Budget 2019 HIGHLIGHTS: Chidambaram calls budget insipid, terms Sitharaman speech as opaque

The health sector received Rs 62,659.12 crore, the highest in the last two financial years. An increase of around 19 per cent was seen. The budgetary allocation for the sector is Rs 60,908.22 crore, with Rs 6,400 crore earmarked for the centre's flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY). The AB-PMJAY is a flagship scheme of the Union government that aims at providing annual health cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to over 10.74 crore vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries).

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been allocated Rs 781.01 crore under the new budge, a marginal increase of Rs 2.08 crore from last year. "The provision is for the establishment-related expenditure of the CBI which is entrusted with investigation and prosecution in corruption cases against public servants, private persons, firms and other cases of serious crimes," the Budget document said, PTI reported.

Hoping the finance minister would "hit some boundaries" with the new budget, Chairman of the Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra said she instead chose to steady singles and keep the run-rate moving. "Despite expectations of big moves to instantly crank-up the economy she decided to keep her eye firmly on the long term," Mahindra said. He said that instead of lowering GST on all cars, Sitharaman aligned with the vision for mobility and incentivised only EVs. "But the measures for the financial sector are indeed big moves & could lubricate the engines of the economy. The one-time cover for pooled assets is an efficient solution for NBFC liquidity. The target for disinvestment is welcome. Now we need swift implementation," Mahindra said.

What will revive ‘animal spirits?’ If the strong messages about respect for wealth-creators is echoed by all branches of Govt. & the ‘Faceless’ e-assessment is implemented both in letter & spirit it’ll go a long way in building a true partnership with Pvt enterprise.(5/6)

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 5, 2019

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Uttarakhand BJP called the budget visionary and aspirational. "It (Budget) is aspirational and visionary. The sectoral allocations made in the Budget are in accordance with the development strategy adopted by the Centre for achieving the target of making India a five trillion dollar economy as spelt out in its economic survey," pradesh BJP spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan said.

Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi too hailed the budget saying 'it is a bottom-up inclusive budget', PTI reported. She said that the budget will take the country towards 'greater transparency through extensive use of technology with increased accountability.'

"Budget 2019 was important one as it was being presented on the backdrop of visibly slowing global economic growth and closer home as well. Most certainly this would need some stimulus to revive the investment cycle, which could mean slippage on the fiscal front. Some small amount of slippage could actually have been pardoned by the markets. The fact that the gross government borrowing remains unchanged is an extremely positive move. The MPC has already moved into accommodative policy on rates front and with the government not breaching the line of fiscal discipline, it spells good news for bond markets. We could expect further easing in bond yields in the coming months," says Lakshmi Iyer, Chief Investment Officer (Debt) & Head Products of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company.

"#Budget2019 is completely visionless. In fact, the total vision is derailed. On top of it, not only have they imposed cess but also special additional excise duty on petrol and diesel leading to price increase by nearly Rs 2.50/litre for petrol and Rs 2.30/litre for diesel. As a result, price hikes will hit from transport to market to kitchens. Commoners are suffering and suffering."

#Budget2019 is completely visionless. In fact, the total vision is derailed. On top of it, not only have they imposed cess but also special additional excise duty on petrol and diesel leading to price increase by nearly Rs 2.50/litre for petrol and Rs 2.30/litre for diesel 1/2

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 5, 2019

“The new government’s first budget lays fundamental thrust on infrastructure development and affordable housing. Its attention to rental housing through creation of a model law is a welcome move and we hope this will pave way for the development of an institutional rental market in the country. The budget has also taken note of some of the key challenges of the real estate market in terms of the ongoing NBFC crisis and the tough residential market. We hope that the measures of enhancing bank funding to the NBFC sector and tax incentives around affordable housing will help the cause,” says Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director at Knight Frank India.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala raised issue with the budget hitting out on the income of farmers and employment. "The budget is against people, youth, poor and farmers. Finance Min not even once mentioned about the plight of farmers. She didn't mention about 'how the income of farmers will be doubled?' or 'how employment will be generated," Surjewala asked. 

