From interim budget expectations to Ayodhya's new beginnings, here are our most-read stories of the week
Byju's battle to survive and Paytm's life after BNPL are some of the stories that piqued the interest of our readers this week
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1) Long road to fiscal consolidation
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ruled out any big announcements for the upcoming budget while speaking at the Global Economic Policy Forum in December 2023. She said, "I am not going to play spoilsport, but it is a matter of truth that the February 1, 2024, budget will just be a vote on account because we will be in election mode. So, the budget that the government presents will just be to meet the expenditure of the government till a new government comes into play." The aim is to reduce the gap between revenue and expenditure to 5.3 percent and 4.5 percent in FY25 and FY26, respectively. So, will the election pressure derail the government's efforts to meet its fiscal deficit target? Let's take a look at what the experts predict.
2) Can the budget help the EV sector?
From a meagre penetration of 0.09 percent in 2018 in the two-wheeler segment and 14 percent in the three-wheeler category, EV penetration now stands at over 5 percent in two-wheeler sales and over 54 percent in the three-wheeler segment. In the four-wheeler segment, from a market penetration of 0.05 percent in 2018, selling a little over 1,500 vehicles, the penetration has risen to 2.13 percent, totalling sales of over 80,000 four-wheelers a year. The numbers suggest that automakers are moving towards electric power trains and incumbents to newbies. Everyone is leaping ahead to build up an electric portfolio. The sector still needs a leg up from the government. Here's how Union Budget 2024 can help.
