Budget session LIVE updates: Congress protests against Anurag Thakur in LS

Budget 2020 Live: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today presented the annual Union Budget 2020-21 in Parliament. Follow Business Standard for LIVE updates

2:27 PM

Dear FM, don't be scared of my questions, youth want jobs: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should not be afraid of answering questions raised by him on behalf of the youth, to whom the government is answerable.

 

"Finance Minister, don't be scared of my questions. I am asking these questions on behalf of the youth of the country, to answer whom is your responsibility," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

 

"The youth of the country want employment and your government has failed miserably to provide them the same," he said.

 

The Congress leader used the hashtag "JawaabDoMantriJi" to put across his point.

2:13 PM

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 3 pm after uproar by Opposition over CAA, NRC

1:51 PM

1:51 PM

Opposition stages walkout in Lok Sabha as BJP MP from Delhi Parvesh Verma speaks

Opposition stages walkout in Lok Sabha as BJP MP from Delhi Parvesh Verma speaks during a discussion on motion of thanks on the President's address.

1:49 PM

TMC moves 6 amendments to president's speech; question silence on J&K, CAA, economic slowdown

The TMC has moved amendments to the president's address delivered on Friday at the beginning of the budget session, raising questions on his "silence" on issues relating to CAA protests, economic slowdown and Kashmir clampdown.

 

The move has opened the doors of discussion on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Parliament, which has witnessed nationwide protests. President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday hailed the CAA as "historic" in his address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, prompting protests by some opposition members.

 

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O' Brien and Rajya Sabha chief whip Sukhendu Sekhar Ray have moved amendments on behalf of the party in Rajya Sabha pertaining to the "silence" of the president on the ongoing protest against the CAA and demanding that the speech include the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the National Population Register (NPR).

1:44 PM

NPAs of PSBs stands at Rs 7.27 trillion: Anurag Thakur in Lok Sabha

The government on Monday said the Non Performing Assets (NPAs) of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) stood at Rs 7.27 trillion as on September 30, 2019.

 

Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur also said in Lok Sabha that scheduled commercial banks and select financial institutions have reported frauds to the tune of Rs 1.13374 trillion in the first half of the current financial year.

 

Thakur said during Question Hour that as a result of transparent recognition of stressed assets as NPAs, gross NPAs of PSBs, as per RBI data on global operations, rose from Rs 2.79016 trillion as on March 31, 2015, to Rs 6.84732 trillion as on March 31, 2017 and Rs 8,95,601 crore as on March 31, 2018.

 

"As a result of Government's strategy of recognition, resolution, recapitalisation and reforms, have since declined by Rs 1.68305 trillion to Rs 7.27296 trillion as on September 30, 2019," he said.

1:00 PM

Congress members protest against Union minister Anurag Thakur in Lok Sabha

The Congress on Monday raised slogans against Union minister Anurag Thakur in Lok Sabha over his controversial remarks during a recent election rally in the national capital.

 

While Opposition members, mainly from the Congress, were protesting against the amended citizenship law, they raised their pitch whenever Thakur started replying to questions.

 

Thakur, who is the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, had made some controversial remarks during a recent poll rally in the national capital.

 

Belligerent Congress members, who were in the Well, shouted slogans against the minister and asked 'Aapka goli kaha hai? (where is your bullet?)', an apparent reference to the minister's controversial remarks. Some members also shouted 'Goli maarna band karo (Stop shooting)'.

 

Whenever Thakur was responding to supplementaries during the Question Hour, the members began sloganeering against him.

 

During the election rally, Thakur had egged on the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan, "shoot the traitors", after he lashed out at anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protestors.

12:57 PM

Common people of India are protesting to save the Constitution, but they are being fired at: Congress

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress in Lok Sabha: Common people of India are protesting to save the Constitution, they are protesting while holding the constitution & singing the national anthem but they are being fired at. People of India are being killed mercilessly.

