Finance

Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces exemption of custom duties on critical minerals

Published

2 years ago

July 23, 2024

Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces exemption of custom duties on critical minerals

Villagers show lithium stones in Reasi district of Jammu (file photo)
| Photo Credit: PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23 announced to fully exempt 25 critical minerals from custom duties, and reduce basic custom duties (BCD) on two of them. “This will provide a major fillip to the processing and refining of such minerals and help secure their availability for these strategic and important sectors,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

Click here for the Union Budget 2024 updates, highlights

Ms. Sitharaman presented her seventh straight Budget on Tuesday for the third term of the Modi government.

These critical minerals include antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, hafnium, indium, lithium, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, potash, rare earth elements, rhenium, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, selenium, cadmium, and silicon (other than quartz and silicon dioxide). The custom duty on these minerals was previously in the range of 2.5% and 10%.

For silicon quartz and silicon dioxide, BCD has been reduced from 5-7.5% to 2.5%.

For graphite, BCD has been reduced from 5-7.5% range to 2.5%. On July 22, Coal India Limited announced it secured a graphite block, a critical mineral, in Madhya Pradesh — the company’s first-ever non-coal mineral mining venture.

Also Read: Budget 2024: Mobile phones, gold and silver jewellery to get cheaper

India currently recognises 30 critical minerals.

The government will set up a Critical Mineral mission for domestic production, recycling of critical minerals, and overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets, Ms. Sitharaman announced. This will include technology development, skilled workforce, extended producer responsibility framework, and a suitable financing mechanism.

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Finance

How digital payments are reshaping a fast-growing digital banking market

Published

7 hours ago

June 26, 2026

Press Room

How digital payments are reshaping a fast-growing digital banking market

Digital payments are becoming an increasingly common part of everyday life in Uzbekistan, helping bring more consumers into the formal financial system and increasing demand for services beyond basic transactions.

According to a financial inclusion survey conducted by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan with support from the Asian Development Bank, 71.17% of respondents reported making or receiving at least one digital payment in 2025, compared with 39% in 2021.

The increase follows several years of policies aimed at expanding financial inclusion, encouraging electronic payments and introducing digital tools such as remote identification systems for banking customers.

Interviews conducted by Euronews on the sidelines of the Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF) suggest that the rapid adoption of digital payments is now beginning to influence wider parts of the financial sector, from lending and insurance to investment products and banking services for businesses.

Digital payments enter the mainstream

Industry executives point to a combination of demographic, technological and regulatory factors behind the growth of digital financial services.

Nikolay Seleznyov, co-founder of Uzum, a company active in e-commerce, digital payments and financial services, said the expansion is bringing more people into the banking system.

“More and more people are becoming bank customers. And this trend is irreversible.”

Oliver Hughes, chairman of TBC Uzbekistan, a digital bank operating through the TBC UZ and Payme applications, pointed to the country’s young population and widespread use of mobile technology as factors supporting the shift towards digital services.

The trend is also affecting established lenders. Dmitry Sapronov, deputy chairman of Ipoteka Bank, which became part of Hungary’s OTP Group in 2023, said customer demand for digital services has increased significantly in recent years, requiring banks to rethink how they deliver products and interact with clients.

Regulation and infrastructure

Executives said the growth of digital finance has been supported by both regulatory changes and investment in digital infrastructure.

The Central Bank and other institutions have introduced measures aimed at expanding financial inclusion and encouraging electronic payments, while digital identification systems have made it easier for consumers to access banking products remotely.

“The digital ID product was one of the biggest enablers here for all the players in the financial services industry,” Seleznyov said.

According to him, digital identification has reduced onboarding times from days to seconds, allowing financial institutions to verify customers remotely and expand access to services.

At the same time, Hughes argued that regulation remains a critical part of the sector’s development as more financial activity moves online.

“Regulation is always important because it’s people’s money, it’s people’s data.”

Sapronov also pointed to the need for continued investment in banking technology, saying the pace of development is creating pressure on institutions to modernise their systems.

Beyond everyday payments

While digital transactions are becoming more widespread, executives said many financial products remain at an earlier stage of development.

Sapronov said the transformation extends beyond individual products, affecting how banks operate, deliver services and interact with customers.

“This transformation touched all aspects of the banking operation, products, process, digitalisation, branch network, almost everything.”