Delhi Metro has been given a grant of Rs 414.70 crore in the new budget as against Rs 50 crore in the last fiscal. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has been allocated Rs 17,713.93 crore for executing metro projects across the country, which was Rs 14,864.60 crore in the revised Budget of the previous fiscal.

Allocation for the Environment Ministry has been increased from the last fiscal by 10.4 per cent to Rs 2,954.72 crore. Termed as the "green budget" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rs 460 crore was allocated towards pollution control schemes including National Clean Air Programme.

“Union Budget 2019 definitely marks the beginning of the new India. It will give a much needed boost to the Indian travel and tourism sector. With the ongoing UDAN scheme for common man, we can expect better air connectivity, improved infrastructure and bridging of the gap between rural and urban sectors. Another visionary project ‘Sagarmala’ will enhance waterways and port connectivity that will uplift cruise tourism in India. As the government understands the need to invest and improve infrastructure, I am sure this budget will add pace to the economic development of the nation.” said Anil Parashar President & CEO of InterGlobe Technology Quotient.

BSP supremo Mayawati said the Union government tried to make it alluring and it would only help the capitalists. "It has to be seen as to how this Budget of theirs is actually beneficial for the people of the country at the ground level," she said in a tweet, adding that the entire country was "distraught and harassed" by poverty, unemployment, poor educational and health facilities. The BSP chief further said the Budget would "encourage the private sector and help big capitalists" at every level, further "complicating" the issue of reservation for the Dalits and backwards besides problems of inflation, poverty and unemployment.

“It is encouraging that the fiscal deficit target has been revised downwards from 3.4 per cent to 3.3 per cent. Strengthening PSU banks’ capital and improving RBI’s oversight on the financial sector will likely improve the flow of credit in the economy. A series of measures to enhance capital flows and employment generation are also great steps. Better growth with macro-economic stability will be the ideal outcome," says Jatin Dalal, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Wipro Limited.

Former chief minister of Karnataka and Congress leader Siddaramaiah calls points out Sitharaman is a woman and " women of the nation expected many things, but they have not been fulfilled". Unhappy with the budget, Siddaramaiah says it is against development and there is no pro-farmers issue in the budget.  "People had expectations from Budget 2019, but they're unhappy. They promised growth in the farming sector, which remained false. Farmers are not getting MSP, they are in drastic condition. There is no pro-farmers thing in budget. Union Budget 2019 doesn't have any program to curb unemployment problem, which is highest in the last 45 years. Also, Nirmala Sitharaman is a woman, women of the nation expected many things, but they have not been fulfilled," says the former Karanataka CM.

The new budget allocated Rs 400 crore for setting up world-class education institutes and announced 'Study in India' programme that will aim at attracting foreign students to the country. Sitharaman said a new national education policy will be introduced to transform India's higher education system to one of the best in the world. The policy proposes major changes in both school and higher education, improve governance and gives more focus on research and innovation, for which a National Research Foundation (NRF) would be set up to coordinate and promote research in the country, she said.

“The Union Budget 2019 depicts the milestone set towards reaching USD 5 trillion economy by investing on infrastructure, digital economy and job creation. It brings us one step closer the economic growth as part of the five years plan with key focus on infrastructure development allocating budgets for roads, ports Infrastructure and logistics. We welcome the government’s focus on the construction and development of highways under the National Highways Programme, to ensure creation of National Highways Grid of desirable capacity. Also applaud the continued focus and investments towards rail infrastructure by announcing and an investment of 50 lakh crores.We also look forward to the focus on improving skills of our youth in areas such as Artifical Intelligence, Big Data, Robotics, This in turn will ensure more stability of jobs both in India and abroad. Furthermore, doubling allocation to Digital India will empower the semi-urban geographies and provide businesses to upscale and help in the country’s vision to a digital-first economy,” says Director of Axis Communications - India & SAARC Sudhindra Holla.

