Am2pm News » Economy

IIP growth rises to 2.5% in March

tej — Fri, 10 May 2013 07:25:28 +0000

The Indian’s industrial production showing signs of growth rises to 2.5% in March and the Industrial output grew at meagre rate of 1% in 2012-13.

The rise of IPP growth for March means that output increased for 3 months in a row after reduction in 8 months in 2012, indicating a average recovery in the country’s factories.

The IPP rises to 2.5% in March compared to a contraction of 2.8% in the same month and Industrial output increase at meagre rate of 1% in 2012-13 compared to 2.9% in the previous fiscal.

Meanwhile, the growth in the industrial output for February has been little bit improved downwards to 0.46 % from the provisional reports of 0.6 % raveled last month.

The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 % of the index, increase by 3.2 % in March as against a turn down in output by 3.6 % in the same month of 2012.

Manu Kapoor, Vodafone India external affairs director, quits

Prachi Mishra — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:54:47 +0000

Vodafone India’s External Affairs Director Manu Kapoor, who was handling the U.K.-based company’s tax disputes with the govt has resigned.

Manu Kapoor, Vodafone India Ltd.’s director for external affairs, has decided to quit the company “due to family commitments,” the unit’s chief executive, Marten Pieters, said in an email to its workers on Thursday.

Mr. Manu Kapoor will leave at the end of June, Mr. Pieters had written the email, a copy of which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Kapoor verified his resignation, but didn’t give details.

Vodafone India named Rohit Adya, presently Operations director for the western area, its next external affairs director.

“Rohit has been raised to this new role after good success leading the Western Region business. He has additionally led several key corporate projects and initiatives as well,” said.

Mr. Manu Kapoor had once worked on regulatory approvals for mining group Vedanta Resources’ takeover of Cairn India. Before moving to Vodafone he was with Reliance Industries.

Things to get more expensive from today

tej — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:09:25 +0000

The Financial year of 2013-14 will bring in a lot of changes that is sure going to pinch your pocket.

You will get up to see an costly beacouse many things are getting expensive from today, Here is the list of things that is going to be costlier from April 1, 2013.

Train fare: If you are traveling on the train, you will have to pay more money as the hike in reservation fee and superfast charges in the Rail Budget come into effect from Today.

On the other hand hike in passenger fares, freight rate for all commodities will also go up by about 5.7% on Monday While reservation fee for second and sleeper class has not been improved, AC classes will be costlier by Rs 15 to Rs 25 per ticket.

Tatkal fee has been hiked by 10 % of the basic fare for second class and 30 % for all other AC classes.

Eating out in AC restaurants: If you are going to eat in air-conditioned restaurants here will also hurt your pocket. All AC restaurant you will charge service tax from April 1 after Union budget that had proposed to levy a service tax of 12% on all AC restaurants.

Insurance will be expensive: The car and bike Insurance will be costly by 20% from Today. Even vehicle parking fees will shoot upwards from Monday.

Luxury houses: The Luxury homes would become more costly from Today after the Budget 2013 reduced the abatement on service tax availed by real estate developers for homes and flats above 2,000 sq ft or costing Rs 1 crore and above to 70% from 75% earlier.

DND toll rates: The Commuters on Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) Flyway will have to pay out extra cash to travel from Today. Car users will have to pay Rs 25 as toll charges, Rs 3 more while two wheelers users will have to pay Rs 12, Re 1 more than regular.

Petrol Price reduced by Rs 2 & Diesel Price Untouched

Prachi Mishra — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 12:31:02 +0000

On Friday, petrol retailers decided to cut petrol price by Rs 2 per litre, excluding state tax from Saturday, whereas diesel price is remain untouched to save the govt. being embarrassed in parliament.

In recent times, this is the efficient & greatest cut in petrol price. The exact benefit to consumers would be higher on account of state tax. The actual reduction in New Delhi would be Rs 2.40 a litre after the accrual decline in VAT is included.

