Enunciating slew of measures initiated by the UPA to augment the sector, the finance minister said 19 oil and gas blocks were given out for exploration and 7 new airports are under construction.
The continued rise in interest is a pressure on fiscal, but it is not an easy way out unless the government cuts back on populist measures and sticks to fiscal prudence as laid out in the FRBM, which the government missed for the second consecutive year.
Military veterans are finally set to get their dues following Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's assertion that the 'One Rank One Pension' scheme is just weeks away from being implemented.
Scouting for resources to meet its fund crunch, Railways is open to the idea of even 100 per cent FDI in its infrastructure development but would keep train operations out of its ambit.
The biggest focus area turned out to be 'investment'.
SIAM said excise duty must be lowered
Modi government's story of five years with regard to equity allocation for PSUs shows that it may have allowed a large part of its resources to be wasted. This is also a worrying reflection of the government's inability to take hard decisions - whether they pertain to privatisation or forcing weak public-sector banks to wind down their operations, says A K Bhattacharya.
The incoming government will have to encourage private investments, bring down cost of capital
In June, the new government led by Narendra Modi extended the excise duty concession by six months to December 31, which is not being further extended.
After launching the ATM service at Thiyagaraya Nagar Head Post Office, Chidambaram said that Rs 4,909 crore had been allocated for the IT modernisation of Department of Posts in the interim budget for 2014-15.
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ITC, TCS and HDFC Bank emerged as the biggest gainers during the period.
The meeting with the top officials of public sector banks is scheduled for March 5, a senior finance ministry official told PTI.
Uttar Pradesh assembly session began on a stormy note on Wednesday as legislators raised anti-government slogans and two of them took off their shirts protesting over various issues.
'That Modi and the BJP can continue to treat the rising and expanding middle class this way shows that they have gamed its mind quite perfectly,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
Alas, the 'basic income' schemes that have hit the headlines in the recent past are a far cry from the genuine article in terms of coverage and fiscal implications, says Vijay Joshi.
The minister said it was important to have a flag carrier.
'The government's projections for 2019-2020 will be disappointing big time.'
The formula for success of farm economy is very simple -- farmers should be able to produce more from the same piece of land at reduced cost while minimising risk and be connected to market to get higher realisation for their produce, points out Siraj Chaudhry.
The Finance Ministry has started preparations for Budget 2014-15 by asking different central ministries and departments to come out with their estimates of receipts as well as expenditure for the next financial year.
The government should frame new policies to assure growth.
Hussain said the new government had inherited an "empty treasury" while the prices of oil were shooting up.
Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association Consumer has also welcomed the move saying the it would improve the sentiments and strengthen the growth.
The government's largesse was widely expected after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lost power in the recent assembly polls in three Hindi heartland states, where rural distress was cited to be one of the reasons for the defeat of the saffron party.
Bimal Jalan, has recommended to the government that it cut fiscal deficit to 3.6 per cent of the GDP during 2015-16.
'The Budget that Mr Jaitley will present on February 29 will be crucial.'
'This solid verdict would further strengthen his resolve to drive forward the economic agenda to ensure that the fruits of the economic momentum continue to reach the poor, so visible during the last five years.'
It is possible that the Centre has now become wiser and has decided to follow an allocation system which gives it more from Integrated GST and helps boost its revenues, says A K Bhattacharya.
China on Wednesday announced a 12.2 per cent increase in its defence budget taking the military spending for this year to $132 billion, far above India's $36 billion.
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The Finance Ministry has filed the offer document with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India for the Central Public Sector Enterprises ETF, which could fetch the exchequer about Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion).
The rupee had gained nine paise to close at nearly one- month high of 61.84 against the dollar in yesterday's trade after the government said in the interim Budget that fiscal deficit this financial year will be capped below target.
The government's total debt increased by 2.6 per cent to over Rs 46 lakh crore in the third quarter ended December, compared to the previous three months of the current financial year.
The fiscal deficit for 2015-16 may eventually come down to the targeted level of 3.9 per cent of GDP.
Gandhi added the minimum income guarantee would be implemented across the country.
Thanks to the increased thrust on cow protection, the enforcement of the ban on cow slaughter and the relentless crusade by cow vigilantes, the agrarian ecosystem from Haryana to Uttar Pradesh has been irrevocably altered. There's a huge spike in the number of stray cattle roaming the countryside, destroying crops. Ten cows/bulls take barely an hour to eat and destroy a bigha of crop land.
While the five years of the Modi government have indeed seen a healthy increase in PSUs' outlay and the Budgetary support for them, the next year's numbers reveal the squeeze in the government's own resources even though it is expecting a much higher dividend income from the PSUs. These do not augur well for the PSUs in 2019-20 and the years ahead, unless these numbers are revisited and, hopefully, revised in the full Budget that will be presented later in July this year, says A K Bhattacharya.
While the five years of the Modi government have indeed seen a healthy increase in PSUs' outlay and the Budgetary support for them, the next year's numbers reveal the squeeze in the government's own resources even though it is expecting a much higher dividend income from the PSUs. These do not augur well for the PSUs in 2019-20 and the years ahead, unless these numbers are revisited and, hopefully, revised in the full Budget that will be presented later in July this year, says A K Bhattacharya.
There appears to be a growing perception among the political class that faster growth will not create jobs fast enough and, therefore, welfare spending needs to be drastically increased, says T T Ram Mohan.
Higher input cost is likely to weigh on Auto sector's Q4 numbers.
Ajai Shukla presents an action plan for Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to fix the systemic weaknesses in defence.
After the government backtracked on its plan to impose Customs duty on pricier components, Samsung has decided to begin production of key mobile parts in Noida from April.
