Nirmala Sitharaman's maiden Budget has not disappointed but vision and details, particularly for the revival of agriculture, are missing.
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.
The TDP chief said he tried to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a 'courtesy' to inform him about the decision to quit but he did not come on line.
The Sensex closed the day at 28,141, up 486 points, while Nifty50 settled at 8,716, up 155 points.
India's GDP is within the striking distance of attaining positive growth, the Reserve Bank said observing that the letter "V" in the V-shaped recovery stands for vaccine. The Indian government launched the world's biggest vaccination drive on January 16 to protect people from COVID-19. "What will 2021 look like? The shape of the recovery will be V-shaped after all and the 'V' stands for vaccine," said an article on the 'state of economy' in the RBI's January Bulletin. India has launched the biggest vaccination drive in the world, backed by its comparative advantage of having the largest vaccine manufacturing capacity in the world and a rich experience of mass inoculation drives against polio and measles.
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.
Arun Jaitley addressed a post-Budget press conference.
With the farmers' protest against the three new laws and in support of legalising the minimum support price (MSP) going strong, state governments have announced a slew of measures in their annual Budgets to placate farmers. The Centre kicked things off in the Union Budget by assuring farmers that the MSP would continue and coming out with a report card to demonstrate its commitment. However, these efforts don't seem to have yielded tangible results. In their respective Budgets, states chose to go a step further by announcing a variety of measures.
Today, public policy projects itself as pro-farmer but it does it half-heartedly, complains Swaminathan.
A summary of the budget speech of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
However, Icra Rating Principal Economist Aditi Nayar feels that the numbers are a bit too optimistic and need real heavy-lifting by the Centre and the states. "The survey forecasts on real and nominal GDP will require a substantial push from Central and state spending as private sector capacity expansion is anticipated to be intermittent, and sector-specific in the next couple of quarters," she said. Nayar added that private consumption is likely to chart a differentiated recovery across income and age groups. Based on the comments made in the Survey, she expects the Union Budget to incorporate a growth in gross tax revenue of 15-16 per cent.
Government looking at cushioning slowdown due to demonetisation with sops and higher outlay for micro, small and medium enterprises, agriculture, and affordable housing.
Several speakers noted that Budget carried the weight of expectations.
'The government is trying to kickstart the investment cycle in India and while the corporate investments are yet to gather momentum, there are early signs of the same.'
Ahead of Budget, a Parliamentary panel on Friday suggested taxing agricultural income, bringing all non-essential services under tax net and revamping export promotion schemes to check tax evasion and widen tax base.
In a pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the experts suggested timely implementation of the BJP's election manifesto promises to fix higher support prices. They also favoured a Kissan TV channel, an efficient procurement policy, priority for farm mechanisation and the linking of rivers.
The loss in Bihar has forced a change in NDA's market positioning, says Shekhar Gupta.
Employees of public sector banks (PSBs) on Thursday went on two-day strike against the move to privatise public sector banks impacting normal banking operation across the country. Many branches across different parts of the country were shut as the United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank unions including All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) had given two day strike call. As a result, services such as deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearance and loan approvals might be affected due to the strike. But ATMs are expected to function as usual.
Given the many policy areas where the Centre and the states have not been seeing eye to eye in the last few years, it is time the Modi government convenes a meeting of the Inter-State Council, recommends A K Bhattacharya.
Rural outlay may go up 23% to reduce pains of demonetisation
Tomar said, "The prime minister had brought the three Bills that were passed by the Parliament. They would have benefitted farmers. PM's clear intention was to bring revolutionary changes in the lives of farmers. But I am pained that we failed to explain benefits to some farmers of the nation."
Single window clearances for realty must.
If Nirmala Sitharaman does indeed present a 'never-before' like Budget on February 1, going by her promise, she would create a new benchmark for post-contraction Budgets, observes A K Bhattacharya.
'The strategies outlined in Jaitley's Budget won't create the millions of jobs needed to dispel the despair and cynicism of militant youth in the Red Corridor running from Nepal to Tamil Nadu.'
Agriculture credit is likely to exceed the target of Rs 7,00,000 crore while farm exports are expected to increase to over $45 billion in the current fiscal, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.
Boost to dairy sector will generate jobs
Even as experts were debating pros and cons of the waiver, came the first-ever announcement in the history of commodity markets anywhere in the world the introduction of Commodity Transaction Tax and this, coupled with service tax imposed on commodity exchanges, was a blow to the nascent commodity Futures industry in the country.
Siddaramaiah announces free LGP gas, universal health scheme in budget
In a big boost to farm sector, Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed a whopping Rs 1.25 lakh crore increase in agri-credit target for next fiscal at Rs 7 lakh crore and raised allocation to the ministry by a handsome 22 per cent.
A 'White Paper' versus 'Black Paper' battle erupted on Thursday as the Centre and the Congress unveiled documents and crossed swords over the handling of the Indian economy during the nearly 10 years of the BJP-led NDA rule and the previous 10-year tenure of the Congress-led UPA government.
Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran has hailed the Budget proposals-2010-11 presented in Parliament on Friday. The minister said that these initiative for the textiles sector as a growth spurring initiatives , which dovetail with economic revival, infrastructure development, agriculture development, inclusive growth and restoring export growth.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to discuss key issues with state finance ministers.
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Budget-makers in North Block are looking to maintain this fiscal status quo, in spite of tax revenues nowhere close to where the government wants and in spite of possible higher expenditure commitments.
'Swachh Bharat Cess imposed last year should be made broad-based.' 'Budget should be predominantly economy/ business-oriented and problem-solving rather than political consideration-based.'
The blueprint submitted to the prime minister identified agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, education and sustainability as five key areas of focus. The government should 'encourage infrastructure funding by mandating five or six institutions to create an infra bond market", IMC president Gul Kripalani said in the Action Plan submitted to the prime minister.
The government should 'encourage infrastructure funding by mandating five or six institutions to create an infra bond market,' IMC President Gul Kripalani said in the action plan submitted to the prime minister. It wanted deregulation of the labour market to stimulate investment and employment. 'Encourage contract labour employment to enhance labour flexibility. Amend labour laws to provide flexibility in respect of entry and exit,' IMC said.
But the measures, particularly in agriculture, may not be enough to revive the sector and double the farm income, says S Mahendra Dev.
There is also nothing in this Union Budget to stop farmers from dying. It is just rural infrastructure and not agriculture that the Budget is looking at, says Kishor Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti.
High fiscal deficits raise inflation which hits the lowest income and salaried classes.
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