The Union Budget 2014-15 has proposed to set up new IITs and IIMs
In the run-up to Budget, Congress leaders have urged Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to take steps to appease the 'common man' - to raise the income tax exemption limit, reduce interest rates and provide greater Budgetary allocations for poverty alleviation programmes.
This finance minister has come of age. That's not condescension. It is a praise, says Omkar Goswami.
Going by the number of changes Mr Jaitley's next Budget is likely to see, he will go down in the history of Budget-making as the finance minister who ushered in the largest number of changes in a single Budget, says A K Bhattacharya.
A sum of Rs 7060 crore is provided in the current fiscal for the project of developing one hundred Smart Cities.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated a total of Rs 1,03,802.52 crore to the Central Armed Police Forces like the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The amount is an increase of 7.1 per cent from the last year when the forces got Rs 92,848.91 crore.
Chidambaram may announce higher fund allocation for the social sector, with focus on education, food, women and rural masses.
Even as the government debates whether to continue the FAME-II subsidy for electric vehicles (EVs), the share of such vehicles in overall sales is decelerating, after witnessing a heady growth in the first few years. The penetration of EVs - electric two-wheelers, passenger vehicles, three- wheelers and other segments collectively - in the first 10 months of FY24 has been pegged at 4.3 per cent, compared to 3.7 per cent in FY23, according to credit rating agency ICRA.
ITC stock slipped over 4 per cent on Thursday (February 8) after British American Tobacco (BAT) said it could sell some of its stake in the company, recovering partially in trade. The stock of the cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate traded at Rs 420 levels, rising 1.3 per cent in intraday deals as compared to the S&P BSE Sensex that traded flat for most part of the day. The development, meanwhile, saw Jefferies downgrade the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' earlier with a target price of Rs 430, down a huge 17.3 per cent from its earlier price target of Rs 520.
The opposition parties, the BJP and CPI-M on Thursday dubbed the Railway Budget "imaginary" and "document of dreams" as there was no allocation for completion of various railway proposals in it.
The Supreme Court had cancelled 204 such allotments.
The amount allocated for 'Tour Expenses' has been fixed at Rs 259 crore.
Promising increased allocation for agriculture in the next Budget, the government on Friday called for enhanced public and private sector investment to speed up growth in the sector.
Coming down hard on the government for meagre increase in allocation for armed forces in the last few years, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence said the outlay cannot even fulfill the basic requirements of the armed forces.
Faced with numerous challenges relating to spectrum allocation, spectrum charges, tariffs and challenges on the regulatory front, the telecom sector hopes for positive steps in the Union Budget 2013-14 to provide the much needed momentum to the sector.
Faced with numerous challenges relating to spectrum allocation, spectrum charges, tariffs and challenges on the regulatory front, the telecom sector hopes for positive steps in the Union Budget 2013-14 to provide the much needed momentum to the sector.
Several mutual funds (MFs) have recently approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as they renew efforts to increase their overseas investment limit. In June 2022, the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) permitted MFs to invest in foreign stocks within the aggregate mandated limit of $7 billion after a correction in stocks. One of the proposals shared with the RBI is to link MFs' foreign investment limit to the country's foreign exchange reserves.
Percentage of liberalization is yet to be seen, but this for sure will open inroads for significant developments in the industry.
The maiden Railway Budget of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government seems to have not gone down well with the suburban commuters as it does not offer anything new to them, commuters associations in Mumbai said.
'Right to apprenticeship means that anyone below the age of 25 years with a diploma or other qualifications can demand an apprenticeship with a private, a public sector company or a government organisation. And when he/she demands this, it is the obligation of the government to provide it.'
'Since God was being shown in live action on such a large scale, Prasanth was initially sceptical about going with an animated character.'
All the populist schemes have either a job creation motive or a health and sanitation one.
The Pakistani government has allocated an additional amount of Rs 35 billion for the defence budget for 2009-10 claiming expenses on anti-militancy operations and the need to acquire modern equipment to counter a perceived threat from India, according to a media report.
It had earlier proposed cutting it down to Rs 250 crore due to slow progress in enrollment of new employees.
Regardless of who forms the next government, the interim Budget speech lays down a must-do list.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pointed out several flaws in the financial practices of the Gujarat government and said there was a need to formulate a realistic budget based on the needs of the departments.
'We will prioritise our requirements so that the country's maritime interests are not compromised.'
Environmental activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk said democracy has been compromised in Ladakh and the local people have no say in decision-making.
rediffGURU and financial planning expert Colonel Sanjeev Govila (retd) answers your personal finance-related questions.
The stock market historically exhibits volatility on Budget day.
This year's Budget showers a lot of money for development of education in the country. In 2007-08, Rs 32,352 crore was allocated for education, which was 32 per cent above the allocation for 2006-07. However, the ministry demonstrated constraints to its absorptive capacity: The revised estimates indicated only Rs 28,674 crore had been spent.
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.
Using lines of a popular Hindi song, "Kya hua tera vaada (what happed to your promises)," Lalu attacked the PM.
For how many more years will the annual Budget circus continue in its current form? This is a question often asked at post-Budget seminars held across the country every year around this time.
Starting on an experimental basis, Delhiites would make the budget for the capital.
This Budget is about finding a balance between political objectives and economic uncertainties.
'Investors should ideally consider equity allocations from a medium-to-long term perspective.'
The government also proposed promoting 'one product one district' for better marketing and export of horticulture crops. It also called on states for early implementation of three key central model laws on land leasing, agriculture produce and livestock marketing and contract farming.
The 54-page document tabled in Parliament detailed how the Modi-government pull the economy from being counted among the most fragile-five in the world to being the fasted growing and the most attractive investment destination.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented the Union Budget for 2008-09 in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
