The government, it would seem, is reserving its firepower to spend on big-ticket items that will be announced in the Budget, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
The West Bengal state government has delayed project approvals. And now, the IT giants may look at other states as the centre is thinking of giving sops to SEZs
The next Census' findings will help identify the extent of India's ageing population and vulnerability levels.
The annual Finance Bill may soon become far less exciting as the government plans to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding tax proposals in Budget. Once the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) are in place, the finance ministry will adopt a public discussion approach for most future decisions, while confining the annual exercise to a few procedural changes.
Ahead of the Union Budget, the banking sector, through the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), has made recommendations to the Union finance ministry on direct tax, including removing Section 194N of the Income Tax Act. According to Section 194N, tax deduction at source (TDS) has to be done if a sum or sums withdrawn in cash by a person in a fiscal year exceed Rs 20 lakh if no income-tax return (ITR) has been filed for the three previous assessment years, and Rs 1 crore if ITRs have been filed in all the three previous assessment years.
Union Tourism Minister Shripad Naik on Friday said that having Arvind Mayaram as the new secretary in the ministry would be of great help.
RBI may think twice before agreeing with suggestions of a rate cut.
Public sector banks (PSBs) have proposed the Finance Ministry their plan to raise Rs 54,800 crore through Additional Tier-1 (AT-1) and Tier-2 bonds in the current financial year (FY25), 37 per cent more than the Rs 39,880 crore raised in FY24
It would be interesting to see how fast the finance ministry allocates money to the state.
A couple from Mumbai who recently shifted to Kerala has received Rs 15.31 crore from an anonymous donor to purchase a life-saving drug for the treatment of their 16-month-old son.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history when she presents her seventh straight Budget on Tuesday for the fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India's first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term.
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman finance minister, had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget briefcase for the traditional 'bahi-khata' to carry Union Budget papers.
The government does not seem keen on issuing fresh gold bonds given the overall cost and rising gold prices.
Unlike the finance ministry which takes a larger view, the commerce ministry only looks at exporters' interests.
'Additionally, the significant employment multiplier will boost direct and indirect jobs of up to 1.1 million.'
The government on Wednesday extended the tenure of Enforcement Directorate Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra by a year till November 18, 2022, days after the Centre brought ordinances to allow ED and Central Bureau of Investigation directors to occupy the office for up to five years.
The government has set up a search committee under Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to shortlist names for the appointment of the next chief election commissioner, sources said on Monday, citing an order.
'Not only jobs are not being generated, but people are also losing jobs.'
The deportation of Indians from the United States, deaths in the Maha Kumbh stampede and the joint Parliamentary committee report on the Waqf bill were among the issues that led to heated exchanges and some disruptions in an otherwise smooth first part of the Budget session that ended on Thursday.
But the government will present a second tranche of Supplementary Demands for Grants during the Budget session of Parliament in February, when it can seek additional spending.
In the pre-budget Economic Survey 2010-11, the Union finance ministry made a strong pitch for the pro-growth impact of investment in human capital adding, "fortunately, there is awareness of this in India and efforts are afoot in terms of budgetary allocation and actual initiatives to boost the development of skill and human capital."
So how do you rate the Modi government's 11th budget?
'The finance ministry's decision to accept the deficit target of 4.5 per cent in 2025-2026 appears to have emanated from its endorsement of the Finance Commission's view that the Indian economy will continue to remain impacted by the pandemic, adversely undermining its growth potential,' notes A K Bhattacharya.
Owing to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman being new to her role, a number of crucial announcements in the Budget bore Garg's imprint, especially the decision to borrow in overseas markets, reduce the fiscal deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product, and resort to off-Budget borrowing to meet that target, says Arup Roychoudury.
The clarification comes in wake of media reports that Finance Ministry is contemplating to merge the Railway and General budgets and change the financial year.
The Indian government will present the annual budget for 2016-17 on February 29.
The Union finance ministry is believed to have agreed to modify its notification for exempting from tax the entire 9.5 per cent interest on provident fund deposits for 2010-11, and will soon announce the good news for EPFO's 6 crore (60 million) depositors.
Continuing her tirade against Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on participatory note issue, AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa on Thursday demanded his resignation from the Union Cabinet or his dismissal.
'The voice which came wherever I travelled was that we are proud taxpayers. We are honest taxpayers. We want to continue to serve the country by being good taxpayers.' 'But what do you think about the kind of things you can do for us?'
The civil aviation ministry is holding talks with the finance ministry on rationaliation of sales tax on aviation turbine fuel and airport taxes.
The Union finance ministry may have to battle it out in court with the sponsors of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament to make them comply with its service tax payment demands.
The Union finance ministry will meet CEOs of public sector banks to discuss issues related to cybersecurity in the wake of the Rs 820 crore (Rs 8.2 billion) fraud that hit Kolkata-based UCO Bank last month.
A proposal in the Union Budget 2022-23 to raise excise duty on dirtier, unblended retail petrol and diesel has met with some resistance from the petroleum ministry. However, finance ministry officials say no such communication arguing against the levy of extra duty on diesel has been received from the oil ministry. Until there are discussions between the two departments, the proposal will not be tweaked in the Finance Bill. The Rs 2 per litre additional excise duty proposed on unblended fuels in the Finance Bill will result in a uniform hike of diesel prices across the country from October 1.
The government is looking to give Bharat Global Ports a certain amount of domestic exposure after it set up the state-owned consortium to increase India's global maritime heft, officials aware of the development said. The intended domestic exposure is meant to give the consortium experience and build its credentials for international projects.
Whether she will pare the fiscal deficit target of 5.1 per cent of GDP, using the record dividend received from the RBI, or expand flagship government programmes will be keenly watched.
The health sector has been allocated Rs 89,155 crore in the Union Budget 2023-24, a hike of around 13 per cent over Rs 79,145 crore allocated in 2022-23, with the government also announcing a mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
Startup founders need to sit up and think about how not to take stardom for granted and how not to disappoint their fans who have stood in long queues for those precious selfies with popular entrepreneurs, notes Nivedita Mookerji.
The Union finance ministry on Thursday said the falling inflation rate would result in further lowering of interest rates. "The trend is clear for falling inflation and this will translate into lower interest rates," Economic Affairs Secretary in the Finance Ministry Ashok Chawla said while commenting on the inflation data.
Sports budget raised by over Rs 350 crore, Khelo India gets biggest share
Top sources in the Union finance ministry said on Wednesday that the government does not see any payment related problems in the Indian capital market because of the financial turbulence in the United States and other markets.
