Parliament watch: Falling Re to give exports an edge; states, UTs granted GST compensation

SCBs’ Gross NPA Ratio at Historic Low

Gross NPAs as a percentage of gross loans and advances of 977.3 scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), or gross NPA ratio, for domestic operations has been declining in the last eight financial years and was at a historic low of 2.15% as at end of September, 2025 (provisional data), MoS for finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha. This continuous decline in gross NPAs of SCBs, including PSBs, has led to reduced provisioning by them, which has improved their profitability, thereby causing positive impact on the business growth, he said.

307 GW Thermal Capacity Needed


Thermal power capacity requirement by 2034-35 is estimated at around 307 GW, MoS for power Shripad Naik said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. To meet this requirement, the ministry has envisaged to set up an additional minimum 97 GW coal- and lignite-based thermal capacity. Against the requirement, thermal capacities of around 17.4 GW have already been commissioned from April 2023 till January 20 this year. In addition, 39.5 GW of thermal capacity is currently under construction.

Falling Re to Give Exports an Edge

The rupee’s depreciation against the dollar in recent months can enhance export competitiveness and raise prices of imported goods, the Lok Sabha was informed Monday. In a written reply, MoS for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the overall impact of exchange rate depreciation on domestic prices, however, “depends on the extent of the pass-through, elasticity of demand for imported goods and the policy actions”. He added that the recent surge in gold and silver prices is largely driven by global price movement of the commodities rather than weakening of the rupee.

External Debt Sustainable

India’s external debt remains sustainable and prudently managed, MoS for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha Monday, stressing that the country’s debt service ratio eased to 6% as of September 2025 from 6.6% until the end of FY25. He also said that the external debtto-GDP ratio stood at 19.2%, while the forex reserves, as percentage of external debt, was as high as 93.8%

CAG Audit Finds PMKVY Deviations

The CAG audit report on Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), covering first three phases of the scheme up to 2022, identified certain instances of deviations relating to age, educational and work experience eligibility parameters, thereby providing valuable inputs for strengthening programme delivery, skills development minister Jayant Chaudhary said in Lok Sabha Monday.

States, UTs Granted GST Compensation

The finance ministry Monday told parliament that the Centre has already released entire amount of provisionally admissible GST compensation to states and UTs for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022. The final compensation arising out of reconciliation of provisional figures with audited figures has also been released, except to Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.