His comments reflect a broader shift within the sector as banks adapt to customers who increasingly expect services to be available through digital channels.

Hughes highlighted insurance, investment products and services for micro, small and medium-sized businesses as areas where adoption remains relatively limited.

“The level of penetration of banking services is still fairly low.”

He also argued that retail investment products available through mobile applications are only beginning to emerge in Uzbekistan.

Areas that still need development

Despite the rapid growth in digital payments, executives identified several areas where further development is still needed.

Seleznyov also pointed to the importance of maintaining both digital and physical infrastructure, including payment terminals and cash access points, as consumers continue to move between cash and digital transactions.

Sapronov described technology as one of the sector’s main challenges, arguing that demand for digital services is growing faster than some parts of the industry’s infrastructure.

“The challenges are related to tech because the country is developing so fast, and in terms of technology, the banking sector is quite underdeveloped.”

Finance

Anne Arundel County Launches New Finance and Procurement Platform

Published

18 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Anne Arundel County Launches New Finance and Procurement Platform

Anne Arundel County is preparing to launch a new finance and e-procurement system to modernize county operations and improve how businesses interact with local government.

The new platform, called Harbor, is scheduled to go live in July and will replace the County’s legacy procurement system with a centralized cloud-based platform built on Oracle Fusion Cloud.

County officials say the new system is designed to streamline procurement and financial processes while making it easier for both existing and prospective vendors to do business with the County.

From the press release:

“Harbor is a much-needed upgrade that will streamline services for our county agencies and those who do business with the county,” said Anne Arundel County Chief Administrative Officer Christine Anderson.

The platform will serve as a single portal for supplier registration, bid opportunities, invoicing, payment tracking, and contract management, consolidating what had previously been spread across multiple systems. County leaders say the transition is part of a broader effort to modernize operations, improve efficiency, and lower barriers for businesses seeking to compete for county contracts.

For counties, procurement modernization remains an important operational priority as local governments look to improve transparency, strengthen vendor engagement, and simplify access for businesses of all sizes. Anne Arundel County has encouraged interested suppliers to review training materials and registration information ahead of the July launch.

Finance

Quadient Recognized as a Leader in the 2026 SPARK Matrix for Accounts Receivable Applications

Published

1 day ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

QUADIENT

Quadient demonstrates continued innovation in AI-driven invoice-to-cash automation and unified finance operations

Paris

Quadient (Euronext Paris: QDT), a global automation platform powering secure and sustainable business connections, announced today it has been recognized for the fifth consecutive year as a Leader in the 2026 SPARK Matrix™ for Accounts Receivable Applications by technology analyst and advisory firm QKS Group. Quadient strengthened its position in the report year-over-year, with a notable improvement in Technology Excellence, reflecting continued innovation in its AI-driven invoice-to-cash solution.

According to QKS Group, Quadient’s leadership position highlights its evolution into a comprehensive, AI-powered platform that delivers strong predictive accuracy and straight-through processing. The analyst firm also emphasized the capability of Quadient’s solutions to unify accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP), offering finance leaders greater visibility and insights into their business finances to make faster, better decisions on working capital management.

Earlier this month, Quadient announced the release of its new cash dashboard capability for AR and AP that allows finance teams to bring together traditionally siloed data in a single view. An AI assistant summarizes key metrics and provides analysis that helps finance leaders accelerate cash on hand, improve forecasting, reduce risk and uncover opportunities to optimize working capital.

“Quadient has established a strong position in the 2026 Accounts Receivable Automation market through its focus on intelligent automation, cash flow optimization and integrated financial operations,” said Sanjeevi C R, associate vice president, Enterprise Research at QKS Group. “The platform’s evolution from predictive analytics to AI-driven autonomous collections execution represents a meaningful step forward in reducing manual effort across the invoice-to-cash cycle. What differentiates Quadient is its ability to combine collections management, cash application, and payment processing with a unified accounts receivable and accounts payable ecosystem, providing finance leaders with a more holistic view of working capital performance. By enabling greater automation, enhanced cash flow visibility, and more efficient receivables operations, Quadient continues to deliver measurable value for organizations seeking to modernize their financial processes and improve liquidity management.”

QKS Group highlighted the following key strengths for Quadient AR: