She posed for the traditional 'briefcase' picture outside her office along with her team of officials before heading to meet the President. She, however, was holding a tablet instead of a briefcase to present the Budget in a digital format.
Exemption limits, standard deduction on radar.
Excise duty cut can halve current inventory in 2 months, with major manufacturers promising to pass on benefit.
A letter from an Indian homemaker to the Finance Manager ahead of the Budget!
Faced with criticism for her latest Budget not doing enough for the poor, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 2013 comment of poverty being a state of mind, and asked if this is the poverty she was supposed to address.
Ministry considering tax sops for India's first global financial centre, steps to liberalise futures and options markets.
'It was like a doctor giving some simple pain killers to a patient in dire requirement of chemotherapy.' 'There was no sense of urgency or desperation in this particular Budget.'
Several MPs came to the Upper House wearing masks and demanded curtailment of the ongoing Budget session, which is due to end on April 3, in view of the novel coronavirus scare, but the government seemed unwilling.
'Unemployment barely figures in the Budget except as a derived demand from the industry and infrastructure.' 'There is no effort at direct attack on unemployment.'
Headline excise and service tax rates might not change but select sectors could get tax sops and tax holidays.
Finance Minister Chidambaram has announced a moratorium period for all education loans taken-up to 31.3.2009 and outstanding on 31.12.2013.
Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian's interview.
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
'The signal is crude oil prices will rise, I am cutting my subsidy. Be prepared, prices will rise.'
While the situation Sitharaman finds herself in may not be that good, how does it stack up against her three immediate predecessors Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram and the late Arun Jaitley?
Finance Minister P Chidambaram can give a marginal but visible relief to personal income tax assessees this year, as tax collections have improved substantially over the past three years, sources said.
The government should now focus on governance and monitoring the supply side to manage inflation, says M V Subramanian.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram's speech.
"Horse trading band karo (Stop horse trading of MLAs)," Congress members shouted from the well.
P Chidambaram announced a few sops to bring cheer to consumers and some sectors like automobile and capital goods.
The Indian economy has been shaped by 22 finance ministers till date.
The opposition and the government are locking horns over the PNB and INX Media cases.
The Central government hiked the minimum export price of non-Basmati rice from $650 to $ 1,000. As the govt struggles to rein in the rising inflation rates, it is clear that the farm loan waiver in the Budget is not a permanent solution. The cost of growing food is increasing each day and this will continue to push farmers to take loans to survive. To check inflation the govt will have to continue to control food prices. The move to waive farmer loans then seems meaningless.
Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism."
Relief on tax surcharge also likely to be extended to the corporate sector; duty on gold expected to be slashed.
The government said on Thursday it will bring a legislation next month to increase foreign direct investment in insurance sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent at present.
'Modi had not discussed demonetization with me prior to his announcement on 8 November 2016. 'I learnt of it along with the rest of the country. 'I was not surprised when he did not discuss the issue with me prior to making the public announcement. 'It fitted in with his style of making dramatic announcements.' A fascinating excerpt from Pranab Mukherjee's The Presidential Years: 2012-2017.
'The middle class you can hurt anytime. For revenues, politics, pleasure, anything,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The major focus of this year's Economic Survey was on pushing economic growth, which has been projected by the Central Statistical Organisation at 5 per cent for this fiscal, sharply lower than the original estimate of 7.6 per cent (+/- 0.25 per cent).
The decision, likely to benefit around three million defence pensioners, will come into effect from 2014-2015.
Slammimg the erstwhile UPA government, Sitharaman said between 2012 and 2013, foreign investment recorded a negative 36 per cent growth.
Post-Budget, the FM was at his most relaxed as he would get to use his mobiles, and can take visitors.
Asks to meet targets in the remaining seven weeks.
Even existing cases might come under the proposed law, including those of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choski. But, the law would not cover earlier cases.
The Congress will hold a chintan shivir immediately after the Budget session of Parliament and the CWC will meet again before that, he told reporters
Unions have also demanded raising the income tax exemption limit from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs.
