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Memories of Another day

Memories of Another day
While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti devi were living

Monday, February 28, 2011

Budget 2011 is NOTHING but Ground work for Economic Reforms as Finance Minister, the De Facto Prime Minister of Government of India Incs, MNCs and LPG Mafia, Pranab Mukherjee himself admits. Budget Proposals have to be confirmed with Financial Legisl

Budget 2011 is NOTHING but Ground work for Economic Reforms as Finance Minister, the De Facto Prime Minister of Government of India Incs, MNCs and LPG Mafia, Pranab Mukherjee himself admits. Budget Proposals have to be confirmed with Financial Legislation while Black Money is BOOSTED with promoting FREE Flow of Foreign Capital. Most Dangerous thing is Opening up the Rural Agrarian sector for FREE MARKET ETHNIC Clensing. Falsely Projected 5.4 percent Agrarian Growth Rate, Second Green revolution, FII Fund for INFRASTRUCTURE, Credit Hike, allocation in Agrarian as well as  Social sector, Retail, GM seeds etc, EVERYTHING is part of Strategic Marketing of Mass Destruction of Indigenous Aboriginal Majority Mulnivasi Indians to SUSTAIN Micro Minority Market Dominating Brahaminical Community. The Budget allocations and Government Expenditure do target Brand New Consumers in Rural India to create DEMAND. Killing Production System PROMOTE Disinvestment and SERVICE means Massacre!NO Measure to deal with Price Rise, Inflation, Deficit in Current Account, Fuel Crisis, Blackmoney and DEFENCE Budget Hiked, It is STATSICAL jugglery for VOTE bank Mobilisation.Indian markets ended in the positive territory after giving most of intraday gains as post-budget euphoria came to an end and as traders booked profits near crucial resistance levels. Union Budget 2011 exceeds D-Street expectations: Market experts


Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time -FIVE  HUNDRED  NINETY SEVEN

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

http://basantipurtimes.blogspot.com/
Union Budget 2011 exceeds D-Street expectations: Market experts

Market looks for positive surprises to beat gloom!

Budget 2011

Budget 2011 documents (published on 7th of December 2010) are available below. They are also available in a range of formats.
Files are available for download here. 


India's hard economic realities

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Budget 2011 is NOTHING but Ground work for Economic Reforms as Finance Minister, the De Facto Prime Minister of Government of India Incs, MNCs and LPG Mafia, Pranab Mukherjee himself admits. Budget Proposals have to be confirmed with Financial Legislation while Black Money is BOOSTED with promoting FREE Flow of Foreign Capital. Most Dangerous thing is Opening up the Rural Agrarian sector for FREE MARKET ETHNIC Clensing. Falsely Projected 5.4 percent Agrarian Growth Rate, Second Green revolution, FII Fund for INFRASTRUCTURE, Credit Hike, allocation in Agrarian as well as  Social sector, Retail, GM seeds etc, EVERYTHING is part of Strategic Marketing of Mass Destruction of Indigenous Aboriginal Majority Mulnivasi Indians to SUSTAIN Micro Minority Market Dominating Brahaminical Community. The Budget allocations and Government Expenditure do target Brand New Consumers in Rural India to create DEMAND. Killing Production System PROMOTE Disinvestment and SERVICE means Massacre!NO Measure to deal with Price Rise, Inflation, Deficit in Current Account, Fuel Crisis, Blackmoney and DEFENCE Budget Hiked, It is STATISCAL jugglery for VOTE bank Mobilisation.Indian markets ended in the positive territory after giving most of intraday gains as post-budget euphoria came to an end and as traders booked profits near crucial resistance levels.

The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech said fiscal deficit for FY 11-12 is seen at 4.6%. He has proposed to raise Rs 40,000 crores through disinvestment. The street lauded the budget as the experts anticipated the minister to dish out a populist budget.

"The budget is commendable, as without making any major tax changes it has targeted a 4.6% fiscal deficit for 2011-12 by focusing on achieving 9% growth. The net borrowing target of Rs 343,000 crores, lower than what the market expected will help in moderating the pressure on interest rates which is good for the industry and the equity market.

Allowing the Indian Equity Mutual Funds to source funds from foreign investors is good for the growth of the Indian Mutual Fund industry and will also result in higher flow of foreign funds into equity markets over a period of time. Standalone while the budget is positive for the equity markets, other factors like the crude oil price and the global scenario will largely decide the direction of the market in the medium term," said Narayan S A, Director, Kotak Securities. 


Union Budget 2011: Budgetary allocation for defence up 12% to Rs 1.64 lakh cr

BANGALORE: Keeping a balance between fiscal prudence and the India's strategic imperatives, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hiked the country's defence budget by almost 12 percent to Rs 1.64 lakh crores for fiscal 2011-12. 

Most importantly, defence capital acquisition for the financial year 2011-12 has been hiked to Rs 55,000 crores, while capital expenditure for the same has been raised by about 12 percent to Rs 69,199 crores a move that should provide a sizable boost to the ongoing military modernisation programme. 

"It is a pretty good budget for the Ministry of Defence , especially, taking into account the 9% jump in revenue expenditure and a huge jump in capital acquisitions. A country's defence is defined by its needs, and I think, this government has recognised that," Laxman Behera, senior fellow at the New Delhi-based think-tank, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, told the Economic Times. 

The government has clearly taken into account the number of big-ticket arms purchases expected to take place in the upcoming fiscal, including the high-profile, but much-delayed $11 billion Medium Range Multiple-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender for 126 fighter jets earmarked for the Indian Air Force. 

During Aero India in February, the Chief of Air Staff P.V. Naik had stated that, barring complications, the contract should be signed by September later in the year. The MMRCA tender has some of the world's largest arms vendors, including Boeing , Lockheed Martin and Dassault, competing for one of the largest defence contracts currently in play. 

Acquisition of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers and 197 advanced helicopters for the IAF and the Indian Army are also on the cards. Of the total budgetary allocation, the Army has been granted Rs 64,251 crore, Navy Rs 10,589 crore, Air Force Rs 15,928 crore and DRDO Rs 5,624 crore. 

From the Rs 69,199 crore capital outlay, the Army got Rs 18,986 crore, Navy Rs 5,688 crore, Naval Fleet Rs 7,320 crore and Air Force Rs 30,699 crore. 

The hike of 12% in defence budgetary allocations, compared to 4% last year, emphasises New Delhi's two-pronged strategic approach, a more secure northern border, which it shares with China and Pakistan, and a greater presence in the Indian Ocean. 

India's defence budget emphasises the fact that the country is one of the most lucrative arms markets in the world, at a time when the rest of the world have significantly cut their military spending. Both the United Kingdom and the United States have announced plans to cut their respective defence budgets to contain their burgeoning national fiscal deficits. 

