News

Updated : Jul 18, 2017

Mayawati urges election commission to instruct govt to postpone Union Budget

"The Election Commission should instruct the central government not to present the general budget on February 1 and just as 2012, it be presented only after the completion of polling process on March 8," Mayawati said in a party release issued in Lucknow.

Updated : Feb 13, 2017

Union Budget for country, not state specific: Naidu

Naidu said that he was not able to understand the objection raised by the opposition.

Updated : Feb 9, 2017

Two new incentives to boost BHIM app adoption: Arun Jaitely

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday announced two new schemes to boost the adoption of BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) digital payment app.

Updated : Feb 3, 2017

FM Arun Jaitley says 3.2% fiscal deficit target 'realistic'

He said the Budget for 2017-18 does not factor in the full gains accruing from the high-value currency demonetisation in form of higher taxes on undisclosed income.

Updated : Feb 3, 2017

How Arun Jaitley's budget proposals will affect cash transactions

The minister proposed to ban all cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh beginning April 1, 2017. The decision to ban cash transactions beyond a threshold is based on the recommendation of the Special Investigation Team on black money that was set up by the Supreme Court.

Updated : Feb 2, 2017

Union Budget restricts tax benefit on second house to Rs 2 lakh

As per the proposal, the owner can set off losses towards second home against other heads of income up to Rs 2 lakh under Section 71 of the Income Tax Act.

Updated : Feb 2, 2017

Union Budget 2017: Govt looks at creating oil giant to take on global rivals

India is replacing China as the driver of global oil demand growth and the International Energy Agency expects it to account for a quarter of global energy use by 2040.

Updated : Feb 2, 2017

Union Budget 2017: More airports in tier II cities

The resources, so raised, will be utilised for airport upgradation," Jaitley said while presenting the budget. Experts said the boost to the aviation sector will be crucial for the growth of transport sector. This will also create competition among different modes of transport as it will also prove to be less time consuming. The Civil Aviation Ministry received a substantial increase of over 22 per cent in budgetary allocation at Rs 5,167.60 crore for the next financial year.

Updated : Feb 2, 2017

Union Budget 2017-18: Arun Jaitley's announcements could lead to more spacious homes

The government announced infrastructure status for affordable housing to encourage investment in this segment and offered tax sops to developers sitting on completed but unsold homes to revive the sector.

Updated : Feb 2, 2017

Union Budget 2017: Fund increased for women safety in Delhi

The Nirbhaya Fund was set up in 2013 in the aftermath of the December 16 Delhi gang-rape. This year, Delhi Police were allocated Rs 6,378.18 crore that was earlier  Rs 5,913.74 crore.

Updated : Feb 2, 2017

Budget 2017-18: More scholarships in the year ahead

"Under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, our target is to skill one crore people in the youth sector. We will further bring 2,300 institutions across India under Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana and another 3.5 crore under SANKALP scheme in the next four years. The ministry has tied up with the World Bank to give India its share of employable youth. The budget announced has further strengthened and augmented our resolve to create entrepreneurs for industry," said a Skill and Development ministry official.

Updated : Feb 2, 2017

Indian politics needs to be matured to implement UBI, says Arun Jaitley

Stressing the need for greater transparency in political funding, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the maximum amount of cash donation by an individual to a political party could be Rs 2,000 -- a sharp drop from the Rs 20,000 amount in cash earlier.

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

Budget 2017: The Most Unique Budget

Finance ministers rarely choose one over the other. Rather, they often provide incentives in a mix with the objective of triggering economic activity from both the demand and the supply side. Arun Jaitley's Budget 2017 is most unique in that respect.

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

Budget 2017: Finance Minister revives labour law reforms from cold storage

One could argue there is very little for 'Make In India' in the budget - except for an increase in the allocation for incentive schemes such as M-SIPS and EDF and a potential boost to the local manufacturing of POS card readers, finger print readers, scanners and iris scanners because of certain exemptions on such devices.

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

Budget 2017: Tax benefit reduced significantly on rented property

The Budget 2017 has brought bad news for people earning rental income. This is because the government has restricted set off of "loss from house property" from other income streams to Rs 200,000. The balance loss is allowed to be carried forward to next 8 years.

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

'India-made' mobile phones to become expensive by 1-2%

Consumers will have to shell out 1-2 per cent more on mobile phones following the levy of a special additional duty (SAD) on circuit boards of mobile phones.

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

Budget 2017: The disappointments and misses

The budget 2017-18  has been praised for higher spending in rural and infrastructure, but there are also disappointments in certain areas. Here are the four areas where the budget disappointed.

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

Budget 2017: Tax rate cut for MSMEs a smart move

The government's decision not to reduce the corporate tax rate uniformly for all companies may have come as a disappointment for large industries, but given the limited headroom it has made a smart choice of only reducing the tax rate for medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs).

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

Budget 2017: Healthcare to become cheaper, say industrialists

Apollo Hospitals Group Chairman Prathap C Reddy said: "While we were hopeful that healthcare would be accorded a national priority sector status, the structural reform in medical education, in particular the increase in number of post graduate medical seats and DNB courses is praiseworthy as it was long-awaited."

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

Budget 2017-18: What's cheaper, what's dearer

Though Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech for 2017-18 on Wednesday said his proposals on excise and customs duties will not result in any significant loss or gain to the exchequer, the fine print suggests a host of items can become either cheaper or dearer.

Updated : Feb 1, 2017

FM announces measures in budget to give relief to startups

In a relief to start-ups, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today proposed extending the time period for availing tax benefit for three years in the first seven years of existence.