Rediff.com brings to you Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget Speech Live from Parliament at 11.00 a.m. on February 28.
Rediff.com brings to you Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget Speech Live from Parliament at 11.00 a.m. on February 28.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new schemes and increased the subsidised Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loan limit to Rs 7 lakh from Rs 5 lakh, targeting everything from unemployment to crop productivity enhancement across the country. Presenting her eighth budget speech in Parliament, Sitharaman positioned agriculture as "the first engine of growth" and unveiled the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, a flagship program targeting 100 agri-districts grappling with low productivity, moderate crop intensity, and below-average credit parameters.
'Till the BJP does not understand Kejriwal they cannot win Delhi.'
"The budget adopts following seven priorities -- inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector," she said.
The Income Tax department on Monday invited public inputs for review of the six-decade old I-T Act with regard to simplification of language, litigation reduction, compliance reduction, and obsolete provisions. Pursuant to the Budget announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for a comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had set up an internal committee to oversee the review and make the Act concise, clear, and easy to understand, which will reduce disputes, litigation, and provide greater tax certainty to taxpayers.
The government on Saturday announced a host of measures such as setting up of a new Fund of Funds Scheme (FFS) with Rs 10,000 crore corpus; and extension of period of incorporation by five years with a view to promote growth of budding entrepreneurs.
'Understand your financial goals. Next, categorise them by size. Then evaluate your investment options.'
The Indian government has come out with a nice name for its tried and tested 220MW pressurised heavy water reactor -- Bharat Small Reactor.
The Interim Budget for 2024-25 (FY25) to be presented on February 1 is likely to assume 10-10.5 per cent nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth against 8.9 per cent estimated for FY24 by the National Statistical Office (NSO). "We were waiting for the First Advance Estimates GDP numbers for FY24. "We will finalise the nominal GDP growth assumption for FY25 Interim Budget in a couple of days.
The risk-reward for the Indian markets, Morgan Stanley said, is turning favourable.
Post-election capital expenditure (capex) has been weak at 2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in M9FY25. The FY25 revised estimates (RE) indicate 7 per cent growth in FY25 against FY24, implying 21 per cent Y-o-Y growth in Q4FY25 government capex.
'The intensity and frequency of heatwaves will be much higher than in previous years over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.'
So how do you rate the Modi government's 11th budget?
'While the Budget would be growth-friendly, it would not come at the expense of an increase in the fiscal deficit.'
Jaitley described his three priorities as: strengthening India's firewalls by ensuring macroeconomic stability and prudent fiscal management; driving growth through domestic demand; and reforms to boost economic opportunity.
Nitin Desai, who has known Dr Singh from 1971, extends his 'deepest condolences to his wife Gurcharan Kaur and to his three talented daughters Upinder, the historian; Daman, the writer; and Amrit, the human rights activist.'
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
Glimpses of lady MPs as the nation's lady finance minister presents the Budget for the next financial year on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the fiscal-monetary coordination was at its best during the last six years even as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving the opportunity to head the monetary authority of the country. Das, in a series of posts on X, on his last day of his six-year term as RBI Governor, also thanked the Finance Minister, various stakeholders and his colleagues at the central bank.
'I had to persuade him. I think he was a sceptic to begin with, but later on he was convinced that what we were doing was the right thing to do, that there was no other way out.'
Travel is about making memories, experiencing the unknown, and engaging in new experiences -- not worrying about fluctuating exchange rates or hidden expenditures. With a little planning and a proactive approach to handling your foreign exchange, you can reduce financial stress and enjoy your trip, suggests Pavan Kavad.
She added that the government has extended the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for five years which is benefiting 80 crore people of the country.
Three key babus will make room for a new set of officers to carry the baton of Budget programmes.
'It won't be a V-shaped recovery. It'll be consolidation.' 'Investors might exit during that grind. It'll be painful.'
The middle class is a big force to fulfil dreams of a prosperous and developed India and our government has taken many decisions to empower it, the prime minister said.
India spends significantly less on defence than could be expected from a country that faces simultaneous armed threats from two hostile neighbours -- China and Pakistan.
It is believed that the commission in its report has suggested higher allocation to the states during five years starting from next fiscal.
'The BJP's real weapons are Hindutva, organisation and finance.'
Debroy's economic interests and research work covered numerous areas such as economic theory, income inequality, and infrastructure financing.
He could be doling out more funds to woo voters and tax cuts to support industry.
India's Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai, has announced a 71% decrease in terrorist incidents in the country under the Modi government. He credits a "zero tolerance" policy towards terrorism, which has resulted in no terror incidents in the hinterland. Rai also highlighted the National Investigative Agency's (NIA) successes, including the investigation of cases on foreign land and a conviction rate of 95.54%.
Other ministers who have presented five straight annual financial statements include Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha, Manmohan Singh and Morarji Desai.
This is the first Budget in Amrit Kaal, she said.
The government's indirect tax collection is expected to increase by 8.3 pc in the financial year 2025-26 (FY26), according to a report by ICICI Bank. The report also noted that this growth is higher than the 7.1 per cent increase seen in FY25 and is mainly driven by rise in GST revenue from strong urban consumption. It said "The increase is driven by higher goods and services tax collections which in-turn is explained by boost to urban consumption".
'Tax rate and stock markets are entirely two different things.'
The minister customarily meets industry chambers, industrialists, economists, agriculturalists, trade unions and so on for pre-Budget interactions.
'Maharashtra is virtually in a debt trap.'
Budget measures will help in increasing the width and depth for infrastructure financing.
The Budget tries to address the financing challenge in infrastructure by deepening the corporate bond market.
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