Budget 2018: New bottoms-up mechanism for farm-gate marketing likely

The Budget for 2018-19 may announce haats and organic hubs in 1,000 village clusters across the country.

Modelled on Harihar Haath in Jagdalpur district of Chhattisgarh, these markets will enable villagers to sell their produce directly to consumers, bypassing middlemen, thereby helping them realise a good price for their produce.

Started as a pilot project in 2017, Harihar Haath is a unique bottoms-up approach to farm marketing. It is a consortium of four farmer-producer companies, five cooperatives, and 13 women self-help groups. It has been taking great strides to create a risk-free space for farmers.

The farmers collectively purchase goods from growers and sell them at rates lower than prevailing market prices. Most of the farmers are women, drawn from self-help groups under the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana of the rural development ministry.

Budget 2018: A 15-year, Rs 35.3-trillion plan to put Railways on track

BUDGET 2018 - The Indian Railways is working on a Rs 35.3-trillion investment plan by 2032, pushing up the capital expenditure for the ministry by around 92 per cent annually. Going by the ambitious vision, the average annual investment, including capacity addition and modernization, would touch around Rs 2.5 trillion, up from the Rs 1.31 trillion in 2017-18.

This long-term investment will also comprise the modernisation plan of ‘Vision 2030’ and also Rs 8.56-trillion investment target that former minister Suresh Prabhu had kicked off starting 2014-15. “The Indian Railways will require approximately Rs 35.3 trillion by 2032 to create the requisite capacity and modernize the system,” the ministry said in a report to the Parliamentary Standing Committee. The Railways, under Piyush Goyal, has already started the work, aiming to achieve at least 4000 km electrification per year in the coming years.

The capex for Railways during 2015-16 and 2016-17 were Rs 935.2 billion and Rs 1.21 trillion, respectively, posting a significant increase in the recent years.

Ananth Kumar, Sumitra to hold two all-party pre-Budget meetings on Sunday

wo all-party meetings will be held on Sunday, ahead of the Budget 2018 Session of Parliament which is due to start on Monday, government sources said on Saturday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar has called for an all-party meeting at 4.00 p.m., and Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will hold a meeting at 7.30 p.m, which will be followed by dinner, sources said.

The Budget Session will start on Monday with President Ram Nath Kovind's address to a joint sitting of the two Houses. This will be Kovind's first address to a joint sitting of Parliament since he took over as the President.

The Union Budget will be tabled on February 1. The session will go into a break on February 9.

The second phase of the Budget Session will start on March 5 and conclude on April 6.

IPL 2018 player auction: CSK is most talked about team on Twitter

As franchises get ready to splurge in today’s player auction, Twitter has released data about the buzz around the teams and players. This year sees two franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals coming back into the IPL, and many popular Indian and overseas players find themselves in the auction pool.
Top 5 Most mentioned teams on Twitter:
- Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL)
- Mumbai Indians (@MIpaltan)
- Kolkata Knight Riders (@KKRiders)
- Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets)
- Sunrisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers)
Top 5 Most mentioned auction players on Twitter:
Harbhajan Singh (@harbhajan_singh): An #IPL veteran, Harbhajan Singh is the most talked about player on Twitter when it comes to conversations around the #IPLAuction. He was the skipper when Mumbai Indians won the IPL in 2011, and he’s been a constant figure for that franchise. This year though, he’s going to be in the auction and it will be interesting to see if Mumbai goes for him, or if he attracts attention from Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) who might see him as a figure that could pull in the home crowd.

IPL 2018 players auction: Uncapped players shine as bidders tussle

Uncapped players found themselves in demand during the IPL 2018 player auction. A lot of the younger players who are yet to don the Team India uniform were sold for much higher than their seniors.
Krunal Pandya was the pick of the uncapped players as Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad putting in bids. In the end, it was RCB that managed to out in the winning bid at Rs 88 million. However, no sooner did auctioneer Richard Madley ask approach them, the Mumbai Indians raised the Right To Match card, retaining the second Pandya brother in the process.
Other uncapped players to attract bids include Jofra Archer who was acquired by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 72 million and Ishan Kishan who was picked up by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 62 million.
Interestingly, teams seemed to put more might and money behind acquiring younger players, capped or uncapped. This means established players with a history of attracting the bigger bids like Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, and Gautam Gambhir went for less than the top uncapped players even as players like Ishant Sharma, Mitchell Johnson, Tim Southee and Lasith Malinga found no takers at all.

Google tries out citizen journalism using hyperlocal 'Bulletin' app

Expanding its reach into the hyperlocal news, Google has introduced a new app named "Bulletin" that allows anybody to submit stories for and about their communities.

"This is a free, lightweight app for telling a story by capturing photos, video clips and text right from your phone, published straight to the web (without having to create a blog or a website)," Google said in a statement late on Friday.

"The app is made for contributing hyperlocal stories about your community, for your community, right from your phone. 'Bulletin' makes it effortless to put a spotlight on inspiring stories that aren't being told," the tech giant added.

The application has been launched as a limited pilot project and is available in Nashville, Tennessee and Oakland, California.

Hyderabad Metro: DMRC to prepare detailed project report for Phase II

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been entrusted with the task of preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Phase II expansion plan of the Hyderabad metro rail project.
"On the instructions of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao that Metro Rail Phase II expansion exercise shall start immediately, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) preparatory work was entrusted to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)," the Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) has said.
The experts of DMRC have arrived in Hyderabad and held discussions with HMRL MD NVS Reddy and others, it said.
"Explaining that financial viability of Metro Phase II is far more challenging than Phase I, he (Reddy) emphasised the need for enhancement of revenues with innovative ideas and cost reduction through out-of-box solutions," the release said.

