For his first Budget in July 2014, Jaitley inherited a fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of GDP. From 4.1 per cent, the fiscal deficit came down to 3.4 per cent by 2018-19, with two slippages from the budgeted targets, in 2017-18 and 2018-19, the former due to introduction of the GST, says Arup Roychoudhury.
Lenders have become worried as some dealers were not using the money provided to them for car financing.
The regulator is now planning to bring in other workers in the aviation ecosystem under the purview of the breath-analyser test. It will include air traffic control officers (ATCOs), ground-handling personnel, flight despatchers, aerodrome operation personnel and engineers.
The regulator will audit an airport's ground facilities, its turnaround and general safety procedures, and the movement of vehicles. Underground facilities, ground servicing equipment, passenger boarding bridges, condition of the apron, marking and lighting, and availability of foreign object dustbin bins will be checked.
Sources in the Fifteenth Finance Commission said that they will implement the provisions after the bill is enacted and the President makes a reference to it.
Gangwal said he will not vote in favour of resolutions that intend to expand the size of the board to 10 members. Gangwal wants a seven-member board.
As the government plans to take sector-specific steps to tackle the slump, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will soon hold talks with representatives from various sectors to get and take steps so that the confidence of those sectors can be restored.
Credit to priority sectors as well as small and medium industries will be discussed to find ways to accelerate economic growth.
An official said that people in the government were aware of the benefits as well as the drawbacks of issuing overseas sovereign bonds, and there will be consultations with all stakeholders.
With less than five months left for the report of the Fifteenth Finance Commission to be submitted, its chairman N K Singh said the report will have fiscal road map for states, depending on their current situation.
Owing to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman being new to her role, a number of crucial announcements in the Budget bore Garg's imprint, especially the decision to borrow in overseas markets, reduce the fiscal deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product, and resort to off-Budget borrowing to meet that target, says Arup Roychoudury.
A government panel said policymakers and regulators should have an open mind regarding the introduction of an official digital currency in India.
The bonds will likely be simultaneously launched in major financial centres such as London, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York for a term of no less than 20 years.
Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal - the founders of IndiGo - will possibly face each other with deep mistrust, which the board chairman, M Damodaran, will attempt to defuse.
The railways heritage lines that are part of the UNESCO-accorded sites list include Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway, and Kalka Shimla Railway.
Sources in the know said the government would initiate talks with businesses, including Tatas, shortly for divesting its stake in the national carrier.
The main difference of opinion between RBI and FinMin is over the transfer of the RBI's 'excess' capital reserves. The Jalan panel seeks to convince finance secretary Subhash Garg to soften his dissent note language. The move is aimed at maintaining the now-cordial relations between the RBI and the finance ministry.
'Now we will have real employees as the owner of the airline.'
The divestment target remaining unchanged, from the 2019-20 interim Budget, this year means the Centre will now have to depend on non-tax revenue sources like dividends from the RBI, PSBs and PSUs, as there are real concerns of a tax revenue shortfall. The fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of GDP for 2019-20 is likely to be retained as well.
It was 55.3 per cent for the same period last year, and data shows the fiscal deficit for April-May was kept in reasonable check in spite of heavy frontloading of expenditure.