Indian Oil Corporation declared the reduction on Friday evening which is one of the country’s biggest fuel retailers. However some of the biggest fuel retailer Hindustan Petroleum & Bharat Petroleum are familiar and being subsequent to suit shortly but would retain a difference of 2-3 paisa per litre to avoid charges of cartelization by private refiner-marketers such as Reliance and Essar.

Petrol may be cheaper by Rs 1/litre, diesel to cost more

tej — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:29:16 +0000

The Petrol price likely to cheaper by about Re 1 per liter while diesel price may cost more by 40-50 paisa per liter from April 15/16.

While petrol prices are being cut in step with dropping international oil rates, the diesel rate hike would be in line with the January decision to hike prices in small dozes every month till all of the Rs 11 per liter losses are removed.

The variation in prices of petrol and diesel is likely to be declared as early as Friday, Sources said.

The petrol price cut will follow two successive increases earlier this year after petrol price was hiked by Rs. 1.50 per liter on Feburary 16 and then hike by Rs. 1.40 per litre from March 2.

Both the hikes of petrol price were excluded local VAT. Now petrol price currently in Delhi Rs. 70.74 per liter.

The price of diesel is greater than January by over Rs. 1 per liter in two installments and it currently costs Rs 48.16 a liter, Despite the hikes, oil companies lose Rs 11.26 per liter for the sealing of the nation’s most consumed fuel.

Since last amendment, international gasoline (petrol) prices have reduced to about USD 120 per barrel from USD 131.00 a barrel at the last time last amendment.

Petrol Price Hiked Again by Rs 1.40/litre

tej — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:50:44 +0000

Petrol price hiked once again by up to 1.40 per litre with effect from Friday midnight. The second big hike in rates in as many weeks.

The hike is excluding local sales tax or VAT and the actual hike in rate for consumers will be higher after including the tax incidence.

Earlier, The Oil companies was hiked petrol price by Rs 1.50 per litre and diesel by 45 paise a litre on February 16.

The hike in price for consumers in Delhi will be Rs 1.68 per litre and the new rate of petrol price will be Rs 70.74 per litre form tomorrow as against Rs 69.06 per litre currently.

Now Petrol in Mumbai will Rs 77.66 per litre as against Rs 75.89 per litre currently.

“The price increase has been necessitated by two factors — the international gasoline (petrol) prices have increased from USD 128.57 per barrel to USD 131.00 a barrel since the last revision; and the rupee has depreciated from Rs 53.43 to Rs 54.15 per US Dollar during the period,” Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said.

Highlights of budget for 2013-14

tej — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:50:36 +0000

Presenting UPA-II’s last full-fledged Budget ahead of next year’s general elections to net in an additional Rs 18,000 crore, finance minister P Chidambaram did the task of balancing growth needs with fiscal prudence by stepping up expenditure in social sectors and cutting subsidies.

Aiming at higher growth rate for inclusive and sustainable development and revive manufacturing, Chidambaram hiked outlays for health, water and sanitation, SCs/STs and tribals and rural development.

Highlights of the budget for 2013-14 presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, 28th February 28, 2013:

