Gold and silver prices plunged up to 9 per cent in futures trade on Sunday, hitting their lower circuit levels ahead of the Union Budget for 2026-27, as investors extended profit booking after the recent record-breaking rally.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the general budget in Parliament on February 1. The Budget session of Parliament begins on January 28 with President Droupadi Murmu addressing both houses.
The government on Sunday gave a strong push to upgradation and expansion of healthcare infrastructure, medical education and pharma sector with the Union Budget 2026-27 announcing a slew of steps, including those aimed at making India a global hub for allied healthcare professionals and biopharma manufacturing.
'It was like rigorously preparing for a solid, good exam...' 'I don't know what marks I will get, but I felt the rigorous preparation of an exam.' 'You may sweat, but I feel rejuvenated.'
'The finance minister missed yet another opportunity to simplify the income tax structure in the Budget.' 'This was an opportune moment to get rid of the old tax system entirely and move fully to the new system,' asserts M Govinda Rao, member of the 14th Finance Commission.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commended the outstanding performance of chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa
Few finance ministers announce any taxation measure that could upset the stock market. Ms Sitharaman decided to take that risk, observes A K Bhattacharya.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
She said I treated her like a bachchi. At another moment, she said I had gone to various people and 'bitched' about her. She also threatened to bring the entire matter to the PM's notice. A revealing excerpt from Subhash Chandra Garg's We Also Make Policy: An Insider's Account of How the Finance Ministry Functions.
With the all-party meetings called by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla producing no breakthrough to end the deadlock in Parliament, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi accused opposition parties of repeatedly 'insulting' Dhankhar.
Here's how the budget impacts the pocket of the common man.
The government should not go in for an 'aggressive fiscal consolidation' in the upcoming Budget as global risks have not abated, RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Member Ashima Goyal said on Wednesday. Goyal further said subsidies are expected to come down as food and energy inflation moderates. WPI inflation in food articles in November was 1.07 per cent against 8.33 per cent in the previous month.
The Budget oration of the finance minister and the confidence with which she delivered it, along with the measures and the recent upsurge in the economy would all contribute to unleashing the storied 'animal spirits' and help the economy run on the growth path quite smoothly. Or so the government hopes, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Nirmala Sitharaman presents the National Democratic Alliance government's budget amid high hopes and expectations from across the spectrum of society -- from farmers to industralist. Will the Budget fulfill the expectations of all?
'India's output contraction in the previous year was among the worst in the world!'
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in conversation after presenting his first full Budget in parliament today...
In the Union Budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a total of Rs 1,52,369 crore has been set aside for capital expenditure that includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.
Sitharaman is presenting the full Budget for 2019-20. She is carrying the Budget documents in a red silk bag with national emblem.
Had Finance Minister Sitharaman thought a little more about the middle class, disadvantaged sections, and the poor who are struggling, it would have been an inclusive Budget that would have made history, notes Ramesh Menon.
Accelerated development of highways will be taken up with 2,500 km access controlled highways and 9,000 km of economic corridor. In addition, there will be 2,000 km each of strategic highway projects and port connectivity projects, she said.
Prime Minister hailed the Budget, saying it's practical, positive.
Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget in Parliament on Saturday.
How well do you know India's finance ministers?
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government has come out with open and transparent Budget and has not made any attempt to hide anything under the carpet.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "This will cover 99.3 per cent of the companies. Now only 0.7 per cent of companies will remain outside this rate."
Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda presented the Railway Budget in the Parliament on Tuesday.
What has been the impact of this Budget on your daily life?
P Chidambaram presented the Union Budget for the eighth time.
Ganesh Natarajan answered many IT-related questions during an hour-long rediff chat on Tuesday.
The Indian Railways will not be privatised. It will remain with the government, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said while presenting the Railway Budget in Parliament on Wednesday.
M Rafeeque Ahmed discusses revenue deficit, exports and leather trade with Rediff readers.
While the finance minister made the tax payers slightly happy by raising the individual tax exemption limit to Rs 300,000, he made many others unhappy.
The search for a 'perfect decision' derailed a 2006 plan to build diesel and electric locomotive factories under the PPP model.
The Annual Plan for Railways in 2013-14 financial year is proposed at Rs 63,363 crore, Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said.
The markets tanked 209 points after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tabled the Union Budget in Parliament on Friday. Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan defends the measures, saying the markets will need time to comprehend the measures.
What impact will the Budget have on the IT sector?
Get ready to shell out Rs 5 instead of Rs 3 for entering railway platforms across the country as the increased platform ticket rate will come into effect from Tuesday.
Like 2017-18, govt will seek comments from the public at large, including Facebook and Twitter
I strongly believe that if the government does indeed have the mindset and launches the machinery to severely punish white collar criminals, my life will be easier albeit in a convoluted manner.
India, desperate to trim a gaping current account deficit, took a slew of measures last year to curb demand for bullion
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