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You are here: ET Budget 2012 Live Budget 2012 - Budget Highlights 16 Mar, 2012 , 09.24PM IST

Union Budget 2012: Highlights

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The Economic Times is live-blogging the Union Budget 2012. Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates, analyses from market experts and politicians, reactions from India's top business leaders and live analysis throughout the day. The Budget is being seen as an opportunity to push for big reforms to jumpstart India's creaking infrastructure and slowing economy. 09:05 PMRBI hails fiscal measures, but evasive on rate cuts Reserve Bank of India welcomed the Budget proposal to bring down fiscal deficit to 5.1 per cent, saying the strategy of increasing indirect taxes and capping subsidies are reliable measures to control deficit. It, however, said this will not have any immediate bearing on the central bank's monetary policy stance. "Budget proposals are an important consideration, and positive development, but the monetary stance is not going to be influenced by only one factor", Deputy governor Subir Gokarn said. 08:05 PMBudget gives some cheers for film industry The Indian film industry had something to cheer about in the Budget today following the proposal to exempt it from Service Tax on copyrights relating to recording of cinematographic films. The proposal announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his 2012-13 Budget speech was welcomed by Bollywood which said it is a huge relief and the "best gift" for the film industry coinciding with the start of the Centenary year of Indian Cinema this year. The Film Producers Guild called off its proposed strike to press for the exemption after Mukherjee made the announcement. It has been making this demand for a long time. 08:03 PMGet ready to pay higher mobile bills

The country's over 900 million mobile phone users will have to shell out more money on their bills with the proposed hike in service tax rate to 12 per cent from 10 per cent in the Budget today. "The increased costs will eventually be borne by the consumers in the form of higher charges for the services," COAI said. Country's largest telecom firm Bharti Airtel said the hike in service tax will increase cost of services to customers and also impact the P&L (Profit and Loss) statement of telecom companies. "The telecom sector is already burdened with multiple and high tax levies which account for 30% of the telecom services revenue...As a highly taxed industry, this will certainly have a further impact on the consumer," Bharti Airtel CEO (India and South Asia) Sanjay Kapoor said.

08:01 PMRupee ends up 20 paise on proposals to boost ECBs, duty on gold

The rupee pared early losses to end the day 20 paise up against the US currency as Budget proposals to allow overseas borrowings for more sectors and doubling import duty on gold boosted the sentiment on domestic currency. Analysts said Budget proposals to allow ECBs for aviation, power, road and other sectors raised hopes of more fund flows to the country. The government's move to hike import duty on gold, which is expected to impact demand, also boosted the rupee they said. India is the largest gold consmuer and gold imports account for a large chunk of country's total purchases. The local currency opened strong at 50.27/28 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market in line with early rise in stocks. It turned negative at mid-session and hit a low of 50.43. 08:00 PMHarried MFs welcome Budget The Rs 6.75-trillion mutual fund industry, which has been down in the dumps for quite some time now, today lauded the STT cut in the Budget as they believe the move will provide a fillip to the struggling sector. Accepting a long-pending demand for lowering the transaction costs in the capital markets, the Budget has proposed a reduction in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) by 20 per cent, from 0.125 per cent to 0.1 per cent, on cash delivery transactions. 07:58 PMCement prices may go up by Rs 5 per bag Cement may become dearer by Rs 5 per 50 kg bag in view of the Budget proposal today to raise excise duty to 12 per cent from 10 per cent earlier.

"The hike in excise duty will push up the sales cost by Rs 5 per bag. Cement makers will obviously try to pass it on to the consumers, but their ability to do so will depend upon the condition of the market where they operate," a prominent industry leader said. On whether the abatement of 30 per cent on the retail sale price, as proposed in the Budget, would have any cooling effect, he said, "This will not be enough to offset the cost escalation." The average price of cement was around Rs 285 per bag in the country. But, since cement is largely a regionally-traded commodity, its price varies from one region to another. The Budget 2012-13 proposed to hike excise and service tax by 2 per cent across the board. 07:55 PMRise in excise duty not good for consumer durable industry, says Mahesh

Krishnan, Samsung India 07:54 PMPoll: Is the Budget positive for the common man?
Yes No Can't say
07:29 PMCII welcomes Growth oriented Budget: Muthuraman

CII welcomes the attempt at reversing the fiscal slippage of the current year by introducing amendments to the FRBM Act. Successful fiscal consolidation will be contingent upon widening of the tax base and better targeting of subsidies. The commitments to contain subsidy at 1.75% of GDP and eliminate the effective revenue deficit in three years are critical targets introduced in this Budget. CII is hopeful that the government will be able to achieve these milestones. The revenue and expenditure targets set for 201213 seem realistic and the fiscal deficit of 5.1% of GDP is achievable. However, according to the CII President, the borrowing level required to finance this deficit is still high and will keep up the pressure on interest rates. 07:27 PMIncrease in excise duty will increase car prices, says RC Bhargava, Maruti Suzuki 06:46 PMBudget increases AC, first class train fares further Passengers travelling in all AC classes and first class will have to pay charges in addition to the recent hike in train fares with the General Budget bringing journeys in them under the ambit of service tax. With this move, passengers would have to pay over three per cent over and above the recent train fare increases. While public transport in general has been kept in the negative list, Railway officials said that first class and air-conditioned coaches will now be under the service tax net.

06:41 PMRules eased for VCs to invest in more sectors

The government proposed removing the sectoral restriction on venture capital funds, a move that will allow more startups beyond the current nine sectors to get access to growth-stage capital. Presenting the Budget 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said "the restriction on Venture Capital Funds to invest only in nine specified sectors is proposed to be removed." As per section 10(23FB) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, SEBI registered venture capital funds are eligible to invest in firms engaged in only nine business activities. The nine sectors include nanotechnology, information technology relating to hardware and software development, seed research and development, bio-technology and research and development of new chemical entities in the pharmaceutical sector. 06:38 PMDuty exemption on 6 life-saving drugs The Union Budget has proposed to extend concessional basic customs duty of 5 per cent with full exemption from excise/countervailing duty to six specified life-saving drugs and vaccines, even as the stress has been laid on vaccine security. The basic customs duty has been brought down to 5% from 10% in the import of probitics. Stressing on eradication of disease and prevention, the government plans to set up new vaccine units in the country and modernize the existing ones. The 2012-13 Budget has proposed setting up of a new integrated vaccine unit near Chennai.

06:35 PMWait and watch budget for retail sector, says Ernst & Young India

06:31 PMGovt to spend Rs 50 crore on overseas Indians

India will spend close to Rs 50 crore on welfare schemes targeted at overseas Indians in 2012-13, according to budgetary estimates proposed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) has been allocated a total of Rs.114.77 crore for the next fiscal, a 41 percent increase from the 2011-12 budget outlay of Rs.81 crore. The ministry will also spend Rs.6 crore on celebrating the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas. 06:30 PMNot much stimulus to oil & gas sector, says Ernst & Young India 06:29 PMBudget 2012, a blessing for infrastructure sector: Ernst & Young 06:26 PMS&P says India's budget deficit will remain high Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that India's budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, would be mildly negative for the unsolicited sovereign credit rating on India (BBB-/Stable/A-3). Potential risk surrounds the government's target divestment of Rs 30,000 crore in the next fiscal year. 06:22 PMBudget reinforces UIDAI's existence "We have made it quite clear that Aadhaar will form the underlying platform for government services," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told ET. Adds Ajai Chowdhary, chairman of HCL Infosystems, a UIDAI vendor: "Aadhaar will become important also for private companies who want to authenticate their employees and customers." The government wants to lower its expenditure on central subsidies to 1.75% of GDP by 2015-16, from an estimated 2% in 2012-13. This will be done partly by reducing the outgo on subsidies ad partly by better targeting. We welcome the support given to us in Budget 2012-13, says UIDAI director general RS Sharma. We will try and implement the existing projects in Aadhaar scheme which can benefit all. 06:19 PMHiren Ved, Alchemy Capital: Budget is neutral and not dramatically negative 06:18 PMYashwant Sinha: Budget 2012-13 misses big picture The ninth budget of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) misses the big picture and fails to address challenges like inflation and high economic growth, former finance minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha said. "This budget is not for the aam aadmi... there is no big picture... it pays lip service to vital sectors like infrastructure and power," Sinha told reporters after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the union budget for 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha. According to Sinha, it failed to address major challenges like providing better quality of life for the people, controlling inflation, bringing down high interests rates and ensuring high economic growth. 06:16 PMDelhi Metro gets Rs 2,200 cr Delhi Metro got a budgetary allocation of Rs 2,200 crore for construction of its ambitious Phase-III project that envisages extending the modern transport system further in the national capital. Delhi Metro has begun construction of its Phase-III project that will add another 103 km of the capital to the Metro map. Delhi Metro officials said they were satisfied with the budgetary allocation announced in the Budget as it was on the expected lines. 06:10 PMGarments to get cheaper despite hike in excise duty Branded garments will become cheaper despite hike in its excise duty as a result of the government raising the abatement from 55% to 70% under the budgetary proposals for 2012-13.

