NEW DELHI: Tax payers will be looking forward to some relief from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee who is expected to raise the income tax exemption limit to at least Rs 2 lakh in his budget proposals to be unveiled in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.
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The Minister may also marginally raise the slabs in other tax brackets of 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 30 per cent. The Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill has also made a mention of it.
The DTC, which will replace the Income Tax 1961, however, will only come into force from 2013-14 and the Minister may make a formal announcement on it in his budget speech.
The Standing Committee of Parliament that has scrutinised the DTC Bill has already submitted its report to the Lok Sabha Speaker.
Although the Committee had suggested raising the tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh, it is unlikely that Mukherjee will agree to it in view of the need to contain fiscal deficit.
With limited space for give aways, the Budget is likely to balance populism with some tough measures to check tax evasion and generation of black money.
However, in view of reverses in the recently concluded state assembly elections, Mukherjee may go slow on economic reforms like FDI in multi-brand retail and further opening of the insurance sector to foreign investment.
There could be some bad news for prospective car buyers as government may hike duties on luxury items to raise resources.
The biggest challenge before Mukherjee would be to arrest decline in economic growth which is expected to touch a three year low of 6.9 per cent in the current fiscal, down from 8.4 per cent in the two previous years.
Further, the government is likely to set disinvestment target for the next fiscal at Rs 30,000 crore.
Manohar Mattu's Blog
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
India companies may dole out 12% salary hike this year: Study
Despite the moderation in hikes, salary increments in India will remain the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. While salaries in China are expected to go up by 9.5%, in Philippines employees will get a 7% hike. Globally, India ranks among the top five countries with maximum salary hikes.
"The year 2012 will be a growth oriented year for most companies and salary increases are more probable this year. While the projections for the increase are marginally less, the situation is much better than it was during 2007-2008 crisis," said Sandeep Chaudhary, practice leader, Compensation Consulting for Asia Pacific, Aon Hewitt.
With the rupee appreciating considerably over the past one month and consumer spending on better lifestyle on the upside, the survey shows that companies are concentrating on allocating the surplus cash to reward employees, who contribute significantly to their organisations' growth.
Even as the average salary hike is expected to be in the 12% range, the survey pointed out that the hikes given to critical talents will be 2%-3% more than the overall increments in an organization, a trend which has been witnessed across organizations in the last three years.
The trend continues for 2012, with a projected increase of 15.1% for this employee group.
Moreover, the salary increase for employees rated as 'far exceeding expectations' is almost two times the salary increase compared to those 'meeting expectations'.
B S Murthy, CEO Leadership Capital, a boutique executive search firm, said that while the IT industry may see muted growth this year, growth across industries like FMCG, real estate, finance and others will be relatively better leading to good salary hikes. "For IT industry, hike in salary will be around 7%-10%, slightly lower than last year. Other industries, however, will see increase in the range of 8%-12%."
As far as sectors go, this year's salary increase will be the highest for the Indian pharmaceutical industry, with a projection of 13.3% hike. The engineering design/services ranked the second highest on the salary hike table with a projected increase of 13%, which is 1.1% higher than the India average. The lowest hikes are expected to come in for the telecom and financial services sectors with an11% and 10% increase respectively.
Another big trend across India Inc has been the increasing focus on variable pay as part of total compensation. Top and senior management see 23% of their total compensation as variable (up from 16% in 2001) and even the lowest-rung entry staff get approximately 13% of their total compensation (up from 10% in 2001) as variable pay, said Aon.
However, high attrition rates are expected to plague companies owing to high inflation rates. "Companies are adopting different strategies to boost growth and rationalizing manpower is an option they may look at," Chaudhary said. Overall attrition rate is projected to be at 19.8%, with financial sector to top the charts at 29.3%.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Cabinet clears Food Security Bill, to be tabled in Parliament this week
NEW DELHI: After a prod by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, the Cabinet on Sunday cleared the National Food Security Bill at a specially convened meeting to table it in Parliament this week.
The bill, meant to provide subsidized foodgrains to people, brought to the Cabinet by food and public distribution minister K V Thomas, was approved without a hitch in a meeting that lasted under an hour.
The bill, which the UPA will table in Parliament in the hope of gaining some political dividend in the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections, seeks to cover 75% of the rural population and 50% of urban population in the country. Initial estimates suggest that the food subsidy bill could be upwards of Rs 1 lakh crore.
