Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has called off the meeting with empowered committee on value-added tax, scheduled for Tuesday.
There had been no significant impact of the United States-led war against Iraq on India's foreign exchange earnings or on its exports and imports, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Ruling out the implementation of value-added tax from June 1, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Wednesday announced several excise duty concessions on edible oil and textiles.
Non-Resident Indians in the Gulf have urged Finance Minister Jaswant Singh to retain the present tax benefits for NRIs returning home permanently and not abolish the Not-Ordinarily Resident status now valid for nine years.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said on Tuesday the government and the central bank were closely monitoring rising inflation and expected "a correction" soon.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Tuesday ruled out the merger of IDBI with IFCI in the near future and said all efforts would be made to restore the state of health of these organisations. \n\n
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh chose a newly refurbished hall in North Block to defend his announcements in a post-interim Budget interview.
The finance minister presented the Interim Budget for 2004-05 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The government promised on Friday to remove distortions in excise duty on branded and packed refined oils, which analysts said allowed companies to avoid the levy.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh while presenting the Interim Budget for fiscal 2004-05 in Parliament on Tuesday said 50 per cent of dearness allowance of the pay will be merged with basic salary of central government employees.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh presents an interim Budget on Tuesday amidst mounting pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party to hike income tax exemption limit to Rs 100,000 and to merge 50% of DA with basic pay of government employees.
The government on Thursday cleared 47 proposals envisaging Rs 285 crore (Rs 2.85 billion) foreign direct investment, including a proposal by Hewitt Associates to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary in India with Rs 120 crore (Rs 1.2 billion) investment.
Unfazed by the rising inflation at over 6.0 per cent, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said on Wednesday that the government was confident it would be contained at 4-4.5 per cent annual average by March end, as projected by the Reserve Bank of India.\n\n
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday assured the nation that acquisition of Advance Jet Trainer aircraft would not be held up for lack of funds.\n\n\n\n
Government is likely to prepay another $3 billion worth of costly foreign loans this fiscal in continuance to the exercise started by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh last fiscal for reducing interest burden and fiscal deficit.
"Although a finance minister cannot speculate about the growth figures," he said that the macro conditions, which enabled the country to achieve 8.4 per cent growth in the second quarter of this fiscal, would in fact improve in the next two quarters.
The Industrial Finance Corporation of India is likely to be merged with the Punjab National Bank or the Bank of Baroda and a final decision is expected to be taken shortly.
The government on Tuesday gave a clean chit to former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in the multi-crore stock markets scam of 2001
With international crude oil prices spiralling to a 12-year high at over $37 a barrel, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik pinned hopes on Finance Minister announcing some fiscal measures to avoid a certain increase in prices of petroleum products,
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Friday said oil companies will revise prices of domestic LPG only after Finance Minister Jaswant Singh replied to the Budget debate in Lok Sabha on Tuesday next.\n
