| Expectations belied | 13-JUL-09 |
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| While the markets are not impressed, the Budget’s eyeing higher growth rates through infrastructure spending and by boosting consumption. |
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| Nifty for them? | 10-JUL-09 |
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| Ernst & Young analyses the impact of Budget proposals on NSE 50 firms. |
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| Cement prices may soften in H2 | 09-JUL-09 |
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| After the cement prices remained firm during the first half of the year, backed by robust despatches, the commodity prices are set for a correction in a month’s time. |
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| Sunil Jain: Connecting Bharat | 09-JUL-09 |
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| The budget is big on rural India and allocations for the Bharat Nirman project, for instance, have been hiked 45 per cent over those allocated in Budget 2008-09 — within this, allocations for projects like the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana have been hiked 59 per cent. While that’s all very well, it would be a good idea to see what’s happening on the government’s plans for connecting rural India, not by roads but by telephones. As compared to urban areas where around 90 per cent of people have phones, tele-density is just around 15 per cent for rural India. |
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| Shankar Acharya: Fiscal stimulus or fiscal ruin? | 09-JUL-09 |
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| Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s maiden Budget for the freshly reelected UPA government disappoints in two major dimensions: it is timid on economic reforms and imprudent on fiscal management. Taken together these features weaken the likelihood of an early resumption of high economic growth, which, in turn, weakens the long-term sustainability of inclusive development. |
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| Feeding the government | 09-JUL-09 |
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| The big issue thrown up by the Budget for 2009-10 is the extent of government borrowing planned for the year. At close to Rs 400,000 crore of market borrowings, it is about four times what was initially planned for the last fiscal year. This is a stupendous figure when seen in another context as well, the size of India’s banking sector. The last financial year saw an increase in total bank deposits of well over 20 per cent, or about Rs 650,000 crore. If the government were to swallow Rs 400,000 crore (or 60 per cent of such a figure) this year, it would leave precious little for anyone else. Bear in mind that the government’s Budget is equal to only 17 per cent of the GDP figure, and that the statutory requirement for banks is to hold government and other approved paper (including state government paper) of just 25 per cent. Pre-empting 60 per cent of bank resources for just the Centre would be therefore an extraordinary situation. |
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| Food security scheme: More worries for states | 09-JUL-09 |
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| The much-awaited announcement in the Union Budget 2009-10 to ensure entitlement of 25 kg rice or wheat per month at Rs 3 per kg to every family living below the poverty line (BPL) in rural and urban areas, has raised more questions than it sought to answer. |
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| IITs, IIMs, welcome increase in fund allocation | 09-JUL-09 |
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| India’s premier educational institutions — the IITs and IIMs — have welcomed the government move to increase the Budget Plan outlay for higher education by Rs 2,000 crore —from Rs 7,593.50 crore in the Interim Budget (presented this February) to Rs 9,600 crore. The move is aimed at increasing the gross enrollment ratio (GER) in higher education from the current rate of 12.4 per cent. |
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| Biodiesel sector waits for clarity on benefits from duty cut | 09-JUL-09 |
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| The biodiesel industry has welcomed finance minister’s move to reduce the customs duty on biodiesel from 7.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent and the duty paid on high-speed diesel blended with up to 20 per cent biodiesel to be exempted from excise duties. But, it is seeking clarity on the benefits the moves would bring. |
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| Govt restores FBT burden on employees; cos to save on crores tax, admin hassles | 08-JUL-09 |
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| The proposed abolition of the fringe benefit tax (FBT) in the Union Budget 2009-10 is expected to help companies reduce their tax burden by crores of rupees and offset much of the burden from the 5 percentage points increase in the minimum alternate tax (MAT). Most companies, however, are more thrilled that it would save them from the tedious administrative process of maintaining a database of fringe benefits. |
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