Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget speech on Friday brought closer to reality, billionaire industrialist Anil Ambani's dream of entering the banking sector.
There is no end to rising food prices in India.
Inflation is expected to be higher in December than 7.48 per cent in November, since food inflation has surged up to 18.32 per cent during the week ended December 25.
These users span across four continents and included diplomats, political dissidents, journalists and senior government officials.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday warned of greater sophistication in economic crimes and of its growing threat to national security.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked tax collectors to become technology-savvy and develop an effective intelligence system to prevent evasion and punish wrong-doers.
The government on Monday said it will provide all the funds necessary for the implementation of its unique identification number project, dismissing media reports to the contrary.
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.
On an annual basis, onions became costlier by 33.48 per cent, whereas on a week-on-week basis, the increase was 4.56 per cent, government data released here shows.
"It was a good long meeting with the governor. He met the finance minister. He reviewed the situation. Rest, wait for the policy," finance secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Centre was willing to consider a phased approach to the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST), to reach a consensus on the issue. Mukherjee said he would expect the rollout of GST simultaneously with the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), scheduled for April, but there were some issues.
Defending Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday that he found "nothing wrong" in the key United Progressive Alliance ally's statement that the killing of top Maoist leader Azad was not correct.
The overall inflation increased marginally in February to 8.31 per cent from 8.23 per cent a month ago.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's bonanza to Members of Parliament of increasing their Local Area Development funds from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore has come as a shot in the arm for members of the Parliament cutting across party lines. All are happy except one leader, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari.
Asking the state finance ministers to resolve the pending issues expeditiously, the Centre on Thursday said introducing Goods and Services Tax was critical for economic reforms.
As part of the pre-Budget exercise, the finance minister customarily holds parleys with various stakeholders, state finance ministers, industrialist groups, leading economists, trade unionists and officials of various financial sectors.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Delhi have already announced cut in value added tax on petrol.
Four of the most important ministries in the United Progressive Alliance government remained untouched in the major Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday. Let's take a look at these ministries:
Revenues from 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum auction has helped government reduce the deficit.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which will replace the Income Tax Act, is proposed to be implemented from April 1, 2012."
Responding to the price rise debate in Lok Sabha, Mukherjee said that it should be tackled by leaders across all the political parties.
Amid speculation that taxes and duties might be raised as part of a partial rollback of the economic stimulus, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the Budget for 2010-11 on Friday.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rejected a proposal by Communications Minister A Raja for refund of the Rs 29,598 crore paid by state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited for third generation (3G) and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum.
The statement indicated that RBI might further increase policy rates to tame inflation, which was still at an uncomfortably high level.
Mr Mukherjee missed that last call, but Indian politics is as accommodative as an Indian airport. There is always a second announcement, a last and final call! Is Mr Mukherjee ready to fly?
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.
With the fiscal deficit likely to shoot up during 2011-12, leading economists urged Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to expedite tax reforms to increase revenue and take steps to bring economy back on high growth path.
That was the compromise formula, said Mukherjee.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said food inflation, which stands at over 16 per cent, will begin to come down after the middle of next month on the back of good monsoon.
Earlier in the day, the White House said that it would be monitoring the progress on the Chinese assurance that it would be making its currency more flexible. It also said that currency, indeed, would be one of the topics of discussions during upcoming G-20 Summit in Toronto.
Pointing out that economy recorded a growth rate of 8.9 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal, he said, it 'takes us back on the high growth path that the economy was traversing on in the years prior to the crisis.
"Serious deliberations are underway for establishing a regulator for the coal sector and similar thought is now being given to other infrastructure sectors as well," said Pranab Mukherjee.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday exuded confidence the economy would soon break the double-digit growth barrier and said the stimulus measures will not be fully withdrawn until a robust recovery is achieved.
Food inflation increased in the week ended September 18 as the prices of cereals, fruits, select vegetables and milk rose on account of supply disruptions caused by heavy rains and floods.
The announcement was made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget speech.
Five things you did not hear the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee say in the budget speech.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India would have to develop a rupee-denominated long-term bond market to help fund the infrastructure sector, which would require $459-500 billion by 2012.
Indian economic growth slowed down to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09 from 9 per cent in the previous three years, as an aftermath of the global financial crisis.
Downplaying the recent war of words with China, India on Wednesday expressed confidence that the boundary dispute would be resolved amicably through dialogue.
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