"It has to be ensured that infrastructure investments and skill development should lead to job creation. This budget focuses on fundamentally important elements like affordable housing (additional tax incentives, as well as 1.95 cr rural houses under PM Awas Yojana leading to “housing for all” by 2022), disinvestment (Rs.1.05 tn target for FY20), environment (promoting manufacturing and purchase of electric vehicles), rural development (“Har Ghar Jal”), and social security (pension benefits extended to 3 cr shop owners). There is also a credible effort to aid fundamentally sound NBFCs with partial credit guarantee for PSBs investing in their securitized assets. Some areas could have done with more attention. For example, while the above-expectation Rs.700 bn PSB recap plan is welcome, one would have expected concrete steps for governance reforms in banks. One would have also expected specific measures to induce growth in long-term financial savings of households, which are critical for long-term investments," says G. Murlidhar, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance. 

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot called the budget "disappointing" saying that it lacked direction and had no clear purpose. In a slew of tweets, Gehlot said the budget speech did not mention anything about agriculture and it reflects that the government is not at all serious about improving conditions in rural sector. "The finance minister did not mention various budgetary allocations in her speech, which has been part of past budget speeches," he said.  "Gaon, Gareeb and Kisaan are mentioned as mere slogans without any concrete schemes to deal with farm distress. No relief to middle class or salaried class either. On top of it, raising fuel prices will put further burden on common people," he wrote.

First #Budget of NDA govt's 2nd term lacks direction. Its purpose is not clear and it is disappointing.. There is no concrete plan or solution to accelerate growth of economy, to create jobs or to increase flow of investment. #Budget2019

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) July 5, 2019

Budget for New India, as BJP proclaims has nothing new in it. Talk of PM's vision is fine but it should have a roadmap to achieve that vision,which the budget totally lacks.Without clarity on action plan, #Budget2019 seems hollow n fails to give hope to poor, labourers or farmers

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) July 5, 2019

"As far as real estate is concerned, the budget had a few hits and several misses. Infrastructure stayed at the top of the government’s agenda. This is of course significant, since infra development is one of the main propellers for economic growth and real estate benefits both directly and indirectly. The new FM had an uphill task of balancing priorities in Modi 2.0's maiden budget. Most sectors - including real estate - stridently sought concessions to kick-start stagnant consumption and investments. Steering the country out of the stranglehold of economic slowdown and creating employment were also high on the priorities list," says Anuj Puri, Chairman of ANAROCK Property Consultants. 

Custom duty on precious metals has been increased from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent. Simple put, price o gold has shot up by Rs 590 per 10 gram in Delhi. This move will make gold and jewellery expensive in the domestic market.

Needs of infrastructure financing have been estimated at around Rs 20 lakh crore a year. The budget proposes to enhance the sources of capital for infrastructure financing including setting up a Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation for which regulations have been notified by the Reserve Bank of India.

Sitharaman announced a slew of steps to scale up India's infrastructure programmes including augmenting 1,25,000 km of rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana at a cost of Rs 80,250 crore and creating a national highways grid.

"Finance Minister has presented a growth oriented budget incorporating various reforms likely to be undertaken during the 5 year period. The fiscal deficit has been contained at 3.3 per cent. Steps taken to increase liquidity by way of inducing capital in banks and making funds available to NBFC, coupled with higher infrastructure investments should help in revival of the growth without causing inflationary effect. The budget has laid its special emphasis on construction of affordable housing, moving towards electrical vehicles, labour reforms, incentive for startups and expanding the bond and debt markets are other notable features. On the whole it's a forward looking budget and will help in revival of growth," says Anand Rathi, Chairman of Anand Rathi. Financial Services Ltd.

Apprehensive of the new budget, Chidambaram says the Fiannce Minister did not speak much about agriculture. "Agriculture growth rate has declined. Last year ended with 2.9 per cent. How will you rise the graph to 4 per cent. There is nothing in budget speech on how you will reverse the wheel of agriculture," he says. 

