Page 9 - Budget And Economy

Fast capacity, energy efficiency among focus areas for Railways: Eco Survey

Fast capacity augmentation, modernisation of rolling stock, and energy efficiency are among the key focus areas for Railways, the Economic Survey 2023-24 said, highlighting Outlook's for Railway, on Monday. "In line with this, investments are prioritised in areas like dedicated freight corridors, high-speed rail, modern passenger services like Vande Bharat, Amrit Bharat Express, Aastha Special Trains, high-capacity rolling stock and last-mile rail linkages," the Survey said. It said that the Railways is planning projects for three major corridors -- High-traffic density corridors, Energy, Mineral and Cement Corridors, and Rail Sagar (port connectivity) corridors -- to reduce logistics cost and carbon footprint. The survey said that the Railways has planned to reduce its carbon footprint primarily through sourcing its energy requirements through renewable energy sources. "The expected requirement of installation of renewable capacity by 2029-30 is around 30 Giga Watts. Other strateg

Remove food from inflation-targeting framework, explore options: Eco Survey

The Reserve Bank should stop looking at food inflation in deciding interest rates and the government should explore giving coupons or direct cash transfer to poor to deal with higher food prices, the pre-Budget economic survey said on Monday. While the inflation rate has moderated in recent months, the RBI has refrained from cutting benchmark interest rates -- which decide the rate at which home, personal and corporate loans are given by banks -- citing elevated food inflation. India introduced the inflation-targeting framework in 2016 under which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is mandated to keep retail inflation at 4 per cent, with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. The benchmark policy rates are decided bi-monthly by the RBI on the basis of movement in consumer price index, which includes food, fuel, manufactured goods and select services. "India's inflation targeting framework should consider targeting inflation, excluding food. Higher food prices are, more often, not ...

Stock Market Highlights, July 22: Sensex, Nifty end flat ahead of Budget; RIL, Wipro sink up to 9%

Stock Market Highlights on July 22: In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap, and SmallCap indices snapped their two-day losing run to settle 1.3 per cent and 0.85 per cent higher, respectively

Unique tax payers trading on NSE more than tripled since pandemic

Numbers are 40 per cent lower than the number of overall investor accounts

Short-term inflation outlook benign, normal monsoon expected: Eco Survey

The short-term inflation outlook for India is benign, and the expectation of a normal monsoon and moderating global prices of key imported items give credence to the projections made by the RBI and IMF, the Economic Survey said on Monday. However, to ensure long-term policy stability, the Survey 2023-24 suggested making focused efforts to increase the production of major oilseeds, expanding the area under pulses, and assess the progress in developing modern storage facilities for specific crops. The Economic Survey 2023-24, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, also suggested linking of price monitoring data for essential food items collected by different departments to help monitor and quantify the build-up of prices at each stage from the farm gate to the final consumer. "The ongoing efforts to construct the producer price index for goods and services may be expedited to have a greater grasp of episodes of cost-push inflation," said the Survey authored by a

Rising obesity a concern, healthier lifestyle must: Economic Survey

Raising concerns over growing obesity and increase of consumption of highly processed foods laden with sugars and fat, the Economic Survey said 54 per cent of the total disease burden in India is due to unhealthy diets. Obesity presents a "concerning situation" and preventive measures must be taken to enable citizens to have a healthier lifestyle, it said. "Obesity is emerging as a serious concern among India's adult population," said the Survey, which was tabled on Monday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament. If India needs to "reap the gains of its demographic dividend, it is critical that its population's health parameters transition towards a balanced and diverse diet", it said. Citing a report from the Indian Council for Medical Research, the Economic Survey observed that the rise in consumption of highly processed foods laden with sugars and fat, coupled with reduced physical activity and limited access to diverse foods, exacerbate micronutrient deficiencies a

Economic Survey calls for identifying regulatory gaps in fintech sector

Sector move towards data-based lending instead of 'judgement-based lending', it says

Tax cuts to welfare support: Here's what to expect from Modi 3.0 1st Budget

Government is expected to reduce its deficit target slightly from the 5.1 per cent of gross domestic product projected before the elections

SBI Fund sees Union Budget 2024 arming Reserve Bank with liquidity tool

MSS bonds are issued by the government outside the normal borrowing program to enable the Reserve Bank of India soak up liquidity