Budget 2018: An Opportunity to Reform the Banking Sector

BUDGET 2018 - The Banking Sector has seen its share of action which has happened over the last few years. First with the issue of NPAs, then demonetization and now finally with recapitalization of banks the sector has been in the eye of the storm so as to speak. Experts believe that the said issues are going to have a very substantial impact on the Budget 2018. It is expected that the FM will have a special focus on the Banking and the financial sector in the Budget 2018-19. The Government in October 2017 announced and then recently detailed the nature of the recapitalization plan of 2.11 Lakh crore for Public Sector Banks (PSBs). Around 20 PSBs will be recapitalized with Government infusing capital to improve health and functioning of these PSBs. The capital will be used by the Public Sector Banks mostly to tide over bad debts and to revive credit growth. Along with recapitalized a sleuth of Banking reforms and other measures are expected to be put in place. Some of these measures have already been set in motion by the Government. Yearly evaluation of PSBs by independent agencies, yearly report card and rankings and performance linked capitalization are just some of the measures suggested by the Government. Other than these steps other reforms along with a corresponding roadmap can be expected in the Budget 2018-19.

Budget 2018: GST Effect And Focus On Income Tax

Union Budget 2018: 88th Budget After Independence

Our Finance Minister will present our Union Budget before the Parliament in eight days. This is the first Union Budget after the country’s biggest tax reform GST and eighty-eighth Budget after the independence. Last year the budget was presented in a traditional way of presenting the budget in Part A which dealt with financial policies and their significance and part B which deals with various taxations, customs duty, central excise, service tax and VAT with other direct tax subheads like income tax and corporate tax.

Union Budget 2018: Post GST Budget

In this year’s budget, Part B has become shorter as GST engulfing many indirect taxes, guessing that Mr. Jaitley’s speech will be shorter. There are about 20 sundry cesses which are absorbed by GST. According to CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), six major cesses gets more than 4 lakh crores of revenue, and 45% of which is still unutilized by the government. Hence the common men need not to worry about new cess being imposed on them.

Sneak Peak in to Some Lesser Known Budget Terminology

Budget 2018-19 will be presented in the Parliament in the next few days. The Budget session of the Parliament will start on 29th January and the Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1st of February 2018. Prior to the Budget being presented, in the Budget while it’s being presented and even after the Budget has been presented one will hear some Budget Terminology which is mostly heard in and around the Budget period. Mentioned below are some lesser known Budgetary terms that you are going to come across in the next few days after the Budget 2018-19 is presented on 1st February 2018.

Economic Survey - Economic Survey, also known as the Economic Survey of India is a document that is presented in the Parliament prior to the presentation of the Union Budget of India. The Economic Survey of India is prepared and presented by the Department of Economic Affairs which operates under the Finance Ministry of India. The document reviews and lists all major fiscal developments, economic highlights, policy initiatives and economic prospects in the short to medium term basis.

Budget 2018 Could Bring a Change in Income Tax Limits

On February 1, 2018, the entire nation would be glued to their televisions as the Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitely presents the Union Budget 2018. This is the fifth budget being unveiled by the present government and is considered the most critical in their term.

With major reforms such as GST Act, demonetisation, RERA, Jan Dhan Accounts, affordable housing, etc. that have swept our economy for past two years, the general public and economic experts are now looking at reaping the benefits of these milestones. The current government goes into elections next year and therefore, there are major expectations from this budget. One major expectation is the reduction in Income tax charges and limits.

Tax rates in India are one of the highest in world, particularly corporate and indirect tax rates. Even taxation on individuals is complex and quite high for an emerging market. India stands at 10th position and nine positions are occupied by developed or very robust large economies. Budget 2017 had tried to lower the individual taxation by introducing a slab of 5%. The present slab gives exemption up till Rs. 2.5 lakhs which are increased to Rs. 3 lakhs for senior citizens. There is another category of taxpayers introduced in the form of Super Senior citizens that comprise of individuals who are more than 80 years of age. The details of existing slabs applicable for the financial year 2017-18 are given in the tables below:

Budget 2018: Has Modi govt delivered on its promise of urban development?

BUDGET2018  India’s urban population rising by 11 million annually–the equivalent of adding a Bengaluru every year–and urban voters forming a major vote base for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), making money and management available for cities would appear to be a priority.

But promises of smart cities and managing growth to provide jobs and housing for the coming urban population jump from 377 million in 2011 to 600 million in 2031–with 20% of this growth expected to come from rural distress and migration–are, currently, displaying little progress.

Less than a quarter of central funds for four major national programmes for India’s urban renewal have been used, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of government data. Since urban development is a state subject, state governments implement these national schemes with central assistance playing a key role. State and urban bodies are also expected to finance a portion of the program on their own by raising funds from other sources.

Budget 2018: Note ban, GST raise hopes of radical steps by FM Arun Jaitley

The upcoming Budget 2018, which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present on February 1, is expected to be more significant than other recent ones, especially as it is coming after a year full of radical reforms by the Narendra Modi government such as demonetization of high-value currency notes, implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and a new bankruptcy regime.

The year 2017 ended on a high with gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the July-September quarter standing at 6.3%, indicating the significant impact of the two structural reforms — GST and demonetisation — is now behind us and, hopefully we could expect an upward growth in 2018.

