Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today presented the Union Budget 2018-19 – Modi government’s last full-fledged budget ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the first after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
In his Budget speech, Jaitley said this year, the focus is on strengthening agriculture sector and besides 'ease of doing business', the government is also focusing on 'ease of living' now.
The Finance Minister expressed hope that economy will grow at 7.2 per cent to 7.5 per cent in the second half of the current fiscal, adding that India is on track to grow at 8 per cent.
Also Read: India TV Samvaad on Budget 2018 LIVE: Budget this year only 'talks' about problems, says Deepender Hooda
Highlights: Union Budget 2018
# UP CM Yogi Adityanath congratulates PM Modi and FM Jaitley on Budget 2018, lauds initiatives taken up for the poor, farmers, senior citizens
Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister: This budget is for making a New India. It is for the youth of the country, women, farmers, for rural India & poor people living in cities. This is a strong budget.
JP Nadda, Union Minister: I am grateful to Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi ji & FM Arun Jaitley ji for significant increase of Rs 11.5% in Budget 2018-19 for Health and Family Welfare Ministry. Ministry’s Budget, which was Rs 47352.51 crore during last 2017-2018, has now been increased to Rs 52,800 crore.
BS Yeddyurappa, BJP leader: The world's largest healthcare programme - National Health Protection Scheme will be extremely beneficial to the poor and economically weak families who cannot aafford quality healthcare. A significant step towards #SwasthaBharat.
Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM: There is nothing for the middle class and traders in this budget. Completely ignored
# Agriculture and rural economy have been given high priority in Budget: Jaitley
4:27 pm: NITI Aayog will devise a mechanism to increase the Minimum Support Price for crops to 1.5 times of production cost, as promised in Budget; to be done in consultation with the states: FM
4:17 pm: Step by step, in every budget, I have been putting surplus money in the hands of the middle-class taxpayer: FM Jaitley
# Contribution of the salaried class has been reognized for the first time: FM Jaitley
# Confident of limiting the fiscal deficit target for 2018-19 within 3.3%: FM. He also cites that full 12 months of GST revenue will be accessible to meet the target
4:10 pm: Budget blends fiscal prudence with the requirements and needs of the economy today: FM
YS Chowdary, MoS Science & Technology, TDP: We are disappointed with the Union Budget presented today. Many pressing state issues like Railway Zone, Polavaram project funding, Funding for capital Amaravati and other pending issues of Andhra Pradesh are not addressed in the budget.
# Economy enough resilient to bear crude price shocks: Arun Jaitley
# MSPs assistance to farmers a pillar for reforms: Arun Jaitley
3:15 pm: Arun Jaitley expresses hope that Air India disinvestment will be done soon
3:10 pm: Positive impact visible on tax collection after GST roll out, says Arun Jaitley
# I had in last budget slashed the income tax rate by 50 per cent… no scope this time. However, I have tried to reduce the burden on salaried class by restoring standard deduction of Rs 40,000: Jaitley
# Supports extended to bank credit lines helps create jobs: FM Jaitley
# Govt aims to reduce corporate tax. We are competing with global economies on corporate tax: Arun Jaitley
3 pm: Finance Minister Jaitley speaks on new healthcare scheme. He says that extending health insurance net a priority, adds “Modicare to become a global model soon”
2:50 pm: Increase in MSPs linked to production cost. Government’s priority is to double farmers’ income: FM Jaitley at DD News
# On decision to introduce long-term capital gains tax on equities, Jaitley says: "Had to bite the bullet. it is right time to re-introduce capital gains tax.
