Budget highlights: Super rich to be taxed more, fuel tax increases

PM Narendra Modi hailed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's maiden Budget as a 10-year vision. Here are the key takeaways of Budget 2019

9:50 PM

9:48 PM

Sitharaman picks fiscal discipline over calls for stimulus to economy

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman resisted calls for a fiscal boost to spur a weakening economy, sticking instead to a plan to narrow the budget deficit over time by keeping spending in check.

 

The fiscal deficit target for the year that began on April 1 was lowered to 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product from 3.4 per cent set in February’s interim plan. Read more

9:46 PM

Budget 2019 opinion: An incomplete agenda

While the changes in the Budget in the rates of duty of customs have been for good reasons, except for duties on newsprint and books, general reform of the tariff has not been done.

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9:44 PM

Budget to boost investment in renewable energy sector

Cheering the government's proposal to set up mega manufacturing plants for solar cells, batteries and solar charging infrastructure, industry experts said the move will give a boost to the sunrise industry and Make in India programme.

 

The industry experts, however, noted that such initiatives would require larger support structure in the form of soft loans, export credits in order to compete globally.
 

9:18 PM

Union Budget lacked vision, vital issues ignored: Amarinder Singh

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Friday said the Union Budget "lacked vision" and had nothing to offer to any section of society.

 

He said it ignored a critical sector like defence and no allocation was made for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.

9:09 PM

'Ayushman Bharat' gets big boost in Budget

The Modi government has hiked the spending on health by around 18 per cent with allocation for the flagship 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme, said to be one of the major reasons for people re-electing the NDA, jumping from Rs 2,400 crore to Rs 6,400 crore.

9:07 PM

Marginal hike in budgetary allocation for Department of Space

The Department of Space has seen a marginal hike in the budgetary allocation from Rs 11,200 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 12,473 crore in 2019-20.

 

However, the head under space technology has seen a hike of nearly Rs 1,400 crore. In 2018-19, Rs 6,992 crore was allocated under this head. It rose to Rs 8,407 crore in 2019-20.

 

9:03 PM

Congress leader Anand Sharma slams Budget 2019

9:00 PM

Govt expects windfall from RBI as dividends

The central government expects to get a massive fund influx from the Reserve Bank of India as dividends in 2019-20.

 

Accordingly, senior government official have said that around Rs 90,000 crore is expected to come from the apex bank in this fiscal.

8:58 PM

Budget earmarks Rs 4,500 cr for Aviation Ministry in 2019-20

The Aviation Ministry has been allocated Rs 4,500 crore in the Budget for the current financial year, which is 115 per cent less than Rs 9,700 crore that was given to it during 2018-19 fiscal.

 

Centre has allocated Rs 480 crore for regional connectivity scheme UDAN. In 2018-19, the UDAN scheme was given Rs 441 crore.

 

8:56 PM

Baghel dubs Budget 2019 disappointing

The ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh termed the Union Budget as "disappointing".

 

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said, "This budget is very disappointing. It has failed to provide any relief to the middle class, farmers, youth, women and minorities." 

 

8:36 PM

Budget 2019 serves the larger interest of all sectors of the economy: Former finance minister Arun Jaitley

8:33 PM

Budget 2019: Rs 400 cr allocated for boosting higher education

An amount of Rs 400 crore for building world class institutions in the country was sanctioned in the Union budget.

 

The amount, provided under the head "World Class Institutions", is more than three times the revised estimates for the previous year.

8:31 PM

PAN-Aadhaar interchangeability: What experts say

Nitin Baijal, Director, Deloitte India said that the Budget was an effort at laying down a clear roadmap for tax administration over the next five years with introduction of a slew of measures specifically aimed at simplifying the tax filing process, e-assessment process and interchangeability of PAN with Aadhaar.

 

Neel Ratan, Partner and Leader- Government and Public Sector, PwC India said that the move was perhaps the first step to abolish PAN altogether for individuals.

 

"This also paves the way for better tax compliance with a single identifier and data driven governance," Ratan noted.

8:26 PM

FY20 GST collection estimate down 13% to Rs 6.63 trillion

FM Sitharaman has substantially lowered her projections for GST collections in the Budget for 2019-20 (FY20), against the interim Budget Piyush Goyal presented in February.

 

In a span of five months, the GST mop-up for FY20 has been reduced by around 13 per cent to Rs 6.63 trillion in Sitharaman’s Budget, against Rs 7.6 trillion estimated by Goyal.

8:20 PM

8:18 PM

Budget 2019: Massive jump in aid allocation for Maldives, Mauritius and African nations

Over Rs 17,800 crore has been earmarked for the Ministry of External Affairs in the 2019-20 Budget, an increase of more than Rs 2,800 crore over the previous fiscal, with a massive jump in aid allocation for Maldives, Mauritius and African nations.

 

The total aid to countries has increased by about Rs 2037.79 crore, from Rs 5,545 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 7,582.79 crore in 2019-20.

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8:13 PM

Modi says budget will empower downtrodden, Cong slams it as insipid

Hailing the Union Budget, PM Modi said it is "one of hope" that will boost India's development in the 21st century and empower the downtrodden, but the Congress slammed it as "insipid" and accused the government of not paying any heed to common citizens or economists before preparing it.