I am hopeful that this year, too, there will be a thrust on skill enhancement to aid job creation. This would us leverage our demographic dividend more effectively.

Budget 2018: Tax incentives, faster clearances needed for start-ups to grow

BUDGET 2018 - India’s start-up ecosystem has seen rapid growth over the past few years. At present it has reached a stage where it could be said have matured enough be called one of the very important cogs in the Indian economy’s wheel. According to industry players, the country’s start-ups need only a bit of a push in the form of certain incentives, particularly when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley present the Narendra Modi government’s final full Budget in this term on February 1.

Jaitley should consider in the upcoming Union Budget 2018-19 giving start-ups some impetus with tax incentives and faster procedure clearances, suggests Avinash Tiwari, co-founder & director of pCloudy, a software testing startup.

“We are expecting the tax holiday period would be increase from three to seven years. Considering the slump in valuations in subsequent rounds of funding by start-ups, we look forward to the government providing necessary clarity for invoking anti-abuse provisions on taxation of issue of shares at higher than FMV,” Tiwari says.

Budget 2018: Start-up ecosystem should get a boost to revive investments

BUDGET 2018 - Various path-breaking initiatives and policy reforms implemented in 2017 by the Narendra Modi-led central government have already paved the way for a New India by 2022. The year 2018 has started on strong footing, with a positive momentum driving growth across different sectors of the economy, especially since the execution dust of demonetisation and goods and services tax (GST) implementation has almost settled.

Now, some push in the right direction by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the upcoming Union Budget 2018-19 will set the stage for a strong business environment for start-ups in the key areas of the economy like commercial real estate.

In 2018, the retail sector is expected to show higher returns in the Indian real estate market. Institutional investments in commercial real estate will be on an upsurge and shared workplaces will continue to grow with flexible leasing structures. Since the government has set ambitious targets with the Start-up India initiative, we are sure that the Indian start-up ecosystem will revive the demand for investments to generate jobs and accelerate economic growth in the medium term.

Budget 2018: Tourism sector wants Jaitley to cut GST on sub-Rs 7,500 rooms

The tourism industry is one of the key drivers of employment generation and inclusive growth in India. And, it could be made to be even more important as a sector of the economy with some push from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the upcoming Budget 2018.

According to the tourism ministry, the tourism sector accounts for 6.88 per cent of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP), and 12.36 per cent of the total employment in terms of jobs. Therefore, it is imperative that the Narendra Modi-led central government would take important steps to nurture this industry.

In order to boost domestic and inbound tourism, the government should reduce the goods and services tax (GST) rate, which is 18 per cent on hotel rooms with tariff in the range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 7,500 a night. This is very high when compared with our competing destinations, so it is important that we rationalise this rate to stay competitive as an industry.

Budget 2018 will be more keenly watched than last few non-event Budgets

Budget 2018-19 is one that the markets are looking forward to eagerly – more eagerly than the past few years when the Union Budgets were referred to by many as a non-event. This is mainly because it cannot be ignored that this will be the last full Budget before the next general elections in 2019, and eight state elections are coming up in the medium term. Markets would, therefore, closely watch announcements around taxation, rural economy, social sector and infrastructure spending.

After the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) in July last year, the possible indirect tax change in the Budget might happen in the form of customs duty tweaks, given that GST Council meetings decide on the bigger tax structure. In earlier Budgets a road map for bringing corporation tax down was hinted at. Corporate entities would be watching for some headway on this when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents the Union Budget 2018-19 on February 1. The world’s largest economies have taken steps toward this end. But having said that, each economy has its own unique aspects and such action could not be simply replicated. Any reduction in corporation tax, if implemented, still remains something that could have a far-reaching impact on earnings.

Union Budget 2018: What's In Store For Education?

With the Union Budget 2018 being presented in February, the education sector is waiting eagerly to hear from Mr. Arun Jaitley if the education sector would be aligned to the latest education systems of twenty-first century. In 2017 budget Mr. Jaitley made a statement that imparting the right educational skills and job creation will be one of the nine pillars of our nation. The Indian education system has not been upgraded technologically. There is a huge need for investment in the 21-century learning system and polishing the skills of the youth of our country to be market ready. The smart classroom concept is not yet in place and the teachers are still following the conventional methods of teaching. The focus this year should be on aligning our education system to the corporate world.

Spending on “Learning Outcomes”
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has been our Indian government’s pet project last year and it has achieved 100% enrollments. The focus has to shift on learning outcomes. This year there is an expectation that the government would spend on “learning outcomes”. Learning Outcomes is a practice that aims at monitoring a student’s performance and development periodically. There is a need for a strong assessment model which has to be formalized by the government.

Impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Budget 2018-19

Budget 2018-19 is the first union Budget 2018 after the implementation of GST in July 2017. After the implementation most provisions of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were tweaked and tax rates of numerous products were reduced in subsequent GST council meets which resulted in a sharp decline in government’s tax collection figures.GST replaced more than a dozen indirect taxes; these indirect taxes together formed a bulk of the government's earnings. Service tax alone accounted for more than 14% of the government's revenue in the last Budget in 2017. Thus fall is GST collection is a major cause for concern for the FM.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who is also the GST Council Chief has stated that Budget 2018 will provide further opportunity for him to address issues related to GST and also to further tweak the GST rates. Almost every sector desires a rate cut in the GST rates but probably only a few of these expectations will be met on the budget day given the precarious fiscal situation that the FM has to deal with.