In the new budget, it has been proposed that the budget allocation for the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare will be increased by over 78 per cent to Rs 1.39 lakh crore for the current fiscal, out of which Rs 75,000 crore will be for the flagship scheme PM-KISAN. The government had allocated Rs 77,752 crore in the revised estimate for 2018-19.

(Express photo)

Former finance minister P Chidambaram said Nirmala Sitharaman said nothing about the FDI and termed her speech as opaque. "FDI in companies is limited to 24%. Last year FDI dipped over the previous year. It was about 44 billion dollars, which was 1% less than previous year. How will they get FDI. She said nothing about it. Nothing is clear, this is one of the most opaque speeches," says Chidambaram. 

On the issue of cash transactions, Chidambaram says: "This people is obsessed with people using less cash. Advanced economies use large amount of cash. People who want to use cash will shy away from keeping at bank. They'll keep it at home. What they have done is tax deduction. Any kind of forced use of cash will be counter-productive."

Speaking on linking of Aadhaar and PAN, he said, "They are saying Aadhaar is good nough, pan not necessary. If PAN as agood as aadaahr, then there is already PAN for IT assessees. This govt amends the law first, then thinks. Why link Aadhaar with PAN."

“From a National Pension Scheme (NPS) point of view, the budget has proved to be a bit of a dampener. A 14 per cent  limit is applicable only to the Central Government's contributions to its employee's account. Similarly, 80C exemption on Tier II contributions is available only to Central Government employees. The good thing is that the withdrawal is now completely tax-free, says Sandip Shrikhande, CEO, Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited.

Former finance minsiter Piyush Goyal said the new budget is for all and called it "reform-oriented". "It has given a huge thrust to startup, job creation, Make in India. It has given pension to the traders, large part of the community that was left out of the social security network. It's very reform-oriented. So it's a budget for 130 crore Indians. It's a budget for all. It has addressed issues which will make 'ease of living' for the poor, the middle class. It has ensured large scale infrastructure development which have made life and living easy for 130 crore Indians, rich or poor," ANIT quoted Goyal as saying. 

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday welcomed the announcements for MSMEs in the Budget and said his ministry has decided to raise the sector's contribution to 50 per cent of the country's GDP in the next five years from 29 per cent currently and provide jobs to 15 crore people.

"The speciality of this Budget is that our small-scale and medium-scale industries have received maximum encouragement. (MSMEs) have a contribution of 29 per cent in our country's GDP and the department has decided that we will increase the contribution to 50 per cent of the GDP," said Gadkari, Union Minister for MSME and Road, Transport and Highways.

He added that till now, 11 crore persons have received employment in MSMEs. "We will add 5 crore jobs to this and take the number to over 15 crore in five years." (PTI)

"The Union Budget 2019 has focused on the nation's growth and brings a positive sentiment to the overall economy. With its focus on the agricultural and rural sector, infrastructure, education, job creation, digital economy etc, it is a budget for all. India's real estate sector has a reason to cheer as Finance Minister has announced a range of sops for real estate developers as well as homebuyers in the Budget. These measures are expected to boost housing sector as well as investor sentiments in the near future and will provide ample opportunities for the home buyers to invest. On many fronts, this is a favorable and bold budget for the real estate industry. A massive boost for infrastructure will not only benefit the realty sector but also help other industries and create large scale employment in the economy. The government’s focus on infrastructure development of tier 2 and 3 cities will surely make these cities ready for next round of urbanization," says Surendra Hiranandani, Founder & Director, House of Hiranandani.

"While the Government has taken several concrete measures, there is still a long way to go. We hope that the government looks into some of the key concerns raised by the industry and addresses the same soon. To bring back growth in the sector which is so vital to any developing economy, we expected Government to impart industry status to the sector which would enable developers to cut capital costs and pass on the benefits to consumers. We were also expecting single window clearance which has been a long pending demand from the sector. There was significant expectation to cut GST rates to a single, standard rate, and not have multiple rates or taxes. The abolition of stamp duty or its incorporation under GST would have been an added advantage. The need of the hour is to lower interest rates which will help resolve the existing liquidity crisis and boost housing demand. Also, there is certainly a need to relook at the tax structure. There must be reconsideration to reduce the percentage for the 5 lakhs to 10 lakh slabs as that will reduce burden and increase disposable income which will aid liquidity," he said. 

