Tax cuts, for those who forego IT exemptions, and the selling of a part of the government's stake in the LIC were among the big announcements in Nirmala Sitharaman's second budget speech, which at two hours and forty minutes is now the longest ever. After reading the fine print, our consulting editor Gurbir Singh, though noted that the big growth stimulus, which was expected, is missing. So, what is the impact? And will it rev up an economy in the throes of a slowdown?
Find out with our live coverage and expert analysis of the Union Budget 2020:
Government to sell part of its holding in LIC. The Finance Minister announces it a little before underlining that "every government must address the issue of fiscal deficit".
The Finance Minister makes a significant bid to assuage ruffled feathers in the private sector. Her stating that wealth creators will be respected, announcement of the introduction of a taxpayers charter and the amendments proposed to decriminalise tax issues and end harassment are all welcome, Gurbir Singh states.
A robust mechanism is in place to monitor the health of all scheduled commercial banks. The deposited money of individuals is absolutely safe. Insurance cover for each depositer has been raied Rs 5 lakh from current Rs 1 lakh: FM
Agriculture, education, healthcare and the infrastructure sectors have all gotten their due. Looks like Nirmala Sitharaman is going the whole hog; no expenditure cuts so far, states Sunitha Natti
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said 100 more airports will be developed by 2025 to support the UDAN scheme.
#Budget2020 allocations so far:
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) February 1, 2020
Rs 99,300 crore for Education
Rs 3,000 crore for Skill development
Rs 69,000 crore for Healthcare
Rs 22,000 crore for Power and renewable energy
Rs 12,300 crore for Swachh Bharat Mission
Rs 1.7 lakh crores for Transport infrastructure
Nirmala Sitharaman says that the ambitious Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme has brought tremendous results. Opposition MPs disagree, interrupts Sitharaman's speech.
Nirmala Sitharaman says that the ambitious Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme has brought tremendous results. Opposition MPs disagree, interrupts Sitharaman's speech.
Till now, these according to our columnist Shankkar Aiyar are the ideas worth the words from the decade's first budget:
* Internship for engineers at local bodies
* Viability gap funding for medical colleges
This is aimed at addressing the shortage of doctors. India currently has 11 lakh doctors for 135 crore people
* 5 new, repeat NEW smart cities
#Budget2020
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) February 1, 2020
LIVE: https://t.co/4W7hwxF2Ld pic.twitter.com/enEYFNW8jW
Accelerated development of highways will be undertaken
Propose to monetize 12 lots of highway bundles of over 6,000 km before 2024
Delhi-Mumbai expressway and two other projects will be completed by 2023
FM Nirmala Sitharaman - #BudgetSession2020: I propose to provide Rs 27300 crore for development for industry and commence for year 2020-21 pic.twitter.com/JK2tBvkT8M
— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2020
FM announces Rs 99,300 crore outlay for education sector in 2020-21 and Rs 3,000 crore for skill development.
We have approved Rs 3.6 lakh crore for Jal Jeevan Mission to provide safe drinking water to rural India: Sitharaman.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Aspirational India theme in Budget 2020 has several moving parts; but the onus is more on states, notes Sunitha Natti.
Finance Minister says degree-level full-fledged online education programme will be offered by the top 100 institutions in the country.
We shall help 15 lakh farmers solarize their grid-connected pumpsets, says Sitharaman
Our consulting editor Gurbir Singh notes: Significantly, in the backdrop to the budget, demonetisation was not mentioned as a contributor to the economy. This is a first
This Budget is woven around three prominent themes - Aspirational India to boost the standard of living; economic development for all; and building a humane and compassionate society
Our consulting editor Gurbir Singh notes: Government estimates that GST implementation is contributing a savings of 4% in household budgets through lower costs. No sources on where this math is derived from, though
In May 2019, PM Modi received a massive mandate again. We commit ourselves to serve the people of India with all humility and dedication, says Sithraman.
#Budget2020 📺LIVE Now from #Parliament
— PIB India (@PIB_India) February 1, 2020
Presentation of #UnionBudget 2020-21 by Union Minister @nsitharaman#JanJanKaBudget #BudgetSession
YouTube: https://t.co/TN71mvbfGt
Facebook: https://t.co/p9g0J6q6qvhttps://t.co/zXnOI5nsw5
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after Union Cabinet meeting at Parliament House.#AIRVideos: Diwaker#Budget2020 | #BudgetWithAIR pic.twitter.com/wB8x4KJpEW
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) February 1, 2020
India needs capitalists. So, the government should embrace free-market principles and follow laissez-faire economics to stem the sagging growth, says Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian. (Click here to read more)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the Union Budget will show how much the BJP cared about Delhi, saying the city should get more in view of the elections.
The Union Budget should help the salaried class through tax cuts and invest in rural India besides providing a healing touch to the common man and industry facing "hardship" since demonetisation.