Will Budget 2018 Make Home Buyers Happy?

The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Bill introduced in 2016 was a huge milestone that brought about massive reforms in the real estate sector of India. Before 2016, this sector was more or less unregulated and dominated by builders. Delays in projects, overvaluation of property and frauds plagued the entire sector. Home buyers were left with unresolved grievances and at the mercy of builders. Since RERA came into the picture, the real estate prices have rationalized, and the sector has fallen in line. Delays in delivery are penalized, and home buyers can get speedy resolution for their grievances. Demonetisation further removed the influx of black money.

Now, Budget 2018 is on its way riding on high expectations from the home buyers.

Deduction of Interest Expense

Currently, home buyers can claim deduction up to Rs. 2 lakhs towards home loan interest under section 24 of Income Tax Act. This provision applies to a self-occupied house. There is no upper limit on the amount of deduction for the house properties that are let out. However, such deduction is allowed only for a property whose construction is completed within three years from the end of financial year in which loan was taken.

Budget 2018: FinMin could raise disinvestment target to Rs 1 trn

BUDGET 2018 - Buoyed by the success of this year’s disinvestment programme, the Finance Ministry could set an even higher target of Rs 900 billion-1 trillion (Rs 90,000-1,00,000 crore) for 2018-19. This will encompass the sale of Air India, a number of other privatization initiatives, mergers, initial public offerings, the centre’s two exchange-traded funds, buybacks and offers-for-sale, and even monetization of land assets.

The budgeted estimate for 2017-18 is Rs 725 billion (Rs 72,500 crore), the highest ever for a year so far. With the acquisition of Hindustan Petroleum by ONGC expected to be completed soon, that target will be easily outstripped. As of January 22, divestment proceeds stood at Rs 555 billion (Rs 55,500 crore). ONGC’s acquisition of HPCL’s 51 per cent stake is valued at Rs 369 billion (Rs 36,900 crore). That would take divestment proceeds to Rs 925 billion (Rs 92,500 crore) for 2017-18.

The upcoming 2018-19 budget, to be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while not expected to be outright populist, will still contain sops and see an increase in allocation across schemes and public expenditure. He will require resources, and disinvestment is expected to be a major one.

Budget 2018: Why record harvests bring no respite to struggling farmers

Indian farms produced record harvests in 2017, and the government’s agricultural Budget 2018 rose 111% over four years to 2017-18. Yet, prices crashed, 8,007 farmers committed suicide in 2015, unpaid agricultural loans rose 20% between 2016 and 2017, and 600 million Indians who depend on agriculture are struggling to get by.

This is the situation that faces the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government as it heads into its last full budget before general elections in 2019, at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised a doubling of farm incomes by 2022.

The agriculture sector will not just watch how much money is set aside in the 2018-19 budget but also how it is used, as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also tries to woo disaffected farmers before upcoming assembly elections in eight states–Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and the northeastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.

At Rs 867.03 bn, GST receipts short of target for third month in a row

BUDGET 2018 - Goods and services tax (GST) collections for December did not deliver much comfort to the government ahead of the Budget, although these rose after two months of declines.
GST collections at Rs 867.03 billion were less than the target of Rs 910 billion combined for the Centre and states.
The figures, released by the finance ministry on Thursday, highlighted subdued collection in the composition scheme — a flat rate provided to taxpayers who do not seek input tax credit. The government thinks evasion in this scheme will be plugged by the e-way bill, which will be introduced for the inter-state movement of goods on February 1.
December was the third straight month when the GST revenue was below Rs 900 billion. The tax yielded Rs 808.08 billion in November and Rs 833 billion in October. GST receipts have fallen short of target in August, October, November and December.
The target of Rs 910 billion is based upon the Centre’s budget estimates for 2017-18 and presumptive growth figures for states for grant of compensation in the case of a revenue shortfall after switching to the GST.

UKIBC expects corporate tax cut and labour reform in Union Budget 2018

BUDGET 2018 - The UK India Business Council (UKIBC) and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has appealed to the finance minister to reduce corporate tax and remove FDI restrictions on certain sectors in the forthcoming Budget.

"We have urged the government to reduce corporate tax, and a simpler and more predictable tax regime that encourages UK investments in India. We are also seeking more labour reforms and simpler ease of doing business in India, which provides huge business opportunity for British companies," UKIBC chief operating officer Kevin McCole told PTI here.

More than any other country, UK businesses are taking the investment opportunities in India. The UK is the largest G20 investor in India, with around USD 24 billion invested in the country. At the same time, India is the fourth largest destination for investments from UK companies.

Budget 2018: Time's running out for Modi to shore up rural voters' support

BUDGET 2018 - More than 60 people in Dhamaka, a village of about 230 families some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from India’s capital New Delhi, have received notices threatening to auction their fields. Singh urgently wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to provide debt relief, better prices for his crops and jobs for his sons when it unveils the annual fiscal budget on Feb. 1.

“I don’t know how to escape from this crisis,” Singh, 62, said this month while showing the notice to immediately repay Rs 247,296 ($3,886) he owes to the bank. While he previously voted for Modi, he’s unsure who will get his vote in the next national poll due early next year.

Time is running out for Modi to shore up the support of rural voters who underpinned his rise to power in 2014, when he won India’s biggest mandate in three decades. The budget will be the last opportunity for him to announce significant fiscal measures that could win back villagers like Singh.

