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Coal ministry plans more mining projects |
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| The coal ministry is preparing plans for new projects which will be submitted to the Cabinet in a month, according to Union minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia. Read |
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Nifty for them? |
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| Ernst & Young analyses the impact of Budget proposals on NSE 50 firms. Read |
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Lull after the storm? |
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| The decisive political mandate provided an opportunity to the finance minister to push hard on the reform pedal. The swiftness with which government adjusted petroleum prices just a few days before the Budget further bolstered the optimism on prospects of fresh reform measures. So some concrete announcements on relaxing FDI limits, disinvestment and pension reforms were expected. The Budget clearly did not live up to those expectations. Read |
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IITs, IIMs, welcome increase in fund allocation |
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| India’s premier educational institutions — the IITs and IIMs — have welcomed the government move to increase the Budget Plan outlay for higher education by Rs 2,000 crore —from Rs 7,593.50 crore in the Interim Budget (presented this February) to Rs 9,600 crore. The move is aimed at increasing the gross enrollment ratio (GER) in higher education from the current rate of 12.4 per cent. Read |
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Breaking the Budget down |
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| Ernst & Young on how Budget 2009 will impact businesses and individuals. Read |
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Union budget non-committal on disinvestment, say experts |
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| The Union budget for 2009-10 is non-committal on the issue of disinvestment of the public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the country even though the fiscal deficit has been projected at 6.8 per cent of the GDP for this fiscal. Read |
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Orissa interest ignored, says Naveen |
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| The Union budget of 2009-10 has ignored the interests of poor states like Orissa and the state would lose Rs 353.56 crore by way of assistance from the Centre in this fiscal, said Naveen Patnaik, the state chief minister. Read |
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Budget failed to show any fiscal prudence: experts |
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| Economists and experts today said the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday has not shown any fiscal prudence. They were speaking at a post budget analysis session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here in Ahmedabad. Read |
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Import duty on edible oil should have been hiked: SEA |
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| The oilseeds sector has expressed disappointment with the Union Budget, which has not increased the Customs duty on the commodity. This, it claims, will discourage farmers from bringing more area under oilseeds. Read |
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Post-Budget, govt runs risk of downgrades: Rating agencies |
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| Given the heavy debt burden and fiscal deficit projected at 6.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the rating agencies said that the government failed to come out with measures to take control of the situation. Read |
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Flagship farm scheme gets 30% more |
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| In a bid to restore agricultural growth to the level of 4 per cent achieved in recent years, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed a significant 30 per cent increase in allocation for the agriculture ministry’s flagship scheme, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKYJ). Assistance is provided under this scheme to the states to cover the critical gaps in the process of agricultural development. Read |
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FBT is off, it's back to perquisites tax |
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| Employees will have to pay tax on Esops, superannuation and ‘other amenities’. Read |
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Cash or no cash, pay the tax |
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| Non-cash gifts to be taxed. Read |
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Counter-productive stimulus? |
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| The only explanation for the broad calculation underlying the Budget is that the government is more nervous about the state of the economy than it lets on. A fiscal deficit of 6.8 per cent of GDP, up from 5.5 per cent postulated in February’s Interim Budget, means an additional stimulus of nearly Rs 80,000 crore. No government, already saddled with a big public debt overhang, undertakes such spending unless it feels compelled by the circumstances. Read |
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Suman Bery: A Budget for consumption |
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| "Buy on the rumour, sell on the news” seems to me the best explanation of the stock market’s swoon during and after the finance minister’s Budget speech yesterday. It was a reaction which surprised me at the time and continues to do so. Read |
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Akash Prakash: A disappointment |
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| The markets have reacted to the Budget with a sense of unease and disappointment. Maybe expectations were unrealistic, and we are unfair in expecting so much in the short period of time the FM had to prepare and present the Budget. Read |
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Surjit S Bhalla: Beginning of the end of C3? |
