Citing sources, a report in Business Standard quoted that the government may announce reduced rates of deductions from women’s salaries for various schemes managed by the Employee Provident Fund Organisation.
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However, the Economic Survey also hinted for a “pause” in fiscal consolidation. He refused to be quoted as he is not the authorised spokesperson.
With investors expecting increased investment in key areas, such as e-commerce, healthcare, education, and agriculture; reduction in tax slabs, improvement of tech infrastructure, and data security remain the key concerns for the Information Technology (IT) sector.
Although least expected, Modi government’s favourite “cess” which were the highlights of the earlier budgets, may find their way to the bills of the Indian middle-class. Collectively, in the last financial year the government raised Rs 52,500 crore in this financial year through myriad divestment avenues, including listing of insurance PSUs and the CPSE and Bharat 22 ETFs.
The Budget cycle lasts 12 months, from April 1st to March 31st. In income tax, the base is becoming larger.
However, GST figures do not give similar confidence. This will be centered around tax collection on crypto currency gains as well as rules to prevent financial fraud in the market.
In a memorandum submitted to Jaitley, the USIBC has said that such measures would help improve the country’s investment climate and attract more foreign direct investment to India. These include excise duty, customs duty etc.
The hopes of the middle-class have been bolstered by the finance minister’s recent comment that 2018-19 will be the year of reaping benefits of the reforms undertaken in 2016-17. NITI Aayog – the government think-tank – has recommended privatisation of 34 sick public sector units so far.
Ahead of the budget, the Finance Minister and other top officials take part in the halwa ceremony. Air India may also be divested next financial year.
Jayant Manglik, president of Religare Broking, predicts: “The government is committed to fiscal deficit targets, so it will not be overly populist”.
One week: By 2015, the government, confident of a better fiscal position, was able to budget for increased spending. This, in turn, means that the lawmakers can no longer indulge in the usual annual alterations in a bid to peddle near-term political interests. The government has already been caught on the wrong foot following its promise of returning Rs 15 lakh to each Indian citizen’s account by tapping in the black money allegedly stashed aboard. The committee says that breach the fiscal deficit target by 0.5 per cent in case of some economic instabilities. The risk that such a contingency is needed could keep the government in check.
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January 31 (ANI): With the presentation of this year’s Union Budget slated for Thursday, consumer durable majors are looking forward with hope to government initiatives such as “Make in India” to improve India’s Ease of Doing Business.
