Budget Support

The Delhi government allocated Rs 16,396 crore for education in its budget for fiscal year 2024-25 announced on Monday. Presenting the budget in the Delhi Assembly, Finance Minister Atishi said the priority of the state government is to focus on providing quality education to the residents of the city. The minister highlighted that the government schools under the Kejriwal-led state government have transformed significantly. "In the last 10 years, major changes have been introduced in Delhi government schools. We doubled the budget for education in the national capital. Today we are proposing a budget of Rs 16,396 crore for education in Delhi," she said. "Before the Kejriwal government, the condition of Delhi government schools were not good. People were forced to go to private schools to study," Atishi, who also holds the education portfolio, added. Atishi said former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had played a significant role in improving the education scenario in Delhi.

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday presented its budget for the year 2024-25, premising the exercise on the "7 grand Tamil dream," that included social justice and women's welfare at the core. Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu presented the budget and made a slew of announcements. This included the "Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam," a housing scheme named after the late DMK patriarch and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. As per the scheme, 8 lakh concrete houses will be constructed in rural areas across the state to make it 'hut-free' by 2030, he said. Social justice, welfare of the marginalised, making Tamil youth global achievers were among the 7 goals, Thennarasu said in his budget speech. Among others, he announced allocating Rs 300 crore in budget for civic amenities including roads for areas nearby city corporations. Thennarasu said the state has made very significant progress in poverty reduction through its welfare schemes. The NITI Aayog has said that people below povert

It said the economy grew fast between 2004 and 2008 largely due to the "lagged effects" of the reforms of the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

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Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu on Wednesday made it clear that the LDF Government has taken no final decision to welcome foreign and private universities in the state and the Finance Minister just indicated about exploring it's possibilities in the recent budget. In the budget for the fiscal 2024-25 presented on Monday, Finance Minister K N Balagopal indicated about utilising such possibilities with utmost care protecting the interests of students, she told reporters here. There is a situation prevailing in the country in which the policy approaches of the Centre are being imposed upon states, she said. "As far as the Finance Minister is concerned, he spoke about the financial aspects of such possibilities while presenting the budget. He announced that such possibilities will be explored...not that a final decision has been taken (in this regard)," Bindu said. When foreign universities are permitted in the state's higher education sector, several aspects, including whethe

The Budget session of Parliament has been extended by a day till February 10, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced on Wednesday. The session, which began on January 31, was otherwise slated to end on February 9. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had said on Tuesday that the government will table a 'white paper' comparing the state of the Indian economy before and after 2014, when the BJP came to power defeating the Congress. With the agenda items like the Finance Bill, budget discussion and demand for grants yet to be taken up by Parliament and the white paper also to be tabled, sources had said it was considered necessary to extend the session's duration by a day. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 'white paper' to highlight the country's poor economic condition when the Congress-led UPA left power, as often charged by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and how the incumbent dispensation brought the turn around. She will table it in b

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed an interim Budget of Rs 1.18 lakh crore for fiscal 2024-25 for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. The interim Budget envisages a fiscal deficit of Rs 20,760 crore and a 7.5 per cent growth in gross state domestic product (GSDP). The capital expenditure for the fiscal has been proposed at Rs 38,566 crore, which is 14.64 per cent of the GSDP, as per the interim Budget tabled by Sitharaman in Parliament. The revenue receipts for the next fiscal stood at Rs 97,861 crore. According to Sitharaman, the crucial reforms undertaken in 2019 enabled "path-breaking" measures by the Union Territory Government to decentralise governance structure, promote inclusive development, upscale revenue generation and step up infrastructure development. "The Government is maintaining law and order to ensure security while simultaneously implementing initiatives for economic and social development. The Government has adopted a policy of zero ...

