Page 28 - Budget 2023

Ahead of Budget session, govt convenes all-party meeting on Monday

The government has called an all-party meeting on Monday, a day ahead of the start of the Budget Session of Parliament. The customary meeting, called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, is to be held at noon on January 30 in Parliament Annexe Building. During the meeting, the government is expected to seek cooperation from all parties for the smooth running of Parliament. Opposition parties are expected to raise matters of concern during the meeting and also highlight issues they plan to raise during the session. In the afternoon, a meeting of NDA floor leaders will also be held to strategise floor cooperation. The Budget Session will be held in two parts. The session will begin with President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament. Economic Survey will be tabled after the President's address. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1. The Union Budget 2023-24 may be the last full budget bef

PM Modi chairs meeting of Council of Ministers ahead of Budget 2023-24

Ahead of the Union Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers here. The Union Budget, which will be presented in Parliament on February 1, will be the last full-fledged budget of the Modi government before the 2024 general elections. The meeting, the first to be held for the Union Council of Ministers in 2023, started around 10 am and is expected to conclude in the evening. Sources said working of several ministries and policy initiatives taken by the Narendra Modi government will be reviewed and discussed. This comes amid a buzz of a cabinet reshuffle and also ahead of the assembly polls in nine states this year.

Capital gains tax should be rationalised; need simpler ITR form: Experts

The Budget should bring in a simpler income tax return form for assessees having only capital gains or dividend or interest income, along with simplification of the capital gains tax regime, experts said. Under the income tax law, gains arising on the transfer of capital assets -- both movable and immovable -- are charged to tax under the head 'Capital Gains'. The tax rate is different for different asset classes. Also, depending on the period of holding, the income is classified as short or long-term capital gains and taxed accordingly. With capital markets in India growing at an exponential pace and companies taking the IPO route to raise funds, there is widespread demand that the capital gains tax structure be streamlined. Deloitte India Partner Rohinton Sidhwa said the holding periods for different types of assets and the number of tax rates for different types of capital assets should be reduced to a maximum of 1-2 periods or rates (along with related surcharges). "Economic a

Rail Budget FY24: Focus on incomplete projects, big push for Make in India

The Modi government is working on increasing the railway budget by 20-25 per cent to strengthen the infrastructure of the entire railway system

FinMin to stick to privatisation of already announced CPSEs next fiscal

The Finance Ministry will move ahead with the already-announced and planned privatisation of state-owned companies in the next fiscal, and the chances of the new addition to that list of CPSEs in the Budget for 2023-24 is unlikely, sources said. The disinvestment target outlined in the Budget for the next fiscal is likely to be a scaled-down and realistic one, as the budgeted PSU sell-off target is going to be missed for the fourth year in a row this fiscal. In the current fiscal, the government had budgeted to collect Rs 65,000 crore from disinvestment. However, so far, it has realised only Rs 31,106 crore by selling minority stakes in public sector companies. After tasting success in privatising loss-making Air India in 2021, the progress of PSU sell-off has not been very impressive over the past year, and experts say that with the general election around the corner in 2024, no major disinvestment announcement is expected in this Budget either. "The plan is to move ahead with the

Give incentives for sectors impacted by economic meltdown: IT leaders

ICEA recommended reducing the inputs of the open cell at zero duty

India's 1.4 bn population could become world economy's new growth engine

Bloomberg Economics expects the nation's per capita income to pull even with some developed countries in that span, putting Modi's goal within reach

Budget 2023: FM may bring fiscal deficit target down to less than 6% of GDP

Fiscal deficit helps in assessing macroeconomic stability of a nation, which also impacts inflation

Budget 2023: Govt should focus on broadening domestic economy, say experts

Clean energy is a key today and expanding use of Natural Gas via City Gas Distribution (CGD) will contribute to the efforts

US venture capitalists hope Budget 2023 supports growth, startup ecosystem

US venture capital firms investing in India are expecting the Union Budget 2023 to support the growth and development of the startup ecosystem in the country, according to a top investor. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to table the Union Budget for the financial year 2023-24 before parliament on February 1. The venture capitalist community here in the US is very excited given the large number of unicorns emerging out of India in recent years. According to Arun Kumar, managing partner of Celesta Capital, the venture capitalists want to capitalise on Indian talent and invest in them. As a US-based venture capital firm investing in India, we are keenly interested in policies and initiatives that will support the growth and development of the startup ecosystem in the country, Kumar told PTI. Signals and allocations in the Budget that further the growth of new ventures based on innovation and entrepreneurship would be particularly welcome, Kumar said. Kumar serv

