The government will take special efforts to ensure adequate credit flow to underserved areas -- the eastern states and Jammu-Kashmir, he added.
A host of companies, including giants like Reliance Industries are rushing in to finalise their interim dividend payments to outsmart a hike in dividend distribution tax (DDT) proposed in the Union Budget.
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
Sitharaman said Aadhaar card for NRIs with Indian passports will be issued after their arrival in India, without the mandatory 180 days' waiting period.
Shortage of ICU beds, oxygen, ventilators, vaccines, doctors, nurses and crematorium space in India has dominated headlines around the world in the past few weeks with Covid-19 cases surging beyond control and the government failing to deliver. Yes, election rallies, Kumbh Mela, blatant flouting of social distancing and mask protocols coupled with a messy vaccination process are said to be responsible for the health crisis of colossal proportions that India is facing today. But an analysis of Budget speeches made by finance ministers over 75 years also offers a glimpse of how low on the priority list healthcare has featured for the political class and policy-makers, which is a significant reason for the current situation.
The government on Wednesday imposed a limit of Rs 10 crore for deduction on long-term capital gain tax for reinvestment in residential properties under Section 54 and 54F of the Income Tax Act. These two sections deal with reinvestment of proceeds from sale of long-term assets (housing or other capital assets) to buy residential properties. "For better targeting of tax concessions and exemptions, I propose to cap deduction from capital gains on investment in residential houses under sections 54 and 54F to Rs 10 crore," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.
Bank strike continued for day-two on Tuesday, led by nine unions of public sector banks (PSBs) in the country, opposing government's policy to privatise the lenders. Customers will be inconvenienced to get services such as cash withdrawals, deposits, cheque clearances, remittance services. Government transactions related to treasury as well as business transactions will also be impacted. United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, had given a strike call for March 15 and 16.
Equity markets will take cues from global trends and trading activity of foreign investors, while in the latter part of the week the first quarter earnings from IT majors TCS and HCL Technologies would guide investor sentiments, analysts said. Markets may consolidate after the record rally last week, experts added. "On the domestic front, the Q1 earnings season begins this week. Key companies such as TCS and HCL Technologies will release their earnings on July 11 and 12, 2024, respectively.
"Of the structural reforms, the GST has been the most historic in our country. Its chief architect is not with us today. I pay homage to the visionary leader late Arun Jaitely. GST has been gradually maturing into a tax that has integrated the country economically," she said during her budget speech.
The challenges before the coming Budget are more daunting than those in 2021, reveals A K Bhattacharya.
Also on the anvil is abolition of distinction between Plan and non-Plan expenditure and replacing it with capital and revenue expenditure
Ad rates on regular days are less than half, media planners said.
The government is planning to introduce legislative changes to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) regulations, with a focus on easing the pathway for inflows from a foreign portfolio investor to transition seamlessly into foreign direct investments (FDI) once the FPI surpasses the 10 per cent ownership threshold in a company. This move stems from multiple requests by foreign investors seeking to streamline the reporting requirements that arise when their stakes in Indian firms cross the 10 per cent mark.
The finance minister clarified that indexation benefits offered until April 1, 2001 would be protected. This means older properties, including legacy assets, would benefit.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Budget a little more than a month from now. Like any other FM, Sitharaman will depend on her team of bureaucrats and advisors to frame and present the Budget.
In fact, no other recent Union Budget has held so much significance for the Indian economy as the one to be presented in about six weeks from now, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The number of centrally sponsored schemes have increased to 35 in FY22 from 30 in FY21 and central sector schemes have increased to 704 from 685 in the previous year, reports Dilasha Seth.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said her "sympathies" were with the BJP as big leaders of the INDIA bloc who are known to be good speakers have made it to the House.
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The impact the Economic Survey had on the Budget proposals and the influence the Prime Minister wielded on them deserve close attention.
Government will roll out National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme in all the 596 rural districts in the country in 2008-09.
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
'It has been an ongoing process, talking to the relevant ministries about eliminating leakages and curbing non-core expenditure in various schemes.'
The Railway ministry has been allocated budgetary support of Rs 140367.13 crore in the Union Budget on Tuesday - Rs 20,311 crore more than the revised figures of the previous fiscal. Overall, the national transporter is set to get a capital expenditure (CapEx) push of Rs 2.45 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23, 14 per cent higher than the budgeted capital expenditure of Rs 2.15 lakh crore for the current financial year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech for 2022-23 said that India will manufacture 400 new, energy-efficient Vande Bharat trains in the next three years.
Calling the Budget 2018 'anti-labour', the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh will observe February 20 as a 'black day'.
Budget for women and children welfare increased from Rs 1,56,528 crores to Rs 1,84,632 crores for 2017-18
Mobile phones and TV sets manufactured in India would become cheaper with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing cuts in Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on import of their components but smokers would have to pay more as the government has increased taxes.
On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, rallying over 11 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC, M&M and Axis Bank. On the other hand, Dr Reddy's, Tech Mahindra and TCS were among the laggards.
Currently, if the IT department finds out that some income has been missed out by the assessee, it goes through a lengthy process of adjudication, and the new proposal would repose trust in the taxpayer.
A taxpayer whose deductions and exemption claims are less than Rs 3.75 lakh annually would be advised to opt for the new income tax regime and pay less tax than they gave in the old regime, a senior finance ministry officer said on Wednesday. The Income Tax Department has arrived at the figure after making due calculations for ensuring a "hassle-free and less tax rate" filing regime for the assessees, he said. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Budget for 2023-24, said the government has made the new income tax regime more attractive for taxpayers bringing "substantial changes" in its structure for the benefit of the middle class.
The Union Budget seems to have elicited a starkly opposite view from rural India compared to urbanites, says Mahesh Vyas.
Domestic macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors would guide market sentiments this week, analysts said. After a record rally, markets may face volatile trends this week amid elevated valuations and investors would also keep a track of global oil benchmark Brent crude and rupee-dollar movement for further cues. "Potential volatility in the stock market is anticipated this week. Elevated valuations remain a concern, with investors now focusing on monsoon progress and its impact on the rural economy.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has criticized BJP leaders for accusing the National Conference (NC) of insulting Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of the state. Abdullah challenged the BJP to provide evidence of such insults, while highlighting their own actions that he claims have undermined the Maharaja's legacy. He also called on the BJP-led government to retrieve the part of Jammu and Kashmir under Chinese occupation if they are serious about reclaiming the territory under Pakistan's control.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in his Budget speech said that India's FDI inflows in 2018-19 grew by 6 per cent to $64.37 billion.
Jaitley said the government has been able to improve its budgeted expenditure.
What is required from government is intellectual framework.
In an otherwise agriculture- and public health-focused Union Budget 2018-19, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain technology, internet of things -- jargons that found little or no mention in the previous Budgets -- managed to make their presence felt.
The party said it is "considering opposing" the proposal for taxing the PF corpus in Parliament.
There will be a review of employee compensation arrangement in the light of the new rules.
'They just showed riots created by some political party. They never mentioned the name of the place or the political party.' 'I don't know why these people are agitated.'
Going by the number of changes Mr Jaitley's next Budget is likely to see, he will go down in the history of Budget-making as the finance minister who ushered in the largest number of changes in a single Budget, says A K Bhattacharya.
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