# Indian economy fundamentally stronger: FM Arun Jaitley speaks after presenting Union Budget
The following is a list of imported items that will become costlier: Cars and motorcycles, Mobile phones, Silver, Gold, Vegetable, fruit juices, including orange and cranberry, Sunglasses, Miscellaneous food preparations other than soya protein, Perfumes and toilet waters, Sunscreen, suntan, manicure, pedicure preparations, Preparations for oral dental hygiene, denture fixative, pastes and powders; dental floss, Pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, Deodorants, bath preparations, depilatories, perfumery, Scent sprays and similar toilet sprays, Truck and Bus radial tyres, Silk Fabrics, Footwear, Coloured gemstones, Diamonds, Imitation jewellery, Smart watches/wearable devices, LCD/ LED TV panels, Furniture, Mattresses, Lamps, Wrist watches, pocket watches, clocks, Tricycles, scooters, pedal cars, wheeled toys, dolls’, carriages, dolls, toys, puzzles of all kinds, Video game consoles, Articles and equipment for sports or outdoor games, swimming pools and paddling pools, Cigarette and other lighters, candles, Kites, edible/vegetable oils such as olive oil, groundnut oil
The following is the list of imported items that will become cheaper: Raw cashew nuts, Solar tempered glass or solar tempered glass used for manufacture solar panels/modules, Raw materials, parts or accessories used in making cochlear implants, Select capital goods and electronics such as ball screws and linear motion guides.
Smriti Irani, Union Minister: I want congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on announcing the world's biggest national health protection scheme. This budget is for the development of the poor, for farmers and increasing their income, senior citizens and women.
# Piyush Goyal, Union Minister: It is a balanced budget which is for every section of society, especially the focus on farmers and health services of the poor. Economy will also get a boost. I congratulate PM Modi and FM Jaitley.
2:40 pm: P Chidambaram, Congress leader and former union minister: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had failed the fiscal consolidation test in Budget 2018-19 and this would have serious consequences. The fiscal deficit limit of 3.2 per cent in 2017-18 had been breached and was estimated at 3.5 per cent.
2:20 pm: MJ Akbar, Union Minister: In the 1 hour 45 minute speech, 1 hour was for the poor, this is indeed historic. The opposition has become too pessimistic.
# Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister: It is a grand budget, lot of announcements for the poor, farmers and tribals. This budget will also cement India as a global economic power.
# Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis: With an aim to put more money in farmers' pockets, the Centre has decided to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of all crops by at least 1.5 times of the production cost. The Mudra loan has been given to more than 10 crore people, of whom seven crore are women and five crore are from the scheduled castes and other backward classes. It is another history created by the Modi government. This is the world's largest health care initiative. Under the new scheme, 50 crore people would get free health care benefits up to Rs 5 lakh per family for treatment.
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister: Medical insurance of Rs 5 lakh for 10 crore families is a huge initiative. This is a historic budget.
HD Dewe Gowda, former PM: FM has tried to make improvements for farmers but the problems of farmers and rural people are enormous. Measures may not be sufficient.
Nitish Kumar, Bihar CM: Announcements regarding education, health and agriculture made. A national health protection scheme to benefit 10 crore poor families announced, it is a huge initiative. I would like to congratulate the government.
Manish Tewari, Congress leader: The govt has attempted to pay lip service to farmers and to other marginalised sections of society but it is a classical case of too less and completely at the inappropriate time.
Amit Shah, BJP president: This budget gives new wings to the aspirations of the poor, farmers and the middle class. The #NewIndiaBudget will truly empower all sections of the society to attain prosperity. The record allocation to the rural sector and agriculture will lead to unprecedented rural development and agricultural growth. Consistent focus on rural development and agriculture has been a hallmark of our Government.
# Customs duty on perfumes, dental hygiene, after-shave, deodorants, room deodorizers, preparations for use on hair doubled to 20 pc. Customs duty on imitation jewellery hiked from 15 pc to 20 pc; doubled on all watches to 20 pc. Customs duty on sunglasses, cigarette lighter, toys, bus and truck tyres, select furniture hiked.
# Import duty on fruit juice raised from 30 pc to 50 pc. Import duty on LCD/LED/OLED panels, parts of TVs hiked to 15 pc; duty on smart watches, wearable devices, footwear doubled to 20 pc.
# Duties on petrol, diesel rejigged; basic excise duty lowered by Rs 2 per litre, Rs 6 additional excise duty abolished, but Rs 8 a litre road cess introduced.
2 pm: Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tables budget for 2018-19
PM Modi speaks on the Budget and its benefits for 125 cr Indians:
1:57 pm: PM Modi concludes his speech
# Several decisions have been taken keeping in mind the concerns of senior citizens: PM
1:51 pm: Govt will soon announce concrete steps to address NPA and 'stress account' issues for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector
Setting up 24 new medical colleges across the country will provide healthcare to people and education opportunities to students
1:47 pm: PM speaks on new healthcare scheme. He also refers to Jaitley’s announcement of setting up 24 medical colleges and also target of setting up 1 medical college in each 3 parliamentary constituencies.
