Jaitley also hinted that these very economic realities could decide whether the government sticks to a fiscal consolidation roadmap or not.
Last week, Power Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha said that the government is confident of adding 1,18,000 MW capacity by 2017.
The main Opposition parties in Assam -- Asom Gana Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party and All India United Democratic Front -- have come down heavily on the Congress government in Assam for presenting an 'election-oriented populist' interim budget for the year 2014-15.
Prices of automobiles, including cars, sports utility vehicles and two-wheelers, are set to come down with Finance Minister P Chidambaram announcing a reduction in excise duty in the Interim Budget.
While MSI's price cuts range between Rs 8,502 and Rs 30,984 across its models, Hyundai has slashed prices by between Rs 10,000 and Rs 135,300.
The first two days of the session will be devoted to swearing-in of the newly elected MPs while the Lok Sabha speaker will be elected on June 19.
Converting what was supposed to be an interim budget or a vote on account into an almost full-fledged budget announcement in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal proposed an array of incentives for both middle-class and farmers, whose disenchantment was said to have cost the BJP dearly in recent assembly elections.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday slashed excise duty on cars, SUVs and two-wheelers, and capital goods and consumer durables.
Among other things, the agenda is likely to focus on increasing private investment, employment generation and giving relief to the farm sector
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, he said he could not announce 'many radical" measures in the Interim Budget presented earlier this week because of constitutional constraints. Fiscal correction and monetary changes should go side by side so that impact on the economy is maximum, he said adding, his ministry was in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India for future course of action.
A total of Rs 101.29 crore has been allocated to Lokpal for 2019-20, according to the budget presented on Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Excise duty on small cars, motorcycles and SUVs was reduced.
Replying to the debate on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, the minister said he did not propose any change in the tax rate but only provided few rebates which will boost spending and help the economy.
As expected, there have been no major announcements in the Interim Budget.
While Communist Party of India-Marxist Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the Interim Budget was nothing but a 'perorative' (lengthy and pompous) document and government had in fact lowered the expenditure on major social structure schemes, CPI leaders Gurudas Dasgupta and D Raja called it a 'lollipop' budget meant for the coming elections.
Complimenting external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who also holds the charge of finance ministry, for the budget, Chidambaram said, "He (Mukherjee) had before him an unenviable task having to present an interim budget at the end of a difficult year caused by a global financial crisis.
While festive season spends by consumers did contribute to the uptick seen in Q3, experts said greater aggression displayed by retailers to corner a larger share of the shopper's wallet also worked.
The state of the economy did not deteriorate so sharply in the last eight days that the principles behind not announcing changes in tax rates in an Interim Budget had to be set aside. Nor can it be argued that the demand from industry and members of Parliament for some stimulus measures became so irresistible that the finance minister had to announce the tax rate changes in his reply to the Interim Budget debate.
Reacting to the Interim Budget 2009-10 on Monday, the Bhartiya Janata Party claimed that the United Progressive Alliance government had failed to live up to the promises it made to the nation under its common minimum programme.
"There is a need to sustain foreign trade, revive foreign investments and generate domestic demand in order to maintain our growth rates," said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also holding the finance portfolio. Boosting the economy was also necessary to "uplift multitudes living below the poverty line." Noting that India cannot remain immune to global crisis, he said, "India faces special challenges from the international financial crisis."
P Chidambaram presented the Budget for the 9th time.
Giving a clear indication on unveiling a package in the interim budget to stimulate industrial demand, the government said on Thursday it is not restrained by the Constitution from announcing urgent policy intervention in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Export growth rate in first nine months of 2008-09 touched 17.1 per cent whereas the country's industrial production fell by 2 per cent in December, said Union Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is holding additional charge of the finance portfolio, while presenting the Interim Budget for 2009-10 on Monday in parliament.
The Sensex opend almost unchanged at 9,637 - up two points. The index, thereafter, soon slipped into red and was down around 75-odd points before the acting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee started his Interim Budget Speech.
The divestment target remaining unchanged, from the 2019-20 interim Budget, this year means the Centre will now have to depend on non-tax revenue sources like dividends from the RBI, PSBs and PSUs, as there are real concerns of a tax revenue shortfall. The fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of GDP for 2019-20 is likely to be retained as well.
Nirmala Sitharaman is proving to be a better finance minister than her initial rookie status might have led people to expect, observes T N Ninan.
The Indian Railways has closed 2013-14 with a 15 per cent increase in revenue, rising to Rs 1,40,485 crore, compared to Rs 1,21,831 crore last year.
"India's middle class, small traders and farmers are the lifelines of its economic growth. By catering to these ambitions #Budget2019 infuses hopes for millions of dreams."
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday sought to lighten the burden on the middle class by lowering excise duty on cars, SUVs and two-wheelers and proposed no increase in taxes on other products.
Student loans increased from Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) on March 31, 2004 to Rs 24,260 crore (Rs 242.6 billion) as on September 30, 2008, the minister said.
Data showed the country's wholesale price-based inflation eased to an eight-month low in January as food prices moderated, offering some relief to policymakers who have long battled to get a handle on surging prices.
The losses in state elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh have put the ruling party under pressure to announce swift measures aimed at addressing rural distress and lack of employment.
Although it is only going to be an interim budget this time, the Finance Ministry on Friday organised the ritual 'halwa' ceremony, which heralds the beginning of the quarantine for staff that will be associated with the preparation of the secret document.
The rise in the fiscal deficit, which is a reflection of the government's borrowing, was mainly on account of subdued tax collection. The revenue deficit also rose to 3.27 per cent, up from the revised estimate of 2.4 per cent of the GDP.
A large number of officials and support staff, who are directly associated with the Budget making and printing process, are now required to stay in the ministry and remain cut off from their families till the presentation of the Budget in the Lok Sabha.
Insisting that PM Modi has consistently cared for the farmers, Goyal said the Rs 75,000 earmarked for paying Rs 6,000 per annum to each of 12 crore farmers is not one time but a 'sustainable' provision.
The RBI had opened special swaps windows to attract deposits from non-resident Indians and allow oil-marketing companies to source dollars.
The combined fertiliser, food and petroleum subsidy budgeted estimate for FY19 is Rs 2.64 trillion, while the revised estimate is Rs 2.66 trillion. If the carrying forward to FY20 does not happen, the revised estimates for the major subsidies could actually cross Rs 3 trillion for the first time ever.
According to official statistics, half of India's GDP comes from as many as 420 million workers in the unorganised sector including street vendors, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, rag pickers, agricultural workers, among others. This massive workforce remains outside the purview of the formal banking and insurance industries.
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