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| It is relevant to understand the background to Budget 2009/10. Hope and despair is how I would describe it. Hope because the government finally had a political mandate, a vote much beyond its own optimistic expectations. “No more excuses” was the Congress’s future. One would now know for sure whether the Communists within the Congress party really held sway over policy decisions. Read |
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Mukesh Butani: A delicate balancing act! |
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| Well, as expected, with lurking scepticism and caution, the first full Budget of the new government was a deft balancing act for broad-basing sustained economic growth, rather than a ‘big bang’ announcement for a fresh stimulus package and tax concessions. Read |
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Higher MAT may derail infra projects |
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| Despite higher allocations, core sector likely to see reduced profitability. Read |
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Budget banks on higher capex to beat slump |
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| Non-plan capex rises 36.7 per cent to Rs 76,855 crore and Plan capital expenditure 13.2 per cent to Rs 46,751 crore. Read |
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Encouraging provisions |
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| The Budget has been, on the whole, very encouraging. It has, by virtue of its various provisions, and has effectively increased the purchasing power in the hands of the people which would definitely be a positive factor for conspicuous consumption.The abolition of excise on branded jewellery will result in higher margins as the cost was absorbed by us since the branded jewellery was sold at fixed MRP on a pan-India basis. Read |
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Rich get richer, rest get consolation |
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| Windfall for taxpayers with income of Rs 10 lakh and above as the 10 per cent surcharge is abolished. Read |
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Delhi captured, UPA looks to states |
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| Goodies for states going to Assembly polls, minorities and, of course, the ‘aam aadmi’. Read |
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Tax benefit for severe ailments |
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| Existing limit maintained for less-severe disorders. Read |
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Mukherjee raises alarm on revenue foregone |
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| The removal of 10 per cent surcharge on direct taxes to cost Rs 10,034 crore. Read |
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No cheer for 'home ministry' |
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| Duty hike could make clothes and footwear expensive. Read |
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Stake sale to yield only Rs 1,120 crore this year |
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| The Economic Survey for 2008-09, tabled in Lok Sabha late last week by Mukherjee, had talked of raising up to Rs 25,000 crore every year from disinvestment. Read |
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Minimum wage welcome |
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| The budget announcement of a minimum wage of Rs 100 in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is welcome provided it is a minimum and not a maximum wage. Rajasthan, for instance, has been giving Rs 100 for two years and Haryana pays more. So the Centre should not give these states funds to suffice payment of Rs 100 rates. The Congress manifesto in the last election had said that the minimum NREGS wages would be linked to the consumer price index. Read |
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'We do not expect bad times to last for long' |
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| Soon after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union Budget 2009-10, a finance ministry team led by finance secretary Ashok Chawla explained the challenges and philosophies that guided this year’s Budget. Read |
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Conservative approach |
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| The budget represented continuity rather than radical rupture from the past. If continuity disappointed the markets, that was in part substantive (the lack of radical policy reforms in the budget), and in part a matter of high expectations created by the election victory of the Congress. Read |
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Forces nudged to shop more |
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| The footprints of the Sixth Pay Commission were evident all over the outlay for the defence forces: Up from Rs 1,14,600 crore in 2008-09 (revised estimates) to Rs 1,41,703 crore in 2009-10), an increase of about 34 per cent over the previous fiscal. Read |
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Widest deficit since reforms began |
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| Fiscal deficit, the difference between the government’s total expenditure and receipts, is projected at 6.8 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, in the current financial year, the widest in two decades. Read |
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Debt servicing, Pay Commission inflate expenditure by 13.3% |
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| At this level, the Centre’s spending would account for nearly 18 per cent of India’s output. Read |
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3G boost to non-tax revenue |
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| 2 per cent rise in gross tax revenue, 9.3 per cent in total revenue receipts
In a year when India’s nominal Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, is expected to grow at 10.05 per cent, falling income tax and indirect duty collections, combined with abolition of certain taxes, has led Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to budget for a 2 per cent increase in the gross tax revenue receipts of the government in 2009-10.
