SRINAGAR: The key highlights of the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by the Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways & Coal, Piyush Goyal in Parliament today are as follows:
New Announcements
Farmers
12 crore small and marginal farmers to be provided with assured yearly income of Rs. 6000 per annum under PM-KISAN
Outlay of Rs. 75,000 crore for FY 2019-20 with additional Rs. 20,000 crore in RE 2018-19
Outlay for Rashtriya Gokul mission increased to Rs 750 crore
Rashtriya Kamdhenu Ayog to be setup for sustainable genetic up-gradation of the Cow resources
New separate Department of Fisheries for welfare of 1.5 crore fishermen
2% interest subvention to Farmers for Animal husbandry and Fisheries activities; additional 3% in case of timely repayment.
Interest subvention of 2% during disaster will now be provided for the entire period of reschedulement of loan
Labour
Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan scheme to ensure fixed monthly pension to 10 crore unorganized sector workers
Rs 3000 per month after 60 years of age with an affordable contribution of only Rs 100/55 per month
Health
22nd AIIMS to be setup in Haryana
MGNREGA
Rs. 60, 000 crore allocation for MGNREGA in BE 2019-20
Direct Tax proposals
Income upto Rs. 5 lakh exempted from Income Tax
More than Rs. 23,000 crore tax relief to 3 crore middle class taxpayers
Standard Deduction to be raised to Rs. 50,000 from Rs. 40,000
TDS threshold to be raised from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 40,000 on interest earned on bank/post office deposits
Existing rates of income tax to continue
Tax exempted on notional rent on a second self-occupied house
Housing and real estate sector to get boost-
TDS threshold for deduction of tax on rent to be increased from Rs. 1,80,000 to Rs. 2,40,000
Benefit of rollover of capital gains increased from investment in one residential house to two residential houses for capital gains up to Rs. 2 crore.
Tax benefits for affordable housing extended till 31st March, 2020 under Section 80-IBA of Income Tax Act
Tax exemption period on notional rent, on unsold inventories, extended from one year to two years
Fiscal Programme
Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.4% of GDP for 2019-20
Target of 3% of fiscal deficit to be achieved by 2020-21.
Fiscal deficit brought down to 3.4% in 2018-19 RE from almost 6% seven years ago
Total expenditure increased by over 13% to Rs.27,84,200 crore in 2019-20 BE
Capital Expenditure for 2019-20 BE estimated at Rs. 3,36,292 crore
Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) allocation increased to Rs. 3,27,679 crore in BE 2019-20
National Education Mission allocation increased by about 20% to Rs. 38,572 crore in BE 2019-20
Allocation for Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) increased by over 18% to Rs. 27,584 crore in BE 2019-20
Substantial increase in allocation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes -
Allocation for SCs increased by 35.6% - from Rs. 56,619 crore in BE 2018-19 to Rs. 76,801 crore in BE for 2019-20
Allocation for the STs increased by 28% - from 39,135 crore in BE 2018-19 to Rs. 50,086 crore in 2019-20 BE
Government confident of achieving the disinvestment target of 80,000 crore
Focus now on debt consolidation along with fiscal deficit consolidation programme
Poor and Backward Classes
“First right on the resources of country is that of the poor”: FM
25% additional seats in educational institutions to meet the 10% reservation for the poor
Targeted expenditure to bridge urban-rural divide & to improve quality of life in villages
All willing households to be provided electricity connections by March 2019
North East
Allocation to be increased by 21% to Rs. 58,166 crore in 2019-20 BE over 2018-19 BE
Arunachal Pradesh came on the air map recently
Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram came on India’s rail map for the first time
Container cargo movement through improved navigation capacity of the Brahmaputra
Vulnerable sections
A new committee under NITI Ayog to identify all the remaining De-notified nomadic and semi-Nomadic tribes.
New Welfare development Board under Ministry of social justice and empowerment for development and welfare of De-notified nomadic and semi nomadic tribes
Defence
Defence budget to cross Rs 3,00,000 crore for the first time ever
Railways
Capital support of Rs.64,587 crore proposed in 2019-20 (BE) from the budget
Overall capital expenditure programme to be of Rs. 1,58,658 crore
Operating Ratio expected to improve from 98.4% in 2017-18 to 96.2% in 2018-19 (RE) and to 95% in 2019- 20 (BE)
Entertainment Industry
Indian filmmakers to get access to Single window clearance as well for ease of shooting films
Regulatory provisions to rely more on self-declaration
To introduce anti-camcording provisions in the Cinematograph Act to control piracy
MSME and Traders
2% interest subvention on an incremental loan of Rs 1 crore for GST registered SMEs
Atleast 3% of the 25% sourcing for the Government undertakings will be from women owned SMEs
Renewed Focus on Internal trade ; DIPP renamed to Department for Promotion of Industries and Internal trade
Digital Villages
The Government to make 1 lakh villages into Digital Villages over next five years
Other Announcement(s)
New National Artificial Intelligence portal to support National Program on Artificial Intelligence
Achievements during 2014-19
State of the Economy
India universally recognized as a bright spot of the global economy during last five years
“Country witnessed its best phase of macro-economic stability during 2014-19”, says FM
India is now the 6th largest economy in the world from being the 11thlargest in 2013-14
Annual average GDP growth during 2014-19 higher than any government since 1991
Government has broken inflation’s back from backbreaking inflation during 2009-14: FM
Average inflation down to 4.6%, lower than during any other Government
Inflation in December 2018 down to 2.19% only
Fiscal deficit down to 3.4% in 2018-19 RE from the high of almost 6% seven years ago
CAD likely to be only 2.5% of GDP this year against a high of 5.6% six years ago
India attracted massive amount of FDI, worth $239 billion, during the last 5 years
“India is solidly back on track and marching towards growth and prosperity”, says FM
India becomes the fastest growing major economy in the world
Double-digit inflation contained and fiscal balance restored
Liberalization of FDI policy, allowing most FDI to come through the automatic route
Farmers
Assured MSP of minimum 50% to all 22 crops
Interest subvention doubled in last 5 years
Soil Health card, Neem coated Urea game changer in farm sector.