New Delhi, Sep 6: In a gesture underscoring the spirit of cooperative federalism, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has written to finance ministers of all states, expressing gratitude for their support and active role in helping implement the landmark overhaul of the goods and services tax (GST) regime.

In an interview with PTI, Sitharaman said states made their view on the proposal to rejig tax rates but ultimately agreed that it was for the benefit of the common man, an argument that helped reach a unanimous decision at the GST Council meeting earlier this week.

The overhaul, which will from September 22 see rates of a wide swath of products — from butter to chocolates and shampoos to tractors and air conditioners — come down, was agreed at a meeting of the GST Council on September 3.

The panel is headed by Sitharaman and includes representatives of all states and Union Territories.

“Yesterday, I have written a letter to each finance minister thanking them, saying, you can have any number of intense discussion and argument, but finally, the Council rose to the occasion and gave relief to the people of India, to all people of India. And, I am grateful for that gesture. So, I wrote that letter,” she said.

She said the work at the Council was truly “remarkable”.

Despite apprehensions over loss of revenue from classifying most products into categories: 5 per cent for common use goods and 18 per cent for everything else, and doing away with 12 and 28 per cent slabs, the GST Council took a unanimous decision for the GST rejig.

The panel was to meet for two days starting September 3 to discuss the proposal made by the Centre but ended up approving it on the very first day after a marathon daylong meeting.

“So the sense of the house was, this is a proposal which is going to undoubtedly benefit the common man. There is no point in standing against it… Ultimately everybody came together for a good cause, and I’m truly very grateful,” Sitharaman said.

The minister said states were always in favour of rate reduction and their only concern was with regard to their revenue implications post-tax cuts.

“I even appealed to them, saying, for the sake of the people of India, Please. It’s not just the states. It’s even the Centre that is going to get affected by the reduction. But we’ll make up for it because once the rates come down, people are going to come out to buy, and that will take care of it (revenue impact). That’s how consensus was arrived at,” she said.

Sitharaman, speaking at a press conference following the GST Council meeting, had expressed her gratitude to the states for their cooperation and collaborative efforts in implementing one of India’s most significant tax reforms.

On Saturday, she noted that the Council had given a patient hearing to every comment and suggestion put forward by its members.

“All points were thoroughly deliberated before arriving at a consensus,” she said.

She also highlighted the inclusive nature of the discussions, adding that several ministers who wished to speak again after their initial points had already been debated were given the opportunity to do so.

“Their additional inputs were heard and taken into account,” the Finance Minister emphasised. She also credited states for their constructive participation in the GST Council and their commitment to driving tax reform. (Agencies)

 MUMBAI, Sept 6: Mumbai police have arrested a 50-year-old man from Noida for allegedly sending a threat message claiming 14 terrorists had entered the city with 400 kilograms of RDX to carry out blasts, an official said on Saturday.

The crime branch apprehended the accused, Ashwinikumar Supra, from his residence in Sector 79 of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, within 24 hours of receiving the threat message, he said.

The message was received on the traffic police’s WhatsApp helpline on Thursday, in which the sender had claimed that 14 terrorists had entered the city with human bombs and 400 kgs of RDX and planted it in 34 vehicles to blow up the city, the official said.

The city police were on alert, as the threat was issued while they were making security arrangements for Anant Chaturdashi, the 10th day of the Ganesh festival.

A case was registered at the Worli police station, and the crime branch took over the probe, he said.

The crime branch traced the sender’s mobile phone number to Gautam Buddha Nagar, following which a police team travelled to Noida and apprehended the accused, the official said.

The arrested accused is being brought to Mumbai and will be produced before the court, later in the day, he added.

The motive behind the hoax threat is yet to be ascertained, police said. (PTI)

New Delhi, Sep 6: Adani Power on Saturday said it has inked a pact with Bhutan’s state-owned utility Druk Green Power to set up a 570MW hydro project entailing investment of Rs 6,000 crore, in the Himalayan Kingdom.

As per the pact, Adani Power and Druk Green Power Corp Ltd (DGPC), will initiate the the peaking run-of-river Wangchhu hydroelectric project on a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) model.

A power purchase agreement and a concession agreement were signed in this regard in the presence of Prime Minister of Bhutan, Dasho Tshering Tobgay and Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, a company statement said.

The Wangchhu project will see an investment of about Rs 6,000 crore in setting up the power plant and related infrastructures.

With the detailed project report already completed, construction work is expected to begin by the first half of 2026, and the completion is targeted within five years of groundbreaking.

“The Wangchhu hydroelectric project will critically meet Bhutan’s peak winter demand, when hydro power generation is low. During the summer months, it would export power to India,” said SB Khyalia, CEO, Adani Power.

The Wangchhu is the first hydroelectric project to be taken up under an MoU signed in May 2025 between Adani Group and DGPC for jointly developing 5,000 MW of hydropower in Bhutan.

Adani Group and DGPC are engaged in further discussions for future projects under this strategic partnership.

Adani Power is the largest private thermal power producer in India.

DGPC is the sole generation utility of Bhutan with a current generation portfolio of a little over 2,500 MW and growing fast with Bhutan’s aspirations to achieve 25,000 MW in generation capacity by 2040.

Druk Holding & Investments, the commercial arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan, is DGPC’s shareholder.

Established in 2008 to take a lead role in developing Bhutan’s hydropower resources, it has recently diversified beyond hydropower into tapping solar resources also. (Agencies)