Highlights of Budget 2019: Chidambaram claims Budget 'bereft of any reforms', says chief economic adviser must be most disappointed

Piyush Goyal claims Budget has given huge thrust to startup, job creation, Make in India

Claiming that the Budget was meant was all, Union minister Piyush Goyal said, "It (Budget) has given a huge thrust to startup, job creation, and Make in India. It has given pension to the traders, large part of the community that was left out of the social security network. It's very reform-oriented. So it's a budget for 130 crore Indians."

Chidambaram claims Budget 'bereft of any reforms'

At a press conference, former finance minister P Chidambaram claimed that the Union Budget was "bereft of any reforms". "The most disappointed person must be the chief economic adviser. The only investment-related proposal was the to increase the FPI percent. The Modi government treats India as one big state government. Apparently, the prime minister believes that only his government can deliver basic public goods and services. It is not good to reduce state government to local administrations," he said.

Ease of living has to be given importance: Sitharaman on Budget

In interview with DD News, Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Ease of living has to be given importance. For that connectivity, tax structure have to be worked upon. All this will in turn will bring in investment." She further called behavioural economics "a catalyst for transformational change" for countries like India in context of implementing policies.

Women seeing this govt committed to programmes for them, says Sitharaman

Speaking to DD News, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Women are seeing that this government is committed to programmes for them. They came out in large numbers to vote irrespective of religion, caste or social status. This made us think to make a policy which is not women-centric but also progressive for women."

Budget a betrayal of India's youth: Surjewala

Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala lashed out at the Centre on Twitter and called Budget 2019 a “‘betrayal’ of India’s youth”.

He also claimed that the "real fiscal deficit" is estimated at 4.7 percent, and not 3.3 percent, as said by Nirmala Sitharaman. "Expenses on rural development, infrastructure, food subsidy were not included as part of Fiscal Deficit. The real fiscal deficit is estimated at 4.7 percent. Skulduggery of figures?" he wrote.

Centre allocates Rs 1,12,079.57 crore for defence pensions

The government allocated Rs 1,12,079.57 crore for defence pensions. Along with the defence budget, the total defence allocation comes to around Rs. 431,010.79 crore and accounts for 15.47 percent of the total Central government expenditure for coming fiscal.

Govt expects to earn Rs 12,000 cr from hike in surcharge for high income groups 

The Indian government expects to earn around Rs 12,000 crore from the hike in surcharge for the high income group. A surcharge will be levied on individuals with taxable income of Rs 2 to 5 crore, and Rs 5 cr and above. The effective tax rate for these categories will increase by around 3 percentage points and 7 percentage points, respectively. 

Govt to suffer 4000 cr loss after corporate tax slash

In repsonse to a question during finance ministry's Budget press conference, finance chief secretary said that bringing 99.3 percent companies under the lower 25 percent tax net will mean a loss of roughly Rs 4,000 crore. 

Govt to provide credit guarantee to PSBs to buy NBFC assets

Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) play an important role in capital formation and the government will provide a one-time partial credit guarantee to PSBs to buy high-rated pooled assets of financially sound NBFCs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Union Budget 2019-20 on Friday.

Elaborating further on the government's approach, Sitharaman said, "The whole approach is to ensure that the government has responded comprehensively to the NBFC issue and if we had done that without understanding the regulatory shortcomings then it would not have done justice This is why some powers have been passed on to the RBI. Likewise, the recapitalisation is going to help banks fund their credit expansion."

Budget 2019 takes into account comprehensive development of rural-urban economy: Sitharaman

"In Budget 2019, the emphasis is on overall development of both rural-urban economy. The emphasis this time is on environment has been laid, with focus on issues such as conversion of waste to energy," SItharaman said. 

Nirmala Sitharaman elaborates on LS speech, says Budget presented with a 10-yr vision

Nirmala SItharaman is addressing a press conference to elaborate on her Budget statement. "The Budget's aim was to lay out the 5-year target, 10-year vision and various ways in which we can achieve it through measures for rural and urban, youth, among other things," she said,  

Union Budget for rural India?

The budget assures pukka house and an LPG connection to every household by 2022, while it also vows to encourage women's contribution to the rural economy. Here are key pointers related to the rural economy at a glance. 

