Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. This was Sitharaman's fourth Budget. While the taxpayers were left in the lurch, once again, was she able to cheer Corporate India?
State-owned oil firms such as ONGC and IOC will invest over Rs 1.11 lakh crore in the next fiscal year starting April as they supplement the government's massive spending programme to spur economic growth. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), GAIL (India) Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) will together make a 7.4 per cent higher capital expenditure in the 2022-23 fiscal (FY23). The capex spending of Rs 1.11 lakh crore in 2022-23 compares with a revised estimate of Rs 1.04 lakh crore for the current fiscal year that ends in March, according to Union budget documents.
However, Icra Rating Principal Economist Aditi Nayar feels that the numbers are a bit too optimistic and need real heavy-lifting by the Centre and the states. "The survey forecasts on real and nominal GDP will require a substantial push from Central and state spending as private sector capacity expansion is anticipated to be intermittent, and sector-specific in the next couple of quarters," she said. Nayar added that private consumption is likely to chart a differentiated recovery across income and age groups. Based on the comments made in the Survey, she expects the Union Budget to incorporate a growth in gross tax revenue of 15-16 per cent.
Indian companies are expecting generous tax incentives from the Union Budget that will help them invest more in building capacities in the coming years. While the productivity-linked incentives (PLIs) are a good start to spur local manufacturing, the government should also take steps to boost consumer demand, which is not showing encouraging signs, say chief executive officers (CEOs) of India Inc. Statistics released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows that Indian banks had sanctioned loans worth Rs 75,558 crore in 220 new projects - a record low - in the pandemic-hit financial year ending March 2021. This is not showing any signs of a significant pick up in the last nine months of the ongoing financial year.
A large number of items including petrol, diesel, gold, silver, cigarettes, fully-imported cars and split air conditioners will become more expensive due to hike in taxes, as proposed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget for 2019-20.
"This is a budget to deceive the masses. It's an anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-country budget," Banerjee said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of Uttar Banga Utsav.
The government is also looking to earn 8 paise for every rupee from Union excise duty and 3 paise from customs duty. While, income tax will yield 14 paise to every rupee collection.
'The government will carefully regulate and monitor the Digital Rupee, and because the currency is supposed to be tied to INR or supported by reserves, we should expect little fluctuation in pricing.'
India's budget for the fiscal beginning April focuses on giving a boost to the ongoing economic recovery through a sharp increase in capex spending but is short on major growth-enhancing structural reform announcements, Fitch Ratings said Wednesday. The deficit targets present in the Union budget 2022-23 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday "are a bit higher than our forecasts when we affirmed India's 'BBB'/Negative sovereign rating in November," said Jeremy Zook, director and primary sovereign analyst for India, Fitch Ratings. While it was widely expected that the fiscal deficit will be lower than the targeted 6.8 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, Sitharaman put the number at 6.9 per cent.
The government on Tuesday said it will allow setting up of world-class foreign universities in Gandhinagar's GIFT City, free from domestic regulations, to facilitate availability of skilled manpower in the financial services space. In addition, an international arbitration centre will be set up in the GIFT City for timely settlement of disputes under international jurisprudence, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23. The centre could be on the lines of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, or the London Commercial Arbitration Centre.
The government on Tuesday announced Rs 900-crore allocation in the Budget for the newly set up Ministry of Cooperation for the 2022-23 fiscal, besides slashing Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) on cooperative societies to 15 per cent and surcharge to 7 per cent, which nodal minister Amit Shah hailed saying it will boost the sector. Of the total allocation for the next fiscal, a significant amount of Rs 350 crore has been provided for digitisation of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACs), while Rs 274 crore for an umbrella scheme 'Prosperity through Cooperatives' which would have a number of sub-components with the aim of all-round development of cooperatives in the country. For the first time, a separate budget of Rs 11 crore has been provided to Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICON).
Over 1.4 lakh jobs are estimated to be created between March 2019 and March 2021 in various central government departments, according to the Union Budget presented on Monday. The strength of government establishments was 32,71,113 as on March 1, 2019, which is estimated to increase to 34,14,226 by the first day of next month - an increase of 1,43,113, it said. The budget documents have given a break-up of the jobs estimated to be created in central government departments between 2019 and March 2021.
The Budget outlay for health and well being is Rs 2.23 lakh crore in 2021-22 as against BE of Rs 94,452 crore and marks an increase of 137 per cent," she said while presenting 2021-22 Budget in the Lok Sabha.
The session started on January 29 and was originally slated to end on April 8 but several members had urged Speaker Om Birla to end the session earlier as they focus on electioneering for the five assemblies.
India's GDP is within the striking distance of attaining positive growth, the Reserve Bank said observing that the letter "V" in the V-shaped recovery stands for vaccine. The Indian government launched the world's biggest vaccination drive on January 16 to protect people from COVID-19. "What will 2021 look like? The shape of the recovery will be V-shaped after all and the 'V' stands for vaccine," said an article on the 'state of economy' in the RBI's January Bulletin. India has launched the biggest vaccination drive in the world, backed by its comparative advantage of having the largest vaccine manufacturing capacity in the world and a rich experience of mass inoculation drives against polio and measles.
Sitharaman also listed out various welfare schemes like affordable housing, direct benefit transfer and Ayushman Bharat.
While presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament, the finance minister said poll-bound West Bengal will see highway projects worth Rs 25,000 crore. She also announced that highway projects worth Rs 65,000 crore will be undertaken in Kerala. She also announced an Rs 18,000-crore scheme to augment public transport in urban areas.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while unveiling the Union Budget said the proposal would make India more attractive market for investment.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday pitched for front loading of capital expenditure, saying it is critical for revitalisting the economy post the coronavirus pandemic. During a virtual meeting with senior government officials to discuss the infrastructure roadmap ahead, she also asked ministries to aim to achieve more than their capital expenditure (capex) targets. The Union Budget 2021-22 provided a capital outlay of Rs.5.54 lakh crore, a sharp increase of 34.5 per cent over the Budget Estimate of 2020-21.
The government is set to divest its shareholdings in defence PSUs, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (MIDHANI). It will also divest its shareholding in BEML Limited, said Shripad Naik. Minister of State for Defence, on Monday. The government has invited preliminary bids to sell its 26 per cent stake in BEML along with transfer of management control.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has increased the size of its shareholders' fund to Rs 6,600 crore from Rs 100 crore in a bid to accommodate a larger shareholder base ahead of its public listing. The size of the fund has been enhanced by retaining two years' of dividend and issuing fresh capital, said an official. Increasing the size of the shareholders' fund will help boost the number of shares for allotment in the insurer's initial public offering (IPO). The corpus represents the amount of equity in a company that belongs to its shareholders.
'If the Union Budget can provide incentives for animal spirits to come as well as induce demand stimulus and consumption, the Budget would have done a wonderful job.'
'The Digital Rupee will be equal to the Indian rupee in value and backed by the full faith and credit of the RBI/Indian government.'
Fitch Solutions sees RBI keeping benchmark interest rates unchanged during the fiscal to March 2022 following its decision to buy Rs 1 lakh crore of government bonds. "We had initially expected another policy rate cut to arrest the rise in government bond yields since the Union Budget announcement in February. "However, having an explicit bond purchase guidance from the RBI following the announcement of the G-SAP will also achieve a similar effect, if not even be more effective than a rate cut on capping the increase in bond yields," it said in a note. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held its policy repurchase (repo) rate unchanged at 4 per cent at its monetary policy meeting on April 7.
The first session of 17th Lok Sabha will commence on Monday, which will see the passing of the Union Budget and some key legislations like triple talaq bill being on top of the government agenda.
'This fall is nothing. We could see worse if everybody hits the panic button.'
The Railway ministry has been allocated budgetary support of Rs 140367.13 crore in the Union Budget on Tuesday - Rs 20,311 crore more than the revised figures of the previous fiscal. Overall, the national transporter is set to get a capital expenditure (CapEx) push of Rs 2.45 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23, 14 per cent higher than the budgeted capital expenditure of Rs 2.15 lakh crore for the current financial year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech for 2022-23 said that India will manufacture 400 new, energy-efficient Vande Bharat trains in the next three years.
Buying or selling securities based on rumours about expected changes in tax rates or sectoral sops can backfire, advises Sarbajeet K Sen.
The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on April 8 wherein the first part of the session will extend up to February 11, said the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Sunday.
The government is set to initiate consultations with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to devise a new security clearance framework for screening potential bidders of public sector banks (PSBs) as it kick-starts the privatisation process, beginning with the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank. As the government is moving ahead with strategic divestment of IDBI Bank and is looking to privatise two PSBs, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is looking to put in place an appropriate framework as the potential buyers will have to meet the RBI's fit and proper criteria, said an official. The process of bank privatisation would be different from the sale of any other public sector undertaking (PSU), and more restrictions and measures will have to be put in place, the official said.
Analysts caution against volatility and recommend buying stocks of companies that are on strong fundamental footing that have been beaten down badly in the recent carnage.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman on Saturday proposed a budget of Rs 85,000 crore in 2020-21 for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes and Rs 53,700 crore for Scheduled Tribes.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday also said that Rs 3.6 lakh crore have been approved for Jal Jeevan Mission, which seeks to provide Functional Household Tap Connection to every rural household by 2024.
These could include strengthening the public-private partnership (PPP) dispute resolution mechanism, uniform PPP institutional framework, easier terms for infrastructure companies accessing bond markets, and tax sops, Business Standard has learnt. Investment in infrastructure projects with high multiplier effect has been the Centre's main plank to revive the economy, create employment and boost consumption.
There will be no second term for President Kovind and no elevation for Vice President Naidu.
The Union Cabinet has approved amendments to the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, paving the way for privatisation of government-owned insurers. The amendments, approved by Cabinet, will remove the clause for the Centre to hold at least 51 per cent in public sector insurance companies at any given time. It will also have an enabling provision for the transfer of management control from the government to the potential buyer of the public sector insurance company. The finance ministry will move amendments to the insurance Act in the ongoing Parliament session.
If you are buying a bond to cater to your regular income needs, check the interest distribution schedule.
Services such as deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearance and loan approvals would be affected due to the strike.
United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, has given a call for a two-day strike from March 15 to protest against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders. In the Union Budget presented last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of its disinvestment plan. The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling its majority stake in the lender to LIC in 2019 and merged 14 public sector banks in the last four years.
Budget has already bombed at the box office and passing it without a revisit will be a mockery of the exercise though any modification may be short lived and perfunctory, observes V Ranganathan.
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