Highlights of Finance Minister P Chidambarams Vote on Account or Interim Budget speech.
12.12: FM ends speech with a long Tamil couplet.
12.10: FM hopes to peg revenue deficit at 3.3% and fiscal deficit target at 4.1% next year.
12.00: No change in direct taxes.
Excise duty cuts on mobile handsets, consumer durables, capital goods.
Excise duty cut for large and mid-segment cars (20% cut), small cars and two wheelers (12% to 8% ), SUVs (24% from 30%).
11.58: Students get major relief. Moratorium on education loan interest taken prior to 2009 till 2014. To cost government Rs 2,600 cr.
11.55: Urban Housing Fund at get Rs 2,000 cr
Rural housing fund get Rs 6,000 cr
Minority affairs to get Rs 3,711 cr
11.54: Budgetary support to Railways increased to Rs 29,000 cr
11.53: Panchayati Raj Ministry to get Rs 7,000 cr
11.53: Expenditure kept at Rs 5.55 lakh crore (same as last year)
11.52: 11,200 cr for capital infusion for PSU banks
11.52: Rs 8 lakh cr allocated for rural credit
11.51: Defence Allocation to Rs 2.24,000 cr ore,up 10%.
11.49: Food, Fuel and Fertilizer subsidy at 2.46 lakh crore. Non-plan expenditure at Rs 1.15 lakh crore.
11.48: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare gets Rs. 33,725 cr
11.47: Rs 1,200 cr special assistance to North East states.
11.45: Fresh power capacity, rural roads, highways added in last 3 months. 50000 MW of thermal and hydro power plants under construction.
11.43: (We want United AP)
11.42: Government committed to Aadhaar. Even critics will realise it is a tool of empowerment. 54 lakh transactions completed under direct benefit transfer.
11.40: Now he comes to the key part: allocations to different departments.
11.35: Combative FM says Harvard contributed to his success.
11.34: No policy paralysis, growh returning. Last two quarters of 2013-14 to grow at atleast 5.2%. Rupee doing better than other emerging market currencies. However, stagnation in manufacturing sector a worry.
11.29: Economy more stable now than two years ago. No threat of ratings downgrade from agencies. Exports to grow to $326 bn; up 6.4%. Investment rate at 34.8%; saving rate at 30.1%. $15 bn added to foreign reserves this fiscal. Cabinet cleared 296 projects. GDP to be 4.9%.
11.26: FM speech continues amid muffled, We want united AP.
11.24: Key concerns of last fiscal: fiscal consolidation and inflation. 2013-2014s fiscal deficit managed at 4.6% of GDP. Food inflation has declined but still a worry.
11.22: World economy has slowdown in last few years. India affected by global economy downturn but doing better than other emerging economies.
11.17: FM stops speech. Speakers clear voice raises above the turmoil. "Dont obstruct, it is the consitutional duty of the FM... she is saying. Nobody listens, but FM continues.
11.14: FM begins speech amid din. But all we can here is Up, Down, Seemandhra, Telangana, Justice....
11.10: Budget speech outside the Parliament, if it happens, would be a new record. It sounds like a fish market now. Andhra MPs now shouting, We want justice.
11.08:CNN IBN reports that FM would make his interim budget speech outside Parliament.
11.05: Telangana din continues. MPs chanting We want Seemandhra. PC lays the budget report on the table. He will not be making a speech today.
11.00: Chidambaram presents interim budget in LS
10.55: The most watched number in the speech would be the fiscal deficit. Analysts are expecting PC to report a fiscal deficit of around 4.7 per cent of GDP. The number would have a bearing on the inflation and the growth measures the authorities may take in the coming months. PC may have done better than his target (4.8%), thanks to cuts in expenditure and spectrum auction bounty. More than anything else, this may set the tone for the next government to plan its finances.
10.49: This budget speech is more likely to be a look-back than a look ahead. He may opt to highlight the achievements of UPA II in the last 10 years, than make any policy or tax shifts.
10.45: FMs like to keep the interim budget speech short and crisp. PC noted recently that Jaswant Singh had made a 12-page speech in 2004 and Pranab Mukherjee had made an 18-page speech in 2009.
10.40: Sensex at 20,400 ahead of Interim Budget.
