India Union Budget 2018: Full text of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget speech, part-I

 

 

1. I rise to present the Budget for 2018-19.

 

2. Madam, four years ago, we pledged to the people of India to give this nation an honest, clean and transparent Government. We promised a leadership capable of taking difficult decisions and restoring strong performance of Indian economy. We promised to reduce poverty, expedite infrastructure creation and build a strong, confident and a New India. When our Government took over, India was considered a part of fragile 5; a nation suffering from policy paralysis and corruption. We have decisively reversed this. The Government, led by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has successfully implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms. With the result, India stands out among the fastest growing economies of the world.

 

3. The journey of economic reforms during the past few years has been challenging but rewarding. As a result of the reforms undertaken by the Government, foreign direct investment has gone up. Measures taken by the Government have made it much easier to do business in India. Natural resources are now allocated in a transparent and honest manner. There is a premium on honesty. There was a time when corruption was commonplace.  Today, our people, especially our youths, are curious to lead their lives honestly. The indirect tax system, with introduction of Goods and Services Tax, has been made simpler. Benefits to the poor have been targeted more effectively with use of digital technology. The demonetization of high value currency has reduced the quantum of cash currency and circulation in India. It has increased the taxation base and spurred greater digitization of the economy. The Insolvency and 2 Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has changed the lender-debtor relationship. The recapitalized banks will now have a greater ability to support growth. All these structural reforms in the medium and long run will help Indian economy achieve stronger growth for a long time.

 

4. Indian economy has performed very well since our Government took over in May, 2014. India achieved an average growth of 7.5% in first three years of our Government. Indian economy is now 2.5 trillion dollar economy – seventh largest in the world. India is expected to become the fifth largest economy very soon. On Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis, we are already the third largest economy.

 

5. Indian society, polity and economy had shown remarkable resilience in adjusting with the structural reforms. GDP growth at 6.3% in the second quarter signaled turnaround of the economy. We hope to grow at 7.2% to 7.5% in the second half. IMF, in its latest Update, has forecast that India will grow at 7.4% next year. Manufacturing sector is back on good growth path. The services, mainstay of our growth, have also resumed their high growth rates of 8% plus. Our exports are expected to grow at 15% in 2017-18. We are now firmly on course to achieve high growth of 8% plus.

 

6. We have taken up programmes to direct the benefits of structural changes and good growth to reach farmers, poor and other vulnerable sections of our society and to uplift the under-developed regions. This year’s Budget will consolidate these gains and particularly focus on strengthening agriculture and rural economy, provision of good health care to economically less privileged, taking care of senior citizens, infrastructure creation and working with the States to provide more resources for improving the quality of education in the country.

 

7. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has always stressed importance of good governance. He has articulated the vision of ‘‘Minimum Government and Maximum Governance’’. This vision has inspired Government agencies in carrying out hundreds of reforms in policies, rules and procedures. This transformation is reflected in improvement of India’s ranking by 42 places in last three years in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ with India breaking into top 100 for the first time. I would like to congratulate all those who worked to achieve this.

 

8. Now, our Government has taken Ease of Doing business further by stress on ‘Ease of Leaving’ for the common men of this country, especially for those belonging to poor & middle class of the society. Good governance 3 also aims at minimum interference by the government in the life of common people of the country.

 

9. Government is providing free LPG connections to the poor of this country through Ujjwala Yojana. Under Saubhagya Yojna 4 crore household are being provided with electricity connections. More than 800 medicines are being sold at lower price through more than 3 thousand Jan Aushadhi Centres. Cost of stents have been controlled. Special scheme for free dialysis of poor have been initiated. Persons belonging to poor and middle class are also being provided a great relief in interest rates on housing schemes. Efforts are being made to provide all government services, whether bus or train tickets or individual certificates on line. These include passports which may be delivered at doorstep in two or three days or Company registration in one day time and these facilities have benefited a large section of our country.

 

Certificate attestation is not mandatory, interviews for appointment in Group C and Group D posts have been done away with. These measures have saved time and money of lakhs of our youth. Our Government by using modern technology is committed to provide a relief to those who suffer because of rigid rules and regulations.