12:56 PM

Opposition MPs in Lok Sabha raise slogans of "Save the Constitution"

Opposition MPs in Lok Sabha raise slogans of "Save the Constitution. Save our India. No to CAA" as Question Hour is underway

11:48 AM

Opposition MPs raise 'Goli maarna band karo' slogans as MoS Finance Anurag Thakur speaks in Lok Sabha.

11:17 AM

Uproar in Lok Sabha as few opposition MPs shout "goli maarna bandh karo; desh ko todna bandh karo".

10:52 AM

Budget session LIVE: Congress MPs give Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha to reconsider CAA

Congress MPs Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Kodikunnil Suresh and Gaurav Gogoi have given Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha to "reconsider Citizenship Amendment Act after unrest in the country & to stop the process of National Register of Citizens & National Population Register".

10:48 AM

Budget session: Congress leaders give suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha over "prevailing situation in the country due to CAA, NRC, NPR

Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma have given the suspension of business notice under rule 267 in Rajya Sabha over "prevailing situation in the country due to proposed NPR-NRC following the Citizenship Amendment Act".

10:46 AM

Budget 2020: What it means for the social sector, explains Ashok Varma

The finance minister has attempted to maintain a delicate balance between remaining investment-friendly and yet driving consumption, within the overall constraints of maintaining the fiscal deficit target. This has led to unchanged or marginal increases in allocations to most schemes focusing on the social sector. Read on...

10:44 AM

There's no roadmap for economic recovery in Budget: Anand Sharma

Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday hit out at the BJP government over the economy saying that there was no roadmap for economic recovery and job creation in the Union Budget that was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament.

 

"BJP has nothing else to offer, they have miserably failed. After the national elections in the last eight months, the country's economy has taken a severe downturn and we are looking at a deepening economic crisis. In the national budget, there was no roadmap for the economic recovery and job creation," Sharma said.

10:26 AM

Sensex, Nifty and bond yields fall as Budget disappoints

Shares and bond yields fell on Monday as the country's budget failed to cheer investors, who expected stimulus measures to revive growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.

 

The broader NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.12% to 11,651.95 by 0347 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.26% to 39,645.91.

 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's union budget on Saturday raised spending on farms and expressways and offered cuts in personal taxes, but the measures failed to address concerns of lower consumer spending and investment.

 

Shares fell during a special trading session on that day to their lowest closing level in more than three months.

11:59 PM

Pvt trains, solar power-driven network, transport of perishables form Budget blueprint for railways

Private trains, better connectivity to tourist sites, solar power to fuel the rail network and transportation of perishables -- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed a blueprint for the railways in the Union Budget 2020-21 to be implemented with a budgetary support of Rs 70,000 crore.

 

In 2019-2020, the budgetary support was revised to Rs 69,967 crore.

11:51 PM

Realtors disappointed with Budget, say no major announcements to address industry concerns

The real estate industry on Saturday expressed disappointment over the Budget, saying it failed to address huge liquidity concerns in the sector and did not provide any major incentives to boost sluggish housing sales.

 

"The direction of the budget is progressive, however, there are no sector-specific measures for the realty sector," CREDAI National Chairman Jaxay Shah said.

11:40 PM

Union Budget to generate employment, tackle recession: Sushil Modi

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Saturday said the Union Budget 2020-21 will not only help in generating employment opportunities and income but will also be able to tackle recession in a better way.

 

After incorporating the 15th Finance Commission's recommendations in this year's budget, Bihar's share in central taxes has increased by 0.396 per cent from 9.665 per cent in 2019-20 to 10.061 per cent in 2020-21, said Modi, who also holds finance and commercial taxes portfolios in Bihar's NDA government.

11:26 PM

Push on infra, logistics to help in demand revival: Industry

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's major announcements on infrastructure as well as logistics sector will create rural demand and boost employment opportunities, Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) said on Saturday.

 

Priorities given to household, roads, railways, economic corridors, solar power, accelerated development of highways should help boost development and wealth creation besides reviving cement demand, CMA said in a release.

11:11 PM

Govt pegs net market borrowing at Rs 5.36 trn for FY21

The government will borrow Rs 5.36 trillion from the market in 2020-21, marginally higher than the Rs 4.99 trillion estimated for the current financial year ending March 2020.