Railway Minister and former finance minister Piyush Goyal said Nirmala Sitharaman has been benign and thanked her for strengthening the resolve of the railways. "Finance Minister has been very benign to the Railways. She has laid out a vision of investment of nearly 50 lakh crore over the next 10 years. I would really like to thank Finance Minister for strengthening the resolve of the Railways," ANI quoted Goyal as saying.  

Taking a hit at Congress, Goyal said, "Our track record is that we've performed on every single budget for last 5 years. Congress made promises that no one was willing to buy, because they were just "sheikh chilli ki kahani", dreams in the air that nobody trusted," ANI reported. 

"I think people's verdict is out. I can only say that Congress seems to be rudderless, leaderless & helpless," he said. 

Calling the new budget as "path breaking", Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant says the road map laying down a vision for 5 trillion dollars economy is important. "It is a very path breaking. It's a very comprehensive budget. We're particularly delighted as Finance Min has acknowledged role of Niti. But more important is the road map that she has set for laying down a vision for $5 trillion economy," says Kant. 

Chairman of Indian Council of Food and Agriculture MJ Khan says, “Except for the announcement of setting up 10,000 new-farmer producer organisations, there was no major boost to the agriculture sector in the budget 2019-20. However, I must say that a slew of measures, including MSP hiking of around 17 crops and farmers pension, have already been taken for the development of farmers as well as farm sector days ahead of the budget. In totality, this year’s budget is significant as it has also announced to create 100 startup incubators, 80 livelihood and 20 tech incubators, to provide incubation support to 80,000 startups including agri startups for the progress and development of our country."

Under the new budget, Railways was allocated of Rs 65,837 crore and the highest ever outlay for capital expenditure amounting to Rs 1.60 lakh crore. Last year, the outlay for the railways was Rs 1.48 lakh crore while the Budget allocation was Rs 55,088 crore. Sitharaman said "Railways will be encouraged to invest in suburban railways through special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and enhance metro rail network through PPPs."

Chairman of the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council N. Ananthapadmanabhan lists two positive outcomes of the budget as no charges on digital payments with both consumer and business establishments with an annual turnover of up to Rs 50 crores. Second, he mentioned the corporate tax of 25 per cent being extended for companies with an annual turnover of Rs 400 crore as one of the positive outcomes of the budget.  

"But in regard to the hike in the customs duty on gold and precious metals from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent, the industry is totally disappointed. It will encourage more smuggling. They have to roll it back immediately. The minister had brought it to the notice in the pre-budget discussion in Parliament. She had said that as commerce minister, she recommended lowering of customs duty. We were very positive. But unfortunately, what happened in between, we don't know. They hiked customs duty by 2.5 per cent. Prices have gone up by Rs 800. Already, the gold prices are very high and in the last 15 days, business has been affected. Another increase of Rs 80 per gram will keep customers away from the store. Demand will go down by 40 per cent," says Ananthapadmanabhan. 

Reacting to today's budget, BJP working president Jagat Prakash Nadda said: "This budget is dedicated to the poor people of the country, to the Dalits, to the farmers, to the youth and women of the country. It represents all sections of society. I really congratulate the finance minister," ANI reported. 

When asked why there hasn't been any change in the tax slab, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said in a press conference, "There is no change in the tax slab because the announcement regarding that was made four months ago."

Responding to another question from the media, Sitharman said, "This bugdet has been presented from position of strength. India is the fastest growing economy."

