In this year's budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hiked tax on petrol and diesel, raised import duty on gold, levied additional surcharge on super rich and brought a tax on high value cash withdrawals as she sought to spur growth with reduction in corporate tax and sops to housing sector, startups and electric vehicles.
While the finance minister had a great opportunity to come out with flying colours while presenting this last Budget of his government, he didn't, says Omkar Goswami.
There was no law that prevented the government from presenting a sixth full Budget, or something similar to it.
The main responsibility for producing the Budget rests with the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the finance ministry
Ramalingam Kalirajan explains the pros and cons of both investment types.
"You can memorize 1000s of words, but what do you do if you get a word that you don't know?"
Apparently aimed at keeping the flock together ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, all ruling Congress MLAs in Karnataka will stay put together at a hotel in Bengaluru on Monday after the budget session of the state legislature concludes and will later also travel together for voting the next day.
With the last quarter of 2023-24 (FY24) expected to have been soft owing to lower discretionary spend and macro uncertainty, many are hoping FY25 will be a year of recovery for the information-technology (IT) industry. The fourth quarter, January-March, is considered soft, and will continue to see the headwinds the sector has been facing. And the sector has entered the new financial year on a weak footing. Analysts are expecting Tier-I firms to report sequential growth of -1 per cent to 1.5 per cent and midcap players' growth may range between 0.7 per cent and 4 per cent.
'The prime minister's comment on 'revdi culture' was welcome. But I am disappointed he did not follow up on that.' 'All political parties, including the BJP, have been guilty of this.' 'Now, Modi's guarantees, the Congress's 'nyay' path and both ruling and Opposition parties are vying with each other for freebies in my home state Andhra Pradesh.'
'The next general election is four years away. That's enough time to recover -- provided the government stops spending and taxing so much,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
When a strong executive decides it wants something, even something that is dangerous and unconstitutional, there is little resistance from within to stop it, notes Aakar Patel.
A large part of the productive time in Parliament is spent on non-legislative matters such as discussion on motion of thanks by the President, conduct of fellow MPs and so on.
As per practice a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in the election year and a full-fledged budget presented by the new government.
Information technology (IT) companies have been on the road to revival in the past one year. From being the worst-hit sector in 2022 with a loss of 26 per cent, the Nifty IT index closed 2023 with gains of 24 per cent. So far in 2024, the index is up around 7 per cent against the nearly flat Nifty 50 benchmark index. The IT index has been on a continuous decline in the last three sessions.
'It will drive a lot of surrounding business, that is where we see some good projects coming in.'
The Supreme Court on Friday termed the deadlock between the Punjab government and its governor over assent to bills passed by the assembly a matter of "serious concern" and said it is not happy with what is happening in the state.
An individual can avail tax deduction on the amount spent during the year on a deferred annuity for self, spouse, or child.
The government is confident of meeting the fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the nominal GDP target of 10.5 per cent despite pressure in the initial months of FY24, Economic Affairs secretary Ajay Seth told Business Standard. Normally the initial months of any financial year see proportionally a higher fiscal deficit because the expenditure is evenly paced while revenue picks up in the later months, he said. "This year the proportional fiscal deficit so far is much closer to the target than in most other years.
'You may see some movement indicating a simpler tax regime with less exemptions but with fewer tax rates making life simpler for taxpayers.'
Trinamool Congress on Saturday removed Mukul Roy, a former confidante of Mamata Banerjee, from the key post of party general secretary.
As many as 38,800 teachers will be hired for Ekalavya Model Residential Schools, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. Presenting the last last full Budget of the second term of the BJP-led NDA government ahead of the general elections in 2024, she said a national digital library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating quality books.
Aviation watchdog DGCA has asked crisis-hit Go First to submit a comprehensive plan for the revival of its operations, a source said on Thursday. The budget carrier, which is undergoing a voluntary insolvency resolution process, stopped flying on May 3.
Major focus will be on adequately funding existing schemes to ensure their timely completion before the next General Elections.
A 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in budget allocation towards the roads sector for FY24 has led to renewed interest among investors. However, a combination of escalating costs for Bharatmala and unseasonal rains to some extent have impacted progress. Bharatmala's cost has nearly doubled from Rs 5.35 trillion to Rs 10.6 trillion and the finance ministry has asked MoRTH to go slow until Cabinet approval is received.
Taxpayers with old, outstanding taxes will benefit from the CBDT's new scheme.
Elections may be a few months away, but the government may get into election mode much earlier than that, predicts A K Bhattacharya.
The S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices have managed to stay afloat in a volatile January that saw the frontline indices hit their respective 52-week high levels and then slip. While the S&P BSE Sensex has lost over 2 per cent thus far in January, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices have gained nearly 2.5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively during this period.
Interim Budgets are usually presented in an election year either just before the general polls or immediately after them.
Liquidity issues post the crisis at DHFL, progress of monsoon, rupee trajectory at the domestic level and oil prices are some factors that will keep markets choppy, analysts say.
India's cement demand has consistently shown double-digit growth over the past few quarters, primarily driven by infrastructure spending. However, dealers and industry executives note that state elections, festival season, and, in some markets, weddings and pollution may temporarily disrupt this demand story. While the festival season typically sees a slowdown in construction activity, some dealers anticipate this lull extending throughout the entire month as multiple states enter election mode.
The Finance Ministry has started preparations for Budget 2014-15 by asking different central ministries and departments to come out with their estimates of receipts as well as expenditure for the next financial year.
Without making two-thirds of the country's population a development partner, India's prosperity is impossible, the Congress leader added.
'The move towards fiscal consolidation had to be diluted because of the relief to farmers as the government wants to appease the voters.'
The Budget tried to please politicians, rating agencies and reformists, and let them all down -- slightly.
Sheela Bhatt spoke to various members of Parliament to elicit their opinion about Finance Minister P Chidambaram's last Budget before the general elections, and found them lukewarm in their reaction. 'Political nuksaan nahi, lekin faida bhi nahin. Bach nikle,' about sums it up
Tough balancing act in the offing in the last budget of UPA-II.
The Rajya Sabha approved 15 legislations during the session while the Lok Sabha passed 23 bills, including the GST bills.
Asked if he is joining the BJP, Nath said, "If there would be any such thing, I would inform you first."
The scarcity of resources is particularly evident in the case of Rajasthan compared to many other states.