1,174 listed cos need to off-load promoter stake to meet budget proposal norm

Adi Godrej says Budget won't propel growth 

Adi godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group said, "I don't think the Budget is growth-oriented. The stock market has also come down considerably."

Assocham welcomes infra push; CII lauds tax slash for corporates
 

The government's focus on infrastructure is indeed welcome and investment to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore over next 5 years will revitalise the economy. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) appreciated the government's move to bring all companies having turnover up to Rs 400 crores under 25 percent tax-net in the Budget.

PTI

Nitin Gadkari hails Union Budget, says will achieve the target of becoming 3 Trillion Dollar economy this year 

"This budget will prove as the foundation for New India. From rural to urban development, infrastructure to startups, from education to industry, the budget boosts all sectors. This is the vision that 125 cr people of the country required today. We will achieve the target of becoming 3 Trillion Dollar economy this year and MSME sector will contribute half of it," Nitin Gadkari said. 

'Budget For New India' inspires hope, lays roadmap to transform the agriculture sector, says Narendra Modi

"The Budget for new India is one of hope and it is a Budget that will boost India's development in the 21st century. The Budget for new India has a roadmap to transform the agriculture sector of India," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. 

Sensex drops 250 points as traders digest Union Budget, Nifty nears 11826

The market plummeted soon after the trends of the Union Budget became apparent. Sensex dropped down by almost 250 points, while Nifty neared 11,826 points.

Labour law reforms will help India leverage global skilled labour shortage, says Tapti Ghose, Partner, Deloitte India 

The global demographic trends clearly indicate that major economies will have a skilled labour shortage. India proposes to leverage this by focussing on skilling India and reforming the education systems.  This will also include skills sets required for working overseas such as language training in addition to an increased focus on skillset needs abroad - including language training and new age technology skills such as IOT, Big Data, Robotics. Focus on emerging new technologies in the form of artificial intelligence, data science, big data, internet of things, would revitalize technology companies. Connectivity, infrastructure, media, digital technology coupled with ease of living, ease of doing business and digital literacy is focus of the government. The replacement of multiple labour laws into four codes is expected to streamline the process of registration, standardize the filing of returns, provide uniformity in definitions across labour codes, significantly easing business. These codes are labour code on social security and welfare code on social security and welfare, Code on wages, Code on industrial relations and code on occupational safety, health and working conditions.”

Historically speaking, India has been a promoter-driven market and increasing the threshold will ensure wider ownership through institutional investors, more market depth, better price discovery and hopefully will enhance the corporate governance standards. This will potentially also be a concern of several listed companies with promoter shareholding at around 75 percent. For instance,  MNCs. Promoters of such companies may want to explore options to delist such companies unless they are fine with increasing the public shareholding by another 10 percent. At 65 percent promoter shareholding, it will also be an additional hurdle to be crossed by a promoter, if a promoter was to attempt delisting. i.e. reach 90 percent through the book-building route from 65 percent than from 75 percent.  The number of "OFS through stock exchange mechanism" will perhaps increase to dilute the promoter shareholding from 75 percent to 65 percent, as it is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to dilute promoters shareholding, as compared to other modes available to increase the public shareholding.

 Customs duty on gold hiked to 12.5 percent from 10 percent

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman increased the custom duty on gold silver and other precious metals from the existing 10 percent to 12.5 percent. 

New coin series to be launched soon

A new series of coins for Re 1, Rs 2 Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20 to be minted so that the visually impaired can easily identify them. It is interesting to note here that unlike currency notes, the lower currency coins are minted by the finance ministry. 

Nirmala Sitharaman concludes Budget Speech 

Nirmala Sitharaman's speech lasted a little over 2 hours and 10 minutes 

2% tax levied on cash withdrawal over Rs 1 crore per year

Our government has taken number of initiatives to promote digital payments. FM says to discourage the practice of making business payments in cash the government proposes to levy TDS of 2% on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from a bank account, she says.

BHIM, UPI, Aadhaar Pay, NEFT, RTGS can be used to promote less cash economy. Business establishments with annual turnover of Rs 50 crore will have to use these modes of payments with no charges or merchant discount rates will be imposed on customers or merchants. RBI and banks will absorb these costs, she says.

