Page 74 - Nirmala Sitharaman

Interim Budget: Govt policies to focus on four priority groups, says FM

Country self-sufficient in face of global challenges like the Red Sea crisis, she says

Budget 2024 LIVE: India Inc awaits FM's Budget for growth boosting measures

Union Budget 2024 Live Updates: The Interim Budget 2024 is set to be presented on February 1. Catch all the budget-related live updates here

Modi govt empowered people without any discrimination: FM Sitharaman

Speaking at an event at DU's Hindu College, Sitharaman highlighted the difference between the previous governments and the Modi government's last 10 years

CBIC notifications use complex language; need simplification, says GTRI

The complex language used in the notifications of the CBIC regarding customs duties needs simplification to help industry in understanding those orders as they carry crucial details, economic think tank GTRI said on Thursday. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said for this the CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) must use services of communication experts for help in drafting easy to understand notifications containing necessary details. This will help over a lakh firms importing merchandise exceeding USD 660 billion in 2023 and it will also add to the ease of doing business with zero cost to the government and immense benefit of clarity to the Indian industry, it said. "Notifying import duties is a critical mandate of CBIC. Firms pay import duties as notified by CBIC, but firms cannot do it on their own as the CBIC notifications use complex language and mostly refer to back notifications unintentionally hiding complete details needed to know the duty or impo

Govt close to saturation in implementing social sector schemes: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government is close to reaching saturation in implementing social sector schemes designed to provide basic necessities to the poor. Addressing the students of Hindu College on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, she said the time has come for India to become economically 'aatmanirbhar' (self-reliant) and march forward to become a developed nation by 2047. Regretting that 60 years since Independence passed without any sense of urgency, Sitharaman said, "we have laid the material foundation for a Viksit Bharat" and empowering people by providing basic necessities to all. Even earlier government had schemes of providing houses, roads etc but the sense of urgency was missing, she said, adding, nearly 50 per cent of the population were devoid of fundamental things 50 or 60 years post independence. "So that's the underlying principle with which between 2014 and today we have done with a sense of urgency. Push the border forward,

Budget 2024: Key announcements made in previous interim budget in 2019

Interim budget 2024: While interim budgets are said to have no major policy changes, let us take a look at some key announcements Piyush Goyal made in Interim Budget 2019

Budget 2024: FM Sitharaman takes part in 'halwa ceremony'; what is it?

Budget 2024 date and time: Budget 2024, which will be an Interim Budget, will be presented in the Parliament on February 1 at 11 am

FM takes part in 'halwa' ceremony; marks final stage of interim Budget prep

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday participated in a traditional 'halwa' ceremony, marking the final stage for preparation of the Interim Budget 2024 to be unveiled on February 1 in the Lok Sabha. The ceremony is an annual ritual in which the traditional dessert 'halwa' is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the finance ministry who are involved in the preparation of the Budget. It is organised every year in the basement of North Block, which houses the ministry in the national capital and is attended by the finance minister and other high-ranking officials. A customary Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the 'lock-in' process of Budget preparation begins, an official statement said. As part of the ceremony, the finance minister also took a round of the Budget Press and reviewed the preparations besides extending her best wishes to the officials concerned. Like the previous three full Union Budgets, Interim Union Budget 2024 will also be .

Budget Highlights: Space industry seeks PLI scheme, liberal FDI policy

LIVE updates: The central government focus is likely to be on controlling inflation and adjusting the fiscal deficit ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Catch all the budget-related live updates here

PM-KISAN to Ayushman Bharat: Key changes possible in interim Budget

Interim Budget: Nirmala Sitharaman has said that there may not be big announcements. However, various reports have suggested that there may be some changes in many of the Centre's schemes

Budget 2024 LIVE updates: Govt raises import duty on gold, silver jewellery

Union budget 2024: Govt will table the interim budget where focus will likely be on controlling fiscal deficit and supporting agri ahead of the elections. Catch all the budget-related live updates

FM alleges police misuse in TN; Governor alleges 'spiritual repression'

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Monday alleged that priests and staff of a Shri Ram temple here, under the control of the state government, faced 'repression' while the entire country celebrated the 'Pran Pratishtha' of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaking to reporters in Kancheepuram alleged that the Tamil Nadu police 'is being misused' by the 'Hindu hating' DMK regime to thwart public screening of the Ayodhya ceremony and celebrations to mark the event. The DMK 'is clearly showing its personal hatred' for the Prime Minister and 'suppressing worshippers,' she alleged Against the background of the BJP alleging a 'ban' by the DMK regime for celebrations and public screening to mark the consecration, Ravi, underscored his visit to a temple here and seemingly backed the Saffron party's accusation. The Governor said on X: "This morning I visited Sri Kodandaramaswami Temple, West Mambalam, Chennai, and offered prayers to Prabhu Sri Ram for the well-bein

