Anticipating US action on tariffs, India seems to have made the first move by revamping its tariff structure by reducing the slabs to eight rates, points out Mukesh Butani.
The Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the budget preparation process for Interim Union Budget 2024, was held in North Block on Wednesday in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad was also present. A customary halwa ceremony is performed every year before the "lock-in" process of Budget preparation begins.
Full exemption for all health insurance premiums and reinsurance or a reduction in the GST rate from 18% to 5% on health insurance services is likely.
Once more women assume leadership roles and join the nation-building process, he said, adding they will become a guarantee of the country's bright future.
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
While the capital spending is being maintained at 3.1 per cent of the GDP, a little more would have boosted economic growth even further, suggests Rajiv Memani.
The stormy second part of Budget Session continues. Both houses of Parliament have been facing continuous protests by opposition parties over issues like fuel price hike.
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
The development comes a day after a government resolution (GR) was issued, in which the state administration ordered disbursal of Rs 10 crore funds for strengthening the state Waqf Board.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday expressed anguish over not being allowed to learn Hindi in Tamil Nadu as a student and was even mocked on the streets for attempting to learn the language.
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has received "positive" feedback from industry regarding the 45-day payments cycle for MSMEs, according to a senior official familiar with the matter. The comment assumes significance amid concerns raised by some MSMEs that big companies may stop buying from small and medium suppliers and instead choose to make purchases from unregistered enterprises.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed three bills to replace the colonial-era criminal laws by voice vote.
'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.'
The finance minister continues to be backed by the same policy team in charting out the broad strategy as in the few earlier Budgets.
The disqualified MLAs are Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur and Chetanya Sharma.
'Our attempt to honour the taxpayer has been since 2014 and more actively since 2019-2020 onwards.'
Aditya Mhatre shares some practical and actionable tips to save money and focus on what matters most when you are studying abroad
A proposal in the Union Budget 2022-23 to raise excise duty on dirtier, unblended retail petrol and diesel has met with some resistance from the petroleum ministry. However, finance ministry officials say no such communication arguing against the levy of extra duty on diesel has been received from the oil ministry. Until there are discussions between the two departments, the proposal will not be tweaked in the Finance Bill. The Rs 2 per litre additional excise duty proposed on unblended fuels in the Finance Bill will result in a uniform hike of diesel prices across the country from October 1.
'Going forward, the encouragement would be to move to the new tax regime.'
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
The eighth Budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continued to focus on 'GYAN' (Garib, Youth, Annadata, Nari) to maintain a consistent and coherent strategy initiated over the years in pursuing the government's vision for Viksit Bharat. The approach, characterised by incremental yet impactful steps, aims to create a compounding effect over time.
Here's what you must know about the new rule, its implications, and whether it affects taxpayers' rights and privacy.
The opposition parties will meet on Monday morning to evolve their strategy in both Houses of Parliament after protests by them on the Hindenburg-Adani issue overshadowed most of the first half of the Budget session.
Fintech firm BharatPe is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18-24 months with the company expecting profitability at an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and ammotisation (Ebitda) level for FY25, chief executive officer (CEO) Nalin Negi said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that there have been no attempts from abroad to stoke trouble in India ahead of the Parliament's Budget session, which begins on Saturday. Modi's statement comes as his government prepares to present its first full-fledged budget in its third term. He expressed confidence that the Budget session will infuse new confidence and energy in attaining the goal of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, and said his government has been working in a mission mode for an all-round development.
Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators 'feeling suffocated' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister 'liar number one'.
The number of cyberfraud cases has skyrocketed from 2,677 in 1999-2000 to 29,082 in FY24 -- more than a 10-fold increase. The RBI pegs digital payment frauds at Rs 1,457 crore in FY24, up more than five times in a year. It's not just the number of frauds. What's alarming is the growing sophistication of the fraudsters, exposing the vulnerabilities within the financial system, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu could not read out his customary closing remarks that sum up the business conducted in the House during the session, as Shiv Sena and other opposition MPs created a ruckus.
'File all the supporting documents in response to the allegation since there is a possibility of the proceedings getting dropped at that stage if the reply is satisfactory.'
Two years after his dismissive stance on India's AI potential raised eyebrows here, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday gave a ringing endorsement to Artificial Intelligence momentum in the country -- and billed India as an important market not just for the new-age technology itself but for the ChatGPT creator as well. In New Delhi on Wednesday, Altman -- while sharing dais with Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw -- said India is the second biggest market for the company and that Open AI had tripled its users here in the last year.
She said I treated her like a bachchi. At another moment, she said I had gone to various people and 'bitched' about her. She also threatened to bring the entire matter to the PM's notice. A revealing excerpt from Subhash Chandra Garg's We Also Make Policy: An Insider's Account of How the Finance Ministry Functions.
The government on Thursday brought a bill in the Lok Sabha to withdraw all back tax demands on companies such as Cairn Energy and Vodafone and said it will refund the money collected to enforce such levies.
A notification in this regard was issued on Thursday evening which further said that these six MLAs ceased to be members of Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly with effect from February 29.
In September, JSW MG Motor India, the newly minted joint venture between SAIC Motor, which is present in 100 countries, and Indian conglomerate JSW Group, launched the Windsor, an electric car that introduced battery as a service (BaaS).
PM to meet SP, RJD and JD(U) as Congress managers fear for passage of Finance Bill.
The passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday has not ended the problems of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
The bills, including some key finance legislations, were passed during the course of a few hours in the post-lunch period.
President Droupadi Murmu, in her address to the nation on Republic Day, advocated for the "One Nation One Election" initiative, emphasizing its potential to enhance governance and reduce financial burdens. She highlighted the government's efforts to eliminate remnants of colonialism, citing the replacement of British-era criminal laws with modern alternatives. Murmu also lauded India's economic progress, stressing the importance of inclusive growth and social welfare. She urged citizens to remember the sacrifices of freedom fighters and reaffirmed the significance of the Constitution in guiding India's journey towards a prosperous and equitable future.
Even existing cases might come under the proposed law, including those of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choski. But, the law would not cover earlier cases.
Can lead to imprisonment up to seven years.
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