Nirmala Sitharaman hikes surcharge on individuals with income above Rs 2 cr

In view of rising income levels, a surcharge will be levied on individuals with taxable income of Rs 2 to 5 crore, and Rs 5 cr and above. The effective tax rate for these categories will increase by around 3 percentage points and 7 percentage points, respectively

Small firms, affordable housing boost
 

More tax sops raining on small companies. Sitharaman puts companies with annual turn-over of upto Rs400 crore instead of Rs250 crore earlier in the lower 25% tax bracket. This will cover 99.3% of the companies meaning majority of companies are now under smaller bracket. Good news. For individual tax payers too, there is good news with Sitharaman proposing tax holiday for developers of affordable housing and additional deduction of up to Rs. 1.5 lacs for interest on 
home loans borrowed up to 31.3.2020. That takes the total deduction to upto Rs 3.5 lacs.

Govt has no business to be in business, finally?
 

Important announcement. Sitharaman states the willingness of the central government to cut government stake in PSU undertakings and examine possibility of bringing down government stake even below 51 percent on a case to case basis. The government is willing to modify minimum 51 percent stake in PSUs policy to a minimum 51% holding through government and government-controlled PSUs, the minister says.  This gives hopes of more PSU participation in divestment and government exiting their shareholdings in several PSUs. To be sure, similar promises have been made in the past but the promise has remained on paper largely. Will it be different this time? 

Taxation takeaway: Nirmala Sitharaman hikes surcharge for high income groups but taxation for low income groups remain unchanged 

Nirmala Sitharaman talks about addressing angel tax issue 

"To resolve the issue of Angel Tax the startups and investors who file requisite declarations will not be subjected to any kind of scrutiny in respect of valuation of share premium. A mechanism of e-verification will be put in place and with this, the funds raised by startups will not require any tax scrutiny," Sitharaman said.  

Nirmala Sitharaman proposes to make Aadhaar, PAN interchangeable for ITR

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that she proposes to make Aadhaar and PAN cards interchangeable for the purpose of filing Income Tax Returns 

Govt doesn't intend to 'trample' taxpayers with weight of taxation: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman quotes a verse in Tamil: "Just a few mounds of rice cooked from a small piece of land is enough for the elephant. But if the same elephant enters a paddy field it will end up trampling more than it would consume." Explaining the verse, she says the government does not intend to 'trample' anybody like the elephant.  The tax collection has increased to 11.37 lakh crore to 2018-19 from 6.37 lakh crore from 2013-14, she points out. 

People with annual income under 5 laks exempt from Income Tax

Govt to allocate Rs 70,000 cr for PSU Bank recapitalisation

"The government has proposed to allocate Rs 70,000 crore for PSU Bank recapitalisation. One-time six month partial credit guarantee to buy pooled assets of sound NBFCs. The government proposes Rs 100 lakh crore investment for infrastructure over 5 years," says Nirmala Sitharaman. 

Govt will develop 17 tourist destinations 

"The government is developing 17 iconic tourism sites as world-class tourist centres to improve the flow of domestic and foreign tourists to these destinations. Documentaries with anthropological details will be stored for tourists," says Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha.

Nirmala Sitharaman proposes NRIs holding Indian passport be given Aadhaar cards 

The government proposes to consider issuing Aadhaar cards to NRIs who still hold Indian passports upon arrival, without having to wait for the necessary 180 days, Nirmala Sitharaman said. 

Nirmala Sitharaman proposes NRIs holding Indian passport be given Aadhaar cards 

The government proposes to consider issuing Aadhaar cards to NRIs who still hold Indian passports upon arrival, without having to wait for the necessary 180 days, Nirmala Sitharaman said. 

Nirmala Sitharaman’s ambitious infra push 
 

There is a lot of stress on the infrastructure development in Nirmala Sitharaman’s first budget under various schemes. These include investments in railways, housing and farm infrastructure. The government wants to construct 1.95 crore houses under PMAY. Also, it wants to invest Rs 80,250 crore for upgradation of roads under PM Gram Sadak Yojana. Another Rs50 lakh investment is estimated for railways infrastructure from 2018-30. Then there is pension scheme for 3 crore retail traders, shopkeepers with an annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore.  The thrust on infrastructure development provided these are supported by adequate funds is positive for the economy. 
 

