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«So, all of these contours or making India a product nation, these perspectives I think were very useful from the budget as well. Some of the clarity, the fleshing out of these medium-term plans should start becoming visible,» says Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist, Axis Bank. Let us just begin then with the overall outlook this time around with respect to the Budget and the finance minister clearly retaining the FY25 capex target at about 11.1 lakh crore rupees. How do you believe that one should be reading into the fine print? Neelkanth Mishra: This was the first budget of a new government, so there were two major asks from it or at least two major signals that we were all looking for. One was will the direction of the fiscal maths change? There was I think apprehension among some quarters that the government because of the election verdict would change its stance, so at least on the budget arithmetic it is very clear that the government sticks to the focus on macroeconomic stability on a very relentless focus on bringing down the cost of capital over the medium term and I think some of those changes will start becoming visible in the next year or two.

Tesla reported a hefty drop in second-quarter profits Tuesday due to the effect of price cuts while spending aggressively on autonomous driving and other technology.

«Now, whether the short-term capital gains tax, short-term transaction tax increase, will it necessarily act as a disincentive for speculative activity or not, obviously one measure is not adequate and if you are looking for gains in hundreds and 200% because of the embedded leverage in derivative assets, you are not going to be swayed by a small increase in the short-term transaction tax,» says V Anantha Nageswaran, CEA. Well, you pointed out in the Economic Survey that a lot of experimenting is happening as far as the investment in the stock market is concerned and today, we saw the LTCG and short-term capital gains, the tweak there. What is your thinking as far as, from here on the stock markets or investment in stock markets is concerned as far as this? V Anantha Nageswaran: Look, I mean, I am not in the prediction business for stock markets.

«I think all in all many positives in this budget and over a period of time certainly as these schemes get implemented, it is going to provide further impetus to the economy,» says Sanjiv Puri, President CII & CMD, ITC. If you have to rate the budget on a scale of one to five, how would you rate the budget? Sanjiv Puri: Well, I do not have a framework for that kind of rating, but I would say the budget is commendable because not only has it addressed these investments required for inclusive growth, it has also got a holistic approach to the climate change, issues of energy transition, issues of certain natural resources like water, etc, are being addressed and it is ahead as far as the guidance on fiscal consolidation glide path was concerned.

«See, in a country like India which is not a rich country, you have to continuously find avenues to tax and you have to use the tax revenues in the right way and continue the growth momentum and you have to ensure that jobs are created,» says S Naren, ED & CIO, ICICI Prudential AMC. What is your take on budget? S Naren: See, the government over the last decade has managed macro very-very well. Every year, they have looked and seen which are the areas where they can actually afford to increase taxation and not hurt the sectors. So, I think they have done a brilliant job if you look at it. The market can absorb it. Otherwise, the market reaction today would have been quite different, that is the reason why it is a great budget at this point of time.

Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, SBI, says the emphasis on employment, skilling, and MSME is clearly articulated as the key pillars for inclusive growth in the Budget. Additionally, there is a strong focus on enhancing productivity and resilience in agriculture. Addressing youth employment and skilling is crucial for the economy, and maximizing these resources is essential. Furthermore, MSME is a core focus area for manufacturing and services, along with urban development initiatives like PMAY, which will significantly boost the real estate sector in urban areas. This Budget has struck the right chords. It is a Budget which, in a sense, has balanced growth and also government's vision of sab ka saath, sab ka vikas. In your mind, what was the big standout feature? Dinesh Kumar Khara: The Budget is something that is going to focus on the inclusive growth in the economy.

«So, to cut it short, my view is that I hope this is probably from here on is a stable tax rate. If that is the case, then markets in the past have also adjusted to new realities. It is not the extent, but it is more of the principle and I think as the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala would say, ke paisa kamaya to tax dena padega. So, I think we will take it in that spirit for now and hope that from here onwards, the tax rates remain stable,» says Hiren Ved, Director & CIO, Alchemy Capital Management. Are you also feeling as unsettled that this may not be it and this could perhaps lead to more upping of taxes in the times to come? Hiren Ved: Well, I hope not. I want to be optimistic on that count that hopefully, this for whatever reason was well thought out and from here on there will be stability in tax rates and this is not something that I am saying, I think the government itself on several occasions have mentioned that you need stability in tax rates over the long term. So, my feeling is that they had to rationalise taxes on capital gains across assets and hopefully, they have done that. If you take STP cap gains and cess on that, we are already paying reasonable amount of tax and it is not as if that the government was in need of revenue as such.