"Currently, the FDI policy on Single Brand Retail Trade (SBRT) provides for a 30% local sourcing preferably from MSMEs, village and cottage industries, artisans and craftsmen where the FDI exceeds 51%. While there was a recent relaxation provided to offset the sourcing from India for global operations against the local sourcing, the same didn’t have the expected impact to boost FDI in the sector. There was a lot of reluctance by the existing foreign JV players in the sector to increase FDI beyond 51% to avoid coping with the sourcing norms and also reluctance shown by new foreign brands to enter the sector owing to the sourcing norms. Accordingly, the budget proposal to relax the local sourcing conditions in the sector should have a big positive impact for the existing players and also to the sector owing to the new FDI which should now enter the sector. While there were expectations around relaxing the stringent conditions in the Multi Brand Retail Sector as well, this proposal should give an initial boost to the retail sector while laying a road map for further relaxations," says Paresh Parekh, Partner and National Tax Leader, Consumer Products and Retail, EY India

Sitharaman says expenditure on Defence services has been increased. "Defence services on revenue has also been increased. There is substantial increase under every head of the Defence," the Finance Minister says. 

"There is a 25 per cent incrase in defence services in Northeast," Sitharaman says. 

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"Infrasturture gets priority like the past five years. Rural women and youth have been covered. RBI will regulate house financing. This budget is the 10-year vision. Welfare for SC/ST, the poor are all increased. There is no shortage. Fund allocation for it has been increased," Sitharaman says in a press confernece right after presenting her maiden budget. 

Sitharaman speaks on the NBFC issue. "NBFCs were very critical. NBFC financing window is opening. Whole appraoch is that the govt has responded comprehensively to the NBFC issue. NBFCs because they are very crticial to our banking system, says Sitharaman addressing a press conference. 

"Emphasis is on the overall development of the economy. We looked at which urban living will be better. We are focusing on the ease of living."

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called the Budget 2019 a "futuristic" step.  "By bringing in socio-economic transformation, it is a futuristic budget. It will be successful in taking India to $5 trillion economy. It has taken care of all the sections of society, be it poor, backward or rich people."

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath says, "It is for the first time since independence that a full-time woman finance minister has presented the Union Budget. I want to congratulate her. The budget fulfils the expectations of the people of the country."

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says, "Nothing new, repetition of old promises. They are talking about new India but the budget is old wine in a new bottle. Nothing new, no plan for employment generation, no new initiatives."

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "Finance Minister @nsitharaman ji presents a #BudgetForNewIndia which lays the foundation of an inclusive & progressive nation, whose rise is powered by the hardwork of 130 crore Indians. The budget gives wings to India’s farmers, youngsters, women and poor to fulfil their dreams."

"The #BudgetForNewIndia highlights the exemplary work in key sectors relating to the economy, housing, infrastructure and the social sectors over the last five years and on this basis, ignites a spirit of hope that India can become a 5 Trillion Dollar economy in the coming years," he tweeted.

He also said, "The Budget presented by FM @nsitharaman is a futuristic one. It provides a coherent roadmap for sectors that will drive growth and innovation among our citizens. The emphasis on clean energy and cashless transactions are also steps in the right direction. Today’s #BudgetForNewIndia sets the stage for fulfilling our collective dreams of water for every citizen, ensuring electricity connectivity across India and boosting manufacturing especially in sunrise sectors. The Budget will enable India to become a more vibrant start-up hub."

"The #BudgetForNewIndia clearly reflects PM @narendramodi’s vision for India’s development, where the farmers prosper, poor lead a life of dignity, the middle class get the due for their hardwork and Indian enterprise gets a boost. This is truly a budget of hope and empowerment," he tweeted.

Former finance minister Arun Jaitley congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the budget 2019-20.  "Congratulations to the Hon'ble PM @narendramodi and FM @nsitharaman for the budget 2019-20. The budget besides being a policy document for boosting growth, serves the larger interest of all sectors of the Economy," he tweeted.

"The middle class will progress with this budget while development work will expedite even more. The tax structure will simply and infrastructure will modernize," PM Modi said.

