The original reforms trio of 1991, which showed the way for the opening up of the Indian economy, is now back with a bang. At that time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was Narasimha Rao's finance minister, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia was his finance secretary and Rangarajan was the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India. They set the ball rolling and became the "reform priests", a journey which has come full circle today.
'The politics that is now being played in Punjab doesn't contribute towards peace and tranquillity.'
Most of the Budget work is done; only some "final touches" remain. For those, he will soon sit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh--who was governor of the Reserve Bank during Mukherjee's stint in North Block in the 80s--before his draft speech goes to print.
Pranab Mukherjee says India's economic fundamentals are strong.
India, which imports 12 per cent of its oil from Iran, will not scale down its petroleum imports from Tehran despite US and European sanctions against the Islamic republic, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said.
Troubleshooter for the Congress and the government not long ago, Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday refrained from making any comments on UPA-II at a time when it is accused of non-performance.
According to the finance minister, India was compliant with most of the internationally accepted standards in banking, securities markets and insurance sector.
Ahead of the monetary policy review, RBI governor D Subbarao is expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on October 23.
Board of Control for Cricket in India Vice President Rajiv Shukla on Friday briefed Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the ongoing Indian Premier League controversy.
"The puja is around 100 years old. Pranab's grandfather late Jangaleswar Mukherjee started the puja," said Goutam Roy, who has been looking after puja arrangements for the last couple of years.
"Food inflation is still negative... There is a declining trend... If this trend continues, then the overall inflation will be manageable, says Mukherjee.
Pranab Mukherjee, who resigned as the Finance Minister on Tuesday to contest for the post of President as a Congress nominee, sought to justify some of his tough and contentious decisions saying that they were taken in the interest of people.
In the backdrop of Dayanidhi Maran's exit from the Union cabinet over the 2G scam issue, senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday discussed the current political situation with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi and asserted that the alliance between the two parties would be strengthened.
The Finance Minister said government set targets assuming normal conditions.
The finance minister along with his cabinet colleague and Defence Minister A K Antony have been asked by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to submit a report on the scam.
Principal Advisor in the Planning Commission and former Chief Statistician of India Pronab Sen did not share RBI's views.
A crucial meeting of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the leaders from Telangana once again resulted in no concrete decision being taken on the issue of separate statehood.
A day after Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee trashed Team Anna's allegations of corruption against him, its key member Arvind Kejriwal said he should face an independent probe to prove his innocence.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived in Washington, DC on Monday to participate in the India-US economic partnership dialogue, during which he is expected to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"It is the job of Parliament to legislate. We (government) had several rounds of discussion with him (Anna Hazare) and his team. We know their viewpoints. About nine rounds of meetings have already been held with them. Thereafter also, through interlocutors some discussions also took place with them," Mukherjee told media persons at his south Kolkata residence.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said attempts were being made to vilify Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the wake of Jaswant Singh's book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah and said it was a malicious campaign to distort history for narrow partisan interests.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said treaties had been signed with a total 37 countries to know the details of money stashed abroad by Indians.
Cong leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, former Prez Pranab Mukherjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as well as CMs of six states to be present at the occasion.
Anna Hazare-led activists on Monday reacted sharply Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for accusing the civil society of trying to undermine democracy and said his statement betrayed a "distorted understanding of democracy and arrogance of power".
India has the capacity and the resilience to overcome economic crisis, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha.
A host of political leaders and the cream of Tamil film world were among those who turned up for the wedding reception of Union Minister M K Alagiri's son Durai Dayanidhi on Wednesday at the sprawling Tamukkam grounds in Madurai, which was converted into an excellently decorated wedding hall.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Monday demanded that the United Progressive Alliance government convene an all-party meeting over the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in retail before making any statement on it in the Parliament.
According to sources, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday spoke to Opposition leaders about this decision. Details awaited.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said, "In the forward guidance of the second quarter review of the Monetary
Kautilya, widely known as pioneer of economics in India and author of Artha Shastra (rules of economics), was invoked for the fourth time in the country's annual Union Budget speech on Friday, including thrice by the incumbent Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
GDP growth in 2010-11 stood at 8.5 per cent.
Didi drags Rashtrapati into electoral battle.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was conspicuous by his absence at a joint group photograph of members of both the Houses on Wednesday to commemorate 60th anniversary of Parliament as he was not informed.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday sought to soothe industry's and stock market's nerves by saying that the government would not monetise the fiscal deficit. Spending a good part of his reply in the Lok Sabha on allaying fears over the seeming lack of reforms in his July 6 Budget, Mukherjee promised a roadmap for disinvestment in public sector undertakings and the financial sector.
The government has replied to Vodafone's notice that threatened international arbitration, saying there was no cause of action. It may send a reply and a tax notice to the company after the Finance Act is notified in the official gazette.
The Union finance ministry has kicked off the exercise for preparation of the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2012-13 and has asked all ministries to rush proposals by October 31 for inclusion in the second supplementary budget for 2011-12 to be presented in the winter session of Parliament.
Insisting that the controversy over the finance ministry note on 2G spectrum issue with inferences against P Chidambaram is not over, Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has bowed to wishes of the "head of the family" and asked him to clarify where he disagreed with it.
As the counting process into election to five assemblies reached its final phases, Senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that the people have given their verdict towards both 'stability' and 'change.'
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the government will have to find some solution to the feisty issue of opening up of retail sector for FDI.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday asked banks to cut interest rates and provide cheap credit to industry in order to spur economic activity.
