India to Hike Capital Gains Tax in Setback for Stock Market Boom.

India has proposed increasing taxes on capital gains from equity investments and stock derivatives trades in an effort to curb speculative activity in the country's $5 trillion stock market. The government plans to implement a 20% tax on financial assets held for less than 12 months, up from the previous 15%. Additionally, the tax on long-term capital gains will be raised to 12.5% from 10%, although the exemption limit for these levies has been increased to 125,000 rupees from 100,000 rupees. The move comes as the government expresses concerns over the surge in derivatives trading and the potential for overconfidence and speculative behavior among retail investors. [Extracted from the article]