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Finance minister P Chidambaram dismissed fears that the 10% surcharge on the super-rich (people with incomes over R1 crore a year) imposed in the budget will prompt an exodus of the rich from India.

In warning to tax dodgers, finance minister P Chidambaram on Sunday said that a huge amount of data is being mined to go after them and ruled out any amnesty scheme for defaulters.

The Union finance minister, in his budget speech on Thursday, said "health for all and education for all remain our priorities", but when it comes to providing for the various programmes in these sectors, he fell woefully short.

India's 3.5 crore taxpayers will keep the country's massive schooling system afloat this year despite unprecedented education budget cuts, because of increased collections through the dedicated education cess levied on their income tax.

Moving to assure foreign investors over a budget proposal, the finance ministry said on Friday that it was not targetting investment vehicles based in tax havens by questioning the validity of their tax residency certificates. HT reports. Soothing music on FM channel

If you are in the market for a sports utility vehicle, get ready to dig deep into your pockets. The government on Thursday increased the excise duty on sports utility vehicles from 27% to 30%, which will mean a price rise ranging from Rs. 15,000 for a no-frills Mahindra Bolero, to up to Rs. 75,000 for a Toyota Fortuner. HT reports.

Finance minister P Chidambaram delivered a carefully crafted budget yesterday that sought growth and resisted the temptation to be populist ahead of looming state and LS elections. Gaurav Choudhury reports. What's in it for you | The billionaires' club: ups and downs | Lifestyle inflation | The A, B, C of India's growth journey | UPA's economic story unplugged

India Inc broadly welcomed the absence of any harsh moves in the budget presented by finance minister P Chidambaram today and termed it as "balanced" and "purposeful" but maintained a lot more could have been done.

With one eye on election and other on fiscal management finance minister P Chidambaram struck a delicate balance between "pragmatism" and "populism" in his meager increase in allocations for the social sector for financial year 2013-14 without compromising on priority areas for the UPA government -- inclusive growth. Chetan Chauhan reports.

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.

Amid high expectations of reversing the slowdown in India's growth, finance minister P Chidambaram presented India's 82nd budget in the Lok Sabha today, saying that challenges remained but there was no need for gloom. HT Poll: How do you rate Chidambaram’s budget? | Full text of Budget speech

India will set up a new fund to support organizations that bring key innovations from the lab to the market, the first such initiative aimed at bridging a major gap that has long limited the Indian research's potential to earn revenue.

Finance minister P Chidambaram will present one of the most highly anticipated budgets of recent years on Thursday, a blueprint for austerity that forms the centrepiece of India's efforts to stave off a damaging credit ratings downgrade.

UPA-II's last budget may offer some sops to salary earners and households as finance minister P Chidambaram will tomorrow look to balance the compulsions of growth and fiscal prudence with election year politics.