There are several welcome standalone reforms, but these do not add up to a coherent strategy to achieve a $5 trillion economy or secure Aatmanirbharta, observes Rathin Roy.
Most of the extra spending in the Budget is in fact an accounting entry that shifts the cost of an interest subsidy to the agriculture Budget that was previously borne by the finance ministry
The allocation for health ministry for 2017-18 is Rs 47,352.51 crore in comparison to allocation in 2016-17 of Rs 37,061.55 crore.
The focus is likely to be on consolidation and improvement of existing rural-centric programmes to ensure their completion ahead of the next general elections in 2019, rather than announcement of new schemes. Sanjeeb Mukherjee and Arup Roychoudhury report.
'Sri Anna' means the best among all the food grains," Modi said.
That is what you will hear again after Nirmala Sitharaman presents a speech that will prove to be meaningless and numbers that will show themselves to be wildly off the mark, observes Aakar Patel.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spelled out water, its management, clean rivers as one of the 10 points of vision for the next decade.
The finance minister's meeting with chief executives and managing directors of banks ahead of the Union Budget assumes significance in view of the critical role the banking sector plays in boosting consumer demand across sectors.
India Inc has high hopes from the upcoming Budget.
Measures may include tax slab and rate revisions for individuals, companies.
'A buoyant market economy is one which is led by the innovation and imagination of private persons,' notes Ajay Shah.
'The only good thing is people will not be required to maintain their medical bills and invest time in that.'
Accelerated development of highways will be taken up with 2,500 km access controlled highways and 9,000 km of economic corridor. In addition, there will be 2,000 km each of strategic highway projects and port connectivity projects, she said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced cutting import duty on cut and polished diamonds and gemstones to 5 per cent while on sawn diamond to nil in order to boost the sector. At present, import duty on cut and polished diamonds as well as gemstones is 7.5 per cent. Presenting the Budget for 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman also announced that the government will facilitate export of jewellery through e-commerce for which it will implement a "simplified regulatory framework" by June this year.
The demand for extension of the GST cess regime among others was made by several state finance ministers at a pre-budget consultation called by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. Besides, many states also demanded raising the share of the Union government in the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). Currently, the central government and state government share in some CSS is 60:40 while in others it is 75:25.
Finance minister attempts a clean-up job, keeps projected expenditure growth low.
Gandhi said he was "waiting with open arms".
The FM could scrap the secrecy around tax rates.
According to an Andhra government statement, Naidu 'reposed confidence' in the PM's leadership.
This move to make it easier for funds to avail of tax exemptions.
Amid the row over Congress leader Sam Pitroda's remarks, the party on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax and cited former Union minister Jayant Sinha's remarks to allege that it is the Modi government that wanted to do so.
'The first duty of the government is to learn lessons from a bad experience and course correct. It's a pity that the government is making policy without looking at evidence and differentiating between immediate and urgent.'
The import tariff value is the base price at which the customs duty is determined.
The Bill could be introduced in Lok Sabha very soon.
The government has made pan card mandatory for all transactions above Rs 1 lakh.
Stocks might hit new highs even before B-Day.
The Budget will indicate where the Modi government stands on reforms, growth and development.
The new income tax regime for filing returns has been "sweetened" in the Budget 2023-24 and it will be beneficial for maximum number of taxpayers as they can enjoy a "reduced" tax rate, CBDT chairman Nitin Gupta said. Speaking to PTI during a post-Budget interview, Gupta said the intent of the government while announcing the new slabs and rates under the new tax regime is to gradually "do away with deductions and exemptions" so that the "long-standing demand of reduction of taxes for individual taxpayers and entities can be met." Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Budget 2023-24 in the Parliament on Wednesday, said the government has made the new income tax regime more attractive for taxpayers and has thus brought about 'substantial changes' in its structure for the benefit of the middle class.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade as she did a tight rope walk in the Budget between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations in the year before general elections.
With Jaitley preferring continuity over change, good days might take a little longer to arrive, says Shankar Acharya.
The government on Tuesday said it will allow setting up of world-class foreign universities in Gandhinagar's GIFT City, free from domestic regulations, to facilitate availability of skilled manpower in the financial services space. In addition, an international arbitration centre will be set up in the GIFT City for timely settlement of disputes under international jurisprudence, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23. The centre could be on the lines of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, or the London Commercial Arbitration Centre.
Concessional rate of tax on dividends received by Indian companies from foreign subsidiaries will be done away with from April 1, a change that may hamper global expansion of Indian companies and compel some firms to move their headquarters out of India to geographies such as Singapore and Dubai. At present, dividends received by Indian companies from their foreign subsidiaries are subject to a concessional tax rate of 15 per cent under Section 115BBD of the Income Tax (I-T) Act. The provisions of this section shall not apply from assessment year 2023-24 onwards, according to the Finance Bill.
'Interim Budget has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit.'
The BJP would want that by March 2022, when UP votes, the economy starts looking up and it heads into the polls with no other issue distracting from its main poll plank of the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The government planned to borrow 10-15 per cent of the total borrowing offshore. That works out to at least Rs 71,000 crore, or about $10.4 billion at Friday's exchange rate.
Presenting the Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal also said Rs 35,000 crore has been given under the One Rank One Pension scheme in the last three years.
At least 50 travel destinations would be developed as a "complete package" and states will be encouraged to set up a 'unity mall' for the sale of their products, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Budget on Wednesday, asserting that promotion of tourism will be taken up on a "mission mode".
The government has introduced the Code on Wages Bill 2019 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code Bill 2019 in Lok Sabha on July 23.
The bills were passed by voice vote.
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Sebi keen to attract larger number of retail investors
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