OPINION
EDITORIAL
The farm accent
THE FINANCE MINISTER, Mr Palaniappan Chidambaram, is deserving of kudos as his Union Budget 2004-05 dares to shift spending priorities in favour of agriculture and the small-scale sector without hurting industry. Dr Manmohan Singh, as Finance ...
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BUDGET
Textiles woven in style
THE first Budget of the new Government was on expected lines. Keeping in mind the short period that the Government has been in office, one did not expect any major structural changes. The Finance Minister, Mr P. ...
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More services annexed at a higher rate
THE revised Budget estimates for 2003-2004 indicate service tax collections at Rs 8,300 crore against the Budget estimate of Rs 8,000 crore. For 2004-2005, the Finance Minister has projected service tax collections at ...
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VAT full of promises
THE Finance Minister has made the now-customary statement on early implementation of VAT with no firm commitment. While no doubt VAT implementation is a State subject, Mr P. Chidambaram could have made a positive ...
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Watch out as the government shifts gears and piggybacks
NO `Panch Priorities' this time but Mr P. Chidambaram lists "seven clear economic objectives" under `guiding light'. PC is, however, not too enthusiastic about presenting a Budget after one-quarter of a year has ...
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No luck if you cross a `lakh'
IN MY wife's school, there was a collective jubilation by the teachers until I spoiled their party with an unsolicited nugget of information. On the personal taxation front, the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, had ...
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Three cheers to Chidambaram — Budget has all right things in right place
With all the obvious constraints, Mr Chidambaram has managed to increase budgetary support to Plan schemes, increase the quantum of the States' share of taxes and duties, and managed to lower the revenue and fiscal deficits.
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In line with expectations
THE Budget's main thrust was broadly as expected, and in line with the Common Minimum Programme that was presented earlier; with a push on rural development, agriculture, employment generation and basic education. Importantly, while the ...
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Of farmers, gender sensitivity
IT WAS a sheer co-incidence that one got to watch the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram's Budget speech hardly four days after meeting groups of farmers in the Madurai/Theni belt of Tamil Nadu and observing their ...
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Budget 2004-05 — Strong step towards growth, stability and equity
Building on the Budgets of his predecessors and at the same time taking care to meet the objectives of the NCMP, the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has succeeded in the task of constrained optimisation. The Budget is impressive for the number o f initiatives it has taken in respect of disadvantaged areas of the country. Ultimately, however, its test lies in its implementation, says S. Venkitaramanan.
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A Common Minimum Budget
THE Union Budget for 2004-05 was finally presented this afternoon. It was keenly awaited for many reasons. One was the unexpected change in government at the Centre and the second was the scare that the allies of the ruling Congress imparted to ...
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Tax admin: Reforms kept in arrears
MR P. Chidambaram is undoubtedly a votary of tax reforms. He had in fact toyed with the idea of re-writing the income-tax law in his previous tenure. That was an ambitious project which could not be completed. He was ...
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LETTERS
A major concern
More reforms needed
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