Union Budget 2019: Key Highlights

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The Union Budget 2019-20 was presented by Union Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday in the Lok Sabha where she proposed to increase the special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each one by Re 1 per litre on petrol and diesel. Smt. Sitharaman also proposed that to discourage the practice of making business payments in cash a TDS of two per cent on should be levied on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from a bank account.

To ease the burden on small and medium earners, she also proposed a slew of measures. “Those having an annual income up to Rs 5 lakhs are not required to pay any income tax. We are thankful to taxpayers who play an important role in nation building,” she said,

Here are the highlights from the Union Budget 2019: 

* Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman concluded her Budget speech saying, “In the first 50 years after independence we emphasized on rights; marking 75 years we should place emphasis on our duty towards India without undermining our rights.”

* TDS of two per cent on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from a bank account to discourage cash transactions for business deals.

* PAN and Aadhaar cards are interchangeable now for tax returns.

* Government has already moved GST council to lower the GST rate on electric vehicles (EV) from 12% to 5%. Also to make EVs affordable for consumers our Govt will provide additional income tax deduction of 1.5 lakh rupees on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase EVs.

* 100 lakh crore rupees to be invested in infrastructure sector over next five years, Expert Committee to be set up to recommend structure and flow of funds through development finance institutions.

* Direct tax revenue has grown from 6.38 lakh crore to 11.37 lakh crore in last 5 year: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Every verified woman SHG (Self Help Group) member having a Jan Dhan account, an overdraft of 5000 rupees will be allowed.

* One woman in every SHG will be made eligible for loan upto 1 lakh under the Mudra scheme.

* Issuance of Aadhaar card to NRI with Indian passport after the arrival in India without waiting for the mandatory 180 days.

* Happy and satisfied to report that India will be made Open Defecation Free on October 2nd, 2019, as per the dream of PM Modi. To mark this occasion, Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra to be inaugurated at Raj Ghat, on 2nd October, 2019.

* Railways to be encouraged to invest more in suburban railways through SPV structures such as Rapid Regional Transport System; more PPP initiatives to be encouraged in rail sector.

* Budget 2019 proposes to establish a National Research Foundation to fund, to coordinate and to promote research in the country. NRF to be set up to strengthen overall research ecosystem in the country; funds available under all Ministries to be integrated with NRF.

* Swachh Bharat Mission has touched the very conscious of the nation. FM Sitharaman proposes to expand Swachh Bharat to undertake solid waste management in every village, harnessing latest tech.

* Jal Shakti Mantralaya will work with states to ensure Har Ghar Jal for all rural houses by 2024, under Jal Jeevan Mission.

* Government will bring a New Education Policy to bring education to the international level, focus on research and innovation. National Research Foundation will be formed to ensure the strengthening of the research ecosystem in the country, funds of all ministries will be merged for the foundation. Five years ago no Indian institution was in top 200 international educational institutions. Now there are three higher educational institutions in top 200.

* Gandhipedia being developed by National Science Museum to sensitise the youth about Gandhian thoughts and philosophy.

* Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana – Phase 3 envisaged to upgrade 1.25 lakh km of road length at an estimated cost of 80,250 crore rupees.

* In the second phase of PMAY-Gramin, 1.95 crore houses to be provided to eligible beneficiaries, during 2019-20 to 2021-22; they will have amenities such as LPG, electricity and toilets. Time for completion of houses under PMAY reduced from 314 days in 2015-16 to 114 days in 2017-18, enabling the scale of achievement in PMAY.

* Annual Global Investors’ Meet to be organized in India, using NIIF as the anchor to get key sets of global players to come and invest in India.

* To provide NRIs seamless to Indian equities, NRI portfolio investment route to be merged with foreign portfolio investment route.

* A new public company New Space India Limited incorporated as a new arm of Department of Space to tap commercial potential of India’s space strength and products.

* Interoperability of RBI depositories and SEBI depositories necessary for seamlesss transfer of treasury bills; govt. will take necessary measures in this regard in consultation with RBI and SEBI.

* Pension benefit to be extended to around 3 crore retail traders and shopkeepers with an annual turnover less than 1.5 crores under Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Man Dhan Scheme.

* Comprehensive restructuring of National Highways Programme to be done, to ensure creation of National Highways Grid of desirable capacity.

* Plans to reach 5 trillion USD economy–Heavy investment in infrastructure, Digital Economy, Job creation. “Hearts of citizen filled with hope,trust and aspirations”.

* 657 km of metro rail network has become operational in the country.

* Schemes such as BharatMala, Sagarmala and UDAN are bridging rural urban divide and improving our transport infrastructure.

From 1.85 trillion dollars in 2014, the economy has reached 2.7 trillion US dollars; we can very well reach 5 trillion dollars in the next few years.

* The people of India have validated their two goals for our country’s future – national security and economic growth, says Nirmala Sitharaman during her Union Budget 2019-20 speech

* India will become a $3 trillion economy this year.

The recent election was charged with brimming home and desire for a bright and stable New India. Majboot desh ke liye majboot nagrik (Strong citizen for a strong country).