Towards the end of his speech, Chidambaram says, “140 million moved out of poverty during UPA-I and UPA-II regime and we are legitimately proud of it.”
12:05 pm: Excise duty on mobile handset will be 6 pc on CENVAT credit to encourage domestic production.
12:02 pm: Excise duty has been reduced from 12 per cent to 10 per cent for capital goods and consumer durables. Excise duty cut for small cars is down to 8 per cent from 12 per cent. Excise duty on SUVs down by 6 per cent from 30 to 24 per cent. Excise duty on two-wheelers is also down to 8 per cent. Excise duty on medium cars down from 24 per cent to 20 per cent.
11:59 am: Chidambaram has appealed to all political parties to pass GST and DTC.
11:58 am: Chidambaram has announced a moratorium on interest on student loans taken before March 31, 2009. He says it will benefit 9 lakh borrowers.Chidambaram says that the government is ready with public debt management agency plan.
11:54 am: “FY15 capital infusion in PSU banks will be Rs 11,200 crore,” says Chidambaram. “Banks will lend Rs 8 lakh crore to the agricultural sector in FY15,” he adds.The defence budget has also been increased by 10 per cent to Rs 2.24 lakh crore.
11:46 am: Chidambaram says the government has accepted the one rank one pension scheme for the defence forces. “Rs 500 crore will be transferred in 2014-15 for implementing the ‘one rank one pay’ decision,” Chidambaram says.
11:44 am: Chidambaram says that the UPA government remains fully committed to the Aadhaar scheme. “In course of time the critics of Aadhar will realise that this is a tool for empowerment. 57 crore UID numbers have been created so far,” he says. FY15 plan expenditure has been kept at Rs 5.55 lakh crore.
11:40 am: Chidambaram has proposed three more industrial corridors – Chennai-Bangalore, Bangalore-Mumbai, Amritsar-Kolkata.
11:38 am: P Chidambaram has announced Rs 200 crore Venture Capital fund for Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs. He has also proposed to contribute another Rs 1,000 crore for Nirbhaya fund for women safety. Talking about the achievements of the UPA-II, Chidambaram said, “All this was a result of hard work. My mother and Harvard taught me the value of hard work.”
11:34 am: “I reject the argument of policy paralysis. UPA I and II have delivered above the trend. History will judge our achievements of past 10 years,” Chidambaram said.
11:30 am: Finance Minister P Chidambaram has pegged growth rate for FY 2014-15 at 5 per cent.
11:28 am: P Chidambaram has pegged investment rate at 34.8 per cent and the saving rate at 30.1 per cent.Talking about the foreign exchange reserves, Chidambaram said, “Expect to add $ 15 billion to foreign exchange reserve in this fiscal.”
11:17 am: At the beginning of his speech, Chidambaram says India’s challenges are common to all emerging economies. He says the UPA government has put fiscal deficit on top of its agenda. “Food inflation remains the main worry, although it has declined,” Chidambaram says. He says fiscal deficit has been contained at 4.6 per cent. P Chidambaram has begun his interim Budget speech in the Lok Sabha while Seemandhra MPs continue to protest inside the House.
11:01 am: Finance Minister P Chidambaram has tabled the interim Budget 2014 in the Lok Sabha, but is unlikely deliver the speech in the House as Seemandhra MPs continue to disrupt proceedings. “If House is disrupted, Chidambaram can make statement on any TV,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath
10:22 am: Finance Minister P Chidambaram has reached Parliament. There are reports that if the Lok Sabha is disrupted, Chidambaram may deliver the budget speech from the Lok Sabha TV studio.
10:10 am: The suspended Andhra Pradesh MPs have said that the Andhra ministers will protest inside Parliament during Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s budget speech. “Union ministers will lead the protests in Parliament, they will be in the well of the House,” said suspended MP L Rajagopal.