Budget eyes agriculture, MSMEs, other labour-intensive sectors for job creation

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…

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Port restriction on jute from Bangladesh imposed to protect local industries from sub`sidised products, say officials

The latest order is aimed at further tightening the import of jute and products made from Bangladeshi jute. File | Photo Credit: Reuters A day after India imposed a fresh round of port restrictions on a range of jute products, officials here justified the move as necessary because Bangladesh’s subsidies were “killing” local Indian industries….

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In a post-Trump world, trade gets special focus in budget; govt opens domestic market for some imported vehicles

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…

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The ABCD of Budget 2025

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…

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Centre sets new five-year target to cut debt to half of GDP; signals robust capital spending, support to states

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…

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