«I do not want to give it a name, but I think this was very serious. And therefore, after all, as we say economics is a handmaiden of politics. If you get politics wrong, economics is just left behind. So, this is a brilliant balancing act of being equitable, at the same time not compromising at all on the glide path to growth and to Viksit Bharat,» says Vallabh Bhanshali, Chairman, Enam Group. How would you describe Nirmala Sitharaman’s seventh budget and Modi 3.0's first budget? Vallabh Bhanshali: In the context of going from an absolute majority government to a coalition government, on the one hand and on the other hand, we had a very rising and probably capital market with F&O positions, creating a certain commentary in the country, not only amongst people at large, but even amongst regulators like SEBI and RBI and she had to take that into account. Serious determination to continue from where they had left, which is Viksit Bharat 2047, third largest economy in a few years' time and I think very importantly, we should not forget is the rising rhetoric in the country to go back to the 70s style of economic policy.

Alphabet beat second-quarter revenue and profit estimates on Tuesday, driven by a rise in digital advertising sales and healthy demand for its cloud computing services, but flagged that capital expenses would remain high for the year.

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said on Tuesday the ChatGPT maker's AI safety leader Aleksander Madry was working on a new research project, as the startup rejigs the preparedness team.

angel tax across all investor classes marks a landmark reform benefiting India's startup ecosystem, the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) said Tuesday and applauded the proposal in the Union budget to reduce tax rates for the foreign companies to 35 per cent. «India has long been a country of engineering and tech talent, yet there have been gaps in the innovation ecosystem. The abolition of the angel tax across all investor classes marks a landmark reform benefiting India's startup ecosystem. This important reform will stimulate increased startup funding from both domestic and international sources,» the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) said.

trans child who underwent a sex change procedure, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has said that he was tricked into giving consent for his child to go on puberty blockers. Talking to Fox News Digital, he also said he thinks «the woke mind virus» figuratively killed his son. Vivian Musk came out as transgender in June 2022 when he was 18-year-old and he filed a request to change his name from Xavier to Vivian and take her mother's last name.

tax rate for foreign companies to 35% from 40%, aiming to attract more overseas firms to set up a permanent base in the country and boost foreign inflows. «We want more investment to come into the country that is why it has been brought down,» Sitharaman told reporters after the budget. The government decision will benefit overseas companies looking to open branch offices such as branches of foreign banks and warehouses in India with a permanent establishment tag. It will also help those looking to open project offices for undertaking engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts. «When the tax rate for domestic companies was cut, the gap between the two had further widened...so it had to be narrowed,» said finance secretary T V Somanathan. The tax cut along with the scrapping of taxation for foreign shipping companies operating cruises in India, and safe harbour rates for foreign mining companies selling raw diamonds is expected to further enhance the country’s attractiveness as a destination for foreign capital.

antitrust watchdog has approved the sale of Appario Retail, the largest seller on Amazon India, to Clicktech, another major seller on the platform.

Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak AMC, says Budget 2024 is like Suryakumar Yadav’s catch in the last cricket T-20 World Cup. It has achieved the trinity of the impossible – the path of fiscal prudence, support for investment in infrastructure, and generating employment to boost consumption. I hope and pray that eventually, this catch helps us become Viksit Bharat. The India story is centred around SIPs and mutual funds. There is cash and if the India appeal is centred around SIPs and not tips, one should not worry about it in time to move on. So, whatever changes have come on taxation, should that be ignored? Nilesh Shah: So, don’t ignore it. You have to take that into account. People who are trading in F&O now will have to bear higher costs and hopefully, they will reduce their trading activity. But from an investor point of view, the fundamentals have improved with fiscal consolidation, with investment focus continuing and hopefully with better employment generation, this growth is likely to be sustained. So, the valuation impact on the market will be far more from the Budget rather than the diluting effect of increased taxation. So, overall, the India growth story continues and instead of tips, do SIPs.

credit flow to the micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME) sector in the budget is likely to give a major thrust to digital lending startups.

Bihar assembly was adjourned twice on Tuesday as opposition members stood in the well of the House and tried to upturn furniture, raising slogans against the Centre's refusal to grant special status to the state. Members of RJD, Congress and the Left had reached the House, carrying placards with slogans like «shame on anti-Bihar BJP». Adding a dash of humour, a few of them also held rattles meant for children to underscore that the Centre, after having denied the state its due, was offering a «jhunjhuna» by speaking of special package and other types of help.

«I think the STT on F&O is a step in the right direction. If the idea is to essentially curb volumes on the F&O side I think that is fair enough. I am just saying is that for a long-term investor, there is STT, there is a hike in LTCG, and there is a tax on dividends as well,» says Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO, Envision Capital. You are unhappy for sure. Nilesh Shah: I think logically, rationally, who is going to be happy with more taxes? We are all humans at the end of the day. But if the capital gains tax was hiked, STT is hiked, probably dividends, tax on dividends in the hands of the investors that should have been done away with because that is double taxation.

deduction under Section 80C has not been hiked by the finance minister in Budget 2024. An individual will be able to claim deduction of up to only Rs 1.5 lakh under this section in a financial year provided he/she opts for the old tax regime in a financial year. The new tax regime does not allow Section 80C deduction.

Paytm, has partnered with Axis Bank to offer point-of-sale (PoS) solutions and Electronic Data Capture (EDS) machines to the bank and its merchant network.