Market benchmark Sensex slumped over 200 points in opening session on Saturday ahead of the release of the Union Budget.
The Economic Survey released on Friday has projected economic growth will rebound and hit 6%-6.5% in the next financial year starting April 1, saying growth has bottomed out. (Click here to read more)
Corporate tax cut and benefit derived by new companies, as well as improved GST collections will improve revenue generation and will pave way to bring down fiscal deficit next year, with disinvestment too improving, says Sitharaman.
The government allocated Rs 4.7 lakh crore for defence, which is an increase of Rs 40,000 crore. This includes the money used for paying pensions to ex-servicemen.(Click here to read more)
Customs duty on tableware/kitchenware made of porcelain or China ceramic, clay iron, steel, copper doubled to 20%.
Customs duty exemption on raw sugar, agro-animal based products, Tuna bait, skimmed milk, certain alcoholic beverages, soya fibre, soya protein withdrawn.
LIC employees' unions on Saturday opposed the Centre's plan to sell a part of its shares in the state-run insurance behemoth through an initial public offer (IPO), insisting that the move is "against the national interest".
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the LIC will be listed as part of the government disinvestment initiative.
Good news for the Indian newspaper industry as in budget proposal Custom duty on import of news print reduced to 5% from 10%. This will give some relief to print media. #Budget2020 #budget
— Anuradha Shukla (@anu1122) February 1, 2020
If we were hoping for a major stimulus in the budget to counter the slowdown and breathe some life in the markets, it is not there. In fact, the Budget speech, one of the longest in recent years, was sounding as tired as the Finance Minister by closing time. The spends on infrastructure projects by government and for the farm sector are not substantially higher than last year, in fact in agriculture there appear to be cut backs. This is not good for growth and jobs. Obviously, the first reactions from the markets were not positive with the Sensex going down by 700 points immediately after the conclusion of the finance minister's speech.
The expected relaxation of income tax rates in slabs upto Rs 15 lakh has been a welcome boost to the overstretched middle class, as it will put more money in their pockets, and hopefully crank up demand to some extent. It however comes with ifs and buts, and taxpayers are not supposed to have taken any exemptions to qualify for these cuts. It is a Rs 40000 crore relief nonetheless and so is the abolishing of the Dividend Distribution Tax on companies, which were paying 15 percent currently.
On fiscal planning, by holding the deficit at 3.8% of GDP, the government has kept things under control, but one can see little in the Budget that will ease the current difficult times.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cuts short her Budget speech after feeling unwell towards the fag end. However, in her second budget, she broke her own record of 2 hours and 17 minutes which she set in 2019.
Markets don't seem particularly enthused by #Budget2020 so far. @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/iwM3BHgUMA
— Jonathan Ananda (@JonathanSAnanda) February 1, 2020
#Budget2020 | FM #NirmalaSitharaman proposes New simplified personal tax regime.
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) February 1, 2020
LIVE: https://t.co/4W7hwxF2Ld pic.twitter.com/w2rROjWTxb
Expected boost for housing sector does not arrive. The only concession seems to be the Rs 1.5 lakh on purchase of home being waived for IT computation and the tax holiday for builders for affordable housing projects being extended by one more year, notes Gurbir Singh.
FM announces 'Vivad se Vishwas' scheme for direct tax payers whose appeals are pending at various forum.
Removal of dividend distribution tax which is now at 15% is a major boost for corporates. Now tax will be on the dividend in the hands of the investor. This earlier was a major grouse that foreign corporations had, observes Gurbir Singh.
Government proposes 100 per cent tax concession to sovereign wealth funds on investment in infrastructure projects: FM
Rs 40,000 crore per annum will be revenue foregone from new income tax rates for individuals, says FM
As expected, personal tax rates for the middle class have been been cut for those earning up to Rs 15 lakh annually, with the rider that they have to forgo exemptions . This is to put more money in the hands of a large section of the population and to boost spending and crank up demand. A step to combat the slowdown that has been dragging down the economy, says Gurbir Singh.
On a lighter note, our columnist Shankkar Aiyar shares this on twitter as Gurbir was sharing his take:
From the WhatsApp Universe#BudgetSession2020 pic.twitter.com/LbViaQDUq6
— Shankkar Aiyar (@ShankkarAiyar) February 1, 2020
To provide significant relief to individual taxpayers, I propose to bring a new simplified personal income tax regime wherein I-T rates will be decreased: FM
Importantly, fiscal deficit for current FY2020 has been revised from 3.3% to 3.8%. This means debt borrowing will go up to Rs 4.99 lakh crore. Expect significant inflationary pressure, warns Gurbir Singh.
GDP nominal growth has been estimated at 10 per cent: FinanceMinister Sitharaman