Page 2 - Budget Wishlist

Interim Budget 2024: What do the telecom and GCC companies expect?

Budget 2024: Experts in the telecom and GCC sectors expect more incentives for manufacturing and subsidies for capital requirements

Budget 2024: A glance Budget 2023 announcements for agriculture sector

From welfare schemes to infrastructure & digital development, here are the highlights of Budget 2023 for the agricultural sector in India and the expectation for the Interim Budget 2024

Budget LIVE news: Commerce ministry endorses import tax cuts on gold bars

Union Budget 2024 Live Updates: Catch all the developments on the Interim Budget 2024

Abolish STT, sops for rural India: What markets expect from interim budget

Interim budget proposals are likely to have a hint of populism given the upcoming general elections, believe analysts, but unlikely to derail the government from its path of fiscal prudence.

Budget wishlist: Telecom infra providers bat for availability of input tax

Telecom infrastructure providers are seeking availability of input tax credit on telecom towers, and have made a plea for an increase in tax depreciation rate and rationalisation of TDS provisions in their Budget wishlist. The players under the aegis of Digital Infrastructure Providers' Association (DIPA) said measures to facilitate ease of doing business will increase investment and contribute to the industry's long-term growth. Being a sunrise sector, telecom has been providing affordable-quality assured communication services, DIPA noted. The association counts Summit Digitel, American Towers, Indus Towers, Ascend Telecom, Cloud Extel, Pratap Technocrats, Crest Digitel, Signotox Towers, Applied Solar Technologies, iBUS Networks, and Suyog Telematics, among its members. DIPA in a release said the telecom infrastructure industry is seeking government support for the availability of input tax credit on telecom towers, increase in tax depreciation rate to 65 per cent from 15 per cen

Budget 2024: What do the online gaming and esports industries expect?

Interim Budget 2024: Online gaming and esports industries have had an eventful 2023 owing to the GST Council's decision to impose a blanket 28% tax. Here's what the industries expect in the Budget

Govt may increase agri-credit target to Rs 22-25 trn in interim Budget

The government is likely to announce in the upcoming interim Budget a substantial increase in the agricultural credit target to Rs 22-25 lakh crore for the next fiscal and ensure every eligible farmer has access to institutional credit, according to sources. The government's agri-credit target is Rs 20 lakh crore for the current fiscal. Currently, the government provides interest subvention of two per cent on short term agri-loans of up to Rs 3 lakh for all financial institutions. This means farmers are getting a farm loan of up to Rs 3 lakh at a concessional rate of 7 per cent per annum. An additional interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum is also being provided to farmers who repay on time. Farmers can also avail long term loans but interest rate is as per the market rate. For the 2024-25 fiscal, there could be a sharp increase in the agri-credit target to Rs 22-25 lakh crore, sources said. According to the sources, there is more focus on agri-credit and the government is .

Increase import duty on paper, paperboards to 25% in Budget: Industry body

Domestic paper and paperboard manufacturers have demanded a hike in import duty to 25 per cent on paper products and the imposition of a quality control order in the upcoming Budget to discourage cheap inward shipments. The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA), in a statement on Monday, said that in its pre-budget submissions to the government, it has urged for increasing the basic customs duty on the import of paper and paperboard from 10 per cent to 25 per cent as India's WTO Bound rate is 40 per cent on these products. The association has also asked for the issuance of quality control orders (QCOs) for different grades of paper to ensure the supply of quality products to Indian consumers and check the import of sub-standard products into the country. IPMA President Pawan Agarwal urged the government to keep paper and paperboard on the negative list while reviewing the existing FTAs (ASEAN, South Korea and Japan) and formulating new ones. He mentioned that any increase i

Budget 2024-25: Govt may increase capex to propel economic growth

With private investment still muted, the government is likely to maintain its momentum on increasing capital expenditure, especially for the infrastructure sector in the upcoming Budget to propel economic growth. Post COVID-19, the Budget has been laying special emphasis on capex. It has kick-started a dormant cycle for the economy. As a result India has witnessed over 7 per cent growth in the last three years, the highest among the large economies of the world. During the current financial year, the government has made a record high provision of Rs 10 lakh crore towards capex. During 2020-21, the government earmarked Rs 4.39 lakh crore which increased by 35 per cent to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the subsequent year. Another 35 per cent hike in capex was done in 2022-23 to Rs 7.5 lakh crore which subsequently reached a high of Rs 10 lakh crore, an increase of 37.4 per cent. In the upcoming Budget too, the government is expected to earmark a large amount towards capex as such investment

Jindal Stainless MD calls for removal of raw material duties in Budget 2024

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

Understanding budget receipts and the role they play in govt finances

Capital receipts are non-recurring and either create a liability for the govt or deplete its assets; revenue receipts are recurring and do not entail any risk for the govt

Budget 2023: Govt should focus on broadening domestic economy, say experts

Clean energy is a key today and expanding use of Natural Gas via City Gas Distribution (CGD) will contribute to the efforts

Need to create specialised SME digital bank: Co-founder of Biz2Credit

Ahead of the Union Budget, Rohit Arora, CEO and Co-Founder of Biz2X, has suggested the government needs to come out with a specialised SME digital bank to cater to the funding needs of small businesses. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the last full Budget before the 2024 general elections in the Lok Sabha on February 1, wherein she is expected to announce slew of measures to boost economic growth. Arora said that small and medium businesses perennially face credit shortage and it is time that the government should come out with a specialised bank to cater their requirements. "SME digital bank can provide a bouquet of services to MSMEs, such as business CASA accounts for transaction banking, invoice and payments processing, correspondent banking, SME credit and trade finance, and other business financial services," he said. Biz2X is a turnkey global SaaS platform that enables financial institutions to provide a customised online lending experience for their small an

Budget wishlist: Steel sector seeks anti-predatory measures against imports

While domestic steel prices have remained subdued, raw material costs have surged approximately by Rs 6,000 per metric tonnes.

Budget wishlist: Pharma, healthcare industries seek simplified regulations

Fortis Healthcare MD & CEO Ashutosh Raghuvanshi said increased policy support is required to encourage, facilitate medical value travel to India

Expenditure rationalisation may be underlying theme of Budget 2023

The budget for the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) could be about controlling non-essential expenditure

Budget 2023: FDI in startups needs tax exemption, says Wadhwani Foundation

With an estimated 250 unicorns by 2025 from a little over 100 now and $180 billion of total funding by CY23, India's startup ecosystem is well-positioned to leverage the availability of young talent

Stormy Budget session likely as Oppn to raise Pegasus, farmers' issues

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Economic Survey 2021-22 on Monday and the Union Budget on Tuesday

Budget wishlist: Here are the key challenges in infrastructure sector

Implementation of reforms related to corporatisation of ports needs acceleration

India Inc pitches for more reforms and tax stability in Budget 2022-23

India Inc on Thursday pitched for continuation of reforms while ensuring tax and policy stability in the forthcoming Budget to prop up the economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the virtual pre-budget consultation held with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, industry chambers said that government measures will help firmly entrench the nascent signs of recovery being currently seen in private investment. Capital expenditure by the government through enhanced infrastructure spending should in the meantime continue to support growth, CII president TV Narendran said. "Infrastructure sector with a multiplier impact on rest of the economy requires interventions especially to improve and diversify sources of financing. In this context, it is suggested that government should consider developing the municipal bond market so that urban local bodies can raise funds for investing in infrastructure," he said. Meanwhile, Assocham suggested extending a scheme the 'Vivad Se Vishwas' for .