Live Commentary - Union Budget 2008-09

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Live Commentary! Budget 2008-09


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Proposal: Markets still unhappy. Sensex down 369.21 points at 17455.27

Proposal: Loan waiver of farmers generous and unorthodox on part of the Government, says the Prime Minister.

Proposal: Prime objective of the budget is to ensure growth and reasonable price stability, says the Prime Minister.

Proposal: Industrialist Sajjan Jindal, Vice-Chairman and MD of JSW Steel said: "This is a mixed budget and the FM has not touched upon the corporate tax, which we were anticipating. The focus is on agriculture and education sector."

Proposal: "Corporate tax are at fair levels. An increase of five per cent on short-term capital gains will make people hold for medium term," Kotak Mahidra Bank Managing Director Uday Kotak said.

Proposal: "Budget is on the expected lines and the industry has not been penalised although we are disappointed that the corporate tax has not been changed," apex industry body CII's President Sunil Mittal said.

Proposal: The Indian industry and investment bankers today gave a thumbs up to the Union Budget, saying Finance Minister P Chidambaram has done a "fantastic" job.

Proposal: Opposition members dub it as "poll-centric" budget.

Proposal: Bank stocks fell 3 per cent to 9,763.90 points in late afternoon trade today after the Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a loan waiver for farmers.

Proposal: Agricultural loans given by scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions up to March 31, 2007 and due for December 31 that year will be covered under the waiver scheme to address the problem of indebtedness.

Proposal: Rs 500 crore for corpus fund to subsidise all women Self Help Groups for LIC cover for permanent disability.

Proposal: The stock market extended its losses with the Sensex dipping close to 500 points within minutes of Finance Minister P Chidambaram announcing a hike in short-term capital gains tax to 15 per cent, while leaving corporate tax and surcharge rates unchanged.

Proposal: Sensex dips 500 pts as cap-gains tax up, corp taxes unchanged

Proposal: Meanwhile, experts say that corporate tax levels are fine. Hoever, short term capital gain tax should not have been hiked

Proposal: So is this a positive budget? Or is it bad for individuals, and corporates? Tell us

Proposal: FM's Direct Tax (personal income tax) proposals to be revenue neutral. Indirect tax proposals to result in loss of Rs 5,000 crore.

Proposal: Budget Speech ends, but discussion commentary goes on for a while.. please stay with us

Proposal: Central sales tax cut to 2% from 3%

Proposal: MARKETS DOWN 450 POINTS .. THEY DON'T LIKE THE SHORT TERM CAPITAL GAINS TAX AT ALL

Proposal: Banking cash transaction tax withdrawn from April 1, 2009.

Proposal: Commodities Transaction Tax to be introduced on the lines of Securities Transaction Tax.

Proposal: Five year tax holiday for setting up hospitals in tier II and tier III regions for providing healthcare in rural areas from April 1, 2008.

Proposal: Five year tax holiday for promoting cultural tourism.

Proposal: Short-term capital gains increases to 15 per cent.

Proposal: Fresh facilities, encouragement to sports and guest houses exempted from Fringe Benefit Tax.

Proposal: COMMODITIES TRANSACTION TAX IMPOSED AT THE SAME RATE AT THE STT

Proposal: For women, the income tax limit goes up from Rs 1.45 lakh to Rs 1.80 lakh. In case of senior women citizens, it increases from Rs 1.95 lakh to Rs 2.25 lakh.

Proposal: Securities Transaction Tax is a deductible expenditure from now on

Proposal: Short term capital gains tax increased to 15%

Proposal: New tax slabs will be: 10 per cent for Rs 1,50,000 to Rs 3,00,000, 20 per cent for Rs 3,00,000 to Rs 5,00,000 and 30 per cent above Rs 5,00,000.

Proposal: No change in corporate income tax.

Proposal: No change in rate of surcharge.

Proposal: Every income tax assessees to get relief of minimum of Rs 4,000.

Proposal: Asset management service under mutual funds, services by stock exchanges to be brought under Services Tax net.

Proposal: Threshold for small service providers raised from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

Proposal: Excise duty reduced from 16 to 8 per cent on water purification items.

Proposal: Asset management service under mutual funds, services by stock exchanges to be brought under Services Tax net.

