MUMBAI, June 18 (Reuters) - Indian newspapers carried the following stories related to the budget in their print or Web editions on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

LATEST STORIES:

• The government may raise excise duty rates across the board, sparing only select sectors such as small-scale industries and automobiles in the upcoming budget. Steel and cement could see the excise duty go up to 12 percent -- The Economic Times.


• Indian finance ministry is considering a proposal to extend the tax exemption on inter-corporate dividends further down the chain of corporate subsidiaries in the upcoming Union Budget -- Business Standard.

• Consumer goods companies expect continued focus on rural areas via employment guarantees schemes and profitable supply of funds to the rural sector.


• Firms also expect selective cuts in excise duty to 0 percent as incentive for companies providing energy-efficient goods and for marketers expanding into rural markets not connected by good roads and infrastructure -- Business Standard


• IT sector is hopeful of getting an extension of tax breaks under the Software Technology Park of India Act beyond 2010.


• The government plans to restore the 4 percent excise duty on steel and cement in the budget, which was removed as part of the stimulus packages -- Times of India.


• The government is set to spend 85-90 billion rupees on recapitalising public sector banks this year -- Hindustan Times.


• Auto industry has sought rationalisation of excise duties for cars which is currently biased towards small cars, asking for a uniformity of taxation across segments -- Hindustan Times.


• The service tax is expected to be retained at 10 percent -- Financial Express.


• India may lower interest rate on loans to farmers who repay their crop loan on time to 6 percent from 7 percent -- Financial Chronicle.


• India may cut interest rates on small savings schemes by 50-75 basis points. They currently earn 8 percent -- The Economic Times.


• The government is considering a proposal to hike income-tax exemption available for interest payment on home loans to 250,000 rupees a year from 150,000 rupees -- The Economic Times.


• The government may do away with the fringe benefit tax and also remove cess and surcharge on corporate taxes. Instead, it may levy a common rate of direct tax on corporate income from this fiscal year -- The Economic Times.


• The gross budgetary support for social sector may be raised to around 3.35 trillion rupees, 500 billion rupees more than the amount fixed in the interim budget -- The Financial Express.

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