Union Budget 2015 Live: Jaitley's budget will help India rise to new highs, Modi says

Chandrababu Naidu disappointed with Jaitley’s budget

Even as the NDA is patting each other’s backs over the Budget 2015 presented by Arun Jaitley, not everyone is happy. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said that the union Budget failed to fulfil the promises made to the state at the time of bifurcation last year.

“At that time (when new states of AP and Telangana came ino existence) Congress had ditched Andhra Pradesh…NDA leaders, even Narendra Modi-ji, myself, we gave so many assurances to the people of Andhra Pradesh. In turn, they voted for NDA. So it is our responsibility to protect their rights… we have to create a level-playing field. For that, we have to give some more time…do hand-holding for Andhra Pradesh. For that, necessary funds, not only funds but policies and incentives have to be provided,” he said.

Budget 2015 will help realise dream of one India, great India, says Amit Shah

Calling it a ‘budget for all’, BJP chief Amit Shah hailed Arun Jaitley’s Budget 2-15. He said, his budget is for the development of the poor. Giving employment and education to the youth, security to women and brings prosperity in the lives of farmers and increasing the prosperity of states and strengthens the economy."

“This is how this first full general budget of the NDA government is one which will realise the dream of ‘One India, Great India’ and bring the country on the path of prosperity through ‘Sabka saath, Sabka vikas’,” Shah said.

AAP doesn’t think Jaitley met people’s expectations with his budget

Aam Aadmi Party termed the budget as a “missed opportunity” for failing to meet the expectations of common man, but welcomed government’s move to
bring legislation on black money. The party also raised concerns on major cuts in social expenditure.

Welcoming the earmarking of Rs 1,000 crore as Nirbhaya fund, AAP slammed the government’s decision to promote PPPs and take a majority of risks, saying this raises suspicion that it could be a ploy to “benefit crony capitalism”.

“While we welcome steps announced to address the issue of black money stashed abroad, the government failed to show commitment to the cause by not putting a lid on Participatory Notes, through which tons of black money is being masked, round tripped and pushed into the Indian stock markets,” said an AAP statement.

Budget pleases only corporates, income tax payers: Chidambaram

Accusing Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of pleasing just the corporates and the income-tax payers, his predecessor in the UPA regime P Chidambaram today said the Modi government’s first full Budget has failed the fiscal test, the test of equity, and the test of rising inequality.

“If one asks who is pleased by the Budget, I suspect it will be the corporates and the income-tax payers (3.5 crore). Where does that leave the vast majority of the people, especially the poor, who look up to the government for succour and relief?,” Chidambaram said in a statement.

“While the income-tax payers (3.5 crore) may have been got some relief, all others have been burdened with increases in Excise duty and Service Tax,” the former finance minister added.

He also said that there was no justification at all to set back the target date of achieving a fiscal deficit of 3 per cent by one year. – PTI

Manmohan Singh says Budget lacks roadmap for implementation

The former Finance Minister and Prime Minister has said that Budget 2015 doesn’t adequately take care of the rural poor. 

He also said that while the budget had many good intentions, it didn’t give a roadmap on how it would be implemented.

Whattay budget, Modi tells Jaitley

PM Modi has congratulated Jaitley for a budget that he says caters to the poor and industry. 

“I am sure that this budget will give us an opportunity to rise further,” he said.

Jaitley continues to defend tax slabs

Jaitley has continued to defend not raising income tax exemptions for the salaried class saying that if one considered the last budget and this one then no one had ever given the salaried middle class as much tax exemption. 

He said that the government wanted to encourage people to save more and that too for their future. It also wouldn’t hurt if the savings could be used for funding infrastructure projects, Jaitley said.

No political motive behind more funds for Bihar, West Bengal

Funds for West Bengal and Bihar are not for political gain but in keeping with the PM’s promise of developing the eastern states, Jaitley said.

No political motive behind more funds for Bihar, West Bengal

Funds for West Bengal and Bihar are not for political gain but in keeping with the PM’s promise of developing the eastern states, Jaitley said.

Can revisit GAAR, says Jaitley

MoS Finance Jayant Sinha said they would keep GAAR aside for a couple of years and only after that would evaluate whether it was still relevant. 

FM Jaitley said that developed countries acorss the world had made tax avoidance as bad as tax evasion. “But in India there is a vulnerability,” he said. 

India wants to rise quickly and the law could have an impact on investment, he said. 

“GAAR raises issues on investment in India…As we proceed on our fiscal thinking we will have to take into account various factors,” he said. 

Jaitley said there was some substance to the principles of GAAR and they could revisit it later.

Jaitley says after exemption period they will go after people with assets abroad

Jaitley said it wasn’t an offence for people to have assets abroad but the government would now give people an incentive to declare their assets abroad. 

“After a sunset period to declare assets, then the prosecution begins,” Jaitley said. 

He pointed out that in every leak of documents Indians were featured and it was time to tackle the menace of black money. He also ruled out the law being misused. 

“The intention of this new law will be to bring back all the funds stashed illegally abroad. We will give details on the window by which time assets need to be declared,” Jaitley said.

Jaitley explains why he wants to reduce corporate tax

All Asean countries have a corporate tax of around 21 percent and said that India was losing out to competition from other countries, Jaitley said. 

“I lose on two counts. My image is that of a high tax country and I end up getting only around 23% of the due tax,” Jaitley said. 

He said that apart from bringing down corporate tax he also needs to decrease the number of exemptions. 

“The taxman discretion will also end. Bulk of litigation of tax is on litigations and that will also come to an end,” Jaitley said.

Wanted to capitalise on India’s love for gold, says Jaitley

The country has an attachment to gold and as a result he had given people other options on how to invest in the metal. 