Proposal: Threshold for small service providers raised from Rs. eight lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

Proposal: Changes in IT slab. Threshold of exemption for all Income Tax assesses raised from from 1,10,000 to 1,50,000.

Proposal: NO CHANGE IN CORPORATE INCOME TAX, NO CHANGE IN SURCHARGE

Proposal: Duty on non filter cigarettes to be raised.

Proposal: TAX EXEMPTION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS: RS 225000

Proposal: TAX EXEMPTION FOR WOMEN: RS 180000

Proposal: PERSONAL TAXATION: EXEMPTION LIMIT INCREASED TO RS 1,50,000 FROM RS 1,10,000.. everyone gets a relief of Rs 4000!

Proposal: PERSONAL TAXATION: EXEMPTION LIMIT INCREASED TO 1,50,000 FROM RS 1,10,000

Proposal: PERSONAL TAXATION: SLABS CHANGED

Proposal: General Centvat on all goods to be reduced from 16 per cent to 14 per cent. Excise duty reduced from 16 per cent to eight per cent on all pharmaceutical goods manufacture.

Proposal: Excise duty on small cars reduced to 12 per cent from 16 per cent and hybrid cars to 14 per cent.

Proposal: Duty on crude and unrefined sulphur reduced from five to 2 per cent to help raise domestic fertiliser production.

Proposal: CIGARETTES TO BE TAXED MORE

Proposal: Excise duty on two-wheelers cut from 16% to 12%

Proposal: No change in peak rate of customs duty for non agriculture imports.

Proposal: Tax to GDP ratio increased from 9.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 12.5 per cent 2007-08.

Proposal: Duty withdrawn on naptha for production of polymers.

Proposal: No excuse duty on wireless data cards, composting machines

Proposal: Customs duty on specified life saving drugs reduced from ten per cent to five per cent.

Proposal: Customs duty on specified sports goods machinery down from 7.5 per cent to five per cent.

Proposal: Special Countervailing Duty on power imports.

Proposal: Excise duty on small cars cut.. might become cheaper

Proposal: Customs duty on specified sports goods machinery down from 7.5 per cent to five per cent.

Proposal: this is being done to boost the manufacturing segment

Proposal: EXCISE DUTIES: GENERAL CENVAT RATE CUT ON ALL GOODS FROM 16% TO 14%

Proposal: TAX: Customs duty exemption on Naphtha withdrawn, execpt for that used for making fertilizers

Proposal: TAX: helicopter similators, customs duty cut

Proposal: TAX: SOME SPORTS GOODS raw materials exempt from duty

Proposal: TAX: Convergence products, duty cut from 10% to 5%

Proposal: TAX: no duty on set-top boxes

Proposal: HOWEVER, CUSTOMS DUTIES TO BE REDUCED ON SOME POWER PROJECTS, STEEL MELTING SCRAP, ON SOME LIFE-SAVING DRUGS.

Proposal: CUSTOMS DUTY: NO CHANGE IN PEAK RATE OF CUSTOMS DUTY

Proposal: TAXATION: promises tax payer friendly regime

Proposal: Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.1 per cent and revenue deficit at 1.4 per cent.

Proposal: CORRECTION: Sixth Central Pay Commission to submit report by March 31, 2008. MARCH 31, 2008, not, May as posted earlier. Apologies.

Proposal: Rs 624 crore allocated for Commonwealth Games.

Proposal: CORRECTION: Sixth central pay commission to submit report by March 31, 2008. MARCH 31, 2008, not, May as posted earlier. Apologies.

Proposal:

Proposal: DEFENCE: Allocation for defence to be increased by 10 per cent from Rs 96,000 crore to Rs 1,05,600 crore.

Proposal: PROTECTING THE TIGER: One time grant of Rs 50 crore for the National Tiger Fund Authority, to deploy a special tiger protection force.

Proposal: Three schemes to be introduced for providing social security to unorganised sector workers.

Proposal: DEFENCE: Allocation to be increased by 10%

Proposal: 6th Pay Commission to table report by May 2008.

Proposal: Rs 750 crore for upgradation of 300 ITIs in 25 districts.

Proposal: Rs 32,676 crore as subsidy to Public Distribution System.