Budget 2018 issues: After note ban, tax base, digital drive up, realty down

BUDGET 2018 - On 8 November, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes citing black money, corruption, terror funding as threats to the country.

The immediate impact of the note-ban drive on economy was ambiguous at the beginning, considering the fact that the goalpost on its objective was gradually shifted. However, a spin-off from demonetisation has been the overall increased emphasis on digital transactions and that channel has seen a multi-fold growth, along with new additions made in the tax-payers list.

Budget 2018: Betting on stock market boom? Capital gains tax may end party

BUDGET 2018 - The taxman may end up being a speed bump for the Indian stock market, which like its counterparts across the world has marched to multiple records in the past year.

Brokerages including Kotak Securities say Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration may make it harder for investors to claim exemptions on capital gains from equity investments when the federal Budget is announced on February 1. Modi's move in 2016 to scrap high-value currency bills and the implementation of the new sales tax last July have hurt demand and revenue, forcing the government to borrow more.

"The government has to find avenues for generating additional revenue to bridge the fiscal deficit," Shefali Goradia, partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, said in an interview in Mumbai. "Tweaking the long-term capital gain break is a low hanging fruit."

Budget 2018: Will rules be eased to make marketing operating expenditure?

As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley prepares to present Budget 2018, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government’s last full Budget before going for the 2019 general elections, the retail sector wants him to consider reworking the income-tax rules to classify marketing spend as operating expenditure rather than capital expenditure.

With low customer loyalty as is seen in the retail sector, marketing should certainly be understood to be operating expenditure. Even physical retailers that offer end-of-season sales consider discounts as notional operating expenditure.

Among other key Budget expectations from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country’s multi-brand e-commerce sector through the automatic route. At present, a lot of complicated structures are used by companies to get this to work in spirit.

The abolition of ‘Angel Tax’ and scrapping of income tax on angel investments are also expected from the Union Budget 2018-19. These should in no way be considered as income.

Budget 2018: How Jaitley can help recycling sector create millions of jobs

The Indian economy is seeing a broad-based improvement across several sectors and is on track for a robust growth. However, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley prepares Budget 2018, the last full Budget of the Narendra Modi led government before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, one major challenge for the government in the Union Budget 2018-19 will be ensuring the creation of new jobs and maintaining the fiscal balance.

We believe that the metal recycling and overall recycling industry can create millions of jobs in the country. The Chinese government has put recycling as its top priority in its Five-Year Plan. It has created recycling parks and zones in the country to boost the industry.

By comparison, the recycling sector here in India has been ignored for a long time. Now is time for our government to give a specific preference to the sector, which promises to not only save the environment but also create millions of direct and indirect jobs.

Budget 2018: Logistics sector wants FM Jaitley to lift regulatory barriers

In recent times, the Narendra Modi-led central government has brought in several measures to uplift the country’s economy. It has also set the stage for unlocking the growth potential for India’s logistics sector by setting up a dedicated logistics division under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and granting the sector an infrastructure status.

Now as the government heads for its last full Budget 2018 in this terms when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents Union Budget 2018 on February 1, we would look forward to seeing more emphasis on improving the infrastructure.

Last year, we saw the finance minister announcing an investment of about Rs 39.61 lakh crore in infrastructure development. That is sure to be a boon – not only for express delivery players but for many industries.

Budget 2018: Centre earmarks Rs 10 bn for fixing Delhi-NCR's pollution woes

The severity of Delhi's air pollution woes has earned the issue a place in the Centre's allocations in Budget 2018. According to reports, an amount of Rs 10 billion (1,000 crore) will be allocated under Budget 2018 to combat problems like stubble burning, which has been attributed as a major cause for Delhi's now-notorious air quality.

In an effort to clean up the capital's air, or at least make it more breathable, and end the residents' annual exercise of choking under a blanket of smog, the Centre has decided to earmark Rs 10 billion (1,000 crore) in the upcoming Budget to curb the practice of stubble burning in Delhi's neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana, the Times of India reported on Thursday. 

Rural economy and its expectations from Budget 2018-19

In his budget speech on 1st February 2017 the finance minister stated that he proposes to present the budget under ten distinct themes and rural population was one of the said themes. Experts believe that budget 2018 will be no different in fact the FM is expected to focus more on rural India and its economy with renewed vigor. Consecutive years of drought and then demonetization have had its impact on the rural economy too, but recent surge in tractor sales may indicate that the worse may be behind us. Tractor manufacturers sold a whopping 363,071 unit in the April - September 2017 period, a 21% increase compared to the same period last year. Over the last couple of years policies such as farm loan waiver and subsidies have become a norm but these sops do not reach the small farmers, may be fiscally unviable and even counterproductive. Experts believe that the FM in his budget 2018 should focus on providing relief to small farmers with very small or negligible land holdings. This can be done by taking steps to ensure agri-GDP growth and rural wage growth.
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Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Challenges before the FM in Budget 2018-19

The Budget 2018 is not expected to be a popularist budget. A fine balancing act is required by the FM to address various issues plaguing the economy along with observing fiscal prudence. Bold and innovative initiatives are required on both micro and macroeconomic levels by the FM. For the required positive impact, in the upcoming Budget 2018 the government needs to address issues at both microeconomics and macroeconomic as both are interlinked too. Microeconomics is concerned with economic issues that are dealt at an individual, group or business level. Whereas macroeconomic deals with economic policy formulation, economic indicators and other such overall aspects of the economy. Although factors such as rising oil prices, demand for Indian exports abroad, international economic indicators are beyond the FM’s control but these aspects will also have to be factored while dealing with challenges closer at home. Some of the most important macroeconomic and microeconomics challenges before the FM in Budget 2018 are mentioned below.

