Trade unions on Wednesday opposed divestment in public sector undertakings and hike in foreign direct investment in telecom, insurance and aviation sectors
If the Budget is targeted towards voters, the country ratings will be downgraded to junk status. This can trigger an economic meltdown.
The drop in the financial savings rate, for instance, has been addressed through an increase in the eligible income limit for the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme.
FM will meet public sector bankers tomorrow in a pre-budget meet to stress on credit targets and enhancing credits to minorities.
Rashtra Swasthya Beema Yojana to start from April 1 in Delhi and Haryana. Each family belonging to the unorganised sector will get Rs 30,000.
Here is a sample of 'PC-speak' during a meeting he had with a select group of brokers in Mumbai on Wednesday evening.
The finance minister announced that E-governance allocation to be increased from Rs 395 (Rs 3.95 billion) to Rs 719 crore (Rs 7.19 billion).
Budget 2007 is expected to introduce major changes in non-resident taxation, partly aimed at making it easier for foreign companies to do business in India and encouraging greater investment inflows.
The Sensex recovered 320 points from the day's low of 17,258 to close with a loss of 246 points at 17,579. The first major jolt came in banking stocks after the FM announced waiver of Rs 50,000 crore.
Defence ministry officials concede that many plans across the three armed forces will witness a definite setback because of this austerity measure, reports R S Chauhan
This means taxpayers might continue to enjoy exemption on maturity of their investments
Voicing concern over slow pace of reforms, economists on Friday wanted Finance Minister P Chidambaram to give new thrust to contain fiscal deficit
Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented his fourth Budget in Parliament on Monday.
With the prices touching a two-year high, CEOs of leading companies expect a cut in corporate tax and measures to boost the capital markets in the Budget 2007-08 to be presented on February 28.
The ministry had spent 82 per cent of that amount till the start of this month.
The delegation was led by Union Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary and comprised non-governmental organisations, FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), and Bollywood actress Preity Zinta.
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In New York market, the dollar lost ground against most major rivals on last Friday amid mixed US data on industrial production and consumer sentiment.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram will woo foreign investors to invest in India as he begins his nine-day visit to the US on Tuesday.
The finance ministry has kicked off the budget exercise for 2005-06, discussing with four ministries the expenditure outlay and areas of austerity measures besides working on the broad contours of tax reforms.
The finance minister admitted that there was no quick-fixes to economic problems and the government is working to stabilise the economy which may take time.
On the macro front, market participants will closely watch the FY'15 fiscal deficit target
The move is aimed at cutting the fiscal deficit, which the government wants to contain at 4.1 per cent of GDP.
Showing signs of financial strain, the government's fiscal deficit in the first five months of the ongoing financial year has already touched 74.6 per cent of the budget estimate.
With Jaitley preferring continuity over change, good days might take a little longer to arrive, says Shankar Acharya.
India's fiscal deficit touched Rs 4.57 lakh crore or 84.4 per cent of budget estimates in the first seven months of the current fiscal, reflecting signs of stress in government finances.
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Industry representatives recommended that the basic annual exemption limit for individuals should be raised to Rs 1,50,000 from Rs 1,10,000 and the peak income tax rate be cut to 25 per cent, from 30 per cent at present.
The Union Budget is also likely to cut corporate tax and capital gains tax.
More than merely being an economic balancing act, this was also about walking the political tightrope.
An analysis of the frequency of various watchwords in the finance minister's Budget speech shows that he was perhaps trying to hold on to his ideas without treading on anybody else's toes, says A K Bhattacharya.
Though not a blockbuster budget it does not undermine the fact that key issues were addressed and the finance minister certainly did not under-deliver, says Vatsal Srivastava.
Home loan exemption limit raised.
FM indicates adherence to fiscal road map, benign tax rates, correction in inverted duty structure
