Against a turbulent and uncertain background, Budget 2017-18 hewed a steady, forward-looking course, says Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the government.
The idea behind advancing the Budget date is to ensure that the Finance Bill is passed before the start of the financial year, on April 1, so that all central government departments get their full allocations to work with right from the first day
The Railway Budget will be presented on February 25 while the Union Budget will be presented on February 29.
These could include strengthening the public-private partnership (PPP) dispute resolution mechanism, uniform PPP institutional framework, easier terms for infrastructure companies accessing bond markets, and tax sops, Business Standard has learnt. Investment in infrastructure projects with high multiplier effect has been the Centre's main plank to revive the economy, create employment and boost consumption.
Finance minister attempts a clean-up job, keeps projected expenditure growth low.
The capital outlay to cover the modernisation programmes have got a hike of 10.05 per cent.
The Budget may see new rural schemes and stepping up of funding towards existing programmes like MNREGA, rural housing, irrigation projects and crop insurance.
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal did not hike passenger fares.
RSS-aligned Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on Monday expressed disappointment over the government's budget proposals with regard to divestment and foreign direct investment, especially in the insurance sector. The BMS, however, lauded the government for its current efforts on the massive vaccination programme, a special scheme for tea workers in West Bengal and Assam, labour oriented push on infrastructure projects in construction sector and development of five major fishing harbours viz. Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat as hubs for economic activities etc. On other Budget proposals, it said in a statement that "mixing the beautiful concept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat with FDI and disinvestment in the Union Budget is disappointing for the employees".
India has of the one world's largest railway networks.
Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal on Friday urged the Centre to provide more fiscal powers to the states as well as increase the shareable proportion of the GST collections. Besides, he asked the central government to expedite approval for the semi-high-speed railway line or the Silverline project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod. The project is mired in controversies.
'Spend, but create assets, spend but make sure that people benefit from it.' 'This has been a beautiful guiding principle. And I think as a finance minister I owe so much to the prime minister for keeping this path clear before us.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide election in 2014 raised hopes he would draw a line under India's socialist past, cut welfare and reduce the government's role in business.
Spotlight likely on cement, metals, road cos
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai also finds a mention among these architectural marvels.
'These children possess catastrophically low birth weights -- often 1.4 kgs or less. Such extremely low birth weight results in profoundly compromised neo-natal immunity.' 'The escalation to 97 deaths in three months precipitated contemporary attention precisely because this magnitude concentrates the humanitarian emergency, rendering it impossible for the administrative machinery to ignore.'
Indian companies are expecting generous tax incentives from the Union Budget that will help them invest more in building capacities in the coming years. While the productivity-linked incentives (PLIs) are a good start to spur local manufacturing, the government should also take steps to boost consumer demand, which is not showing encouraging signs, say chief executive officers (CEOs) of India Inc. Statistics released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows that Indian banks had sanctioned loans worth Rs 75,558 crore in 220 new projects - a record low - in the pandemic-hit financial year ending March 2021. This is not showing any signs of a significant pick up in the last nine months of the ongoing financial year.
'On the tax front, most of the Budget proposals are sensible'.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2010-11 in Parliament, the minister said outpatient departments and diagnostic centres will be set up in several stations across India.
The initiatives intended to benefit the common man include e-ticketing, catering on demand, bio-toilets, food for infants, better stations.
They said that massive public investment in infrastructure, social sectors and agriculture would generate employment and the Union Budget should give it a priority and allocate necessary funds for this.
Indian Railways has managed to improve its freight volumes each year since the pandemic. However, its inability to add new industries and goods will pose a challenge for the national transporter in the wake of it setting an ambitious target of 45 per cent share in the national logistics by 2030. According to officials, the ministry of railways achieved 114 million tonnes (mt) of miscellaneous goods (classified as balance and other goods) in 2023-24.
Hussain said the new government had inherited an "empty treasury" while the prices of oil were shooting up.
The Budget for 2018-19 has at least five takeaways that are yet to receive adequate attention, says A K Bhattacharya.
This Budget will be a litmus test of the government's resolve to ensure Make in India strategy works
A team of Trinamool Congress Members of Parliament met Railway Minister and party colleague Dinesh Trivedi soon after he presented the Railway Budget in which he proposed to hike fares across all classes.
Honda dealers stopped taking orders for Jazz. The company will, however, deliver pending orders.
Presenting the Interim Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, he informed that the number of consequential accidents came down to 194 in 2007-08, as against 325 in 2003-04.
The rupee had lost 23 paise to end at 54.09 in Tuesday's trade due to month-end dollar demand.
The strike was supposed to affect about 23 million passengers.
Overall, the populist/ electoral elements in the budget have remained measured with the finance minister being clearly aware of a higher-than-expected rise in oil prices, less-than-planned tax revenues and the wider deficit for FY 17/18, constraining his margin of maneuver, says Claude Claude Smadja.
PMO officials said while they had got a request from Trinamool Congress MPs for a meeting with the PM, no letter recommending Trivedi's replacement had been received till late Wednesday night.
Cement may get costlier by Rs 7 per bag of 50 kg because of the hike in freight rate by 5.79 per cent in Railway Budget today, but manufacturers of the building material said a final call will be taken after the Union Budget.
This finance minister has come of age. That's not condescension. It is a praise, says Omkar Goswami.
Presenting the Interim Railway Budget 2009-2010 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the minister said that Palej, Panoli, Kosamba and Kim in the districts of Surat and Bharuch in Gujarat, Roshanara Garden and Sultanpuri in Delhi, Shastrinagar and Model Town of Ludhiana in Punjab and Vasarpadi in Tamil Nadu will be considered on priority for construction of ROBs and RUBs.
Stepped up public expenditure must be accompanied by focused policies, advises Vinayak Chatterjee.
'We need to look beyond the current approach'.
Can Jaitley's team hope to garner 17% more on personal income tax?
The Indian Railways proposes to introduce 58 new trains which includes five Jansadharan Trains, five Premium Trains, six AC Express Trains, 27 Express Trains.
