Top Headlines: India ups windfall tax on crude, 6.5% growth likely in FY24

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India raises windfall tax on crude oil, diesel and aviation turbine fuel

India has raised windfall tax on petroleum, crude oil and aviation turbine fuel, according to a government order dated Jan. 2.

It raised windfall tax on crude oil to Rs 2,100 ($25.38) per tonne from Rs 1,700 ($20.55), effective Tuesday, the order said.

The federal government also raised export tax on diesel to Rs 7.5 per litre from Rs 5, while raising the windfall tax on ATF to Rs 4.5 per litre from Rs 1.5, the document showed. Read more

6.5% growth plausible in FY24, says EAC-PM chairman Bibek Debroy

Amid growing concern over the Centre’s elevated public debt-to-GDP ratio, Bibek Debroy, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), says the government’s debt is not difficult to manage, though a medium-term fiscal strategy is required. In an interview, Debroy tells Asit Ranjan Mishra that he is concerned about the delay in conducting the census and, in general, about the quality of Indian data. Read more

Costs near Rs 10K crore, Swiggy losses widen 2x to Rs 3.6K crore

Food delivery aggregator Swiggy’s losses widened 2.24 times to Rs 3,628.9 crore during last financial year, as its expenses surged 227 per cent in a year. This is even as the decacorn’s revenue jumped more than twofold to Rs 5,704.9 crore in FY22, according to details from company research platform Tofler.

While the company’s losses surged from a base of Rs 1,616.9 crore in FY21, its total expense in FY22 touched Rs 9,748.7 crore, from Rs 4,292.8 crore a year ago.

Swiggy, the unlisted key competitor of Zomato, spent 300 per cent more on advertisement and promotional charges and the figure hit Rs 1,848.7 crore in FY22, up from Rs 461 crore in FY21. Read more

SC upholds 2016 decision on demonetisation by 4:1 majority verdict

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Modi government’s 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, saying the decision was about executive policy and could not be reversed.

The court rejected the 58 petitions challenging demonetisation and said the decision-making process of the government was not flawed.

The judgment, authored by Justice B R Gavai, was agreed to by judges S Abdul Nazeer, A S Bopanna, and V Ramasubramanian.

Justice B V Nagarathna faulted demonetisation in her dissenting judgment but did not quash it. Read more

Results preview: IT sector likely to tread cautiously in Q3FY23

Traditionally, the second half of a financial year is weak for the IT services industry owing to furloughs.

But the third quarter of FY23 may be further muted with a deteriorating macro scenario because of which companies are showing concerns on deal closure.

The cautionary note was brought in by HCLTech. The company’s management — during its investor day in the first week of December — indicated that FY23 revenue could be at the lower end of the guidance. The reason for this was higher furloughs in sectors like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and hi-tech. Read more