 

10. Madam, while undertaking these reforms and programmes, we have worked sincerely and without weighing the political costs. Our Government has ensured that benefits reach eligible beneficiaries and are delivered to them directly. Many services and benefits are being delivered to the people at their doorsteps or in their accounts. It has reduced corruption and cost of delivery and has eliminated middlemen in the process. Direct Benefit Transfer mechanism of India is the biggest such exercise in the world and is a global success story.

 

Section II

 

Investment, Expenditure and Policy Initiatives

 

Agriculture and Rural Economy

 

11. My Government is committed for the welfare of farmers. For decades, country’s agriculture policy and programme had remained production centric. We have sought to effect a paradigm shift.  Honourable Prime Minister gave a clarion call to double farmers’ income by 2022 when India celebrates its 75th year of independence. Our emphasis is on generating higher incomes for farmers. We consider agriculture as an enterprise and want to help farmers produce more from the same land parcel at lesser cost and simultaneously realize higher prices for their produce. Our emphasis is also on generating 4 productive and gainful on-farm and non-farm employment for the farmers and landless families.

 

12. Madam Speaker, as a result of the hard work of our country’s farmers agriculture production in our country is at a record level. Doing the year 2016-17 we achieved a record food grain production of around 275 million tonnes and around 300 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables.

 

13. Madam Speaker, in our party’s manifesto it has been stated that the farmers should realize at least 50 per cent more than the cost of their produce, in other words, one and a half times of the cost of their production. Government have been very much sensitive to this resolutions and it has declared Minimum support price (MSP) for the majority of rabi crops at least at one and a half times the cost involved. Now, we have decided to implement this resolution as a principle for the rest of crops. I am pleased to announce that as per pre-determined principle, Government has decided to keep MSP for the all unannounced crops of kharif at least at one and half times of their production cost. I am confident that this historic decision will prove an important step towards doubling the income of our farmers.

 

14. Our Government works with the holistic approach of solving any issue rather than in fragments. Increasing MSP is not adequate and it is more important that farmers should get full benefit of the announced MSP.  For this, it is essential that if price of the agriculture produce market is less than MSP, then in that case Government should purchase either at MSP or work in a manner to provide MSP for the farmers through some other mechanism. Niti Ayog, in consultation with Central and State Governments, will put in place a fool-proof mechanism so that farmers will get adequate price for their produce.

 

15. For better price realization, farmers need to make decisions based on prices likely to be available after its harvest. Government will create an institutional mechanism, with participation of all concerned Ministries, to develop appropriate policies and practices for price and demand forecast, use of futures and options market, expansion of warehouse depository system and to take decisions about specific exports and imports related measures.

 

16. Madam Speaker, last year, I had announced strengthening of e-NAM and to expand coverage of e-NAM to 585 APMCs. 470 APMCs have been connected to e-NAM network and rest will be connected by March, 2018.

 

 

17. More than 86% of our farmers are small and marginal. They are not always in a position to directly transact at APMCs and other wholesale markets. We will develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs). In these GrAMs, physical infrastructure will be strengthened using MGNREGA and other Government Schemes. These GrAMs, electronically linked to e-NAM and exempted from regulations of APMCs, will provide farmers facility to make direct sale to consumers and bulk purchasers.

 

18. An Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of ‘2000 crore will be set up for developing and upgrading agricultural marketing infrastructure in the 22000 Grameen Agricultural Markets (GrAMs) and 585 APMCs.

 

19. Task of connecting all eligible habitations with an all-weather road has been substantially completed, with the target date brought forward to March, 2019 from March 2022. It is now time to strengthen and widen its ambit further to include major link routes which connect habitations to agricultural and rural markets (GrAMs), higher secondary schools and hospitals. Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana Phase III will include such linkages.

 

20. For several years, we have been stating that India is primarily an agriculture based country. As India is primarily an agriculture based country, our districts can specialize in some or other agricultural produce and be known for it. But special attention is lacking in this regard. There is a need to develop cluster based model in a scientific manner for identified agriculture produces in our districts in the same manner as we have developed model for industrial sector.

 

21. Cultivation of horticulture crops in clusters bring advantages of scales of operations and can spur establishment of entire chain from production to marketing, besides giving recognition to the districts for specific crops. The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare will reorient its ongoing Schemes and promote cluster based development of agricommodities and regions in partnership with the Ministries of Food Processing, Commerce and other allied Ministries.