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What taxable entities should expect from Budget 2018

Tax relief is expected both by personal income tax and corporate tax payers in the Budget 2018. One of the most anticipated developments from the Budget 2018 is revision of the tax slabs. There have been proposals made to the FM for revision on both tax slabs for personal income tax payers and reduction of tax rates for corporate tax payers. In all the surveys conducted by various media houses and financial bodies, it is widely believed that the raise in basic exemption limit on personal income tax is a done deal. Other than that, there are also various other expectations and desires of various sectors and entities from the FM. For common man an increase in the exemption limit under Section 80C, increase in medical reimbursement component, tax sops for investment in life, health insurance and pension plans and tax sops for first time home buyers are also on the wish list of many. Due to prevailing fiscal challenges the government doesn’t have much room for manoeuvring; the government will have to somehow keep the revenues generated from taxation intact. One of the ways of doing the same is through reintroduction of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on equities in place of securities transaction tax (STT) or along with it. But other than these issues, the two big decisions that the FM will have to make will be about personal and corporate tax rates.

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Facts about India's Union Budget you may not know

India’s yearly Union Budget is when the government lay out its finances, estimates, policies and much more. This is also when the government accounts for its revenue and expenditure. But the budget is much more than that, the union budget of India has its own rich history, it’s an occasion when our democracy is celebrated, it’s a festival of sought. James Wilson, Finance Member of the India Council presented the first Budget in India on February 18, 1869. The first Budget of Independent India was presented by the first Finance Minister of India R.K. Shanmukham Chetty on 26th November 1947 at 5 pm. The tradition of presenting the Budget at 5 pm was a colonial tradition that was practised till 2001, this was when the then FM Yashwant Sinha changed it and started presenting the budget at 11 am. After India became a Republic, John Mathai on February 28, 1950 presented the first Budget of the Republic of India.

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What startups want from Budget

BUDGET 2018 - The Indian economy is amongst the world’s fastest-growing economies. This along with government’s continued efforts to improve the ease of business has led to a start-up revolution in India. The year 2017 witnessed funding of $13.7 billion across 820 deals in startups! However, the Indian startup ecosystem still lags behind its peers in Silicon Valley and Israel.
The success of these startups largely depends on government policies, rules and regulations. With budget 2018 just around the corner, there is a lot on every startup’s wish list.

Access to Easy Credit
The government had earlier set up a fund of Rs. 10,000 crore to provide financial assistance to startups. The government had also formulated a credit guarantee fund with a corpus of Rs. 2000 crore to enable startups to raise collateral free loans up to Rs. 500 lakh per case. But these funds aren’t sufficient. At the ground level, securing credit is still not very easy for fresh startups. There is a requirement of the project plan and extensive documentation along with guarantees and sometimes collateral too. Budget 2018 can remedy this situation by:
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Annual Budget 2018

Annual budget2018 in simple language means a projected income and expenditure for the entire 12 months. The Annual budgets apply to a fiscal year or calendar year. There is a need to create an annual budget for a country, as it is not possible to levy taxes as and when the income is needed and spend money in whichever sphere the government decides. Keeping the limited resources, a well-planned Union budget is created by indicating the income and expenditure.

What is Union Budget?

Our parliamentary system works on West Minister model. Our Annual budget is approved subject to the approval of legislature at both center and state levels. The Annual financial statements is presented before both the houses of Parliament. This is also termed as the budget of the Union government. The expenditure estimates included in the budget has to be presented before the Lok Sabha in the form of “Demand for Grants”.

Union Budget Date

In Our country, the budget is presented on a fixed date as decided by the President. This year The Union Budget 2018 will be presented on February 1, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar announced on 5th of January. The minister further stated that the budget session of the parliament will be conducted from January 29 to April 6, 2018.
The Phase 1 of the session will be held from January 29 to February 9 while the second phase will be from March 5 to April 6, as told by Mr. Kumar.

Budget 2018: Steps to Stimulate the Manufacturing Sector

India’s recent jump of 30 positions on the ease of doing business ranking by the World Bank is definitely a welcome trend. But still much has to be done; further cut in red tape, taking up challenging reforms and identifying and removing bottlenecks are just some of the steps which are needed to further cement India’s position as a lucrative and viable investment destination. A vibrant manufacturing sector is a must for a vibrant economy and budget 2018 provides the FM with a unique opportunity to further push for reforms and boost the manufacturing sector. In the past the government has stated that it wants and expects 25% of the India’s GDP to come from the Manufacturing sector by the year 2022, up from the current 16%. Also under the PM Narendra Modi's Make in India scheme the government expects that the manufacturing sector will create 10 crore jobs by 2020. Although in India the manufacturing sector has grown over the years yet the growth has been slower when compared to the rivals in the neighborhood. By 2020, it is expected that India will become the fifth largest manufacturing hub in the world. For India's manufacturing sector to compete and outshine the likes of China much work will be required by the government in the Budget 2018-19.