This would mean the levy would not be imposed on 70 per cent of the cost of the product as against the present exemption of 55 per cent. Apparel Export Promotion Council Chairman A Sakthivel said: "The increase in the duty rate from 10 per cent to 12 per cent will adversely impact raw-material costs." 06:06 PMISRO get Rs 125 crore for Mars mission, eyes Nov 2013 launch After the moon mission, ISRO's plans for Mars exploration got a shot in the arm with the government allocating the ambitious programme Rs 125 crore in the Union Budget announced today. ISRO got a Rs 2283 crore hike in allocation in the Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, over the 2011-12 revised estimates of Rs 4432 crore. The Mars mission, which comprises putting a spacecraft in the Red Planet's orbit to study its atmosphere, could be launched in November 2013 by ISRO's warhorse rocket -- the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. 06:04 PMShiv Nadar: FM has presented a very balanced budget on education 06:00 PMBudget boost for women, child development programmes Among the mission for empowerment of child development, the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS), a programme for early childhood care and development, has been given a sizeable increase of 58 percent from Rs 10,000 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 15,850 crore in 2012-2013. "The ICDS is being strengthened and re-structured," Mukherjee said. Under the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls, SABLA, it has been proposed to spend Rs.750 crore. "Protein deficiency among women and children is one of the common sources of malnutrition in India. I propose to reduce basic customs duty on soya protein concentrate and isolated soya protein from 30 percent to 15 percent," Mukherjee informed in his budget speech. 05:55 PMCoal India officials unhappy with the Budget announcements Coal India officials are unhappy with the Budget announcements for the coal sector as the proposed exemptions on mining will help the state-run miner save only about Rs 60-80 crore. The company imports equipment worth Rs 600-900 crore every year. However, Coal India has readied another expression of interest for importing coal on a long-term basis. The company was awaiting commitments from consumers before going ahead with it. Now that the government has announced exemption on import of mining equipment, it may once again ask for expression of interest from overseas suppliers. 05:51 PMMarkets tank despite many positives The stock market reacted sharply to the budget proposals, tanking over 1 percent or 210 points, despite a slew of pro-investor measures announced by the finance minister. The proposal to introduce the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme, reducing STT and introduction of electronic platform for the IPO subscriptions will lead to increased participation from retail investors, according to analysts. Analysts said the market actually can heave a sigh of relief given that the Budget did not propose any measure that would affect the investor sentiment.

05:49 PMBudget gets mixed reactions from NRIs in Gulf

The NRI community in the Gulf region had mixed feelings for the Budget, as some of them welcomed the hike in duty on gold while some others were disappointed by increase in service tax and excise duty. ITL Cosmos Group President Ram Buxani said increase in the customs duty on gold will help Dubai's business. On the hike in service tax and excise duty in the Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today, Indian Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) President Sudesh K Aggarwal said, "The common man will get adversely affected due to the increase in the indirect taxation - such as increase in the excise duty and service tax." "The government should have focused more on widening the tax base and bringing more people on the tax net through effective management than increasing the tax at this juncture," he added. 05:46 PM23% increase in MEA budget; big increase in the aid to neighbours An increase of Rs 1825.97 crore has been made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget 2012-13 for MEA including increased assistance to Latin American Countries from Rs 0.50 crore to Rs 15 crore. While aid allocation to Bangladesh is Rs 30 crore as compared to Rs 8 crore last year, the aid for Bhutan and Nepal is Rs 2638 crore and Rs 270 crore respectively this year. Last year the aid component was Rs 2030 crore for Bhutan and Rs 150 crore for Nepal. 05:44 PMSome welcome steps, more could have been done: Healthcare companies The healthcare industry welcomed moves to promote preventive health check ups and research in pharma in the Budget but said more could have been done to accelerate growth in the sector. "More could have been done in this Budget but there are lots of good things in it for the heath care sector," Apollo Hospitals Enterprise ED Operations Sangita Reddy said. Expressing similar views, Metropolis Healthcare MD & CEO Ameera Shah said: "I am happy to see preventive healthcare being given more importance in the budgets. However, the industry expected much more than this."

05:40 PMBicycle prices to go up by 3-4%

The bicycle makers hailed the Budget proposal to hike import duty saying that it would curb "unhindered" import of bicycles and parts from China "to some extent". "Price of bicycle will go up by more than Rs 100 per unit because of one per cent increase in excise duty on bicycles and increase in basic excise duty by 2 per cent and increase in service tax," United Cycles & Parts Manufacturers Association (UCPMA) President Gurmeet Singh Kular said. 05:37 PMBudget allocates nearly Rs 212 cr for training babus "This (grant) also includes provision for grants to Indian Institute of Public Administration and other training Institutions; provision for Training schemes like Training for all, Domestic Funding for Foreign Training, up-gradation of LBSNAA to a Centre of Excellence, setting up of National Centre for Good Governance, augmentation of Training Facilities at ISTM," as per the notes on Demand of Grants by the government. 05:36 PMSoya protein items to attract lower customs duty In its bid to protect women and children from protein deficiency, the government today proposed slashing basic customs duty on soya protein concentrate and soya protein to 10 per cent. The step is aimed at fighting protein deficiency among women and children which is one of the most common sources of malnutrition in the country, he said. Simultaneously, excise duty on all processed soya food products is being reduced to the merit rate of 6 per cent, Mukherjee added. 05:35 PMK C Chakrabarty: Higher govt borrowing may not eat up public credit "The idea of 5.1 percent fiscal deficit should not deprive credit needs of the society," he told PTI at an HDFC Bank event here. When asked if the higher fiscal deficit, which forces the government to borrow extra from the market, would crowd out private investment, the deputy governor said, "I don't think so.. legitimate credit demand will not be crowded out." 05:31 PMCigarette prices to go up; no impact in stock price Prices of filter cigarette can increase by 8-10%, which analysts feel would only have a short-term impact on cigarette sales of leading companies like ITC Ltd and Godfrey Philips. Snubbing the price hike, industry body The Tobacco Institute of India (TII) director Udayan Lall said the increase in cigarette excise duties will substantially aggravate the tax arbitrage between duty paid and duty evaded cigarettes.

05:29 PMTata Motors to increase prices following excise duty hike

Within hours of the Budget 2012 presentation, Tata Motors decided to increase the prices of commercial and passenger vehicles with immediate effect. Tata Motors said in a statement that the company has decided to increase the prices in proportion to the hike in the excise duty.

05:19 PMCustoms duty collection to go up by Rs 33k cr in 2012-13

In the budget, Mukherjee proposed increasing the customs duty on import of completely built cars and SUVs to 75 per cent from 60 per cent (3,000cc engine capacity for petrol and 2,500 cc for diesel vehicles) earlier. Precious metals like gold and platinum will also become more expensive as the customs duty in imported standard bar has been hiked to 4 per cent from 2 per cent and those on non-standard gold bar has been hiked to 10 per cent from 5 per cent earlier. Imported bicycles will also become more expensive as customs duty has been hiked to 30 per cent from 10 per cent, while the same for bicycle parts has been increased to 20 per cent from 10 per cent. 05:14 PMS&P: Don't forsee immediate negative impact of budget on rating Rating agency Standard & Poor's does not foresee any immediate negative implication on India's sovereign rating after the government outlined a high fiscal deficit target in the budget for the next fiscal year, said Takahira Ogawa, director of sovereign & IPF ratings. "Because if they do so, then it might have a very negative implication on the recovery of the macro economy which may be even more detrimental to our rating," Ogawa said over telephone from Singapore. 05:11 PMGovernment to go full steam ahead on cash transfers The government wants to bring its expenditure on central subsidies down to 1.75% of the GDP over the next three years. This will be done partly by reducing the outgo on subsidies. Apart from food, said the FM, "all other subsidies would be funded to the extent that they can be borne by the economy without any adverse implications." And partly through better targeting and leakage-proof delivery of the subsidies. The architecture for ensuring the latter, said the FM, is coming along well. "The Aadhaar platform is now ready to support the payments for MG-NREGA, old age, widow and disability pensions and scholarships." 05:08 PM1% TDS on any deal of property other than agriculture land The tax is mandated to be paid if the property consideration is over Rs 50 lakh in specified urban areas and Rs 20 lakh in any other area. The transaction will be registered only after the buyer provides proof of deduction and payment of TDS. The proposal will be effective from October 1, 2012. According to tax experts, given the wordings in budget documents, its applicable to resale of property and not to builders who sell their stock in trade. 05:06 PMLocal power equipment makers protest status quo on import duty This is a major setback for manufacturers who have made big investments to build power equipment capacity, said M S Unnikrishnan, managing director and chief executive officer of Thermax, which has a power equipment joint venture with the UKs Babcock and Wilcox Co.

Companies may scale down investment and those who have already set up capacity may run on low capacity and jobs would be lost unless government intervenes, he told ET. He said the industry would seek a review. We are not giving up yet and will take it up with the finance minister when we meet him on Sunday, Unnikrishnan said. 05:05 PMBonanza for clean tech, hybrid cars to become cheaper The Union Budget 2012 brings quite a lot of encouraging signs for the clean technology industry in the country, said Hari Kiran Chereddi, managing director of Sujana Energy Besides hybrid vehicles, solar energy is also going to become cheaper. Installation of solar plants has been exempted from countervailing duty, which is going to be a huge boost for the industry. Equipment imports for the solar thermal industry will now be much more cost effective. In order to fully realise our potential in the realm of solar energy, solar thermal projects need encouragement, said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. 05:03 PMCrude shock for oil sector as government doubles cess payment 05:00 PMSachin Tendulkar scores his 100th Century in International Cricket 04:32 PMGold shoots up by Rs 450 on hike in import duty, global cues Gold rose by Rs 450 to Rs 28,140 per 10 grams today, as stockists created fresh positions to meet seasonal demand, triggered by proposals to hike import duty amid a firming global trend in the Budget 2012-13. Silver followed suit and jumped up by Rs 300 to Rs 56,500 per kg, as industrial units purchased more on fears of price rise in the coming days. Traders said the bullion market is shocked on budgetary proposals to hike import duty for the second time this year on standard gold bar and coins exceeding and unbranded ornaments. They said the upsurge was further supported as gold in overseas markets spurted, raising fears of more rise in the prices.

04:27 PMMercedes Benz to hike price of cars by up to Rs 3 lakh

Mercedes Benz India said it will hike its product prices by up to Rs 3 lakh expressing disappointment over high duties imposed in the Budget.

"The Budget is very disappointing for us. We were hoping for some reduction in taxes for large vehicles instead of hiking it further," Mercedes Benz India Director (Corporate Affairs and HR) Suhas Kadlaskar said. Petrol and diesel driven vehicles having length exceeding four metres and engine capacity of over 1,200 cc and 1,500 cc respectively will now be charged with an ad valorem duty of 27 per cent, instead of the earlier 22 per cent and a fixed duty of Rs 15,000. Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), however, welcomed the move to impose higher customs duty imported luxury vehicles.

