to MLIs for onward credit of subvention amount into accounts of borrowers. Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU) Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units was set up in January 2016 under the aegis of the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd. (NCGTC), a wholly-owned company of Government of India, to provide guarantee to: Loans extended to eligible micro units under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) up to ₹10 lakh, by Banks/ Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)/ Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs)/ other financial intermediaries; Overdraft loan amount of ₹5,000 (enhanced to ₹10,000 in Sep, 2018) sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts; and Self Help Group (SHG) portfolio between ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh (w.e.f. 01.04.2020).