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Union Budget 2018: Impact on Smartphones in India

The entire nation has their eyes set on the fifth and last full-fledged Union Budget in Narendra Modi’s government to be presented in Lok Sabha. This Union Budget will be presented on February 1, 2018, by Mr. Arun Jaitley, our Finance Minister. This Union Budget has a lot of significance as it is presented after two big financial decisions made in Mr. Modi’s government- Demonetization and GST. The previous year’s budget was also very unique as railway budget and general budget were presented on the same day.

Everybody is expecting some statement to be made about their respective sector in this Union Budget. There is anticipation that mobile phones may become cheaper after February 1, 2018.

Union Budget 2018: Smartphones to go cheaper?
Mobile phones are seen in every common man’s possession, especially youth. Youth is expecting cheaper handsets for use. The CEO and Director of COMIO Smartphones, Sanjay Kalirona said that the GST has to be reduced from 12%-5% and offer tax reductions to promote the mobile industry market in India. This should help in making mobiles affordable to the common man, especially youth. All the industrialists are looking up to Union Budget’s support for acceptable budgetary allocation for the growth of the mobile industry.

Budget 2018: After record growth, India's renewables progress is slipping

BUDGET 2018 - In line with its climate-change commitments and domestic pollution concerns, India has one of the world’s largest programmes to expand renewables–a tripling of capacity over the next five years.

But after two years of record expansion, the diversion of a national clean-energy cess to subsidise GST (goods and services tax)-induced losses and a new import duty to protect domestic manufacturers of solar equipment threaten to derail India’s ambitious 2022 target.

This is why February 1, 2018–the day the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will present its last full budget before the 2019 general elections–is of particular significance to the renewables sector, which comprises electricity from solar, wind, hydro and bio power.

These are the issues the budget must contend with: India has missed yearly renewable expansion targets since 2016; no more than 29% of the clean energy cess–a major source for funding renewables in the country–has been spent over six years, with Rs 56,700 crore diverted in 2017 to subsidise GST losses; a new import duty on solar modules from China, Taiwan and Malaysia threatens to increase production costs and record low solar tariffs; and the rural poor may miss a renewables job boom, if a workforce cannot be trained.
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Overseas investors demand status-quo on LTCG tax from Budget 2018

The Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Asifma), a lobby for overseas investors, met with finance ministry officials last week amid buzz that the holding period to avail long-term capital gains (LTCG) in equities could be raised in the Union Budget.

Sources said foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) urged the government not to take such a decision as it would further escalate the cost of transaction and impact incremental flows into domestic equities.

Transaction cost for dealing with Indian shares is already one of the highest worldwide.

The recent policy measures taken by the government such as tweaks to the tax agreement with Mauritius and additional curbs on participatory notes (p-notes) have increased both the cost and the compliance burden on FPIs.

Experts say any further tweak could put India in a disadvantageous position compared to other emerging markets (EMs).

“FPIs are concerned about any tweak to the current long-term capital gains tax framework. It could also lead to a significant drop in FPI flows and lower the revenue for the government arising out of securities transaction tax (STT). Hence, we met the government officials to explain our apprehensions,” said a source.

58% banks report rise in bad loans in July-December period, reveals Survey

The percentage of banks reporting a rise in non performing assets (NPAs) in July-December last year has reduced significantly, indicating stability in credit environment, according to a report.

The latest round of the Ficci-IBA survey drew responses from 19 public sector, private and foreign banks representing 59 per cent of the banking industry by asset size.

According to the survey, 58 per cent of the respondent banks reported a rise in NPAs, significantly lower than 80 per cent in the previous round. Infrastructure, metals and engineering goods were key contributors to the bad debt.

However, only 28 per cent banks reported a rise in the number of requests for the restructuring of loans as compared to 40 per cent in the previous round.

For the forthcoming Union Budget, the banks demanded full tax deduction on the NPA provisioning; reduction in corporate tax rate; and accelerated investments in infrastructure sector.

"Most of the responding banks have suggested reduction in corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent, lowering of MAT rate to 15 per cent and enhancing tax deductions and exemptions for individuals. This should boost credit demand at both corporate and retail level," said Ficci on the report.

Budget 2018 goals to range from deficit reduction to lifting capex

BUDGET 2018 - India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to deliver mostly good news on fiscal consolidation when he unveils next year’s budget on Feb. 1. The government is set to overshoot its deficit target in the current year through March, largely due to lower dividend payments from the central bank. The proposed budget for fiscal 2019 though, will look better -- for deficit reduction and investment plans.

The consensus view is that Jaitley has to choose between two competing goals: either purse its aim to cut the deficit to 3% of GDP, or boost investment needed to spur growth and reduce bottlenecks in the economy -- not both. Bloomberg Economics’ view is that the trade-off isn’t so stark. Sales of government-owned assets and increased revenue from goods and services tax reform mean Jaitley should be able to net sufficient revenue to meet both objectives.

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Budget 2018: This is why Maharashtra's drought woes are likely to continue

BUDGET 2018 - In many ways, the Lendi irrigation project close to the Andhra Pradesh-Maharashtra border continues to be a prime example of the excruciating delays that have plagued irrigation projects in India.

Conceived in 1987, this major irrigation project was to be completed in 1992. The project involved building a dam at the Lendi river to store over 6 trillion cubic metres of water before it joined the Manjira river, a tributary of the Godavari, the largest river of peninsular India. The project being executed by the Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation Ltd was originally envisaged to be built at the cost of half a billion rupees. But in 2016, authorities further pushed the completion date to 2020 with a revised cost of Rs 14 billion. If the project is completed after 28 years of delay, it will join 16 other such irrigation projects in Maharashtra that have been hanging fire for over two decades. Many of these projects are in the severe drought-hit regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada in the state.
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Budget 2018 must address these key issues to boost investment in infra

As India's Finance Minister is days away from presenting Budget 2018, there are two key issues that he must address to boost investment and growth in the country. They are: Non-tax revenues from land bank monetisation of public institutions, and full tax-exempt status for income from debt instruments issued by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) in India.