04:23 PMPower tariffs set to fall

The measures announced in the Budget will help remove the roadblocks the power sector has been facing in terms of fuel and finance. They will help lower tariffs for consumers and offer a breather to power companies setting up new projects. "Tax-free bonds, external commercial borrowings (ECB) for part-financing rupee debt of existing projects, withholding tax on interest payments on ECBs, sunset norms and profit tax as well as exemption of basic customs duty will help reduce the cost of setting up power plants, and hence, generation costs," said Ashok Khurana, director-general at Association of Power Producers. "This in turn will result in lower generation costs and lower tariff for consumers," Khurana added. 04:21 PMFund managers cheer as sectoral restrictions are lifted "This amendment would bring venture capital investment at par with SEBI guidelines thus allowing greater access to Indian companies looking for venture capital financing," said Vaibhav Gupta, Associate Director, Tax and Regulatory Services, Walker Chandiok &Co. Besides, the proposal to float a Rs 5,000 crore India Opportunities venture capital fund with SIDBI to help start-ups is seen as a step to benefit micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) across the country. As per estimates of Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), there are currently 26 million MSMEs present in India, of which only 5% has access to institutional funds. "Any kind of equity support to MSMEs is welcome as it was greatly needed," said Anil Bhardwaj, secretary general at FISME. 04:20 PMI-T Dept can now challenge DRP ruling The income tax department will soon be able to appeal against the orders of the Dispute Resolution Panel, the appellate body for disputes arising from transfer pricing and other issues related to taxing cross-border transactions. The Budget proposes to amend sections 253 and 254 of the Income Tax Act to allow the department to move the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal if it feels aggrieved by a DRP order. The amendment will take effect in July 2012.

"This is a significant amendment which will have a bearing on transfer pricing-related decisions," said Sanjay Sanghvi, tax lawyer with Khaitan & Co. 04:14 PMAbout Rs 19 crore allocated for Lokpal, CVC 04:13 PMGovt to borrow 29 paise for every rupee in its kitty The government's dependence on debt has gone up from 27 paise in the previous Budget to 29 paise in the coming year, reflecting the pressure on revenue collections. On the expenditure side, central Plan will account for an outgo of 22 paise, followed by 18 paise of interest payments.

04:09 PMBudget lacklustre for oil and gas sector

Senior officials say they had expected complete deregulation of diesel, more freedom to revise petrol prices, abolition of excise duties and special duties prevailing on branded fuels. So, oil PSUs continue to be a worried lot, as they believe that the Budget did not do anything special for the sector that is reeling under one of its worst financial crisis, hit by a triple whammy of high crude prices, the government's steadfast refusal to deregulate fuel prices and the obvious under-recoveries that are threatening to bankrupt oil PSUs. 04:07 PMLife for FM not easy: Pranab, invokes Shakespeare "Economic policy, as in medical treatment, often requires us to do something, which in the short run, may be painful, but is good for us in the long run. As Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, has said in Shakespeare's immortal words, 'I must be cruel only to be kind.'"

04:06 PMI&B Ministry gets allocation of Rs 2,737.32 cr; increase of 5% 04:02 PMHome Ministry gets Rs 54,449 crore

The Home Ministry got Rs 54,449 crore in the General Budget, a two per cent cut than last year, with an emphasis to provide new residential quarters and barracks for Central Armed Police Forces personnel.

However, the Budget did not allocate any separate funds for the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre, whose fate still remains uncertain following strong objections from non-Congress chief ministers citing infringement of states' powers. 04:00 PMIt is a good Budget: Congress Congress has said that Mukherjee has balanced various imperatives and has presented a budget, keeping both medium term objectives and long term economic view in mind.

03:59 PMCentral assistance to Delhi slashed in Budget

Out of the total allocation, Delhi government has been given an amount of Rs 700 crore under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) while Rs 281.75 crore has been given as normal assistance to the city government. The allocation to the city government under JNNURM in 2011-12 was Rs 900 crore while normal assistance was Rs 252.70 crore. 03:59 PMDo not see any specific sector being benefitted: Raamdeo Agrawal 03:56 PMFM removes sector caps on venture fund investments 03:54 PMBudget 2012 is a realistic budget: Nilesh Shah 03:53 PMRefinance kitty for RRBs will have skewed impact The Rs 10,000 crore short term refinance fund for regional rural banks will be a welcome respite for cashtrapped lenders but the benefit will be limited only to the strong entities having adequate capital to lend. The country has as many as 40 weak RRBs with capital- to- risk weighted assets ratio below 9%, limiting their capacity to lend. Unless they receive fresh capital from stakeholders, they will not be able to get the benefit of the new refinance kitty to the fullest. 03:50 PMDisappointing Union budget by a lame duck Centre: Nitish "The union budget presented by a lame duck government at the Centre is useless and disappointing. There is nothing substantial in the financial proposals to boost the economy or to benefit the people", he told reporters here. The UPA government appears not to care much about price rise nor has it proposed anything to remove regional imbalance, he said, adding, the budget made him feel that the Centre lacked confidence to deal with economic concerns. 03:45 PMBudget 2012-13 aimed at giving boost to growth with stability: Pranab Mukherjee 03:41 PMDay-to-day items to cost more; luxury cars to be dearer 03:38 PMGovernment exempts levy on imported fuel for power plants 03:37 PMTV, AC, refrigerator prices to go up by 2-4% Prices of consumer electronics like LCD TV, LED TV, air-conditioners, refrigerators, washing machine and microwave ovens are going to go up by 2-4%, posing a major headache for white goods companies who are fighting a slowdown in demand for the last one year. TV makers indicated LCD and LED TV prices will also go up by 2-3%. As a result, a 32-inch LCD TV price will go up by Rs 800 while that of a 32-inch LED TV by around Rs 1,200.

03:34 PMNifty provisionally ends 1.3% lower at 5309.50. The index has hit a high of 5445.65

and a low of 5305.00 03:33 PMGold smuggling likely to increase

"Official imports of gold is likely to go down while smuggling will increase because of the over 4% difference between international and local prices," felt Gitanjali Group chairman and MD Mehul Choksi. C. Vinod Hayagriv, MD, C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons P Ltd. said that gold jewellery prices were likely to go up by Rs 560-750 per 10 gms. Orra CEO Vijay Jain praised bringing unbranded jewellery under the ambit of 1 per cent excise duty. "It creates a more level playing field between branded and unbranded jewellery." 03:31 PMSensex provisionally ends 1.2% lower at 17,451.24 led by losses in RIL, ONGC

and L&T 03:29 PMTop Sensex gainers: ITC (up 4.4%), M&M (up 2.9%), HUL (up 0.8%) and HDFC (up 0.6%) 03:28 PMTop Sensex losers: Sun Pharma (down 7.7%), ONGC (down 4.6%), NTPV (down 4.1%) and Tata Power (down 4%) 03:28 PMReady reckoner of how the changes in income tax slabs will impact individuals 03:25 PMBSE FMCG gains 1.8%, BSE Auto index rises 0.1% and BSE consumer durable index up 0.1% 03:25 PMEco-system for early stage companies set to improve as FM proposes to remove sectoral caps on venture capitalists
Besides, the proposal to float a Rs 5,000 crore India Opportunities venture capital fund with SIDBI to help start-ups is seen as a step to benefit micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) across the country. As per estimates of Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), there are currently 26 million MSMEs present in India, of which only 5% has access to institutional funds. "Any kind of equity support to MSMEs is welcome as it was greatly needed," said Anil Bhardwaj, secretary general at FISME. 03:24 PMBSE oil & gas index slips 3.1%, BSE power index drops 3% and BSE capital

goods index down 2.9% 03:24 PMBudget 2012 is a modest one: Deepak Parekh, HDFC 03:23 PMGovernment to set up Rs 5,000-crore venture fund for MSMEs, introduce MFI Bill 03:22 PMSensex slips 190 points led by losses in RIL, ONGC, L&T and SBI 03:22 PMFunds for skills development doubled
The Budget doubled infusion into the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDF) to Rs 1,000 crore, raising the corpus of the fund to Rs 2,500 crore.

"This will allow NSDC to fund more sustainable skills training initiatives that can benefit millions of youth nationwide," said NSDC Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Dilip Chenoy. 03:21 PMPM is serious about increasing fuel prices: Swaminathan Aiyar

03:20 PMGovt targets Rs 40,000 crore from spectrum auctions

The Government expects to raise about Rs 40,000 crore from the sale of airwaves in 2012-13 and the auctions may provide much-needed revenues to its coffers and help it in its drive for better fiscal consolidation next year. Two bandwidth auctions are slated to be held before March 2013, and industry watchers say the sale precedes may be more than three times the budget estimates. In addition to these upcoming auctions, the amount raised from spectrum will be even higher if the government implements its plans to impose a one-time fee retrospectively on all 'excess' airwaves held by incumbent GSM operators. The one-time levy alone will bring over Rs 23,000 crore to the exchequer. 03:18 PMFM makes farmers happy in Budget 12-13 Pranab Mukherjee has been able to appease the farming community through the slew of announcements on agriculture that he had made in the Union Budget 2012 -13. The morale of the farmers have got a boost as the budget allocation to agriculture has gone up by 18%. But the economists and corporates do not see much in the budget for agriculture as they feel that most of the policies were already in place and there has been no radical step in the budget to increase the crop production significantly.