The former undertook a strategic defence and security review and then a spending review, which has led to an 8% reduction of its defence budget over a four-year up to 2015. The US plans to cut its defence budget by $78 billion over a five-year period, in addition to the $100 billion that its Department of Defence plans to accrue through various saving measures. 

Separately, Mr Mukherjee also said compensation of Rs 9 lakh would be paid to members of defence and central paramilitary forces for permanent disability and who had been discharged from office. 

However, industry may be disappointed with the finance minister choosing to keep mum on the contentious subject of greater foreign direct investment in the defence sector. Mr Mukherjee said in Parliament that further liberalisation of the government's FDI policy was going to continue, with regulations to be consolidated in a single document. 

Indian companies have been pressuring the government to allow greater foreign participation in its defence industry as New Delhi gears up to spend more than $100 billion over the next decade to modernise its archaic Soviet weapons-equipped armed forces. So far, the Centre has resisted the move, pointing to the sensitivities involved. 

"It is disappointing that the defence was not mentioned with regard to the FDI policy. Some clarification on the same would have been better," Mr Behera said. 

Also, the finance minister did not comment on the setting up of a research and development fund in the budget as mentioned in the recently-released Defence Production Policy 2011.

Union Budget 2011: Highlights

 Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday presented to parliament India's budget for the coming financial year beginning in April. 

Here are the highlights: 

* Net market borrowing for 2011-12 seen at Rs 3.43 trillion. 

* Revised gross market borrowing for 2010-11 at Rs 4.47 trillion 

FISCAL DEFICIT 

* Fiscal deficit seen at 5.1 percent of GDP in 2010-11 

* Fiscal deficit seen at 4.6 percent of GDP in 2011-12 
* Fiscal deficit seen at 3.5 percent of GDP in 2013-14 

SPENDING 

* Total expenditure in 2011-12 seen at 12.58 trillion rupees 

* Plan expenditure seen at Rs 4.41 trillion in 2011-12, up 18.3 percent 

REVENUE 

* Gross tax receipts seen at Rs 9.32 trillion in 2011-12 

* Corporate tax receipts seen at Rs 3.6 trillion in 2011-12 

* Tax-to-GDP ratio seen at 10.4 percent in 2011-12; seen at 10.8 percent in 2012-13 

* Customs revenue seen at Rs 1.52 trillion in 2011-12 

* Factory gate duties seen at Rs 1.64 trillion in 2011-12 

* Non-tax revenue seen at Rs 1.25 trillion in 2011-12 

* Service tax receipts seen at Rs 82,000 crore in 2011-12 

* Telecom fees, auction of broadband spectrum to raise Es 296.5 billion in 2011-12 

SUBSIDIES 

* Subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at Rs 1.44 trillion 

* Food subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at Rs 605.7 billion 

* Revised food subsidy bill for 2010-11 at Rs 606 billion 

* Fertiliser subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at Rs 500 billion 

* Revised fertiliser subsidy bill for 2010-11 at Rs 550 billion 

* Petroleum subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at Rs 236.4 billion 

* Revised petroleum subsidy bill in 2010-11 at Rs 384 billion 

* State-run oil retailers to be provided with Rs 200 billion cash subsidy in 2011-12 

GROWTH, INFLATION EXPECTATIONS 

* Inflation seen at 5 percent in 2011-12 

* Economy expected to grow at 9 percent in 2012, plus or minus 0.25 percent 

TAXES 

* Standard rate of excise duty held at 10 percent 

* Service tax rate held at 10 percent 

* Scope of service tax to be widened 

* Minimum alternate tax raised to 18.5 percent from 18 percent 

* Iron ore export duty raised to 20 percent 

* Personal income tax exemption limit raised to Rs 180,000 

* Surcharge on domestic companies raised to 5 percent 

DISINVESTMENT 

* Disinvestment in 2011-12 seen at Rs 400 billion 

Investors will closely eye proposals in the Union Budget to compliment the government's upbeat economic growth projections for 2011-12 for cues on the Indian stock market, currently grappling with high inflation and surging global crude oil prices amid political tensions in the Middle East and North Africa.

Stock investors , jittery after the broad selloff last week triggered by sky-rocketing of crude oil to $119.79 a barrel, will cheer any move in the Budget to prevent further deterioration in India's financial position.

"India's fiscal position has never been great. So, steps to improve this for the long term should be some consolation because oil prices are likely to increase in the long term," said Tim Dickson, fund manager, Asia equities of UK-based money manager Invesco Perpetual.

The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Friday has forecast an over 9% growth in 2011-12 and pegged the current fiscal year growth at 8.6%. It has projected fiscal deficit for 2010-11 at 4.8%, lower than the Budgetary estimate of 5.5%. The survey, however, failed to enthuse the market, as investors are awaiting the fiscal deficit projections for 2011-12 on Monday.

"Controlling fiscal deficit is the key to reduce interest rates to attain the growth targets and control inflation," said Manish Shah, associate director, broking and distribution, Motilal Oswal Securities. However, brokers said any rebound in stocks next week on positive surprises from the Budget, could be capped if crude oil prices remain high.

Also, fears of political unrest in Libya spreading to neighbouring regions will weigh on market sentiment. Benchmark share indices — the Sensex and the Nifty — fell around 2.8% last week on worries that rising global crude oil prices may stoke domestic inflation. Crude futures on New York Mercantile Exchange settled near $98 a barrel on Friday.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled 78 cents up at $112.14 a barrel. Oil prices finished the week up 14%. India imports over 70% of its oil requirements and rise in global crude oil prices will take a further toll on government's finances, unless it passes on some of the price hikes to customers.

So far, Indian consumers have not much felt the pinch of rising global oil prices, as the government subsidies fuel costs. The government, which financed part of these subsidies by selling stakes in companies and 3G telecom spectrum auction in 2010-11 , may have to borrow more from the market to fund shortfall in one-time revenues.

"The market will have to brace for further headwinds, as economies will be hit by a sharp jump in oil prices in the short-term," Dickson said. Foreign investors have pulled out over Rs 4,000 crore from Indian stocks so far in February. In 2011, they have sold shares worth about Rs 8,900 crore, dragging down the Sensex by 16% since January, after investing a record $29 billion in 2010. Stock valuations are in line with the region after the recent decline, Dickson

Terming the Budget 2011-2012 as "progressive" and "balanced", stock market experts said it had positive surprises like encouraging FII inflow, a roadmap for reforms and checking fiscal deficit, all of which have perked up investor mood.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex , which had plummeted by 13.69 per cent in the year so far, saw an impressive rebound minutes into the Budget presentation.

