http://www.financialexpress.com/index.php Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12 : 31 : 21 +05:30 financialexpress.com http://static.expressindia.com/frontend/fe/images/financial-logo.gif http://www.financialexpress.com/index.php Feed provided by financialexpress.com http://financialexpress.com/news/proposal-to-form-nilekani-panel-will-bring-in-transparency/584920/ For the IT sector—this is a welcome Budget, where the government has taken decisive steps by supporting policies like SEZ. Reduction in corporate surcharge from 10% to 7.5% will bring some respite to the industry however... http://financialexpress.com/news/stpi-nonextension-mat-hike-break-the-code-for-techies/584919/ Non-Extension of the ten-year tax-holiday under the Software Technology Parks of India scheme proved to be a major disappointment for the $50-billion software services export sector. http://financialexpress.com/news/breaking-through-the-sisyphean-hurdle/584916/ Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has attempted the breakthrough by creating the right balance between politics and economics. http://financialexpress.com/news/host-of-measures-will-help-power-sector/584914/ India was one of the first countries to adopt counter-cyclical measures to combat the slowdown and this helped our economy emerge from the slowdown in the shortest possible time. http://financialexpress.com/news/annual-survey-to-map-district-health-profiles/584913/ The FM’s concern for the aam aadmi’s health shines through in the Budget. The allocation for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has risen from Rs 19,534 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 22,300 crore. http://financialexpress.com/news/pharma-sector-gets-booster-dose-for-innovation/584911/ Through this Budget, the government has given a clear message to the pharma industry to take that next big leap towards becoming innovator companies by adding value to their predominantly generic manufacturing mould. http://financialexpress.com/news/thrust-on-sezs-will-create-jobs/584910/ This Budget reminds me of a verse from Bhgavad Gita: “annad bhavanti bhutani” all living bodies subsist on foodgrain. To me Budget proposals prima facie seems to be designed for food security, to facilitate infrastructure growth and arrest inflation. http://financialexpress.com/news/there-is-no-special-emphasis-on-the-healthcare-sector/584908/ It is a good and balanced Budget but nowhere near what the healthcare industry was expecting. There is no special emphasis given on this sector. http://financialexpress.com/news/concessions-for-green-mobility-solutions-are-welcome/584907/ The Budget is going to be a growth-oriented one as it puts renewed focus on infrastructure, education, agriculture, irrigation, healthcare, rural and other core sectors. Consequently, it should help fuel demand and economic growth going forward. http://financialexpress.com/news/it-gives-attention-to-both-urban-and-rural-india-with-substantial-incentives/584905/ The Finance Minister has presented a pragmatic and balanced budget, which addresses key issues impacting the economy. Additionally, it also sets a roadmap for bringing down the fiscal deficit year-on-year. http://financialexpress.com/news/largely-neutral-for-the-steel-sector-but-does-contain-growth-measures/584904/ A significant aspect of this Budget is that most of the surprises have been on the positive side. Lower fiscal deficit is perhaps the most important aspect of the Budget. http://financialexpress.com/news/a-roadmap-towards-fiscal-consolidation/584901/ The Budget has come at a time when the economy had just begun to recover from the impact of an unprecedented global economic crisis. The finance minister's challenge was to support the resurgent momentum of growth in the economy http://financialexpress.com/news/meaningful-steps-to-tackle-current-weaknesses-in-the-agriculture-sector/584900/ The Union Budget for 2010-11 had to walk a tight rope as it endeavours to contain rising inflation, particularly food inflation while maintaining growth unhurt, besides balancing between prudent and populist measures. http://financialexpress.com/news/delivery-capabilities-of-govt-need-improvement-to-achieve-growth/584898/ Next to a house, people want to own personal transportation, and a car is the vehicle of choice. India has very low penetration of cars, and the reason is affordability. Thus, the car industry can only grow if the income levels of people rise rapidly. http://financialexpress.com/news/the-big-4s-verdict/584897/ The Union Budget reflects continuity in the government's measured and balanced response to the global economic crisis. The timely and effective intervention through the stimulus packages insulated India's economy from the crisis. http://financialexpress.com/news/media-entertainment-industries-have-much-to-cheer/584895/ The Union Budget 2010-11 spells good news for the media and entertainment sector. Accredited new agencies in the country have been exempted from service tax. http://financialexpress.com/news/prices-to-rise-on-excise-duty-rollback/584894/ The Union Budget 2010-11 announcements made on Friday have put the cement sector back into focus. The 250 million tonne Indian cement industry will now have to let go the excise benefit it enjoyed for about a year. http://financialexpress.com/news/partial-stimulus-exit-to-heat-up-prices/584891/ The finance minister on Friday announced a hike in minimum alternate tax from the current 15% to 18% of book profits. This would impact India’s metals and mining companies negatively. http://financialexpress.com/news/excise-duty-hike-to-burn-a-hole-in-cigarette-manufacturers-pockets/584889/ Cigarettes are now likely to get dearer with the government increasing the excise duty by 2% in the Budget 2010-11. The finance minister, in his speech said, “The excise on cigars and cigarettes will go up in the fiscal year 2010-11. There will also be increased excise duty on all non-smoking tobacco”. http://financialexpress.com/news/mild-shock-for-power-sector/584886/ Bringing a major boost to the power sector, the finance minister has doubled the Plan allocation for the power sector to Rs 5,130 crore in 2010-11 from Rs 2,230 crore in 2009-10. The Plan outlay for the new and renewal energy ministry is being increased by 61% from Rs 620 crore to Rs 1,000 crore, especially to support the ambitious solar energy programme. http://financialexpress.com/news/vehicle-prices-set-to-head-north-another-hike-likely-in-april/584885/ In what could dampen consumer sentiments, at least for a short time, vehicle prices are set to go up by 2% across all models with effect from Friday. http://financialexpress.com/news/petrol-diesel-prices-up/584884/ Retail prices of petrol and diesel will go up from midnight today as the government has given the go-ahead to public sector oil marketing companies to pass on the impact of the increased duty burden to fuel consumers. http://financialexpress.com/news/some-of-the-more-interesting-proposals-remained-unspoken/485883/ Barring the increase in minimum alternate tax, the budget appears to meet reasonable expectations, especially considering that the new government has taken office only about a month ago. http://financialexpress.com/news/this-budget-will-leave-more-money-with-the-poor-increase-purchasing-power/485879/ Steps like fertilizer subsidy, increased credit for farmers, reduction in custom duty as well as excise exemption for biofuels, abolition of fringe benefit tax and commodity transaction tax are very good steps taken by the finance minister. http://financialexpress.com/news/fm-has-focussed-on-all-inclusive-growth-in-theconfidence-building-budget/485877/ The fiscal stimulus provided by the Government in the past few months has revived the economic growth and it plans to bring back the economy to the high GDP growth rate of 9% at the earliest.