Proposal: PDS -- Public Distribution System -- through smart cards in Haryana and Chandigarh to start on pilot basis.

Proposal: Check out the Rediff Budget Coverage for simplified details on http://in.rediff.com/money/budget08.html

Proposal: Markets react negatively to FM's populist Budget proposals till now.. let's see what happens next

Proposal: Sensex down over 300 points

Proposal: Chidambaram said that according to estimates, 3 crore marginal and small farmers would benefit from the overnment's amnesty. Under the one-time settlement scheme that will benefit another one crore farmers, the government will give a rebate of 25 per cent on payment of outstanding loans. The agricultural credit of scheduled banks is estimated at Rs 2,40,000 crore in the current fiscal and it would go up to Rs 2,80,000 crore in 2008-09.

Proposal: PAN requirement to be extended to all transactions in capital market subject to a threshold.

Proposal: So where will the money come from? Is he going to tax us more? Wait with bated breath as he is about to roll out his tax proposals in a moment.

Proposal: Presenting his fifth Budget and the last one before the general elections, Chidambaram announced waiver of Rs 50,000 crore worth of loans to small and marginal farmers and a settlement scheme for other farmers that would cost the exchequer another Rs 10,000 crore.

Proposal: FM announces Rs 60,000-cr package for farmers Finance Minister P Chidambaram today announced a Rs 60,000-crore relief package for farmers, including complete waiver of loans given to small and marginal farmers.

Proposal: PAN NEEDED FOR ALL MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Proposal: Risk Capital Fund to be set up in SIDBI, the Small Industrial Development Bank of India.

Proposal: SMEs TO BENEFIT: Micro, small and medium enterprises to continue to get special attention, says the finance minister.

Proposal: GOOD NEWS FOR TEXTILES: Allocation for Textile Upgradation Fund to be more than doubled.

Proposal: 75 lakh people to be covered by health insurance schemes, says FM.

Proposal: OIL EXPLORATION: Foreign investment of $3.5 billion to $8 billion expected for exploration and development of new oil blocks.

Proposal: MORE ON FARMERS' LOAN WAIVER: The loan waiver scheme will benefit 3 crore (30 MILLION) small and medium farmers and cover loans totalling Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion). One crore (10 million) other farmers will benefit to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in the waiver.

Proposal: National Fund for Transmission and Distribution Reforms to be launched.

Proposal: Rs 800 crore for accelerated power reforms programme.

Proposal: More reforms needed in coal and electricity sectors to ensure double digit growth in manufacturing sector.

Proposal: The corpus of rural infrastructure development fund to be raised to Rs 14,000 crore, the FM says.

Proposal: Loan waiver scheme to involve loans liability of Rs 60,000 crore and to benefit four crore farmers.

Proposal: By loan waiver scheme, the country is discharging a deep debt and sense of gratitude to farmers, says Chidambaram.

Proposal: The government proposed to waive agricultural loans given by scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions to farmers up to March 31, 2007 and due for December 31.

Proposal: Stock market benchmark Sensex today dropped by over 200 points, in the middle of Finance Minister P Chidambaram announcing loan waivers worth Rs 60,000 crore for farmers in his budget speech.

Proposal: Market falls by 222.91 points to 17601.57 amid loan waiver announcement in budget.

Proposal: Implementation of debt waiver and debt relief for farmers will be completed by June 30 this year, the FM announced.

Proposal: There will, says FM, a one-time settlement of loans for other farmers.

Proposal: Agriculture loans restructured and rescheduled by banks from 2004-06 and other loans normally rescheduled under RBI guidelines will also be eligible under the waiver scheme.

Proposal: Meanwhile, statistics show that inflation has risen to 4.89 per cent for the week ended February 16, against 4.35 per cent in the previous week.

Proposal: Chidambaram begins again.. amidst more noise and shouts and clogans..

Proposal: Chidambaram's budget is certainly addressing a vote bank: farmers. If this is an indication of things to come, it might turn out to be a very very populist budget.

Proposal: Banking stocks start to plummet

Proposal: MORE NOISE IN LOK SABHA.. EVERYONE IS SHOUTING AT THE SAME TIME... CHIDAMBARAM CAN ONLY LOOK ON HELPLESSLESSLY..

