Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the general budget in Parliament on February 1. The Budget session of Parliament begins on January 28 with President Droupadi Murmu addressing both houses.
Cracks appeared in the opposition ranks as some parties showed willingness to participate in the budget debate, while the government insisted on equal speaking opportunities for all members amidst ongoing disruptions.
The Budget session of Parliament will be held from January 28 to April 2, featuring the President's address, the Economic Survey, and the presentation of the general Budget.
=In 21 states, the time gap between the general Budget and ministry-specific discussions was just one day.
India will oppose the World Bank funding to Pakistan next month, arguing that Islamabad has used such funds in the past to procure arms and ammunitions. India previously lobbied against the IMF extending a USD 2.3 billion assistance to Pakistan earlier this month, presenting evidence of Pakistan's misuse of funds for military purposes. India feels that Pakistan has failed to act on terror emanating from its territory and has been diverting funds from multilateral agencies to buy arms and ammunition.
India will argue for Pakistan's return to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list due to its alleged failure to combat money laundering and terror financing. The move comes after recent tensions between the two countries following a terror attack in Pahalgam, India. India believes Pakistan has not adequately addressed the issue of terrorism emanating from its territory and has diverted funds from multilateral agencies towards arms purchases.
India has decided to submit a dossier at the upcoming Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting, calling for Pakistan to be placed back on the grey list of the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.
Re-entry into the list could have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan, including diminished foreign investment, increased borrowing costs, and tighter scrutiny from global financial institutions.
General Budget is a terminology earlier used to differentiate between the Union Budget with the Railway Budget. Full-fledged budgets are titled "Union Budget", while interim Budgets are titled just that.
The President will address both the Houses of Parliament assembled together in the Lok Sabha chamber on Friday and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the General Budget on Saturday.
The Budget for 2024-25 should focus on employment generation, besides promoting the manufacturing sector, economists attending the pre-Budget consultation meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here on Wednesday said. The meeting was attended by National Co-convenor Swadeshi Jagran Manch Ashwani Mahajan, Director and Chief Executive of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID) Nagesh Kumar, and TCA Anant among others.
Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday questioned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Union Budget and claimed that the plates of all states except Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were empty in the budget allocation.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout from both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, in protest against all states except two being 'ignored' in the budget, an allegation termed 'outrageous' by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanm, who said all the states never found a mention in any of the previous budgets, including those presented by the Congress.
The real estate sector wants "high-impact" measures, like special schemes and tax breaks for developers, to revive the fortunes of the affordable housing segment in the country, multiple executives told Business Standard. This segment has been struggling since the Covid-19 outbreak, in contrast to larger and costlier homes which have been selling like hot cakes. The demand comes at a time when the government is taking suggestions from industry players before tabling the General Budget in the Parliament next month.
'The Budget needs to focus more on social welfare schemes.'
'The Railways decided to go for kavach three years back, but the progress has been very slow.'
The House approved the supplementary demand for the current financial year after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee replied to general discussion on the Budget in the Lower House.
Lok Sabha could function for only 45 hours this Budget Session against its scheduled 133.6 hours because of daily disruptions and frequent adjournments, a think tank data has shown.
In his letter to Modi, Kharge hit out at the railway minister for seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe, saying the law enforcement agency is meant to investigate crimes, not railway accidents.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday hailed the Union Budget as an "all-inclusive" document while the Opposition dismissed it as "anti-people" and mere rhetoric lacking the vision for creating jobs and taming inflation.
'You may see some movement indicating a simpler tax regime with less exemptions but with fewer tax rates making life simpler for taxpayers.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will kick start the customary pre-Budget consultation exercise with stakeholders from Wednesday by holding the first such meeting with experts of agriculture and agro-processing industry. She will be seeking inputs from various stakeholders, including industry bodies, farmer organisations and economists for reviving consumption and boosting growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth this year is expected to be in the double-digit during the current fiscal.
Parliament will now meet on March 8 for the second part of the Budget session.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will take a final call on whether to break the tradition of presenting a separate Rail Budget, by merging it with the General Budget.
Accusing the Centre of setting a new trend of playing "dirty politics" for votes through the budget, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the allocation of more funds to poll-bound states is a kind of "bribery".
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu also made a fervent appeal to the leaders of various parties at an all-party meeting to ensure smooth and effective functioning of the House during the Budget Session.
Referring to our 'demographic dividend', with 65 per cent below the age of 35, the PM said skill development was a priority area.
"Of the structural reforms, the GST has been the most historic in our country. Its chief architect is not with us today. I pay homage to the visionary leader late Arun Jaitely. GST has been gradually maturing into a tax that has integrated the country economically," she said during her budget speech.
The entire Budget-making exercise will be advanced by 3-4 weeks so as to complete the legislative part of financial business before April 1, the start of a financial year
The government has earmarked Rs 270.05 crore for the tour expenses of Union ministers in the General Budget 2013-14 which is slightly more than the last fiscal's allocation of Rs 269.94 crore.
Currently, Railways is facing a loss of Rs 34,000 cr in passenger segment and its earnings are falling.
The Lok Sabha, chaired by Speaker Om Birla, has been working for more than its scheduled time and has sat till midnight on two occasions to complete its legislative business.
The CJI said tax judiciary plays a very important role in resource mobilisation of the country and expressed concern over pendency of cases.
Railways to have functional autonomy, bear salary burden
Describing the general Budget as a 'sanjeevani' (new life) to the "moribund economy", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said it converts hopes and aspirations of the people into trust and is in line with his government's endeavour to bring India out of crisis.
As many as 37 farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have been named in a first information report in connection with the violence during the tractor parade that left 300 police personnel injured even as two farmer unions on Wednesday withdrew from the agitation against the farm laws.
Government will lay greater emphasis on social sectors, finance minister said.
For the first, Jaitley said the Parliament held a comprehensive debate on sanitation.
Expressing disappointment with the Budget proposals, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said 'it is unimaginative, dull and boring'
In a bid to boost scientific innovations that can improve the life of the common man, the government today announced setting up of a Rs 2,000-crore fund to help encourage and finance such products.
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