Intra-day, the key index zoomed up by 595.62 points to hit a high of 18,296.53, driven by buying across sectors.

"Quantum increase in the limit for FII investment in infrastructure bonds and allowing foreign investors to invest in domestic mutual funds are bold moves towards liberalising the capital account," said SBI MF CIO Navneet Munot.

Investors who have been extremely nervous so far this year were positively surprised as the Budget exceeded street expectations.

"The FM has managed to announce a growth-oriented Budget, where he has hinted at taking progressive policy actions in the key areas of delivery of subsidies, attracting FDI, boosting infra development during the course of the year. Overall, it is a budget that has exceeded expectations that were rather low anyways," Sharekhan Head Research Gaurav Dua said.

Analysts said investors have given thumbs-up to the efforts of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to address the major concerns of inflation and fiscal deficit, which were haunting the market.

"Thanks to the additional collection in 3G spectrum, that the government could achieve 5.1 per cent fiscal deficit for the current financial year, which is a great performance.The road map for the Fiscal Deficit reduction in the coming 2-3 years is very encouraging for the global investors and capital market," SMC Strategist & Head of Research Jagannadham Thunuguntla said.

However, credit rating agency Fitch said that the government's fiscal deficit target of 4.6 per cent of GDP in the fiscal year 2012, compared to an estimate of 5.1 per cent of GDP in the fiscal year 2011, will not be easy to meet.

It said the government will not have the benefit of one-off revenue proceeds from 3G and Broadband Wireless Access auctions as it did in the fiscal year 2011.

Analysts said the government's decision of not increasing the excise duty is a very bold move, and shows that the finance ministry is betting clearly on growth.

"The market was extremely nervous prior to the announcement of the Budget, and was fearing a tough budget. The Finance Minister did not announce any new tax or duty, which along with plan to contain rising inflation and fiscal deficit, gave a breather to the market," said Bonanza Portfolio Head Equity Avinash Gupta.

Rising crude oil prices, unrest in the middle east and inflation back home has been major factors for the sharp correction in Indian markets lately. Finance minister has said that inflation remains a principal concern and is expected to fall next year. According to analysts, the market is likely to consolidate and may take support from the foreign inflows.

Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex closed at 17832.12, up 131.21 points or 0.74 per cent. The 30-share index touched a low of 17718.88 and high of 18296.53 intraday.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty ended at 5333.25, up 29.70 points or 0.56 per cent. The broader index touched a low of 5308.60 and high of 5477 in today's trade.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.31 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 0.36 per cent higher.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE FMCG Index advanced 4.47 per cent, BSE PSU Index moved up 2 per cent and BSE Realty Index gained 1.30 per cent. BSE Healthcare Index edged 0.04 per cent lower.

"Focus continues on rural development and agricultural growth. Schemes introduced to boost disposable income with consumers. Unchanged excise rate (at 10%) and marginal revision in overall MAT rate to 20% (earlier 19.93%) was a huge positive to companies like HUL, ITC and GCPL. Increased allocation for– 1) cultivable land for the produce of palm oil (positive for HUL and GCPL) and 2) cold storages (positive for food processing industry) was other positives from the budget. No conducive roadmap on GST (negative for the industry)," said Chitrangda R Kapur, analyst, Angel Broking.

ITC (8.55%), Maruti (4.80%), ONGC (3.46%), M&M (2.84%) and SBI (2.40%) were the top gainers.

Reliance Infrastructure (-5.19%), Jaiprakash Associates (-3.51%), Hero Honda (-2.79%), Tata Motors (-2.45%), and Reliance Communications (-2.06%) were the top Nifty losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1545 advances against 1228 declines.


News
28 Feb 2011, 23:13

Union Budget 2011: MSME's disappointed with Union Budget 2011-12: Anil Gupta, President, IIA

The back bone of Indian Economy, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME's) represented by Indian Industries Association (IIA) was disappointed with the Budget announced by Union Finance Minister.

28 Feb 2011, 22:58

Budget seems to be staging point for next year's announcement: Sandesh Kirkire, CEO, Kotak AMC 

Present budget seems to have been used as a staging point for the next year's budget announcements, when GST and DTC roll-out may be on cards, says Sandesh Kirkire, CEO, Kotak AMC.

All Economy headlines >>

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/articlelist/1373380680.cms

28 FEB, 2011, 05.48PM IST, SHAILESH MENON,ET BUREAU
Union Budget 2011: Foreign investors in MFs to open up a world of opportunities
MUMBAI: The decision to allow foreign investors to invest in equity mutual funds has opened up a world of opportunities for Indian asset management companies. Direct equity fund investments from foreigners will widen the class of investors in Indian markets and beef up the asset bases of local fund houses, according to CEOs of leading asset management companies.

"Conceptually, it is a positive move for the industry," said Nikhil Johri, managing director, BNP Paribas Asset Management, adding, "The success of it will, however, depend on the level of KYC required while bringing in foreign investors, tax aspects, investment limits (if any) and such other important details," he said.

At present, only foreign institutional investors and sub-accounts registered with the market regulator Sebi and non-resident Indians are allowed to invest in mutual fund schemes. Sebi-registered foreign portfolio investors, on their part, do not have significant exposure to equity mutual funds as a result of their relatively small asset bases and difficulty in 'snap-liquidation' or redeeming a portfolio at high speeds without impacting the portfolio NAV.

The government has given a lifeline to equity mutual funds by allowing them to accept investments from foreign investors. Most asset managers, whom ET spoke to, believe that foreign investors - especially smaller funds and high networth foreign nationals - will have longer investment horizons than Indian investors who redeem their portfolios at the slightest downtrend or book profits at significant gain in market values. The mutual fund industry recorded a 6% fall in its AUM, as investors pulled out over Rs 16,000 crore from equity mutual funds last year.

"This is an opportunity which will bring in a lot of foreign money into the country," said Sundeep Sikka, CEO, Reliance Mutual Fund. "Once the rules are set, fund houses will start expanding the overseas distribution channels.

All said, we'll have to comply with rules and regulations (of other countries) to sell Indian funds in overseas markets," Mr Sikka said.

Apart from domestic fund houses, small trust funds, which do not want to invest in India through FII route, will also benefit from direct investment policy adopted by government in the Union Budget. Most asset managers do not expect retail foreign investors to invest directly in Indian equity funds. They wouldn't be comfortable with the idea of moving money from one country to another without a local mediator fund. Such investors will still prefer the feeder fund route, experts said.

"By allowing foreigners to invest in equity funds, the government is looking to attract qualified institutional investors," said Vijai Mantri, CEO, Pramerica Asset Management.

