Can Jaitley's team hope to garner 17% more on personal income tax?
A K Bhattacharya lists three reasons why Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will most likely present a full Budget on February 1, 2019.
'Our concern is about today and there is nothing in the Budget for the MSME sector to feel positive right now.'
The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice in the post-lunch period on Thursday as a war of words broke out between the treasury and opposition benches, triggered by Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi's spat with the Bharatiya Janata Party's Ravneet Singh Bittu.
'When I talk to my colleagues in the Railways, they say 'aadmi toh bohot hai, lekin matlab ka aadmi ek bhi nahi hai (the Railways has a bloated workforce, but doesn't have employees with have the skillsets that matter)'.'
The minister said that the objective of larger investment is to increase the transport capacity of the Railways and to reduce the unit cost of operations. Railways' investment outlays have been stepped up from Rs 13,394 crore (Rs 133.94 billion) in 2003-04 to Rs 36,773 crore (Rs 367.73 billion) in 2008-09.
Angry over the hike in passenger fares in the Railway Budget, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to remove her party nominee Dinesh Trivedi from the post of railway minister.
The Annual Plan for Railways in 2013-14 financial year is proposed at Rs 63,363 crore, Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said.
Congress on Tuesday slammed the Railway Budget as "pro-rich" with former Congress leader Mukesh Sharma removing Sadanand Gowda's nameplate, stepping on it in protest of what the party has called a anti-poor budget.
The Economic Survey 2007-08 has some interesting insights for infrastructure aficionados.
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.
Terming infrastructure as the "backbone" of any nation's development, Goyal while presenting the interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha said India aspires to be a USD 10 trillion economy in the next eight years, and on the anvil is next generation infrastructure of roads, railways, seaports, airports, urban transport, gas and electric transmission and inland waterways.
Rail Budget caters to all sections of the society and showcases a vision to reorganise and rejuvenate the national transporter
"For decades in our country, the meaning of the Budget was restricted to what announcements were made in whose name. The Budget was turned into an account of the vote bank," Modi said.
Industry players believe the new DFI model will be initially risk capital, which will then be used to mobilise additional resources from development agencies such as World Bank.
A likely easing in inflationary pressures in the forthcoming months will reopen the window for the RBI to once again prioritise growth and ease its interest rates.
This was on the expected lines after Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee played a major role in getting the former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi resign.
Railway Budget is the first indicator of possibly better days
While Andhra Pradesh is expected to receive Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore, Bihar is likely to get Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore in FY25.
The interim Budget proposals that will be presented on February 1 in the backdrop of the general elections scheduled in April/May 2024 are likely to have a hint of populism, believe analysts, but are unlikely to derail the government from its path of fiscal prudence.
What is required from government is intellectual framework.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said this while presenting the Union Budget in the Parliament on Friday.
Jaitley said a 10 per cent tax long on capital gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh made from the sale of shares has been introduced but those made till Janaury 31 would be grandfathered. A 10 per cent tax on distributed income by equity oriented mutual funds has also been proposed in the budget.
No increase in passenger and freight fares. Ticket reservations over mobile phones to be introduced soon.
'The Budget has maintained fiscal prudence while announcing a number of steps to boost growth, particularly in infrastructure and rural sectors.'
Jaitley's Budget has the potential to change the face of Modi's Bharat
High fiscal deficits raise inflation which hits the lowest income and salaried classes.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee presented the Railway Budget on Friday. In her third Railway Budget speech, Banerjee said atleast one doctor will be available on long distance trains.
The loss in Bihar has forced a change in NDA's market positioning, says Shekhar Gupta.
'We carry 6.5 billion passengers every year. We have crossed seven billion this year, and are targeting 10 billion by 2030.'
'Well done, Mr Jaitley, now go and implement your schemes. No leakages, no lapses and no laziness.'
Ministers may come and ministers may go but the attitude of the RB remains the same forever, and it is this group that really calls the shots in Indian Railways, says S Pushpavanam.
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended on a mixed note on Wednesday as the euphoria about the Budget fizzled out, with investors going for profit-taking ahead of the Fed interest rate decision. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 158.18 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 59,708.08 after it trimmed most of the intra-day gains. During the day, it had zoomed 1,223.54 points or 2 per cent to 60,773.44.
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Many of the PPPs have not evinced interest, Prabhu said.
'Retail investors, who had not seen such a massive correction in the SMID universe since COVID-19, are witnessing something like this for the first time. Panic profit booking may continue.'
The 30-share Sensex and the 50-share Nifty ended flat at the mark of 29,008 and 8,767 respectively.
'Kavach', which literally means armour, is being promoted by the railways as the world's cheapest automatic train collision protection system.
The amount constitutes 45 per cent of the railways' total wage bill.
"This budget is most directionless budget presented by the Union railway minister Lalu Prasad...it's nothing but jugglery of words," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaj Hussain said. "Railway minister should also present an outcome and performance budget after each railway budget so that people could know which of promises made during his rail budgets were actually implemented," party general secretary Ananth Kumar said.
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