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Highlights of Union Budget 2013 – 2014 Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha today on 28-Feb.  He said that India will become USD 5 trillion economy, and among top five in the world by 2025. I have quickly summarised the major highlights of this budget on one page for your quick read. Major Highlights of this Budget are :  Fiscal deficit seen at 5.2 point of GDP in 2012/13        Fiscal deficit seen at 4.8 point of GDP in 2013/14  No Change in Income Tax Slabs Tax credit of Rs. 2,000 for income upto Rs. 5 lakh 10 %  surcharge on persons with taxable income of over Rs 1 crore Direct Taxes Code (DTC) bill to be introduced in current Parliament session Income limit for the tax-saving Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS)  is raised t...

Soon you may have Reliance Bank, L&T Bank, LIC Bank, Birla Bank.  After almost ten years, RBI is set to issue fresh banking licenses. Last licenses were issued to Kotak Mahindra Bank & Yes Bank in 2003-2004. RBI has now issued final guidelines for new bank licenses which will allow corporate & business groups with sound credentials to enter into banking business. Corporate houses like Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Larsen & Toubro, Tatas, Mahindra and Mahindra, Life Insurance Corporation, Aditya Birla Group and NBFCs Shriram Transport, Religare, SREI, Reliance capital have shown interest to enter the banking business. Although the document does not mention how many licences will be issued, it is likely 4-5 new banking licences will be issued. A.  The key features of RBI guid...