union budget

The Union Budget, delayed because of elections in five states, will now be presented on March 16, four days after Parliament will begin its Budget session. The budget session, which normally commences in the third week of February, will start on March 12 with President Pratibha Patil addressing the joint sitting of members of both the Houses of Parliament. Full Article

Worried over the impact of global financial turmoil on the economy, India Inc today asked the finance ministry to retain tax rates at existing levels, but increase exemption limits to promote growth. In their customary pre-Budget meeting with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, industry leaders also demanded that healthcare services should be kept outside the ambit of service tax and minimum alternate tax (MAT) be rationalised. Full Article

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that food inflation has come down on the negative side in the last two consecutive weeks. The annual rate of inflation (year on year) for December 2011 has declined to 7.47% as against 9.11 % in November 2011 and 9.45% in December 2010. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee was addressing the representatives of Trade Union Groups as part of the ongoing Pre-Budget Consultations exercise for the year 2012-13. Full Article

The Union Budget will be presented after the completion of elections in five states, but the government has not yet decided the final date of presentation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today. Full Article

he Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will save an estimated Rs 4,400 crore in interest payout in the current year by preponing tax refunds and clearing the backlog. "We will save Rs 4,400 crore in the current year for preparing the refunds and clearing the backlog of the refunds," chairman CBDT Sudhir Chandra said. Full Article

The Union Budget 2011-2012 is likely to be more beneficial for the special and underdeveloped states, including J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar, rating agency Fitch said on Wednesday."The Union budget 2011-2012 is a credit positive for special-category states, who receive a larger share of their revenues from the central government. Underdeveloped states are benefited from higher allocation to Backward Region Grant Fund in FY12," Fitch Ratings Director Devendra Kumar Pa.. Full Article

The government today said the proposal to impose service tax on healthcare will not hurt the common man as only services provided by the centrally AC hospitals with more than 25 beds would attract the new levy. Full Article

This budget meets all the challenges that our economy and our polity faces in the next fiscal year. We need to sustain a high rate of growth and therefore this budget builds upon the good performance of the current fiscal year’s 8.6 % growth rate to a projected 9% growth rate for which adequate provisions have been made particularly in the area of infrastructure and in social sector plus agricultural development. Full Article