Finance Minister Nirmala Seetaram tables budget before the Parliament. Presenting before the 15th Finance Commission, she called the budget as “people’s budget.” “This is a Budget to boost income. Only though higher growth we can achieve that. Let us be innovative with the use of technology,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her opening speech.
2019 mandate for economic policies: Nirmala Sitharaman during Budget 2020 presentation
“People of India have unequivocally given their support to the policies of the Narendra Modi government. People reposed faith in our economic policies. This Budget aims to address aims, aspirations of people,” Sitharaman said adding that the fundamentals of Indian economy are strong
GST, a historic decision
“Banks saw a thorough cleanup. Of our structural reforms, GST has been the most historic. From 2014-2019, the Modi govt has focused on fundamental structural reforms and inclusive growth,” Sitharaman says in her budget speech and paid homage to former finance minister late Arun Jaitley.
Sabkja Saath vikaas implemented in all polices
“Motto of ‘Sabki Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas’ has implemented new programmes for poor and disadvantaged under PM Modi. Total of 60 lakh new taxpayers and 105 crore e-way bills generated under GST,” Sitharaman said, mentioning some schemes of Modi government like Aayushmaan Bharat, affordable housing among others
Inspector Raj has ended
“India raised 271 million people out of poverty between 2015 and 2016. The milestones achieved are unprecedented and globally recognised. A household saves an average of 4 per cent annually because of GST… The dreaded Inspector Raj has also vanished,” Ms Sitharaman said.
Modi govt committed to double farmer income by 2022: Sitharaman
In the first theme of Aspirational India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is focussing on skills, education, and agriculture. ‘The government is committed to double the farmer income by 2022. Farmers with barren land can set up solar power units so that they can get a living out of it,’ she said, presenting a 16-point action plan for this purpose.
6.11 crore farmers insured under Fasal Bima: Sitharaman
A total of 6.11 crore farmers insured under Fasal Bima, says finance minister. She says hand-holding of farm-based activities needs to be done in cooperation with states. PM Kusum Scheme reduced dependence on diesel and kerosene and relied on social energy. Total of 20 lakh farmers can set up standalone solar pumps, she says.
Krishi Rail announced to transport perishable goods
We want women Self Help Groups in the villages to distribute seeds to farmers with help of MUDRA scheme. Indian Railways will now play an even more involved role in food distribution. We will set up a Kisan Rail to help transport perishable goods within the country. Horticulture sector with its current produce of 311 million metric tonnes exceeds the production of food grains,’ Sitharaman said.
The Budget has announced Krishi Rail, to be implemented by the Ministry of Railways, and Krishi Udaan by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. These will complement roadways for faster transportation of perishable agricultural goods. While in Railways, refrigerated coaches will be added to Express and Freight trains, the Krishi Udaan scheme will see flights on national and international routes pitching in.
Agriculture, rural development will see an allocation Rs 2.83 lakh crores: FM Sitharaman
“Agriculture, rural development will see an allocation Rs 2.83 lakh crores. The Centre also proposes plans to help farmers use proper manure and little water, encourage the balanced use of fertilizers. In order to build cooperation, the states have been asked to adopt 3 central model laws on agricultural land leasing, marketing and contract farming.”
Sensex trades flat with a marginal gain of 23 points
Meanwhile, Sensex trades flat with a marginal gain of 23 points at 40,747 following the first few Budget announcements by the FM
Solar pumps for farmers
“We will provide 20 lakh farmers with facilities for standalone solar pumps; 15 lakh farmers will get solar grid-connected pump sets. Barren land can be used to set up solar plants,” the Finance Minister said.