1:43 pm: PM hails FM Jaitley for increasing target of distributing free LPG connections to 8 crore under PMUY. "I am pleased that while expanding the Ujjwala Yojana, its target has now been increased from 5 crore families to 8 crore"
# Kisan credit card will help secure easy loans for farmers: Modi
# The move to develop a plan for storage, processing, marketing for agricultural products created in different districts in the country is highly commendable: Modi
# The farmers, dalits, tribal communities will gain from this Budget. The Budget will bring new opportunities for rural India: PM
# Our focus is on consolidating farmers' income: Centre will consult with states on MSP, says PM Modi
1:35 pm: I congratulate the Finance Minister for the decision regarding MSP. I am sure it will help farmers tremendously: PM Modi
# The farmers, Dalits, tribal communities will gain from this Budget. The Budget will bring new opportunities for rural India: PM
# This Budget is farmer friendly, common citizen friendly, business environment friendly and development friendly. It will add to 'Ease of Living' : PM
1:30 pm: This budget has devoted attention to all sectors, ranging from agriculture to infrastructure: PM
Here are the highlights of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Union Budget 2018-19 speech
1 pm: Lok Sabha adjourned for the day; to meet on Monday. House not to sit tomorrow in honour of departed member Chintaman Vanga
Sensex down by 438.79 points, trading at 35,526.23
12:52 am: Arun Jaitley concludes speech
# Defence Ministry: Rs 2.95 lakh crore for 2018-19.
# Central Board of Excise and Customs renamed as Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
# Strong case for long term capital gains from equities; 10 pc tax on long term capital gains in excess of Rs 1 lakh
# Customs duty on raw cashew cut form 5 pc to 2.5 pc
# Customs duty on mobile phones to be hiked to 20 per cent from 15 per cent
# 15% tax on shares held up to Rs 1 cr
# 4% cess on health and education. Education cess increased to 4 pc from 3 pc to collect additional Rs 11,000 cr: FM
# New scheme for providing electronic assessment to eliminate person-to-person contact
# Huge increase in tax returns filed; 85.51 lakh people filed returns in 2017-18, as against 66.26 lakh in 2016-17
# Rs 90,000 cr additional income tax collection in 2016-17 and 2017-18 due to measures against tax avoidance
# Loans to women self-help groups (SHGs), which grew by 37 per cent year-on-year, will increase to Rs 75,000 crore by March 2019.
12:45pm
# Government dashes middle-class hopes and salaried taxpayers as there have been no changes in personal Income Tax slabs.
# Standard deduction of Rs 40,000 with respect to transport reimbursements.
# For senior citizens, exemption of interest income annually earned from deposit in banks and post offices to increase from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 under Sec 80D