"Fund houses will market local funds to small endowments funds and pension funds, wanting to invest $10 - 25 million in Indian equities. They are not likely to sell funds to retail foreign investors," Mr Mantri said.

Funds for foreign investors will have to be packaged well to prevent losses from currency volatility. Such funds could be an expensive proposition considering the high hedging costs. Currency hedgers charge anywhere between 4 - 7% to hedge rupee-dollar contracts for an year.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/mutual-funds/mf-news/union-budget-2011-foreign-investors-in-mfs-to-open-up-a-world-of-opportunities/articleshow/7595721.cms

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  3. Union Budget 2011: Analysts think it focuses on farm sector


    Economic Times - 6 hours ago
    "Overall, it is a welcome budget for the agriculture sector. There are lots of long term measures proposed in this budget. The finance minister has ...
  4. Punjab agriculture economists give Budget a thumbs down


    Business Standard - 6 hours ago
    "Punjab is completely ignored in the Union Budget as it failed to offer any (special) package to boost the state's farm sector," noted economist RS Ghumman ...
    Politics colours leaders' views on budget‎ - Indian Express
    all 19 news articles »
  5. Union Budget 2011: Budget is growth oriented, says Hari Bhartia ...


    Economic Times - 58 minutes ago
    ... is a pre-requisite for manufacturing and agricultural sector growth. ... The Budget has also provided direction to some path breaking reform. ...
  6. Budget 2011 focuses on infra and agriculture IDA Ireland


    Moneycontrol.com - 5 hours ago
    "The Union Budget presented by the Finance Minister today leads the thrust on ... Institutionalizing the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission to...
    Live: Union Budget 2011‎ - Sify
    Budget reactions from Varanasi‎ - Times of India
    all 40 news articles »

    Moneycontrol.com
  7. Food security bill near ready, hike in social sector spending


    Sify - 7 hours ago
    The allocation for social sector programmes was to be increased by 17 ... He proposed budget allocation for primitive tribal groups from Rs.185 crore in ...
    Budget: Is there enough in it for farmers?‎ - Rediff
    Union Budget 2011: FM long on announcements, short on tackling ...‎ -Moneylife Personal Finance site and magazine
    all 55 news articles »

    Moneycontrol.com
  8. <B>Comment:</B> Roopa Kudva


    Business Standard - 2 hours ago
    The Union Budget 2011-12 attempts to ride on India's rapid recent economic growth ... while attracting the much-needed money into the infrastructure sector...
  9. Budget Buzz: Measures To Strengthen Production Of Pulses ...


    India Infoline.com - 7 hours ago
    ... to strengthen the agricultural sector particularly in the areas of pulses, vegetables and oil palm in his budget speech that the for the year 2011-12. ...
  10. Infrastructure stocks in demand as Govt hikes spending on infrasector


    India Infoline.com - 8 hours ago
    Infrastructure stocks rose after the Finance Minister's thrust on the sector. The finance minister raised infrastructure spending by 23% in the Union Budget ...
    Roaring markets end on a modest note‎ - Business Standard
    all 168 news articles »

    Hindu Business Line

Stay up to date on these results:


28/02/2011

Pay more for stationery, air travel, healthcare in pvt hospitals

New Delhi: Stationery items widely used by school children, text books, branded ready-made garments and jewellery, treatment in private hospitals, air travel and lawyer fees will become costlier following the tax proposals in 2011-12 Budget.

Pay more for stationery, air travel, healthcare in pvt hospitals

The proposals made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also mean that ready-to-eat food items, such as ketchups, soups, 'mudis' (puffed rice), coffee and tea mixes, flavoured milk, supari will be dearer as they will now attract higher excise duty.

The Budget has, however, made some items, including raw materials for syringe and needles, mobile parts and accessories like hands free headphones, incense sticks, sanitary nakpins and diapers, cheaper by reducing taxes.

According to the budgetary proposals, notebooks and exercise books, which were earlier exempted from excise duty will now attract one per cent duty without CENVAT credit facility. Moreover, a general effective rate of 5 per cent has been prescribed for these items and facilities.

Similarly, fountain pen ink, ball pen ink, geometry boxes, colour boxes and pencil sharpeners will also now attract a similar levy.

Educational text books are also expected to become costlier as paper used in printing them will no longer be exempted from excise duty.

Vaccines, other than those included in National Immunisation Programme, will also register an increase as they will attract a concessional duty of one per cent without CENVAT credit facility.

Pay more for stationery, air travel, healthcare in pvt hospitals

Branded readymade garments will also become expensive as they will attract 10 per cent excise duty. Labelled jewellery will burn a deeper hole in the pockets as they will now attract one per cent excise duty.

With the Finance Minister proposing changes in service tax band, treatment in air-conditioned private hospitals, air travel and lawyer fees will cost more henceforth.

The government has proposed to put all forms of payments -- by individuals, insurance firms and business houses, for treatment in private hospitals with more that 25 beds and air conditioning facility under the service tax net resulting in an effective tax of five per cent.

Likewise, the Budget also proposed to raise service tax on airtravel by Rs 50 in the case of domestic airtravel and Rs 250 on international flight by economy class.

Moreover, higher class travel in domestic sector will attract a service tax rate of 10 per cent bringing it on par with journeys by higher classes on international air travel.

Legal cases will also become a costly affair with Mukherjee proposing to cover all legal consultations, except individual to individual, under the service tax net.

Hotel stay will also become more expensive as rooms with a tariff of more than Rs 1,000 a day will attract an effective service tax of 5 per cent. Drinking liquor in air-conditioned restaurants will also be more expensive as it will now come under the service tax net.

Items that will become cheaper include solar lanterns, LED lights, hybrid vehicle kits.

Besides, disinvestment receipts have been projected at Rs 30,000 crore and Rs 25,000 crore in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively.

In a major boost to develop infrastructure sector, Mukherjee announced creation of an infrastructure debt fund and raising the limit of foreign institutional investors (FII) in corporate bonds.

The government also announced issuance of tax-free bonds worth Rs 30,000 crore and extending income tax exemption on tax-saving infrastructure bonds up to a maximum of Rs 20,000 (rpt) Rs 20,000 for one more year.

Pay more for stationery, air travel, healthcare in pvt hospitals

The Budget proposes to take the FII limit for investment in corporate infrastructure bonds to USD 25 billion and also permits foreign portfolio investment in SEBI-registered mutual funds.

With raising FII limit, Mukherjee said they will be eligible to invest up to USD 40 billion in corporate bonds, including a total of USD 25 billion in the infrastructure sector.

Energy and transport will get a lion's share of the Central Plan's outlay in the next fiscal even as the Finance Minister announced several key initiatives for giving a boost to the infrastructure sector.