 

22. Our Government has promoted organic farming in a big way.

 

Organic farming by Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Village Producers’ Organizations (VPOs) in large clusters, preferably of 1000 hectares each, will be encouraged. Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) will also be encouraged to take up organic agriculture in clusters under National Rural Livelihood Programme.

 

 

23. Our ecology supports cultivation of highly specialized medicinal and aromatic plants. India is also home to a large number of small and cottage industries that manufacture perfumes, essential oils and other associated products. Our Government shall support organized cultivation and associated industry. I propose to allocate a sum of ‘200 crore for this purpose.

 

24. Food Processing sector is growing at an average rate of 8% per annum. Prime Minister Krishi Sampada Yojana is our flagship programme for boosting investment in food processing. Allocation of Ministry of Food Processing is being doubled from ‘715 crore in RE 2017-18 to ‘1400 crore in BE 2018-19. Government will promote establishment of specialized agro-processing financial institutions in this sector.

 

25. Tomato, onion and potato are basic vegetables consumed throughout the year. However, seasonal and regional production of these perishable commodities pose a challenge in connecting farmers and consumers in a manner that satisfies both. My Government proposes to launch an ‘‘Operation Greens’’ on the lines of ‘‘Operation Flood’’. ‘‘Operation Greens’’ shall promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management. I propose to allocate a sum of ‘500 crore for this purpose.

 

26. India’s agri-exports potential is as high as US $ 100 billion against current exports of US $ 30 billion. To realize this potential, export of agri-commodities will be liberalized. I also propose to set up state-ofthe-art testing facilities in all the forty two Mega Food Parks.

 

27. I propose to extend the facility of Kisan Credit Cards to fisheries and animal husbandry farmers to help them meet their working capital needs.  Small and marginal farmers will get more benefits.

28. Bamboo is ‘Green Gold’. We removed bamboo grown outside forest areas from the definition of trees. Now, I propose to launch a Re-structured National Bamboo Mission with an outlay of ‘1290 crore to promote bamboo sector in a holistic manner.

 

29. Many farmers are installing solar water pumps to irrigate their fields. Generation of solar electricity is harvesting of Sun by the farmers using their lands. Government of India will take necessary measures and encourage State Governments to put in place a mechanism that their surplus solar power is purchased by the distribution companies or licencees at reasonably remunerative rates.

 

 

30. Our Government set up a Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) in NABARD for meeting funding requirement of irrigation works. Scope of the Fund would be expanded to cover specified command area development projects.

 

31. Last year, I had announced setting up of Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) for facilitating expansion of coverage under micro irrigation and Dairy Processing Infrastructure Development Fund (DPIDF) to help finance investment in dairying infrastructure. It is now time to expand such focused investment Funds. I, now, announce setting up a Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FAIDF) for fisheries sector and an Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) for financing infrastructure requirement of animal husbandry sector. Total Corpus of these two new Funds would be ‘10,000 crore.

 

32. Our Government has been steadily increasing the volume of institutional credit for agriculture sector from year-to-year from ‘8.5 lakh crore in 2014-15 to ‘10 lakh crore in 2017-18. I now propose to raise this to ‘11 lakh crore for the year 2018-19.

 

33. Presently, lessee cultivators are not able to avail crop loans.

 

Consequently, a significant proportion of arable land remains fallow and tenant cultivators are forced to secure credit from usurious money lenders. NITI Aayog, in consultation with State Governments, will evolve a suitable mechanism to enable access of lessee cultivators to credit without compromising the rights of the land owners.

 

34. Government will extend a favourable taxation treatment to Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs) for helping farmers aggregate their needs of inputs, farm services, processing and sale operations.  I shall give details in Part B of my speech.

 

35. Air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region has been a cause of concern. A special Scheme will be implemented to support the efforts of the governments of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the NCT of Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for insitu management of crop residue.

 

36. Madam Speaker, the present top leadership of this country has reached at this level after seeing poverty at close quarters. Our leadership is familiar with the problems being faced by the SC, ST, Backward Classes and economically weaker sections of the society. People belonging to poor and middle class are not case studies for them, on the other hand they themselves are case study.

 

37. The Lower and Middle Class have been the focus of our Government during the last three years. This Government is continuously striving to alleviate all the small and major problems of the poor.