Sitharaman announces setting up of Gandhipedia ahead of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary

"As we mark the 150 birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year, Gaaon, Garib and Kisan will remain at the centre of all our initiatives," Nirmala Sitharaman said. She said that a Gandhipedia, styled after encyclopedia, is being prepared by the National Council for Science Museum to sensitise people about the Gandhian values. 

House construction time under PMAY reduces from 314 to 114 days, says Nirmala Sitharaman

It used to take more that 314 days on an average to build houses earlier. But under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aawas Yojna the time has come down to 114 days in 2017-18, enabling the scale of achievement the scheme managed to clock in the very short time, Sitharaman said. 

Nirmala Sitharaman pitches for PPP model to reform railways 

Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Indian Railways will need an investment of at least Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018 and 2030 for modernisation and upkeep. She said that a PPP will make services better and faster. "A Public-Private partnership will usher the new dawn of Indian railway," Sitharaman said. 

Nirmala Sitharaman proposes to merge NRI portfolio scheme route with foreign portfolio investment route

NRI investments in Indian capital market is less when compared . To provide seamless, NRI portfolio scheme route to merged with foreign portfolio investment route.

Nirmala Sitharaman launches new pension scheme for small retail traders

In an important announcement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new pension scheme for small retail traders. The pension benefits will be extended to to 3 crore retail traders and shopkeeper with annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore under new scheme called scheme is Pradhan Mantri Karma Yogi Maan Dhan Scheme. 

Much touted goal of making India $5 trillion economy by FY25 unachievable without loosening iron grip over inflation and fiscal math.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman envisages a $5 trillion economy by 2024 and $3 trillion by the end of this year. While that's a legitimate and achievable goal, it cannot possibly be achieved without loosening the iron grip over inflation and fiscal math. The choice before the Modi 2.0 govt, therefore, will be to either stay fast on the current path and hope that private investment picks up, or increase government borrowing to boost economy. 

Nirmala Sitharaman speaks of reforming transport facilities

One of the first sectors Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman touched upon in her speech was the transport sector. She underscored the government's commitment to Udaan scheme, water transport and road transport to pit the rural-urban divide. She said that we will ensure that the National Highway grid is developed with an apt financial model. She also spoke about enhancing the navigational capacity of Ganga river

Took 55 years to make India $1 trillion economy, we added as much in 5 years, says Nirmala Sitharaman

"It took 55 years to make India a $1 trillion economy. However, now when trust and aasha resides in people's hearts, we managed to add another $1 trillion within the last five years alone," Sitharaman said. 

Nirmala Sitharaman starts off speech with talk of New India

"Our objective was and continues to be Mazboot desh ke liye Mazboot nagrik. With determined human efforts the task will surely be completed," says Sitharaman. "We have shown by our deeds that the principles 'perform, reform, transform' can indeed succeed. We have set the ball rolling for a 'New India'," she added.

No magic wand for growth
 

One big worry for the economy is a severe demand slump seen over the past several months. Two wheeler, car and tractor sales have been plummeting, FMCG companies have been reporting declining sales. There has been a notable decline in number of new investments and rie in the chunk of stalled projects. What this effectively telling us is that unless demand revives on the ground, no amount of interest rate cuts can help the economy. How can the government revive demand —by investing more in real infrastructure such as housing. The budget cannot offer a magic wand to wish away the economic slowdown but can work on enhancing the demand on the ground. Will Sitharaman take note of this fact?    

Nirmala Sitharaman must balance fiscal expenditure with welfare measures 

Sitharaman must prioritise her fiscal expenditure plans. In yesterday’s Economic Survey, the CEA warned that for the sake of long-term stability of the economy, the government shouldn’t deviate from the path of fiscal prudence ie achieving 3 percent fiscal deficit by 2021. The survey warned that government should find a way to fund PM Kisan Yojana, Ayushman Bharat  like schemes  without harming the fiscal deficit roadmap. This will be a hard test for the first-time finance minister, Sitharaman as there aren’t too many options before her. Going for sharp hikes in tax rates will invite backlash in a slowing economy and not fulfilling BJP’s election promises will be a huge political risk. 

