Presenting her maiden budget in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the government will invite suggestions for the further opening up of foreign direct investment in the aviation sector, media, animation AVGC and insurance sectors in consultation with all stakeholders.

Presenting her maiden Union Budget, the Minister said that the exchange would help social and voluntary organisations which work for social causes to raise capital as equity, debt or a unit of mutual fund.

Making significant announcements on Indian Railways, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Budget 2019-20 said the railway infrastructure will need Rs 50 lakh crore till 2030. Of late, the Railway Ministry has tried to supplement its revenues by the way of asset monetisation.

Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the first and only women till now to have presented the Union Budget. In 1970, she presented the Union Budget of India for 1970-71, after she took over the finance portfolio following the resignation of Morarji Desai as finance minister.

A 'bahi khaata' dates back to the pre-Independence era when the transaction detail of a company or a business firm were maintained on a bundle of papers, stitched to form a ledger and bound by a red canvas fabric.

Piyush Goyal, who presented the interim Budget on February 1, 2019, carried a 'red briefcase'.

Budget 2019-20: India's defence forces are in dire need of modernisation. Indian Army needs new assault rifles, bulletproof jackets. Indian Navy needs modern submarines and helicopters. Indian Air Force needs new fighter jets. Read on to what is expected from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she presents her first Union Budget as India's first full-time woman finance minister.

Earlier in 2016, the Union Cabinet had approved the setting up of the fund, which is managed by Small Industries Bank of India (SIDBI). A Startup India status report for 2018 says the Startup India hub, set up to “resolve queries and provide handholding support” to startups, claims to have handled about 1.14 lakh queries. Nearly 2.3 lakh applications were received for an interactive online learning and development module. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman literally did a tightrope walk balancing the needs of the economy and fiscal constraints in her maiden Budget. Read through the blog to know how Nirmala Sitharaman's maiden Budget speech flowed out.

Budget 2019-20 will be the first budget of Modi 2.0 government but is the only second budget in 5 months. It will, however, be interesting to see how Sitharaman brings her touch to the economic policies of the nation. Read on to know what all is expected in today's budget.

Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman presented her first Union Budget of Modi Sarkar 2.0 in the Parliament on Friday. In a major development, Paramilitary Force officials will get great relief from the Central government, as their salaries are likely to get hike without promotion, according to reports.

Budget 2019: When and where to watch Union Budget 2019 India: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her maiden Union Budget 2019 speech in the Parliament on Friday at around 11 am. Nirmala Sitharaman will be the first woman full-time Finance Minister to present Union Budget in the Parliament.

The Finance Ministry has made progress in the strategic sale of 28 state-owned companies, of which three have already been sold off in the previous fiscal. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had raised about Rs 85,000 crore from CPSE disinvestment in 2018-19

Ahead of Modi government's maiden Budget in the second term, an economic survey will project the state of health of the country's economy and outlining the challenges. The annual Economic Survey is usually presented a day before the presentation of the annual budget.

Replying to a question, the finance mnister said RBI was closely monitoring the liquidity position of NBFCs and will continue to monitor the activity and performance of the sector with a focus on major entities and their interlinkages with other sectors.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil the full budget 2019-20 on July 5.

The Union Budget 2019-20, to be presented later this week, will be the decisive factor for equity markets going ahead and investors are likely to be in a 'wait and watch' mode ahead of the mega event, analysts said.

The Government will organise an event on July 1, to celebrate the second anniversary of Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll out, which will be addressed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her deputy Anurag Thakur.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is among the 100 most influential women driving the UK-India relationship forward alongside one of Britain's senior-most Cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Nirmala Sitharaman said prosecution has been launched in 68 cases.