Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget – a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for the year 2019-20 – in the Lok Sabha today, July 5.
According to the Lok Sabha’s List of Business for the day, Sitharaman will then lay on the Table a statements on medium-term fiscal policy cum fiscal policy strategy and macro-economic framework. Finally, she will move The Finance (No.2) Bill, 2019.
The Budget is expected to put extra money in the hands of the tax payer by tinkering with the exemption limit. Follow here to know what the Budget 2019-20 holds for us.
LIVE UPDATES
01:11 PM | Nirmala Sitharaman concludes her Budget speech
12:50 PM | Nirmala Sitharaman hikes surcharge on individuals with income above Rs 2 cr
In view of rising income levels, a surcharge will be levied on individuals with taxable income of Rs 2 to 5 crore, and Rs 5 cr and above. The effective tax rate for these categories will increase by around 3 percentage points and 7 percentage points, respectively
12:41 PM | Nirmala Sitharam speaks on Taxation
FM Nirmala Sitharaman thanks taxpayers who as responsible citizens for their valuable contribution through taxes for all-round development of the country. She say that due to slew of efforts taken by our government, the direct tax revenue has increased to Rs 11.37 lakh crore from 2013-14 to 2018-19.
“My tax proposals will aim to stimulate growth. I aim to simplify tax admin and bring greater transparency. Currently, the lower rate of 25% is applicable to firms with annual turnover of Rs 250 crore. I propose to widen this to all companies with annual turnover of up to Rs 400 crore. This will cover 99.3% of all companies,” says Sitharaman.
12:40 PM | New series of coin for Re 1, 2, 5, 20 will be made available for public use; will be easily identifiable by visually impaired: Nirmala Sitharaman
12:20 PM | ‘Nari to Narayani’: Measures for woman welfare
Nirmala Sitharaman said that contribution of women is significant in every sector. The recent election saw record turnout of women voters, at par with men. We also have a record 78 women MPs in the House.
The government wishes to encourage and facilitate role of women. I propose a committee to evaluate and suggest measures to improve women’s welfare. To encourage women entrepreneurship, Women SHG Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India. This will reinforce our approach of going beyond just women-centric policies to building women-led movements, she says.
12:12 PM | Nirmala Sitharaman pitches for PPP model to reform railways
Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Indian Railways will need an investment of at least Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018 and 2030 for modernisation and upkeep. She said that a PPP will make services better and faster. “A Public-Private partnership will usher the new dawn of Indian railway,” Sitharaman said.
12:06 PM | Reforms in education sector
FM Nirmala Sitharaman highlights the developments in education sector under Modi-led government. She said that to upgrade level of teaching, Gian initiative was started. It was a roadmap to counter challenges. She also told that none of our technological institutions were in top 200 in 2014. But now, there are five in the list.
She further said that India will be soon a hub of higher education. ‘Study in India’ initiative will be started for the exchange of foreign student: Sitharaman
11:58 AM | Development and reforms in sanitation
“9.6 crore toilets have been constructed since 2014. More than 95% of our cities have declared themselves open-defecation free” says Sitharaman, adding that we aim to make India open-defecation free by October 2, on 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
11:51 AM | We seek to provide water to all rural households under ‘har ghar jal’
Jal ministry to focus on providing adequate drinking water. We seek to provide water to all rural households under ‘har ghar jal’: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.
11:45 AM | Sitharaman lauds efforts of farmers in production of pulses
FM Nirmala Sitharaman says we should go back to basics on zero-budget farming. We need to replicate this model across the nation. She further announced that government will work with states to allow farmers to benefit from National Agriculture Market or eNAM
11:45 AM | “By 2022, power and LPG will be provided to all households,” says FM Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that power and LGP will be available in all the households by 2022
11:40 AM | Nirmala Sitharaman launches new pension scheme for small retail traders
In an important announcement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new pension scheme for small retail traders. The pension benefits will be extended to to 3 crore retail traders and shopkeeper with annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore under new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Man dhan Scheme.
11:32 AM | 100% FDI will be permitted for insurance intermediary
11:30 | We plan to streamline KYC to make it more investor-friendly
As key source of capital to Indian economy, it is important to ensure hassle-free experience to foreign portfolio investors. We plan to streamline KYC to make it more investor-friendly. There will be multiple measures undertaken to deepen the corporate bond market. There is also a proposal to increase minimum public shareholding in companies to 30 percent from 25 percent.
11:25 AM | Govt will create a payment platform for MSMEs to enable filing of bills and payment on the platform itself
11:23 AM | Several reform measures will be taken to promote rental housing; modern tenancy law will be finalised and given to the states
11:20 AM | Sitharaman speaks on reforms in Infrastructure and transportation
The ambitious project of Bharatmala will enhance road connectivity and Sagarmala will help port and waterways connectivity, she says.
National Common Mobility Card was launched by PM Modi in March this year. This will enable people to pay multiple transport charges across India. This card runs on RuPay card and allows users to pay bus charges, parking charges, etc.
These along with other such initiatives such as Udaan scheme will improve India’s infrastructure and enable connectivity and bridge the rural and urban divide, she says.
11:10 AM | Sitharaman highlights efforts taken by the Modi government to improve people’s lives
The Finance Minister talks about India’s key schemes and projects and how they have positively impacted people’s lives. She further speaks about various reforms that the Narendra Modi-led government undertook between 2014 and 2019.
11:05 AM | Confident of achieving our goals!
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman starts her Budget 2-19 speech with quoting Chanakaya – ‘With determined humans efforts, the task shall surely be completed’
10:50 AM | Union Cabinet approves Budget 2019
The Union Cabinet has approved Budget 2019. FM Nirmala Sitharaman is now set to present her maiden Budget shortly.
10:30 AM | Delhi: Copies of Budget brought to the Parliament
10:25 AM | Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS finance Anurag Thakur arrive at Parliament
09:55 AM | Sitharaman hands over Budget copy to President at Rashtrapati Bhavan
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has handed over a copy of the Union Budget to the President, as per tradition.
09:30 AM | Sitharaman ditches traditional Budget Briefcase with red cloth bag
In a departure from the norm, Nirmala Sitharaman is seen carrying budget documents in four fold red cloth instead of the traditional briefcase.
09:20 AM | Sensex up by 119 points; reaches 40,027
Sensex goes up by 119 points to reach 40,027 ahead of Budget presentation.
09:15 AM | Nirmala Sitharaman reaches Finance Ministry, budget statement to start at 11 AM in Parliament
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reached her office at the Finance Ministry. She will deliver the keenly watched Budget statement at 11 am in Lok Sabha