Proposal: Complete waiver of loans for marginal farmers owning land up to one hectare and small farmers owning land up to 1 and 2 hectares.

Proposal: Nobody is listening to the Speaker. The members seem very agitated over the loan-waiver announcement by the FM. Meanwhile, Chidambaram can only keep repeating "Sir...," "Sir..."

Proposal: Members shouting. "GO TO YOUR SEAT," shouts Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

Proposal: A scheme of debt waiver and relief for small and marginal farmers announced.

Proposal: National Plant Protection Training Institute at Hyderabad to be made autonomous body and Rs.29 crore will be allocated to it.

Proposal: House erupts in uproar. Opposition and govt MPs are shouting at the top of their voices. Speech held up for now.

Proposal: Rs 644 crore for National Agriculture Insurance Scheme, which will be continued pending evolving an alternative crop insurance scheme.

Proposal: COMPLETE WAIVER OF ALL LOANS FOR SMALL AND MARGINAL FARMERS

Proposal: Rs 75 crore to be given to Agriculture Ministry for providing mobile soil testing laboratories in 250 districts.

Proposal: National Horticulture Mission to be given Rs 1,100 crore in 2008-09 with special focus on coconut cultivation.

Proposal: Rs 20,000 crore for irrigation projects under AIPB, showing an increase of Rs 9,000 crore over last year.

Proposal: ALL AGRI LOANS DISBURSED BY COMMERCIAL BANKS TO BE WAIVED

Proposal: FARMERS' DEBT TO BE WAIVED!

Proposal: Manufacturing, construction pull down Q3 GDP to 8.4 per cent A downturn in manufacturing and construction sectors pulled down economic growth rate in the third quarter of this fiscal to 8.4 per cent from 9.1 per cent a year ago. While the growth rate of the manufacturing sector came down to 9.3 per cent during October-December 2007 from 11.3 per cent in the corresponding period previous year, the construction sector growth rate dipped to 8.4 per cent from 10.8 per cent during the same period. According to quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released by the government today, October-December quarter was the worst in 2007-08 in terms of economic growth (8.4 per cent), which in turn can make come true the fears expressed in the Economic Survey that GDP growth for the full fiscal would fall below 9 per cent. The Economic Survey, tabled by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in Parliament yesterday, had said the economy during 2007-08 is expected to grow by 8.7 per cent. The GDP growth rate during nine month period (April-December 2007) worked out to be 8.9 per cent down from 9.6 per cent during the corresponding period last year. The agriculture and allied sector growth rate during Q3 declined to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter in the last fiscal.

Proposal: A target of Rs 2.80 lakh crore for agriculture credit set for the coming year.

Proposal: Rs 500 crore for corpus fund to subsidise all women Self Helf Groups for LIC cover for permanent disability.

Proposal: Market meanwhile is down 108.04 pts at 17716.44.

Proposal: Rs 7,200 crore to be allocated to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, marking an increase of 24 per cent.

Proposal: Meanwhile, the prices of some commodities like urad dal, gram dal and sooji have declined while maida edged up in the wholesale foodgrains market. Urad dal moved back to Rs 3,750 from Rs 3,850. Gram dal moved down by Rs 150 per quintal to Rs 3,100 from previous rate of Rs 3,250. Sooji edged down by Rs 25 to Rs 1,500 from against previous rate of Rs 1,525.

Proposal: 288 public sector bank branches to be opened in districts having minority community concentration.

Proposal: Agriculture growth rate at 2.6%. Agri credit too has doubled. More funds to be allocated for agriculture credit/loans.

Proposal: Rs 540 crore for multi-sectoral development plan for minority concentration districts.

Proposal: Allocation for Minority Affairs Ministry to be doubled from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.

Proposal: Rs 230 crore will be extended as additional equity to developmental organisations looking after the welfare of SC, ST, socially and economically backward classes and minorities.

Proposal: Rs 75 crore sanctioned for Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Programme for SC/ST students pursuing M.Phil.

Proposal: Allocation for several schemes in North East raised from Rs 14,365 crore to Rs 16,400 crore.

Proposal: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minority students to continue to get special attention.

Proposal: Rs 500 crore for identifying urgent needs of development programmes of border areas like Arunachal Pradesh.

