Page 11 - Union Budgets

Here's what to watch out for in Interim Budget ahead of Lok Sabha polls

The budget this week is an interim one until a new administration takes office, and the finance minister has already hinted there won't be any major announcements

'No spectacular announcements': Will FM walk the talk on interim Budget?

The Interim Budget due on February 1, 2024, will include a Vote on Account to ensure that the government's expenditure does not get affected in view of the Lok Sabha elections

State revenue grows 5% till Nov against 17.4 budgeted for FY24: Report

The growth rate of the combined revenue receipts of the 16 largest states has fallen by almost 80 per cent to 5 per cent during April-November from the budgeted 17.4 per cent for the current fiscal, according to a report. The states have so far borrowed over 37 per cent more than they did last fiscal and given these poor numbers, they will have to borrow heavily this fiscal to service their debt and pay salaries and pensions. The plunge is due to a contraction in sales tax and lower-than-budgeted growth of state goods and services tax collections (SGST), excise duty and stamps and registrations during the period, restricting the growth of states own tax revenue (SOTR) to 11 per cent. Another reason for the poor numbers is the steep decline in Central grants, Icra Ratings said in a report. The agency, though, expects an upside in tax devolution in the fourth quarter, its quantum may not be adequate to fully offset the shortfall in grants. Moreover, even if a sizeable portion of the

As many as 431 infra projects show cost overrun of Rs 4.82 trillion in Dec

As many as 431 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, were hit by cost overrun of more than Rs 4.82 lakh crore in December 2023, an official report stated. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,820 projects, 431 reported cost overrun and 848 projects were delayed. "Total original cost of implementation of the 1,820 projects was Rs 25,87,066.08 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 30,69,595.88 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,82,529.80 crore (18.65 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for December 2023 said. According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2023 is Rs 16,26,813.80 crore, which is 53 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, it stated that the number of delayed projects decreased to 638, if delay is

Budget 2024 LIVE: Tax benefits, support to women among expectations

Union Budget 2024 Live Updates: Catch all the latest developments on the Interim Budget 2024 here

Will launch protests if Bengal's dues not cleared in seven days: Mamata

West Bengal CM and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday gave the Centre a seven-day ultimatum to clear all dues failing which the party would launch a massive protest. Banerjee made these remarks during a programme at Raj Bhavan to celebrate the 75th Republic Day. Banerjee said, "If the central government does not clear the funds, then we (TMC) will initiate a massive protest." According to West Bengal government's figures, the Centre owes the state Rs 9,330 crore under the PMAY, Rs 6,900 crore under MGNREGA, Rs 830 crore under National Health Mission, Rs 770 crore under PM Gram Sadak Yojna, Rs 350 crore under the Swachh Bharat Mission, Rs 175 crore for mid Day Meals, as well as money under other schemes. Banerjee had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 20, and discussed the issue of pending central funds. After the meeting, she said Modi proposed that officials from state and Centre can sit together and clear the issues. Earlier this week, a team of state governmen

Sitharaman to equal record of ex-PM Desai by presenting 6 Budgets in a row

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will set a record by presenting the sixth Budget in a row -- 5 annual Budgets and one interim -- a feat achieved so far only by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. With the presentation of interim Budget on February 1, Sitharaman will surpass the records of her predecessors like Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, who had presented five budgets in a row. Desai, as Finance Minister, had presented five annual Budgets and one interim Budget between 1959-1964. The interim Budget 2024-25 to be presented by Sitharaman on February 1, will be a vote-on-account that will give the government authority to spend certain sums of money till a new government comes to office after the April-May general elections. As the Parliamentary elections are due, Sitharaman's interim Budget may not contain any major policy changes. Speaking at an industry event last month, Sitharaman had ruled out any "spectacular announcement" in the interi

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 should sustain growth momentum

The government's capital expenditure has boosted growth and provided resilience to the Indian economy. Incipient signs of this crowding in private investments are visible

