Cover Story

Going for broke
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, presenting Union Budget 2009-10, risks it all in his gamble for growth. He does have a few aces up his sleeve, but they may not be enough. Puja Mehra tells us more.Pranab fails to package See special coverage

Market-Mukherjee equation
This Monsoon Budget is not a downpour, instead it is more like a drizzle. After the decisive Lok Sabha elections, there was hope that the Budget would reflect equally decisive reform steps.
'We have revealed it all'?
Given the Budget’s silence on a number of key issues, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla has had to spend most of his time after July 6 explaining the unstated details of the Budget strategy. In a candid interview with Puja Mehra, Chawla elaborates on the Budget’s growth gamble.
Gung-ho on GST
The Finance Minister is confident of introducing a uniform goods & services tax (GST) across states by April 2010. Whilst the benefits are plenty, the task is a challenging one.
The tax stimulus
The commitment to introduce the new Direct Tax Code signifies the government’s vision to keep tax laws simple and promote tax certainty and improve the quality of tax compliances.
In helping mode
Whether GST is implemented in 2010 or gets delayed further, the momentum seems to be building irreversibly towards its introduction. This would be by far the biggest story on the indirect tax front.

2009-07-26

Digital

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Editors note

From the Editor

When Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says that his Budget was a victim of over-expectation, he was right.

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