The government on Friday claimed that the economy has turned around and there was no longer uncertainty, despite the deficit monsoon and the drought situation in large parts of the country.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked taxmen to be "humane" when dealing with taxpayers, as he felt that being considerate and treating people with respect helps in improving tax collections.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today expressed confidence that West Bengal would regain its "lost glory" and respect despite having fallen behind in many aspects since Independence.

Granting bank licences to private entities and NBFCs, smooth conduct of Government borrowing next fiscal and investor safety issues topped the agenda in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's meetings with the heads of RBI and Sebi today.

Driven by higher prices of milk, wheat, rice and vegetables food inflation rose marginally to 17.87 percent for the week that ended on February 20.

Sending a strong message that she was fully behind the government on fuel price hike, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today praised Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for deft handling of the Union Budget.

As food inflation hovers around 17 percent, the Government on Wednesday partly blamed high cost of intermediation for the spiralling food prices.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that the government would talk to its allies on the issue of fuel price hike but gave enough hints that a rollback would be difficult.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said he took a risk of facing inflation in raising excise duty across the board for mobilising resources, but expressed confidence that the impact would be absorbed. This would have an inflationary impact of 0.41 percent on wholesale price index which would be absorbed in due course of time, he said.

Focusing on the National Rural Health Mission, the Government on Friday hiked the allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare by Rs 2,766 crore, a part of which will go for conducting an annual survey to prepare the health profile of all districts.

The Indian Rupee will this fiscal join the elite league of global currencies like US dollar, British Pound and Euro that have their unique symbols, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday.

Petrol and diesel prices will go up by Rs 2.67 and Rs 2.58 per litre, respectively, after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday raised customs and excise duties on the two, virtually putting the Kirit Parikh Committee report on fuel price in cold storage.

Major auto makers in the country on Friday reacted to the government's decision to increase the central excise duty to 10 percent by saying they will increase car prices -- possibly by up to Rs 25,000.

Terming as "exceedingly good", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said the Budget would help the economy to return to nine per cent growth while allaying the fears that it would fuel "inflationary" expectation.

Indian industry on Friday welcomed the Union Budget for 2010-11 saying it was a balanced approach though it expressed disappointment over the hike in minimum alternate tax (MAT) from 15 percent to 18 percent.

The proposed changes in duties related to petroleum products in the Budget stirred a hornet's nest on Friday, with the entire Opposition staging a walkout from the Lok Sabha and warning that they will not allow Parliament to run till a rollback is announced.

The government on Friday hiked excise duties by 2 percent to 10 percent on all non-oil products as part of withdrawal of stimulus measures with Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee saying the economy was on the recovery path.

The 2010-11 general budget on Friday provided considerable relief to income tax payers by raising the slabs at two levels but hiked the central excise duty on non-petroleum products across the board from 8 to 10 percent and the basic duty on crude and petroleum products besides effecting a one-rupee increase per litre on petrol and diesel.

The government on Friday allocated Rs 1,47,344 crore towards defence in 2010-11 budget, a paltry four percent increase from last year's Rs 1,41,703 crore.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday extended by a year the one per cent interest subvention scheme for housing sector and provided Rs 700 crore for it in the budget for 2010-11.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said government will soon come out with a draft Food Security Bill.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said economic growth during the current fiscal could exceed 7.2 percent projected by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee began his Budget Speech in the Parliament. This is Mukherjee's fifth Budget.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will tomorrow present the Budget for 2010-11, amid speculation that taxes and duties may be raised as part of a partial rollback of stimulus prescribed by government's advisers.

Enthused by reforms and the strong fundamentals, the Economic Survey today predicted that India would bounce back to a high nine per cent growth in 2011-12.