A minimum of 46% of the rural population and 28% urban population will get 7 kg of foodgrains per month per person. Rice would be provided at Rs 3 a kg, wheat at Rs 2 and coarse grains at Rs 1 a kg.
The rest of the targeted population would get 3 kg of grains per person per month at half the minimum support price offered to farmers by government during procurement. Existing nutrition and select social security schemes would also be brought under the legislation as an entitlement.
After having ensured clearance for a bill seen as the Congress president's pet project and a key element in the party's strategy for 2014 general elections, Thomas said, "With this, we fulfill our commitment to the people of India made first in the Congress manifesto in 2009."
Thomas met PM Manmohan Singh on Sunday just ahead of the Cabinet meeting and explained in detail the proposals as well as responses that had been elicited from various states. Thomas explained the financial ramifications of the bill to the PM as well as the foodgrain requirements and storage capacities that would need to be built up in the coming days. The inclusion of existing social security and nutrition schemes under the bill was also discussed with the PM with the cabinet secretary and V Narayanasamy, minister of state in the PMO.
The fact that Congress wants the bill tabled as soon as possible was evident when minutes of the Cabinet meeting and the final decision were communicated within minutes of the meeting's end.
The total number of beneficiaries to be covered by the bill would depend upon the results of the delayed Socio-Economic and Caste Census currently underway. While the government had moved closer to the recommendations of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, it has left the door open to play with the absolute numbers through the use of 'deprivation parameters' in the census data.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
RSS-Anna links go back a long way, says RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat
KOLKATA: Laying speculation to rest, RSS Sar-Sanghchalak Mohanrao Bhagwat said that his organization and Anna Hazare go back a long way. If Bhagwat is to be believed, it was the RSS that urged Anna to go in for a movement against corruption but the organization never took active part in it.
"If the RSS is asked by Anna to join the movement, we shall do so. But, no such request has come in as yet. However, we are not stopping RSS members from participating in Anna's movement. The links between Anna and the RSS go back a long way. It was the RSS that highlighted Anna's developmental programmes for villages. We even got Anna to help us in our village development programmes. It was during these interactions that the RSS suggested to him to go in for a movement against corruption. I was supposed to meet Anna in June but both of us got held up elsewhere," the RSS chief said during an informal interaction with journalists in Kolkata on Wednesday.
According to Bhagwat, the RSS also spoke to Baba Ramdev on starting a movement against corruption. "We can't force him to join hands with Anna but we did urge Baba Ramdev to be part of the movement. The RSS, as an organization, believes in creating better individuals who would lead corruption-free lives. This would finally give birth to a corruption-free nation. However, for the time being, any movement against corruption in the government is good," he said.
The RSS chief believes that India is on her way to becoming the 'country of his dreams' where there will be a clear divide between religion and politics. According to him, the internal security system - particularly the Maoists - will not pose any problem if the situation is handled properly.
"I am from the Maoist-affected Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. I know for sure that the Maoists have no mass base. They have simply spread a network of terror. No change can take place in this manner. It is the poor people whose lives are getting grinded between the Maoists and the security forces. The Maoist problem can be sorted out in 2-3 years. I believe that the 'India of my dreams' will become a reality in 30 years. After all, awareness has gone up significantly and the younger generation is looking up to core values," Bhagwat said.
Hailing the loss of the CPM in West Bengal as the return of 'freedom' for the people, Bhagwat refused to comment on the activities of the new government in the state. He claimed that he was in Kolkata for better networking. He did not sound too happy with the Centre's directions to a filmmaker, not to depict pro-Tibet posters and the Tibetan flag in his film, so as not to hurt Chinese sentiments.
"What is wrong if a few Indian films depict such scenes? After all, a Chinese politician can come to India and ask a journalist to 'shut up' when asked about the wrong depiction of territory on a map. India should certainly have friendly relations with neighbours but should not them to dictate terms," Bhagwat said.
"If the RSS is asked by Anna to join the movement, we shall do so. But, no such request has come in as yet. However, we are not stopping RSS members from participating in Anna's movement. The links between Anna and the RSS go back a long way. It was the RSS that highlighted Anna's developmental programmes for villages. We even got Anna to help us in our village development programmes. It was during these interactions that the RSS suggested to him to go in for a movement against corruption. I was supposed to meet Anna in June but both of us got held up elsewhere," the RSS chief said during an informal interaction with journalists in Kolkata on Wednesday.