The budget must pay attention to non-tax sources of revenues especially with a view to partially monetising the land banks of large public institutions such as the Indian Railways and the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

Land bank monetisation solves two core problems for India -- lack of available land for infrastructure and lack of financing for infrastructure. It also leads to productive use of an asset of great value that is lying idle. Land utilised for infrastructure will be land that will be used for productive purposes and therefore will create jobs, a much-needed requirement for a young and growing population.

While talk of land bank monetisation has been around for over a decade, little has been done by way of a fully structured policy and its consequent implementation. What the budget needs to outline is a strategy around land bank monetisation much beyond simply stating numbers.

Triple Talaq row: Shoe hurled at Owaisi during Mumbai rally, case filed

A man on Tuesday night hurled a shoe at AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi while he was addressing a rally at Nagpada in south Mumbai, police said.
The MP was not hurt in the incident and the accused has been identified but was yet to be taken under arrest, they said.
Owaisi was voicing his opposition on the triple talaq issue at the rally around 9.45 pm when the incident took place, a senior police officer said.
"I am willing to lay down my life for my democratic rights. These are all frustrated people, who cannot see that the government decision on triple talaq has not been accepted by the masses in general and Muslims in particular," Owaisi told PTI.
"These people (referring to the person who threw the shoe at him) are the ones who follow the ideology of the killers of Mahatma Gandhi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar," he said.
Owaisi claimed that such incidents were happening at the behest of people, who follow "hate ideologies" and that they are getting emboldened with each passing day.
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New Snapchat update to let users share public 'Stories' outside the app

Image messaging and multimedia mobile application Snapchat on Wednesday announced that the platform will now let its user base to share some public 'Stories' via links.

"Stories eligible for sharing right now include those Official Stories and Our Stories found in the Discover tab, as well as Search Stories," TechCrunch reported.

However, according to the company, the type of 'Stories' that one can share will expand over time.

The aim is to allow users to share content from within the app to let people, who don't use the platform, know what it can do.

This feature will be going live to users running the redesigned Snapchat app, which also includes test markets like Australia and Canada.

It will become available for iOS and Android over the next few weeks.

Budget 2018: All eyes on Arun Jaitley's announcements for the rural sector

As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gets down to deliver his fifth annual Budget 2018-19 financial year, all eyes will be on his announcements for the rural sector which is going through a downturn in the last few years. Two consecutive droughts along with a sharp fall in incomes have turned agriculture unprofitable resulting in massive agitations in several parts of the country.

According to some estimates, in the 2017 Kharif season alone, an estimated Rs 360 billion has been denied to farmers for not being able to sell their produce at the state-mandated Minimum Support Price (MSP). The fall in farm incomes not only threatens to dent the ruling BJP electorally but could also raise a big question mark on the government’s promise to double incomes by 2022.

In this perspective, Business Standard looks at budgetary allocation for agriculture and allied sectors in the past few years under the UPA and first years of the NDA along with agriculture growth during these years. 

Budget 2018: Managers want Arun Jaitley to align tax cycle to calendar year

A Deloitte survey of pre-Budget expectations of managers on personal income tax shows that most give a thumbs-up to aligning the tax year with the calendar year. Jurisdiction-free e-assessment of tax returns, a gradual reduction in personal tax rates in line with changes to the corporation tax structure and enhanced tax breaks for education of kids are among other key Budget 2018 demands from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Indian managers are keen to align the tax year (April-March) with the calendar year (January-December), despite chances of initial hardships. In a survey of around 700-odd managers, a majority of respondents (84 per cent) want the Indian tax year to be changed from the financial year to the calendar year. A little over half (52 per cent) are in favour of bringing agricultural income under the tax ambit. Interestingly, one-third of the respondents (33 per cent) did not agree to tax on agriculture income.

Close to two-thirds (64 per cent) of the respondents gave an equivocal thumbs-up to the concept of jurisdiction-free e-assessment. E-assessments are seen as part of the tax department's endeavour to expedite and simplify assessment proceedings, reduce the taxpayer's inconvenience and stamp out corruption. However, 20 per cent of the respondents believe that this move would not be beneficial. The remaining 16 per cent are not sure if this move would be of any help.

Budget 2018: Fear of outright populism overdone, say analysts

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The current market rally a month before the Budget 2018 proposals are announced on February 1 is the best in over a decade, with the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 indices gaining over six per cent so far in calendar year 2018 and crossing the 36,000- and 11,000-levels, respectively, for the first time ever on Tuesday.

Though most analysts do not expect the proposals to be hugely populist, brokerages would keep a close watch on how the government manages the fiscal situation a year before the country goes to polls scheduled in May 2019, and changes, if any, to the existing norms of long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) on equities.

While analysts peg the fiscal deficit for FY19 to be around 3.2 per cent, any change to the LTCG tax structure on equities could be a sentiment damper, analysts say. Increased allocation for infrastructure such as affordable housing, roads, railways, and ports is also possible.

Here is a quick compilation of what leading brokerages and research houses expect:

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