Despite crude comfort, heavy spending cuts needed to offset Rs 80k-cr revenue shortfall
The central government's fiscal deficit climbed to Rs 81,014 crore (Rs 810.14 billion) for the first six months of the financial year 2003-04.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will set a record by presenting the sixth Budget in a row -- 5 annual Budgets and one interim -- a feat achieved so far only by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. With the presentation of interim Budget on February 1, Sitharaman will surpass the records of her predecessors like Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, who had presented five budgets in a row. Desai, as Finance Minister, had presented five annual Budgets and one interim Budget between 1959-1964. The interim Budget 2024-25 to be presented by Sitharaman on February 1, will be a vote-on-account that will give the government authority to spend certain sums of money till a new government comes to office after the April-May general elections.
The suspected undisclosed income in these cases could reach as much as Rs 15,000 crore.
The net direct tax collections jumped by 18 per cent to Rs 43,391 crore during the first two months of the current fiscal.
India's fiscal deficit soared by 34 per cent to Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the first ten months of the financial year against Rs 2.62 lakh crore a year ago, mainly on account of the stimulus measures taken by the government to prop up the economy hit by the global financial crisis.
The Centre is grappling with the question of its fiscal roadmap not only for this year but for 2018-19
The bid for pan-India spectrum for 3G telephony on Thursday crossed Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) and is still rising.
The railways has spent more than Rs 1 lakh crore on safety measures between 2017-2018 and 2021-22 with a steady growth in expenditure on track renewal, according to an official document.
The government has limited room to reduce expenditure without further weakening growth, it noted.
Fiscal deficit in the first four months of 2012-13 stood at 51.5 per cent of the budget estimates -- slightly better compared to 55.4 per cent in the same period a year ago -- according to Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data released on Friday.
The government's market borrowing crossed Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 1,000 billion) till November 1, as fiscal deficit surged to over Rs 81,014 crore (Rs 810.14 billion) in first half of 2003-04, PNB Gilts said in its latest report.
Indian Railways has managed to improve its freight volumes each year since the pandemic. However, its inability to add new industries and goods will pose a challenge for the national transporter in the wake of it setting an ambitious target of 45 per cent share in the national logistics by 2030. According to officials, the ministry of railways achieved 114 million tonnes (mt) of miscellaneous goods (classified as balance and other goods) in 2023-24.
The numbers become all the more important because actual tax collections fell short by Rs 1.91 trillion compared to what was projected in 2018-19. Besides, the Budget for FY20 did not give actual figures for 2018-19, but the revised numbers given in the interim Budget.
To check fiscal deficit, government needs to drastically cut Plan expenditure.
House economists at the nation's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) have urged the government to budget for nursing the pandemic-ravaged economy and not to focus too much on fiscal consolidation as there is a need for more stabilisation measures to sustain the fledgling recovery. And one of the best way to begin the new fiscal is to complete the share sale of LIC this fiscal. This can go a long way in repairing the overstretched balance sheet which in turn will bring down fiscal deficit to a much lower 6.3 per cent in FY23 as the public coffers will be left with a cash surplus of at least Rs 3 lakh crore to begin the new fiscal, SBI chief economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh said in a pre-Budget note on Wednesday.
The interim Budget proposals that will be presented on February 1 in the backdrop of the general elections scheduled in April/May 2024 are likely to have a hint of populism, believe analysts, but are unlikely to derail the government from its path of fiscal prudence.
The direct tax collections are likely to fall short of the revised Budget target by Rs 650 billion and, in fact, were Rs 150 billion lower than the original estimate for the fiscal
Tuesday's bridge collapse once again puts the spotlight on the city's urban infrastructure and a dire need for its development.
Public sector carrier Indian Airlines has posted a net profit of Rs 5.95 crore (Rs 59.5 million) in the first quarter this fiscal against the budget estimate of a net loss of over Rs 19 crore (Rs 190 million).
The implementation of the five 'guarantees' announced by the Congress may cost the state exchequer an estimated Rs 50,000 crore annually.
Riding on improved receipts, the Centre succeeded in containing fiscal deficit to Rs 43,467 crore (Rs 434.67 billion) in the first five months of this fiscal but expenditure rose marginally during the period.
The govt hiked defence budget by 7.81 per cent over last year's Rs 2.74 lakh crore.
Can Jaitley's team hope to garner 17% more on personal income tax?
The forthcoming budget needs to delay fiscal consolidation, instead should focus more on supporting the pandemic battered-economy and boost consumption demand by offering income tax soaps and cutting fuel taxes, says a report. In a pre-budget report, India Ratings said it expects the new budget to consolidate and strengthen the plan set out in the last budget, rather than trying out new things by continue with the revenue and capital expenditure pattern of FY'22 to provide stability and consolidation to the past/ongoing efforts, and to focus on boosting demand by generating employment opportunities in areas/sectors that have been impacted more by the pandemic. The report therefore expects the finance minister to delay fiscal consolidation and make it to be a gradual and calibrated process, thus ensuring the necessary fiscal support that the economy needs is available till the recovery acquires its own momentum.
The finance ministry on Wednesday said the government will borrow Rs 4.34 lakh crore in the second half of the current fiscal to meet its expenditure requirement amid COVID-19 crisis afflicting the country's economy.
A query has been raised about the "missing" Rs 1.7 trillion fiscal hole in India's financial accounts. This is so because the Budget uses the revised estimates, a projection of how much the government was expected to earn, while the Economic Survey uses the first actual numbers.
Of the total expected revenue, the cash offerings made by millions of devotees in the sacred hundi (offering box) at the hill temple complex were expected to fetch about Rs 1,000 crore.
To enable widen the fiscal deficit beyond the permissible limit under the present legislation, the government may have to propose amendment to the FRBM Act in the Finance Bill.
Days after cutting the salaries and other allowances of MPs and ministers, the government has passed instructions to all departments to reduce their expenditure by as much as 60 per cent from their first-quarter spending plans.
'Interim Budget has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit.'
The situation raises concerns about whether the promised freebies will once again push the state into a revenue deficit.
Fiscal deficit has come down by over 34 per cent to Rs 53,235 crore (Rs 532.35 billion) in the first half of 2004-05 mainly due to government's expenditure control measures and higher tax mop up.
This is the Centre's highest-ever budgeted capital outlay.
'Understand how wedding expenses fit into your overall financial situation.' 'Evaluate how different levels of spending will impact other goals like retirement, travel, or housing.'
Gross direct tax collection in 2022-23 rose by around 20 per cent to Rs 19.68 lakh crore, exceeding the government's revised collection target. Buoyed by personal income tax collection, the gross collection has exceeded the revised estimates (RE), set on February 1, by Rs 2.41 lakh crore or by 16.97 per cent. After adjusting for refunds, the net income tax paid by individuals and corporate, showed an increase of 18 per cent to Rs 16.61 lakh crore during the fiscal, which ended March 31, 2023.
West Bengal is home to 43,000 Durga Pujas, and the business around it is a major economic driver.
It is important to increase employment in general. It is even better to increase good quality jobs. Strategically, it is important to move people from farms to factories to improve overall labour productivity. It is important to improve job opportunities for women, for urbanites and for the educated. The Budget does not contain ideas to do any of this, points out Mahesh Vyas.
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