Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani on Thursday met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and senior DoT officials, even as his company started examining the books of Hutchison Essar Ltd for a possible bid.
Many ministries couldn't use the allocated funds since it came into force, resulting in much-needed savings.
Long-term capital gains tax may be scrapped and the burden of dividend distribution tax could perhaps be shifted from companies to shareholders. Also, the Budget could provide income tax relief for the salaried classes, while proposing tax sops for small, medium and micro enterprises.
In a pre-Budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the corporate leaders highlighted several issues, including certain income tax matters which were coming in the way of mergers and acquisitions or slowing them down and roles that need to be played by state businesses to prosper at the ground level.
The banking sector in the country will have to raise Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) as additional capital in the next five years, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Friday.
The Finance Minister attributed the large number of defaulters to benign provisions of the Service Tax Act.
Also, a dedicated cell, headed by a member of the Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT), will be set up to address concerns faced by start-ups.
The Congress dared Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to do a full disclosure in response to his claim that revealing the names of those who have stashed away black money in foreign banks will embarrass the opposition party.
'Delhi voters have liked the politics of performance over noisy rhetoric and empty promises,' points out Vijaya Pushkarna.
Levying buyback tax at a flat rate of 20 per cent (plus applicable surcharge and cess), irrespective of the period for which shares are held will be a dampener for equity shareholders who take inherent risks while investing, says Hitesh D Gajaria, partner and head of tax, KPMG in India.
Tawang wears its history -- and also its present -- with ease. The flourishing town, with restaurants selling everything from noodles to dosas and locals returning home to new business prospects, shows little sign of the tension building up at the border about 40 km away to the north.
'Where will industry have funds when they open up?'
Investors became richer by over Rs 6.34 lakh crore on Monday as markets gave a big shout-out to the Budget 2021-22, which analysts termed as 'unprecedented' against the backdrop of the pandemic-induced slowdown. Cheering the Budget proposals, the BSE benchmark Sensex zoomed 2,314.84 points or 5 per cent to close at 48,600.61. During the day, it jumped 2,478.63 points to 48,764.40. This was the best Budget-day gain for the markets since 1997, analysts said. Following the extremely positive market sentiment, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies rallied Rs 6,34,069.67 crore to Rs 1,92,46,713.70 crore.
Bad loans of PSU banks rose by 28.5 per cent.
Entertainment Network (India) Ltd, a Bennet Coleman and Co promoted company, which operates FM radio channel 'Radio Mirchi' is planning to enter the capital market through an Initial Public Offering.
The ED said that the investigation further revealed that there are 78 companies owned by the accused and his family members and it needed to probe whether the money went into these companies.
Analysts were expecting the government to propose higher capital infusion for banks.
Storming the capital with a whirlwind campaign, Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram and alleged that they have ruined the country with their "bookish knowledge".
Delhi police have asked FM radio channels in the national capital to stop playing an Aam Aadmi Party jingle which according to them is defaming the force.
While the PM sees zero tax on long-term capital gains and dividend income as unfair since the beneficiaries are not poor, he is silent on the fact that rich farmers too don't pay taxes, since farm income is tax-free, a loophole exploited by many netas and babus, says Debashis Basu.
'More a show that you are doing something in the Budget even if that something never actually comes to pass,' notes Nitin Desai.
There could be multiple measures announced in quick succession, not only by the finance minister but also other ministers regarding their respective sectors, and by the Reserve Bank of India. The total size of these announcements could rival that of other G-20 nations as a percentage of GDP.
The govt would also be coming out with more measures to deal with inflation.
With time the start-up action plan will need to be tweaked and will need to move in the direction of removing both hurdles and privileges.
This, said Sitharaman, would remove the possibility of unauthorised communication "and consequent harassment", which was a cause of concern for bankers.
A day after deciding to nearly double natural gas prices to $8, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday hinted that power and fertiliser units may get gas at subsidised rates to keep electricity and urea costs down.
Sitharaman exhorted the states to work together with the Centre, stating that while the Union government sets the direction of economic growth, it is for the states to ensure effective implementation on the ground.
FM has agreed to dump an ill-conceived plan to slap a retrospective 20% levy on overseas asset managers
Consumers will thank the Modi government for this simple yet revolutionary move, which is long overdue, says Debashis Basu.
'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.
'The introduction of a tax on LTCG will be a deterrent for foreign investors and could potentially result in a movement of trading activity away from India to other offshore jurisdictions such as Singapore, which offer better tax rates and sophisticated financial products.'
We will find it difficult to exceed an average of 5 per cent growth in the medium term, warns Shankar Acharya, the former chief economic adviser.
These firms are Avenue Supermarts, owner and operator of supermarket retail chain D-Mart; Music Broadcast Ltd, a Jagran group firm that runs Radio City FM channel; Shankara Building Product; BSE-promoted CDSL; and test-prep player C L Educate.
Sitharaman, who is not known to reply to comments made on her Twitter handle, instantly choose to respond to drug-maker Biocon chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw's criticism of lack of fiscal measures to support growth.
A theory that is doing the rounds is that with election nearing, this depreciation of the rupee will allow politicians of all hues to bring back their ill-gotten wealth.
Good intentions and elaborate roadmaps apart, there is an urgent need for the Tamil Nadu chief minister to come up with branded schemes like MGR's meal scheme, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
P Chidambaram says all options are on the table.
Operation Sankat Mochan, aimed at evacuating over 500 Indians stuck in the war-torn South Sudan, got underway on Thursday.
To say capital gains from stocks are effortless shows little understanding of the treacherous investing terrain, says Debashis Basu.