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8:02 PM

Budget 2019 fails to uplift market sentiments

Reversing the gains made during the early trade on Friday prior to the Budget speech, the Sensex and Nifty declined around 1 per cent as the Union Budget failed to cheer the investors.

 

Realty stocks also were among the worst hit as the Nifty Realty Index fell by 3.57 per cent.

7:58 PM

How Tamil Nadu parties reacted to Union Budget 2019

Ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu Friday welcomed the budget, saying it spelt out policies for India's future growth.

 

I welcome the Central budget presented by Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman, which has new policies for India's future growth, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said in a statement.

 

DMK President M K Stalin said the budget was "sweet" for corporates and "bitter" for the poor people.

7:54 PM

Highlights of Budget 2019 (5/5):

* PSU banks to get Rs 70,000 cr capital 

 

* Housing finance cos to be regulated by RBI, as against National Housing Bank at present 

 

* Proposed more power to RBI over NBFCs in Finance Bill 

 

* One-time, six-month guarantee to PSU banks to buy some NBFC loans 

 

* Strategic divestment of CPSEs to remain a priority 

 

* Mulling below 51% stake in PSUs on case-to-case basis 

 

* Govt to re-initiate process of Air India sale 

 

* Plans to increase minimum public shareholding in listed cos to 35% from 25% 

7:53 PM

Highlights of Budget 2019 (4/n):

* RBI, banks to absorb merchant discount rate at small shops 

 

* To impose basic excise duty on tobacco products 

 

* Excise duty of Rs 5/1,000 sticks imposed on filter cigarettes 

 

* India now 6th largest economy vs 11th five years ago 

 

* India to become $3 trn economy in FY20 

 

* Well within capacity to reach $5-trillion economy in few years 

 

* To soon announce policy package for power tariffs 

7:52 PM

Highlights of Budget 2019 (3/n):

* Dividend income from state-owned companies seen at Rs 57,486 cr 

 

* Dividend/surplus from RBI, financial institutions at Rs 1.06 trillion

 

* Customs duty on gold, precious metals hiked to 12.5%, from 10% 

 

* Customs duty on stainless steel hiked to 7.5% from 5% 

 

* Special Additional excise, road cess on petrol, diesel hiked by Re1/litre 

 

* Tax deduction of Rs 1.50 lakh on e-vehicle loan interest 

 

* Extra Rs 1.50 lakh tax deduction on affordable housing loans

7:51 PM

Highlights of Budget 2019 (2/n):

* To launch automated, faceless assessment of tax 

 

* To make pre-filled tax return forms available 

 

* Legacy dispute resolution plan to settle litigation in excise, service tax cases 

 

* Fiscal deficit for 2019-20 at 3.3% of GDP 

 

* Gross market borrowing pegged at Rs 7.1 trillion 

 

* GST collections pegged at Rs 6.63 trillion

 

* Disinvestment target pegged at Rs 1.05 trillion

7:49 PM

Highlights of the Union Budget for 2019-20 (1/n)

*Tax deducted at source of 2% for cash withdrawals of over Rs 1 cr a year 

 

* Surcharge hiked on individuals with taxable income above Rs 2 cr 

 

* Effective tax rate on Rs 2-5 crore taxable income hiked by 3% 

 

* Effective tax rate on over Rs 5 crore taxable income hiked by 7% 

 

* Companies with turnover up to Rs 400 cr to pay 25% tax 

 

* Aadhaar, PAN interchangeable for filing income tax returns 

7:44 PM

Kerala CM flays Union Budget 2019

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the budget had failed to keep its various promises, including setting up of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences, made to the state.

 

It was unfortunate that the budget did not show any "sympathetic attitude" towards the southern state, which had been devastated during the August floods last year.

 

7:36 PM

Budget 2019: Rs 50-trn investments in Railways by 2030; public-private partnership model allowed

The Indian Railways will depend heavily on public-private partnership (PPP) projects for growth despite its past record of slow pace in attracting investors.

 

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pointed out sectors for PPP projects that were not open earlier. Private investments are being pushed thanks to the Rs 50-trillion investment required between 2018 and 2030, which the government would find difficult to generate by itself.

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7:33 PM

Budget 2019: Five key income-tax related announcements FM made today

While the income tax slab rates were kept unchanged, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a number of new income tax proposals while presenting Budget 2019.

 

Click here for five key changes related to income tax in Budget 2019:

7:26 PM

Missed FM Sitharaman's Budget speech? Here's all you need to know in two minutes

From concessions on purchase of affordable housing to higher surcharge on those earning over Rs 2 crore, click here for highlights of Budget 2019

 

7:21 PM

Budget 2019 a mixed bag for farm industry: Experts

The allocation made in the Union Budget is an increase of 6.87 per cent over revised estimates of Rs 2.98  trillion given in 2018-19.Farm experts and industry bodies gave mixed response to the first budget of the Modi 2.0 government saying it failed to address key areas like oilseeds while giving thrust to fishery and other allied agricultural activities.

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