The government proposes to spend Rs 2.72 lakh crore on the transport and the energy sectors out of Rs 5.92 lakh crore earmarked in the Central Plan for 2011-12. The allocation for the sectors account for 45.95 per cent of the plan outlay.

This marks an increase of 9.68 per cent over the budget estimates of the previous year.

However, since the full outlay of Rs 2.48 lakh crore could not be spent last year, the increase in outlay in 2011- 12 was 21.43 per cent compared to the revised estimates for 2010-11.

Items that will become cheaper are sanitary napkins, baby and clinical diapers and adult diapers with reduction of excise duty, factory built ambulances, precious metals including gold and silver. However, one per cent excise duty is being imposed on branded jewellery and branded articles of precious metals.

The Budget for next year pegs the fiscal deficit at 4.6 per cent of GDP for 2011-12 which works out to Rs 4,12,817 crore. Gross tax receipts are estimated at Rs 9,32,440 crore, an increase of 24.9 per cent over the Budget Estimates for 2010-11.

Net non-tax revenue receipts for the next financial year are estimated Rs 1,25,435 crore. The total expenditure proposed for 2011-12 is Rs 12,57,729 crore. Plan expenditure will be Rs 4,41,547 crore, an increase of 18 per cent and non-Plan expenditure will be Rs 8,16,182 crore, an increase of 10.9 per cent over Budget estimates of 2010-11.

Defence expenditure for the next year has been pegged at Rs 1,64,415, an increase of Rs 17,071 crore over the last financial year. This includes a capital expenditure of Rs 69,199 crore.

"Needless to say, any further requirement for the country's defence would be met," Mukherjee said.

The Budget has raised allocation for social sector spending by 17 per cent to Rs 1,60,887 crore and the allocation for Bharat Nirman programme by Rs 10,000 crore.

Allocation for infrastructure has been increased by over 23 per cent to Rs 2,14,000 crore and the credit to farmers hiked by Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 4,75,000 crore.

The Budget assumes open market borrowing of Rs 3.43 lakh crore. Extension of nutrient-based subsidy to cover urea is under active consideration.

In a boost to housing sector finance, the Budget continued the scheme of interest subvention of one per cent on housing loans and liberalised it by extending it up to Rs 25 lakh from the present Rs 10 and Rs 15 respectively.

The Finance Minister also proposed various measures to achieve a closer fit between the present Service Tax regime and its successor Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The Minister announced a broad set of financial sector reforms, saying he proposed to move the legislations relating to insurance laws, LIC, revised pension fund bill, banking laws amendment bill, State Bank of India Subsidiaries Bill and a bill on Factoring and Assignment of Receivables.

Source: PTI

28/02/2011

Salary earners with income till Rs 5 lakh need not file returns

New Delhi: Salary earners having an income of less than Rs 5 lakhs will not have to file tax returns from this year, a finance ministry official said. "Salaried people, may be up to Rs 5 lakh...they need not file the (income tax) return," CBDT chairman Sudhir Chandra told reporters at the customary post-Budget press conference.

The exemption from filing tax returns come into effect from the assessment year 2011-12. In case such a salary earner has income from other sources like dividend, interest etc. and does not want to file returns, he will have to disclose such income to his employer for tax deduction, Chandra said.

The government, he said, is working out a scheme and will notify it "very soon".
The Form 16 issued to salaried employees will be treated as Income Tax Return, he added.

Earlier, in the day, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had proposed to exempt salaried employees from filing tax returns.

According to the Memorandum to the Finance Bill 2011, the government will be issuing a notification exempting 'classes of persons' from the requirement of furnishing income tax returns.

The decision, which will come into effect from June 1, 2011, will reduce the compliance burden on small taxpayers, it added. Every person whose income exceeds the taxable limit is presently required to file returns.

Another finance ministry official said the decision to raise tax exemption limit of very senior citizens (80 years above) to Rs 5 lakh will benefit about 15,000 tax payers.

Mukherjee announced an increase in the income tax limit of very senior citizens to Rs 5 lakh. They will have to pay a tax of 20 per cent for income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 8 lakh and 30 per cent beyond Rs 8 lakh.

Source: PTI

28/02/2011

Operation Budget- Classified: Top secret

The budget remains the nation's most closely guarded secret right until the FM reads it in Parliament on February 28

Operation Budget- Classified: Top secret

The printing of the budget documents at the ministry is an operation executed with top level secrecy

The Union Budget 2011-12 is just around the corner. For the Finance Ministry and the government this is a key event of the year. We get to read and watch the hoopla surrounding the budget presentation- what could make it or break it. But have you ever wondered how things actually run behind the scenes in the run-up to D-Day?

North Block a.k.a Fort Knox

The Union Finance Ministry takes no chances .The contents of the Budget to be presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament cannot be leaked out before he reads his speech.

It's the electronic age and that poses a greater worry for those in charge of security. In fact, the budget documents are guarded like gold at the ministry, which is housed in New Delhi's North Block. High-tech tapping devices, an army of security personnel, sophisticated surveillance equipment, electronic jammers and huge scanners are in place to prevent any threat of leakage.

From 2006, IB sleuths tap the 100-odd phone lines, intercept private mobile operators' numbers and monitor movements of over a dozen officials in the ministry to prevent compromise of all content till it is presented in Parliament. At times, the IB even resorts to blocking e-mail facilities to a majority of the computers in the ministry's offices.

Operation Budget- Classified: Top secret

Finance Minister and his team outside the ministry ahead of the presentation in Parliament on February 28, 2010

Those who are being monitored include finance secretary Ashok Chawla - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's No. 1 man. In addition, up until the presentation, Chawla moves with the highest 'Z' security provided by Delhi Police. IB men also keep a close watch on everything that goes on around him.

The Printing 'Lockdown'

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The most closely guarded secret is the printing of the minister's speech and tax proposals. The timing of this exercise is the key secret affair in the whole hush-hush process. 
Today, in keeping with technology- the documents are sent via electronic storage devices to the press. This press is not the government presses used for other government publications but a special one buried under the North Block.

But life is good down there as well. The press is completely air-conditioned and food is packed and supplied fresh from outside. The officials choose to remain cooped up until the FM finally reads his presentation.

Since there's never been an official response to when exactly things begin, many reports suggest that the ministry hands over the matter for printing either on the midnight of February 25 or early February 26 morning.

Operation Budget- Classified: Top secret

What secrets does the briefcase hold this time?

The Press Information Bureau officials have gone on record that they are bundled into the press on the night of February 25 to get working on the press releases to be put out on February 28.