# For senior citizens, there will be no tax on income earned through the interest on tax deposits.
12:42pm
* India now a $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth soon
* Will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, senior citizens
* Hope to grow at 7.2 per cent-7.5 per cent in the second half of 2017-18
* Allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner, there is a premium on honesty now
* Government led by PM modi has implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms
* Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of 2000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
* 470 APMCs have been connected to #eNAM network, the rest to be connected by March 2018
* Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost
* From ease of doing business, government has moved to ease of living for the poor and middle class
* Allocation in for Ministry of Food Processing is being doubled; specialised agro-processing and financial institutions to be promoted by the government
* India now a $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth soon
* Will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, senior citizens
* Hope to grow at 7.2 per cent-7.5 per cent in the second half of 2017-18
* Allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner, there is a premium on honesty now
* Government led by PM Modi has implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms
* Cluster-model approach to be adopted for agricultural production
* From Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 11 lakh crore credit for agricultural activities
* Fishery and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund to be set up with corpus of Rs 10,000 crore
* Restructured National Bamboo Mission to be launched with allocation of Rs 1,290 crore to promote sector in a holistic manner
* Rs 500 crore for Operation Green
* Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of 2000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
* 470 APMCs have been connected to #eNAM network, the rest to be connected by March 2018
* Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost
* From ease of doing business, government has moved to ease of living for the poor and middle class
* Allocation in for Ministry of Food Processing is being doubled; specialised agro-processing and financial institutions to be promoted by the government
* India now a $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth soon
* Will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, senior citizens
* Hope to grow at 7.2 per cent-7.5 per cent in the second half of 2017-18
* Allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner, there is a premium on honesty now
* Government led by PM Modi has implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms
* Integrated B.Ed programme to be initiated for teachers to improve quality of teachers
* India is firmly on path to achieve 8 per cent plus growth
* Propose to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 lakh Crore for 2018-19
* Rs 14.34 lakh crore to be spent for rural infrastructure
* Eight crore free gas connections to women under UJJWALA and 4 crore electricity connections to the poor under Saubhagya Yojana
* Fishery and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund to be set up with corpus of Rs 10,000 crore
* Restructured National Bamboo Mission to be launched with allocation of Rs 1,290 crore to promote sector in a holistic manner
* Rs 500 crore for Operation Green
* Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of 2000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
* 470 APMCs have been connected to #eNAM network, the rest to be connected by March 2018
* Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost
* From ease of doing business, government has moved to ease of living for the poor and middle class
* Allocation in for Ministry of Food Processing is being doubled; specialised agro-processing and financial institutions to be promoted by the government
* India now a $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth soon
* Will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, senior citizens
* Hope to grow at 7.2 per cent-7.5 per cent in the second half of 2017-18
* Allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner, there is a premium on honesty now
* Government led by PM Modi has implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms
* Have decided to take healthcare protection to a new aspirational level. Launching a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families, benefiting approximately 50 crore people
* Providing Rs 5 lakh per family per year for medical reimbursement, under National Health Protection Scheme. This will be world's largest health protection scheme
* Government is slowly but steadily progressing towards universal health coverage
* Air pollution in Delhi NCR is a cause for concern; special scheme will be implemented to support Haryana, Punjab, UP and Delhi NCT to address this and subsidise machinery for management of crop residue
* Scheme for revitalising school infrastructure, with an allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore over four years. Called RISE - Revitalizing Infrastructure in School Education
* Eklavya schools to be started for Scheduled Tribe population
* By 2022, every block with more than 50 per cent ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' school at par with Navodaya Vidyalas
* Integrated B.Ed programme to be initiated for teachers to improve quality of teachers
* India is firmly on path to achieve 8 per cent plus growth
* Propose to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 lakh Crore for 2018-19
* Rs 14.34 lakh crore to be spent for rural infrastructure
* Eight crore free gas connections to women under UJJWALA and 4 crore electricity connections to the poor under Saubhagya Yojana
* Fishery and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund to be set up with corpus of Rs 10,000 crore
* Restructured National Bamboo Mission to be launched with allocation of Rs 1,290 crore to promote sector in a holistic manner
* Rs 500 crore for Operation Green
* Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of 2000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
* 470 APMCs have been connected to #eNAM network, the rest to be connected by March 2018
* Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost
* From ease of doing business, government has moved to ease of living for the poor and middle class
* Allocation in for Ministry of Food Processing is being doubled; specialised agro-processing and financial institutions to be promoted by the government
* India now a $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth soon
