Presenting the Union Budget in Parliament recently, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed estimated divestment proceeds of Rs 1,120 crore (Rs 11.2 billion) for 2009-10, which includes divestment in Rail India Technical and Economic Services, Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd, Manganese Core India Ltd, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd.
The government on Monday allocated an increased sum of Rs 3073 crore for the Sports Ministry in the Union budget for fiscal 2009-10, and also proposed to sanction Rs 3472 crore for next year's Commonwealth Games. The budget for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has been increased by Rs 1480 crore than what was proposed in the interim budget presented before the Lok Sabha elections.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that he has taken tremendous risk to return to higher growth rates by opting for higher deficit and hoped to achieve nine per cent growth next fiscal.
India is considering allowing new private sector banks, including by industrial houses, and a roadmap for the same could be announced in the annual Union Budget to be presented later this month.
India is considering allowing new private sector banks, including by industrial houses, and a roadmap for the same could be announced in the annual Union Budget to be presented later this month.
The gold prices surged by Rs 100 to close at Rs 14,750 per ten gram in the bullion market on Monday influenced by budgetory proposals to hike import duty on gold bars even as the metal in overseas market quoted lower.
The government on Monday said it will soon introduce a Bill to enact a Food Security law that will provide 25 kg of rice and/or wheat at Rs 3 to each family below the poverty line - a key poll promise of the Congress that heads the ruling coalition.
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee called up Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday night and they are likely to hold final round of talks on Tuesday to resolve differences over seat sharing between the two parties for the Assembly polls in West Bengal.
Venu Rajamony, a career diplomat, has been appointed as press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee.
Venu Rajamony, a career diplomat, has been appointed as press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee.
On July 18, 2022, two individuals with a Jharkhand connection will contest the Presidential election.
Union Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will skip his boss Pranab Mukherjee's Budget presentation on Friday.
Union Finance Minister and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Pranab Mukheree on Sunday ruled out any further division of West Bengal.The minister said no problem could be solved by force and hoped that the GJM would call off its indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling Hills.
However, the finance minister did not oblige members in the Rajya Sabha with clarifications on his intervention in the debate on the issue of price rise, even when Communist Party of India-Marxist member Sitaram Yechury sought some more information.
Battle lines have already been drawn and the opposition has insisted on a debate on demonetisation.
'There was trust, but perhaps there was also this apprehension that given the supreme post of prime minister, Sonia Gandhi felt her authority may be a challenged.'
Many experts, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, also suggested that industrial groups should not be allowed to do banking business.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth straight Budget ahead of the Parliamentary elections, matching the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which technically is a vote on account and popularly termed an interim Budget, will seek Parliament's nod for a grant in advance to meet the central government's essential expenditure for the first four months of the new fiscal year that starts in April. A new government elected after the April/May general elections will present the full Budget, likely in July.
India's foreign direct investment inflow between April and November 2008 was $23.3 billion, a growth of 45 per cent compared with that during the same period in 2007, said union Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is holding additional charge of the finance portfolio while presenting the Interim Budget for 2009-10 on Monday in parliament.
In 1983, when India won the cricket World Cup for the first time under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, Pranab Mukherjee was the finance minister in the central government led by Indira Gandhi. Today, 28 years later, Mukherjee is again the finance minister of the country. And the Indian cricket team has again won the cricket World Cup.
Export growth rate in first nine months of 2008-09 touched 17.1 per cent whereas the country's industrial production fell by 2 per cent in December, said Union Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is holding additional charge of the finance portfolio, while presenting the Interim Budget for 2009-10 on Monday in parliament.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has more or less finalised the plan to tweak the Union Cabinet before Parliament opens on August 8. Three ministers will be shifted to the new portfolios. Home Minister P Chidambaram, as expected, will become the finance minister. He succeeds Pranab Mukherjee who has become President of India. He is impatiently waiting for the announcement to be made within 'three to four days'. Sheela Bhatt reports.
Tourism and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja has welcomed the proposals made in the Union Budget 2010-2011 in tourism and housing & urban poverty alleviation sectors.
India's gross domestic savings rate increased from 29.8 per cent in 2003-04 to 30.7 per cent in 2007-08, said union Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is holding additional charge of the finance portfolio while presenting the Interim Budget for 2009-10 on Monday in parliament.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday again took a digital tablet wrapped in a traditional 'bahi-khata' style pouch as she headed for Parliament to present Union Budget 2023-24 in a paperless format just like the previous two years. She posed for the traditional 'briefcase' picture outside her office along with her team of officials before heading to meet the President. She, however, was holding a tablet instead of a briefcase to present the Budget in a digital format.
After 17 tumultuous years, a nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) will rollout from midnight of June 30, overhauling India's convoluted indirect taxation system and unifying the $2 trillion economy with 1.3 billion people into a single market.
Prime Minister Singh has assigned a senior Congress leader to placate the President, who is upset with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, reports Anita Katyal.
It, effectively, means that employees can invest more in 80C instruments. At present, employees claim tax benefits under Section 80CCD for contributions made towards NPS by both him/her and his/her employer.
Government will lay greater emphasis on social sectors, finance minister said.
The decision to make these changes to the Union Cabinet was apparently taken last week, but the timing of its announcement could not have been more unfortunate, writes Neerja Chowdhury
When the entire Opposition walked out of Parliament, protesting against the move to raise excise duty on diesel and petrol by Re 1 per litre, the politics over the Budget began even before Pranab Mukherjee could complete his important speech.
The old India was economically fragmented. New India will create one tax, one market, one nation, said Jaitley.
YSR Congress Party honorary president Y S Vijayalakshmi began her indefinite fast against the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh and accused TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu of having a tacit understanding with Congress on the separate statehood issue.
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President Pranab Mukherjee has sought to counter criticism against the economic stimulus provided when he was the Finance Minister in 2009 and maintained that economy under him registered high growth rates.
The finance minister could well be on her way to setting a record of achieving the biggest single-year reduction in the government's fiscal deficit, explains A K Bhattacharya.
Anand Sharma working tirelessly for extension of tax breaks that expired on March 31, 2010.
If Jaitley is finalised for the First Citizen's post, Modi will have scored two strategic goals, reports Rajeev Sharma.
Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal on Saturday took a swipe at Sonia Gandhi, saying she "ignored" the groundswell of support against division of Andhra Pradesh by not listening to the party leaders on the issue.
She posed for the traditional 'briefcase' picture outside her office along with her team of officials before heading to meet the President. She, however, was holding a tablet instead of a briefcase to present the Budget in a digital format.
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