Calling it a "Green Budget", PM Modi said, "This Budget provides an assurance to its citizens that we are in the right direction. This Budget fulfills the expectations of the 21st century India." 

Prime Minister is now addressing the media on the Budget.

" I propose to increase special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each one by 1 rupee a litre on petrol and diesel," Sitharaman said. 

* No change on income tax slabs proposed. However, the FM has proposed to increase the surcharge on individuals having income between 2-5 crore to 3 per cent, and 7 per cent for those with income exceeding Rs 7 crore.

* Increase in customs duty on gold and other products

* Increase in surcharge for those earning Rs 5 crore and above

"Budget places holistic focus on demand for connectivity across rural and urban markets. Encouragement RRTS, metro rail, and TOD is expected to improve connectivity to congested urban agglomeration and foster development outside cluttered city centres. The key to success, however. lies in leveraging private sector developments and ensuring coordination across multiple development authorities and alignment of objectives. Similarly, building large infrastructure projects and affordable housing on large land parcels through pooling/joint models by central/state agencies-as announced in the budget, will need leadership and monitoring possibly through empowered program/ project focused agencies," says Amit Gupta, Director, Deloitte.

To discourage the practice of making business payments in cash the government proposes to levy TDS of 2% on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from a bank account. Surcharge on individuals having taxable income of Rs 2 cr to Rs 5 cr, and Rs 5 cr and more raised

More than 120 crore Indians now have Aadhar card, therefore for ease of tax payers I propose to make PAN card and Aadhar card interchangeable and allow those who don't have PAN to file returns by simply quoting Aadhar number and use it wherever they require to use PAN

Government has already moved GST council to lower the GST rate on electric vehicles(EV) from 12% to 5%. Also to make EVs affordable for consumers our Govt will provide additional income tax deduction of 1.5 lakh rupees on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase EVs

Sitharaman extended thanks to the taxpayers who responsibly follow their duty. "It is because of them that our government is able to complete its dream of inclusive India. The tax collection has increased to 11.37 lakh crore to 2018-19 from 6.37 lakh crore from 2013-14. Direct tax revenue has grown to 78% from 2014 to 2019."

"Companies with a turnover of up to Rs 400 crore to be taxed only 25%. Earlier, companies with up to Rs 250 crore turnover were taxed at this lower rate of 25%. This brings nearly 99 per cent of companies in India" she added

* Govt has been following the policy of disinvestment in non-financial public sector undertakings, maintaining govt's stake not to go below 51%. Govt is considering, in the case where an undertaking is still to be retained in govt control, to go below 51% to an apt level on case to case basis

* Strategic sale of PSUs to continue. Air India also on the table. Rs 1,05,000 crore targeted from disinvestment in 2019-20

This Government believes that we can progress, with greater women participation. One woman in every self-help group will be allowed a loan of Rs 1 lakh. Every woman SHG member having a verified Jan Dhan account will get an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000, it was announced. Sitharaman said there was no segment where the contribution of women was not significant. It also proposed to set up a high-level committee to suggest more ways

The government has proposed a Rs 70,000 crore capital infusion into government-owned banks this year. With the bad loan cycle almost bottoming out according to the Reserve Bank of India, this should help banks to lend more this fiscal. Non-performing asset(NPAs) recovery of Rs 4 lakh crore over the last four years, NPAs down by Rs 1 lakh crore in the last one year

To give further impetus to India's growing influence and leadership in the international community, Govt decided to open Indian embassies and high commissions in countries where India doesn't have a resident diplomatic mission as yet. Propose to consider issuing Aadhaar to NRIs with Indian passports after their arrival in India without the mandatory wait of 180 days

*Cargo movement in Ganga will increase 4 times in 4 years.
* Banks will provide financial assistance for acquisition of scavenging robots.
* Khelo India Scheme will be expanded to develop sportspersons
*Cargo movement in Ganga will increase 4 times in 4 years.
*India to be Open-defecation free by October 2, 2019
*Package for power sector tariff and structural reforms to be unveiled soon.

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