 

38. We launched Prime Minister’s Ujjwala Scheme to make poor women free from the smoke of wood. Initially our target was to provide free LPG connections to about 5 crore poor women. But in view of the pace of implementation of Ujjwala scheme and its popularity among the women, we propose to increase the target of providing free connection to 8 crore poor women.

 

39. Our Government has launched Prime Minister Saubhagya Yojana for providing electricity to all households of the country. Under this scheme, four crores poor households are being provided with electricity connection free of charge. We are spending ‘16000 crore under this scheme. You can very well imagine our anxiety and restlessness even with one hour power cut. Think about those women and children whose houses will not get electricity. Their life is going to change because of Pradhan Mantri Saubhagya Yojana.

 

40. Swachh Bharat Mission has benefited the poor. Under this mission, Government has already constructed more than 6 crore toilets. The positive effect of these toilets is being seen on the dignity of ladies, education of girls and the overall health of family. Government is planning to construct around 2 crore toilets.

 

41. Madam Speaker, a roof for his family is another concern of the poor.

 

Far from the Benami properties earned by corruption, the poor only desire to have a roof, a small house by his earning of honesty. Our Govt. is helping them so that they may fulfil the dream of their own house. We have fixed a target that every poor of this country may have his own house by 2022. For this purpose Prime Minister Awas Yojana has been launched in rural and urban areas of the country. Under Prime Minister Awas Scheme Rural, 51 lakhs houses in year 2017-18 and 51 lakh houses during 2018-19 which is more than one crore houses will be constructed exclusively in rural areas. In urban areas the assistance has been sanctioned to construct 37 lakh houses.

 

42. My Government will also establish a dedicated Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) in National Housing Bank, funded from priority sector lending shortfall and fully serviced bonds authorized by the Government of India.

 

43. Loans to Self Help Groups of women increased to about Rupees 42,500 crore in 2016-17, growing 37% over previous year. The Government is confident that loans to SHGs will increase to ‘75,000 crore by March, 2019. I propose to substantially increase allocation of National Rural Livelihood Mission to ‘5750 crore in 2018-19.

 

44. Ground water irrigation scheme under Prime Minister Krishi Sinchai Yojna- Har Khet ko Pani will be taken up in 96 deprived irrigation districts where less than 30% of the land holdings gets assured irrigation presently. I have allocated ‘2600 crore for this purpose.

 

45. As my proposals outlined indicate, focus of the Government next year will be on providing maximum livelihood opportunities in the rural areas by spending more on livelihood, agriculture and allied activities and construction of rural infrastructure. In the year 2018-19, for creation of livelihood and infrastructure in rural areas, total amount to be spent by the Ministries will be ‘14.34 lakh crore, including extra-budgetary and non-budgetary resources of ‘11.98 lakh crore. Apart from employment due to farming activities and self employment, this expenditure will create employment of 321 crore person days, 3.17 lakh kilometers of rural roads, 51 lakh new rural houses, 1.88 crore toilets, and provide

1.75 crore new household electric connections besides boosting agricultural growth. Details are in Annexure I.

 

Health, Education and Social Protection

 

46. My Government’s goal is to assist and provide opportunity to every Indian to realize her full potential capable of achieving her economic and social dreams. Our Government is implementing a comprehensive social security and protection programme to reach every household of old, widows, orphaned children, divyaang and deprived as per the Socio-Economic Caste Census. Allocation on National Social Assistance Programme this year has been kept at ‘9975 crore.

 

47. We have managed to get children to School but the quality of education is still a cause of serious concern. We have now defined learning outcomes and National Survey of more than 20 lakh children has been conducted to assess the status on the ground. This will help in devising a district-wise strategy for improving quality of education. We now propose to treat education holistically without segmentation from pre-nursery to Class 12.

 

48. Improvement in quality of teachers can improve the quality of education in the country. We will initiate an integrated B.Ed. programme for teachers. Training of teachers during service is extremely critical. We have amended the Right to Education Act to enable more than 13 lakh untrained teachers to get trained.

 

49. Technology will be the biggest driver in improving the quality of education. We propose to increase the digital intensity in education and move gradually from ‘‘black board’’ to ‘‘digital board’’. Technology will also be used to upgrade the skills of teachers through the recently launched digital portal ‘‘DIKSHA’’.

