"There will be some challenges" in the switchover to GST in the short term, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has warned.
Amid fears of double-dip recession, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday called for concerted action by G-20 nations to provide impetus to the world economy and deal with the related problems.
According to sources in the government, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is firmly against activist Anna Hazare's demand for formally constituting a joint committee, with representatives from the civil society and the government, to draft a strong anti-corruption bill. Hazare has been on an indefinite fast in New Delhi since Wednesday to press for his demand.Mukherjee has stopped the government from issuing a notification to make the joint committee formal.
The government plans to borrow Rs 4.17 lakh crore (Rs 4.17 trillion) from the market. Last year it had borrowed Rs 4.47 lakh crore (Rs 4.47 trillion).
To narrow the gap, corporates should join hands with the state and Central governments to create healthcare facilities through their social responsibility activities, he said.
In the Economic Survey, the government had projected that India's GDP growth would be between 8.75 per cent to 9.25 per cent this fiscal.
Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy has written to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee demanding a hike in excise duty on diesel cars to make up for subsidised fuel being used in vehicles.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday parried questions on the truce between him and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the controversial 2G note and whether he had offered to quit during the crisis.
It is believed that a large majority of them are third country investors which use the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention with Mauritius for saving capital gains tax.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is cutting short his visit to Washington and rushing to New York to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, amid a storm back home over his ministry's note to the prime ministers on the 2G scam.
The much-awaited talks to finalise the seat-sharing issue between Congress and Trinamool Congress for the coming Assembly elections in West Bengal ended inconclusively in Kolkata on Tuesday night.
Going by the current pace, UIDAI seems unlikely to meet the target of issuing a million Aadhaar numbers a day to cover half the country by 2013.
The RBI on Thursday hiked key policy rates for the 10th time since March, 2010, in a bid to tame inflation, which crossed the 9 per cent mark in May.
The minister further said that he would respond to the issues in his reply to the discussion on the Finance Bill 2011, later during this session.
Amid the growing chorus against black money and the government's efforts to pull the plug, Union Law Minster M Veerappa Moily has suggested Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to completely overhaul the tax administration.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the 25 basis points rate hike by the Reserve Bank will help in moderating inflation to a comfortable level without hurting growth.
Dismissing fears of a slowdown, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said India's growth drivers are intact and the Centre is committed to policy reforms.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee gave the Business Today Best CFO in the Public Sector Award to Sarraf, ONGC said.
The Congress has launched a campaign to counter the anti-graft movement by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev and accused a section of civil society of trying to weaken democratic institutions.
The move comes in the backdrop of a slowdown in the foreign direct investments and its impact on the current account deficit.
At present, when Indian corporates declare dividends, a dividend distribution tax is slapped at 15 per cent.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said India has not given any assurance to his French counterpart Christine Lagarde on support for her candidature to the post of IMF's managing director.
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.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget presentation on Monday was in sharp contrast to his colleague Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's disorderly and oft-disrupted performance.
The Union Budget stepped up plan allocation for the health sector by 20 per cent with a focus on health insurance, which Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced would be extended now to unorganised sector workers in hazardous mining and associated industries.
Government has set up a Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission to streamline the financial sector laws.
Concerned over the misuse of subsidies provided under various schemes, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the government will provide a direct cash subsidy on kerosene and fertilisers to the poor from March next year.
"The commitment to moderate levels of inflation has led to higher interest rates. In this environment, banks need to keep a strong vigil on their asset quality. These are turbulent times and we should watch every step that we take," Mukherjee said at 106th foundation day of Bank of India in New Delhi.
Worried over Baba Ramdev's indefinite fast from Saturday, the government on Wednesday took an extraordinary step to woo him by deputing Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and three other senior ministers to the airport for talks but he appeared not to relent on his plans.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday urged the states to strengthen PDS to enable the government insulate the poor from the adverse impact of inflation.
The government on Thursday insisted Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's office had not been bugged, claiming the whole thing was "bogus" and the matter should be closed now. "I had myself talked to the finance minister on Wednesday evening on this matter. There is nothing to take forward. The finance minister has categorically and emphatically stated (to the media) that it has been investigated and the answer is there has been no bugging," said Ambika Soni.
Thus far in FY21, BSE, NSE have rallied 70 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively.
President Pranab's four-day visit to China that saw him meeting the top Chinese leadership and discussing the sticky boundary issue and cooperation in combating terrorism besides the need for a predictable nuclear regime.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Wednesday assured Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that land acquisition issues for the proposed Tata Steel plant in the neighbouring country would soon be resolved.
The assurance was given by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung when India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee called on him in Hanoi.
Supporting Reserve Bank's hawkish stance on monetary policy, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the increase in the key rates was necessary to contain inflation.
Stressing that the Cabinet notes meant for Group of Ministers should be in line with the procedures, a Cabinet secretariat circular cites Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee pointing out mistakes galore in the notes submitted to him for one of many GoM meetings he chairs.
Justice Santosh Hegde on Saturday indicated that he may not resign from the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement that the government was looking forward to enacting a strong anti-corruption legislation.
It is expected that the finance ministry will be handled for some time by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In its policy review meeting on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India hiked interest rates by 25 basis points.
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