The middle class is a big force to fulfil dreams of a prosperous and developed India and our government has taken many decisions to empower it, the prime minister said.
India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced an ambitious plan to develop the country's top 50 tourist destinations in a "challenge mode", with the aim of boosting employment-led growth and attracting international visitors. The Ministry of Tourism has received a significant budget increase for 2025-2026, with a focus on enhancing tourism infrastructure, promoting domestic and international travel, and ensuring the safety of tourists, particularly women. The government plans to promote homestays, improve connectivity to tourist spots, and provide performance-linked incentives to states that demonstrate effective destination management. The budget also includes investments in public enterprises, skill development programs, and initiatives to promote medical tourism and spiritual tourism.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the repo rate cut in the February meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC) was due to inflation aligning with the target and recognising the fact that monetary policy is forward-looking.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's office-bearers, members of Parliament and other leaders will fan out across the country to explain the merits of Union Budget 2022 to the people.
While the capital spending is being maintained at 3.1 per cent of the GDP, a little more would have boosted economic growth even further, suggests Rajiv Memani.
The words that appeared more often in the speech included tax, income, lakh and crore.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh emphasizes the need for India to remain prepared for uncertainty, even during peacetime, and highlights the increasing importance of the defence sector as an economic driver.
Highlights of the Railway Budget 2004-2005 presented by the Union Minister of Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
No increase in passenger and freight fares. Ticket reservations over mobile phones to be introduced soon.
Opposition MPs in India's Rajya Sabha raised concerns about US President Donald Trump's tariff threats, demanding the government clarify its response and engage in discussions with opposition parties. Leaders like P Chidambaram and Sagarika Ghose warned of potential economic repercussions, including depressed exports, lower FDI, and a significant tariff burden. The debate also touched on other issues such as the government's economic policies, demonetization, and the impact of GST on common citizens.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a slew of taxation proposals in the Union Budget on Thursday.
Anticipating US action on tariffs, India seems to have made the first move by revamping its tariff structure by reducing the slabs to eight rates, points out Mukesh Butani.
The Indian automobile retail sector saw a strong start to 2025, with overall sales increasing by 6.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in January, according to the latest report by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). Despite the positive numbers, the association noted that auto dealers have mixed expectations for the coming months. Nearly half (46 per cent) anticipate further growth in sales, while 43 per cent believe sales will remain steady.
We want to know from you, dear readers, what you think about Jaitley's budget.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commended the outstanding performance of chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa
According to state officials, the project envisages lifting of 17.40 thousand million cubic feet of water from river Thunga to Bhadra reservoir and 29.90 TMC from Bhadra reservoir.
The MiG-21 episode demonstrates that procurement is always strategic.
Choices about what aircraft to acquire, who builds them, who supplies the spares, who trains the pilots and technicians are decisions with political consequences lasting for decades.
Following are the highlights of the Railway Budget 2006-07 presented by Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav
The Union Budget on Wednesday outlined several initiatives to drive India's technology agenda and boost digital infrastructure, including new centres of excellence for artificial intelligence, National Data Governance Policy, and Entity DigiLocker.
The government on Wednesday increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat by Rs 150 to Rs 2,425 per quintal for the 2025-26 marketing season, a move that comes ahead of key state elections. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved price hikes for six rabi crops, with increases ranging from Rs 130 to Rs 300 per quintal for the 2025-26 marketing season beginning April 2025. "Like for kharif crops, there is a significant increase in the MSP for rabi crops," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a media briefing after the Cabinet meeting.
The opposition leaders are expected to meet at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's office in the Parliament complex around 10 am, sources said.
Jaitley began his speech by saying that today is the auspicious day of Basant Panjami and that "spring is the season of optimism".
Your choice between the Old and New Tax Regimes should reflect your financial strategy and investment goals, says Ramalingam Kalirajan
Invest in these funds through the SIP route with at least a seven-year horizon.
Modi said the policies of the government will empower the downtrodden and turn them into a "power house" for the development of the country.
At the customary meeting ahead of the session beginning Monday, the opposition raised various issues, including voter roll revision in Bihar, the Pahalgam terror attack and Trump's 'ceasefire' claims.
Any reduction in the customs duty on smartphone parts in the forthcoming budget will harm India's developing component ecosystem, discourage investment, increase imports, and make local firms uncompetitive, potentially resulting in job losses, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. India's smartphone industry is a 'Make in India' success story, with 2023-24 production reaching $49.2 billion and exports at $15.6 billion, making smartphones the fourth-largest export after diesel, aviation fuel, and polished diamonds.
Mixing humour with political resolve, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday used the flagging-off ceremony of the first train to Kashmir by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Katra to subtly but clearly articulate his government's demand for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Vijay Kelkar task force on direct and indirect taxes, submitted its report to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget on February 1 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections likely to be held in April-May.
Red Square and VDNKh easily rank among the most striking places I've visited -- both for their historical significance and architectural splendour.
My admiration for Russian culture, vision and ambition grew with every step as I clocked the miles, Nitin Sathe tells us after a visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
Despite facing financial constraints, Kerala has been able to invest in welfare schemes and targeted programmes.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said the Budget 2025-26 maintained the government's continuous push to improve Railways by allocating Rs 2.52 lakh crore to it and approving projects such as manufacturing 17,500 general coaches, 200 Vande Bharat and 100 Amrit Bharat trains, among others.
The government has limited room to reduce expenditure without further weakening growth, it noted.
Manas Sood, a Class 12 student from the Delhi Public School, has distributed 2,650 boxes of Tax City Education and empowered over 12,000 students from 52 schools across India. His aim? To help young Indians understand taxes and become financially literate.
'When people have money in their hands, they make their judgment about whether they want to spend it entirely or spend some out of it.'
India's budget for the fiscal beginning April focuses on giving a boost to the ongoing economic recovery through a sharp increase in capex spending but is short on major growth-enhancing structural reform announcements, Fitch Ratings said Wednesday. The deficit targets present in the Union budget 2022-23 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday "are a bit higher than our forecasts when we affirmed India's 'BBB'/Negative sovereign rating in November," said Jeremy Zook, director and primary sovereign analyst for India, Fitch Ratings. While it was widely expected that the fiscal deficit will be lower than the targeted 6.8 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, Sitharaman put the number at 6.9 per cent.
#Budget2018 resulted in over 14 lakh conversations on Twitter.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced allocation of whopping Rs 48,000 crore for completion of 80 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), both rural and urban, during the next fiscal year. In her budget speech, the minister said: "In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana, both rural and urban. Rs 48,000 crore is allocated for this purpose." The Centre would work with states for reduction of time required for all land and construction related approvals, for promoting affordable housing for middle-class and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in urban areas, she said.