 

According to the Revised Estimate, the net borrowing for the current financial year was raised to Rs 4.99 lakh crore as against the Budget Estimate of Rs 4.48 trillion.

11:01 PM

BJP-ruled states praise 'pro-people' Budget

BJP-ruled states hailed the Union Budget as focussed on boosting development, creating jobs and taking every section of the society along, but those governed by the opposition parties expressed disappointment saying it lacked vision to revive the economy.

 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and their counterparts from Karnataka and Goa — B S Yediyurappa and Pramod Sawant — said the budget will help generate jobs, boost rural economy and create infrastructure for growth.

10:51 PM

Corporate Affairs Ministry gets higher budgetary allocation of Rs 728 cr

The Corporate Affairs Ministry will be getting 24 per cent higher allocation at Rs 727.62 crore in the next fiscal, according to the Union Budget 2020-21.

 

The ministry was allocated Rs 586.34 crore for 2019-20 and the amount was later revised downwards to Rs 576 crore.

10:45 PM

FM proposes solar power plants along rail tracks: Rlys says 51,000 hectares of unused land available

The railways on Saturday said about 51,000 hectares of its unused land was available for installing solar plants with a potential to generate 10 GW of clean energy, hours after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a proposal to set up such land-based plants alongside rail tracks in her budget speech.

 

10:30 PM

Startups hail Budget for relaxing ESOPs norm

Startups on Saturday welcomed the Budget proposal of relaxing ESOPs taxation, but said linking it to Section 80-IAC will limit its impact to a small section of startups.

 

"The relaxation for ESOP taxation was welcome but linking it to Sec 80-IAC makes it meaningless as it impacts only a 100 odd startups. We had requested for this to apply to all DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) registered startups. I do hope they correct that urgently," Indian Angel Network Chairman Saurabh Srivastava said in a statement.

10:20 PM

CTT on commodity indices and options in goods proposed

A commodity transaction tax (CTT) will be imposed on trading on commodity indices as well as options in goods with effect from April 1, 2020, according to Budget documents.

 

Recently, the NCDEX and the MCX launched commodity indices but trading has not yet been allowed by markets regulator Sebi. On January 16, Sebi had allowed stock exchanges to launch options in goods in the commodity derivative segment.

10:09 PM

NBFC players say Budget offers some hope, finally

The non-banking finance sector, which has been down in the dumps since September 2018, has heaved a sigh of relief with the Union Budget offering a slew of measures to boost their liquidity and asset recovery.

 

The shadow banking sector, which also includes housing finance companies, has been struggling ever since the bankruptcy of IL&FS in September 2018 which created a crisis of confidence for the system and the resultant snapping of credit flow to them.

 

10:07 PM

Textile industry expects Budget 2020 to spur exports

The textile industry on Saturday said the Budget proposal to offer a scheme for remission of duties and taxes on exports will improve their competitiveness in global markets.

 

"The budget proposal to launch a scheme for remission of duties and taxes on exported goods to refund the duties and taxes levied at the Central, state and local levels, like electricity duties and VAT on fuel used for transportation that are currently not getting exempted or refunded," Texprocil chairman KV Srinivasan said.

 

9:51 PM

Budget 2020: Rs 2,487 cr allocated for RRTS projects

In a boost to connectivity in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Union government on Saturday allocated Rs 2,487 crore to RRTS projects for the next fiscal, nearly three-fold increase over the 2019-20 financial year.

 

In 2019-20, the Centre had allocated Rs 824 crore for the country's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).

 

9:44 PM

Gas grid to be expanded to 27,000 km, pricing reforms in offing

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday laid down plans for expansion of national natural gas pipeline network to 27,000 km from the present 16,200 km and pricing reforms as the government looks at boosting use of environment friendly fuel.

 

The government has set a target of raising the share of natural gas in primary energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 from current 6.2 per cent. Connecting gas sources to consumption hubs is a key to achieving this.