 

50. The Government is committed to provide the best quality education to the tribal children in their own environment. To realise this mission, it has been decided that by the year 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an Ekalavya Model Residential School. Ekalavya schools will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalayas and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.

 

51. To step up investments in research and related infrastructure in premier educational institutions, including health institutions, I propose to launch a major initiative named ‘‘Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022’’ with a total investment of ‘1,00,000 crore in next four years. Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) would be suitably structured for funding this initiative.

 

52. Our Government has taken major initiative of setting up Institutes of Eminence. There has been tremendous response to this initiative by institutions both in public and private sectors. We have received more than 100 applications. We have also taken steps to set up a specialized Railways University at Vadodara.

 

53. We propose to set up two new full-fledged Schools of Planning and Architecture, to be selected on challenge mode. Additionally, 18 new SPAs would be established in the IITs and NITs as autonomous Schools, also on challenge mode.

 

54. The Government would launch the ‘‘Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF)’’ Scheme this year. Under this, we would identify 1,000 best B.Tech students each year from premier institutions and provide them facilities to do Ph.D in IITs and IISc, with a handsome fellowship. It is expected that these bright young fellows would voluntarily commit few hours every week for teaching in higher educational institutions.

 

55. Now I come to the Health Sector. ºÉ´ÉäÇ £É´ÉxiÉ Ö: ºÉ ÖÉÊJÉxÉ, ºÉ´É äÇ ºÉÆiÉ Ö: ÉÊxÉ®ÉàɪÉÉ is the guiding principle of my Government. Only Swasth Bharat can be a Samriddha Bharat. India cannot realize its demographic dividend without its citizens being healthy.

 

56. I am pleased to announce two major initiatives as part of ‘‘Ayushman Bharat’’ programme aimed at making path breaking interventions to address health holistically, in primary, secondary and tertiary care system covering both prevention and health promotion.

 

57. The National Health Policy, 2017 has envisioned Health and Wellness Centres as the foundation of India’s health system. These 1.5 lakh centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people. 

 

These centres will provide comprehensive health care, including for noncommunicable diseases and maternal and child health services. These centres will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services.  I am committing ‘1200 crore in this budget for this flagship programme.  I also invite contribution of private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres.

 

58. Madam Speaker, we are all aware that lakhs of families in our country have to borrow or sell assets to receive indoor treatment in hospitals. Government is seriously concerned about such impoverishment of poor and vulnerable families. Present Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) provide annual coverage of only ‘30,000 to poor families. Several State Governments have also implemented/supplemented health protection schemes providing varying coverage. My Government has now decided to take health protection to more aspirational level.

 

59. We will launch a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. This will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme. Adequate funds will be provided for smooth implementation of this programme.

 

60. Madam Speaker, these two far-reaching initiatives under the Ayushman Bharat will build a New India 2022 and ensure enhanced productivity, well being and avert wage loss and impoverishment. These Schemes will also generate lakhs of jobs, particularly for women. The Government is steadily but surely progressing towards the goal of Universal Health Coverage. 

 

61. TB claims more lives every year than any other infectious disease.

It affects mainly poor and malnourished people. My Government has, therefore, decided to allocate additional ‘600 crore to provide nutritional support to all TB patients at the rate of ‘500 per month for the duration of their treatment.

 

62. In order to further enhance accessibility of quality medical education and health care, we will be setting up 24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals by upgrading existing district hospitals in the country. This would ensure that there is at least 1 Medical College for every 3 Parliamentary Constituencies and at least 1 Government Medical College in each State of the country.

 

63. Our resolve of making our villages open defecation free is aimed at improving the life of our villagers. We will launch a Scheme called Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBAR-DHAN) for management and conversion of cattle dung and solid waste in farms to compost, fertilizer, bio-gas and bio-CNG.

 

64. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana (PMJJBY) has benefitted 5.22 crore families with a life insurance cover of ‘2 lakh on payment of a premium of only ‘330/- per annum. Likewise, under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, 13 crore 25 lakh persons have been insured with personal accident cover of ‘2 lakh on payment of a premium of only ‘12 per annum. The Government will work to cover all poor households, including SC/ST households, under these in a mission mode.

