Decoding the Budget

Indian Railways reported a drop in profitability during the first 5 years of Modi govt

Updated : Dec 3, 2019

Indian Railways' profitability decreased 7.8% under Modi govt's first term

The first half of Modi 1.0 witnessed the Railways struggling with growing staff and increasing pension costs after the execution of the Seventh Pay Commission and low earnings

Union Budget 2019: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech last Friday had announced that taxpayers who don't possess a PAN card (Permanent Account Number) can now file Income Tax returns using Aadhaar Card also.

Updated : Jul 8, 2019

Union Budget 2019: New Aadhaar, PAN Card rules you need to know to pay your income tax

Union Budget 2019: Once this proposal will get green light in the Parliament, individuals will be able to use Aadhaar cards instead of PAN cards to conduct financial transactions, for instance, mutual fund investments, buying gold, and others.

Union Budget 2019: Financial experts and economists may assess the Budget based on complex parameters; however, relief with respect to taxation is the only thing which matters to most of the taxpayers.

Updated : Jul 8, 2019

Union Budget 2019: Everything a common man should know about

Union Budget 2019: With an aim to promote the usage of electric vehicles, a taxpayer will now get an additional tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh under section 80EEB on the interest he or she pays on a loan taken to purchase an electric vehicle, provided the loan must be sanctioned between 1st April 2019 to 31st March 2023 and the taxpayer does not own any other electric vehicle on the date of sanction of loan.

Budget 2019: The Budget speech added that the issue of establishing identity of the investor and source of investors' funds would be resolved by putting in place a mechanism of 'e-verification'

Updated : Jul 7, 2019

Angel tax woes to continue as Budget 2019 offers little clarity

Budget 2019: The Budget speech trivialising the issue said "To resolve the so-called 'angel tax' issue, the start-ups and their investors who file requisite declarations and provide information in their returns will not be subjected to any kind of scrutiny in respect of valuations of share premiums".

Updated : Jul 6, 2019

Budget 2019: India Inc disappointed; much-awaited boost to healthcare missing

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the chairperson of Biocon, feels the Budget should have taken measures to address needs and concerns of large industries in India

Updated : Jul 6, 2019

Budget 2019: What Nirmala Sitharaman offers to agriculture sector

The budgetary estimate for the Agriculture Ministry for 2019-20 is 140 per cent higher than that for 2018-19 at Rs 57,600 crore, primarily due to Rs 75,000 crore allocation to PM-Kisan

Updated : Jul 6, 2019

Budget 2019: Key to becoming $5 trillion economy lies in new age skills

Key pillars on the roadmap to becoming a $5 trillion economy include ensuring an accelerated economic development and related job creation

Budget 2019: The minister announced the reduction of GST on EVs to 5 per cent from 12 per cent

Updated : Jul 6, 2019

Can the Budget push boost electric car market?

Budget 2019: The Finance Minister while presenting the Union Budget 2019 on Friday laid out a plan to make the country a manufacturing hub of electric cars, as part of which, the government will allocate funds for building infrastructure for encouraging the purchase of electric cars.

Budget 2019: The slowdown has impacted the entire value chain of the industry- from the brick and mortar ancillary suppliers to the dealer community

Updated : Jul 6, 2019

Budget 2019 pits EV lobby against conventional auto industry

Budget 2019: The Union Budget 2019 has made a clear demarcation between the traditional automobile industry- the one that uses internal combustion engine and uses fossil fuel, and the nascent electrical vehicle fraternity.

Budget 2019: Aviation sector experts say that this is not the first time MRO services have found a mention in the Budget speech

Updated : Jul 6, 2019

Budget 2019: Develop domestic capabilities to boost aviation

Budget 2019: The minister said that "as the world's third largest domestic aviation market, the time is ripe for India to enter into aircraft financing and leasing activities from Indian shores."

Updated : Jul 4, 2019

Budget 2019: Challenge for the government to meet fiscal deficit target of 3.4%

A 20 bps increase in fiscal deficit will not worry the markets much and some amount of fiscal slippage has already been factored in by the bond markets with the 10 year G-Sec trading at 110bps above the repo rate as compared to normal spread of 75bps.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal, BJP's National Spokesperson on Economic Affairs / Photographs by Shekhar Ghosh

Updated : Jul 4, 2019

Budget 2019: 'Government Will Follow An Expansionary Fiscal Policy'

As the Narendra Modi government gets ready to present its first full Budget of the current term on July 5, Gopal Krishna Agarwal, the BJP's National Spokesperson on Economic Affairs, says the focus will be on more efficient revenue realisation rather than increasing the tax burden. Agarwal, a qualified chartered accountant, tells Business Today's Joe C. Mathew that Budget 2019/20 is likely to prioritise infrastructure spending to strengthen agriculture, rural economy and job creation. Edited excerpts:

Updated : Jul 4, 2019

Budget 2019: Take Tough Calls

The government should use its massive mandate to find long-term solutions to the economy's structural problems

The Indian start-up ecosystem is still evolving and has not yet achieved its full potential due to certain deterrents that require quick resolution to drive the growth of start-ups in India.

Updated : Jul 4, 2019

Budget 2019: Here are some measures which can fuel the start-up ecosystem in India

The Start-up India initiative will go a long way in achieving the three fundamental underlying objectives: Creating a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, facilitating sustainable economic growth and generating large scale employment opportunities.

Updated : Jul 3, 2019

Budget 2019: Easing liquidity crisis and creating jobs should be FM's top priority

Everyone expects the FM to distribute sweet savoury. However, the key challenges ahead of FM that will need immediate action would be to arrest the dwindling GDP growth, addressing the agrarian distress and fixing the financial sector woes.