If aligned with public purpose and democratic accountability, impact investment could become an important financial tool in India's journey from an emerging economy to an inclusive, developed nation.
Among the Budgets Nirmala Sitharaman has presented over the past six years, revenue overestimation was a big problem in the Budget for 2019-20, her maiden exercise.
Capital expenditure undertaken hastily to meet year-end targets dilutes the quality of the exercise and undermines the economy's benefits from such investment.
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.
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.
With tax revenue not doing as well as needed, govt has few choices before it: reduce subsidy-led revenue expenditure, cut back on growth-oriented capex, or miss its fiscal deficit target.
The budgeted expenditure doesn’t account for various schemes & announcements that have been made, such as the increase in MSP or the healthcare coverage scheme.
The US and Israel’s assassinations of Iranian leadership ended up bestowing martyrdom on those killed. Shias saw the deaths as a continuity of martyrdom from the Battle of Karbala.
India’s fast-growing data centre sector may strain state electricity networks; Central Electricity Authority has urged Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu to boost capacity.
Indian Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said that the ongoing conflict in West Asia illustrates that speed is no longer merely an enabler of warfare but a distinct capability.
China patiently invested capital, skill and technology in coal gasification. Unlike it, we won’t move from words to action. As crude prices decline, we lose interest.
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