Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced hiking the capital expenditure by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore for infrastructure development for 2023-24 and will be at 3.3 per cent of the GDP. Presenting the Budget for 2023-24, she said the newly established infrastructure finance secretariat will assist in attracting more private investment. "Capital investment outlay is being increased steeply for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of GDP.
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.
P Chidamabaram's February 28 Budget will not have any big-ticket ideas, reports Sheela Bhatt
Here are handful of the number of amendments expected and predicted by analysts in the Union Budget for 2013-2014.
Now that the economy is growing at a higher-than-expected rate, it is time to accelerate the pace of fiscal consolidation, and the Budget could be a good starting point, argues Rajesh Kumar.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for 2023-24 in Parliament on February 1. The Budget is a statement of the government's estimated receipts and expenditures for a fiscal year (April 1 to March 31). It's divided into Revenue and Capital Budget. The Revenue Budget includes the government's revenue receipts and expenditures while the Capital Budget includes its capital receipts and payments.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her speech in Lok Sabha said, "Our vision for the 'Amrit Kaal' includes technology-driven and knowledge-based economy with strong public finances, and a robust financial sector. To achieve this, Jan Bhagidari through Sabka Saath Sabka Prayas is essential."
"There has been a 0.05 percentage points decline in the share of allocation for child budget to the Union Budget from 2.35 per cent (2022-23 BE) to 2.30 per cent (2023-24 BE).
The Upper House was earlier adjourned twice in the afternoon session when it took up the discussion on the Budget after Prime Minister Narendra Modi finished his speech on the motion of thanks on the President's address and the motion was passed.
The government should take measures to promote innovation and R&D while simplifying regulations for the sector in the upcoming Union Budget, as per pharmaceutical industry bodies. Outlining the wish list for the sector in the upcoming Union Budget, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary general Sudarshan Jain said the domestic pharma industry is currently around $50 billion in size and aspires to grow to around $130 billion by 2030 and $450 billion by 2047. "To achieve this vision, the Union Budget 2023-2024 should help fuel innovation and R&D, which will set the pace for propelling the pharmaceutical industry forward," he told PTI.
33 per cent of all road accidents and 35 per cent of fatal accidents took place on national highways and expressways.
Currently, Railways is facing a loss of Rs 34,000 cr in passenger segment and its earnings are falling.
According to the budget document, Rs 1,891.78 crore has been allocated for purchase of EVMs by the poll panel.
Fiscal deficit would be brought down to below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. She also said that tax receipts for the next fiscal are budgeted at Rs 23.3 lakh crore and states would be allowed 3.5 per cent of GDP as fiscal deficit. To finance the fiscal deficit in 2023-24, net market borrowing from dated securities is estimated at Rs 11.8 lakh crore, Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget for 2023-24 in the Lok Sabha.
The duty hike on cigarettes by 16 per cent announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 would have a nominal impact of around 7-12 paise per stick across cigarette categories, according to experts. This upward revision in National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) would have negligible impact on smokers and the companies could easily absorb the shock as it may not also have any resultant impact on margins, they said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama in the Union Budget for 2023-24 on Wednesday proposed to revise and increase the duty on cigarettes to about 16 per cent.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented the Interim Budget for 2014-15 on Monday.
The finance minister's assertion that industry should not expect any spectacular announcements in the 2024 interim Budget suggest that the electoral imperatives of more tax concessions or higher expenditure on welfarist programmes could be far less pronounced than they were before the 2019 interim Budget, expects A K Bhattacharya.
The Union budget for 2023-24 has allocated Rs 1,258.68 crore for various heads of expenditure of the Union cabinet, including salaries, sumptuary and travel by ministers and entertainment of foreign state guests.
As many as 38,800 teachers will be hired for Ekalavya Model Residential Schools, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. Presenting the last last full Budget of the second term of the BJP-led NDA government ahead of the general elections in 2024, she said a national digital library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating quality books.
She has shown shrewdness, sensitivity, and courage. All of these will be needed in ample quantities for the real challenge that will emerge after the elections, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Macroeconomic data announcements, the Covid situation in China and global market cues would guide Dalal Street in the first week of trading in the New Year, analysts said. Markets would also keep a track on rupee movement, Brent crude oil prices and foreign fund investment trends. "As market players attempt to understand the Fed's stance, Indian markets may respond in lockstep with their international counterparts when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes are made public later this week.
The rising goods and services tax (GST) and personal income-tax collections may bolster the Narendra Modi government's ability to announce new schemes or enhance existing ones.
Nearly two million postcards and eight million letters pass through India's post offices daily.
The government on Wednesday said there won't be any capital gain tax if physical gold is converted to an electronic gold receipt and vice versa.
The world has recognised India as a bright star as the country is recording healthy economic growth despite global uncertainties, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. India's growth at 7 per cent in the current fiscal is the highest among major economies and the Indian economy is on the right track, she said in her Budget speech.
The Union Budget will be debated from today.
For fiscal year FY23, the 2022 Union Budget had targeted a capex outlay of Rs 7.5 trillion, which is 35.4 per cent higher than the FY22 Budget Estimate of Rs 5.54 trillion.
In times of global challenges, G-20 presidency gives an opportunity to strengthen India's role in the global order, she added. The government is implementing scheme to supply free foodgrains to poor under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) with expenditure of Rs 2 lakh crore from January 1, the finance minister said.
Capital expenditure (capex) by 54 large central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and five departmental arms with an annual capex target of Rs 100 crore and above has reached around 42.5 per cent of their annual target of about Rs 7.33 trillion in this financial year so far, a senior official from the Ministry of Finance told Business Standard. "The Centre is pushing the big public undertakings in the infrastructure and refinery sector to achieve 90 per cent of their target by the end of the third quarter," he said. The capex by this group of CPSEs stands at around Rs 3.1 trillion in the April-August period so far.
With Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget presentation lasting for about one hour 31 minutes on Tuesday, the finance minister's budget speech this year became the shortest ever since 2019.
"An important aspect of this budget is the welfare of the poor," Modi said.
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
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to present Union Budget on February 28.
The Reserve Bank is planning to extend wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market, sources said on Tuesday. The pilot in the wholesale segment, known as the Digital Rupee -Wholesale (e-W), was launched on November 1, 2022, with the use case being limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities. "RBI is now planning to go into the interbank borrowing market.
It's time to focus on building a modern information system for Union excise and state VAT.
Sitharaman has held pre-budget meetings to elicit views of various sections including representatives of chambers of commerce and industry.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met top officials of the finance and corporate affairs ministries to review the implementation of various announcements of the Union Budget FY24. "The finance minister underlined the importance of continuous assessment of progress to ensure that various announcements are implemented in a time-bound manner," the finance ministry said in a tweet. Sitharaman also discussed in detail various issues on the digital competition laws with Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the minister of state for entrepreneurship, skill development, electronics and technology.
The income-tax (I-T) authorities have tightened disclosure norms for charitable trusts. They now have to declare the nature of their activities from October 1 for tax purposes. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified changes in reporting rules where the charitable institutions have to mention whether the activities undertaken are charitable, religious, or both to claim tax benefits.
"The budget adopts following seven priorities -- inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector," she said.
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