And it is not only the finance ministry officials who are virtually locked in but officials of five other ministries are also quarantined. Among them are senior legal experts on taxation matters from the law ministry who are given the responsibility of checking the text and wordings of the taxation Acts. Apart from the legal experts, PIB officials are also present.

The documents once printed are placed in the Finance Minister's trademark 'budget briefcase' and handed over to him.

So come February 28, at 11 am, the unlocking of that briefcase in Pranab Mukherjee's hands in the Parliament will finally bring to an end one of the nation's most classified operations executed religiously every year.

Source: India Syndicate/ Agencies



Rail Budget
  • Mamata Exp rolls into Bengal once again

    New Delhi: For the third successive year, the Railway Budget for 2011-12 spared passengers of any increase in fares and proposed no hike in freight rates while introducing 56 new trains, including nine non-stop Duronto trains and three Shatabdis.

  • Highlights of Railway Budget 2011-12

    No hike in passenger fare and freight rates.

  • The Didi-Lalu joust in Lok Sabha

    New Delhi: It was waiting to happen - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and her predecessor Lalu Prasad spewing anger at each other during the presentation of the railway budget.

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ABCs of Budget
  • Appropriation Bill

    Enables withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund to pay off expenses. These are instruments that Parliament clears after the demand for grants has been approved by the Lok Sabha

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  • MSN Headlines on TwitterMSN Headlines on Twitter

    MSN India brings you latest Headlines, Breaking News and Mobile updates- all in a single click. Now, check out minute by minute update on national, global & business news on Twitter.

People's Voice

Tell Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee what you think about Union Budget 2011-12.

  • Posted By: ramana, Posted on: 2/28/2011, Location: Jamshedpur,Jharkhand,India
    Message: what the politicians do is preach and not practice,on one hand the funds meant for upliftment of poor donot reach them and to pacify the poor everything is subsidized to put across the point that politicians are of/by/for the poor

  • Posted By: Rakesh, Posted on: 2/28/2011, Location: Bengaluru,Karnataka,India
    Message: Just writing to mention that it is useless to keep reminding these politicians that are looting INDIA.Corruption is in thier blood.The way things are going in INDIA, soon it will be cheaper to live in places like US and UK...

  • Posted By: Rajesh, Bangalore, Posted on: 2/28/2011, Location:Bengaluru,Karnataka,India
    Message: Politicians are looting common peoples money through various scams they have no concern to help the common man by reducing the prices of the day to day needs.

  • Posted By: Mr. Chakra Gogoi, Duliajan. ASSAM, Posted on: 2/28/2011, Location: New Delhi,Delhi,India
    Message: Politics is nothing but pursuiting the selfishness. Budget is the selfishnes of country.

  • Posted By: akunj, Posted on: 2/28/2011, Location: Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
    Message: Nothing for Women....?Single Women Who Want to Buy their Homes .........No New Schemes ? Last Two Budgets Not For Urban ...........Will Have to Look Out For Options Other Than Mrs.Sonia Gandhi And her Squad......

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Budget Wishlist
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MSN Money Specials
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  • msnPersonal taxes and budget 2011!

    Budget 2011-12 has given a marginal benefit on the tax slab for individuals. However the benefits for very senior citizens are higher. However the expectations that there will be changes in the investment avenues and their slabs have not been ...

  • msnTaxation aspects & its effect on industries

    "The collection of Indirect taxes has seen a healthy growth during 2010-11" as said by our Finance Minister. The industry expectation was that owing to this, there may be a roll back on the tax rates that were reduced 2 ...

  • Household budget _grocery listOnions might not been an investment !

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Seven of top-10 firms lose over Rs 38K cr in market capitalisation last week

The combined market capitalisation of seven of the country's top 10 companies declined by Rs 38,767.51 crore last week, with banking giant State Bank of India emerging as the biggest loser.

SBI shed Rs 10,883.72 crore from its market valuation, which stood at Rs 1,64,075.07 crore as on Friday last week. During the week, shares of SBI on the Bombay Stock Exchange fell by 6.22 per cent to Rs 2,583.90 on Friday.

Two state-run firms mining entity Coal India (CIL) and power producer NTPC together lost Rs 12,764.46 crore from their combined valuations. The m-cap of CIL stood at Rs 1,84,374.55 crore while that of NTPC was at Rs 1,40,543.87 crore on Friday last week.

Oil & gas explorer ONCG too witnessed an erosion of Rs 4,534.4 crore from its m-cap which stood at Rs 2,24,966.35 crore. IT bellwether Infosys Technologies' market worth also declined by Rs 5,060.87 crore to Rs 1,72,709.65 crore.

The m-cap of telecom giant Bharti Airtel fell by Rs 1,120.27 crore to Rs 1,25,014.36 crore.

ICICI Bank's m-cap diminished by Rs 4,403.79 crore to Rs 1,13,425.96 crore.

However, country's most valued firm Reliance Industries(RIL) along with IT major TCS and FMCG honcho ITC were on the gainers side.

RIL added Rs 9,360.92 crore to its market valuation which stood at Rs 3,16,160.26 crore on Friday last week.

The market cap of TCS swelled by Rs 4,070.97 crore to Rs 2,17,484.06 crore, while ITC saw an addition of Rs 506.86 crore to its m-cap which stood at Rs 1,20,574.35 crore.

The stock markets declined nearly 3 per cent during the week under review, following concerns over the rising global crude oil prices due to political tensions in the Middle East that might stoke up domestic inflation.




28 FEB, 2011, 09.19AM IST, M ALLIRAJAN,TNN
Budget 2011: End of the road for tax-saving MFs?
MUMBAI: Will it stay or go off the investment radar? Retail investors may have the answer to this Rs 24,500 crore question once the Union Budget is presented on Monday. With equity-linked savings schemes (ELSS) not being included in tax exemption list in the direct taxes code (DTC), which is expected to come into force from April 2012, it could well be the end of the road for this popular investment category after the next financial year (2011-12).

ELSS or tax-saver mutual funds (MFs) offer the twin benefit of high returns and tax saving to average investors. They are considered an ideal entry point for investors looking at equity-related instruments. Even after the recent market correction, the top 10 tax-saver MFs have given 10.9-16.6% annual returns over a five year period, much higher than the 8-8.5% returns offered by traditional tax-saving avenues such as bank FDs, PPF and NSC.

"It is a good option for long-term wealth creation," says Surajit Misra, national head, MFs, Bajaj Capital, a distribution platform for funds. "If ELSS goes, no pure-play equity investment avenues would be available to those looking to save tax," says Srikanth Meenakshi, co-founder & director, FundsIndia, an online investing platform.

