Dissenting states including Chhattisgarh and Kerala, have made it clear they are in no mood to relent. They want the Centre to borrow the entire Rs 2.35 trillion this fiscal citing bleak fiscal position.
The direction to the labour ministry was given after the prime minister met a workers' delegation led by G Sanjeeva Reddy of Indian National Trade Union Congress.
Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
With the fall of Congress, Chidambaram's political graph too started moving southwards.
Last year, Sitharaman had ditched the long-standing tradition of carrying budget documents in a leather briefcase and went swadeshi with a 'bahi-khata'.
While Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is aiming for a return to the path of fiscal prudence, various departments of the central government appear to be out of sync.
After keeping the appointments of some of the senior level officers on special duty/private secretary on hold for months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally cleared some of them.
Later, Sitharaman's office clarified that the FM had already met the industrialists, experts, and economists during the pre-budget consultations.
Sitharaman, who became the first full-time woman defence minister in the first tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government -- will also head the Corporate Affairs ministry in the new cabinet.
Rather than talking endlessly about lost and marginal opportunities, India's climate envoys need to start thinking bigger, says Mihir S Sharma.
The Union civil aviation ministry would take up the issue with the finance ministry, Patel said, expressing the hope that the latter would respond favourably to the civil aviation ministry's representation.
It further said that the loan application form should be suitably modified to incorporate passport details of borrowers.
Anticipating a sudden and huge crowd in bank branches following the announcement of various measures by the government on Friday, the AIBEA said since the number of employees in bank branches are very few, the crowds can pose a big risk for the bank staff as well as for the customers who might be visiting in large numbers.
When Nirmala Sitharaman announced her new privatisation policy, there were serious doubts if the move had the BJP's full political backing. All those doubts were dispelled when her initiatives were endorsed by Modi in Parliament, observes A K Bhattacharya.
Only three or four tonnes is estimated to have been mobilised under the scheme.
The EPFO, which has 50 million subscribers, provides annual interest of 8.75 per cent on provident fund deposits.
India can become the number one automotive manufacturing hub in the world within five years, but auto companies need to enhance safety features to reduce deaths due to road accidents, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday. In his inaugural address at the Auto Expo 2023 here, the minister for road transport and highways asserted that the government's target is to reduce these accidents by 50 per cent before the end of 2024 while asking the auto industry to take suo moto action for road safety as the government doesn't want to make anything mandatory. Gadkari's sentiments were also echoed by Minister of Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey, who lamented that while India has only 1 per cent of the total overall vehicles, the country accounts for 11 per cent of the total global deaths due to road accidents.
The two major railway unions have proposed to the government an unprecedented alternative to privatisation or inviting foreign investment, to help raise funds and improve revenue.
With Raghuram Rajan not 'really there', the FinMin has decided to keep a watch on market developments this week with all key officials on the job.
Many PSU banks had recently cut interest rate on loans for two-wheelers and consumer durables.
India plans to phase in cash transfers of food and kerosene subsidies from September, saving 10-15 per cent of the $21 billion in annual outlays on the benefits by eliminating fraud, a senior finance ministry official said on Thursday.
Accordingly, West Bengal can borrow Rs 20,362 crore, Maharashtra (Rs 46,182 crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 29,108 crore), Karnataka (Rs 27,054 crore), Gujarat (Rs 26,112 crore) and Rajasthan (Rs 16,387 crore).
The Finance Ministry has been pitching for EPFO funds to be invested in the equity markets to maximise their yields.
In 2009, FinMin proposed to move regulators' reserves into public account. These accounts were finally opened in 2013-14. However, no funds have been deposited in it so far.
However, independent economists are not as gung-ho as the finance ministry over the likelihood of deficit target being met this time around, says Indivjal Dhasmana.
Suresh said the ministry had received several representations from the EPF pensioners Association, pointing to the meagre pension amount, which in some cases was about Rs 50 to Rs 300.
Seeking to enhance green mobility, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the 'PM-eBus Sewa' scheme under which 10,000 electric buses will be provided to 169 cities under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
With an aim to safeguard the investors from possible frauds involving collective investment schemes, the government has proposed a high-level committee of members from Reserve Bank, Sebi, Corporate Affairs Ministry and Economic Office Wing of state police departments.
The largest challenge for the gigantic exercise between the Centre and the 29 states was to keep the latter interested over the years.
The Ministry of Finance may seek the Union Cabinet's approval for the proposed 10 per cent stake sale in state-owned Coal India Ltd by the end of this month, a senior Coal Ministry official said
The finance minister may stagger some of the recommendations.
The Akash missile systems have over 96 percent indigenous components and the weapon can hit targets at a range of 25 km.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other finance ministry officials have reached the last leg of pre-Budget consultations.
Issuance of new bank licences proves that the apex bank wants the financial sector to flourish.
In a surprise development on July 2, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP split as his nephew Ajit Pawar and almost three dozen MLAs joined the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP leaders were sworn in as ministers.
Despite a high current account deficit (CAD) and lower interest rates abroad, the Union government will not go for a sovereign bond issue to get more dollars.
The new system is expected to give emphasis on various in-built credit enhancement structures.
Move fuels fears of consolidation among unions of some small banks; won't force unification, clarifies finance ministry.
Sources said there was no need 'immediately' to look into legal aspects or consider anything else (such as the possibility of political interests over the dismissal and a counter-strategy to frustrate it), as the dismissal was now on hold.
More funds are expected to be allocated for the new crop insurance scheme, PMSKY and RKVY.
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