Mukherjee promises steps to lift economy

September 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a clear and firm message Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that ministers and bureaucrats who are entitled to travel on state expenses should undertake domestic travel in economy class. Mukherjee said that they could fly in business class for international travel.

September 1st, 2009 LONDON - Malay Mukherjee, a leading expert in steelmaking, has stepped down from the board of directors of ArcelorMittal, the company announced Tuesday. Mukherjee, a former executive at the public sector Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), quit to pursue other interests, the company said.

August 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said that the government had taken steps to save the weaker sections of the society from the rising prises. Addressing the members of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Pranab Mukherjee said that the government was providing subsidy to the people using the Public distribution system.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With a cherry-brown briefcase in hand, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived in parliament Monday to present India's budget for this fiscal with hopes high that his proposals will help put the $1.2 trillion economy back on the high growth track. Dressed in a spotless white bandhgala suit, the 73-year-old politician will have to draw from his experience of having presented three regular budgets as finance minister between January 1982 and December 1984 to find the resources for a host of pre-election promises made by his Congress party.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday said recovery of Indian economy in the current fiscal would be difficult unless there were visible improvements in the global economic scenario. Speaking to a television channel after presenting the union budget for 2009-10, Mukherjee said the economy would likely recover in the third quarter of 2009-10, but if the western economies did not improve, we will take a longer period.

May 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee formally assumed charge of his portfolio - an office he returns to after a quarter of a century - Monday and immediately got down to business with a meeting with top officials on the preparation of the national budget. "Immediately after assuming charge, Mukherjee had a series of meetings with all senior officers of the ministry and reviewed the status of various programmes and issues related to all departments of the ministry," said an official statement.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee Sunday did not rule out the possibility of the party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) forming the next government with the Left parties' support and said 'everything is possible'. 'I am not an astrologer, I cannot predict what is going to happen.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that India would welcome any effort by the international community which ensured that Pakistan fulfills its obligations to fight terrorism. "As a responsible state, Pakistan should fulfill its obligations.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rejected BJP claims that the United Progressive Alliance is falling apart. On Sunday, Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi that all the constituents of the alliance except PMK are still with the UPA.

February 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday got the Lok Sabha's nod to cut excise duty and service tax by 2 percent in what is being touted as the third stimulus package to help India Inc tide over the impact of global economic crisis. The duty reductions, seen as costing the exchequer Rs.30,000 crore ($6 billion or Rs.300 million), come over and above the 4 percent cut in central value added tax announced in December, which has now been extended beyond March 31, the foreign minister said.

February 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Lok Sabha Tuesday approved 2-percent cuts in excise duty and service tax proposed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who said resilience of the India economy which grew by an average of 9 percent annually in the last three years will help it overcome the current crisis. Replying to the debate on the interim budget in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, Mukherjee said the government had taken steps in the past two months to lift the economy and that such steps will bear fruit soon.

February 23rd, 2009 KOLKATA - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Sunday stressed the need for stimulating domestic demand and supply to overcome the economic slowdown, and said the government would step up investment in infrastructure and rural development. Mukherjee, who is also holding the finance portfolio, said the government favoured a unanimous approach in tackling the recessionary impact.

February 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has strengthened the country's border management systems, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in the Lok Sabha Wednesday. Mukherjee, officiating in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is recuperating from coronary bypass surgery, was replying to the motion of thanks on the president's address.

February 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Thursday evening welcomed as a 'positive step' Pakistan's admission that elements from that country were responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, and reiterated India's hope that Islamabad would take 'credible steps' to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure on its territory. 'Pakistan authorities have admitted that elements in Pakistan were responsible for the terror attack,' he said.

January 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian economy will grow at 7 percent in the current fiscal, External Affairs and stand-in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Thursday. 'Indian economy will bounce back as the fundamentals of the economy are strong,' Mukherjee told reporters after meeting officials of the finance ministry.