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,

Space industry seeks liberal FDI policy, PLI scheme in Union Budget

India's nascent space sector has sought a liberal FDI policy on a par with the defence industry and production-linked incentive in the interim Budget that the government will present next week. The industry body Indian Space Association (ISpA) has also sought GST exemption for satellites, launch vehicles and ground equipment manufacturing, lower tax rates for external commercial borrowings and reduction of satellite sector withholding tax from 10 per cent to two per cent, given the low profit margins. "Our expectation is for enabling a more liberal FDI (foreign direct investment) policy in the space sector. As of now, even one per cent of FDI has to go through the government approval route and that takes months and months," Awais Ahmed, founder and CEO of Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based start-up, told PTI. "The defence sector has 74 per cent FDI through the automatic route. Beyond that, you have to go for the government route. At least matching what is there for the defence side would be

Disinvestments slow, but govt keeps earning dividends from state-run firms

It has never happened that the budget estimate for dividends from such companies has failed

Tax buoyancy may give headroom for higher social sector budget: Report

The increased tax buoyancy as reflected in both income tax and GST monthly collection data will provide headroom to the government to allocate more funds for farmers and social sector schemes in the forthcoming interim budget, without sacrificing fiscal prudence, sources said. The focus in the interim budget, which will be the last major economic document of the Modi 2.0 Government ahead of the general elections, is likely to be on the issues being faced by poorer sections of the society, especially in rural areas. According to sources, collections from income and corporate taxes have been showing buoyancy in the current fiscal, and the total direct tax mop-up is likely to exceed budget estimates by about Rs 1 lakh crore. The government had budgeted to collect Rs 18.23 lakh crore from direct taxes in this fiscal. Till January 10, the mop-up stood at Rs 14.70 lakh crore, which is 81 per cent of budget estimates. On the Goods and Services Tax (GST) front, Central GST revenues are ...

Budget 2024: Centre may increase FY25 capex target for CPSEs by 12-13%

The government aims to propel economic growth with a higher capital expenditure target for central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) in the upcoming financial year

Interim Budget 2024-25: Govt may target 5.3% fiscal deficit for FY25

Of the 10 research reports by forecasting agencies that Business Standard analysed, eight expect a fiscal deficit at 5.3 per cent of the GDP for FY25, while two agencies have pegged it at 5.4 per cent

Budget 2024: GJEPC seeks import duty cuts on gold, polished diamonds

Ahead of the Union Budget, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) have urged the government to reduce import duty on gold and cut and polished diamonds to help the sector stay competitive globally. India's gem and jewellery industry is dependent on imports for raw materials, including gold, diamonds, silver, and coloured gemstones. The GJEPC seeks a reduction in import duty on precious metals to 4 per cent from the current 15 per cent. It demands bringing down customs duty on cut & polished diamonds to 2.5 per cent from 5 per cent at present. The apex industry body stated that imposing higher import duty on cut and polished gemstones would lead to reduced exports, fewer employment generation in the jewellery industry thereby making survival difficult due to losing competitive edge to other competing countries like China and Thailand. It urged the government to introduce the Diamond Imprest Licence again and cut import duties. This will provide a level playing field

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 .

Insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat health scheme likely to be doubled

The government is working on finalising a proposal to double the insurance cover under its flagship Ayushman Bharat health scheme to Rs 10 lakh to ensure that serious diseases like cancer and transplants that entail more expenditure are supported by it, official sources said on Wednesday. An announcement to this effect is likely to be made in the interim Union Budget on February 1, the sources told PTI. The Union health ministry is also planning to double the beneficiaries to 100 crore under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to include Kisan Samman Nidhi recipients, construction workers, non-coal mine workers and ASHA workers in the next three years. "In order to ensure that serious illnesses requiring expenditure of more than Rs 5 lakh such as transplants and high-cost cancer treatments etc. are also covered under AB PMJAY, the ministry is working on finalising a proposal to increase the cover amount from Rs 5 lakh per family per year to Rs 10 lakh pe

LIVE: Court sends Parl security breach accused to judicial custody

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