Joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on the first day of Budget Session (Source: Sansad TV/YouTube)
2 years ago
Feb 01, 2024
President Droupadi Murmu recounted the high points India witnessed over the past year."India became the fastest-growing economy. India became the first nation to reach the south pole of the Moon. The successful G20 Summit hosted by India strengthened the role of India in the world. India won more than 100 medals in Asian Games," Murmu said.
Given a weaker-than-expected monsoon in FY24 and muted Rabi sowing (+0.2% as of Jan. 19), the government, through its budget, will aim to give rural growth a boost, according to the Bank of Baroda.
Spending on rural and agriculture sectors is lagging but may see a turn-around in this budget, according to Teresa John, economist at Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities.
The rural sector faces near-term challenges such as unfavourable terms of trade, poor weather conditions, the fallout of climate change, and inflationary pressures on food and fertilisers, said Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay Institutional Equities, in a note.
Income Tax Benefits, Support To Women Entrepreneurs
An increase in income tax exemption limits, support to women entrepreneurs, a long-term taxation policy and steps to boost consumption and savings are among the expectations of experts from the interim budget.
Bharat Chamber of Commerce president N G Khaitan said there is a need for a long-term taxation policy and parity in taxation among companies, partnerships and limited liability partnerships for a level playing field for small and medium firms.
A graded roadmap is needed to be strategised to shift duty slabs to a competitive level over a period of time.
Provisions of customs law should be further simplified and the desired clarifications should be issued for ease of compliance.
Other categories under the tariff schedule need to be expanded to eight-digit classification codes.
A robust and automated escalation of grievance mechanisms should be put in place. An effective dispute resolution scheme should be introduced.
API connectivity should be used for uploading data schema for bill of entry or shipping bill preparation, collating the Import General Manifest details filed by the shipping line from the ICEGATE (Indian Customs Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange Gateway), and initiating payment of the customs duty.
Widening the scope of GST—petroleum products, aviation turbine fuel, natural gas, and electricity should be subsumed under it for providing a seamless flow of input tax credits.
The National Authority of Advance Ruling under GST should be set up on priority.
Simplifying the taxation process, better targeting of subsidies, promoting labour-intensive sectors, and rationalising import tariffs to a three-tier duty structure are among the major wishlists of the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Among the major suggestions, the CII wishes to move the Goods and Services Tax to a three-tier rate structure—with a low rate for essentials, a standard one for most goods and a high rate for luxury and demerit goods.
Automakers Seek Continued Push To Green Mobility, Infra Development
The government needs to continue with favourable policies to promote green mobility while also focusing on infrastructure development at a robust pace in the upcoming Budget, according to some leading firms in the automobile space.
"We expect capex on infrastructural projects to continue, aiding the automotive sector. The policy push for green mobility should remain a key focus for the government, encouraging faster adoption of electric vehicles," Mercedes-Benz India MD and CEO Santosh Iyer said.
Hoteliers Expecting Lenient Tax Structure, More Allocation
Hoteliers are expecting a more lenient tax structure and an increased allocation in Union Budget 2024-25, which will give a boost to the tourism industry.
Amandeep Singh Grover, General Manager of Hilton Goa is hopeful of reforms that standardize offerings within the tourism sector.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget 2024-2025 on Thursday, February 1 at 11 am.
Viewers can watch Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's speech live on NDTV Profit TV channel and NDTV Profit's official YouTube channel.
All the Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill etc. as prescribed by the Constitution, will be available on the 'Union Budget Mobile App' for hassle-free access to Budget documents by Members of Parliament and the general public, the finance ministry said in a statement.
The app is bilingual (English & Hindi) and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms. It can also be downloaded from the Union Budget Web Portal www.indiabudget.gov.in, it said.
The Budget documents will be available on the app after the finance minister completes the Budget speech in Parliament.
India's fiscal deficit expanded to 55% of the budgetary target in the first nine months of fiscal 2024.
In actual terms, this comes up to Rs 9.82 lakh crore of the total limit set at Rs 17.86 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit had reached 59.8% in the corresponding period last year.