"People who didn't know anything about equity investments used ELSS as a starting point," he says. The inclusion of ELSS under instruments eligible for tax exemption is high on the wish list of many average retail investors, say industry officials. These funds scored due to their lower lock-in (three years) period, returns potential and efficiency.

But ever since the proposal to exclude ELSS-under which one can claim deductions under Section 80C of the IT Act and which allows investments of up to Rs 1 lakh-was made, investors have become apprehensive. "If ELSS is not a part of 80C (exemptions), nobody would invest (in the category) and it would die a natural death," says Suresh Sadagopan, certified financial planner, Ladder7 Financial Advisories.

If ELSS products go out of the exemption list, they would be merged with diversified equity MFs, say observers. "There would be no place for ELSS as fund houses would not have any incentive to keep separate fund managers," says Meenakshi.

Investors then would have no choice but to invest in conventional options, including bank FDs, PPF and the national pension scheme (NPS). While the tier-1 account of NPS invests about 50% of its corpus in equity, it is allowed to take exposure only in index-related instruments and the investments cannot be redeemed before retirement. Infrastructure bonds come with longer lock-in periods and would be able to provide only single-digit returns.

The assets under management of 49 open and close-end ELSS funds stands at Rs 24,571 crore in January.

This is about 3.5% of the overall industry AUM and nearly 15% of the assets managed by all equity funds. ELSS products were introduced nearly two decades ago and initially there was a cap on investments allowed under this category, which was withdrawn around seven years ago.

Budget 2011: Pranab's core team explains the fineprint

Published on Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 22:26   |  Updated at Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 22:35   |  Source : CNBC-TV18

      
Budget 2011: Pranab's core team explains the fineprint

BSE | NSE 28/02/11

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Union Budget 2011-12 amid rising inflation, tight liquidity, high interest rate, industrial slowdown, delayed reforms and negative market sentiment.

In an interview with CNBC TV18, revenue secretary Sunil Mitra, secretary of economics affairs R Gopalan, S Dutt Majumder, Chairman, CBEC and Sudhir Chandra, Chairman, CBDT analysed the budget in detail, and responded to queries from experts from the industry including Hari Bhartia, President, CII, MD, Jubilant LifeSciences; Uday Ved, Head - Tax, KMPG.Rajiv Memani, Country Managing Partner, Ernst & Young India; Mukesh Butani, Partner, BMR Legal.

Below is a verbatim transcript. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: The question on everybody's mind is that while you have put out this great number of 4.6% in terms of the fiscal deficit, how is the government actually going to be able to achieve this number? There is skepticism, there are question marks. The Finance Minister has very clearly said that he is not trying to mobilize revenues through taxes, how are you actually going to be able to achieve this 4.6% is what the street wants to know?

Mitra: There are two or three factors that I would like to draw your attention to. Firstly, there was a real option of rolling back the stimulus package somewhat, some sectors are doing very well, so there was a very strong pull in that direction but then I think a higher level view was taken, a more mature view was taken that its protection of the tax base and also the buoyancy that comes from higher growth which eventually is going to result in the 25% increased revenue targets for the next fiscal and to do that it was felt that its important that we allow industries that are doing well, sectors that are doing well to retain their margins, that they are collecting and in the expectation that they will partner us in this process by reinvesting that for higher growth and for also impacting the employment situation.

So I can tell you that this was a very conscious kind of decision. The other things are really the huge moves that are being made towards reforms. I am not talking about the GST and the DTC alone which have been very strongly signaled throughout the budget speech that FM made. But I am talking about the number of things that also figured in his speech which were deliberately placed in two three different places.

There has been a very strong announcement on the exports on the fact that we are going for self assessment in exports, this has been a big bottleneck. We have had self assessment in excise, we have self assessment in service tax but customs is a big bottleneck. It required every consignment whether import or export to be assessed by customs officials. We expect that to also give a boost to exports and to growth.

So if there is going to be growth I expect that we may have to, this year again because of the higher buoyancy in taxes which have reflected consistently in higher taxes being collected this year than what we had budgeted for. We may move towards the same in the next year.

Gopalan: If you look at expenditure, the view is that how could you achieve these kinds of numbers. I am comparing 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, the total expenditure increase in 2010-2011 budgeted only 14. Plan expenditure we had budgeted as a percentage of GDP it was 5.4% in 2010-2011 now it is 4.9%. Non-plan expenditure as a percentage of GDP was 10.6% budgeted in 2010-2011, now it is 9.1%.

Q: So you are betting on tax buoyancy?

Gopalan: On the buoyancy as well as the fact that our expenditure as a percentage of GDP, we are very conservative in projecting for 2011-12.

Q: But if I may just ask you about expenditure, since you are talking about that, things like the Food Security Bill, have allocation actually been made towards the food security bill?

Gopalan: Food Security Bill has to be passed by the parliament. So once it is passed. It will take 3-6 months.

Q: But that is going to be a substantial hit. Isn't it?

Gopalan: It is not a kind of a hit you are visualizing.

Q: What is the kind of hit that we should be visualizing then?

Gopalan: It is not a hit. If you are looking at around Rs 60,000 crore of the amount provided for food subsidy this year, maybe it will go up by another Rs 11,000-12,000, Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 depending on the time required for the year 2011-12. We are looking at 2011-12, not one year beyond. So in 2011-12, when it takes that much of time you get the act passed and introduced, obviously our assumptions will be that about Rs 15,000 crore may be added on.

Q: The other question then comes down to a clarification also on what has happened with NREGA and the inflation indexation of the NREGA that is taken. Again question marks on whether you've factored?

Gopalan: Let me tell you, it is the you must look at what is opening cash balance which is available with the state governments and NREGA. NREGA, we must understand is demand driven program. Which means the state depends on kind of work the people come to take up work. The kind of programs which we are projecting on agriculture, where the growth is going to be quite good, and all other programs which the secretary has just mentioned, now, will there be that much of demand once again, for the NREGA?

Now, coupled with the fact that there is still a good amount of opening balance lying with the state governments, so if you add all these things together, still there is, without indicating a higher number, in essence, there is going to be higher amount available with the state governments for implementing NREGA.

Q: So you don't see the bill on NREGA?

Gopalan: We don't see the bill on NREGA going up beyond.

Q - Bhartia: Firstly, I know you took a lot of recommendations from CII to account specifically keeping the duty structures at 10% each, I think that will help a lot. One of the initiatives that you have announced is about direct cash subsidy going on Kerosene, fertilizer and LPG, which will come in June and then you will implement. Now over the next 5 years how much of the total subsidy that you expect to direct to the right section of people would be done through direct cash because it does take time before UID comes in?

Gopalan: I think Nandan has been seeing about a million UID accounts a day, that's the level upto which he has gone into. Now look at this, we are not getting into food at this point in time. As I mentioned to you we are doing Kerosene, fertilizer and LPG, these are the three things we are doing.