Proposal: Allocation for Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission to be increased to Rs 7,300 crore. Rs 200 crore for potable water in schools. Rs 300 crore to be set aside for desalination plant in Chennai for drinking water.

Proposal: Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission to get Rs 6,865 crore this year against Rs 5,482 crore past year.

Proposal: NREGA -- the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme -- to be rolled out in all the 596 rural districts in the country in 2008-09.

Proposal: Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research to be set up at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram.

Proposal: The speech goes on... Rs 85 crore sanctioned for scholarships to students pursuing science education, says the finance minister.

Proposal: Some opposition members make noise to disrupt the speech, but the trouble passes soon

Proposal: Rs 992 crore for national AIDS programme.

Proposal: A national programme for the elderly to be started at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

Proposal: Allocation for ICDS -- Integrated Child Development Schemes -- increased to Rs 6,300 crore.

Proposal: Rashtra Swasthya Beema Yojana to start from April 1, 2008 in Delhi and Haryana. Rs 30,000 for each family belonging to unorganised sector.

Proposal: Allocation for NRHM -- the National Rural Health Mission -- increased to Rs 12,050 crore.

Proposal: Health outlay has been raised by 15%.

Proposal: Sensex drops further by 184.38 points to 17640.10, down a percent.

Proposal: The country's economic growth slowed down to 8.4 per cent for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, reflecting the apprehensions expressed in the Economic Survey that GDP expansion would fall below 9 per cent. The GDP growth during the year-ago quarter had stood at 9.1 per cent, while growth during the full year 2006-07 had touched 9.6 per cent. The Economic Survey, tabled in Parliament yesterday by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had said economic expansion would cool to 8.7 per cent in 2007-08 due to sluggishness in consumer durables segment, infrastructure and industrial production. "The new challenge is to maintain growth at these levels, not to speak of raising it further to double digit levels," the Survey, a report card on the economy, had said.

Proposal: Rs 100 crore to be given to the Information Technology ministry to set up national knowledge centres, the FM announced.

Proposal: Allocation for NRHM increased to Rs 12,050 crore.

Proposal: Three IITs to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.

Proposal: Schools of architecture and planning to be set up in Bhopal and Vijaywada.

Proposal: Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened in 20 districts with special focus on regions having SC/ST concentration. Allocation of Rs 130 crore for this purpose has been proposed by the finance minister.

Proposal: 16 central universities to be opened in 2008-09.

Proposal: Rs.750 crore more to be given for merit scholarship to students up to 10th and 12th class.

Proposal: Mid day Meal scheme extended to upper primary level in 3479 schools.

Proposal: FM plans to provide Rs 13,100 crore for the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan.

Proposal: Sensex down over 100 pts in pre-budget weak trade The stock market remains jittery as the Finance Minister P Chidambaram begins his Budget Speech amid indications of a slowdown in the country's economic growth. The BSE's 30-share Sensex was trading 114.61 points down at 1110 hours at 17,709.87 points. The index touched a low of 17,682.47 points earlier in the morning, against its previous close of 17,824.48 points. There were just nine stocks trading in the green among the 30 Sensex stocks, as against 21 trading with losses. ITC, Satyam, Hindustan Unilver, TCS and DLF were among the major gainers, while Wipro, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Hindalco and Tata Motors were trading with gains. Keeping inflation under check is one of the cornerstones of the Government's policy, Chidambaram said ahead of tabling the Budget.

Proposal: 410 additional Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya to be set up in backward blocks.

Proposal: Gross budgetary support to be raised to Rs 2,43,386 crore, an increase of more than Rs 38,000 crore from last year.

Proposal: Allocation for Bharat Nirman to be raised to Rs 31,280 crore.

Proposal: Twenty per cent hike in education budget this year from Rs 28,674 crore to Rs 34,400 crore.

Proposal: 6,000 high quality 'model schools' to be set up at a cost of Rs 600 crore. FM wants India to be a knowledge society.

Proposal: Eleventh Plan started on a robust growth.

Proposal: Agriculture credit doubled in the first two years of the government to reach Rs 2.4 lakh crore (Rs 2.4 trillion) by March 2008.

Proposal: Primary education to be a major policy initiative in this year's Budget.

Proposal: The FM plans to allot more for education, especially at the primary school level.

