Page 12 - Union Budgets

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

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Health sector's Budget wishlist: Increase spending to 2.5% of GDP

Key demands include rationalising GST rates, investment in skilling professionals, building local capabilities

Budget 2024-25: Bringing high spirits home on alcobev players' wish list

The Perfect Pour, a Mumbai-based wine and spirits consulting firm, urges the Budget to focus on a unified ecosystem, standardised pricing, and GST

Interim Budget 2024: Govt may allocate Rs 2.2 trillion for food subsidy

The ongoing financial year's food subsidy has already surpassed the allocated Rs 1.97 trillion in Budget 2023-24

Steel industry hopes Budget will focus on infra, fair trade measures

Companies want support for capacity addition and anti-dumping measures against substandard imports

Interim Budget 2024-25 likely to set nominal GDP growth at 10-10.5%

Govt may finalise FY25 Interim Budget assumption this week

India's GDP may grow 7.3% in FY24: Govt's first advance estimates

Construction, manufacturing likely key drivers; weak consumption growth among major concerns

Centre expected to maintain fiscal discipline in Interim Budget 2024

Interim budget likely to prioritise fiscal consolidation over populist spending, anticipating fiscal deficit at 4.5% of GDP by FY26