'Who are these people on the streets?' 'They are youth and students who were hoodwinked, bluffed by Modi for the last seven years, with a promise of 2 crore jobs every year.' 'And Mamata sings the same tune.' 'But the youth can see that as long as there is Mamata or Modi, there is no hope.'
'The current economic contraction is certainly due to the lockdowns as a response to the pandemic, which is an act of God.' 'Nobody has seen such a thing in the last 100 years.' 'Saying that this was an act of mismanagement is largely incorrect'
The prime minister, who reviewed the performance and difficulties of the sector with the industry representatives on Wednesday, said public sector banks increased lending to MSMEs by 25 per cent in 2008-09. According to estimates, MSMEs are given credit of about Rs 1,50,000 crore (Rs 1,500 billion) by PSU banks per annum.
'We have already sanctioned loans worth over Rs 3,000 crore to around 120,000 customers.'
In less than two months since the announcement in March, the state has mobilised an armada of small and medium enterprises keen on making components for large equipment manufacturers.
"Not a single step has been taken by this government to empower small businesses in India," says Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders and former treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit.
'The outlook for private investment, which has been such a weak link for India for so long, remains challenging.'
Prof B Ravishankar from Mylapore, Chennai shares his inspiring story.
The Budget emphasises on capacity building and empowerment of marginalised sections of society including farmers.
'In difficult times as now, the call of the village is all that these migrants can hear,' observes Vijaya Pushkarna.
'There is lack of demand because people have no jobs, and no income.' 'Lakhs of people have lost their jobs and they have no income which has led to no demand in the market.'
'Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests'
'... the government provides adequate cash and kind support for the poorest of the poor for survival... ...conditional cash and skilling support for the economically poor to raise their incomes to adequate levels... ...and make functional arrangements for providing unemployment allowance to the vulnerable poor during disasters like the present one.'
Here are the key highlights of the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
With the Rs 7,000-crore (Rs 70 billion) refinance window, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will not face any fund crunch, says Sidbi Chairman and Manging Director R M Malla.
The government is expected to dole out some populist policies, especially for the rural / farm sector while presenting the interim budget, given that the country is heading towards general elections over the next few months.
The GST rate on mobile phones will be hiked to 18 per cent while that on maintenance repair overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft will be lowered to 5 per cent with effect from April 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. The GST rate on handmade and machine-made matchsticks has been rationalised to 12 per cent from 5 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
RBI has invited case studies from participant banks by January 31.
'You cannot take success for granted.' 'That's the most important lesson that you learn being an entrepreneur.'
Its governing allies are not happy on the economy and complain of ignored concerns but find themselves unable to be assertive.
Apart from making your purchases on these platforms expensive, it will also mean sellers will have to face the brunt of reduced cash flows amid already low margins for some. Experts said the proposal, which will take effect on April 1, 2020, and will be inserted as a new section in the Income Tax Act, is expected to affect the working capital of e-commerce companies and reduce cash flows for e-sellers.
/We will stay away from corporate loans,' C S Ghosh, managing director and chief executive officer of Bandhan Bank, tells Namrata Acharya.
'By the time the goods that were sent from December onwards reached stores in Europe, they became dead inventory as the stores there were closed by then.' 'Those that were in the warehouse there also became dead inventory. Those that reached the ports there also became dead inventory.' 'And what Tirupur produced in March is still here, and they have also become dead inventory.'
In another round of economic booster, Sitharaman announced steps to help homebuyers and push exports.
On resolution of stressed cases, she said ICICI Bank has been taking the lead in several cases and was the first bank to refer a case to NCLT
For stressed loans, the need is to prevent disruption in cash flows from a systemic perspective, conserving employment and assets in untainted enterprises with the potential for recovery, says Shyam Ponappa.
Linking all new floating rate loans to an external benchmark won't impact existing borrowers, so customers who have taken long-term home loans recently should watch things carefully, say Joydeep Ghosh and Sanjay Kumar Singh.
According to sources, there is a proposal to allow 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in single brand retail sector "through automatic route" with certain conditions.
It also pledged to give interest free crop loan of up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers.
Indian economy was growing faster than the global average and all other major economies: FM
India's huge digital prowess and potential will play a huge role in enabling digital lending, says Romita Majumdar.
'The current crisis is one of incomes, driven by poor job growth, agrarian distress and poor investment sentiment,' notes Harsh Pati Singhania, director, JK Organisation.
The prime minister sought to allay slowdown concerns saying the fundamentals of the economy are strong, with low inflation and a potential to boost exports.
The minister said that the priority for him will be "rolling out all stuck highway projects that include many of the IL&FS projects within 100 days".
The National SC/ST Hub, under the micro, small and medium enterprises ministry, with an initial outlay of Rs 490 crore, will work towards strengthening market access/linkage, monitoring, capacity building, leveraging financial support schemes and sharing industry-best practices.
The idea is to incorporate global best practices in the Indian context.
'It is a balanced and prudent Budget that sets the foundation for future growth in the economy.'
Corporate honchos from real estate sector to manufacturing to textile say the Budget does not have enough to help their sectors
This is the highest closing for both the indices since May 15.
At least 40% of a product must be manufactured in India for it to qualify for the Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured category.
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