Labour law overhaul must happen at the Centre

No patchwork reform

Business Standard

Global economic hopes lead IT firms to think positive

IT kicks off

Lack of vision behind India's stand on trade facilitation

Strategic mistake

Reserve Bank of India works on connecting with the unbanked

Differentiating to include

Petroleum pricing needs reform and transparency

A murky barrel

A chorus of agreement

Passing the burden

Significant changes to infrastructure finance

A prudent gamble?

No clarity on the purpose of the BRICS Bank

A useful lender?

Good export performance reduces risk of rupee volatility

Encouraging signs

New Delhi should not derail WTO accord on trade facilitation

India plays spoiler

Inflation lower, but macroeconomic challenges remain serious

Temporary reprieve

Bharatiya Janata Party's defence of Amit Shah is inconsistent

President Shah

Economic Survey's agricultural road map better than Budget's

One national market

Recovery depends a lot on government action

Transitory or sustainable?

Capital gains tax should not discriminate between assets

Differential taxing

Brazil's trauma shows mega sporting events not worth the cost

Never in India

The finance minister has announced increased expenditure of about Rs 31,000 crore more than mentioned in the interim Budget of February. On the revenue side, he has given away a net amount of about Rs 9,000 crore in tax giveaways (Central account, plus more on the states' account). That's a cumulative figure of Rs 40,000 crore that has to be accounted for, yet the fiscal deficit is only Rs 2,000 crore more than it was in February. How has Mr Jaitley managed this? By raising the disinvestment target to an all-time high, by assuming much higher dividend payouts by the Reserve Bank, government-owned banks and other financial institutions, and other such non-tax receipts. Some of this may be doable; but, with less than nine months left in the year, the disinvestment target in particular will be a challenge - even if the buoyancy on the stock market is a helpful development.There is optimism in display in the tax revenue assumptions as well. Overall, tax collection is expected to go up by 1

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