Of the total cash outgo Rs 40,000 crore is towards enhanced expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Rs 33,771.48 crore have been sought for direct benefit transfer under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme.
'It is just an excuse to say that the Centre has run out of money.' 'Pruning these schemes would mean hard time for the people of India.'
Post office savings of 1, 2 and 3 year term deposits and 5-year recurring deposit currently fetch 8.4 per cent interest per annum.
In the June quarter of FY24, 51 per cent of consumers who took small-ticket personal loans already had more than four credit products at the time of accessing yet another new loan, compared with just 17 per cent in the June quarter of FY20, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The panel was informed that the economic impact of the second wave of viral infection was "asynchronous in its onset and wider in its spread particularly in rural hinterland", a source said.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed with him the issue of a finance ministry note on allocation of 2G spectrum which appeared to raise questions on his role.
Regulated electronic platforms such as e-spot markets or spot exchanges may be deemed as authorised markets.
Restoration of Customs duty on crude oil & rollback of exemptions likely.
The Union finance ministry is planning to make rules regarding wilful defaulters more stringent, so that criminal charges can be pressed against such entities.
The government and MMRDA are keen to develop the 22-km link, which will connect Sewri on the island city to Nhava Seva in Navi Mumbai, on an engineering, procurement and construction basis and not on the build-operate transfer model, considering past experience.
The drive of the disinvestment department to move ahead with its plan to raise Rs 40,000 crore was often neutralised by the desire of the administrative ministries to get better valuation and better price for the shares of the companies put on the block.
In the Union budget, Rs 65,011.8 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, up from Rs 62,659.12 crore in 2019-20.
The Finance Audit and Investment committee recommended 8.95% interest.
In its recommendations to the finance ministry, the commerce ministry has made a strong case for helping exports, particularly in the labour-intensive sectors like leather, textile and handicrafts.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the much-awaited 2022-23 Union Budget on February 1. While there has been strong recovery in some sectors, touch services like hospitality, tourism and leisure continue to suffer after two Covid-19 waves. Household savings have been hit due to increased spending on health care. Consumption has still not reached pre-pandemic levels.
Jaitley said note ban has compelled people to deposit money into bank accounts.
Earlier this month, the Union Cabinet had approved the merger of SBS with SBI. The boards of both the banks had given their approval for the merger in August last year. SBS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the State Bank of India. The merger would be effective from the 'date as may be notified by the Govt of India in the official Gazette'.
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and the finance minister were in the commercial capital to participate in a road show organised jointly by the Gujarat government and Confederation of Indian Industry for the Vibrant Gujarat summit, slated for January next year.
National artificial intelligence unit stuck for lack of anchor department
Budget may allow use of advance-pricing agreements for past cases.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has brought about a coup in North Block by bringing an Indian Foreign Service officer Venu Rajamoni as Joint Secretary to head multilateral institutions division.
The tax portal problem is a goof-up by both sides, and making Infosys the only villain in the story is quite unfair, argues Shyamal Majumdar.
'Reports in a section of media regarding Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley's health condition are false and baseless. Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering,' Government Spokesman Sitanshu Kar tweeted.
The government can also individually exempt the PSBs, that are to be privatisated from the two Bank Nationalisation Acts. This will bring such lenders under Banking Regulation Act, and make them companies, reports Nikunj Ohri.
The bamboo water bottle is priced at Rs 560 and the soap variant of 125 grams costs Rs 125 each.
Why is Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram worried? Who has the sharpest eye in the Congress? How is the Union law minister tackling the turmoil in his ministry? Catch up on all the gossip from Delhi, in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
This will be the first time since the presentation of independent India's first budget on November 26, 1947, that the documents containing income and expenditure statement of the Union government along with finance bill, detailing new tax and other measures for the new financial year, will not be physically printed.
The finance minister hiked the total defence expenditure from Rs 203,672 crore in FY 2013-2014 to Rs 229,000 crore for FY 2014-2015. Though the increase appears substantial, it is insufficient to undertake the military modernisation necessary to meet the emerging threats, feels Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
This meeting has led to the deferment of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting by a day.
The Indian stock markets may turn bearish after the US Fed decides to raise interest rates.
New body to replace Plan panel might retain 40% of existing staff
A committee on digitalisation headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had in an interim report recommended taxing cash transactions of at least Rs 50,000 to promote digital payments.
In December last year, the finance ministry had asked five state-run banks -- Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India -- to explore merger opportunities in the banking industry.
'If more than 60 commissioner-level tax officials were compulsorily retired in the span of a few months, surely the malaise is far deeper,' notes A K Bhattacharya.
'I have no problems with the finance ministry or with state governments treating petrol pump prices as the last resort for meeting their ambitious spending targets with very limited revenue resources.' 'But let's do away with this smokescreen of free pricing of petrol and diesel and go back to administered pricing regime,' says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'The rate of interest from the EPF is still attractive compared to the rates on fixed deposits, National Savings Scheme, Public Provident Fund...'
Noble laureate economist Amartya Sen, the chancellor of Nalanda University in Bihar's Nalanda district, has questioned the interpretation of the upcoming university as another central university rather than an international institution.
'The numbers are null and void now. Look, we can give out projections now, but we know that a week later those numbers will also be irrelevant. So we need to wait,' a top government official said.
This decision would pave the way for crediting Rs 54,000 crore as 8.65 per cent interest for 2018-19, into the accounts of more than 6 crore EPFO subscribers.
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.
