Business highlights

Following are the top business stories at 2100 hours: DEL314 BIZ-2NDLD BUDGET FM woos middle class, women with tax, savings sops ahead of elections New Delhi: In Modi government's last full Budget before general elections, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday unveiled tax rebates and saving plans to woo the middle class, women and pensioners, and announced massive spending on housing and infrastructure as she walked the tightrope between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations.

DEL278 BIZ-LD STOCKS Markets end on mixed note on Budget day; Sensex climbs 158 points, Nifty slips 46 pts Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended on a mixed note on Wednesday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade in Budget 2023-24.

DEL212 BUD-LD INCOME TAX No tax on income up to Rs 7 lakh, standard deduction allowed under new tax regime New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced no tax for those with annual income of up to Rs 7 lakh under the new tax regime but made no changes for those who continue in the old regime that provides for tax exemptions and deductions on investments and expenses such as HRA.

DEL235 BUD-2NDLD INFRA CAPEX Infrastructure development capex hiked by 33 pc to Rs 10 lakh crore for 2023-24: FM New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced hiking the capital expenditure by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore for infrastructure development for 2023-24 and will be at 3.3 per cent of the GDP.

DEL319 BUD-2NDLD AGRI Govt raises farm credit target by 11 pc to Rs 20 lakh crore for FY24 New Delhi: The government on Wednesday announced an 11 per cent hike in agriculture credit target to Rs 20 lakh crore for the next fiscal with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries, a move aimed at providing higher farm loans at a subsidised rates to the farming community.

DEL253 BIZ-RUPEE-CLOSE Rupee falls 2 paise to close at 81.90 against US dollar on Budget day Mumbai: The rupee pared initial gains and settled 2 paise lower at 81.90 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2023-24.

DCM84 BUD-IMPORTED-CARS Budget 2023: Fully imported cars, including EVs, to cost more New Delhi: Luxury carmakers Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus on Wednesday said prices of some of their luxury vehicle models will go up following a hike in customs duty on certain fully imported vehicles in the Budget 2023-24.

DCM101 BIZ-WHATSAPP-ACCOUNTS WhatsApp bans 36.77 lakh accounts in India in December New Delhi: Instant messaging platform WhatsApp on Wednesday said it banned 36.77 lakh accounts in India in November, marginally lower than the number of accounts it barred in the preceding month.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)