The recess allows department-related standing committees to examine demands for grants of various ministries. The Finance Bill and related demands for grants are passed in the second phase of the Budget session.
Watch all the proceedings and live debates.
The opposition has attacked the Modi government over the National Democratic Alliance's last full-fledged budget before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, on Tuesday gave 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 week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 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.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced increasing customs duty on imported footwear and furniture. In her second Budget presentation, the finance minister also imposed health cess on import of medical equipment.
'If such inflows materialise, what will be the effect on the rupee's value -- and therefore on exports growth, the only sustainable path to recovery?', asks Mihir S Sharma.
Significantly, about half of the CEOs who took part in the survey indicated that they propose to increase their investments in near future, 45 per cent cited no change in investment levels, while only 5 per cent expected a fall.
The Economic Survey 2022-23 (FY23), to be presented a day before Union Budget 2023-24 (FY24), is likely to project India's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth between 6 per cent and 7 per cent for FY24, Business Standard has learnt. The broader theme of the Survey could be on how India has dealt with two years of a global pandemic and the ongoing geopolitical disturbance, the strengths and weaknesses that emerged, and what lessons may be learnt. The much-awaited Survey will be the first one by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran and his team in the finance ministry's economic division.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced allocation of whopping Rs 48,000 crore for completion of 80 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), both rural and urban, during the next fiscal year. In her budget speech, the minister said: "In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana, both rural and urban. Rs 48,000 crore is allocated for this purpose." The Centre would work with states for reduction of time required for all land and construction related approvals, for promoting affordable housing for middle-class and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in urban areas, she said.
The session will begin with President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha assembled together in the Central Hall and chambers of both the Houses in view of the COVID-19 situation.
The government on Tuesday announced setting up of hubs to promote exports through e-commerce medium in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode and initially 10-15 hubs will be established. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that these hubs, under a seamless regulatory and logistic framework, will facilitate trade and export-related services under one roof. "To enable MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and traditional artisans to sell their products in international markets, e-commerce export hubs will be set up in PPP mode," she said.
The number of centrally sponsored schemes have increased to 35 in FY22 from 30 in FY21 and central sector schemes have increased to 704 from 685 in the previous year, reports Dilasha Seth.
Measures may include tax slab and rate revisions for individuals, companies.
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
'Interim Budget has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit.'
'It would be reasonable to assume that Modi 3.0 would be more focused on projects and schemes which do not require any legislative change or which have the support of its coalition partners,' asserts A K Bhattacharya.
The Centre is considering a gradual phasing out of certain direct tax exemptions meant for corporate and personal tax payers. This is among the tax proposals being discussed for the upcoming Union Budget 2022-23. A top policymaker said that according to the government's internal assessment, the percentage of corporates and individuals shifting to the new exemption-less tax regime has been very encouraging, and the Budget-makers expect many more to make the switch in the coming years. The person also said the finance ministry is exploring the option of rationalising the capital gains tax rates.
Maintain a proper record of documents that can act as proof of the cost of acquisition of the property, cost of improvements made to the property, expenses related to transfer of the property (like brokerage and registration charges). These will come in handy in case of a dispute with the taxman.
While presenting the Union Budget to Parliament earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmalal Sitharaman had raised fiscal deficit target to 3.8 per cent of the GDP from 3.3 per cent pegged earlier for 2019-20 due to revenue shortage.
Her speech was laced with Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit and even Tamil verses.
Battle lines have already been drawn and the opposition has insisted on a debate on demonetisation.
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.
'When it is unpaid, sometimes, they don't take you seriously.' 'Work is not reviewed, and there is no effort in making interns learn.'
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
'For me, if I want to buy a house to stay, I don't care about indexation because I don't want to sell that house.' 'The only thing that matters to me as a buyer is that the home price should be within my reach.' 'Any market, when speculators and investors go out, it will benefit the middle class.'
'The first duty of the government is to learn lessons from a bad experience and course correct. It's a pity that the government is making policy without looking at evidence and differentiating between immediate and urgent.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the securities transaction tax (STT) will be increased on futures and options (F&O) trade from October 1 to discourage retail investors from investing in the risky instrument.
Take some time off to write a postcard to the finance minister, tell Mr Arun Jaitley your wishlist for Union Budget 2018.
The BJP leadership believes these parties are flexing their muscles in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls for better seat-sharing deals.
Yechury said the aim should be how to protect our economy from slowdown
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced a 66 per cent hike in the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY) outlay to Rs 79,000 crore.
'The Budget that Mr Jaitley will present on February 29 will be crucial.'
The finance minister did very well for equity market investors but not so with families, reveals Mahesh Vyas.
The National Pension System (NPS) added 21.5 per cent fewer fresh subscribers under the corporate segment in 2023 compared to the preceding year. Government officials and experts attribute it to the higher exemption limit of income tax of Rs 7 lakh announced in the FY24 Budget that no more requires employees under this income bracket to opt for NPS for tax-saving purposes. Data collated from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) reveals that the corporate component is voluntary in nature and saw 158,212 new subscribers in 2023 compared to 201,517 during 2022.
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.
#Budget2018 resulted in over 14 lakh conversations on Twitter.
Sheela Bhatt recounts the tension, suspense and disruptions during P Chidambaram's interim budget in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
"In view of our economic condition, I expect bitter-sweet Budget. I think the Budget will be good for the country. It can be bitter but may be sweet, too," says Dolly Jaitley.
The government, it would seem, is reserving its firepower to spend on big-ticket items that will be announced in the Budget, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
"The 'UP-type' remark made by a Union minister is not appropriate at all. It only shows a narrow mindset," Sinha said.