03:16 PMUrea makers rue another wasted opportunity

Fertilizer manufacturers hoping for urea price decontrol saw the pre-budget speech gains in share prices erode fast as the finance minister offered them little solace. The government's push to promote Single Super Phosphate (SSP) against the heavily subsidised di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), which is likely to prove a cushion to the growing subsidy burden, however resulted in gains for SSP makers. Rama Phosphate and Liberty Phosphate, gained nearly 9% and 3% respectively immediately after the budget

speech. Stocks of companies such Chambal Fertilizers, National Fertilizers, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, and Nagarjuna Fertilizers, were quick to pare their pre-budget gains. 03:15 PMI do not believe the deficit numbers: Bibek Debroy 03:14 PMIT sector tax concerns, FM looks the other way The 2012 union budget is silent on taxation of onsite software services, a key demand of the software industry following tax notices issued to many India headquartered software firms. The income tax department has contended that onsite services, derogatorily referred to as body shopping, are not eligible for tax exemption because it is export of technical manpower. Software exports were eligible for tax exemption under the STP Act but with the benefits ending from this financial year onwards, the apex software industry body, Nasscom, had asked for appropriate clarifications to be issued in the budget stating that onsite services are an integral part of IT services. 03:13 PMFunds for skills development under National Skill Development Fund doubled 03:09 PMThe emphasis is on credibility, says Vallabh Bhanshali

03:08 PMUnion Budget 2012-13: Agriculture outlay increased by Rs 3000 crore 03:07 PMHigher customs duty on gold may not curb demand 02:37 PMNHAI may get to award more projects

For roads and highways sector, the finance minister decreased withholding tax from 20% to 5% on interest payments on external commercial borrowings. This would encourage more foreign financial institutions to lend to these companies. Withholding tax is deducted form the interest payment to nonresident Indians. 02:36 PMUnion Budget 2012-13 was reasonable: Recruitment and education industry 02:32 PMGovt spending seen driving domestic IT sector Government spend on technology this year is likely to cross record levels with the unique identification authority of India and other technology driven projects in various arms of government getting special attention in budget 2012-13. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee who stressed the need to tighten the subsidy regime during his budget speech, is banking on technology driven projects to plug leakages in the system. India spends more than Rs 3 lakh crore on subsidies every year. Besides the Rs 14,323 crore to be spent on Aadhaar, the project which aims to give each Indian a unique identification number, the government will also spend on a mobile based fertilizer management system, an LPG transparency portal, and Aadhaar enabled payment for government schemes in at least 50 districts. 02:31 PMGanesh Natarajan, Zensar Technologies: Nothing much in the budget for IT 02:29 PMMaruti, Honda, M&M to raise vehicle prices

With an increase in the excise duty on all products in the Budget for 2012-13, car makers like Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda Siel Cars India will hike prices of their vehicles by up to Rs 70,000. "We are going to raise the prices of all our products and will pass on the entire additional excise duty. Currently we are working on the exact amount of the hike," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said. Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra also said it will increase the prices of its entire range of products. "Given the current economic scenario and the revenue deficit of the country, the hike in excise duty was fully anticipated. Although the industry will not cheer about this, but we have to live with it," Mahindra & Mahindra President (Automotive and Farm Equipment Sector) Pawan Goenka said. 02:27 PMCapital goods sector's hopes dashed The Budget has failed to provide relief to the capital goods sector, which has been grappling with issues such as availability of coal, land acquisitions and environmental clearances. Manufacturers such as BHEL and Thermax, which have been sitting on idle capacities because of cheap imports of power equipment from Chinese and Korean markets, were in for disappointment because the Budget did not seek to create a level-playing field between them and their Chinese rivals. Despite the Committee of Secretaries recommendation last month of imposition of import duty on such equipment, the Budget did not address this issue. That explains why stock prices of a few capital goods companies, which were up nearly 3% at the beginning of the budget speech, had plunged into the red by the time the finance minister finished. 02:25 PMVijay Mallya: Good balanced and pragmatic budget announced by FM 02:23 PM7.6% growth has been understated, says Shankar Sharma

02:21 PMIndia needs to adjust petroleum prices to cut subsidies, says PM 02:20 PMBudget 2012 India will not revive market sentiment: Taina Erajuuri, FIM India 02:18 PMPremium on insurance products may go up

However, the good news for the sector is that policies sold in the rural sector will be exempted from service tax, but the market is insignificant to make a substantial advantage. The life insurance industry will have to shell out Rs 800 crore from the hike in service tax. They would save Rs 40 crore from exemption of service tax on rural policies, said S B Mathur secretary general Life Insurance Council. 02:17 PMRealtors developing affordable housing projects will be able to lower interest

costs
Realty developers who are developing affordable housing projects will be able to lower interest costs after the budget allowed companies to borrow overseas. The extension of the 1% interest subvention scheme for affordable housing continues for another year, benefitting buyers in the market for houses worth upto Rs 25 lakhs. 02:16 PMHigher Bonds Limit to benefit NHAI, IIFCL National Highways Authority of India, National Housing Bank and the state-run IIFCL will benefit from the finance ministers doubling of tax-free funds they could raise from the market to Rs 60,000 crores a year. But private lenders such as Infrastructure Development Finance Co. will be put at a disadvantage.

02:14 PMLittle cheer for textile industry

This Budget offers little to lift the low spirits of textile industry. The 10% excise duty levied on branded garments has been taken under the overall excise duty ambit, which has been raised to 12% from 10%. In terms of impact, there would be marginal benefit to textile companies in the higher end of the value chain. The Budget also proposed customs duty exemption of shuttleless looms from 5% to zero, which would benefit spinning mill companies such as Nahar Spinning Mills, Vardhman Textiles, Sangam India and Suryajyoti Mills. 02:14 PMInsurance, pension amendment bills to be introduced Presenting the budget for 2012-13, Mukherjee said the government has received the reports of the parliamentary standing committees on finance that looked into these bills. He said: "The official amendments to these bills will be moved in this session of the parliament." The PFRDA Bill would covert the interim PFRDA into a full fledged authority defining its powers and duties. The interim PFRDA was set up in 2003. 02:13 PMBudget 2012-13 is in line with what the market was expecting: Madhusudan Kela 02:11 PMBudget makes it mandatory for taxpayer to declare foreign bank accounts & other

offshore assets 02:10 PMVodafone tax issue may be re-opened

The government may re-open withholding tax case involving British mobile phone player Vodafone after the budget clarified the definitions of property and transfer, both of which affected the tax departments jurisdiction on the Vodafone-Hutch transaction. The taxability of the indirect transfers has unfolded again through clarificatory and retrospective amendments in the provisions codifying the source base taxation. This will significantly impact the cross border transactions and the debate will again knock the doors of the Court, said Amit Singhania, Principal Associate, Amarchand Mangaldas Indias largest corporate law firm by number of lawyers. 02:08 PMGST boost for Indian E-commerce This is fantastic news for e-commerce and retail sector since this would lead to synergy and streamlining of the tax structures, said Raja Lahiri, Partner-Transaction Advisory Services, Grant Thornton. The GST will have a positive impact on retail as a whole, said Sunjay Guleria, co-founder of online private label site, Sher Singh. Whatever benefits retail will obviously benefit e-retail as well, he added. 02:06 PMHighlights of key direct tax changes announced by Pranab Mukherjee 02:05 PMIndia's Unique ID scheme gets a budget boost The project being driven by former Infosys chief executive will use the money to enroll 400 million Indian residents into the unique identification database by June 2013. So far, the Unique Identification Authority of India that goes under the brand Aadhaar has enrolled about 200 million Indians, of which 140million has been issued the unique numbers. 02:03 PMUnion Budget 2012 of India sets modest path to trim deficit 02:02 PMBudget is clerical, ineffective: CPI The budget for 2012-13 was "absolutely clerical" and "ineffective", Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta said. "It is an absolute clerical budget. It could have been prepared by the clerical staff of finance ministry and there was no need for the finance minister prepare it," Dasgupta said.
02:01 PMBudget 2012: Corporate tax rates left unchanged

01:56 PMBudget 2012 India: Highlights of Pranab Mukherjee's speech 01:55 PMPM: Urea dereguation is a matter of time 01:55 PMPM: Need to adjust fuel prices to control subsidies 01:55 PMGovt proposes Rs 15,888 cr capitalisation for PSU banks

SBI gains 0.4%, Bank of India went up 1.98% while Bank of Baroda dropped by 0.39% on the BSE 01:52 PMMaruti Suzuki: Cars will become costlier; this will effect customer sentiment

negatively

01:51 PMChallenge is to get the growth rate back to 8 per cent: PM 01:51 PMGrowth rate of the economy is a major achievement in the past three years, says

PM
01:49 PMGold to become costlier

01:48 PMFood security scheme to be upgraded

01:48 PMIT department can tax Vodafone type cross border deals 01:47 PMSection 9 deals with taxability of companies with foreign companies 01:47 PMFM amends Section 9 of IT Act with retrospective effect 01:47 PMDariusz Kowalczyk, Credit Agricole: Disappointed with the budget because it

assumes a relatively high, 5.1% deficit in the 2012/13 fiscal year 01:46 PMA Prasanna, ICICI Securities Primary Dealership: It is a status quo budget 01:44 PMGovernment eases infrastructure funding options

01:43 PMStandard Chartered, lone India listed foreign bank, rose to 20% limit

Standard Chartered, the lone India listed foreign bank, rose to 20% limit and could gain more after the Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee allowed two-way fungibility of Indian Depositary Receipts. The ministers move could lead to many other international companies listing their shares in India that could lead to seamless movement of capital between their home country and India. 01:42 PMBudget 2012: Service tax raised from 10% to 12% 01:41 PMPM: The Budget aims at faster, equitable, sustainable and more inclusive growth

01:40 PMBudget 2012 and impact on NRIs

The government of India will now allow qualified foreign investors access to the Indian corporate debt market. Qualified foreign investors, or QFIs, can be individuals, groups or associations based abroad. This proposal, when implemented will deepen the countrys shallow bond market and also open up a lucrative avenue for foreign individual investors who are keen to participate in Indias growth story. But, NRIs will hope for something more. On paper, NRIs were always permitted to invest in Indian corporate bonds. 01:38 PMPM: Finance Minister has been able to address twin tasks of checking inflation

and accelarating growth 01:38 PMPM: When the time comes, we have to bite the bullet on subsidies 01:37 PMPM: When the time comes for taking tough decisions, we hope we will be able to take all our allies on board 01:34 PMRajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme introduced for retail stock investors 01:33 PMI-T exemption limit raised to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1.8 lakh

01:31 PMFiscal deficit target of 5.1% of GDP in Budget 2012 realistic: Deepak Parekh,

HDFC

01:30 PMSTT reductiion below market expectations

The proposal is expected to only marginally push delivery-based volumes in the cash segment in which the new rate of STT of Rs 100 per Rs 1 lakh turnover will be applicable in 2012-13 . Currently, deliverybased turnover accounts for less than 20% of the total cash turnover on the bourses, according to brokers. 01:28 PMNational Skill Development Fund allocated Rs 1,000 crore 01:24 PMCars will become more expensive tonight The finance minister Pranab Mukherjee hit a body blow on the struggling passenger car industry with a 2% increase in excise duty. The increased tax is likely to be passed on to the common man tonight and it will dent an already weakening sentiment. The government has increased the excise duty on large cars from 22 to 24%, However in what is a major reprieve for the auto industry, the finance minister did not slap any additional tax on the diesel cars. 01:24 PMInterest costs to go low on affordable housing projects 01:21 PMGeneral Anti-Avoidance Rules introduced; I-T department to have greater powers 01:20 PMShankar Sharma: GDP growth will exceed 7.6%, fiscal deficit will surprise

positively 01:20 PMHe has tried his best to give a good budget, happy with Defense allocation: AK Antony 01:19 PMMadhu Kela: Local stocks will track global markets; liquidity inflows 01:17 PMPoll: Was this a pro aam-aadmi Budget?
Yes No Can't say
01:15 PMIt is a good budget, says Rahul Gandhi 01:15 PMDefence Budget hiked by more than 17% 01:13 PMMadhu Kela: Adhering to fiscal consolidation is good for markets 01:12 PMMadhu Kela: Fuel and fertilisers prices will increase this year 01:12 PMAirlines can access foreign funds

"To address the immediate financing concerns of the civil aviation sector. I propose to permit external commercial borrowing (ECB) for working capital requirement for the airline industry for a period of one year subject to a ceiling of $1 billion," Mukherjee said while presenting the union budget 2012-13 to the Lok Sabha.