Budget 2024-25: Govt may increase capex to propel economic growth

With private investment still muted, the government is likely to maintain its momentum on increasing capital expenditure, especially for the infrastructure sector in the upcoming Budget to propel economic growth. Post COVID-19, the Budget has been laying special emphasis on capex. It has kick-started a dormant cycle for the economy. As a result India has witnessed over 7 per cent growth in the last three years, the highest among the large economies of the world. During the current financial year, the government has made a record high provision of Rs 10 lakh crore towards capex. During 2020-21, the government earmarked Rs 4.39 lakh crore which increased by 35 per cent to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the subsequent year. Another 35 per cent hike in capex was done in 2022-23 to Rs 7.5 lakh crore which subsequently reached a high of Rs 10 lakh crore, an increase of 37.4 per cent. In the upcoming Budget too, the government is expected to earmark a large amount towards capex as such investment

Interim Budget to cut fiscal deficit in election year, focus on capex: Poll

The government is aiming to narrow the fiscal deficit to 4.50% of GDP by the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year (FY) from 5.90% in the current year to end-March 2024

Budget 2024: MSMEs expect special package from FM Sitharaman on Feb 1

The MSME sector wants Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to come out with a special package for small and medium enterprises to ensure greater availability of institutional credit at competitive rates to enable it to play a bigger role as India moves closer to becoming a USD 5 trillion economy. Sitharaman is scheduled to present the interim Budget 2023-24 in the Lok Sabha on February 1. This will be the last major economic document of the government before the next general elections. The share of MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) sector in the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021-22 was 29.15 per cent. On expectations from the Budget, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) said the relationship between banks and MSME is an uneven one with the balance of power heavily tilted in favour of the lenders. "Lack of competition in the banking sector (75 per cent of banks being public sector) and weak regulatory institutions, which have not .

India to budget fiscal deficit at 5.3% of GDP in FY25: BofA Securities

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will opt for a further reduction in fiscal deficit to 5.3 per cent of India's gross domestic product in the upcoming budget for FY25 despite poll pressure, a foreign brokerage said on Friday. The government will meet the FY24 commitment to reduce the important number to 5.9 per cent, BofA Securities said in a note. "We see Centre's fiscal deficit to consolidate further to 5.3 per cent of GDP, despite poll pressure," its analysts wrote in a note. The government will opt for continuing with its strategy of consolidating fiscal deficit through capital expenditure driven growth instead of expenditure compression, it said. The brokerage said digitization-led formalization has aided the fiscal math through tax buoyancy on one side and reducing wasteful expenditure (subsidy leakage) on the other. The government had earlier committed to reduce the fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent by FY26 as part of its glide path to gradually reduce the gap, which is seen

Budget 2024: Who was first woman to present Budget? Know interesting facts

Interim Budget 2024: Who holds the record for reading the most number of budgets in India and other interesting Budget facts

Budget 2024 expectations: What stance will interim Budget 2024 adopt?

Nirmala Sitharaman's recent statement that the February 1 Budget would just be a vote on account could mean that she will uphold the convention surrounding an interim Budget

Union Budget 2024: Add 'Sin Tax' and these terms to your financial glossary

Union Budget 2024: The central government will present an interim budget for the new financial year on February 1 during the Budget session of the Parliament

Pharma industry seeks incentives for R&D, conducive policies in Budget

The pharma industry has sought fiscal incentives to promote research and development (R&D) in the sector, as it is likely to reach USD 400-450 billion market size by 2047. In a statement, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance Secretary General Sudarshan Jain said there is a high risk, long gestation period and low success rate in research, and therefore, there is a need for continuous investments. "The budget 2024-25 should outline conducive policies that provide benefits in terms of both direct and indirect taxes and also facilitate ease of doing business for the pharma companies," Jain noted. The interim Budget is scheduled to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. Jain said the domestic pharma industry is at the cusp of change. "The Indian pharma sector aims to achieve USD 120-130 billion by 2030 and USD 400-450 billion by 2047. To achieve this vision, the Union Budget 2024-25 should accelerate the pace of innovation and R&D," he added. The announcement