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Virtually ruling out rollback of 3% hike in excise duty on SUVs, finance minister P Chidambaram today assured India Inc that a clutch of decisions, mainly on indirect taxes, would be announced during the course of debate on budget and Finance Bill in Parliament.
Farmers, who constitute nearly two-thirds of Indians, will continue to get priority loans worth nearly
Rs. 7,00,000 crore during 2013-14, up 40% from
Rs. 5,00,000 crore, apart from interest discounts, Union finance minister P Chidambaram announced in Thursday's budget.
HT reports.
Buying a home, especially in the metropolitan cities, will now turn costlier with an increase in service tax by the finance minister P Chidamabaram. HT reports.
Mobile phones that cost more than Rs. 2,000, tobacco products including cigarettes and cheroots, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), marble, silver products… the list of products that become dearer in the wake of finance minister P Chidambaram’s budget proposals is long, but not as long as it could have been.
In order to wean away household investments from gold purchase and encourage participation in stock markets, finance minister P Chidambaram has proposed to liberalise the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme. HT reports.
The government has made dining out more expensive, especially if you are planning to hit an air-conditioned restaurant this summer.
The government’s spending and taxation cause mood shifts and social change, accentuating prosperity or poverty, provoking love, happiness and anger that show up on the screens.
N Madhavan writes.
India unchained: frame by frame
Sports utility vehicles, imported cars and motorcycles, high-end mobile phones, eating out at air-conditioned restaurants and cigarettes will become costlier with Finance Minister P Chidambaram deciding to impose higher taxes on these items.
Union Budget 2013-14 has largely spared the common man from added expense. But it is the affluent who will have to shell out more for certain premium items.
Finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday raised tax deduction limit by
Rs. 1 lakh for the first time home buyers to promote the housing sector.
Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors fell by nearly 2% after finance minister P Chidambaram proposed to increase the excise duty on all sports utility vehicles.
The finance minister slapped a tax on the super-rich, a worldwide theme this year, though he did not call it as such. He proposed a 10% surcharge on persons with a taxable income exceeding
Rs. 1 crore per year in the budget for 2013-14 and would run for only one year.
Finance minister P Chidambaram earmark $1.9 billion for a populist programme to combat malnutrition, a move seen as a major vote winner for the ruling Congress party in elections next year.
Soon, India would be one of the first countries to set up a bank not only targeted at women but also run by women. Indonesia, with a few financial institutions targeted at women, may only come as a distant second since the facilities do not qualify as a full-fledged bank.
HT reports.