Politically, it will not be easy for Modi to take hard decisions such as raising fuel prices in the first budget, given the risk of higher inflation.
Arvind Panagariya is widely expected to take a top advisory role in prime minister-elect Narendra Modi's government.
Gold purchases have risen after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government lifted the restrictions imposed on imports in 2013.
Like 2017-18, govt will seek comments from the public at large, including Facebook and Twitter
Flipkart crashing when sale of Xiaomi's Mi3 opened proves the phone has generated much interest.
In the last budget, then finance minister Arun Jaitley had allocated Rs 85,010 crore for the education sector which was later revised to Rs 83,625.86 crore.
Sitharaman said the government will bring in a new national education policy to transform India's higher education system into one of the best in the world.
While the surcharge on super-rich would help garner additional income of around Rs 12,000 crore this fiscal on the direct tax side.
The NDA government announced making of 100 smart cities.
'How do you deliver wealth when you don't have the slightest idea about it?' asks T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
BJP on Thursday said while claiming the exercise had brought back "hope" into the economy by charting a roadmap for the country's economic resurgence.
FinMin does not expect tax or non-tax revenue to reach anywhere close to the targets set in the interim Budget. Sources say that the challenge before the new government will be either to accept the reduced projection and tailor the Budget accordingly or set a more ambitious target.
The repo rate, at which the central bank lends to the system, will come down to 5.75 per cent after the cut.
'The household sector, which is still the largest contributor of financial savings, has been experiencing a decline in the last six years, and it has fallen below 8% of GDP.'
Budget planners for now have been told to prepare with the assumption that GST will apply from April 1.
For all five secretaries in the finance ministry, this will be the first Budget in their existing capacity.
The Congress said that a chief minister "has to be always happy".
'No matter how many government schemes there are for the poor, the system works more for the privileged, less for the little guy,' notes T N Ninan.
In the Modi government, he was the mentor -- he groomed half a dozen of those who became ministers. Some remembered, others did not -- Jaitley seemed to care little. Aditi Phadnis reports.
Stating that pushing GDP growth, which has slipped to 5-year low of 6.8 per cent in 2018-19, is the top priority, President Ramnath Kovind said Modi govt will bring more reforms and raise farm investments to boost growth.
Investment guru and mutual fund expert Ashok Kumar, answers all your MF related queries.
Some of the policy measures announced are expected to go a long way in removing current challenges on financing faced by businesses and also increasing economic activity, especially in areas of construction and manufacturing.
'The government's projections for 2019-2020 will be disappointing big time.'
Invest early. Plan your taxes.
Since much of the voting was on religious lines, Mamata's rural focus became irrelevant.
There will be incentives in interest rates offered to farmers so that they can to pay back agriculture loans in time, says Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
You see him seated at meetings, looking a trifle lost, or mouthing homilies at government functions (the MAFA syndrome -- mistaking articulation for action). Other than that, he is both invisible and silent. This is no way to lead.
Reforms process has definitely degenerated into a newer form of LPG -- Loot, Plunder and Goonda-raj.
Second deal in 4 months after tie-up with RIL for cargo airlines.
Says current interest rates are a disincentive for growth, especially in the construction sector
India Inc has high hopes from the upcoming Budget.
From withdrawing the stimulus to implementing the Finance Commission proposals, the FM has his task cut out.
...for others it would be an incentive to participate more robustly in equities and other tax instruments.
Forget about interim Budgets, one cannot easily recall even a full Budget of any government in recent times having rolled out benefits of this order to such a large number of people, says A K Bhattacharya.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is set to hold his first Budget related meeting with 28 financial advisors of various ministries and departments.
Fifty-six months on, the government's record in implementing these schemes and projects has been mixed, report Arup Roychoudhury and Indivjal Dhasmana.
Rahul is going about the restructuring of the Congress leadership in a gradual, deliberate fashion: No sudden jerks, no abrupt moves. So while seniors like Janardan Dwivedi were edged out, Ahmed Patel has been retained.
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Riding high on improved market sentiment, especially after the Narendra Modi government took charge in late May, more and more investors are going for real estate compared to stocks and gold, according to a survey.
Will the finance minister present a legacy-seeking Budget?
The IT and ITeS sectors expect a reduction in minimum alternate tax (MAT) and dividend distribution tax in the next month's Union Budget, a senior economist said on Tuesday.
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