* Will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, senior citizens
* Hope to grow at 7.2 per cent-7.5 per cent in the second half of 2017-18
* Allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner, there is a premium on honesty now
* Government led by PM Modi has implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms
* Government plans to construct two crore more toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission
* Rs 7,148 crore outlay for textile sector in 2018-19
* One government medical college to be ensured for every three parliamentary constituencies by upgrading 24 district-level colleges
* Hard work of farmers resulted in a record production of more than 275 million tonnes of foodgrain and about 300 million tonnes of horticultural produce
* Not only focussing on 'Ease of Doing Business' but also 'Ease of Living'
* 70 lakh formal jobs have been created this year. Government will contribute 12 per cent of the wages as EPF in all sectors for the next three years
* Mass formalisation of MSME sector is happening after demonetisation and GST
* Have decided to take healthcare protection to a new aspirational level. Launching a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families, benefiting approximately 50 crore people
* Providing Rs 5 lakh per family per year for medical reimbursement, under National Health Protection Scheme. This will be world's largest health protection scheme
* Government is slowly but steadily progressing towards universal health coverage
* Air pollution in Delhi NCR is a cause for concern; special scheme will be implemented to support Haryana, Punjab, UP and Delhi NCT to address this and subsidise machinery for management of crop residue
* Scheme for revitalising school infrastructure, with an allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore over four years. Called RISE - Revitalizing Infrastructure in School Education
* Eklavya schools to be started for Scheduled Tribe population
* By 2022, every block with more than 50 per cent ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' school at par with Navodaya Vidyalas
* Integrated B.Ed programme to be initiated for teachers to improve quality of teachers
* India is firmly on path to achieve 8 per cent plus growth
* Propose to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 lakh Crore for 2018-19
* Rs 14.34 lakh crore to be spent for rural infrastructure
* Eight crore free gas connections to women under UJJWALA and 4 crore electricity connections to the poor under Saubhagya Yojana
* Fishery and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund to be set up with corpus of Rs 10,000 crore
* Restructured National Bamboo Mission to be launched with allocation of Rs 1,290 crore to promote sector in a holistic manner
* Rs 500 crore for Operation Green
* Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of 2000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
* 470 APMCs have been connected to #eNAM network, the rest to be connected by March 2018
* Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost
* From ease of doing business, government has moved to ease of living for the poor and middle class
* Allocation in for Ministry of Food Processing is being doubled; specialised agro-processing and financial institutions to be promoted by the government
* India now a $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth soon
* Will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, senior citizens
* Hope to grow at 7.2 per cent-7.5 per cent in the second half of 2017-18
* Allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner, there is a premium on honesty now
* Government led by PM Modi has implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms
* Rs 1,48,528 crore capital expenditure for Indian Railways for 2018-19
* All trains to be progressively provided with Wi-Fi, CCTV and other state-of-the-art amenities
* NITI Aayog will establish a National Programme to direct efforts in the area of Artificial Intelligence towards national development
* Five lakh Wi-Fi hotspots to be set up in rural areas to provide easy internet access
* Government to take all steps to eliminate use of cryptocurrencies which are being used to fund illegitimate transactions
* Individual enterprises too to have unique ID
* Government plans to construct two crore more toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission
* Rs 7,148 crore outlay for textile sector in 2018-19
* One government medical college to be ensured for every three parliamentary constituencies by upgrading 24 district-level colleges
* Hard work of farmers resulted in a record production of more than 275 million tonnes of foodgrain and about 300 million tonnes of horticultural produce
* Not only focussing on 'Ease of Doing Business' but also 'Ease of Living'
* 70 lakh formal jobs have been created this year. Government will contribute 12 per cent of the wages as EPF in all sectors for the next three years
* Mass formalisation of MSME sector is happening after demonetisation and GST
* Have decided to take healthcare protection to a new aspirational level. Launching a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families, benefiting approximately 50 crore people
* Providing Rs 5 lakh per family per year for medical reimbursement, under National Health Protection Scheme. This will be world's largest health protection scheme
* Government is slowly but steadily progressing towards universal health coverage
* Air pollution in Delhi NCR is a cause for concern; special scheme will be implemented to support Haryana, Punjab, UP and Delhi NCT to address this and subsidise machinery for management of crop residue
* Scheme for revitalising school infrastructure, with an allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore over four years. Called RISE - Revitalizing Infrastructure in School Education
* Eklavya schools to be started for Scheduled Tribe population
* By 2022, every block with more than 50 per cent ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' school at par with Navodaya Vidyalas
* Integrated B.Ed programme to be initiated for teachers to improve quality of teachers
* India is firmly on path to achieve 8 per cent plus growth
* Propose to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 lakh Crore for 2018-19
* Rs 14.34 lakh crore to be spent for rural infrastructure
* Eight crore free gas connections to women under UJJWALA and 4 crore electricity connections to the poor under Saubhagya Yojana
* Fishery and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund to be set up with corpus of Rs 10,000 crore
* Restructured National Bamboo Mission to be launched with allocation of Rs 1,290 crore to promote sector in a holistic manner