"A proposal for allowing foreign airlines to participate up to 49 percent in the equity of an air transport undertaking engaged in schedule and non-schedule transport services is under active consideration," he said. 01:11 PMAmansa Capital: No negative surprises and its a populist budget 01:07 PMTop Losers in Transport sector on BSE: Patel Integrated Logistics (-5.16%),

Spicejet (-3.99%), Jagsons Airlines (-3.37%), Jet Airways (-1.85%), CONCOR (-0.87%) 01:07 PMTop Gainers in Transport sector on BSE: Chartered Logistics (+0.77%), Kingfisher Airlines (+0.72%), Agarwal Industrial Corp (+1.70%) 01:06 PMMadhu Kela: Budget arithmetic and targets are realistic 01:05 PMDeepak Parekh: GDP will grow if RBI cuts rates by 50-70 bps 01:04 PMDeepak Parekh: Fiscal deficit target for FY2013 is realistic 01:04 PMDeepak Parekh: GDP growth target is realistic 01:02 PMShankar Sharma: 100-150 bps cut in interest rates will fuel growth 01:02 PMShankar Sharma: GDP rate understated 01:00 PMECBs proposed for aviation sector with a cap of $1 billion

12:58 PMDirect, indirect tax reforms to miss deadline 12:57 PMInfrastructure sector to get Rs 50 lakh crore investment 12:56 PMDeepak Pandit: Happy to see FM taking various steps in this budget 12:56 PMRural housing scheme to be upgraded: FM

12:54 PMExcise duty raised to 12% from 10% 12:53 PMBranded silver jewellery fully exempt from excise duty 12:53 PMET COMMENT: Hope Gold Loses Shine

Customs duty on gold increased to 4% from 2%. That's good - Indians need to import less gold, which will help the current account deficit, and put that money in more productive uses, which will raise savings

12:52 PM10 year benchmark at 8.40% 12:52 PMIncreased customs duty on gold and platinum to 4% from 2% 12:51 PMET COMMENT: Something Even for Telecom?

FM has helped aviation and power companies, has he done anything for that other troubled sector, telecom? Some mbile phone parts have been exempted from basic customs duty and phone towers are to get viability gap funding, but does that help telecom service providers? Their problems are not the lack of size of the market, which is huge, but low revenue per customer and high costs from policy uncertainty. Sunil Mittal had asked for ultra cheap smart phones so that data can make up for revenue that voice can't anymore. Will lower duties on mobile parts help that? 12:50 PMDuty on handrolled beedis increased 12:50 PMDiamonds emerald and ruby prices will increase 12:50 PMAdvalorem duty on some cigarettes 12:49 PMAgriculture credit target raised to Rs 5.75 lakh crore

12:48 PMCustoms duty on refined gold doubled 12:47 PMImport of aircraft parts exempt from basic customs duty 12:47 PMBasic customs duty on cigarettes reduced 12:47 PMCustoms duty on some gold and platinum products increased 12:46 PMCuts customs duty on rail equipment to 7.5% from 10% 12:45 PMTo allow external commercial borrowing to part finance rupee debt in power

projects 12:45 PMProposes to remove sector-specific restriction on venture capital fund investments 12:44 PMMobile phone parts exempted from basic customs duty 12:44 PMAutomated shuttle looms exempted from customs duty 12:44 PMSchool education exempt from service tax 12:43 PM12% excise duty imposed on branded retail garments 12:43 PMLCD and LED panels exempted from custom duty 12:42 PMGovernment hikes defence spending to Rs 1,93,007 crore 12:41 PMCustoms duty reduced from 7.5% to 2.5% for iron ore equipment 12:40 PMET COMMENT: King Coal
Power companies must be cheering, all the meetings with PM and other high officials worked...FM has not only allowed ECB to be used for retiring rupee debt of power companies but also duty free import of coal for 2 years. But this is all stop gap...unless Coal India is reformed and the mes on tariffs sorted out, power companies will be on shaky ground. But these are things that most government-watchers think will never happen 12:39 PMPoll: Has the FM done enough with the tax slab revision for individuals? Yes

No Can't say
12:39 PMThermal power companies exempted from customs duty for 2 years 12:39 PM5% customs duty exempted on equipment for fertilizer plants 12:38 PMIndia achieved success in external trade: Pranab Mukherjee 12:38 PMGovt sees expenditure rising 29% in 2012/13 12:37 PMLNG out of customs duty 12:37 PMFull exemption on customs duty on coal 12:37 PM10 year yield at 8.40% 12:37 PMFiscal deficit target set at 5.1% of GDP in Budget 2012-13 12:34 PMNo change in peak customs duty 12:34 PMTo raise duty on large cars to 27% 12:34 PMSome infra construction services exempt from service tax 12:34 PMFY 13 net market borrowing at Rs 4.8 lakh crores 12:33 PMCommon tax code for service tax and excise 12:33 PMStandard excise duty hiked to 12% 12:33 PMRs 18660 crores will result from service tax rise 12:33 PMET COMMENT: Service Tax Net Increases as Expected

The much talked about service tax negative list has come. 17 services in the negative list. FM says there will some exemption for some bits of the film industry, which has completed 100 years. And he mentions Ra1. Did he see it? Hopefully not...dreadful film 12:32 PMService tax up from 10% to 12% 12:29 PMDirect Tax Code implementation deferred: Pranab

12:28 PMET COMMENT: FM almost Fails the Fiscal Test

Fiscal deficit for this fiscal is almost 6%, and budgeted to be 5.1% for next year. That the fiscal situation was bad this year was known, but is 5.1% deficit target a major consolidation? Not really. Remember this year was supposed to have a deficit GDP ratio of 4.6%. If 5.1% is all that the FM can propose for next year, this is bad news. 12:26 PMIncome Tax Slabs: Up to 2 lakh rupees – NIL; Rs 2– 5 lakh –

10%; Rs 5–10 lakh – 20%; Above Rs 10 lakh – 30%; No change in corporate tax rates 12:25 PMFM announces intention of tabling white paper on black money 12:23 PMET COMMENT: Income Tax Changes Welcome but Modest
Tax exemption limit and slabs changed, tax outgo of those who pay personal income tax will reduce. You will save, ET Now has already calculated, Rs 2060 a year because of the changes. But bear in mind, that

these are small changes, welcome as they are. The slabs still dont make much sense given how incomes have changed in India. Still, some good news. But worry about the deficit situation, it's not good 12:22 PMIncome Tax at 20% for Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh 12:21 PMIncome Tax at 30% for income of over Rs 10 lakh 12:20 PMIncome Tax at 10% for Rs 2-5 lakh 12:19 PMNo change in corporate tax rates 12:17 PMRaises exemption limit to Rs 2 lakhs from Rs 1.8 lakhs 12:14 PMNon plan expenditure at Rs 9.7 lakh crore 12:14 PMET COMMENT: Modest Target for Disinvestment FM says Rs 30 k crore is disinvestment target for next fiscal. This is Rs 10k crore less than what was the target for this fiscal. Of course, trying to get resources via ONGC share sale resulted in a horrible fiasco. Is the very modest disinvestment target a reflection of a scare or altered thinking? Given that growth and stock market sentiments are set to improve next fiscal, shouldn't the disinvestment target have been more ambitious? Or is the government being modest now so as to claim credit for exceeding target next year? Right now, though, the disinvestment target looks very disappointing -- almost anti-reform. 12:13 PMFiscal deficit at 5.9% in FY 12 12:13 PMTables a white paper on black money issue 12:13 PMGross tax receipts at 10.77 lakh crore 12:13 PMGross tax at 10.6% of GDP 12:13 PMCoal India advised to sign FSA with power plants 12:12 PMBudget 2012: Fiscal balance has deteriorated 12:08 PMPoll: Will government be able to implement GST from August 2012? Yes No Can't say
12:07 PMAgri credit target for FY13 at Rs 5.75 lakh cr, up Rs 1 lakh cr 12:07 PMTo introduce new law for micro finance institutions 12:06 PMDefence outlay at Rs 1.95 lakh crore 12:05 PMAllocated Rs 25,555 cr for Right to Education in FY13; cuts interest rates on loans

to women self help groups 12:04 PMGovt aims to trim subsidy burden 12:03 PMEfforts on for consensus on 51% FDI in multi-brand retail