 

65. The Government will expand the coverage under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana by bringing all sixty crore basic accounts within its fold and undertake measures to provide services of micro insurance and unorganized sector pension schemes through these accounts.

 

66. Our commitment towards ‘‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’’ is unflinching. Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme launched in January 2015 has been a great success. Until November, 2017 more than 1.26 crore accounts have been opened across the country in the name of girlchild securing an amount of ‘19,183 crore.

 

67. Cleaning the Ganga is work of national importance and it is our firm commitment. Members will be happy to learn that this work has gathered speed. A total of 187 projects have been sanctioned under the Namami Gange programme for infrastructure development, river surface cleaning, rural sanitation and other interventions at a cost of ‘16,713 crore. 47 projects have been completed and remaining projects are at various stages of execution. All 4465 Ganga Grams – villages on the bank of river - have been declared open defecation free.

 

68. To give focused attention and to achieve our vision of an inclusive society, the Government has identified 115 aspirational districts taking various indices of development in consideration. The Government aims at improving the quality of life in these districts by investing in social services like health, education, nutrition, skill upgradation, financial inclusion and infrastructure like irrigation, rural electrification, potable drinking water and access to toilets at an accelerated pace and in a time bound manner. We expect these 115 districts to become model of development.

 

69. Economic and social advancement of hard working people of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) has received core attention of Government. Our Government increased total earmarked allocation for SCs in 279 programmes from ‘34,334 crore in 2016-17 to ‘52,719 crore in RE 2017-18. Likewise, for STs, earmarked allocation was increased from ‘21,811 crore in 2016-17 to ‘32,508 crore in

RE 2017-18 in 305 programmes. I propose an earmarked allocation of ‘56,619 crore for SCs and ‘39,135 crore for STs in BE 2018-19.

 

70. Government’s estimated schematic budgetary expenditure on health, education and social protection for 2018-19 is ‘1.38 lakh crore against estimated expenditure of ‘1.22 lakh crore in BE 2017-18. Details are in Annexure II. This expenditure is likely to go up by at least ‘15,000 crore in 2018-19 on account of additional allocation during the year and extra budgetary expenditure, including through Higher Education Financing Agency. 

 

Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) and Employment

 

71. Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) are a major engine of growth and employment in the country. I have provided ‘3794 crore to MSME Sector for giving credit support, capital and interest subsidy and innovations. Massive formalization of the businesses of MSMEs is taking place in the country after demonetization and introduction of GST. This is generating enormous financial information database of MSMEs’ businesses and finances. This big data base will be used for improving financing of MSMEs’ capital requirement, including working capital.

 

72. It is proposed to onboard public sector banks and corporates on Trade Electronic Receivable Discounting System (TReDS) platform and link this with GSTN. Online loan sanctioning facility for MSMEs will be revamped for prompt decision making by the banks. Government will soon announce measures for effectively addressing non-performing assets and stressed accounts of MSMEs. This will enable larger financing of MSMEs and also considerably ease cash flow challenges faced by them. In order to reduce tax burden on MSMEs and to create larger number of jobs, I will be announcing some tax measures in Part B of my speech.

 

73. MUDRA Yojana launched in April, 2015 has led to sanction of ‘4.6 lakh crore in credit from 10.38 crore MUDRA loans. 76% of loan accounts are of women and more than 50% belong to SCs, STs and OBCs. It is proposed to set a target of ‘3 lakh crore for lending under MUDRA for 2018-19 after having successfully exceeded the targets in all previous years.

 

74. Non-Bank Finance Companies (NBFCs) stepped up financing of MSMEs after demonetization. NBFCs can be very powerful vehicle for delivering loans under MUDRA. Refinancing policy and eligibility criteria set by MUDRA will be reviewed for better refinancing of NBFCs.

 

75. Use of Fintech in financing space will help growth of MSMEs. A group in the Ministry of Finance is examining the policy and institutional development measures needed for creating right environment for Fintech companies to grow in India.

 

76. Venture Capital Funds and the angel investors need an innovative and special developmental and regulatory regime for their growth. We have taken a number of policy measures including launching ‘‘Start-Up India’’ program, building very robust alternative investment regime in the country and rolling out a taxation regime designed for the special nature of the VCFs and the angel investors. We will take additional measures to strengthen the environment for their growth and successful operation of alternative investment funds in India.

