Govt has "almost" cleaned the NPA mess: Official

The government has put in place necessary policy measures to bring about financial stability, an official said Saturday, while claiming that the administration has "almost" cleaned the NPA mess. The transaction cost in Indian exchanges, including commodities transaction tax (CTT) and securities transaction tax (STT), is higher than international market places such as Singapore and Hong Kong, said C S Mohapatra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.

He noted that over a period of time the transaction cost must be reduced.

Mohapatra was speaking at the annual convention on 'Capital Market & Commodity Market - Moving Towards $5 Trillion Economy' organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.


The official observed that the government has tried its best and already put in place necessary policy measures to bring about financial stability in the institutional mechanism of the country which would make way to achieve desired objectives.

With regard to non-performing assets (NPAs) situation, Mohapatra said: "We have cleaned it up almost and we have also strengthened through IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code), through NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) ..."

He also pointed out that a critical tool towards achieving the USD 5 trillion size of the Indian economy will be concentrating more on increased efforts to bring about more financial literacy and intensive financial inclusion within the real stakeholders in commodities and capital market.

"When we talk of a USD 5 trillion economy, it is important that we also understand that such targets cannot be achieved without including the commodities market," said Neeraj Kulshrestha, Chief of Business Operations, BSE.

In the last 23-24 years, Indian markets have changed dramatically, said NSE Business Development Chief Ravi Varanasi, adding that across products we have shown that we have the best possible technology and infrastructure to provide for investors to access the markets.