Finance minister Arun Jaitley does not believe in living on borrowed money. This means the government will not overshoot limits imposed on fiscal deficit. However, to maintain 4.1% f
Chairman of HDFC Deepak Parekh, who has been praising and warning Modi government during the last few months, has come out in strong terms against the administration as India gets into budget seaso
Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan on Saturday sought better student loan schemes as he felt that there were lot of stress on education loans. Taking the theme of rationalizing t
After computerization of ticket booking that was a big relief to passengers, railway minister Suresh Prabhu took another big leap in passengers’ amenities on Thursday. These co
Announcing a budget aimed at high growth finance minister Arun Jaitley delivered his first full-year budget with proposals to boost investment and benefits to ordinary people. "
What can be seen as a major step in making ‘financial inclusion’ a reality, finance minister Arun Jaitley announced in budget of 2015 the creation of MUDRA Bank to refinance microfinanc
Despite finance minister Arun Jaitley’s good budget the country’s ratings are not likely to change due to subsidies, debt and missing reforms.The budget has in fact slowed the pace of f
The national capital is a cradle of contradictions. Consider these numbers and the paradox hits you squarely. Delhi registered an all-time high per capita income of Rs.2.41 lakh in 2014-15, an incr
June 1 onwards, people will have to pay an addition 0.5 percent tax whenever they go out to dine or buy a movie ticket. The Krishi Kalyan Cess, announced by finance minister Arun Jait
Doing away with yet another long-standing tradition, the cabinet has decided to do away with the
While presenting the budget in the Lok Sabha, the finance minister made some announcements about the manner in which he sought to make donations to political parties more transparent. If the propos
The Assam government has proposed to provide eggs twice a week to all 42.61 lakh children under the mid-day meal programme. The estimated cost will be Rs 130 crore. In order to make funds available
It seems that Delhi is slowly sprinting ahead of other states, in terms of being the lowest tax state. In the state budget announced on Wednesday, Delhi Jal Board’s revenue has gone up by a
To evaluate the new health policy, we turned to a leading expert in this area, Dr K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India. The former head of the de
Dengue cases in Mumbai have increased by a whopping 265% from 2013-2017, said a report which added that almost 18 people have died every day from tuberculosis (TB) in 2016-17. Accor
Centrally sponsored schemes will now onwards run for a fixed period of time, thanks to a sunset date. An outcome review will also be carried out. In public policy, a su
The pre-budget days are here again and there cannot be a better time than this to once again seek an end to personal income tax. Ending taxes on personal income will be
The budget estimate (BE) for disinvestment during the year 2017-18 is Rs.72,500 crore, parliament was informed. Union minister Subhash Bhamre said that this comprised Rs.46,500 crore
Additional borrowing of Rs 20,000 crore, and not Rs 50,000 crore, is being considered by the government to meet financial needs. Upon a review of trends of revenue rece
Cloaked in obsessive secrecy, our budget process is rooted in our colonial past. By a single document, the government tries to lay down the roadmap of the economy for the coming financial year. I
In India public sector accounts for only 30 percent of the total healthcare expenditure and investment in building and maintaining public health infrastructure needs priority in the upcoming budget
When finance minister Arun Jaitley rises to present the union budget 2018 in parliament on Thursday, most Indians will be hoping that he leaves them with more money in their pockets. &nbs
India’s first budget was presented by RK Shanmukham Chetty, minister of finance, on November 26, 1947. Here are the key highlights of the budget for the y
Ahead of the union budget 2018-19, Indian railways is hoping to get adequate funds to strengthen safety and introduce modern signaling system for its gigantic rail network of over 65,000 kms.
Nearly 4 percent of India’s GDP is estimated to have been lost due to malnutrition and certainly women and children deserve a better deal in expenditure outlay, since the country hosts 50 per
2019 will mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech has announced that the government plans to celebrate the occasion.
The allocation on Digital India program has been doubled to Rs 3073 crore in 2018-19, with a part of this fund likely to b spent on research and development in cyber physical systems, robotic
A significant portion of the budget pie on Thursday went to the farm sector. Union minister Arun Jaitley, who presented the union budget 2018-19, said the effort was to particularly
The budget promises to make it easier for the common man too – easier to leave, though it is not clear leave what.
Prime minister Narendra Modi used the occasion of the budget presentation by finance minister Arun Jaitley to launch a “political psy-op”, to borrow a phrase used by intelligence agenci
There were several announcements for farmers and the farm sector in the union budget 2018. Which among them would be most important in realising the target of doubling the farmers&rsq
Political parties rarely survive on static social bases in a democracy. The BJP has been experimenting with shifting its social bases and coalescing them in a formidable vote bank in every round of
In the union budget for 2018-19, some big announcements have been made especially for the health sector but not supported by corresponding budgetary allocations. While, on the one hand, allocations
The National Health Mission, which is aimed at achieving universal access to health care by strengthening health systems, institutions and capabilities, needs to be significantly improved to become
The ideas of ‘good governance’ and ‘budget transparency’ are intricately related where one practice often influences the other. Over the past few years, the importance of tr
Union minister Mansukh L Mandaviya, 45, is among the younger politicians to have made it to the cabinet. He is in charge of road transport and highways, shipping, chemicals and fertilisers. In
The interim budget for 2019-20, presented by the interim finance minister Piyush Goyal, is predictably focused on the coming elections. From agriculture to defence, and pleasing the middle class, t
An official who worked closely with Narendra Modi during his stint as the chief minister of Gujarat told me an anecdote to explain his style of working. Just before the 2007 state assembly election
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai’s (MCGM) presented the budget for the FY 2017-18 which have highlighted current state of financial management. A report released by Janaagraha Cent
This year’s interim budget allocated Rs 93,847.64 crore for education. Of this, Rs 56,386.63 crore was for school education, a hike of 10 percent over the allocation made in the previous budg
Aiming to dispel the clouds of a slowdown, the government on Friday announced a series of measures including corporate tax breaks to revive economic activities. The stock market, depressed for a wh