More hospitals for Ayushman Bharat scheme
Hospitals to be set up in PPP (public-private partnership) mode for better treatment under Ayushman Bharat (health insurance) scheme. More hospitals will be empanelled. “TB harega, desh jitega (tuberculosis will lose, the country will win,” Ms Sitharaman said
Rs 3.6 lakh crore for Jal Jeevan Mission has been approved
Rs 3.6 lakh crore for Jal Jeevan Mission has been approved. This will be used to augment local water resources, desalination projects, water harvesting and renewing older sources in FY21. Push to improve water supply and sanitation
Govt proposes online education to ensure education accessibility for everyone
“By 2030 India is said to have the largest working population in the world. Urban Local bodies around the country will provide internships for fresh engineers for up to a year. To ensure education reaches everyone, degree-level full-fledged online education programs will be allowed for institutes ranked in the top 100. INSAT exam will be held in African and Asian countries to benchmark foreign students,” Sitharaman said, proposing online education to ensure education accessibility for everyone
5 smart cities to come up
“Five new Smart Cities will be set up in public-private partnership mode,” the Finance Minister said. “We propose to digitally refund duties and levies to exporters.”
Delhi-Mumbai Expressway by 2023
“Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and other similar projects will be completed by 2023. Work on the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway will start soon,” Ms Sitharaman said.
High-speed trains planned
More Tejas type trains will connect tourist destinations. High-speed rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be pursued. A suburban rail project in Bengaluru is planned.
More Tejas type trains to come up: Sitharaman
Setting up large solar power capacity alongside tracks, station redevelopment projects under PPP, more Tejas type trains, Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed train to be pursued. The govt will replace conventional electric meters with smart meters in the next three years. Consumers can choose supplier and rate: Nirmala Sitharaman.
Govt pushes for explosion of digital technology in India
To harness the explosion of digital technology in the country, the finance minister has proposed to bring a policy to build data centre parks across the country. This is in line with the broad policy of the NDA government of encouraging data localisation. To provide Rs 6000 cr for BharatNet in FY 20-21; To provide Rs 8000 over 5 years for a national mission on quantum technology: FM Sitharaman
In a first sign of opening a window of dialogue on the new citizenship law, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government is ready to talk to protesters of Shaheen Bagh “but then it should be in a structured form”. In a tweet, he said the Narendra Modi govt is ready to communicate with them and clear all the doubts that they have against the citizenship law.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao has yielded tremendous results: FM Sitharaman
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao has yielded tremendous results. The gross enrolment ratio of girls across all levels of education now higher than boys. This budget provides 28,600 cr for schemes specifically for women. I propose to provide Rs 35600 crores for nutrition-related programmes for 2020-21., the FM said.
Rs 53,700 crore allocated for development of Scheduled Tribes
FM allocates Rs 9,000 crore for senior citizens and Rs 53,700 crore for development and welfare of Scheduled Tribes. The Budget also provides Rs 85,000 crore in 2020-21 for the welfare of SC and other backward classes
100 more airports to be developed by 2025 under UDAAN scheme
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said 100 more airports will be developed by 2025 to support the UDAN scheme. She said Rs 1.7 lakh crore has been provided for transport infrastructure in 2020-21. She also said 1,150 trains will run under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, also four stations will be redeveloped with the help of the private sector.
Five Archeological sites to be developed as iconic sites: FM Sitharaman during Budget 2020 speech
“Government proposes to establish Indian Insitute of Heritage and Conservation. Five Archeological sites to be developed as iconic sites with the onsite museum in Haryana, UP, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Assam,” the FM said.
Finance Commission report recommends keeping the tax devolution share ‘virtually unchanged’
The 15th Finance Commission, tabled by the FM in parliament prior to the budget presentation, has recommended keeping the tax devolution share “virtually unchanged” to states to 41 per cent for the year 2020-21 from 42 per cent. The 1 percentage point reduction, though, has been done to account for the reorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have notionally estimated that the share of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir would have come to around 0.85 per cent of the divisible pool. We believe that there is a strong case for enhancing this to 1 per cent of the divisible pool to meet the security and the special needs of the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Since this enhancement has to be met from the Union’s resources, we recommend that the aggregate share of states may be reduced by about 1 percentage point to 41 per cent of the divisible pool,” the report has said.
The Commission’s report, along with an action taken report, was placed in Parliament. The Commission has earlier submitted its report to the President last December.
Govt proposes to sell part of its stake in LIC
Govt proposes to sell part of its stake in LIC, FM Sitharaman announced while making the Budget presentation. FDI limit in corporate bonds increased from 9% to 15% in outstanding stocks, she added.
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