* Rs 500 crore for Operation Green
* Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of 2000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
* 470 APMCs have been connected to #eNAM network, the rest to be connected by March 2018
* Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost
* From ease of doing business, government has moved to ease of living for the poor and middle class
* Allocation in for Ministry of Food Processing is being doubled; specialised agro-processing and financial institutions to be promoted by the government
* India now a $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth soon
* Will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, senior citizens
* Hope to grow at 7.2 per cent-7.5 per cent in the second half of 2017-18
* Allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner, there is a premium on honesty now
* Government led by PM Modi has implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms
* Rs 80,000 crore disinvestment target for 2018-19, target for 2017-18 has been exceeded and will reach Rs 1 lakh crore
* Government insurance companies to be merged into a single entity, and subsequently listed in the stock exchange, as part of the disinvestment programme
* National Logistics Portal as a single online window to link all stakeholders, to be developed by Department of Commerce
* Foundation stone of the bullet train was laid in September 2017. An institute is coming up in Vadodara to train the manpower required for the high speed railway projects
* 12,000 wagons, 5160 coaches and 700 locomotives being procured. There is significant achievements of physical targets by railways
* Road construction has scaled new heights, confident that 9000 km highway construction will be complete by 2017-18
* National Committee chaired by PM, including CMs, Gandhians and representatives from various walks of life for year-long commemoration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
* Rs 1,48,528 crore capital expenditure for Indian Railways for 2018-19
* All trains to be progressively provided with Wi-Fi, CCTV and other state-of-the-art amenities
* NITI Aayog will establish a National Programme to direct efforts in the area of Artificial Intelligence towards national development
* Five lakh Wi-Fi hotspots to be set up in rural areas to provide easy internet access
* Government to take all steps to eliminate use of cryptocurrencies which are being used to fund illegitimate transactions
* Individual enterprises too to have unique ID
* Government plans to construct two crore more toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission
* Rs 7,148 crore outlay for textile sector in 2018-19
* One government medical college to be ensured for every three parliamentary constituencies by upgrading 24 district-level colleges
* Hard work of farmers resulted in a record production of more than 275 million tonnes of foodgrain and about 300 million tonnes of horticultural produce
* Not only focussing on 'Ease of Doing Business' but also 'Ease of Living'
* 70 lakh formal jobs have been created this year. Government will contribute 12 per cent of the wages as EPF in all sectors for the next three years
* Mass formalisation of MSME sector is happening after demonetisation and GST
* Have decided to take healthcare protection to a new aspirational level. Launching a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families, benefiting approximately 50 crore people
* Providing Rs 5 lakh per family per year for medical reimbursement, under National Health Protection Scheme. This will be world's largest health protection scheme
* Government is slowly but steadily progressing towards universal health coverage
* Air pollution in Delhi NCR is a cause for concern; special scheme will be implemented to support Haryana, Punjab, UP and Delhi NCT to address this and subsidise machinery for management of crop residue
* Scheme for revitalising school infrastructure, with an allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore over four years. Called RISE - Revitalizing Infrastructure in School Education
* Eklavya schools to be started for Scheduled Tribe population
* By 2022, every block with more than 50 per cent ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' school at par with Navodaya Vidyalas
* Integrated B.Ed programme to be initiated for teachers to improve quality of teachers
* India is firmly on path to achieve 8 per cent plus growth
* Propose to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 lakh Crore for 2018-19
* Rs 14.34 lakh crore to be spent for rural infrastructure
* Eight crore free gas connections to women under UJJWALA and 4 crore electricity connections to the poor under Saubhagya Yojana
* Fishery and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund to be set up with corpus of Rs 10,000 crore
* Restructured National Bamboo Mission to be launched with allocation of Rs 1,290 crore to promote sector in a holistic manner
* Rs 500 crore for Operation Green
* Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of 2000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
* 470 APMCs have been connected to #eNAM network, the rest to be connected by March 2018
* Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost
* From ease of doing business, government has moved to ease of living for the poor and middle class
* Allocation in for Ministry of Food Processing is being doubled; specialised agro-processing and financial institutions to be promoted by the government
* India now a $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth soon
* Will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, senior citizens
* Hope to grow at 7.2 per cent-7.5 per cent in the second half of 2017-18
* Allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner, there is a premium on honesty now
* Government led by PM Modi has implemented a series of fundamental structural reforms
12:37 pm: Standard deduction of Rs 40,000 allowed. Medical reimbursement and other benefits unchanged. 2.05 crore people to be get benefit
12:35 pm: No change in personal income tax slabs
12:32 pm: Reduced corporate tax by 25 pc extended to cos with turnover of Rs 250 cr to benefit small, micro and medium enterprises
# 100 pc deduction for farmer produce companies
# Personal income tax collection up by 11 pc
# Number of taxpayers have increase from 6.4 crore to 8.27 crore
12:30 pm: 19.25 lakh new taxpayers added in 2016-17
12:27 pm: Direct tax growth 12.6%
12:25 pm: Fiscal deficit for 2017-18 raised to 3.5 pc of GDP as against 3.2 pc previously estimated; for FY 19 deficit pegged at 3.3 pc as against 3 pc targeted previously
12:23 pm: For 2017-18, govt to get GST revenue collections for 11 months. This will have implications on fiscal deficit.
