New Delhi Rebutting criticism that proposals in the Budget for 2015-16 are pro-corporate and anti-poor, government today said the views are "completely wrong and ill founded" and not backed by any data. "They (critics) are completely wrong...it is ill founded, misguided and certainly not backed up with any data," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told PTI in an interview. He was responding to the criticism that the first full- year budget of the NDA government, presented in...Read More

New Delhi The defence budget was today increased by 10.95 per cent to Rs 2.46 lakh crore for the next fiscal as compared to the revised estimates of Rs 2.22 lakh crore for 2014-15 as the government focuses on 'Make in India' to curtail over-dependence on imports. The defence budget accounts for nearly 13.88 per cent of the total central government expenditure for the year 2015-16 which is Rs 1,777,477.04 crore. While the government had last year alloted Rs 2....Read More

New Delhi In order to ensure social security and promote public health, the government today proposed a slew of schemes like Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna, ATAL Pension Yojana and tax incentives for National Pension System. "A large proportion of India's population is without insurance of any kind - health, accidental or life. Worryingly, as our young population ages, it is also going to be pension-less," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said while presenti...Read More

[caption id="attachment_75308" align="alignnone" width="1027"] Gautam-Adani[/caption] Mumbai Describing Modi government's first full Budget as a "very balanced" document, industry captains hailed reduction in corporate tax rate, abolition of wealth tax, GST rollout roadmap and extension of time-frame for achieving 3 per cent fiscal deficit target. "The prudent fiscal consolidation with growth bias, tax structure rationalisation, social sector uplift and focus o...Read More

New Delhi Finance Minister Arun Jaitley peppered his speech with digs at the previous UPA regime and sprinkled it with interesting phrases taken out from Urdu poetry and religious scriptures as he presented his first full-fledged budget in Lok Sabha today. He was wearing a light blue shirt, a black trouser and a deep-blue Nehru jacket for the much-watched occasion. His sister Madhu Bharghava and neice Punita were among those watching from the visitors' gal...Read More

New Delhi Government has finally decided to give impetus to steps for coastal security with a whopping 18-fold increase in allocation in Union Budget to secure the country's 7,517-km coastline. According to the budget for 2015-16, a provision of Rs 710 crore has been made for setting up of mobile check posts in the coastal areas of the country for better surveillance to check illegal activities. It is an 18-fold rise over the Rs 39.37 crore utilisation in t...Read More

New Delhi In an employee-friendly move, the government today made provident fund contribution optional for workers getting salary below a threshold. However, the employer will continue to contribute his share of the PF irrespective of the worker opting not to pay his contribution. "...for employees below a certain threshold of monthly income, contribution to EPF should be optional, without affecting or reducing the employer?s contribution," Finance Minister...Read More

New Delhi Gems and jewellery players today said the gold monetisation scheme annunced in the Union Budget will increase the supply and help in reducing imports of the precious metal. The industry players, however, expressed disappointment over no reduction in customs duty on the metal. "We are very happy with the proposal of gold monetisation scheme. This is similar to the 'Rastra Swarna Nivesh' scheme we had proposed last year. This will increase the suppl...Read More

New Delhi The government today raised the farm credit target by Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 8.5 lakh crore, allocated Rs 5,300 crore for flagship irrigation programme and announced plans to set up a common agricultural national market to boost farmers' income that is "under stress". The government has clubbed 10 major schemes, including National Food Security Mission, under the umbrella scheme "Krishionnati Yojana" to be implemented by states with central assistance...Read More

New Delhi The government has decided to accord special status to Yoga by categorising its promotion as a charitable activity, an announcement which evoked an enthusiastic response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the presentation of the Budget 2015-16 in Parliament today. The activity of Yoga has been one of the focus areas in the present times and international recognition has also been granted to it by the United Nations, Finance Minister Arun Jaitel...Read More