Also click here to stay tuned with all the live updates from Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Union Budget speech today

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Budget 2021 on February 1 at 11 am in Parliament. Stay tuned for all the top developments with CNBCTV18.com 's budget coverage

Jan 31, 2021 8:30 PM

Budget 2021 LIVE Updates: Sitharaman's 'economic vaccine' coming on Monday

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday will deliver her promised budget like no other that is expected to provide relief to the pandemic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving the economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours. As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.

Jan 31, 2021 8:26 PM

Budget 2021 LIVE Updates: First part of budget session to end on Feb 13, says report

The issue of farmers' protests is likely to dominate the Budget Session of Parliament, the first part of which will now end on February 13 instead of February 15, sources said on Sunday. At an all-party meeting, the leaders of various parties raised farmers' protests over farm laws and wanted a discussion on the issue. The Rajya Sabha also decided to change its sitting to February 13. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu also made a fervent appeal to the leaders of various parties to ensure smooth and effective functioning of the House during the Budget Session. The leaders attending the meeting assured that there would be full participation in all the debates and discussions in the House, the sources added.

Jan 31, 2021 8:25 PM

Budget 2021 LIVE Updates: Healthcare likely to get top priority in Budget, says Survey

India's healthcare sector is likely to get the maximum attention of the government in the upcoming Budget to be unveiled on Monday, as it comes in the face of the country braving a once-in-a-century global pandemic, says a survey. The Assocham-Primus Partners survey covered more than 550 industry participants, and 39.7 per cent respondents said healthcare would receive the highest priority in terms of resource allocation and policy support in the Budget. Manufacturing emerged as the second key sector expected to be in focus, with 14.7 per cent respondents expecting it to receive the Finance Minister's attention, followed by MSMEs (11.4 per cent), real estate (10.7 per cent) and infrastructure (9.6 per cent). The Covid-19 pandemic tested the limits of the global healthcare system. While the government's proactive measures and the frontline workers' tireless efforts have helped tide the way, the pandemic has also brought forth the fragility of the healthcare system," the survey stated.

Jan 31, 2021 8:23 PM

Here are the key expectations of the travel and tourism industry

The travel and tourism industry was amongst the first-hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will probably be amongst the last to realise full recovery. UNTWO's report estimated a loss of $1.1 trillion to the international tourism industry in the calendar year 2020. The sector's losses in India can be estimated to Rs 125 lakh crores, as per CARE Ratings. As a sector whose contribution is projected to hit 9.9% of the country's GDP before the end of this decade, a concrete roadmap is required to revive the beleaguered industry and help it emerge stronger in the post COVID world.

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Jan 31, 2021 7:21 PM

Here are the key expectations of India's retail sector

Retail Sector has provided recommendations to the Government, ahead of the upcoming Budget 2021. Retail sector’s wish list includes a reduction in customs duties on certain products such as furniture, toys, etc., enhancing the existing local testing facilities for quality testing of import of certain items, amendment of law under GST to permit cross-state returns, and reviewing Customs Act to control imports under free trade agreements.

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Jan 31, 2021 7:17 PM

Healthcare likely to get top priority in Budget: Survey

India's healthcare sector is likely to get the maximum attention of the government in the upcoming Budget to be unveiled on Monday, as it comes in the face of the country braving a once-in-a-century global pandemic, says a survey. The Assocham-Primus Partners survey covered more than 550 industry participants, and 39.7 percent respondents said healthcare would receive the highest priority in terms of resource allocation and policy support in the Budget. Manufacturing emerged as the second key sector expected to be in focus, with 14.7 per cent respondents expecting it to receive the Finance Minister's attention, followed by MSMEs (11.4 percent), real estate (10.7 percent) and infrastructure (9.6 percent).

Jan 31, 2021 5:06 PM

Petrol prices remain steady ahead of Budget day

Prices of petrol and diesel remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive day across the metros.

In the national capital, petrol was priced at Rs 86.30 per litre. In Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, petrol was sold for Rs 92.86, Rs 88.82 and Rs 87.69 per litre.

Diesel prices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata remained unchanged at Rs 76.48, Rs 83.30, Rs 81.71 and Rs 80.08 per litre, respectively.

Jan 31, 2021 3:53 PM

Jan 31, 2021 3:44 PM

Rural poor, farmers' progress to be govt's priority

Amid the coronavirus pandemic when the pace of manufacturing and services sector came to a grinding halt, agriculture and allied sectors in India have picked up pace as the country saw the strength of the farm sector.The government also took care of a large population of the country related to agriculture and farming and enacted new laws to intensify the winds of improvement in the agricultural sector. The Budget 2021-22 is going to be presented in Parliament on Monday, amid wrangling over agricultural reform.In such a situation, it is expected that the Modi government, which claims to give priority to the progress of villages, the poor and farmers, will also give priority to agriculture and rural development in the upcoming Budget.

Jan 31, 2021 2:55 PM

Jan 31, 2021 2:52 PM

Indian cryptocurrency players in huddle as govt mulls ban

As India plans to introduce a new law to prohibit all 'private cryptocurrencies' in the country, the industry stakeholders have come out in unison, hoping that the government will listen to all the stakeholders before taking any decision.

Among the bills lined up for consideration during the Budget Session of Parliament is the 'Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021' that will create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.

The Bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India. However, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.

"Since the government is considering introducing the Bill during this session of Parliament, we are sure the government will definitely listen to all the stakeholders before taking any decision," said Sumit Gupta, co-founder and chief executive of CoinDCX, a cryptocurrency exchange in India.

Jan 31, 2021 2:19 PM

Budget should focus on technology & robotics adoption for Atmanirbhar Bharat mission: Kapuria

Budget 2021 should focus on enhancing productivity by incentivising the use of technology to make India 'Atmanirbhar' and future-ready, an official with industrial autonomous and AI technologies said on Sunday. "Reduction of customs duty/IGST and providing tax breaks/incentives to robotics adopters can boost demand," Hi- Tech Robotics Systemz founder & CEO Anuj Kapuria said.

Jan 31, 2021 2:13 PM

Government could increase the basic exemption limit for income not liable to tax to Rs 3.5 lakh

Homi Mistry, a partner with Deloitte India has stated that the government could increase the basic exemption limit for income not liable to tax from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh in view of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The move is expected to provide more disposable income to people, and increase their spending capacity.

Jan 31, 2021 2:10 PM

View: ‘Green Stimulus’ – Can Budget 2021 balance economic recovery and carbon neutrality goals?

The expectations from Budget 2021, especially with respect to the renewables sector is multi-fold this year owing to a significant change in the supply and power consumption and the COVID-19 impact on…

Jan 30, 2021 8:59 PM

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