12:03 PMET COMMENT: That Inclusive Growth Feeling

FM reading out long lists of schemes, peppered with programmes named after Nehru-Gandhis but excluding an immediate, firm budgetary commitment to the food bill...This is probably the most depressing

part of the budget speech. It is proof that Indian policymakers will learn nothing despite overwhelming evidence that most schemes are money-wasters. Think about this: FM has just announced allocation for national health mission, the same scheme that in UP under Mayawati led to massive corruption and murder. Revealingly, even on NREG, the prestige welfare programme for Congress, FM doesn't have anything but bromides to say. NREG has worked up to a point, but it has also now been massive compromised by crooked intermediaries. GoI's social spending is probably the most effective argument there ever was against a welfare state. 12:01 PMRural development fund of 20000 crores 12:01 PMNRHM allocation hiked to 20820 crores 12:01 PMIndia's growth disappointing, but recovering: Pranab 12:00 PMEconomy to grow at 7.6% in 2012-13: FM

11:56 AMRs 14000 crore for rural drinking and sanitation in FY 13 11:56 AMFM announces new equity savings scheme

11:55 AMGovt targets Rs 30,000 crore from asset sales 11:53 AMGovt doubles allocation for tax-free bonds to Rs 60,000 crore for financing

infrastructure projects in 2012/13 11:52 AMTo allow qualified foreign investors in Indian corporate debt markets 11:52 AMNew state owned irrigation company to be set up 11:52 AMTo allocate Rs 14232 cr to UID project, up 13% in FY 13 11:51 AMPropose National mission for food processing 11:51 AM10000 crores allocated to NABARD to fund RRBs 11:50 AMInterest subvention for short term crop loan continues 11:50 AMAgri credit target for FY 13 seen at Rs 5.75 lakh crore, up 1 lakh crore 11:50 AMPlan outlay for agriculture raised by 18% to Rs 20208 crore in FY 13 11:50 AMRs 300 crore for intensified irrigation program

11:50 AMET COMMENT: The Kingfisher Budget Proposal

As we were discussing Kingfisher in our comment on the corporate bond market proposal, FM says airlines can access ECB funds of up to one billion dollars, he's also made a proposal of power companies financing rupee debt with ECBs. Airlines and power are the two sectors ion trouble, and the budget seems to have listened to them. The question is whether this will help the troubled companies, many of whom face more fundamental problems than financing shocks. But it may buy them more time. So, who outside India will loan money to Kingfisher, now that everyone inside India is loath to? 11:48 AMRetail stocks rally as Budget commits to multi-brand FDI Shopper's Stop gained 3.3 per cent, Pantaloon Retail was up 1.5 per cent, Trent Ltd was up 1.8 per cent and Provogue was up 10.5 per cent. Kouton Retail also gained 3.5 per cent. Presenting his Union Budget in Parliament, Mukherjee said that the decision on allowing FDI in multi-brand retail business has been kept in abeyance, but effors are on to arrive at a broad-based consensus after consultations with state governments and other stakeholders. 11:47 AMIrrigation, dams to be eligible for special funding 11:47 AMTelecom towers made eligible for viability gap funding 11:46 AMFuel supply constraints have hit power supplies nationally 11:46 AMWill allow external commercial borrowing for power, housing road construction

companies 11:46 AMTo make 8,800 km of highways in FY13; outlay raised 11:45 AMPlan outlay raised 18% to Rs 20,208 cr for agriculture 11:45 AMChange in IPO guidleines to promote small town participation 11:44 AMTo allow ECB funding to finance working capital needs of airlines for 1 year

11:43 AMFDI in aviation is under active consideration 11:42 AMRs 10000 crore of tax fee bonds for power sector 11:42 AMTo allow ECB funding to finance working capital needs of airlines 11:41 AMTo become self sufficient in urea production in next 5 years 11:40 AMShare of manufacturing in GDP will be increased 11:39 AMTo allow ECB to fund part finance power rupee debt 11:39 AMOil and gas pipelines to be eligible for viable gap funding 11:39 AMDouble infra debt amount to Rs 60,000 crore 11:39 AMDTC to be implemented at the earliest 11:37 AMTo allow qualified FII into domestic corporate bonds 11:37 AMRs 15890 crores for recapitalization of PSU banks 11:37 AMExtend RRB capitalisation for 2 years 11:37 AMPropose Central KYC depository 11:37 AM12th plan infra investment at Rs 50 lakh crore 11:36 AMShares of BHEL trading 3.6% higher at Rs 293.85, top Sensex gainer

11:36 AMTop Sensex losers: RIL (down 0.8%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.6%) and Tata

Motors (down 0.6%) 11:36 AMBSE realty index gains 2%, BSE banking index up 2% and BSE power index rose 1.8% 11:35 AMSensex trading 180 points higher led by gains in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and ITC 11:32 AMET COMMENT: GOOD FOR RETAIL INVESTORS?
FM promises tax incentive for new investors as well as tries to broaden the reach of IPOs. These make sense when you consider that the share of household savings delpoyed in capital markets has come down sharply. But will Indians switch to capital markets without pension and insurance funds being allowed to freely invest in equities, and without sorting out issues like commissions for muitual fund agents. Plus, the big question, as the Survey had pointed out, how will Indians be dissuaded from buying gold? 11:32 AMET COMMENT: One Good Thing About Subsidy Reform FM says food subsidy will be fully provided for in the budget, that's a good promise, because actual expenditure always exceeds budgeted ones, like it will this year. But this will be a tough promise to keep 11:30 AMInflation & current account deficit to come down next year 11:30 AMFocus on removing infrastructure bottlenecks 11:29 AMChanges in IPO norms to increase participation in small towns 11:29 AMTo introduce new Rajiv Gandhi equity scheme 11:29 AMGovernment to include advance pricing in Finance Bill 2012 11:28 AMFind ways to expedite implementation of decision, prompt delivery and good

governance with transparency, while curbing black money and corruption 11:28 AMRemove bottlenecks in agriculture, energy, transport, coal, power and national highways 11:28 AMEnsure rapid rise in private investment 11:28 AMFrame policies that trigger domestic demand recovery 11:27 AMTo implement Direct Tax Code at the earliest 11:26 AMSigns of economy turning around in March quarter 11:26 AMEfforts continue to arrive at consensus for 51% in retail FDI 11:25 AMET COMMENT: Subsidy Reform?
FM says subsidy/GDP ratio to be under 2% in FY13. This is not so radical as it sounds. Subsidies exceeded that limit in 08-08 and 09-10. The last budget promised subsidy at 1.5% of GDP, but it will certainly be higher. So, in terms of quick analysis at least, and in an overall sense, there seems to be no radical subsidy reform for the coming fiscal year, more like stepping back from a disaster. Also, FM made the right noises on getting m,oney to beneficaries, but at least so far, there has been no detail about a step-by-step approach to this. Hopefully, more detailed examination of the budget will prove us wrong. 11:25 AMTo continue to hold 51% stake in state owned companies 11:25 AMRs 30,000 cr divestment target in FY 13 11:24 AMDirect transfer of subsidy for kerosene initiated 11:23 AMTo implement DTC at the earliest 11:23 AMGST to be operational by August 2012 11:23 AMTo bring down subsidy to 1.7 % of GDP in the next 3 years 11:21 AMTo roll out computerized scheme for fertilizer subsidy transfer 11:20 AMEconomy to grow at 7.6% in 2012/13 11:19 AMCentral subsidies to be under 2% of GDP 11:19 AMHighlights of Pranab Mukherjee's speech 11:19 AMDecided to fully provide for food subsidy in the budget 11:18 AMET COMMENT: FRBM amended FM says amendment to fiscal responsibility and budget management Act will be introduced in the finance bill. He highlights the concept of effective revenue deficit and better targetting of expenditure...these are concepts that will attract plenty of interest in post-budget analysis. 11:18 AMFiscal balance has deteriorated

11:17 AMFRBM implementation back on track 11:17 AMFM: Fiscal deficit rose due to subsidy 11:16 AMHigh crude oil prices hit growth, averaged $115/bbl in 2011-12 11:15 AMFM: India has achieved to diversify export and import markets 11:14 AMExpect current account defict to decrease next year 11:13 AMCurrent account defict to be at 3.6% 11:13 AMET COMMENT: Early Signs

FM has hit the right notes so far. Domestic demand drivers, private investment, combating corruption...he's said all the necessary things, he's also said that 'mere words are not enough, we need a roadmap'...should we raise our hopes, whatever the budget turns out to be, this is a good beginning. Pundits are saying fiscal consolidation is a the biggest test. But Shankar Sharma on ET Now said in the pre-budget programme, the deficit is not that big an issue. An interesting contrarian view, and one which will be even more interesting once we know the budget's fiscal performance 11:12 AM10 year benchmark yield at 8.43% 11:12 AMExpect headline inflation to moderate further and stabilise 11:12 AMSignificant slowdown in growth over the last two years 11:11 AMFM: To address black money, corruption in public life 11:11 AMFM: To enhance supply side; cut infra bottlenecks 11:11 AMFM: To focus on domestic demand, raise private investment 11:11 AMFM: Manufacturing sector appears to be on a revival path 11:11 AMFM: Needs to improve supply side management of economy 11:11 AMFM: Numerous economic indicators suggest economy is turning around 11:10 AMET COMMENT: Budget Starts With House Bedlam Can't our MPs let the House function even on budget day. Budget speech started with Opposition MPs raising a din. FM said 'please' several times and the Speaker had to remind the House that FM was perfroming a constitutional duty. FM had to re-read the first few lines of the budget again. A terrible advertisement for Indian parliamentary democracy. Now, there's relative silence in the House. So far, FM is giving the background...he has just said 'we have to take hard decisions'...does that mean this is going to be as the media says, a bold budget...let's hope so

11:10 AMFY 12 was a year of recovery interrupted, says FM 11:09 AMFM: Need to improve supply side in economy 11:07 AMFM: Tight monetary policy hit consumption and growth 11:07 AMAuto stocks down on profit-booking 11:07 AMFM: Global crisis hit Indian growth 11:07 AMFM: Middle East crisis, debt worries in EU have intensified 11:06 AMPerformance this year was disappointing but as compared to peers India was

better
11:05 AMGDP expected to grow at 6.9% 11:04 AMFM: Eurozone debt crisis got worse this year 11:03 AMOpposition ruckus as Pranab begins Budget speech 11:03 AMFM: It was a year of recovery and challenges 11:01 AMPranab Mukherjee starts presenting Union Budget in Parliament

11:00 AMKotak Equities: Do not expect major reforms for power sector

10:59 AMTop Losers in Metals - Non Ferrous sector on BSE: Gujarat Foils (-10.46%),