Proposal: Agriculture credit has been doubled in the first two years of UPA rule, says the FM

Proposal: Senesx down further by 125.23 pts at 17699.25

Proposal: Rice production estimiated at 94.08 million tonnes, maize 16.78 mt, soyabean 9.45 mt and cotton 23.38 million bales.

Proposal: Keeping inflation under check is one of the cornerstones of the Government's policy.

Proposal: Services and manufacturing sectors expected to grow by 10.7 per cent and 9.4 per cent, says Chidambaram.

Proposal: Govt will monitor foreign fund inflow, the FM said

Proposal: Govt will take steps to take steps to check rise of inflation

Proposal: Sensex still down 110.30 points at 17714.18

Proposal: Growth rate of agricultre extimated at 2.6 per cent during the current year

Proposal: We need to be vigilant and be proactive to change our policies, to counter this global problem.

Proposal: Indian economy, like all developing economies, are beinghurt by these global upheavals in prices.

Proposal: Agriculture growth was disappointing at 2.6% only, hurting the eeconomy. The rise in global oil prices too has hurt us, say the FM

Proposal: This is the FM�s 7th Budget

Proposal: India�s growth will be at 8.7% according to the CSO, but FM optimistic India will attain 8.8% growth at least

Proposal: Indian economy has recorded an over 8% growth for 12 successive quarters, says the FM

Proposal: PC hails Manmohan Singh as he begins his speech.

Proposal: The FM has now begun his Speeech.

Proposal: Finance Minister P Chidambaram is about to present the Union Budget for 2008-09 in Parliament. However, it remains to be seen if the belligerent Opposition political parties allow him to read out his Budget Speech in peace. There is uproar in the Lok Sabha and the Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is finding it difficult to control the members of parliament.

Proposal: The FM is in Lok Sabha and is about to start his Budget Speech. Hold on to your chairs!

Proposal: Market falls ahead off Budget 2008-09 The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by 129 points in early trade today as funds and general investors reduced their holdings ahead of the Budget 2008-09. The 30-share index, which closed flat in the last two sessions, lost 129.70 to be quoted at 17,694.78 points after the first five minutes of trade. The National Stock Exchange index Nifty was also lower by 44.20 points at 5,240.20 points. Marketmen said the selling pressure emerged as stock market participants reduced their position before Finance Minister P Chidambaram presents the Budget in Parliament at noon. They said a falling trend in global market also influenced the trading sentiment.

Proposal: The NSE Nifty is down 30.00 pts at 5,255.10, that's down 0.57% from close of market yesterday.

Proposal: The BSE Sensex meanwhile is down 104.63 pts at 17719.85, down 0.59%.

Proposal: 5. Boost to the farm sector seen The agriculture sector which forms the core of the economy will be the government's top priority. The government plans to achieve a growth of 4 per cent from the agriculture sector, up from the projected 2.6 per cent in 2007-08. Several measures are in the offing. Income generated from agricultural advances by state cooperative banks and district central cooperative banks is likely to be exempted from tax from 2008-09. The finance ministry may also promote measures to consolidate fragmented land holdings for boosting agricultural growth. Companies may be allowed to invest in contract farming to push the growth of agriculture.

Proposal: 4. Senior citizens might rejoice In a welcome move, senior citizens who lease their property on rent may see some relief. The government has plans to exempt tax on rental income for senior citizens. Now, all age groups have a tax exemption of 30 per cent on rental income. The National Housing and Habitat Policy also supports a hike in tax exemption limit for rental income. The policy was cleared by the Cabinet in November. If the proposal is passed in the Budget, millions of unoccupied houses will be open for people seeking rental accommodation. There are also plans to hike the tax exemption limit from 30 per cent to 50 per cent for all rental earnings.

Proposal: 3. TVs, music systems may cost less If you want to buy a high end music system, a plasma TV, a large refrigerator or an air-conditioner, it would perhaps do you well to wait till the Budget, for the finance minister is most likely to cut excise duty on some of these goods to boost consumer spending. The finance minister has hinted that he might unveil a fiscal package to boost consumption. This, coupled with lower interest rates and low taxes, will mean more money in your hands to spend and boost the manufacturing and consumer goods sectors. Also, Chidambaram has already requested PSU banks to make more loans available to people for white goods and houses. There is no clarity on whether the finance minister will make cars and two-wheelers more affordable. However, indications are that he would certainly infuse more funds into building better infrastructure for the country. So at least you can expect better roads to drive on. . . perhaps, better lighted ones too.

