NEW DELHI : Beginning Saturday 11 am, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, presented the first Full Budget of Modi Government in its second tenure. She read out the 15 Finance Commission report to the Lok Sabha. The fundamentals of the nation’s economy remains strong despite challenges, she said. The govt has been able to earn people’s trust in the financial sector. The budget addresses needs of people from all segments, she assured.
Launching GST was an historic feat and subsequent reduction in its rate helped households by lowering their costs by 4%, the minister said. The govt was also able to rein in concentration of wealth as it was also able to stabilise banks by helping with debts. The govt ushered in schemes to benefit the poor. It also managed to enhance their income and purchasing power, Nirmala said.
Budget Highligts
· - Reduced Taxes : No tax for annual income up to 5 lakh
· - Further reduction in Corporate tax
· - LIC to be sold : Stake sale to begin this year
· - Fiscal Deficit estimate for this year 3.8%; For 2020-21 the figure would be 3.5%
· - Criminal charges under Company Law to be relaxed
· - Govt stake in IDBI Bank to be offloaded completely
· - Insurance cover for Deposits Up to 5 lakhs
· - Law governing cooperative banks to be amended
· - Public examinations to be held online
· - Rs 2500 crore for promoting tourism
· - Rs 100 crore towards G20 summit
· - Rs 85,000 crore for welfare of Scheduled Tribe and OBC
· - Privatisations to see more PPP models
· - Rs 17 crore for expansion of transport services
· - Rs 35,600 crore to meet nutrition-deficiency among children
· - Rs 5,37,000 crore for upliftment of scheduled caste
· - Museums to be built at 5 heritage sites
· - Optical fibre connections in one lakh grama panchayats
· - Rs 22.000 crore for energy sector
· - Rs 69,000 crore for health sector
· - 5 more Smart Cities to be set up
· - Rs 99,300 crores for education sector
· - New education policy coming soon
· - National Forensic Universities to be set up
· - Online degree courses to begin soon
· - Rs 3000 crore for skill development
· - Rs 15 lakh core for agricultural loans
· - Rs 15,000 crore for Jan Jeevan mission
· - Rs 12,300 for Swach Bharat Mission
· - Milk productivity in the country to be raised to 10.8 metric tonnes by 2021
· - Directives to increase fish stock to 2 lakh tonnes
· - Farmers’ incomes to double by 2022; 16 schemes to be launched for the purpose
· - Scheme to enable farmers to re-borrow from NABARD
· - Rs 2.83 lakh crore for farm irrigation and rural development
· - Kissan Udhan aircrafts to transport agricultural produce
· - Dhanalaxmi Scheme to include women self-help groups
· - Kisan rail for quick transportation of vegetables and fruits
· - One District One Product scheme to promote horticulture