US industry seeks R&D policy for India's pharma sector ahead of Budget 2023

Ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24, the US pharma industry has said that India should come out with a research and development policy for its pharmaceutical sector. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to table the Union Budget for the financial year 2023-24 before parliament on February 1. It is time that the government of India comes out with a research and development policy for the pharmaceutical sector, Karun Rishi, president of USA-India Chamber of Commerce (USAIC) told PTI. Based out of Boston, the USAIC for the last 16 years has been organising the India-US health care summit which is attended by the who's who of the pharma sector from both India and the United States. In the BioPharma sector, the budget should aim to move up the value chain driven by research and development. Right policy push can provide India the fuel to become the R&D hub of the world, Rishi said in response to a question. For national security and stabilising the global supply chain,

Use AB-PMJAY funds for private sector: IMA tells govt ahead of Budget

The funds for the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) should be used exclusively for the private sector for strategic purchase and creating a retainer system and not for critical gaps in the funding of government hospitals, the IMA has suggested. In its proposal to the government for consideration in the upcoming Union Budget, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has said deficit funding is the most important cause behind the lack of penetration of the AB-PMJAY. If the funding has to be raised to at least the CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) level, then the amount required is around Rs 1.6 lakh crore, the doctors' body said. The money being provided now is around Rs 12,000 crore, it said, adding that it is not possible to deficit finance to this level. Insufficient fund allotment is the root cause of the unrealistically low package rates, the IMA said. "AB-PMJAY should remove the unjust exclusion criteria for procedures imposed on private hospitals,"

Budget 2023-24 wishlist: Here are the key challenges in retail sector

Large consumer markets and one of the youngest demographics

10-year bond yield at highest since November on Budget 2023 jitters

Last auction before Budget sees weak demand; market fears large borrowing in FY24

Budget blues: Nifty set for worst run, falls 2.8% in past 3 sessions

The benchmark index is on course for its worst five-day show since the Covid pandemic began in 2020

Budget 2023: Govt likely to avoid populist measures; tax tweaks possible

FM Sitharaman is unlikely to tinker much with tax rates, yet will also steer clear of populist measures, according to economists surveyed

Here's why bond veteran sees India's benchmark yield trending downwards

Investors will get a sense of how much more debt India is planning to raise in it's upcoming Feb 1 budget

Top Headlines: Govt payout under PLI, India-made 4G, 5G tech stacks & more

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

Govt may announce measures in Budget to strengthen startup ecosystem

The government is expected to announce in the forthcoming Budget steps to further strengthen the startup ecosystem in the country and address inverted duty issues in certain sectors to promote domestic manufacturing, official sources said. Fiscal incentives under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to some more sectors are also likely to be announced in the Budget, which will be presented on February 1. Besides, the government may consider providing funds to infrastructure projects approved by the Network Planning Group (NPG), constituted under the PM Gati Shakti initiative, they said. On October 13 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gati Shakti - National Master Plan aimed at developing integrated infrastructure to reduce logistics costs. The NPG has representations from various connectivity infrastructure ministries/ departments involving their heads of network planning division for unified planning and integration of the proposals. All these departmen

Budget 2023 wishlist: ICEA calls for rationalisation of duties on parts

India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) has batted for rationalisation of duties on parts and components of mobile phones and sub-assemblies, saying some of the smaller tariffs should be done away with, while all inputs duties on 'mechanics' should be removed immediately. The industry body has also suggested that the government should ease the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on high-end phones. The 20 per cent customs duty on high-end phones should be continued only with a maximum BCD pegged at Rs 4,000 per device, the association has said in its Budget wishlist. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget 2023-24 on February 1. ICEA contended that tariffs on inputs and components are a barrier to increasing localisation. It has said that some of the smaller tariffs should be done away with, to support local businesses and bring ease of doing business. In this regard, ICEA suggested that the tariff of 2.75 per cent (including social welfare surcharge