We believe as one of the things which you mentioned about expenditure compression and the point you mentioned about the subsidy which you have provided for petroleum, we believe that through this process it is possible to identify the right person to whom this items have to go through the smart card system, the right person will be getting that, which means many people who have been getting on a bogus way that will be eliminated. If that is eliminated we think there is going to be, the amount of provisioning which you have made will be once again almost sufficient.

Q - Muthuraman: My two suggestions are one is to get the manufacturing policy out pretty quickly. Second is include in the manufacturing policy factors which are normally considered outside manufacturing and the infrastructure. Because many of the industries in manufacturing or heavy you need a 50-60 year plan.

Mitra: This point is well taken. Land acquisition certainly is a crucial issue if manufacturing has to be ramped up, there is no doubt about that. I was only briefly alluding to the fact that I said in the beginning as well that we are looking for industry to plough back and to cause more growth to happen. The entire lot of, even in our excise proposals you would have seen that the thrust, even customs and excise the thrust is more on allowing components, facilitating components so that value additions happens more in India. So the whole effort has been quite concerted and fairly unidirectional.

Gopalan: The other very important thing which you mentioned apart from land, there are other issues for manufacturing to grow, to have a transparent accountable kind of a procurement by the government, then pricing and utilization of natural resources.

Q - Memani: Firstly I would like to compliment you, the direct tax has been very consistent with the DTC. The indirect tax again there has been lot of procedural simplification that has been stated in the bid which I think which is very useful. A few things, one, there has been something that has been done to mobilize foreign savings, low cost debt through the offshore debt fund that you are looking at in the exemptions. But the limit of the domestic money that is going towards infrastructure is been still capped at Rs 20,000 balance. There is a lot of potential of domestic savings also coming into it. So there was a thought where you could have the same kind of special incentives and have a limit higher than Rs 20,000, that would help infrastructure companies to tap into domestic funds. That was one. The second was on the capital gains tax of the dividend income flowing into foreign companies, I think that is very good. But you have just kept that for one year. The exemption is only for a year. The rate has been kept for 15%, whilst MAT is at 18.5%, so I am not sure what is the relevance of that?

Mitra: The tax rate for dividend income to be brought back into India would be 30%, so its against that 30% that you are having a 15% and that's been kept for a year you are correct. The idea really is to see because we are having no inflows on this account so we want to see if this works. If necessary we will make provision in the DTC going forward its not an issue and on the Rs 20000, we introduced this last year, its operated through this year. The total amount of money that has been raised in this is close to about Rs 6000 crore.

Q: One of the questions before I throw it open for the experts I want to ask you is on the excise where it was at 10% and the hope of our industry was that excise would not be touched. But given the fact that you have got social sector schemes that you need to fund you have imponderables in terms of the food security bill we understand now the clarification coming in from the revenue and the economic affair secretary that, that could add another Rs 11,000-15,000 crore to the government's expenditure. Given that in mind the fact that industry is growing reasonably well, and the recovery is broad based, you didn't think it was time to withdraw the stimulus?

Majumder: Yes, FM had mentioned that he had that option to roll back. But the thing is that you have to see on your own perspective. (A) The need to go in for the GST in the days to come, and we are there, we have more or less those 10, that both service tax and central excise should have the same rate of tax. So 10% will certainly not do it.

Secondly, just because the industry is doing well, instead of taxing them more, what Finance Minister said in his Budget speech, that I would expect the industry, extra profit that they earn, they will put it in the investment, which will again increase the overall economic growth. And with the economic growth, our revenue also will come up. We have also seen in this financial year, up till now, till end of January, the figures that we have there is tremendous revenue buoyancy.

On central excise, the growth is 33%. So we are saying that we are getting our revenue what we want and while tax when ultimately it is an indirect tax. Indirect means ultimately it goes on to the consumer. So keeping all this GST in mind, the whole industry growth and scope for further investment, and that is a better option.

Q - Butani: At the end of the day simply stated, the budget is a simple math, math of what should be the targeted deficit. The entire focus for the last 10 years has been on revenue because nobody talks about expenditure reforms. Which means that there are targets and it starts from you two gentlemen and it goes down to the assessing officer and my worry and concern is that the quality of administration. So I think we maybe doing a fabulous job at the policy level, well intended, well articulated but the question is that when we are actually dealing with officers at the field level when we are actually dealing with the first appellate authority I think that's where the problem starts. You have heard all kinds of tax misery index and everything where India is but I have just wanted to hear what is it that the government is doing to improve the quality of administration?

Chandra: I am so glad Mukesh you have mentioned it. You are quite aware of the situation quite alive to it and for that reason alone as regards to direct taxes we are making the filing of return very simple, you are already aware. We have started E-filing of returns and from April the return will be processed within a month. You will get the refund also within a month so this is one step. For small salaried employees it may not be necessary for them to file returns if their taxable income comes to within the zone of Rs 5 lakh.

Q: And this is something what the Finance Minister did say.

Chandra: Exactly. Even for small traders with turnover of up to Rs 60 lakh we have devised a form known as 'Sugam'.

Q - Uday Ved: On the litigation front and the tax environment is really becoming very aggressive and Mukesh touched upon on the administration side so clearly there is a gap between policy and implementation. So what is the government thinking about it particularly under the new direct taxes code or one of the key objectives is to reduce litigation and you already have dispute resolution mechanism under the income tax law currently which has not worked that well. The first year experience has not been that good. What are the steps that we want to take that could really minimize litigation. I think that's one key thing and second question which is linked to that is huge amount of litigation on transfer pricing. So what are our thoughts on that? I think that's the one thing that I would like to ask Chairman about it.

Chandra: Department is alive to the situation that DRP has not really addressed the issue of reducing the litigation. But this being the first year let us wait for another year. But I can assure you, we are very much alive to the problem. Coming to the implementation part, lot of administrative measures we are taking, return filing is being made easier and easier, processing quicker, issue of refunds I am saying in the same month if you file your E-return after April.

As regards general reduction of litigation, I can mention about government litigation. The limits to go to the income tax supply tribunal, High Court and Supreme Court very recently we have revised, initially after getting relief from Commissioner appeal there was a limit of tax impact of Rs 2 lakh which has now been raised to Rs 3 lakh to go to the High Court Rs 10 lakh and to go to the Supreme Court Rs 25 lakh. Initially we could go to the Supreme Court if the tax effect was Rs 10 lakh.

Q: You are acknowledging yourself that the resolution mechanism has not worked.

Chandra: In the first year, one year is too short a period but of course we are alive to the situation.

To catch the full discussion watch videos....




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