No revision of personal income tax slabs; relief in first bracket through tax credit of Rs.2, 000 for earnings up to Rs.500,000 (approx. $9,000)
10% surcharge on income exceeding Rs.1 crore (Rs.10 million/$180,000) a year
Rs.1, 000 crore allocated for establishing Nirbhaya Fund
Rs.97,000 crore (Rs.970 billion/$18 billion) for women’s development
Defence allocated Rs.203,672 crore (Rs.2.03 trillion/$37 billion), an increase of 5%
Import duty on high-end vehicles rose from 75 % to 100 %
Excise duty on cigarettes to be increased 18 percent
No change in service tax of 12 %
No service tax on agricultural testing procedures
Rs.9,000 crore allocated for compensating state for differential in central sales tax and GST
No change in customs duty on non-agricultural products
Modified law to prevent tax avoidance to come into effect April 1, 2016
100 % tax deduction for contributions to National Children’s Fund
Education cess to continue at 3 percent
Tax on mutual fund redemptions reduced from .25 percent to .001 percent
Tax Administrative Reforms Commission to be set up
Cities to be encouraged to promote waste to energy projects
Low interest funds to be provided for promoting clean energy
State governments urged to sign restructuring plans with electricity discoms
Tax-free infrastructure bonds of Rs.50, 000 crore to be issued
Textile ministry allocated Rs.50 crore for establishing apparel parks
Handloom sector allocated Rs.96 crore to benefit 150,000 weavers
Food grain production during 2013-13 estimated at 250 million tonnes
Rs.500 crore allocated for promoting crop diversification
Rs.200 crore allocated for promoting nutrient-rich crops
Rs.50 crore allocated for farmer-producer organizations
Human resource development ministry to get Rs.65,867 crore
Rs.13,250 crore allocated for midday meals scheme
Rs.17,700 crore allocated for Integrated Child Development Scheme
Drinking water and sanitation ministry allocated Rs.15,260 crore
Allocation of rural development ministry allocation raised by 46 percent to Rs.80,294 crore; Rs.33,000 crore for rural jobs scheme
Budget expenditure for 2013-14 at Rs.16 lakh 65,297 crore; plan expenditure at Rs.5 lakh 55,224 crore
Rs.41,000 crore for Scheduled Caste plan
Rs.110 crore for department of disabilities
Rs.37,330 crore for health ministry
Average growth during UPA-1 was 8 percent; high growth not a novelty
Current account deficit a worry because of high oil and gold imports
Will need $75 billion to finance current account deficit
Need to encourage FDI in consonance with economic priorities
WPI inflation down to 7 percent; food inflation worrying.

Chidambaram presents the Union Budget 2013-14

tej — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:37:35 +0000

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday did not interfere with the Income Tax slabs or rates while presenting the Union Budget for the year of 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha. As part of his tax proposals, Finance Minister P Chidambaram went on to give a benefit of Rs 2,000 to individual tax payers with taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh.

Mr. Chidambaram, while presenting the Union Budget, also imposed a surcharge of 10% on those whose income is over Rs 1 crore a year. This surcharge has been imposed on individuals, HUFs, firms and entities with a similar tax status, and would be payable for the 2013-14 fiscal only.

But everything is not as good as it seems. There are a few bad news for consumers also. The Finance Minister’s new budget makes mobile phones, cigarettes and luxury vehicles a little costlier by hiking duties on these products. Chidambaram also announced the setting up of Nirbhaya Fund for women safety and allocated Rs 1,000 crores to it.

Union Budget for 2013-14

Personal Tax	Direct Taxes
No case to revise either tax slabs or rates	Direct tax proposals to yield 133 bln rupee FY14
Personal income tax slabs unchanged FY14	To introduce DTC Bill before end of Budget Session
Some relief to tax payers in Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh bracket	To incorporate Jan decisions on anti-tax avoidance rule
Tax credit of 2,000 rupees for incomes of upto 5 lakh rupees	Direct Taxes Code work in progress
Surcharge of 10% on people with income over 10 mln rupees	Tax on MF redemption, purchase on exchanges cut to 0.001%
Surcharge on high income tax payers only for one year	Agricultural land exempt from TDS on property deals
Only 42,800 tax payers with income over 10 mln rupees	Royalty to overseas parents to attract 25% tax vs 10%
Education cess to continue at 3%	No income tax on investor protection fund of depositaries
Donation to national children fund to get 100% tax relief	1% TDS on immovable property transfer of over 5 mln rupee


Tax Reforms	Corporate Tax
-To set up tax administration reform commission	-10% surcharge on cos with income above 100 mln rupees
-Little room to raise taxes in constrained economy	-Dividend distribution surcharge raised to 10% vs 5%
-Need for state and central govts to pass a GST law	-GAAR modified provisions seen effective Apr 1, 2016
-Draft bill on GST in Parliament in next few months	-20% withholding tax on profits distributed by unlisted cos
-2 additions to service tax negative list	-Tax holiday for power plants extended to Mar 2014
-Include vocational courses in negative list	-Sops for power projects to continue for 1 year
-One-time amnesty scheme for service tax due from 2007	-15% tax on dividend from overseas arms to continue
-Allocates 90 bln rupee as CST compensation to states	-Financial institutions securitisation trust exempted from tax
-To encourage voluntary compliance to boost service tax collection