He pointed out that he had introduced gold bonds, domestic gold coins and a gold monetisation scheme so that the government could make money on the metal. 

“If we stop import of gold then it is smuggled in. Hence it is important to monetise it,” Jaitley said. 

The government wanted to make gold imports a productive one and to that end had introduced the three new initiatives.

Jaitley explains why he didn’t raise income tax exemptions

Only 3-4% of Indians pay tax and it is important that it rises and not falls, says Jaitley. 

“Income tax slabs can be raised and I have to see how much leeway my finances allow,” he said. 

Jaitley said that despite not raising income tax slabs he had given an incentive for people to save and that too for their future. 

The money taken from people would also benefit them by developing infrastructure, he said. Jaitley said he was not interested in making India a consumption society. 

He pointed out that a person could save upto Rs 4.44 lakh using the various schemes that he had suggested in his Budget.

FM explains why he increased oil cess

A large part of the money from oil prices must go to highways and railways, the FM said. He said that they had already passed on the benefit of falling oil prices to consumers and adding a cess wasn’t a bad thing.

The Finance Minister said that he was hoping Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu would stick to his promises of reform for the Railways. 

“I am not spending money on paying salary to my employees, but for roads and railways,” Jaitley said. The FM said that it was a resource that belonged to the people and deserved to be developed since they would benefit the most from its growth

Doing away with wealth tax saves government effort, says Jaitley

Lakhs of people are filing returns but understating their income, said Jaitley, while explaining why he had done away with the wealth tax. 

The Finance Minister said a lot of cesses would be subsumed into GST and therefore he decided to raise the surcharge on the wealthy so that it saved the energy of the government in tracking it down. 

“We lose Rs 1000 crore but we make so much more,” he said. He also said states would not lose out due to this move.

Ease of starting business is the most revolutionary thing in Budget, says Jaitley

We have to be concerned about the poor while giving money to the states and that is a balancing act, Jaitley said. 

“Earlier investors were looking at our tax structure and running away,” Jaitley said, adding that he had worked to ensure tax stability. 

He also said the government had attempted to tackle corruption with coal and spectrum auctions that aimed to bring down the ‘scam regimes’ of the past. 

The most revolutionary thing, according to Jaitley, is the fact that they will make a committee to do away with regulatory approvals to start a business. “If this is successful I would be most pleased,” Jaitley said.

Want more people to invest in health insurance, says Jaitley

People must be encouraged to invest in health insurance schemes now given how much it costs for medical treatment, Jaitley said. 

He also pointed out that the concession on travel allowance, in which it was raised from Rs 800 to Rs 1600, was merely a ‘brush with reality’.

Want to do much more for the poor, says Jaitley

The middle classes entirely pay for themselves, so I’ve allowed 50,000 pensionfund, Jaitley said.

The Finance Minister said that the Budget had only given a glimpse of what they wanted to do for the poor of the country. 

He spoke of the insurance schemes that have been included in this year’s budget. “I am also cleaning out the unclaimed money in EPF and PPF accounts and use it for senior citizens,” he said. 

For weaker section, we’ve only given a glimpse. Pay Re 1/month, get accident insurance of 2 lakh

Want to capitalise on positive sentiment about India in the world, says Jaitley

Jaitley is now on DD News and he says there’s a lot of positive sentiment about India and he wants to capitalise on it. 

The Finance Minister said that he had met with fund managers who had said they wanted the government to spend more publicly and they had promised to do his part. So he had decided on various means of raising money for infrastructure projects.

How will RBI react? Politically or professionally? #Budget2015

— Swapan Dasgupta (@swapan55) February 28, 2015

And this time his Budget’s all about tax, if you go by this word cloud of his speech: 

What was Jaitley’s budget like in 2014?

Well it had a lot of proposals if this word cloud is anything to go by: 

What PM Narendra Modi thought of the Budget

I congratulate FM for doing an excellent job in respecting aspirations of the States & at the same time delivering on National priorities.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 28, 2015

From housing for all, jobs, health, education & total electrification, FM laid down goals to be achieved by 2022, India's Amrut Mahotsav.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 28, 2015

Budget is investment friendly & removes all doubts on tax issues. It assures investors that we have a stable, predictable & fair tax system.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 28, 2015

Budget 2015 has a distinct focus on farmers, youth, poor, neo-middle class & the Aam Nagrik. It delivers on growth, equity & job creation.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 28, 2015

Union Budget 2015 is a Budget with a clear vision. It is a Budget that is progressive, positive, practical, pragmatic & prudent.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 28, 2015

What fellow ministers think of the budget…not surprisingly they’re all praising it

A pragmatic budget #Budget2015,gives lot of thrust on infrastructure, skill India, innovation, girl’s education: Union Minister Smriti Irani

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2015

Highest priority has been given to infrastructure for first time in the history of country: Nitin Gadkari #Budget2015 pic.twitter.com/KapPbBQmFw

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2015

#Budget2015 is in interest of people of nation,steps have been taken to control inflation,increase investment: Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2015

Fine print emerges: Import of commercial vehicles costlier, cigarettes costlier

So it rurns out that the Budget has raised the customs duty on commercial vehicles to 40% from 10% which should boost Indian commercial vehicle makers. 

The Budget has also raised excise duty on cigarettes.

What people on Twitter thought about Budget 2015

Last word on Union Budget 2015: Jaitley does not disappoint. This budget is reformist via @firstpostin http://t.co/cUOu66iBhl

— R Jagannathan (@TheJaggi) February 28, 2015

This budget is nothing more than jugglery of words: Ashwini Kumar, Cong #Budget2015 pic.twitter.com/kRLobUpSPO

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2015

@surjitbhalla calls it the best budget since 1991! @barugaru rates it excellent, @meerasanyal calls it average #ModiBudgetTest

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 28, 2015