-The Business Standard   Major subsidies extended by the government are likely to jump to Rs 1,34,411 crore during 2011-12 The Survey has warned of deteriorating fiscal health due to a mounting subsidy burden. The huge outgo over the past year has been largely on account of the global rally in crude oil prices, the fertiliser subsidy and state-controlled foodgrain prices, it said. It also blamed ‘coalition politics and federal considerations’ for holding...

-PTI The government has pegged its outgo on food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies in the 2012-13 fiscal at over Rs1.79 lakh crore, nearly 14% lower than the revised estimates for the current fiscal. According to the Budget proposals, the government's subsidy bill on food, petroleum and fertilisers is estimated at Rs1,79,554 crore for the 2012-13 fiscal as against Rs2,08,503 crore in the revised estimates for this fiscal. Interestingly, the revised estimate for this...

-IANS The Indian government's subsidy burden is expected to reach 2.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) for the fiscal ending March 31, the highest in 10 years, due to higher price of crude oil and other commodities, a report showed Tuesday.  The total subsidy is expected to increase to Rs.2,23,000 crore in the current financial year, which is 2.5 percent of GDP at the current market price which is...

-The Indian Express The Samajwadi Party’s sweep in India’s biggest state, Uttar Pradesh, and Congress’s defeat in Punjab and Goa will further shrink the elbow room the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre has to push through key initiatives such as foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, pension reforms and legislation such as the goods and service tax (GST) that require support from states. The Centre had postponed some of these...

-The Business Standard Govt should not explore unworkable solutions The petroleum ministry’s “single kitchen” concept for new consumers of liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, is a classic case of using a flawed solution to compensate for policy distortions in the pricing of petroleum products. The norm of allowing one LPG connection per household with one kitchen may look good on paper but it is hardly a foolproof mechanism to curb the misuse...