If the present is not beautiful, the future will be – is how Nirmala Sitharaman has prefaced her maiden Budget. She has talked of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 – something PM Modi often advocated in the past. She spoke of taking electricity to every house in the country. Above all, she pled...
According to a leaked draft report by the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the unemployment rate in the country in the Financial Year (FY) 2018 amounted to an overall rate of 6.1%, an all-time high in the last 45 years. Data published by the Internatio...
Stalwarts of the government are graciously appreciating Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a Union Budget that aims to take the Indian economy where its GDP will touch $5 trillion. Increasing the surcharge on income tax for the super-rich from 15% to 25% for incomes between `2 c...
Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce & IndustryThe Union Budget 2019-20 is a well-balanced one and it will provide a boost to industries, to the social sector and to the rural economy. Annual turnover limit for 25% corporate tax has been raised to `400 crore from ` 250 crore and this would cover 99....
Real estate: Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL)Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head, JLL IndiaWith an objective to help buyers in the affordable and mid-housing segments, an additional exemption of `1.5 lakh on interest paid on housing loan, over and above the existing `2 lakh, has been provided for...
The Economic Survey 2019 presented to the Parliament on July 4 – a day before the budget- has aroused some interest in the media and amongst the professionals. The Survey– primarily being authored by the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government- presents the economic thinking and perspectives be...
Asim Dasgupta, Leader, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Former Finance Minister, West BengalThe Budget should have had a social objective. The objective should not be only to increase the size of the economy or to reach the $5 trillion economy within few years. This total figure does not mean ...
The Finance Minister has covered almost all sectors in this budget, from agriculture to infrastructure, financial sector, and many others. She has pressed a number of right buttons – be it in terms of talking about a new education policy to revamp the education and skilling ecosystem, mitigating t...
In an election year, the central budget gets bifurcated into two parts - a vote-on-account and the full budget. While the goodies are generally packed into the first basket having an eye on the forthcoming ballot game, the latter gets the not-so-sweet or bitter pills. The Central Budget of fis...
“Entrepreneurship is the engine fuelling innovation, employment generation and economic growth. Only by creating an environment where entrepreneurship can prosper and where entrepreneurs can try new ideas and empower others can we ensure that many of the world’s issues will not go unaddressed”...