Growth, Inflation	Indirect Taxes
-Final GDP growth rate would be lower than CSO, RBI view	-Indirect tax proposals to yield 47 bln rupee FY14
-CSO estimated FY13 GDP growth at 5%	-No change in standard rate of excise duty
-RBI estimated GDP growth at 5.5% FY13	-No change in peak basic custom duty rate on non-agri goods
-Overall GDP growth rate seen at 6.1-6.7% in FY14	-No change in standard rate of service tax
-Global economic growth slowed to 3.2% in FY12 from 3.9% FY11	-Customs duty on leather making machine cut to 5.0% vs 7.5%
-Challenge to achieve trend growth rate of 8%	-Transaction tax of 0.01% on non-farm commodities future
-Only China to grow faster than India in FY14	-Commodity Transaction tax on non-farm derivatives trade
-Average GDP growth of 8% in 11th Plan	-Transaction tax on equity futures cut to 0.01% vs 0.017%
-Growth is highest goal	-Pegs FY14 customs revenue at 1.87 trln rupees
-Achieving high growth not beyond our capacity	-To impose service tax on all air-conditioned restaurants
-No development, inclusiveness without high growth	-Sops for low-cost housing to continue
-Can achieve faster growth rates as seen earlier	-Films exhibited in cinema halls to have no service tax
-Growth a necessary condition for development	-Moots voluntary compliance encouragement plan for service tax
-Battle against inflation must be fought on all fronts	-Vocational courses exempt from service tax
-Food inflation is worrying	-Coir, jute handmade carpets exempt from excise duty
-Govt spend is both good, bad from inflation perspective	-Farm produce testing service included in negative list
-Need to augment supply side to fight food inflation	-Export duty on rice bran oil, oil cakes withdrawn
-Oilseed, pulses supply-demand mismatch pushes up inflation	-To provide certain concessions to aircraft MRO industry
-No choice but to rationalise spending	-To up import duty on set-top boxes to 10% from 5%
-Govt expenditure boosts aggregate demand	-Cut custom duty on leather footware machines to 5% vs 7.5%
-Efforts over last few months brought down WPI inflation to 7%	-Import duty on raw silk to be raised to 15% from 5%
-Efforts in last few months brought down core inflation to 4.5%	-10% export duty on unprocessed ilmenite
-India can become 7th largest economy by 2017	-2% customs duty on bituminous coal
-Can become USD 5 trillion economy by 2025	-To up import duty on luxury cars to 100% from 75%
-We have achieved high growth before, can do it again	-Import duty on yatchs raised to 25% from 10% now
-UPA govt believes in inclusive development	-Duty on 800CC motor cycles raised to 75% vs 60%
	-Zero excise duty on cotton, fibre
Rural, Social Sector	-Handmade jute, coir carpets to be excise duty exempt
-Giving enough funds to programmes for women, children	Zero excise duty on cotton at fibre stage
-Allocate 415.61 bln rupees for Scheduled Castes sub-plan	To up specific excise duty on all cigarettes by 18%
-Gender budget allot 971.34 bln rupees FY14	To raise excise duty on non-taxi SUVs to 30%
-Funds for the sub-funds cannot be diverted	Female passengers can get 100,000 rupees duty-free gold
-Allotment to minority ministry 35.11 bln rupees FY14	Male passengers can get duty-free gold worth 50,000 rupees
-To allot more 2 bln rupee to child, women welfare ministry	Ships, vessels exempted from excise duty
To allot 373.3 bln rupees for health, family welfare	To up duty on mobile phones above 2,000 rupees to 6%
To allot 1.1 bln rupees to disability dept FY14	No change in mobile phone excise duty up to 2,000 rupees
373.3 bln rupees for health, family welfare in FY14	Excise duty on marble hiked to 60 rupee/sq mtr vs 30 rupee
To allot 47.27 bln rupees for medical training & research	Basic customs duty on dehulled oatgrains cut to 15%
To allot 658.67 bln rupees to human resource ministry	No change in 10% basic customs duty on non-farm products
212.39 bln rupees in FY14 for new national health mission
Allocate 658.67 bln rupees to human resource department	Fiscal Health
Allot 16.5 bln rupees to 6 AIIMS-like institutes	FY13 net short-term borrowing revised to 457 bln rupees
FY14 for new national health mission allocation up 24%	FY13 fiscal deficit estimate revised to 5.2% of GDP