# Expenditure for 2017-18 pegged at Rs 21.57 lakh crore, as against Rs 21.8 lakh cr previously estimated
# FM announces automatic revision of MPs' emoluments every five years, indexed to inflation
12:20 pm: PSU banks recap will allow banks to give additional lending of Rs 5 lakh crore
12:17 pm: Govt sets Rs 80,000 cr disinvestment target for next fiscal
# SEBI may consider mandating large corporates to use bond market to finance one-fourth of their fund needs
12:15 pm: ONGC-HPCL deal successfully completed.
12:15 pm: Govt has initiated strategic disinvestment in 24 PSUs, including Air India: FM
# National Insurance Co, Oriental Insurance Co and United Assurance Co to be merged into one entity and subsequently listed
# Industry-friendly defence production policy in 2018
# Government will take all measures to curb use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. "Govt does not consider crypto-currency as legal; will take all measures against its illegal use"
# NITI Aayog to establish a National Programme to direct govt's efforts in the area of Artificial Intelligence towards national development
12:13 pm: Govt will evolve a scheme to assign a Unique ID for companies.
12:10 pm: 1 lakh Gram Panchayats connected to optic fibre completed; 5 lakh Wi-Fi spots to be created in rural areas
# Regional air connectivity scheme to connect 56 unserved airports. Airport capacity to be hiked to handle 1 billion trips every year
# All trains will be progressively provided with Wi-Fi, CCTV and other state-of-the-art amenities
12:03 pm: Safety first is govt’s priority in Railways. 36,000-km of rail track renewal targeted in coming year. 4,267 unmanned railway crossings on broad gauge routes to be eliminated in next 2 years. Jaitley promises escalators in Railway stations. 600 stations to be modernised. Railways capital expenditure Rs 1,48,528 crore
# Rs 11,000 crore for Mumbai local service
# 12,000 wagons, 5160 coaches and 700 locomotives being procured. There is significant achievements of physical targets by Railways
11:59 am: National Highways exceeding 9,000-km will be completed in 2018-19
11:57 am: 10 prominent tourist sites to be developed as iconic tourist spots
# Women contribution to EPF reduced to 8% for first 3 years of employment
11:53 am: Government will contribute 12% of wages of new employees in EPF for all sectors for the next 3 years.
# Rs 56,619 crore for SC welfare and Rs. 39,135 crore for ST welfare
# Out of 100 smart cities 99 cities have been selected with an outlay Rs 2.04 lakh cr
11:50 am: Textile sector: Rs 7,148 cr
11:44 am: 24 new govt medical colleges and hospitals to be set up by upgrading existing district hospitals: FM Arun Jaitley
# Govt to allocate Rs 600 crore towards nutritional support of tuberculosis patients: FM
# Govt to launch flagship National Health Protection scheme to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable people. The 10 cr families will be provided Rs 5 lakh cover per family per year for treatment.
