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Kolkata: With finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday (February 1) ready to present Union Budget 2026 in a few minutes, there are a lot of questions on the lips of the citizens. Will there be income tax relief this year too? Will the govt continue its focus on capital expenditure and building of infrastructure? Will she announce steps to create a large number of jobs? Today is Sunday. This is just the second time in the country that the Union budget will be presented in Parliament on a Sunday. The first time such a thing happened was in 1999. Also this will be the ninth budget for Sitharaman and she is just one budget away from equaling Morarji Desai’s record of 10 budget presentations. Continuing the focus on consumption is one of the primary focus areas of the FM. She tried sincerely in the Budget of 2025. and offered significant income tax relief. As an outcome, an individual who earns up to Rs 12.75 lakh a year won’t have too pay any income tax at all in the new tax...
Kolkata: It is a common tragedy that though an average person stops earning when he/she is 58 or 60, the trail of expenditure never stops. In fact, it can even rise if the person suffers from ill health. So how does he/she plan to defray his/her living cost? Employees’ Provident Fund, or EPF, is one of the fundamental social safety nets that has been designed for an employee and take care of his/her expenses after retirement. Let 's see how EPF helps an employee at the time of retirement. It consists of two part -- one makes a one-time lumpsum payment to the retiree. Two, another part funds a monthly pension throughout the life of the employee and even after expirt for the spouse. The amount in the EPF corpus depends on long-term compounding that takes place throughout the working life of an employee. If it is assumed that a person starts working at 25 and retires at 60, money will accumulate in the EPF for the entire period, that is 35 years. Two significant benefits There are...
Kolkata: Are small and medium the new maximum -- at least in the industrial canvas of the country? Well, there is less rhetoric in the question than seems apparent at first. The Economic Survey presented on Thursday, Jan 29 in Parliament has revealed figures that suggest the maximalist role of the MSME sector. They now account for 35.4% of manufacturing, 48.58% of exports and as much as 31.1% of GDP. Backbone of the industrial economy The Economic Survey 2025-26 has described the MSME sector as the "backbone of India’s industrial economy". Detailing its contribution to manufacturing, exports and GDP, the survey said it is a huge employer as well. As many as 32.82 crore individuals are employed in more than 7.47 crore businesses. This makes the MSME sector the second biggest generator of employment after agriculture. Global trends The development of the MSMEs in India is actually in line with global trends. "Globally, MSMEs make up about 90 per cent of businesses and are responsible...
Kolkata: The Economic Survey that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented in the Parliament on Jan 29 said real GDP growth for the current financial year is going to be 7.4% while GVA (Gross Value Added) will grow at 7.3%. The survey stated that the numbers corroborated "India’s status as the fastest-growing major economy for the fourth consecutive year." It also said that the private final consumption expenditure rose by 7.0% in FY26 and came to constitute 61.5% of GDP -- the highest level since 2012. The survey mentioned the trijunction of low inflation, rising real purchasing power and stable employment. It also mentioned the contribution of robust agricultural performance which helped a revival of rural consumption and tax rationalisation (read GST rejig) helping urban consumption. "Investment activity strengthened in FY26, with Gross Fixed Capital Formation growing by 7.8 per cent and its share remaining steady at 30 per cent of GDP. This momentum was buoyed by sustained...
Kolkata: With cost of higher education rising fast, many are inclined to invest in mutual fund schemes designed for children. As the name suggested, children 's mutual fund schemes are specialised, goal-oriented hybrid instruments which can enable one to build a cool corpus for future expenses such as higher education and/or marriage or using as seed money to set up a small business. Since these encourage long-term investments, the usually carry a five-year lock-in period or until the child turns 18. Investing in mutual funds for children is fairly simple. A parent or a legal guardian has to open a minor account in which he/she is the custodian. For the mechanicals, a few basic documents are needed for KYC -- the kid 's birth certificate for proof of age and that for establishing relation with the adult who opened the minor account. Usually a SIP has to be opened and the guardian has to manage it till the kid becomes an adult. The KYC requirements According to the rules, all...