Allot 272.58 bln rupees to Sarva Shiksha mission	Need to bring down fiscal deficit to 3% by FY17
To allot 272.58 bln rupees for Sarva Shiksha scheme	FY13 revenue deficit revised at 3.9% of GDP
132.15 bln rupees for mid-day meal scheme FY14	Need to bring down revenue deficit to 1.5% by FY17
To create opportunities for youth to get skills for jobs	Need to have zero effective revenue deficit FY17
To allot 245.98 bln rupees to the tribal sub-plan	FY13 divestment mop-up seen 240 bln rupees
Allocate 415.61 bln rupees for Scheduled Castes sub-plan	FY13 gross market borrowing seen at 5.58 trln rupees
To allot 772.36 bln rupees to child budget FY14	Pegs FY15 fiscal deficit at 4.2%; 3.6% in FY16
Allot for girl child development plan 52.84 bln rupees	FY13 Plan expenditure was too ambitious
To allot 177 bln rupees for child development scheme	FY13 non-Plan expenditure too conservative
Allocation for HRD 17% over FY13 revised estimate	12th Plan total expenditure revised to 14.31 trln rupees
To allot 152.6 bln rupees for drinking water, sanitation	FY13 Plan spend too ambitious, non-Plan too conservative
Allot 177 bln rupees for early childhood care, education	Fiscal consolidation can’t be done only by spend cuts
14 bln rupees for water purification plans FY14	Current account deficit high on gold, coal imports
To allot 801.9 bln rupees for UPA flagship schemes FY14	Need to encourage foreign investment
Allocates 330 bln rupees for rural employment scheme	Need USD 75 bln to finance current acct gap over next 2 yrs
To allot 151.84 bln rupees for Indira Awas scheme	Current account deficit high on oil imports
To launch new scheme for rural road development	India doesn’t have choice between FII and FDI
MNREGA allocation hiked to 330 bln rupees FY14	Foreign investment is an imperative
Allocates 148.73 bln rupees Nehru urban renewal mission	No choice but to encourage foreign investment
PM rural road scheme for Andhra, Maharashtra	Faced with huge fiscal gap, no choice but curtail spend
PM rural road scheme for Haryana, Rajasthan	Economic space constrained by high fiscal gap
PMGSY allocation for FY14 at 217 bln rupees	Hope FY14 Budget will be testimony to inclusive growth
1.5 bln rupees for healthcare plan for elderly	Exports, imports amount to 43% of GDP
To allot 115 bln rupees for Backward Region Fund	Economic space constraints due to high fiscal deficit
Skilled, trained youth to give enormous boost to economy	Reliance on FX inflows to fund current acct deficit
To give 10 bln rupees to skill development fund for youth	Current account gap is greater worry
Made modest, cautious start for direct cash transfer Jan 1	Gross domestic savings down 6% in FY12
Direct cash transfer scheme covered 1.1 mln people so far	To remove distrust in minds of investors
Cities above 100,000 population to have pvt FM channels	Will improve communication of our policies to investors
Viability gap funds to city bodies for energy from waste	Doing business in India should seem mutually beneficial
115 bln rupees for backward regions grant fund FY14	Pvt sector remains main contributor to savings
To cut number of centrally-sponsored plans to 70 vs 173	Econ space constraints on low saving, tight RBI policy
	Global crisis spared none
Financial Sector, Banks	India not unaffected by what is happening in rest of world
To introduce investment allowance for high value invest	There is no reason for gloom or pessimism
To introduce 15% investment allowance to attract invest
Rajiv equity plan to be eased; to cover MF investments	Agriculture, Food
Rajiv Gandhi equity plan invest cap up by 200,000 rupees	To allot 270.49 bln rupees for agri ministry FY14
15% deduction for invest up to 1 bln rupees till FY15	FY14 farm credit target 7 trln rupees
Expect to raise 250 bln rupees via tax-free bonds FY13	To allot 34.15 bln rupees for agri research
Pvt sector infra investment seen 47% in 12th plan	Farm credit will top FY13 target of 5.75 trln rupees
To allow some institutions to issue tax-free bonds FY14	Interest subvention for short-term farm loans to continue
To OK 500 bln rupee tax-free bonds in FY14	Farm loan Interest subvention Plan to continue