One of the industry's expectations is the formulation of a comprehensive policy for the drone segment. The industry is looking to the government to streamline and ease regulations and restrictions, which can enable businesses to leverage drone technology effectively.
Issues such as licencing, training requirements, airspace regulations and privacy concerns need to be addressed.
Budget 2024: Expectations From Global Capability Centres Sector
India to become the world hub for global capability centres needs proactive support from the government, as Budget 2024 can play a key role in facilitating growth and sustainable development in the sector.
Thus, the interim budget—it is not full-fledged because of the scheduled general election this year—to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Feb. 1 will be eagerly anticipated by all stakeholders.
From infrastructure, information technology and telecom to agriculture, healthcare, human resources and education, stakeholders are eagerly waiting to see how the government's financial roadmap will impact their industries.
Indian equity benchmark indices ended positive on the day before Budget 2024, on the back of gains in the shares of HDFC Bank Ltd. and Reliance Industries Ltd.
The NSE Nifty 50 closed up 186.00 points or 0.86% at 21,708.10, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed 544.86 points, or 0.77% higher at 71,684.76.
Intraday, Nifty gained as much as 1.02% and the Sensex gained 1%.
The local currency strengthened by 7 paise to close at Rs 83.04 against the U.S. dollar.
Companies building roads, ports and airports are on traders’ watchlist as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is set to present its last budget before the national elections, reported Bloomberg.
Shares linked to rural spending and state-owned firms are likely to be a focus area in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech on Thursday, as policymakers seek ways to boost demand in the vast rural hinterland.
The government will continue its focus on ease-of-paying taxes, while legislative reforms will stay work-in-progress at the interim budget on Feb. 1, according to EY.
The government is expected to maintain income tax rate stability, tighten enforcement, and improve compliance to minimise disputes, according to EY.
Moreover, because of the high level of litigation, the government may announce steps to reduce the pendency of disputed cases.
Ahead of Parliament's last session before the Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Wednesday that the country is touching new heights of progress and its journey of "all-inclusive and all-round" development will continue with people's blessings.
"We will follow the same tradition and present a full-fledged budget before you after a new government is formed," he said, adding that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will in her budget, to be tabled on Thursday, come out with measures showing a direction.
Budget Session 2024: Increased Efforts Towards Green Mobility, Says President
There is increased demand for initiatives protecting the environment, says President Droupadi Murmu, reiterating the green measures implemented in the country in recent past.
Rise of renewable energy will help India cut its dependence on fuel imports, she says.
Inflation Remained Under Control Despite Wars, Pandemic: President
Prices were kept under control despite two major wars and a pandemic, says President Droupadi Murmu. Our focus has been alleviating pressure on common man's purse, she says.
Budget Session 2024: Last Year Full Of Successes For India, Says President
President Droupadi Murmu recounts the high points India witnessed over the past year.
"India became the fastest-growing economy. India became the first nation to reach the south pole of the Moon. The successful G20 Summit hosted by India strengthened the role of India in the world. India won more than 100 medals in Asian Games," Murmu says.
Over the past 10 years, just when the Union Budget is around the corner, Indian equity markets have made wild swings.
The years 2020, 2016 and 2014 witnessed extreme volatility—from declines to advances, and vice versa—a month or a week before and after the budget.
Capital expenditure targets, disinvestment plans, fiscal deficit, budgetary allocations to sector-specific schemes like housing and railways, and tax policies—especially on capital gains—are some of the factors that influence the markets.
Budget Session Begins Today, President, PM To Address Joint Sitting Of Houses
The Budget Session of Parliament is all set to begin on Wednesday, a day before the interim budget is tabled.
The session will open with President Droupadi Murmu addressing a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present the vote of thanks in the President's address.
In total, there would be eight sittings in this session. The office of the Chief Economic Advisor will not be presenting an Economic Survey today as the government will present an interim budget on Feb.1.
The Economic Survey will not be presented on Jan. 31 as the budget process will continue to affected due the upcoming election. Instead the government has released the 'Indian Economy–A Review', a study on India's journey over the last decade.