11:40 am: Rs 1,200 crore to be allocated for Ayushman Bharat programme in 2018-19
# Target of Rs 3 lakh crore for lending under PM MUDRA Yojana . Rs 31 crore for Mudra Yojana
# New Rail University to be set up in Vadodara.
# By 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' school at par with Navodaya Vidayalas. Eklavya schools to be started for Scheduled Tribe population. Scheme for revitalizing school infrastructure, with an allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore over 4 years. RISE - Revitalizing Infrastructure in School Education
# Government to set up two new full-fledged Schools of Planning and Architecture.
11:35 am: Govt to launch 'Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education by 2022.
# 1 cr houses to be built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in rural areas.
11:32 am: Surplus power produced by solar-powered generators used by farmers will be bought by state distribution utilities.
# 6 crore toilets constructed under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan . Govt aims to construct 2 crore more toilets in next two years.
11:29 am: Government aims to distribute free 8 crore LPG connections under PMUY.
11:27 am: Air pollution has been a matter of serious concern for Delhi-NCR. Special scheme to support efforts of Delhi, Punjab, UP, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab governments to fight air pollution and subsidize machinery for management of crop residue.
# Jaitley proposes launch of a restructure national bamboo mission with Rs 1,200 crore. Rs 10,000 crore has been allocated to fisheries and animal husbandry sector.
# Government proposes to launch 'Operation Greens' on the lines of Operation Flood: Jaitley
# Institutional credit to agriculture to be raised to Rs 11 lakh cr in 2018-19, says FM
11:21 am: Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 2,000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
Government has decided that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of all crops shall be increased at least 1.5 times that of the production cost
# The focus is on low-cost farming, higher MSP. Emphasis is on generating farm & non-farm employment for farmers : Jaitley
11:13 am: Govt committed to welfare of farmers. Our emphasis is on generating higher income for farmers: Jaitley
# Cooking gas being given free to poor under PMUY, Rs 4 crore unconnected being provided electricity connection, stent prices slashed: FM
# Indian economy is on course to achieve high growth of 8 %. Economy to grow at 7.2-7.5% in second half of 2018-19: FM Jaitley
# India soon to become fifth largest economy in world, says Arun Jaitley
11:09 am: Indian economy has performed very well since our government took over in May 2014. It is now the seventh largest in the world: FM Jaitley
Cooking gas being given free to poor under PMUY, Rs 4 crore unconnected being provided electricity connection, stent prices slashed: FM
11:06 am: Post-GST, taxpayers base increased considerably. Flow of cash in economy has come down: FM
11:04 am: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley begins Budget speech in English
11 am: Business begins at Lok Sabha
# FM Arun Jaitley reaches Lok Sabha. Breaking tradition, the FM is expected to speak mostly in Hindi when he presents the Budget.
# Cabinet approves Union budget; FM Arun Jaitley's speech to start shortly
# Arun Jaitley has already hinted at a relief for taxpayers while making a case for rationalisation of direct tax structure considering the fact that "the tax base has expanded".
10:10 am: Union Cabinet meet underway at Parliament
10 am: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrives at Parliament
# Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s live interview begins at 2pm. The post-Budget press conference to begin at 4pm. A discussion with the Economic Advisory Council is scheduled for 4.30pm. #AskYourFM talkathon begins at 7pm.
# Sensex opens above 36000-mark ahead of Budget presentation. Rupee weakens 9 paise against dollar in opening trade
9:40 am: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley calls on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget
Budget documents brought to Parliament
09:35 am: The government is likely to increase the budget allocation for farm education, research and extension by up to 15 per cent to around Rs 8,000 crore
09:30 am: Experts believe that the budget will be an attempt by the government to appease the common man as it comes ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and in a year when eight state assemblies go to polls.
09:27 am: There is also an expectation that common man may get some relief in income tax by way of a rise in the exemption limit.
09:02 am:
08:50 am:
08:45 am:
While PM Modi has time and again said that the Budget 2018 will not be a ‘populist’ one, experts believe that it will be an attempt by the government to appease the common man.
Ahead of the Budget Session, PM Modi said that the upcoming budget will fulfil everyone’s dreams. “The budget will add new vigour to India’s development and will fulfil aspirations of people,” he said.
The fifth budget, to be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, means a lot for the NDA government as it comes ahead of the 2019 General elections, and in a year when eight state assemblies – Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan – go to polls.