To encourage infra debt funds to boost infra growth	5 bln rupees for crop diversification programme
PSU banks well regulated, must be adequately capitalised	Farmers who repay loan on time will get loan at 4%
To allot 140 bln rupees for capital infusion in PSU banks	To allot 5 bln rupees for crop diversification programme
140 bln rupees to PSU banks for recapitalisation FY14	To spend 10 bln rupee on green revolution in east India
Will ensure PSU banks always meet Basel III norms	10 bln rupees to eastern states for farm development
Gave 125 bln rupees to PSU bks for recapitalisation FY13	Rashtriya Krishi Vikas scheme to get 99.54 bln rupees FY14
PSU banks assured all branches to have ATMs by Mar 2014	Allot 22.5 bln rupees for food security mission
Plan to set up exclusive bank for women	To allot 53.87 bln rupees for integrated watershed plan
To provide 10 bln rupees initial capital for women’s bank	11th plan growth in farm sector was 3.6%
Plan council for international competitiveness of financial sector	FY13 total food grain output over 250 mln tn
To allot 60 bln rupees for rural housing fund under NHB	Farm exports were 1.384 trln rupees in Apr-Dec
License to women bank by Oct 2013	To allot 50 bln rupees to NABARD for warehouses FY14
To provide 60 bln rupees for rural housing fund	2 bln rupees for pilot plan for nutri-farms
20 bln rupee allocation to create urban housing fund	To allocate 10 bln rupees to rice-producing East states
NHB to set up urban housing fund	Plant Protection Institute to be set up in Chhattisgarh
KYC of banks sufficient for insurance policies	Indian Institute of Bio-Technology to be set up at Ranchi
Insurance cos can open Tier 2 city branch without IRDA nod	To launch national livestock mission in FY14
Banking correspondence can sell micro-insurance products	Allot 750 mln rupee for coconut rejuvenation pilot plan
Towns with 10,000 people to have LIC, GIC offices	To allot 3.07 bln rupees for National livestock mission
Inflation indexed bonds to be introduced	750 mln rupee more for revival of coconut palm in Kerala
To launch inflation-indexed certificates	Allot 100 bln rupees for food security plan FY14
To introduce inflation linked instruments	Credit guarantee fund to be created for small farmers
Scope of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to be expanded	1 bln rupee credit guarantee fund for small farmers
Hope insurance, PFRDA bill will be passed in this session	Food security bill a promise of UPA govt
India capital market best regulated
OK to FII to trade in exchange traded FX derivatives	Infrastructure
SEBI to ease norms for foreign portfolio investment	IIFCL, ADB to offer credit enhancement for infra cos
Allow FIIs to use corporate bond income for margin need	Rural Infra Dev Fund corpus raised to 200 bln rupees
SMEs will be allowed to be listed without IPO	To set up regulatory authority for road sector
FII status for investment less than 10% in a company	Road construction facing financial stress
FDI status for investment over 10% in a company	To set up regulatory body for road sector
Distributors can become members of exchanges’ MF segment	Revival of invest in manufacturing sector a key challenge
Stock Exchanges to have dedicated debt segment	30 bln rupee road projects to be awarded in Apr-Sep
MF distributors allowed to become stock exchange members	To allot 148.73 bln rupees for JNNURM
Insurance, pension cos can directly trade in debt segment	To use bulk of Nehru urban renewal Plan for buying buses
Exchanges can introduce dedicated debt segment	To buy 10,000 buses from fund of Nehru urban renewal plan
ETFs will be eligible for pension, insurance investment	Infra debt funds to be encouraged
Post offices to move to core banking solutions	12th plan projects $1 trln for infra invest
To give 5.32 bln rupees for core banking at post offices	1.51 trln rupees for textile upgradation fund 12th Plan
5.3 bln rupees to post offices for core banking solution	Allocates 500 mln rupees to set up apparel parks
To allot 3 bln rupees for mother, child nutrition plan	960 mln rupees for interest subvention in textile FY14
	Loans at 6% rate for women textile entrepreneurs
Subsidy	Assure support to commerce ministry to boost exports