According to Bhagwat, the RSS also spoke to Baba Ramdev on starting a movement against corruption. "We can't force him to join hands with Anna but we did urge Baba Ramdev to be part of the movement. The RSS, as an organization, believes in creating better individuals who would lead corruption-free lives. This would finally give birth to a corruption-free nation. However, for the time being, any movement against corruption in the government is good," he said.
The RSS chief believes that India is on her way to becoming the 'country of his dreams' where there will be a clear divide between religion and politics. According to him, the internal security system - particularly the Maoists - will not pose any problem if the situation is handled properly.
"I am from the Maoist-affected Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. I know for sure that the Maoists have no mass base. They have simply spread a network of terror. No change can take place in this manner. It is the poor people whose lives are getting grinded between the Maoists and the security forces. The Maoist problem can be sorted out in 2-3 years. I believe that the 'India of my dreams' will become a reality in 30 years. After all, awareness has gone up significantly and the younger generation is looking up to core values," Bhagwat said.
Hailing the loss of the CPM in West Bengal as the return of 'freedom' for the people, Bhagwat refused to comment on the activities of the new government in the state. He claimed that he was in Kolkata for better networking. He did not sound too happy with the Centre's directions to a filmmaker, not to depict pro-Tibet posters and the Tibetan flag in his film, so as not to hurt Chinese sentiments.
"What is wrong if a few Indian films depict such scenes? After all, a Chinese politician can come to India and ask a journalist to 'shut up' when asked about the wrong depiction of territory on a map. India should certainly have friendly relations with neighbours but should not them to dictate terms," Bhagwat said.
Monday, November 9, 2009
India needs to build 500 new cities
Nov 06, 2009 India needs to build 500 new cities: Prof Prahlad
India needs to build 500 new cities urgently to provide better quality life to its migrating people, global management guru Prof C K Prahalad said.
"India needs to build a minimum of 500 new cities urgently. However, it has to be done from scratch to accommodate people who are on the move and to provide them better quality life," he said.
"Otherwise every existing city will become a slum when India becomes 75 in 2022," he said speaking at the first annual United World Colleges lecture series -'The United Wheels of Change' on Thursday night.
It is the human conditions I worry about, not the slums, said Prahlad, named world's most influential business thinker by The Times.
According to author of The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, India must actively take part in shaping the emerging world order and not be just a passive recipient.
Image: Global management guru Prof C K Prahalad.
Photographs: Paresh Gandhi
mage: A scooterist stops in front of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai.
Photographs: Arko Datta/Reuters
"For this, India needs three pillars -- economic strength, technological vitality (not just innovation and science but contribution to fundamentally new ideas), and third and the most vital, having moral leadership to take part actively in shaping the emerging world order," Prahalad said.
Speaking on 'India at 75', Prahalad, Professor at the University of Michigan Business School in the United States said, by representing one sixth of world population, India can definitely shape world order 'but not without moral leadership'.
Prahlad said the need was to leverage India's strength -- its huge population base.
"We can create 200 million graduates and 500 million trained professionals in every field of human endeavour," he said.
Image: Devoteecongregate to take a holy bath in the waters of a sacred tank outside the Kumbakonam temple n
Photographs: Ananthakrishnan AH/Reuters
According to him, Indians working in any field needed to be trained to match global standards, be equipped with professional conduct and ethics, and compensated properly, so as to compete with anyone in the world.
"Very few countries in the world can aspire to be so. And if India succeeds, it can become the intellectual and knowledge hub of the world, and it will change the quality of life of every Indian," he said.
India at 75, according to Prahalad, will have 30 of its business companies listed in the 'Fortune' 100 firms of the world, and it can create 10 percent of world trade. Further, India will become a source of global innovations -- new businesses, new technologies and new business models.
The Bottom of the Pyramid, according to Prahalad, was a huge source of innovation, and not just a market or micro producer.
"I believe we have the opportunity to become the first country to provide world class education, healthcare, good energy and transportation, and do it in a sustainable way. There can be a great flowering of intellectual energy, art and literature," he said.
Image: People wander around a shopping mall in New Delhi.
Photographs: Vijay Mathur/Reuters
Prof Prahalad explained that the greatest strength that India has is its secularism -- the multiple rituals, languages, and customs -- the diversity held together with a common idea.
India can leverage diversity and become the benchmark country in the world, as 90 percent of the conflicts of the worlds are due to inability to cope with diversity, he said.