The Uttar Pradesh government has allocated Rs 1,150 crore for the upcoming Noida International Airport at GautamBuddha Nagar in the budget for 2024-25. The announcement was made by UP's Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna as he tabled the budget for the fiscal year in the state assembly on Monday. "A provision of Rs 1,150 crore is proposed for the establishment of an international airport and the purchase of land in Jewar of GautamBuddha Nagar district," Khanna said. Development is underway for phase one of Noida International Airport, which is scheduled to open for commercial operations by the end of this year. Earlier in his budget speech, Khanna said that with the inauguration of Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya, four international airports have become operational in the state and South Asia's largest international airport is going to open soon in Jewar, Noida. "With this, Uttar Pradesh will become the only state in India to have five international airports,"

A bill which seeks to deal sternly with malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations, with provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine up to Rs 1 crore was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 was introduced by Union minister Jitendra Singh. Students will not be a target of the proposed law. It will act against organised gangs, mafia elements and those indulging in malpractices and will not even spare government officials found in collusion with them. The move comes against the backdrop of cancellation of a series of competitive tests such as the teacher recruitment exam in Rajasthan, Common Eligibility Test (CET) for Group-D posts in Haryana, recruitment exam for junior clerks in Gujarat and constable recruitment examination in Bihar following question paper leaks. The bill also proposes a high-level national technical committee on public examinations that will make recommendations to ma

A bill that seeks to amend laws relating to local bodies in Jammu and Kashmir was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai introduced the bill on behalf of Home Minister Amit Shah. The Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989; the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000; and the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporation Act, 2000.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have injected over Rs 19,800 crore in the country's debt market in January, making it the highest monthly inflow in more than six years, on the back of inclusion of Indian government bonds in the JP Morgan Index. On the other hand, they pulled out Indian equities worth Rs 25,743 crore last month owing to surging bond yield in the US. According to the data with the depositories, FPIs made a net investment of Rs 19,836 crore in the debt markets in January. This was the highest inflow since June 2017, when they infused Rs 25,685 crore. Before this, FPIs injected Rs 18,302 crore in the debt market in December, Rs 14,860 crore in November, and Rs 6,381 crore in October. "Indian fixed income markets witnessed robust net inflows from FPIs to the tune of USD 2.39 billion in January on the back of inclusion of Indian government bonds in the JP Morgan Index," Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director- Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India, .

It carefully allocates public resources and commits to reduce the country's fiscal debt

The All India Kisan Sabha also claimed that the allocation of resources for women and children, and for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, has also been cut drastically

PM Modi, in his first post-budget remarks, said that the Interim Budget empowers the four pillars of Viksit Bharat

The Interim Budget 2024 is expected to undergo thorough scrutiny and debate in the coming days in Parliament as stakeholders assess its potential impact on the nation's economic trajectory

The last session before Lok Sabha polls, expected to be held in April-May this year, will have a total of eight sittings spread over 10 days

The Budget session of the Delhi Assembly will be held from February 15 to 20, an official said here on Friday. He said Delhi Finance Minister Atishi will table the 2024-25 budget of the city government on February 16. It will be the first budget presentation by Atishi, who was given the finance portfolio last year. A file of the budget session has been sent to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena for his approval, the officer added.

Apparel exporters body AEPC on Wednesday sought tax incentives such as uniformity in GST and enhanced interest subsidies to boost domestic manufacturing and India's outbound shipments. The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) asked to provide tax concessions to apparel manufacturers adopting Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) and other international quality standards and compliances. The council also sought budgetary support for the branding and marketing of made-in-India products. The Budget is scheduled to be presented on February 1. The council said that interest equalisation rates were revised downward from 3 to 2 per cent for non-MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) manufacturer exporters under the interest equalisation scheme on pre-and post-shipment export credit. "High cost of capital has been a major bottleneck for the exporting community. AEPC has requested the government to increase the rates under the scheme to 5 per cent for all the apparel .

Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) MD Abhyuday Jindal has urged the government to remove import duty on raw materials in the upcoming Union Budget, a move, the industry leader said, will provide a level-playing field to domestic players. He suggested levying Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on imports as the domestic market is being affected by cheap and sub-standard stainless steel products from select group of countries like China and Vietnam. "One long-standing requirement of the stainless steel industry has been that there are certain raw materials that are not present in the country like ferro nickel and ferro molybdenum," Jindal told PTI. At present, 2.5 per cent import duty is levied on ferro nickel and 5 per cent on ferro molybdenum. Speaking further on Budget expectations, the JSL MD said severe dumping is happening from China, Vietnam, and certain countries with which India has Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). This is putting severe pressure on MSMEs and preventing the stainless steel indu

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday that there is no proposal to lift export restrictions on wheat, rice, and sugar