Budget estimates for gross tax revenue receipts for this financial year are Rs Read |
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Relief to local firms: Duties stay stable |
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| In order to provide a stable import duty framework to industry, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has tried to maintain the overall rate structure for customs duties, as well as for central excise and service tax. The government was expected to reduce the peak customs duty from 10 to 5 per cent, but deferred the move to resuscitate the domestic industry, reeling under the global economic downturn. Read |
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Despite odds, GST on track |
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| Announcing that the much-anticipated Goods and Service Tax, or GST, will be introduced on schedule from April 1 next year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today proposed to increase the rate of central excise on several products from 4 per cent to 8 per cent, so that the indirect duty rate became broadly uniform. Most items are now charged excise at 8 per cent, while the lowest rate for the indirect tax is 4 per cent. Read |
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Law firms in service tax net |
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| The Union Budget, while keeping the service tax rate unchanged at 10 per cent, has expanded its ambit to include services provided by legal consultancy and advisory firms. The tax would, however, not be applicable if the service provider or receiver is an individual. Read |
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My Budget: Reema Nanavaty |
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| It seems to be a common man’s Budget with a thrust on rural infrastructure and housing. There is significant emphasis on education and agriculture. It shows a bent towards rural voters and the rural population. Read |
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Short on expectations |
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| With several question marks about the tax revenues of the government, it was difficult to imagine a bigger social sector spending over last year. The finance minister did announce with gusto a 144 per cent increase of expenditure on NREGS over the 2008-09 allocation of 14,400 crore, but, in fact, the revised estimates for NREGS in 2008-09 were already at Rs 30,000 crore and the 2009-10 Budget adds Rs 9,000 crore to it, which is about 33 per cent increase arising out of legal obligations of the Act and projected demand. Read |
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Mukherjee a free man now |
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| “So what!” quipped Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram when asked for a reaction to today’s Budget, which revoked most of the measures that he introduced as the finance minister. This was his only comment as he rushed to North Block from Parliament minutes after Pranab Mukherjee presented the Budget. Read |
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Growing complacent |
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| On the expenditure front, the Congress-led government seems to be growing complacent about its Budgetary policies for social sectors. While the Budget does pay attention to some of the important sectors, like rural and urban infrastructure, rural livelihood, farmers’ debt and university and technical education, it fails to pay adequate attention to problems in social sectors. Read |
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The Market finds its own deficit |
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| Banks lead biggest Budget-day fall. Read |
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More share for small investors |
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| At least 30 PSUs and 170 private firms will have to divest promoter holdings in a phased manner. Read |
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Mere talk will not do |
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| Despite the bold talk about innovations in the governance and service delivery system, this Budget hardly takes a step in ‘walking the talk’. In the areas of education and health particularly, the failure to think out of the box is simply disastrous for a young country. A wealth of new ideas like vouchers for education, health and food security have been discussed, some of which have already been piloted either by the government or by think-tanks. Read |
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'The market expected too much' |
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| You say there will be disinvestment, but the Budget document has only accounted for only Rs 1,100 crore from this. Read |
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Huge push for consumption |
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| This Union Budget was riding high on expectations, signalling reforms — a cue from Economic Survey, active steps on disinvestment and realistic expectations of government revenues, both tax and non-tax. Of this list, the government has largely met expectations with respect to tax collections, remaining relatively muted on the other two! From a markets perspective, the Budget has ‘under-delivered’ on the ‘implementation-intent ratio’. Read |
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Rusty employment exchanges will get wired |
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| Employment exchanges, where unemployed people can register for jobs, will finally get to move with the times and get a makeover. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today announced a new project for their modernisation in the Union Budget for 2009-10. It will be done, he said, in partnership with the private sector and would enable a job seeker to register online from anywhere and approach any employment exchange in the country. Read |
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Looking for some clarity |
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| The Street would have liked a clearer picture of govt plans to spur growth & attract investments. Read |
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Signalling reform |
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| The government has used the Budget as a vehicle to signal its commitment to economic reform on oil price deregulation, the introduction of a goods and services tax from April 2010 and fiscal consolidation. However, with no clear-cut roadmap for disinvestment and price deregulation, the market has been disappointed. Read |
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More funds for rural roads, power |
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| The allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has been raised to Rs 12,000 crore from the revised estimate of Rs 7,780 crore in the previous year. Allocation for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana has been stepped up to Rs 6,300 crore, vis-à-vis last year’s revised estimate of Rs 4,933 crore. Allocation for the housing component of Bharat Nirmaan, Indira Awaas Yojana, stayed unchanged at Rs 8,800 crore. Read |
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17021.85
Budget Hightlights