FY14 total subsidy seen 2.31 trln rupees	Initial work on Chennai-Bengaluru corridor started
FY14 petroleum subsidy seen 650 bln rupees	To give Delhi-Mumbai corridor more funds if needed
FY13 petroleum subsidy seen 969 bln rupees	To set up 2 new ports at Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal
FY14 food subsidy seen 900 bln rupees	2 ports at Andhra, W Bengal to add 100 mln tn capacity
FY13 food subsidy seen 850 bln rupees	To have Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial corridor
FY13 fertiliser subsidy seen 660 bln rupees	Plan grid connecting waterways, roads, ports
FY14 fertiliser subsidy seen 660 bln rupees	Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Project has made rapid progress
	Oil, gas policy to move to revenue sharing model
Estimates	Natural gas pricing policy to be reviewed
FY14 total spend pegged at 16.65 trln rupees	Work on 2 new smart industrial cities will start FY14
FY14 total Plan spend pegged at 5.55 trln rupees	Natural gas policy will be reviewed
FY14 Plan spend 29.4% more than FY13 revised estimates	To announce policy on Shale gas exploration
FY14 non-Plan expenditure estimated 11.09 trln rupees	Shale gas projects to be encouraged
FY14 gross market borrowing seen at 6.29 trln rupees	To move oil E&P pacts to revenue sharing from profit sharing
FY14 net market borrowing seen at 4.84 trln rupees	Must reduce dependence on imported coal
FY14 fiscal deficit projected at 4.8% of GDP	5 mtpa LNG terminal to be fully operational in FY14
FY14 revenue deficit projected at 3.3% of GDP	Coal import estimated to rise to 185 mln tn by FY17
FY14 total capital receipts seen at 6.09 trln rupees	To cut dependence on coal import in medium-, long-term
Pegs FY14 excise revenue at 1.975 trln rupees	States must prepare plans immediately for power distribution cos
FY14 divestment mop-up aim at 400 bln rupees	Urge state govts to approve recast of electricity boards
Pegs FY14 svc tax revenue at 1.80 trln rupees	To give 5 bln rupee to SIDBI for factoring loan guarantee
Pegs FY14 non-tax revenue at 1.72 trln rupees	To double SIDBI’s refinance capacity to 100 bln rupees
FY14 divest mop-up in non-government cos seen 140 bln rupees	Non-tax sop to MSME to stay 3 yr post move to higher class
FY14 short-term borrowing pegged 198.4 bln rupees	Non-tax benefits to MSME for 3 yrs after moving higher
FY14 gilt redemptions seen at 1.45 trln rupees	MSME benefits to stay 3 yrs post move to higher category
FY14 nominal GDP growth pegged 13.4%	Textile tech upgrade scheme to get 24 bln rupees FY14
Pegs FY14 gross tax revenue at 12.36 trln rupees	Additional tax sop for first time home owners
Pegs FY14 corporate tax revenue at 4.195 trln rupees	Up to 2.5 mln rupee 1st home loan to get more tax cut
Kept 500 bln rupees for gilt buyback/switch	No custom duty for plant, machinery for semi-conductors
Gilt buyback/switches for better debt management	Wind energy sector deserves incentives
Miscellaneous capital receipts pegged 558.14 bln rupees	Generation-based incentives for wind energy projects
FY14 total non-debt receipts pegged 664.68 bln rupees	To expand pvt FM stations to 294 more cities
Net MSS receipts pegged 200 bln rupees	294 more cities to be connected by FM radio
FY14 external assistance pegged 105.6 bln rupees	To auction 839 more radio channels in FY14
FY14 small savings receipt seen at 57.98 bln rupees
FY14 recovery from loans, advances seen 106.54 bln rupees	Miscellaneous
FY14 defence allocation 2.03 trln rupees	Initiatives underway to ensure women security
867.4 bln rupees in FY14 for defence CAPEX	Allot 10 bln rupees for ‘Nirbhaya’ women safety fund
To allot 62.7 bln rupees to science, technology ministry	To set up national institute of sports coaching
Allocate 39.83 bln rupees for high school education scheme	To provide 2.5 bln rupees for sports university at Patiala
58.8 bln rupees for department of atomic energy	Allot 2.5 bln rupee to sports coaching institute over 3 yr
To allot 56.15 bln rupees to Department of Space	Grant 1 bln rupee each to four universities
Transfer to state, Union Territories 5.87 trln rupee FY14	1 bln rupee grant each to Aligarh, Banaras universities
	Allocate 1 bln rupee grant to TISS, Guwahati