Globus Corp (-9.76%), Maithan Alloys (-3.10%), Cronimet Alloys (-2.14%), NALCO (-1.10%) 10:58 AMTop Gainers in Metals - Non Ferrous sector on BSE: Maan Aluminium (+7.20%), Precision Wires (+5.00%), Gravita India (+4.50%), Hira Ferro Alloys (+3.94%), Pennar Aluminium (+2.85%) 10:58 AMTop Losers in Iron & Steel sector on BSE: Shah Alloys (-5.26%), Stelco Strips (4.83%), Panchmahal Steel (-4.57%), Nova Iron & Steel (-3.76%), Bihar Sponge Iron (3.61%) 10:57 AMTop Gainers in Iron & Steel sector on BSE: Orissa Sponge (+5.00%), Jindal Stainless (+3.90%), Godawari Power & Ispat (+2.50%), Maharashtra Seamless (+2.24%), Shree Precoated Steels (+1.75%) 10:57 AMTop Losers in Infrastructure sector on BSE: Archidply Industries (-4.96%), Bloom Dekor (-3.83%), Unity Infraprojects (-1.07%), Concurrent (India) Infrastructure (-0.27%) 10:56 AMTop Gainers in Infrastructure sector on BSE: Greenply Industries (+6.00%), PBA Infrastructure (+3.50%), Pratibha Industries (+2.70%), GMR Infra (+2.44%), Atlanta (+2.27%) 10:56 AMTop Losers in IT sector on BSE: Netlink Solutions (-18.50%), Fourth Generation Information Systems (-8.83%), Frontline Business Solutions (-4.70%), Kernex Microsystems (-3.73%), ICSA (-2.23%) 10:55 AMTop Gainers in IT sector on BSE: Allsec Technologies (+8.85%), Powersoft Global Solutions (+7.86%), Religare Technologies (+7.17%), Logix Microsystems (+5.05%), Innovation Software Exports (+4.98%)

10:55 AMTop Losers in Food Processing sector on BSE: Milkfood (-4.95%), Mount Everest

Mineral Water (-1.83%), Himalya International (-1.70%), Jubilant Foodworks (-0.73%), Nestle (-0.23%) 10:54 AMTop Gainers in Food Processing sector on BSE: Agro Dutch (+5.25%), Sita Shree Food Products (+5.10%), REI Agro (+2.65%), Britannia Industries (+1.51%), Modern Dairies (+1.38%) 10:49 AMPunita Kumar Sinha: Challenge for govt will be to pursue FDI in critical sectors 10:48 AMRamdeo Aggarwal: Interest rate difference is very high in India as compared to western world 10:47 AMRamesh Damani: Markets in good shape and international liquidity is strong 10:44 AMRamesh Damani: Fiscal deicit is what markets is looking now 10:44 AMRamdeo Aggarwal: Govt credibility on fiscal numbers are low 10:40 AMMitesh Thakkar: Buy Gail; Buy Adani Power; Sell Videocon Industries 10:39 AMPoll: Will it be a populist or reformist budget?
Yes No Can't say
10:39 AMAshwani Gujral: Buy stocks that will not get impacted by the Budget 2012 like

Pharma & IT 10:36 AMPunita Kumar Sinha: FM has no choice but to do a market friendly budget 10:34 AMTop Losers in Engineering sector on BSE: Texmaco Rail (-2.87%), Kalindee Rail Nirman (-2.83%), Titagarh Wagons (-2.70%), Honeywell Automation (-1.13%), AIA Engineering (-0.87%) 10:33 AMTop Gainers in Engineering sector on BSE: Suzlon Energy (+3.15%), BHEL (+2.90%), BGR Energy (+2.65%), Thermax (+2.47%), Manugraph India (+2.38%) 10:33 AMTop Losers in Electrical equipment sector on BSE: Stone India (-4.17%), M And B Switchgears (-2.33%), ECE Industries (-1.50%), Numeric Power Systems (-0.93%), ABB (0.07%) 10:32 AMTop Gainers in Electrical equipment sector on BSE: Lakshmi Electrical Control (+3.75%), HBL Power Systems (+3.45%), Triveni Turbine (+1.95%), Birla Power Solutions (+1.67%), Crompton Greaves (+0.68%) 10:32 AMRupee strengthens before budget
Rupee firmed as global risk-taking improved, but traders said the currency would come under pressure if the budget disappoints. 10:31 AMLalit Thakkar, Angel Broking: Keep an eye on United Spirits 10:30 AMBharat Doshi, M&M: Subsidy on diesel should be removed instead of duty on

diesel cars 10:27 AMV Balakrishnan, Infosys: Take steps to reduce fiscal deficit

10:25 AMLalit Thakkar, Angel Broking: Global liquidity to determine markets post budget 10:24 AMDMK Ministers to skip budget 10:24 AMCabinet meet underway ahead of the budget 10:23 AMBibek Debroy: Budget may provide Rs 70,000 crore for food subsidies 10:21 AMAmansa Capital: Market expects budget to deliver decent fiscal consolidation 10:20 AMShankar Sharma: Fiscal deficit not necessarily a problem for India 10:16 AMSwaminathan Aiyar: FM may not raise fuel and fertiliser rates in the budget 10:16 AMJim Walker: RBI may not cut interest rates in the near future 10:16 AMBimal Jalan: Political compulsions may influence Budget 10:16 AMBimal Jalan: No political consensus on reducing government expenditure 10:15 AMTop Losers in Consumer Durables sector on BSE: Titan (-2.57%), Timex Group (-

1.00%), Nippo Batteries (-0.60%), TTK Prestige (-0.47%), Hawkins Cookers (-0.41%) 10:14 AMTop Gainers in Consumer Durables sector on BSE: BPL (+1.87%), Whirlpool of India (+1.52%), MIRC Electronics (+0.95%), Hitachi Home & Life Solutions (+0.90%), Bajaj Electricals (+0.73%) 10:14 AMTop Losers in Construction sector on BSE: Venus Power Ventures (-7.45%), Simplex Projects (-3.34%), Texmaco Infrastructure (-1.60%), Ahluwalia Contracts (-1.25%), MBL Infrastructures (-1.21%) 10:13 AMTop gainers in Construction sector on BSE: BSEL Infrastructure Realty (+5.29%), IRB Infrastructure (+3.25%), Gammon India (+2.36%), IVRCL (+2.15%), Orbit Corp (+2.22%) 10:13 AMTop Losers in Cement sector on BSE: Burnpur Cement (-3.31%), Prism Cement (2.00%), Shree Cements (-1.08%), JK Lakshmi Cement (-1.02%), ACC (-0.64%) 10:12 AMTop gainers in Cement sector on BSE: Andhra Cements (+2.60%), Shree Digvijay Cement (+2.25%), Mangalam Cement (+1.86%), India Cements (+0.65%), Ambuja Cements (+0.06%) 10:11 AMJim Walker: Borrowing may increase going forward

10:11 AMBimal Jalan: Rising expenditure is a concern for the government 10:10 AMSwaminathan Aiyar: Do not expect a make or break budget

10:04 AMJulius Baer: Markets will not appreciate a populist budget 10:03 AMNilesh Shah, Envision Capital: Budget 2012 may be both reformist as well as

populist 10:02 AMAtul Suri: Budget may be a non event 10:02 AMAtul Suri: Traders should exit trades if Nifty falls below 5170 10:02 AMAtul Suri: Global flows are driving the markets ahead 10:02 AMAtul Suri: Excise duty on diesel vehicles may be levid by FM 10:00 AMPunita Kumar Sinha (Blackstone): Allow FDI in retail 10:00 AMPunita Kumar Sinha (Blackstone): Increase FDI limits in Insurance, aviation 09:59 AMJPMorgan: Market expects populist budget with almost no reform

09:58 AMTop gainers in Cement sector on BSE: Andhra Cements (+2.60%), Shree Digvijay

Cement (+2.25%), Mangalam Cement (+1.86%), India Cements (+0.65%), Ambuja Cements (+0.06%) 09:57 AMAmansa Cap: Avoid trading around the budget 09:56 AMTop Losers in Banking sector on BSE: DCB (-0.43%), J&K Bank (-0.35%), Karur Vysya Bank (-0.31%), Federal Bank (-0.29%), Karnataka Bank (-0.05%) 09:53 AMTop gainers in Banking sector on BSE: Indian Bank (1.34%), Bank of India (1.16%), South Indian Bank (1.01%), HDFC Bank (1.00%), ICICI Bank (0.80%) 09:49 AMFIIs expect fiscal consolidation in budget: HSBC

09:48 AMTop Losers in Auto sector on BSE: Tata Motors (-1.92%), Maruti (-1.90%), Kinetic

(-1.72%), Hero Motor (-1.45%), Bajaj Auto (-1.01%) 09:47 AMTop gainers in Auto sector on BSE: Scooters India (+1.12%), Hindustan Motors (+0.46%), TVS Motors (+0.34%), Eicher Motors (+0.31%), Escorts (+0.07%) 09:45 AMNirmal Jain: Bottleneck in infrastructure will worsen 09:45 AMCiti: Global markets likely to remain bullish in end-March, early April 09:40 AMAmansa Cap: Markets wants concrete action from the government 09:39 AMBSE Realty index gains 0.9% led by gains in DLF, DB Realty, Unitech and Sobha Developers 09:38 AMBSE power index gains 1%, BSE realty index up 0.9% while BSE consumer durable index slips 1.5% 09:35 AMSensex up 40 points led by gains in ITC, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank 09:30 AMShankar Sharma: Markets will not be affected beyond two-three days

09:23 AMTop Nifty Losers: RCOM (-5.30%), DLF (-5.08%), IDFC (-4.62%), BHEL (-3.52%),