 

77. Creating job opportunities and facilitating generation of employment has been at the core of our policy-making. During the last three years, we have taken a number of steps to boost employment generation in the country. These measures include:-

 

Contribution of 8.33% of Employee Provident Fund (EPF) for new employees by the Government for three years.

 

Contribution of 12% to EPF for new employees for three years by the Government in sectors employing large number of people like textile, leather and footwear.

 

Additional deduction to the employees of 30% of the wages paid for new employees under the Income Tax Act.

Launch of National Apprenticeship Scheme with stipend support and sharing of the cost of basic training by the Government to give training to 50 lakh youth by 2020.

 

Introducing system of fixed term employment for apparel and footwear sector.

 

Increasing paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, along with provision of crèches.

 

78. These measures have started showing results. An independent study conducted recently has shown that 70 lakh formal jobs will be created this year.

 

79. To carry forward this momentum, I am happy to announce that the Government will contribute 12% of the wages of the new employees in the EPF for all the sectors for next three years. Also, the facility of fixed term employment will be extended to all sectors.

 

80. To incentivize employment of more women in the formal sector and to enable higher take-home wages, I propose to make amendments in the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 to reduce women employees’ contribution to 8% for first three years of their employment against existing rate of 12% or 10% with no change in employers’ contribution.

 

81. The Government is setting up a model aspirational skill centre in every district of the country under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra Programme. 306 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra have been established for imparting skill training through such centers.

 

82. The Government had approved a comprehensive textile sector package of ‘6000 crore in 2016 to boost the apparel and made-up segments. I, now propose to provide an outlay of ‘7148 crore for the textile sector in 2018-19.

 

Infrastructure and Financial Sector Development

 

83. Infrastructure is the growth driver of economy. Our country needs massive investments estimated to be in excess of ‘50 lakh crore in infrastructure to increase growth of GDP, connect and integrate the nation with a network of roads, airports, railways, ports and inland waterways and to provide good quality services to our people.

 

84. We have made an all-time high allocation to rail and road sectors. We are committed to further enhance public investment.  Provision of key linkages like coal for power, power for railways and railway rakes for coal have been rationalized and made very efficient.  Prime Minister personally reviews the targets and achievements in infrastructure sectors on a regular basis. Using online monitoring system of PRAGATI alone, projects worth 9.46 lakh crore have been facilitated and fast tracked.

 

85. To secure India’s defences, we are developing connectivity infrastructure in border areas. Rohtang tunnel has been completed to provide all weather connectivity to the Ladakh region. Contract for construction of Zozila Pass tunnel of more than 14 kilometer is progressing well. I now propose to take up construction of tunnel under Sela Pass. For promoting tourism and emergency medical care, Government will make necessary framework for encouraging investment in sea plane activities.

 

86. Urbanization is our opportunity and priority. My Government has rolled out two interlinked programmes – Smart Cities Mission and the AMRUT.

 

87. Smart Cities Mission aims at building 100 Smart Cities with stateof-the-art amenities. I am happy to inform that 99 Cities have been selected with an outlay of ‘2.04 lakh crore. These Cities have started implementing various projects like Smart Command and Control Centre, Smart Roads, Solar Rooftops, Intelligent Transport Systems, Smart Parks.  Projects worth ‘2350 crore have been completed and works of ‘20,852 crore are under progress. To preserve and revitalize soul of the heritage cities in India, National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) has been taken up in a major way.

 

88. India is blessed with an abundance of tourist attractions. It is proposed to develop ten prominent tourist sites into Iconic Tourism destinations by following a holistic approach involving infrastructure and skill development, development of technology, attracting private investment, branding and marketing. In addition, tourist amenities at 100 Adarsh monuments of the Archaeological Survey of India will be upgraded to enhance visitor experience.

 

89. The AMRUT programme focuses on providing water supply to all households in 500 cities. State level plans of ‘77,640 crore for 500 cities have been approved. Water supply contracts for 494 projects worth ‘19,428 crore and sewerage work contract for 272 projects costing ‘12,429 crore has been awarded.

 

90. Reforms are being catalyzed by these missions. 482 cities have started credit rating. 144 cities have got investment grade rating.