Parliament watch: Centre says no STT rethink as F&O activity remains strong

The government has no proposal to review the existing securities transaction tax (STT) structure and the trade volume under future and options (F&O) remains strong ever after rate hike, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a reply tabled in Parliament on Monday. \

The statement noted that the NSE accounted for 91.6% of overall futures and options turnover during FY 2025-26, including futures turnover and options premium turnover. Following the increase in STT effective April 1, 2026, an analysis of NSE year-on-year data showed that total volumes across all categories of market participants remained higher by 16.2%, indicating continued market activity.

No coal royalty revision plans

There is no proposal to revise the rate of royalty to states payable on coal, minister of state for coal and mines Satish Chandra Dubey informed Parliament. Responding to a question in the the Rajya Sabha, he said the issue of revision of the rate of royalty was raised by Odisha during the Eastern Zonal Council meeting held in February 2020 and after due deliberations, it was decided that the issue would be dropped.