'Within six months I expect petrol, diesel, and electric vehicles (EVs) to reach cost parity,' says Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
J&K CM congratulates cricket team after historic entry into Ranji Trophy final
'... that it once again shies away from renewing its commitment to strategic divestment,' points out A K Bhattacharya.
Omar welcomed the announcement of setting up of an IIT in Jammu and expressed hope that something similar would be announced for Kashmir to maintain regional balance.
In an online chat with readers a few hours after the Union Budget 2015-16 proposals were announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Sundeep Agarwal, Director, PwC India, answered related queries to help put the announcements into perspective.
The finance minister said that consolidation of state-owned banks could proceed at any time without waiting for the recommendations of the proposed high-level committee on banking.
Sectors throw up a wishlist for the Finance Minister.
Nagaland Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla announced the state government's plans to form an interim council for the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) and highlighted key achievements and future priorities across various sectors during the Budget Session.
On reports of the BJP opposing the NCP merger, Fadnavis asserted that his party hasn't opposed anyone.
India, the world's fourth largest economy, is set to maintain the 'goldilocks' phase with tailwinds of good growth, low inflation and robust banking performance as well as reform initiatives poised to sustain the economic pace witnessed during 2025.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on the Congress party, accusing them of being unable to accept their repeated electoral defeats and highlighting the achievements of his government.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday participated in a traditional 'halwa' ceremony, marking the final stage for preparation of Union Budget 2024-25 to be unveiled on July 23 in Lok Sabha. The ceremony is a ritual in which traditional dessert 'halwa' is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the finance ministry who are involved in the preparation of the Budget.
'Uncertainty level A in the morning, uncertainty level B in the afternoon. If I answer about tariff rates now, I'll be outdated by the evening.'
Rural India outpaced urban centres in passenger vehicle sales in 2025, recording a growth of 12 per cent compared with 8 per cent in cities.
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.
President Droupadi Murmu addressed Parliament, urging unity on national issues like 'Viksit Bharat', swadeshi, and national security. She highlighted government initiatives and the nation's progress.
The outcome of the Union Budget, quarterly earnings from corporates and global trends are the major factors to drive stock market sentiments this week, analysts said. Besides, the trading activity of foreign investors, the rupee-dollar trend and the movement of global oil benchmark Brent crude are also crucial aspects to watch out for.
'Our attempt to honour the taxpayer has been since 2014 and more actively since 2019-2020 onwards.'
The entire Budget-making exercise will be advanced by 3-4 weeks so as to complete the legislative part of financial business before April 1, the start of a financial year
Here are handful of the number of amendments expected and predicted by analysts in the Union Budget for 2013-2014.
'People become guided by emotions, fear of missing out, and greed. They tend to invest in booming sectors that may prove exceptionally expensive.' 'Typically, that represents the peak, and subsequently, they lose substantially.'
On the back of an aggressive asset monetisation push, the government will press the throttle on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model - under which private developers fund highway construction - for future highway development, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said.
The Budget session of the Parliament is likely to begin from February 25 with the Presidential Address to a joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha followed by presentation of rail budget and general budget on February 26 and 28.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented the Interim Budget for 2014-15 on Monday.
The government in FY26 Budget should announce an "effective" personal income tax cut to support consumption and demand, Barclays said on Thursday. In its FY25-26 Union Budget preview, Barclays said the key ask from the Budget, to be presented on February 1, is to support growth while adhering to fiscal consolidation path.
The Union Budget 2025-26 has allocated Rs 3,481.27 crore for security-related expenditure (SRE) and the Special Infrastructure Scheme for Left Wing Extremist (LWE) areas. The BJP-led Centre has set a target of March 2026 to end the Maoists menace in the country. The allocation is considered significant in the wake of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's repeated statements that the Narendra Modi government has resolved to end Naxalism in the country by March 2026. This year, till January-end, 40 Naxalites have been killed in separate gunfights in the worst Naxal-hit state of Chhattisgarh. Last year, 219 Naxalites were neutralized by security forces in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh. Six Maoists were killed in Odisha in 2024, while eight were arrested and 24 had surrendered. According to the home ministry's data, 48 Naxals have so far been killed this year in all Naxal-affected states, 290 were killed in 2024 and 50 in 2023. The government has also established 290 camps of security forces in Naxal-affected areas since 2019 and 88 more are proposed to be set up in 2025.
The government will come out with a credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to facilitate term loans without collateral or third party guarantee, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. Presenting her seventh straight Union Budget, she also said that public sector banks to build in-house capability for credit assessment of MSMEs.
The pre-Budget proposals sent to the finance ministry aim to bring uniformity in tax treatment for investments in different financial sectors, mitigate hardship to retail taxpayers, and encourage participation in mutual funds.
The Jammu and Kashmir government announces plans to introduce nine new tourist destinations and reopen sites closed after the Pahalgam terror attack, aiming to revive and expand the region's tourism sector.
New Delhi will substantially reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods while continuing to protect sensitive sectors. Tariffs on some agricultural products that are not traditionally considered sensitive will be brought down to zero, while in the case of relatively sensitive items, duties will be reduced in a graded manner and quotas will be imposed.
The government has also listed three new bills for the session -- 'The Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 'Tribhuvan Sahkari University Bill', and the 'Immigration and Foreigners Bill'.
Dr Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, had to literally face a trial-by-fire to ensure widespread acceptance of his path-breaking Union Budget of 1991 that saw the nation rise from its darkest financial crises.
The India-US trade deal has offered a much-needed breather for the Indian information technology (IT) industry, which has been grappling with global macroeconomic uncertainty and subdued client spending over the past few years.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday presented the Economic Survey 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha. The Economic Survey is an annual document presented by the government ahead of the Union Budget to review the state of the economy.
Foreign investors fled Indian equities in 2025 at a scale never seen before, pulling out a record Rs 1.6 lakh crore (USD 18 billion) as volatile currency movements, global trade tensions, especially potential US tariffs, and stretched valuations eroded risk appetite, though flows are expected to turn sustainably positive in 2026.
The Union Budget 2025-26 has allocated Rs 1,024.30 crore for expenses incurred by the Council of Ministers, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office, and for hospitality and entertainment of state guests. The allocated amount is a bit more than the Rs 1,021.83 crore earmarked in 2024-25.
Significantly, about half of the CEOs who took part in the survey indicated that they propose to increase their investments in near future, 45 per cent cited no change in investment levels, while only 5 per cent expected a fall.
Currently, Railways is facing a loss of Rs 34,000 cr in passenger segment and its earnings are falling.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of late NCP leader Ajit Pawar, was sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman deputy Chief Minister after being elected as the leader of the NCP legislature wing.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
