Starting mid-November, officials led by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will consult state finance ministers, economists and industry representatives for inputs, two people aware of internal discussions said on the condition of anonymity. The budget will aim to make the country more self-reliant and prosperous, supported by forward-looking regulations, the people said. According to one of…
The government’s focus on creating jobs for informal and gig workers comes at a time when the economy has been struggling to create enough formal jobs. Therefore, the government is leaning on agriculture, manufacturing, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and startups to generate more employment for the country’s burgeoning youth. For instance, under ‘Building…
As US president Donald Trump threatens to impose reciprocal tariffs on its trading partners, potentially upending global commerce, India has placed a significant emphasis on invigorating manufacturing and exports while also opening up the domestic market. As part of the customs duty rejig, the government lowered import tax on a range of products such as…
Here’s a handy alphabetized list of the key themes that shaped the most important financial document of the year: It can’t be a Budget without annadatas and agriculture, can it? Identifying agriculture as one of the four powerful engines in India’s journey of development (the other three being MSMEs, investment and exports), the Budget unveiled…
Before you pop the champagne, though, there are two points to consider. First, zero tax up to ₹12 lakh as well as the attractive new tax slabs are only applicable to the new tax regime. At the same time, the old tax regime does remain relevant in some cases. Second, if your taxable income is…
The Union budget has set a new five-year target to cut the central government’s debt to 50% of gross domestic product, give or take 1%, by 31 March, 2031. The budget, presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, also sought to signal the Narendra Modi administration’s commitment to fiscal prudence and infrastructure creation, including…
The Economic Survey called agriculture the “sector of the future” and the FM echoed this sentiment in her budget speech, emphasizing garib, youth, annadata and nari. Despite this focus, key gaps remain. Firstly, there is a budget cut for agriculture ministry. Despite the rhetoric, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MOA) saw a ₹3,500…
The Union budget presented on Saturday saw a 9.8% increase in the allocation for the healthcare sector to ₹99,858.56 crore from ₹90,958.68 crore in the previous financial year but overall health allocation remained below 2% of the budget. The share of health in the FY26 budget increased marginally to 1.97% from 1.9% in FY25 and…
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has followed a stable trajectory in all her Union Budgets since 2019. This year’s budget speech, though, was unusual in not mentioning allocations for specific Infrastructure sectors. The unsaid implication being – execute and implement existing projects in large sectors like highways and railways. Of the allocation to Infrastructure of an…
Consumption, particularly in urban markets, has been battered by high food inflation and low income growth in recent months, resulting in calls for the Reserve Bank of India to cut its policy rate to spur spending. The banking regulator in December maintained the repo rate at 6.5% for an 11th consecutive time. RBI’s monetary policy committee,…
