Lower interest rates needed to boost manufacturing, officials say.
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
Demonetisation and GST are the main reasons for the job losses.
Make In India and the reduction in barriers of trade will potentially create a growth environment.
Price rise in services sector after the goods and services tax (GST) gets implemented and the pay hike of central government employees will make inflation control a tough job for the central bank
Accusing the Congress of creating obstacles in the path of growth and economy, he declared that the government would try to get the bill passed with the help of parties
Opposition politicians on Wednesday stalled a last minute attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to pass the Goods and Service Tax bill.
Experts share their views on the steps that will help businesses become GST-ready.
Union excise duty collection dropped 18 per cent in August year-on-year at a time when the overall central tax kitty rose about 94 per cent before devolution to the states. The mop-up from Union excise duty declined to Rs 23,576 crore in August this year compared to Rs 28,816 crore in the same month a year ago. On the other hand, total tax collection rose to Rs 2.9 trillion in the month as against Rs 1.5 trillion in August 2022-23, shows the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar tells Sudipto Dey how IT can improve service delivery of government departments.
Top Congress leaders from Karnataka led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday held a protest in Delhi against the Centre over alleged injustice to the southern state in devolution of taxes, sparking a fierce slugfest between the party and the Modi government.
The government last fiscal missed its direct tax collection target, and for this financial year it has set a higher revenue mobilisation goal of Rs 13.80 lakh crore.
'If because of El Nino, the monsoon is affected adversely in the current year, naturally it will affect income projections and consequently Budget numbers.'
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan spoke on a host of issues at his last post-policy interaction with the media
2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.
While the government has not made the report public, sources said the panel had recommended a sharp cut in all taxes on the gold business, including import duty and goods and services tax which amounts to over 13%.
"The fourth quarter results of GDP data showed a phenomenal 7.7 percent growth rate and has established India firmly as the fastest growing global economy. This trend, according to experts, is likely to continue for the next few years," Jaitley said in a Facebook post.
To understand Modi, listen to what he does not say -- vide NRC, suggests Prem Panicker.
As many as 267 of 453 companies from the BSE500 index are trading above their consensus price targets, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg. Not all companies in the BSE500 index are tracked by analysts.
The Hindutva social media continues to present the DMK especially as anti-god, anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. The strategy did not work in the past, it has not worked in the present, and would not work in the future, as a massive vote-getter, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
GST mop-up likely to fall in May, June after touching record levels in April and March.
The Centre has projected reining in its fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent of GDP in FY19.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is important for states to agree 10-15 per cent duty cut and take home the same amount of tax revenue as budgeted.'
Monsoon session of Parliament expected to be stormy and likelihood of GST Bill and Land Bill getting passed are slim
The new tax is expected to subsume various indirect taxes, including excise and value-added tax.
FinMin does not expect tax or non-tax revenue to reach anywhere close to the targets set in the interim Budget. Sources say that the challenge before the new government will be either to accept the reduced projection and tailor the Budget accordingly or set a more ambitious target.
The deposit has been made on account of the rate reductions approved by the GST Council in its November. The rate was reduced on items including shampoo, detergents, chocolates, beauty products, sanitary ware, leather clothing, cookers, stoves, after-shave, deodorant, detergent and washing power. Companies found it difficult to pass on the benefits to consumers immediately at the time of GST rate reduction owing to logistical issues.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a revision in the formula for pricing of natural gas and imposed cap or ceiling price to help cut CNG and piped cooking gas prices by up to 10 per cent. Natural gas produced from legacy or old fields, known as APM gas, will now be indexed to the price of imported crude oil instead of benchmarking it to gas prices in four surplus nations such as the US, Canada and Russia, Union I&B Miniser Anurag Thakur told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet. APM gas will be priced at 10 per cent of the price of basket of crude oil that India imports (Indian basket of crude oil).
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is considering a proposal to allow mutual funds (MFs) to charge a fee based on their performance, said Ananta Barua, whole-time member of the markets regulator. He said the proposal is being reviewed by a working group formed to look into cost structures. "One working group has been set up which is going to review... One of the suggestions is that if any scheme or fund is performing well above the benchmark, it (fee) can be linked to its performance.
FMCG, automobile industries say if GST regime kicks in, rail hubs can take Make in India to a new high.
'Modi has sowed the seeds of a transformational change.' 'For the sake of the nation and our children I hope he succeeds.'
The company operated chartered flights from London Gatwick and Manchester airports to Goa between November and March and its closure will adversely impact local tourism.
India is the second largest buyer of Iranian crude, after China.
The mandatory use of the Indian flag on SCI's ships has been a bone of contention with prospective buyers, on account of the costs it will entail in terms of taxation and vessel registration.
The most important lesson is that you have to build your political proposition, and sell it yourself. You can't leave it to the courts, media, NGOs and civil society and expect them to play the role of the Opposition. That's precisely what Mr Modi's challengers have been doing and we know the results, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The government has given up plans to reconvene a parliament session to secure approval for a common goods and services tax.
GST will create a single, unified Indian market
CLSA managing director & equity strategist Christopher Wood, and executive director Mahesh Nandurkar tell Puneet Wadhwa that the markets could give a return of around 10 per cent from the current level over the next year.
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