Kolkata: Keep it simple GST style -- this is what India Inc and man experts are urging finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to do with the complex web of customs duties to boost trade and accelerate resolution of disputes. Ahead of the budget the reforms that industry wants to see in the field of customs a slew of reforms involving rationalisation of customs duty rates and cutting down the existing eight-slab structure to five or six at the most. The investors also the government to introduce a single-window clearance mechanism for imports and exports. Apart from the overhaul of customs duty structure, industry also wants quick action on amnesty schemes to unlock Rs 1.53 lakh crore which is mired in disputes. In short, the ease of doing business in the domain of customs has to go up. Single window can cut down on bureaucracy Gulzar Didwania, partner of Deloitte India has eloquently described what ails the customs sector. "Currently, an importer or an exporter has to approach various...
Kolkata: The Union budget will be placed on Sunday, Feb 1. Before that important exercise by the government, there are no mainboard issues this week. Both India Inc and investors might be a bit nervous waiting to see the provisions in the budget. However, there are half a dozen SME IPOs the bidding windows of which will open this week. One is opening today Jan 27. The issue is a book build one that is designed to raise Rs 17.61 crores through a combination of fresh issue of 0.28 crore shares only. Let 's have a look at the details. Kasturi Metal Composite IPO GMP According to investorgain, Kasturi Metal Composite IPO GMP stood at zero in early morning of Jan 27. It did not rise from that level over the past few days. However, it must be kept in mind that GMP or Grey Market Premium is an unofficial indicator which can be extremely volatile and does not guarantee any listing gain. Kasturi Metal Composite IPO price band. lot size Kasturi Metal Composite IPO price band is set at Rs...
Kolkata: What sits on less than 3% of the Indian land but contributes to 60% of the GDP? Answer: its cities. India can still live in the villages but the economic pulse throbs in the cities. Against this rapidly urbanising scenario, management consultancy MNC PWC has focused on transport solutions in the expanding cities and has pointed out that pollution, congestion, hygiene, safety, ageing populations and rising expectations of convenience are all touchpoints to satisfy while trying to create affordable, fast, clean, and reliable public transport against a broad challenge of tight fiscal space. PWC has emphasised that five priorities stand out. These are: Models for all cities projected to be million-plus The budget should mandate transport models for all cities whose population will be more than 10 lakh by 2030, said PWC. This should be done so that "city-wide integrated transport and land-use models enable testing of the impact of proposed projects, simulate policy changes and...
Kolkata: The Indian equity markets seem to have a lot to do with the falling Indian rupee. Indian rupee is close to the 92 mark against the dollar and the reason is the aggressive selling of Indian equities by FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors), analyst are pointing out. The rupee closed at 91.88 against the US dollar which is just short of the low of 91.96 the rupee touched on Friday. One of the major reasons is the consistent pull out by the FIIs. “Foreign institutional investors have already pulled out nearly $3.5 billion from Indian equities this month, pushing the Nifty 50 down close to 5% in January,” CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari told the media. NSE data indicate that FIIs have sold Indian stocks valued at Rs 16,267 crore till Jan 23. In 2025, the Indian currency was the worst performing in Asia. In Jan 2026, it declined by more than 2% against the greenback, analysts are pointing out. Travel, education, treatment abroad more expensive The falling rupee makes any...
Kolkata: As India moves towards the government 's over arching goal of attaining the status of a developed nation by 2047, the importance of technology sovereignty in building an ecosystem for resilient electronics and semiconductor manufacturing is rising constantly. Management consultant major PWC has set out its recommendations towards that end. The broad objective is to work out a space for India in the global value chain (GVC), says PWC. "A continued policy push towards electronic components and semiconductor manufacturing is critical to ensure supply chain ecosystem development, reducing lead times and improve reliability," PWC has stated in its pre-Budget note. MSME incentives limited PWC thinks it is essential to incentivise the role of the MSMEs in India in the electronic components ecosystem. It has stated that MSMEs account for 25–35% of the industry and capital support along with continued access to advanced technology and skilled talent essential for this sector....
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