Hits and Misses

It was our mistake that we did not realise the potential of the country's inland waterways. But now, we will put all our efforts to make this happen: Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways (Photo: IndiaTodayImages.com)

Updated : Mar 20, 2015

Infra spending increased, allocation battle begins

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an increase of Rs  70,000 crore in the government's spending on infrastructure, but where will all this money go?

Sky-high expectations: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (Photo: Yasbant Negi)

Updated : Mar 13, 2015

How FM Jaitley's Union Budget could have done a little more

A vaunted lawyer like Finance Minister Arun Jaitley did not do a stellar job of selling the Budget, even though he did put in much in it.

Updated : Mar 2, 2015

Union Budget 2015-16: Incredible India tries to become hospitable India

Visa on arrival facilities for 150 countries may boost tourism but do we have the infrastructure to cope?

Updated : Mar 2, 2015

Budget 2015: Few reasons to cheer for retail, FMCG sectors

Apart from announcing a fund for a jobs scheme and encouraging cashless transactions, the Budget has largely ignored these sectors.

Updated : Mar 2, 2015

Union Budget 2015-16 takes steps to ensure ease of doing business

First,  the budget has further simplified the procedures  for Indian corporate to attract foreign investments

Photo for representation purposes only. (Source: Reuters)

Updated : Mar 2, 2015

Schemes for senior citizens, new AIIMS among positives for health-care sector

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget for 2015-16, offered incentives for yoga providers and punished smokers by increasing excise duty on cigarettes.

Updated : Mar 1, 2015

Budget 2015 provides no bang in 'Make'

While many of the policies proposed could stimulate manufacturing demand in the long term, executives were not too sure about the near term.

Budget takes steps to ease doing business in India

Updated : Mar 1, 2015

Budget takes steps to ease of doing business in India

The measures initiated in the budget are not enough to address many of the issues connected with ease of doing business. But a beginning has been made in the right earnest.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Union Budget addresses steps on social security

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley not only acknowledged the problem of this growing insurance and pension-less population but also stressed the need for creating a universal social security system for all Indians, specially the poor and the under-privileged.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Union Budget: Hits and misses for manufacturing sector

Here are hits and misses for the manufacturing sector in Budget 2015-16.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Union Budget 2015-16: Mudra for microfinance and financial inclusion growth

FM Arun Jaitley said he was proposing to create a Mudra Bank, with a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore, and credit guarantee corpus of Rs 3,000 crore.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Union Budget 2015-16: A step closer to holding company structure for PSU banks

In Budget 2015-16, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has proposed setting up of an autonomous bank board bureau.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Union Budget 2015-16: It's not how much, but how will skill and education mission work

However, the fact that it is intended to consolidate skill initiatives that are spread across several ministries and standardize procedures and outcomes for the 31 Sector Skill Councils, is indeed welcome.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Goods and Services Tax: Much ado about 2016

There has been a constant tussle between the state and the central governments that has deferred its implementation several times.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Budget 2015: Is govt trying to curtail financial regulators' autonomy?

Though the merger of FMC with Sebi was anticipated in the market, it isn't the best of moves for India.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Editor's take: There's a lot to like and admire about Budget 2015

"There is a huge thrust on rural infrastructure... Which is particularly important if we want to reduce the gap between India and Bharat," writes Business Today Editor Prosenjit Datta.

A Maruti Suzuki car assembly line is pictured here. (Photo: Vivan Mehra)

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Budget 2015 does little to cheer the battered automobile sector

The automobile industry wanted the government to announce a cut in excise duty and offer industry-specific incentives to increase demand.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Union Budget 2015-16: What's in it for the corporate sector?

The government's commitment to implementing GST by April 1 2016 - and not defer it yet again - would also be received as a major positive by the corporate world.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Budget falls short of market expectations

The finance minister presented a balanced budget to boost growth but had his hands tied on spending.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Union Budget 2015-16: Lip service to MNREGA

With a confusing stance from the government on MNREGA, it remains to be seen what the future of the programme will be and whether it will create real assets as promised.

Updated : Feb 28, 2015

Union Budget 2015: Hits and misses for IT & ITES sector, e-governance schemes

The Indian IT and ITES sector is estimated at $119 billion with $98 billion in exports alone and the rest being domestic. The sector employs around 4 million people directly.