Here are the highlights of Nirmala Sitharaman and Modi 2.0's first budget

By Kushal Deb Roy On July 5, 2019 - 4:27 pm

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Friday, presented the maiden budget of Modi Government 2.0. This Budget was also special for the Finance Minister as she was the first full-time woman Finance Minister of the country. Earlier, Indira Gandhi had held finance as an additional portfolio for a short duration when she was the Prime Minister of India.

2019-20 Budget was focused on ‘Economic growth’, ‘boosting infrastructure’, ‘foreign investment’ and ‘Cashless Economy’. Sitharaman said that the government’s principle is to “Reform, Perform & Transform” and the first term of Modi led government has proved that we can ‘succeed’. Minister also added that the government’s objective is “Mazboot Desh Ke Liye Mazboot Nagrik” and it will continue to be.

Not further delaying; let us take a quick brief of the major announcements made by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her budget speech.

Youths

o New National Education Policy to be brought which proposes major changes in both school and higher education, better Governance systems & greater focus on research and innovation.

o National Sports Education Board for development of sportspersons to be set up under ‘Khelo India’, to popularize sports at all levels.

o A television program proposed exclusively for and by start-ups.

Banking and Financial Sector

· New series of coins of 1 Rupee, 2 Rupees, 5 Rupees, 10 Rupees and 20 Rupees, easily identifiable to the visually impaired to be made available for public use shortly.

· TDS of 2% will be imposed on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs. 1 crore in a year from a bank account.

· Business establishments with annual turnover more than Rs. 50 crore shall offer low cost digital modes of payment to their customers and no charges or Merchant Discount Rate shall be imposed on customers as well as merchants.

· Government to reinitiate the process of strategic disinvestment of Air India, and to offer more CPSEs for strategic participation by the private sector.

Rural India

· Electricity and clean cooking facility to all willing rural families by 2022.

· Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin aims to achieve “Housing for All” by 2022.

· 30,000 km of PMGSY roads have been built using Green Technology, Waste Plastic and Cold Mix Technology, thereby reducing carbon footprint.

· 1,25,000 km of road length to be upgraded over the next five years under PMGSY III with an estimated cost of Rs. 80,250 crore.

India’s Soft Power

· Proposal to consider issuing Aadhaar Card for NRIs with Indian Passports on their arrival without waiting for 180 days.

· 17 iconic Tourism Sites being developed into model world class tourist destinations.

TAX

· Tax rate reduced to 25% for companies with annual turnover up to Rs. 400 crore.

· Pre-filling of Income-tax Returns for faster, more accurate tax returns.

· Additional income tax deduction of Rs. 1.5 lakh on interest paid on electric vehicle loans.

· Customs duty exempted on certain parts of electric vehicles.

· Additional deduction up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs for interest paid on loans borrowed up to 31^st March, 2020 for purchase of house valued up to Rs. 45 lakh.

· Overall benefit of around Rs. 7 lakh over loan period of 15 years.

Interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar

o Those who don’t have PAN can file tax returns using Aadhaar.

o Aadhaar can be used wherever PAN is required.

Others

· National Highway Programme to be restructured to ensure a National Highway Grid, using a financeable model.

· Power at affordable rates to states ensured under ‘One Nation, One Grid’.

· Reform measures to be taken up to promote rental housing.

· 5% customs duty being imposed on imported books, to promote domestic publishing and printing.

· Custom duty increased on gold & other precious metals from 10% to 12.5%.

· Special Additional Excise Duty and Road and Infrastructure Cess increased each one by 1 rupee a litre on petrol and diesel.

· India to be open defecation free on 2 October 2019, as per the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

· ‘Har Ghar Jal’, to all rural households by 2024 under ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting the “Eco Friendly, development friendly and future oriented budget”. Addressing the nation via Video Conference Prime Minister Modi said the budget will strengthen the poor and Youths will get a better tomorrow. “The middle class will progress with this budget and development work will expedite even more” he added.