Indian Railway Budget 2013, No Hike in Fares

Rahul Chandel — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:42:21 +0000

Indian Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal Today presented Railway Budget for the year 2013-2014. The Budget is good one for the passengers as no hike in the fares is done. Though earlier it was expected that right now inflation is high and fares may go up.

The pressure of the fare hike was so extreme that Share Market dropped 116 points as per the assumption of fare hike. In the present Railway Budget there is no fare hike. This is the best part of the Budget for the common people. Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told that Railway is in loss of Rs 225 hundred crores.

“The growth of Indian Railways is inextricably linked with the growth of the country,” Bansal said in his budget speech in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament.

“It must remain financially sustainable. Resources generated must be ploughed back.”

In budget Railway assured 26 new Passenger trains. Right now the planning is not that what will be the routes for these trains. It looks that Govt was in very hurry for declaring the new trains.

Coming on the modernization of the Indian Railway Pawan Kumar Bansal said that he is soon going to make Railway tickets through mobile.

“I plan to roll out a more efficient and people sensitive railway service system. Some of the measures initiated or put are extending availability of the facility of internet booking from 12:30 AM to 11:30 PM, making e-ticketing possible through mobile phones,” Bansal said.

We can say that this is a good Railway Budget if implantation is done well. Once again the safety front remained unchanged and not so much is done in the Budget to improve the current situation.

Indian Budget to Attract Foreign Investors: Report

Rahul Chandel — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:19:39 +0000

On 28 of February Finance Minister P Chidambaram will present financial budget of the year 2013. This budget is very important as country is passing three great economic pressures. On the one hand people are suffering from high rate of inflation and on the other hand.

Govt seems to be a failure in maintaining reasonable prices of the commodities. The statics of Price search Index show it clearly that Govt is not able in fixing the growing rate of inflation.

In this budget it is expected that Govt will try to attract the foreign investors. Govt would like to present India as a global business hub.

Just like FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in some unexplored sectors. This is one of the major steps by which Govt would like to get money and jobs in the market.

“In view of this particular election, oddly enough, there may be political ground to be made on stressing that the government is keeping with its fiscal consolidation goal,” said Vishnu Varathan, economist at Mizuho Corporate Bank. On the other hand Jyotinder Kaur, economist at HDFC Bank.

“This will not be a common man’s Budget simply because there is very little room for that,” Jyotinder Kaur, economist at HDFC Bank told. So we can expect some big reforms in foreign investment sector in this budget.