HDFC Bank (-3.46%) 09:15 AMPranab Mukherjee enroute to Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet President 09:05 AMPranab Mukherjee reaches North Block 09:01 AMPranab gives final touches to the Union Budget 2012-13 on Thursday 08:57 AMPranab Mukherjee leaves for Parliament 08:53 AMPoll: Will politics hijack Union Budget 2012?
Yes No Can't say
08:52 AMUBS Securities: FIIs expect a sustainable plan to curb fiscal deficit 08:52 AMJPMorgan: Govt needs to reform the subsidy regime 08:52 AMJPMorgan: Cyclical upmove in Indian markets to be independent of Budget 08:52 AMKotak Inst Equities: Govt might hike excise duty to 12% from 10% 08:51 AMKotak Inst Equities: Expect diesel prices to go up post the Budget

08:51 AMKotak Inst Equities: Govt may impose tax on diesel vehicles 08:51 AMKotak Inst Equities: Expect fiscal deficit to touch 6% in FY13, 5.4% in FY14 08:47 AMShankar Sharma: Private sector capex may increase in 2012 08:47 AMShankar Sharma: Expect interest rates to decline this year 08:47 AMShankar Sharma: Growth may bounce back to 8.5% by year-end 08:47 AMShankar Sharma: Markets are expected to gain irrespective of the Budget

08:47 AMShankar Sharma: Markets may not react positively to the Budget 08:46 AMAngel Broking: Global liquidity will decide local market trends 08:46 AMAngel Broking: Complacent governance has caused GDP slowdown; not fiscal

deficit
08:44 AMHSBC: 08:44 AMHSBC: 08:44 AMHSBC: 08:43 AMAdrian 08:43 AMAdrian 08:43 AMAdrian 08:42 AMHSBC: 08:42 AMHSBC: 08:42 AMHSBC: 08:38 AMHSBC: 08:37 AMHSBC: 08:37 AMAdrian

Lack of progress in infra spending a concern Need increased spend to sustain economic growth Foreign funds will not withdraw from India Mowat: Cyclical upmove in market to be independent of Budget Mowat: Abolition of subsidy will be ideal Mowat: Expect divestment announcement in Budget Do not expect DTC, GST to be introduced FIIs expect fiscal consolidation in Budget Govt needs to reduce expenditure Markets hope Budget will not be populist Major concerns are over Budget being populist Mowat: Market are rallying because of inflation, monetary policy, rather than expectations of reform in the Budget 08:36 AMExperts from around the world say that India needs to push for reforms 08:35 AMGlobal Markets: US stocks extend rally to 4-year high on strong macro data 08:25 AMPoll: Will the Finance Minister appease all?
Yes No Can't say
08:23 AMMaximum number of 10 budgets have been presented by Morarji Desai

Mukherjee will join the league of P Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha, Y B Chavan and C D Deshmukh, who have presented seven budgets each in the past 08:22 AMPranab will present the Union Budget for the seventh time, the second-highest by

any Finance Minister 08:13 AMPranab Mukherjee's 2012-13 budget to be 81st in India's history 08:13 AMPranab Mukherjee to present Union Budget 2012-13 in Lok Sabha today Readers' opinions (124)
Post a Comment Sort by:Newest|Oldest|Recommended (36)|Most Discussed|Agree|Disagree|Logged in CommentsNew! Mahesh Babu M (Hyderabad) 16 Mar, 2012 05:51 PM Pranab thinks the people are fools... "Ek haat se chavanni dhooo, Dhuje haat se atanni looo" Raises exemption limit to Rs 2 lakhs from Rs 1.8 lakhs ---- Save Rs. 2000 Budget 2012: Service tax raised from 10% to 12% ---Pay Rs. 4000 Please Sir, if you are not able to do things... Step Down... Manmohan Ji... aap bhi... Please...

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d veerabhadraM (hyderabad) 16 Mar, 2012 05:47 PM i'm seeing for last 20 years every times says our FM, we will be self sufficient in production of urea in next five years. it is like polio campaign ???

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Mukesh (Jaipur) 16 Mar, 2012 05:24 PM Why Government again and again avoiding two most important Factors of Economy i.e. Industrial Growth and Unemployment????

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ranjit singh (gurgaon) 16 Mar, 2012 04:57 PM give support to it sector company and its professional instead of imposing tax

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Kodukula Subrahmanyam (TOGO) 16 Mar, 2012 04:24 PM The budget is disappointing. There is absolutely no relief for middle class people who will be forced to pay through their noses. The increase in tax exemption limit to Rs. 2 lakhs certainly is not a relief at all and will not boost consumption which is vital for the economy. It seems there is no scope for human development and employment generation will not pick up. FM needs to do something by increasing the exemption limit to atleast 2.5 lakhs.

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Latest from Market Sensex17466.20-209.65 Nifty5317.90-62.60 Top Stories on Budget 2012

Budget 2012: TV, AC, refrigerator prices to go up by 2-4% Prices of consumer electronics like LCD TV, LED TV, air-conditioners, refrigerators, washing machine and microwave ovens are going to go up by 2-4%, posing a major headache for white goods cos.

Sectors & companies that will be hurt by Budget Garments to get cheaper despite hike in excise duty Income tax ready reckoner after tax slab changes Budget 2012 and impact on NRIs Union Budget: FM's full speech | Highlights Catch all the live budget action on ET blog Health sector gets 34,488 crore, up by 13.24% Scrapping duty on coal import to reduce costs Impact: Vodafone tax issue may be re-opened

ET Speed Updates
...policies over insurance-cum-investment schemes... By: preetik 24 minutes ago

...besides being the cheapest form of life insurance... the objective of the Budget prpsls and DTC, too, is to encourage pure protection... By: preetik 25 minutes ago ...indvdls should consider term plans, which meet requirements of the Budget proposal (and even more stringent 20 times norm of DTC)... By: preetik 26 minutes ago ..the uncrtnty around DTC's silence on grandfathering provisions, leading to concerns that old policies could be deprived of tax bnfts... By: preetik 29 minutes ago ...However, the proposal clarifies that the new criterion will be applicable only to policies, which may eliminate... By: preetik 33 minutes ago ...But some insurers now say they have very little time to restructure and refile their existing products where the cover is 5 times By: preetik 35 minutes ago DTC had proposed a cover of 20 times the annual premium... 10 times was proposed as the middle ground by life insurers... By: preetik 40 minutes ago ...At present, policies where the sum assured is at least 5 times the annual premium are eligible for deductions... By: preetik 42 minutes ago ...if the requirement is not met even in one year, deductions under 80C (Rs 1 lakh) will not be allowed and maturity proceeds will be taxed By: preetik 44 minutes ago If you buy a policy after April 1, it will be eligible for tax deductions only if the sum assured is at least 10 times the annual premium... By: preetik 45 minutes ago

wilsondrinks The Budget 2012 : drinkers face double whammy on booze pricesymlp.com/z3v0YO #budget20129 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

premasankar @neenanair diff slab exists for house rent only nw ; wud be good if A & A+ has to pay lesser tax considering the std of living. #budget201237 seconds ago reply retweet favorite

harshitbora RT @TheUnRealTimes: Everyone goes home happy today: India got Sachin's 100, Bangladesh got the match, and UPA got the nation's focus away. #Sachin #Budget201256 seconds ago reply retweet favorite

hyd_nawab RT @coolfunnytshirt: So, Pranabda and Sachin won. And as usual the common man lost. #asiacup#budget201236 seconds ago reply retweet favorite

_Rizvi RT @Lalu__Yadav: Times of India In Great trouble. Headline kya rakhni hai#Budget2012 #Sachin's 100 ya#Bangladesh's win ???5 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

B1DON PM creates history: PM is the first politician in the world to congratulate Sachin's #100thton - Ek Theer Dho Nishaan #Budget2012 @PMOIndia51 seconds ago reply retweet favorite

Lalu__Yadav Times of India In Great trouble. Headline kya rakhni hai#Budget2012 #Sachin's 100 ya#Bangladesh's win ???5 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

tiyamaran #Budget2012 disappointed!!! about 1 minute ago reply retweet favorite

girish_k oh #budget201242 seconds ago reply retweet favorite

shiva1908 RT @TheUnRealTimes: Everyone goes home happy today: India got Sachin's 100, Bangladesh got the match, and UPA got the nation's focus away. #Sachin #Budget20126 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

WalsallWolvesGP RT @LabourLordsUK: NEW TODAY at #LabourLordsblog:@LadyBasildon 'What would the "greenest Government ever" do?' bit.ly/yQWQPp#Budget201211 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

lifuan69 wats d headline on ToI tomorrow... #Budget2012 or #Sachin100Or #BanBeatInd ... dey mite add a few xtra supplements #lrlr50 seconds ago reply retweet favorite

rahuldeodhar RT @ajit_ranade: white paper on black money. details are grey. with age they may yellow. opposition sees red. taxpayers green with envy.#Budget20125 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

AntoripC RT @schlockmeister_: i really wonder what is going to be tomorrow's headline...#budget2012-2013 or #sachin's 100th 100 or #India losing to#Bangladesh..:D2 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

sajeev_kumar RT @coolfunnytshirt: So, Pranabda and Sachin won. And as usual the common man lost. #asiacup#budget2012about 1 minute ago reply retweet favorite

amitrsuthar RT @neelmani14: Two major thumbs downs: Budget12 & Ind losing to B'desh! One HUGE Thumbs up of the day : Sachin 100100s! #budget2012 #sachin#indvsbanabout 1 minute ago reply retweet favorite

BY4093 Bang'desh win over india proved team contribution is vital than any individual.India lagging in cricket as well in endorsement of Budget2012about 1 minute ago reply retweet favorite

rakeshranjan_in RT @kirankhurana:#Budget2012:NRHM gets higher allocation.NRHM has been super hit,higher allocation would make politicians richer!@anku6timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Union-Bu54
seconds ago reply retweet favorite

arjuunsraman finally india will talk about the#budget2012...4 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

ibadni RT @TheUnRealTimes: Everyone goes home happy today: India got Sachin's 100, Bangladesh got the match, and UPA got the nation's focus away.#Sachin #Budget20122 minutes ago reply retweet favorite

coolfunnytshirt So, Pranabda and Sachin won. And as usual the common man lost.#asiacup #budget2012about
1 minute ago reply retweet favorite

salmanhere #Sachin just surpassed#Budget2012 on twitter trends.Enough to prove that the budget didn't excite many.5 minutes ago reply retweet favorite Join the conversation

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