Proposal: 2. Good news for home buyers, builders? The real estate sector is likely to see more action this year. This Budget may bring some good news for housing project developers. In a bid to curb the slowdown in the housing sector, Chidambaram may consider extending the sunset clause for housing projects, which is ending on March 31, 2008. Under Section 80 IB of the Income Tax Act 1961, profits from housing projects, with a minimum built-up area of 1,000 square feet in cities and 1,500 square feet at any other place, are exempted from tax. Chidambaram has already urged banks to reduce interest rates to make housing loans affordable for more people. The other major sunset clauses that are due to expire in the coming Budget are related to Software Technology Parks of India, Export Oriented Units and Industrial Parks. STPIs and EoUs enjoy tax holiday till March 31, 2009. If industrial parks are set up by March 2009, they could enjoy income tax exemption for 10 years.

Proposal: 1. Relief for income tax payers Income tax payers are likely to get 'major' relief in the Budget as the government prepares itself to please the middle class in the election year. Finance Minister P Chidambaram can give a marginal, but visible, relief to personal income tax assessees this year, as tax collections have improved substantially over the past three years. There is significant pressure on Chidambaram to reduce the effective rates and the income threshold limit for an income tax payer could be raised from Rs 1,10,000 to Rs 1,25,000 or Rs 1,30,000. Experts feel, this being the lection year Budget, Chidambarm will most likely be tempted to woo the voters by offering some tax sops. An announcement on the new income tax code is also expected in the Budget. The code is aimed at simplifying tax laws. And, yes, companies could see some modification in the Fringe Benefit Tax.

Proposal: Here are FIVE things that people feel the FM might do in this Budget:

Proposal: Some experts do not expect the finance minister to do anything that might hurt the stock markets, or the vote banks. So will it turn out be a feel good, please all, populist Budget? Let's wait another 15 minutes, before the Budget Speech begins to find out.

Proposal: However, it remains to be seen if the belligerent Opposition political parties allow him to read out his Budget Speech in peace. More than the Opposition, the FM will be quite embarrassed with the aggression of the UPA's own allies, the Leftists, who have been blasting the UPA government's policies and saying that it might meet with the same fate as the erstwhile NDA government.

Proposal: Finance Minister P Chidambaram will be presenting the Union Budget for 2008-09 in Parliament in a short while from now. He is on his way to the Lok Sabha.

Proposal: Four. Morarji Desai, was twice the finance minister of India -- 1959-64 and 1967-70. He served as the prime minister from 1977 to 1979. Chaudhary Charan Singh became the prime minister in late 1979, having held the finance portfolio earlier the same year. V P Singh was finance minister from 1985 to 1987 and prime minister from 1989 to 1990. India's first prime minister (1947-64) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had also held the finance portfolio from 1958 to 1959. Indira Gandhi too held the finance portfolio from 1970 to 1971 while she was still the prime minister. Her tenure as PM was from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1984. India's new prime minister Manmohan Singh also was the finance minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government.

Proposal: More on Budget: How many Indian FMs went on to become PM?

Proposal: Earlier, Budgets were presented at 5 p.m. from 1924-1998. The timing was initially fixed keeping in mind the convenience of the House of Commons in London, which convened round that time. Yashwant Sinha, shifted the Budget speech to noon in 1999. Now for the last years, the Budget has been presented in the Lok Sabha at 11.00 a.m. Thankfully..

Proposal: More Budget Trivia: At what time were Indian Budgets presented earlier?

Proposal: According to the Webster dictionary the word Budget was derived from the Middle English bowgette, which came from Middle French bougette, which in turn is a diminutive of bouge, meaning a leather bag.

Proposal: Some more Budget trivia: The word Budget is derived from?

Proposal: The finance ministry has its own press in the basement of the building. It employs 30 employees who, during the week before the Budget, stay in the ministry itself and have no means of communicating with the outside world.

Proposal: While we keep you updated on the markets and the Budget, here�s some Budget trivia: Where are the Budget papers printed?

