Page 10 - Union Budgets

Women empowerment via entrepreneurship gained momentum in 10 years: FM

The empowerment of women through entrepreneurship and ease of living has gained momentum in the last 10 years, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday while highlighting that female enrolment in higher education has gone up by 28 per cent in the period. Presenting the interim Budget 2024-25, she said 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans have been given to women entrepreneurs. "Female enrolment in higher education has gone up by 28 per cent in 10 years. In STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) courses, girls and women constitute 43 per cent of enrolment - one of the highest in the world," the minister said. The "empowerment of women through entrepreneurship, ease of living, and dignity for them has gained momentum in these ten years", the minister said, adding that all these measures are getting reflected in the increasing participation of women in the workforce. "Making triple talaq illegal, reservation of one-third seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state ...

India-Middle East-Europe corridor game changer for us, says FM Sitharaman

The Union Minister also underscored the success of India's G20 presidency and said that during the tough times engulfed by the COVID-19 pandemic, India navigated its way and addressed global problems

Proactive management helps keep inflation within manageable level: FM

Proactive inflation management has helped keep the country's inflation within the manageable range, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the interim Budget on Thursday. She also said that the inflation has moderated. The Reserve Bank of India has been mandated by the government to ensure retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. Retail inflation rose at the fastest pace in four months in December 2023 at 5.69 per cent on account of an increase in prices of vegetables, pulses, and spices. The annual inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at 5.55 per cent in November and 5.72 per cent in the year-ago month. As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the rate of price rise in the food basket, which constitutes nearly half of the CPI, increased to 9.53 per cent in December 2023 against 8.7 per cent in the preceding month and 4.19 per cent in December 2022. In August 2023, inflation ha

Budget 2024: Working to make India developed nation by 2047, says FM

The government is working to make India a developed country by 2047, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. Presenting the interim Budget 2024-25, Sitharaman also said minimum support prices for 'Annadata' (farmers) have been increased periodically and appropriately. She asserted that for the government, social justice is an effective and necessary model. The government is focussing on addressing systemic inequalities, she said, adding that the emphasis is on outcomes so that socio-economic transformation is achieved. "We focus on outcomes and not outlays," Sitharaman said. Poor, women, youth and farmers are four castes for the government, she added.

Budget 2024: Nirmala Sitharaman meets President ahead of Budget speech

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday called on President Droupadi Murmu before presenting the pre-election Budget for 2024-25. As per established tradition, the finance minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before heading to Parliament. "Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman along with Ministers of State Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad and Shri Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget," Rashtrapati Bhawan said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). President Murmu extended her best wishes to the finance minister. The Union Cabinet met thereafter to clear the Budget. Before the actual presentation in Parliament, the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will approve the Budget for fiscal year 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025). Expectations are running high as Sitharaman presents her sixth budget in the Lok S

Union Budget 2023-24 highlights: Here's the complete overview of Budget

Ahead of Budget 2024, here is a recap of the Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2023

FM Sitharaman arrives at Finance Ministry ahead of interim Budget 2024

The last session before Lok Sabha polls, expected to be held in April-May this year, will have a total of eight sittings spread over 10 days

LIVE news: US Fed holds policy rate unchanged in 5.25%-5.5% range

Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

Equity markets up by 1% ahead of Budget, US Fed interest rate decision

Benchmark equity indices recovered their previous day's losses and closed nearly 1 per cent higher on Wednesday amid robust buying in HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries. Investors are eyeing the two important events lined up ahead -- the interim budget and the US Fed interest rate decision -- to derive further cues from. Reclaiming all the early lost ground, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 612.21 points or 0.86 per cent to settle at 71,752.11. During the day, it zoomed 711.49 points or 1 per cent to 71,851.39. The Nifty climbed 203.60 points or 0.95 per cent to 21,725.70. "Nifty bounced back from a weak start and closed with gains of 204 points at 21,726 levels. Global markets will keenly await the US Fed's commentary on the rate cut timeline. On the domestic front, investor's focus will be on the Budget," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Among the Sensex firms, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, ..

Govt should focus on capital expenditure in interim Budget: Former NITI VC

Former NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said the government needs to continue its focus on capital expenditure in the upcoming interim budget, as private investment is 'still weak' and there is a need to bridge infrastructure gap, which has been 'plaguing' the Indian economy. Kumar noted that increase in capital expenditure during the Modi government period is showing results in terms of the much better quality of the infrastructure and this was needed to make Indian industry globally competitive. He said because of rising indirect tax revenues and also the widening direct tax base, the finance minister will also achieve fiscal consolidation targets. "The capex thrust will continue because the private investment still remains a bit weak. And also, we need to overcome the infrastructure deficit that has plagued our economy and also the logistics cost, which are very high and can only be covered by rising public capital expenditure" he told PTI in an ...

Govt appoints members for new finance panel to recommend on federal taxes

The panel will submit its report by Oct. 31, 2025 covering a period of five years commencing on April 1, 2026

Best of BS Opinion: Rural India's Budget, gender preference & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Operating at scale

From the first Budget to today, India's economy has changed, requiring boards to adapt and think on a global scale

Rural India's Budget expectations

There is a need to reduce stress in agriculture and increase demand to ensure sustainable growth

Budget 2024 Highlights: Parliament's Budget Session to begin on Wednesday

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to table the interim budget for 2024-25 on Thursday, February 1. Catch all the latest Budget 2024 updates here

Interim Budget 2024: Some key imperatives that are need for the economy

Simplifying taxes would help businesses navigating turbulent times, writes Ketan Dalal

Centre holds all-party meet ahead of interim Budget session of Parliament

Floor leaders of various parties on Tuesday attended an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Budget session of Parliament. Defence Minister and Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and his deputy Arjun Ram Meghwal represented the government at the meet. NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress' K Suresh, TMC's Sudip Bandopadhyay, DMK's T R Baalu, Shiv Sena's Rahul Shewale, Samajwadi Party's S T Hasan, JD(U)'s Ram Nath Thakur and TDP's Jayadev Galla were among the leaders present at the meeting at the Parliament House complex. It is a customary practice ahead of every session to convene a meeting as leaders of different parties highlight the issues they want to raise in Parliament, and the government offers them a glimpse into its agenda and seeks their cooperation. It will be a short session this time, between January 31 and February 9, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to table an interim budget ahead

Indian investors favour long-term bonds anticipating conservative budget

Recent bond auctions saw bids that surpassed expectations, said Alok Singh, group treasury head at CSB Bank

Budget highlights: GST on health insurance must be reduced, says Niva Bupa

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to table the interim budget for 2024-25 on Thursday, February 1

Interim Budget 2024: Defence budget under Modi govt from 2014-2023

From modernisation to border security, here is a look at India's defence Union Budget over the last decade, according to reports by Ministry of Defence