The S&P BSE Sensex ended down 321 points at 23,089.
"Earlier, governments were busy in vote bank appeasement but we are busy satisfying people," the prime minister said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. This was Sitharaman's fourth Budget. While the taxpayers were left in the lurch, once again, was she able to cheer Corporate India?
It was also the shortest speech by Sitharaman, who had delivered the longest speech last year. Her first Budget speech in July 2019 went on for around 137 minutes and in 2020, it went on for more than 160 minutes and was cut short after she felt unwell.
Railway Budget has not discriminated against any state.
This is the Upper House's third best productive session in the last 14 sessions since the Monsoon Session (243rd Session) of 2017, the Rajya Sabha officials said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to strike a fine balance between being fiscally prudent and growth supportive when she presents her fourth straight budget on Tuesday, which is expected to have plans to boost spending to revive investment and create jobs. The Budget for the fiscal year starting April 1, 2022 is likely to raise spending on infrastructure to set the economy on a firmer footing. The stage for the Budget presentation was set by the Economic Survey stating that the government has the fiscal space to do more to support the economy that is forecast to grow at a healthy 8-8.5 per cent growth in the 2022-23 fiscal.
The Budget decides to take the lead in revving up infrastructure.
A united opposition is set to corner the NDA government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case to railway safety.
Bibek Debroy highlights the importance of the Assam Rail Link Project.
Projects about to be completed include the first rail connectivity projects in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, along with crucial gauge conversion between Rangpara and North Lakhimpur, which would connect Arunachal Pradesh to the rest of the country.
During a five-hour meeting with his entire Council of Ministers, Modi specifically asked for faster and better communication of the government's decisions.
Indian Railways need a facelift, says Suresh Prabhu.
'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.'
There has been a great debate on whether it is profitable for India to have bullet trains.
India has of the one world's largest railway networks.
Most of the members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were seen wearing face masks. However, members had crowded the Lok Sabha chamber, while hardly a handful of others, including union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal, were seen seated in the Rajya Sabha chamber.
President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday emphasised the need to strengthen affirmative action as a tool for inclusion while urging the rejection of divisive tendencies rooted in perceived social hierarchies.
Railways were first introduced to India in 1853.
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal did not hike passenger fares.
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.
The push to develop Ayodhya as a tourism centre, accompanied by large-scale infrastructure projects, comes on the back of years of limited income growth and tourist inflows.
A notification issued by the railway board in the evening said new fares would come into effect from May 5.
'Are all roads in India privatised? Are governments not playing a role in airports or ports? If they (private players) want to set up lines for a specific requirement, I see no reason to object. It will expand the opportunity and passengers will also benefit.'
"This is a budget to deceive the masses. It's an anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-country budget," Banerjee said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of Uttar Banga Utsav.
"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.
After presenting his first railway budget, Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said he was not for populism but wanted to be "realistic" to ensure that the national transporter thrives for the people of the country.
Finance minister attempts a clean-up job, keeps projected expenditure growth low.
The words that appeared more often in the speech included tax, income, lakh and crore.
'The finance minister in her Budget speech should spell out how exactly she intends to get back to the 7% track, and the hard decisions she intends to take in order to adjust to the realities of a slowing economy until growth momentum returns,' suggests T N Ninan.
She appealed to the business houses to join hands for building partnership with Railways.
'We need to put aside our anxieties about the Budget for now and possibly for long, and carry on as best as we can,' advises Shreekant Sambrani.
Suresh Prabhu announced ambitious plans.
Mr Prabhu has set the railways on a course of investing big .
Industry body CII has pitched for a reduction in personal income tax rates, decriminalisation of the goods and services tax and a relook at the capital gains tax rates as part of its agenda presented to the government for the forthcoming Budget. Arguing that the GST law already contains adequate penal provisions for deterrence against evasion of taxes, CII has suggested decriminalisation of GST law. Also, the applicability of prosecution provisions should not be based on the absolute amount of tax evasion but should be based on real intent to evade the taxes and a certain percentage of the tax payable, it stated.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday hailed as "forward-looking" the Rail Budget which has proposed hike in passenger fares in various ranges in different categories.
With the Rail Budget scheduled to be presented in the Lok Sabha on July 3, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that it will be a people's budget.
Railways had announced introduction of 99 new trains, including express and passenger services in the last budget, but till date 31 trains, including seven Duronto trains, two double decker AC trains and one Shatabdi Express have not been made operational, a data prepared by the ministry said.
The Railway Ministry is considering a hike in passenger fares in the Railway Budget 2014-15 slated to be presented by Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda in the second week of next month.
