Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday extended the levy of minimum alternate tax to individuals. HT reports.
The government announced in the Budget on Friday that it will empower authorities to tax companies for acquiring assets in India even if the deal is concluded overseas, with retrospective effect from April 1, 1962. HT reports.
Defence Budget provision for 2012-13 is Rs. 1,93,407 crore, up 13.1% from 2011-12, of which 41% is capital and 31% salaries. Defence expenditure has steadily grown from Rs. 85,495 crore in 2006-07.
With the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) stuck following opposition from the Trinamool Congress and NDA-ruled states, the government will go full steam on setting up the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid).
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday pledged to continue support to an ambitious project for providing skill training to the youth in Jammu and Kashmir that aimed at keeping the youth away from streets. HT reports.
India raised its defence modernisation budget for the next fiscal by 20% to nearly
Rs. 80,000 crore on Friday, pushing up the country’s defence spending to
Rs. 1,92,407 crore.
HT reports.
Internal security/ defenceThe Budget 2012 is set to boost the fight against child malnutrition as fund allocation for the concerned schemes has been increased by 58%. Moreover, Accredited Social Health Activists (Asha) in each village will be given the additional task of acting as the nodal authority to implement government schemes. HT reports.
With easy credit and more time to repay agricultural loans, farmers can continue to reap the financial harvest that was first ushered in by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's predecessor, P Chidambaram, in the 2005 Budget.
The allocation for rural housing scheme Indira Awas Yojana, primarily meant to provide housing for SC/STs below the poverty line (BPL), was R11,075 crore in the budget. Each BPL family gets Rs. 45,000 as assistance in plains and Rs. 48,500 in hilly areas. HT reports.
At a time when vegetables continue to drive India's food inflation, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's budget on Friday tried to provide an antidote by enhancing allocation to increase production of horticulture and vegetable crops.
Skill development received a boost from finance minister Pranab Mukherjee with the allocation of Rs. 1,000 crore to the National Skill Development Fund for 2012-13.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has doled out some tax concessions for green products and pushed for measures to make agriculture sustainable.
Succour is finally on the way for farmers at the 'killing' cotton fields of Vidarbha, which continues to be in the news for escalating farmer suicides.
When rice harvest from the kharif (summer) crops surged to an estimated 100 million tonnes in 2011, policymakers knew they had quietly pulled off a much-needed milestone -- a second version of the green revolution in India's east.

No big bets. Given that the political environment is risky, no blockbuster reforms either. Yet, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has delivered one of India's most farm-friendly budgets in decades.