Congress leaders at the All India Congress Committee presented Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram their most important wishlist for the coming budget, when he came calling at 24 Akbar Road on Thursday evening: 'Since they are now in the election year the Congress needs a people-friendly and a vote-friendly budget'.
Buying or selling securities based on rumours about expected changes in tax rates or sectoral sops can backfire, advises Sarbajeet K Sen.
From the outcome of the general elections and then Union Budget to tepid corporate earnings in the September 2024 quarter (Q2-FY25), sticky inflation and Reserve Bank of India's stance on interest rates, extreme weather conditions, Indian stock markets have braved it all in calendar year 2024.
During his first Union Budget in July 2014, former finance minister Arun Jaitley announced the setting up of an institution called 3P India, with an allocation of Rs 500 crore. The intention was to mainstream public-private partnerships (PPPs) in India. The plan was to bring together the capacities of the government and private sector to push PPP projects.
In an hour-long chat on rediff.com on Thursday, founding chairman & managing director of Country Club, India Rajeev Reddy analysed how good is the Budget for the common people.
Budget speeches have been replete with incomprehensible and even hilarious statements, says Rathin Roy.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced no new taxes in the Delhi Budget.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
The government proposes to cut custom duties on Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib and Durvalumab from 10 per cent to nil.
The Unified Pension System (UPS), approved by the Union Cabinet on Saturday, is "fiscally prudent" as it will be funded within the Centre's fiscal projections, according to T V Somanathan, the Cabinet Secretary-designate. Speaking to Business Standard immediately after the Cabinet nod, former finance secretary Somanathan, who headed the committee set up in March 2023 to review the National Pension System (NPS), said the UPS will not postpone pension expenditure as it will be contributory and financed each year.
The road ahead will require navigating complex financial challenges while fostering job creation and sustainable development in the region.
Mr Mukherjee missed that last call, but Indian politics is as accommodative as an Indian airport. There is always a second announcement, a last and final call! Is Mr Mukherjee ready to fly?
'Indian families' needs and expectations have gone through a revolution across economic demographics.' 'As this latest Modi-Sitharaman Budget demonstrated, politicians have understood this change. They are responding to it,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
In sops for the middle class, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hiked standard deduction by 50 per cent to Rs 75,000 and tweaked tax slabs under the new income tax regime to provide more money in the hands of salaried class with a view to boost consumption. She said salaried employees in the new tax regime could save up to Rs 17,500 in income tax annually following the changes announced in the Budget. The standard deduction for salaried employees is proposed to be increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 annually.
Healthcare: Good news for all ASHA, anganwadi workers
Standard deduction of 40% or Rs 30,000 whichever is less for salary till Rs 5 lakh, above Rs 5 lakh, 20,000.
The Union government could target a fiscal deficit of 5.8-6 per cent of nominal GDP for 2023-24, and it should continue its capital expenditure push and look to simplify the personal income tax regime, economists recommended Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her team during their pre-Budget interaction on Monday. Starting last week, Sitharaman had eight pre-Budget consultations this time. More than 110 invitees representing seven stakeholder groups participated in these meetings, the finance ministry said in a statement. The stakeholder groups included representatives and experts from agriculture and agro-processing industry; industry, infrastructure & climate change; financial sector and capital markets; services and trade; social sector; trade unions and labour organisations; and economists.
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
To threaten China and Pakistan, and then to sharply cut back on military funding, bespeaks a remarkable trust in Beijing and Islamabad that is not borne out by anything they say or do, notes Ajai Shukla.
Modi said that he wanted a vast and qualitative discussion on financial issues in both the houses.
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.
From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, State Bank of India, ITC, Titan, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank were among the major winners. Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints and HDFC were among the major laggards.
The government plans to borrow a record Rs 15.4 lakh crore from dated securities in FY24 to meet its expenditure requirement to prop up the economy.
Evidently, households see a brighter future after the Budget, reveals Mahesh Vyas.
He argued that if inflation is low, stable and moving towards the 4 per cent target, why has the RBI not revised downward the bank rate fixed in June 2023?
The Union government's revenue from securities transaction tax (STT) is on track to exceed its Budget projection for the current fiscal year, with the mop-up already surpassing 50 per cent of the annual estimate. Provisional figures reveal that the Centre has collected approximately Rs 14,000 crore in the first half of this fiscal year up to September, according to a government official. This amount exceeds half of the full-year target of Rs 27,625 crore set for FY24.
'Patients under the scheme may ultimately have to go to private hospitals.'
Ahead of the 2023-24 Union Budget, the thinking at the top level of the central government is clear: Gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6-6.5 per cent is a comfortable enough target for FY24 and the focus should be on fiscal consolidation to ensure that the sovereign cost of borrowing does not become prohibitively expensive in a high-interest rate environment, according to people in the know. Those aware of deliberations between the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Finance said while the Budget would look to strike a balance between infrastructure investment and welfare schemes, it is unlikely to be populist, though it will be the last full-year Budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Incidentally, 6-6.5 per cent GDP growth is what the upcoming 2022-23 Economic Survey is expected to project for FY24.
In a pre-budget memorandum, submitted to the Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, the US India Business Council said it was concerned over the several recent policy initiatives of the Indian government in this regard.
A summary of the budget speech of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Encouraged by signs of growth revival and desperate to reduce the fiscal deficit Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to take this step when he presents his Budget to parliament on 26 February.
Like last year, Sitharaman opted for a traditional 'bahi-khata' to carry budget documents. Dressed in a crisp yellow silk saree, the minister carried the documents wrapped in a red silk cloth, adorned with the Indian emblem in golden.
Your choice between the Old and New Tax Regimes should reflect your financial strategy and investment goals, says Ramalingam Kalirajan
'The robust tax collections give the finance minister a fair amount of headroom for an expansionary fiscal policy.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday called on President Ram Nath Kovind before presenting the Union Budget 2021-22. As per established tradition, the Finance Minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before heading to Parliament. The Union Cabinet will meet at 10.15 am to clear the Budget.
Graphic description of the Budget's allotment.
Economy to grow by 7.2-7.5 per cent in second half of current fiscal, says FM.
Does this Budget deserve cheers or boos? You decide
The finance minister could well be on her way to setting a record of achieving the biggest single-year reduction in the government's fiscal deficit, explains A K Bhattacharya.
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