Govt has done well to stick to path of fiscal consolidation. It’s unclear if compression of revenue spends net of interest payments is the direction the govt would like to take in coming yrs.
The finance ministry should not spend ~0.83 trillion for equity infusion into BSNL. Instead, it should ask the telephone company to raise resources from the market.
Corporate tax collections saw modest growth of just 1.2%, but a 20.2% rise in income tax collections helped strengthen the government's overall revenue position.
Capital expenditure undertaken hastily to meet year-end targets dilutes the quality of the exercise and undermines the economy's benefits from such investment.
If the fiscal deficit was brought down to 5.6% in 2023-24, it was more because of a cut in revenue expenditure than because of growth in tax collections.
Union Budget 2024 allocated Rs 11.1 lakh cr as capex for FY25. This is 11% higher than what was budgeted for FY24 and 17% higher than what was actually spent that year.
Capital expenditure of 23 states grew by 52% in April-September 2023 over same period last yr, but discontinuation of GST compensation, tapering of grants could weigh down some states.
The transfer is a part of monthly shifting of federal taxes to states, but was higher than the normal monthly devolution amount of 591.40 billion rupees, the govt said.
Data shows while states had budgeted a total of a little over Rs 7 lakh cr for capital outlay, only Rs 2.58 lakh cr was spent till Nov 2022. Andhra Pradesh was at bottom among big states.
Contrary to naysayers, the RSS practices what it preaches. It is closer to the Gandhian teaching of improving the individual morally and spiritually to change the external environment.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
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