Parliament Watch: FM on rupee, `16.1 lakh cr fuel taxes, India-US trade talks and more

Crude prices, reduced capital A/C support impacted rupee: FM

The rupee depreciation against the dollar in recent months has been influenced by several factors, including reduced support from the capital account amid rising crude oil prices in the wake of the conflict in West Asia, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a statement that while the currency depreciation will likely bolster export competitiveness, thus impacting the economy positively, it may also raise prices of imported goods. Besides the exchange rate, the import bill is also determined by several factors, including global supply-demand conditions, geopolitical developments, domestic demand, and factors. Global value chain integration necessitating imports of intermediate goods for production and exports, and international prices of imported products, too, weigh on a country's import bill, she said. The rupee ended up 12 paise at 96.24 a dollar on Tuesday, thanks mainly to the West Asia war.

India engaged with US amid trade policy changes

The government is closely monitoring recent US trade policy developments and remains engaged with Washington, the commerce and industry ministry told Parliament on Tuesday. India and the US announced a trade deal in February. The government said the 25% additional US tariffs imposed on certain Indian exports over India's imports of Russian oil have since been removed.

Single-brand retail FDI slumps in FY26

The cumulative FDI inflow from April 2021 to March 2026 in single-brand retail was $1.52 billion. The investments have declined to $179.25 million in FY26 from $486.66 million in FY22. Similarly, the cumulative FDI in multi-brand retail was $34.38 million during April 2021 to March 2026. Investments in the sector have increased to $9.7 million in FY26 from $7.47 million in FY22.

Textile PLI attracts `8,118 cr investment

Companies approved under the productionlinked incentive (PLI) scheme for textiles have invested `8,117.64 crore and generated 33,427 jobs as of March 31, 2026, minister of state for textiles Pabitra Margherita informed the Lok Sabha. A total of 170 companies have been approved under the scheme. Gujarat accounted for the highest investment at `1,903.4 crore, followed by Karnataka (`1,516 crore) and Goa (`1,355.9 crore). Tamil Nadu generated the highest employment at 7,930 jobs, followed by Karnataka (5,611) and Madhya Pradesh (4,970). The government said no cost delays have been reported in implementing the scheme.

Fuel taxes fetch govt `16.1 lakh cr in five years

The finance ministry Tuesday told Parliament that the government has collected `16.11 lakh crore as excise duty, cesses and surcharges on the fuel and petroleum products during the last five years. The highest collection was during the financial year 2021-22, when the Centre collected `3.83 lakh crore, minister of state for finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. The finance ministry on Tuesday told Parliament that total revenue foregone was `3.35 lakh crore for the financial year 2025-26 on account of various tax incentives to corporates and non-corporates.

PLI scheme push collects `2.4 lakh cr

The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes have attracted over `2.4 lakh crore in investments, created more than 14.15 lakh jobs until March this year, and enabled exports worth over `15.2 lakh crore since inception. The highest investment came in highefficiency solar PV modules (`64,873 crore), followed by pharma (`45,158 crore), auto (`44,326 crore), speciality steel (`23,896 crore) and largescale electronics manufacturing (`20,580 crore).