Monsoon Session Highlights: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11am tomorrow

Thank you for joining our coverage of the Monsoon Session. We will now wrap the blog. Do tune in to our LIVE blog tomorrow. Good night.

Lok Sabha adjourned

Lok Sabha has been adjourned and will meet again tomorrow at 11am 

Government's replies have been disappointing: SAD leader

The government wasted 10 days and Rs 150 crore to hold the discussion of price rise. Their replies have been disappointing. They say there is no inflation in the country, but after demonatisation, COVID-19 lockdowns, people are facing many issues. The government's farmer policies are wrong. People's businesses have shut down. Malnutrition has risen, I think it is the most in Gujarat. But they are blind to it. If they only care about how it was during the previous government's time, why remove them at all?: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal

PM has said to exit practice of giving power freebies: FM Sitharaman

The Prime Minister has said we should exit the practice of giving power freebies. I appeal to all state discoms to clear the genco dues. Despite global, domestic challenges, India is the fastest growing economy. The GST Council is a constitutionally-appointed body where all state Finance Ministers take decisions by consensus: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

If the government can help other countries, why not do it for our own people: Congress leader

The prices are rising, people are facing issues, but the government doesn't care. They boast of giving away money to other countries, help them. If you can pay those in another country, why not do it for our own people: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's reply in the US. 

FM's reply was disappointing: Congress leader

Finance Minister's reply was disappointing. The government's attitude is that there is no inflation in the country, the people are not suffering. Everything is hunky-dory. If that's your response to concerns of opposition articulating voice of 1.4 billion people of the country, why listen, says Congress leader Manish Tiwari

Only one month of GST compensation yet to be paid: FM Sitharaman

Compensation cess extended till 2026.  All compensation cess till May 2022 has been given. Rs 14,000 crore interest on back-to-back loans is being given.  Only one month of GST compensation remains to be paid. We will clear June compensation once states get the AG opinion. Tamil Nadu has claimed lot of GST comp arrears are pending, which is not true. In principle oil bonds were wrong. The government did not provide subsidy but instead put the burden on OMCs. Now the Modi government is clearing the past oil subsidies. As much as Rs 1.48 lakh crore was the total burden on OMCs; the repayment started from 2014. Principal amount of Rs 92,200 crore of oil bonds will be paid by the Modi government; Rs 79,958 crore is the accumulated interest amount. Oil bonds was a burden for the future generations, it was totally wrong: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Discussion on price rise to be held tomorrow

Discussion on price rise to be held from 2 pm tomorrow in Rajya Sabha. 16 Opposition MPs, including TMC's Derek O'Brien and Congress' Phulo Devi Netam, have given Notice under Rule 176. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will reply tomorrow evening.

India has sufficient reserves, says FM Sitharaman

Let’s not compare India with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. All these countries have sought IMF bailouts. India's position is not the same, it has sufficient reserves. We have had targeted relief packages during COVID-19, that is why the Indian economy is running very responsibly. The RBI balance sheet is approximately 27 percent of the GDP vs US central bank’s 38 percent of their GDP. We have been responsible in giving relief, not printed currency notes. The UNDP says India’s targeted subsidies have prevented populace from slipping below the poverty line. Despite two steep excise cuts on petrol, diesel Tamil Nadu hasn’t reduced duties. The state is also saying that we should buy milk in loose packets to escape GST. All decisions on GST rates are taken by the Council either with consensus or by vote. There is no tax on loose packets of milk, puffed rice among other such items. We have done this keeping the poor in mind. There wasn't any difference of opinion on this decision. Tax call on branded items was taken to reduce revenue leakage: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

No question of India getting into recession or stagflation, says Finance Minister 

There is no question of India getting into recession or stagflation. There are zero chances of recession in India as per a Bloomberg survey. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and other global issues we are doing much better now than many countries. India still remains the fastest growing economy despite reduced growth in terms of expectation. Reducing inflation quickly remains our immediate priority. Domestic prices of hot rolled steel have slipped by 8 percent, this has benefited MSMEs: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister talks about measures taken by the government to reduce inflation

Raghuram Rajan has said india has sufficient reserves and RBI has done a good job in shoring up forex. He also said there’s inflation all over the world; RBI is doing the needful to arrest this. He also noted food inflation is likely to decline including in India. Rajan did not however mention the measures taken by the government to reduce inflation. We have drastically reduced duties especially on palm oil. For sunflower, soya oil we have sourced it from other countries. Tariff rate and tariff quota has been made nil for soya, sunflower oil. Prices of edible oil has corrected sharply in June; there is an 18 percent correction in palm oil prices among the other edible oils: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister on inflation:

Inflation is there but at what level. For a small taper tantrum of Fed in 2008 the Indian economy became fragile and impact lasted till 2013. We have held the inflation well within 7 percent or even below; this is to be recognised. Omicron, global supply chain disruptions , Russia Ukraine conflict China lockdown, - despite these challenges we are trying to hold the inflation at 7 percent and below. During the UPA regime, inflation was in double digits nine times. We are delivering, Prime Minister Narendra Modi got votes due to this delivery: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

I credit the people of India as we are able to stand up and be recognised as the fastest growing economy: FM Sitharaman

We've never seen a pandemic of this kind...all of us were trying to make sure that people in our constituencies are given extra help. I recognise that everybody -MPs & State Govts- has played their role. Otherwise, India wouldn't be where it is compared to rest of the world. So, I fully credit the people of India for this...even against adversity we are able to stand up and be recognised as the fastest growing economy, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha debate: Congress blames BJP govt's policies for price rise

The Congress on Monday held the BJP-led central government responsible for the price rise, saying its decisions have hit hard 25 crore households in the country and widened the divide between the rich and the poor. Initiating a debate on the issue of the price rise in Lok Sabha, Congress member Manish Tewari alleged that savings, investment, production, consumption and employment, the five pillars of the economy, have been blown away due to the wrong policies of the Union government. During the UPA regime, 27 crore people were brought above the poverty line. Then it was learnt from a report, which was made public in 2021, that as many as 23 crore people are once again below the poverty line, he said. While the number of billionaires in India increased from 100 to 142 in these years, the income of those in the lower strata has been decreasing day by day, he said.

MoS for Petroleum & Natural Gas in Parliament:

295 geographical areas covering 98 percent of the population, 88 percent of India's area covered under the CGD network

Data is given after completion of 11-A City Gas Distributions bidding round

PNGRB data says 4531 CNG stations are functioning across India as of May 31