He strongly advocated that Indians need not focus on best practices.
But look for new innovations and think differently and fundamentally change the way we think," he said.
In 2022, abject poverty will not be the issue of concern in India, lifestyle inequality, urbanisation and the emergence of universal aspirations, a dramatic change in price-performance relationships, and ecological crisis will be bigger monsters.
Image: A girl covers her head with her bag as it rains in New Delhi.
Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
"Incrementalism will not get us there and to become a leader in the world we must begin by creating a shared commitment to aspirations supported by creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship."
On entrepreneurship, he said, "You need to have an aspiration which is larger than your resource base. The problem is not resource but imagination, inventiveness, and shared aspirations."
Talking about corruption, he said, "Corrupt nations do not develop human capital and corrupt countries are not rich -- corruption is a way of managing shortages not about human character."
India needs to build 500 new cities urgently to provide better quality life to its migrating people, global management guru Prof C K Prahalad said.
"India needs to build a minimum of 500 new cities urgently. However, it has to be done from scratch to accommodate people who are on the move and to provide them better quality life," he said.
"Otherwise every existing city will become a slum when India becomes 75 in 2022," he said speaking at the first annual United World Colleges lecture series -'The United Wheels of Change' on Thursday night.
It is the human conditions I worry about, not the slums, said Prahlad, named world's most influential business thinker by The Times.
According to author of The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, India must actively take part in shaping the emerging world order and not be just a passive recipient.
Image: Global management guru Prof C K Prahalad.
Photographs: Paresh Gandhi
mage: A scooterist stops in front of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai.
Photographs: Arko Datta/Reuters
"For this, India needs three pillars -- economic strength, technological vitality (not just innovation and science but contribution to fundamentally new ideas), and third and the most vital, having moral leadership to take part actively in shaping the emerging world order," Prahalad said.
Speaking on 'India at 75', Prahalad, Professor at the University of Michigan Business School in the United States said, by representing one sixth of world population, India can definitely shape world order 'but not without moral leadership'.
Prahlad said the need was to leverage India's strength -- its huge population base.
"We can create 200 million graduates and 500 million trained professionals in every field of human endeavour," he said.
Image: Devoteecongregate to take a holy bath in the waters of a sacred tank outside the Kumbakonam temple n
Photographs: Ananthakrishnan AH/Reuters
According to him, Indians working in any field needed to be trained to match global standards, be equipped with professional conduct and ethics, and compensated properly, so as to compete with anyone in the world.
"Very few countries in the world can aspire to be so. And if India succeeds, it can become the intellectual and knowledge hub of the world, and it will change the quality of life of every Indian," he said.
India at 75, according to Prahalad, will have 30 of its business companies listed in the 'Fortune' 100 firms of the world, and it can create 10 percent of world trade. Further, India will become a source of global innovations -- new businesses, new technologies and new business models.
The Bottom of the Pyramid, according to Prahalad, was a huge source of innovation, and not just a market or micro producer.
"I believe we have the opportunity to become the first country to provide world class education, healthcare, good energy and transportation, and do it in a sustainable way. There can be a great flowering of intellectual energy, art and literature," he said.
Image: People wander around a shopping mall in New Delhi.
Photographs: Vijay Mathur/Reuters
Prof Prahalad explained that the greatest strength that India has is its secularism -- the multiple rituals, languages, and customs -- the diversity held together with a common idea.
India can leverage diversity and become the benchmark country in the world, as 90 percent of the conflicts of the worlds are due to inability to cope with diversity, he said.
He strongly advocated that Indians need not focus on best practices.
But look for new innovations and think differently and fundamentally change the way we think," he said.
In 2022, abject poverty will not be the issue of concern in India, lifestyle inequality, urbanisation and the emergence of universal aspirations, a dramatic change in price-performance relationships, and ecological crisis will be bigger monsters.
Image: A girl covers her head with her bag as it rains in New Delhi.
Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
"Incrementalism will not get us there and to become a leader in the world we must begin by creating a shared commitment to aspirations supported by creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship."
On entrepreneurship, he said, "You need to have an aspiration which is larger than your resource base. The problem is not resource but imagination, inventiveness, and shared aspirations."
Talking about corruption, he said, "Corrupt nations do not develop human capital and corrupt countries are not rich -- corruption is a way of managing shortages not about human character."
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