Kerala brought down the deficit for 2022-2023 to under 3 percent, in line with FRBM guidelines, but is still expecting to slightly breach the limit in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
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.
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.
Maharashtra has headroom to spend, but committed expenditure is expected to rise. In Jharkhand, optimistic revenue projections may limit the state govt’s ability to fulfill the promises.
Haryana has seen good growth, keeping its deficit within limit in recent years. Inclusive development, fixing unemployment, bridging rural-urban inflation gap should be new govt’s priorities.
The full budget retains focus on fiscal consolidation. In her budget speech, finance minister mentioned the intent will be to fix fiscal deficit with debt-GDP ratio on a declining path.
Instead, govt will use ratio of govt debt-to-GDP as anchor for fiscal policy, Somanathan said. Historically, India has targeted fiscal deficit of 3% of GDP but failed to achieve it.
The target signals the government's intention to remain fiscally prudent despite expectations it may ramp up spending on welfare programs following a weaker than anticipated election victory for Modi.
Compassion and cohabitation with animals are ingrained in the Indian value system. A humane solution must be found for the rising conflict between man and free-range animals.
New bill aims to fix key issues with IBC 2016, including delays & patchy implementation, and protect creditors, with window for genuine promoters to retain control of their companies.
Three battalions are being deployed along northern frontier with China and Pakistan, one in the northeast and another on western front, ThePrint has learnt.
Putin sees this as a victory. Europeans have decided to deal with Trump on his terms for the sake of the larger Western alliance. We look at the lessons for us in India.
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