The Finance Minister defied expectations and increased tax on people earning more than Rs one crore per year. However, this is only for one year.
The Finance Minister has chosen to increase the allocation for the Ministry of Human Resource Development in a bid to woo the youth.
Budgets can signal and impact sentiment, but they cannot really push up growth. If the Economic Survey talked about 6.1-6.7 percent GDP growth in 2013-14 even before the budget
Now we know where the money for next year plan expenditure has come from. It is entirely by cutting this year’s budget.
Chidambaram’s dilemma is this: how do you prove you are “responsible” to the raters and still be “irresponsible” enough to woo his boss without upsetting either constituency.
Every finance minister in his budget speech has quoted some or the other famous personality, books written famous personalities, or even dead poets. Here is a compilation of few budget quotes from the ministers from MOF on North block .
What does the budget mean for financial markets? How credible is the government's fiscal deficit target? Read on to know more
Budget numbers can be invented at the drop of a hat if finance ministers want to desperately show better figures. So watch out.
Here we take a look at a few key industries, what they are expecting, how realistic those expectations are and what impact the announcements can have.
While the economists Firstpost spoke to agreed that a flat tax rate would be the ideal situation, the focus for the finance minister should be to curb wasteful expenditure to shore up its finances.
The credibility of Chidambaram's budget would depend on the government's underlying assumptions on growth, asset sales and subsidies.
There is a case for taxing the incomes of the rich - mainly in dividends and capital gains - at the top tax rates, but the current situation will not allow the FM to really go after the rich.
Containing revenue expenditure will involve reducing subsidies and spending on welfare schemes and Barua concedes that political compulsions in a pre-election year may make this difficult.
A maximum deduction of Rs 1,50,000 is available for interest paid on housing loan. The property price and interest rates have increased substantially over years. There is a need to revise this limit of deduction.
The government's borrowing programme is going to be a bigger worry than fiscal deficit as it adds to the interest payment bill which is an unproductive expenditure, said Indranil Pan, cheif economist, Kotak Mahindra Bank
Among the untargeted subsidies, he would like to see the fuel and fertiliser subsidies being pared down. In the case of food, the cost of holding foodgrain stocks is much more than the actual subsidy, he points out.
Watch the video above to see the best advice Chidambaram will ever get before he presents the Union Budget 2013-2014.
Budget Day is not important at all. It is what happens on the other 364 days that impacts growth and equity
If you add the oil subsidies given out by ONGC, Gail and Oil India, the real fiscal deficit will be closer to 5.7 percent despite the FM's best efforts
Will they create a new line of cleaning and sanitation systems for Anubhuti? Is it even possible? Do they have separate safety standards for these coaches?
There is some talk of the reintroduction of inheritance tax in budget 2013. It sounds good in theory, but it won't achieve much in practice. Here's why.
Personal income tax rates in India were extraordinarily high between the 1950s and 1980s. They had led to high high levels of tax evasion in the first place
It’s impossible to separate a budget from the wider political context.
The annual report was prepared by Raghuram Rajan, the former chief economist to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who became the top adviser in the finance ministry last year
Budget speeches are really counterproductive. FMs who want to get the job done should avoid long speeches and focus on essentials.
What kind of Budget speech do we really require from P Chidambaram this year? Here are some things he needs to say to put India on the road to recovery.
While his fellow MPs may not have been too happy with his Budget, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has largely been spared in editorials for his unambitious budget.
With quality of passenger services finding many a mention in the Railway Budget today, here are some of the services, with respect to linen, that you are entitled to.
Bansal said that passengers will now be able to book ticket from midnight 12.30am to 11.30pm.
Even as the railway budget presented today was described by the government as reformist and forward looking, some Mumbaikars called it 'dull and disappointing'.