Union Budget 2024: The significance of the Economic Survey explained

The Economic Survey 2024, to be presented today, will evaluate India's economic recovery, growth potential, and address key challenges, setting the stage for budgetary decisions and fiscal policies

Monsoon session begins Monday, Union Budget 2024 announcement on Jul 23

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Tuesday as the Monsoon Session of Parliament gets underway next week with the united opposition set to corner the NDA government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case and railway safety. The Monsoon Session begins on Monday and will have 19 sittings till August 12 when the government is expected to present six bills, including the one to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act, and also get the Parliament nod for the budget of Jammu and Kashmir, which is under central rule. Sitharaman will also table the Economic Survey in Parliament on Monday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has convened a meeting of the floor leaders of political parties in Parliament to understand issues they would want to raise during the session. The BJD, led by former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, has declared that it would play the role of a strong opposition and aggressively raise issues of interest to the state

Capital gains tax on share sale: Calculation, treatment, budget expectation

Long term capital gains (LTCG) tax on the sale of these asset classes stocks, mutual funds, real estate etc. is levied when the holding period of the asset is over one year

India put up tariff walls. To revive factories, it must bring them down

The jobs crisis in the most-populous nation has assumed alarming proportions. Young graduates are nine times more likely to be unemployed than those who can't read or write

Centre may cut fiscal deficit target slightly in Budget after revenue boost

Modi returned to power only with the support of coalition partners, who have been seeking more money for their states, already putting demands on the table for more than $15 bn in financial aid

Experts predict Budget to boost clean energy investments with new measures

The government is expected to announce a slew of measures in the full Budget for fiscal year 2024-25 to promote investments in the renewable energy space, experts say. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 2024-25 Union Budget in Parliament on July 23. Their expectation is that the government may announce policy-related measures, viability gap funding (VGF) and incentive schemes for the clean energy industry, the experts said. "We expect the focus of the budget to remain green growth based... We expect the budget to focus more on renewables, storage, transmission and distribution network strengthening schemes. "We expect policy measures to incentivise, and to encourage investments in (battery) storage groups," Girishkumar Kadam, Senior Vice President & Group Head - Corporate Ratings, ICRA Ltd said. There is a slow progress being witnessed in pumped storage projects (PSP) space. Some policy bridges need to be announced to expedite the implementation of these projects

Union Budget expectations highlights: Real estate sector seeks tax relief

Budget 2024 highlights: FM Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present the Union Budget 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha on July 23

India's economy poised for robust growth ahead of annual Union Budget

The budget is expected to see an increase in spending on infrastructure and welfare programmes such as rural housing

Govt should rationalise customs duty in Budget to boost domestic mfg: ICC

The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has suggested the government to rationalise customs duties in various sectors including steel, solar battery, aluminum, and lithium cells in a bid to boost domestic manufacturing. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget for financial year 2024-25 on July 23. ICC President Ameya Prabhu said protective measures are needed for the growth of domestic industry in sectors including steel, solar battery, aluminum, and lithium cells. "There is a need for rationalization of customs duty in these specific sectors in a holistic manner. Huge potential is there to boost domestic manufacturing and make India a global hub for manufacturing," Prabhu said. He added that levies on raw materials impact domestic players particularly the downstream firms. He also asked for correction in inverted duty structure by cutting down duty on mixed petroleum gas from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent. "To boost domestic manufacturing, there is

Govt to stick to Feb budget targets despite losing majority, shows poll

While relying on some regional parties to form the government, the BJP has retained most ministers from its second term, signaling continuity in fiscal policy

Budget should focus on citizens' welfare, mfg sector: WB's chief economist

The Modi government needs to focus on welfare of ordinary citizens in the upcoming Budget and earmark more funds for the manufacturing sector to boost small businesses and create more jobs, former World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu said on Tuesday. In an interview with PTI, Basu further said it is critically important for the government to shift some of its attention to ground-level economic welfare. "I hope that, starting with the Union Budget this month, the government will turn its attention to the welfare of ordinary citizens and not just to climbing up the chart of aggregate GDP," he said. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Budget for 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha on July 23. "I believe that the rich can afford to pay higher taxes and using this money to incentivize the manufacturing sector can go a long way in boosting demand for labour, helping small businesses and raising the income of ordinary people," the eminent economist suggested. Ba