Proposal: Experts are saying that the stock market is reacting to pre-Budget speculation. They advise investors not to ruch into the market before the Budget announcements are made.

Proposal: NSE Nifty too is down 31.35 points at 5,253.75, also down 0.60%.

Proposal: The BSE Sensex meanwhile is down -107.37 points at 17717.11. Than's down -0.60%.

Proposal: "This $70 as dividend gets taxed once again in India at 34 per cent. In OECD countries, this gets tackled by allowing firms to get credit for the tax already paid elsewhere. Without this, Indian firms are forced to keep their money abroad, in places like the Channel Islands and Mauritius, and that hurts the economy," Mukherjee says.

Proposal: PricewaterhouseCoopers Executive Director Shyamal Mukherjee adds: "One of the major gaps in the tax law is relating to cross-border investments by Indian companies. The issue of underlying tax credits has got a lot more serious with Indian firms investing a lot more overseas. Basically, if an Indian firm makes a profit of $100 on its unit in the US and pays a tax of $30, it repatriates $70 to India."

Proposal: "The FM has been talking of writing a new tax code. This is the place to watch. He'll probably mention it in the Budget, and then go through a consultative process by putting it on the web and then invite comments, through open houses, and so on," he adds.

Proposal: PricewaterhouseCoopers Executive Director Shyamal Mukherjee says, while speaking to Business Standard: "There is a view this is an election Budget, so there could be some tinkering with, say, the tax rate for individuals in the lowest slab -- I don't see the FM raising the income exemption limit as this will remove people from the list of taxpayers; he could lower rates. But the real changes will be made elsewhere."

Proposal: The minimum income threshold limit for income tax payer could be raised from Rs 110,000 to Rs 125,000 or Rs 130,000, sources said. More income in the pockets of consumers will boost demand for consumer goods as well as household savings for investment.

Proposal: Sectors like pharmaceuticals, textile machinery, food processing, paper and auto, including two-wheelers and tyres, are expected to get relief in excise duty, but like last year, Chidambaram could also prune excise duty exemptions to maintain revenue collections.

Proposal: Reports say that the finance minister might announce a cut in excise duty rates across the board from 16 per cent to 14 per cent or sector-specific duty cuts in the Budget, while customs duty rates could be retained to please domestic industry.

Proposal: He could even announce a loan waiver for farmers.

Proposal: Chidambaram is also expected to announce massive funds for social sector projects like National Rural Employment Guarantee, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, rural health and power sectors and big debt-relief package of around Rs 30,000 crore for farmers without disturbing the fiscal discipline.

Proposal:

Proposal: Government servants are expecting an announcement on implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.

Proposal: The middle-class and the industry remember his 'dream' Budget of 1997-98 and expect a bonanza from Chidambaram in terms of relief in income tax and excise duties.

Proposal: Chidambaram, who will be presenting his 7th Budget in Parliament, will have a tough time balancing conflicting interests while presenting the Budget. The Economic Survey, tabled in the Parliament yesterday, has projected fiscal deficit to be further pruned to 3% in the next fiscal.

Proposal: With 7 Assembly elections this year and the general polls in 2009, the Budget will offer the last opportunity to the Congress-led UPA government to win the confidence of voters. The government is also faced with a growing protests over farmers' suicides in some parts of the country. With tax collections rising, Chidambaram could announce tax benefits through cuts in personal and corporate income tax, excise duty relief and simplification of taxes and massive funds for farm, rural employment and other social projects.

Proposal: Since this will be the last full Budget of the United Progressive Alliance government, everyone -- individual taxpayers and corporate -- feels they might get some relief. But there are many who think that the finance minister will not really make them happy. The skills of Harvard-educated Chidambaram, who by profession is a lawyer, would be put to test when he rises to present in Lok Sabha the Budget for 2008-09, in a short while from now.

Proposal: With Railway Minister Lalu Prasad coming out with a populist Rail Budget, Finance Minister P Chidambaram too is expected to present a please-all Budget today. But will he?

Proposal: Please join us at 10.30 a.m. for LIVE commentary on the Union Budget 2008-09, as we bring to you Finance Minister P Chidambaram's Budget proposals even as he delivers the Budget Speech in the Lok Sabha. The Budget Speech will begin at 11.00 a.m.

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