Nirmala Sitharaman's parents to be present in House during her maiden Budget Speech

Nirmala Sitharaman's parents have arrived at the Parliament House ahead of her maiden Budget Speech. After Indira Gandhi, Sitharaman will be the second woman to present a full Budget in Parliament. 

Twitter reacts to finance ministry's 'Bahi Khata' tradition 

Twitterati gave mixed reactions to Nirmala Sitharaman's 'Bahi Khata' replacing the traditional hardbound leather briefcase. While some users pointed out the practice of proposing a Budget, including the term itself was of foreign invention, others praised the 'Indianness' of the move and said it symbolises the departure of slavery from our Western thought.

Banking sector majors emerge as top gainers in early market trade on Budget Day; Airtel, TCS top losers 

Top gainers in the Sensex pack in early trade included IndusInd Bank, L&T, HUL, Kotak Bank, HDFC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and RIL, rising up to 1.14 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank, ONGC, Vedanta, NTPC, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Bharti Airtel and TCS were among the losers, shedding up to 1.82 percent.

What's with the briefcase anyway

The tradition of finance ministers carrying the Budget Document in a hardbound briefcase was taken after the parallel British custom, much like many of India's laws and Parliamentary parliamentary practices. All finance ministers usually carry a briefcase of a colour and size of their choice and pose for the iconic photograph outside finance ministry and then Parliament building. 

The British finance ministers, however, use the same briefcase for years and it is passed down through successive governments. In fact, the original Gladstone bag, which became Britain's Budget Briefcase, was only retired in 2010 after it had become too tattered and shabby to use. 

As per tradition, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman calls on President Ram Nath Kovind before presenting the Union Budget

Govt should strike a tight balance between growth and fiscal discipline, says Adrian Mowat

Petrol, diesel price unchanged for 3rd consecutive day ahead of Budget 2019

Petrol and diesel prices remain unchanged across the country for the third successive day on Friday. In Delhi, a litre of petrol today costs Rs 70.51 while diesel costs Rs 64.33 per litre, no change compared with Thursday’s price, reported ET Now. 

The retail prices of petrol and diesel are cheapest in Delhi among all metros and most state capitals due to lower taxes.

Briefcase is Western, bahi khata is our tradition: Krishnamurthy Subramanian 

As the first woman finance minister in 45 years Nirmala Sitharaman has traded in the iconic "budget briefcase" for a budget bahi khata. Traditionally, the finance minister arrives at the Parliament with a briefcase, which contains the budget document. However, in 2019, Sitharaman arrived with the budget document wrapped in a red cloth. 

Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said, "It is in Indian tradition. It symbolises our departure from slavery of Western thought. It is not a budget but a bahi khata (ledger)".

Ahead of Budget 2019, Sensex back at 40,000 for the first time since June 11

In the morning session, the 30-share BSE Sensex was hovering at 111.44 points, or 0.28 percent higher at 40,019.50. This is the first time since 11 June that Sensex is back at 40,000. 

In the early session, NSE Nifty was at 11,978.50, higher by 31.75 or 0.27 percent.

Nirmala Sitharaman reaches finance ministry, speech to start in Parliament at 11 am

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reached her office at the Finance Ministry. She will deliver the keenly watched Budget statement at 11 am in Lok Sabha 

All eyes on whether Nirmala Sitharaman will shed populism and present a reformist Budget in true sense

The main thing to watch out is whether Sitharaman's budget statement will be reformist in real sense. Will it offer a solid blueprint to investors sufficient to break some of the long-standing bottlenecks in the economy including reduntant land/labour laws?  Difficulty in acquiring land and labour have been acting as a hurdle preventing significant pick up in factory output. Also, will the minister spell out government's intent to bring back private investments in a big way that have been missing for a while now? Government can't shoulder the onus of fuelling economic growth forever without private participation, that's clear.

Did you know? First Union Budget was presented three months after India declared its Independence 

The first-ever Union Budget of Independent India was presented by Sir RK Shanukham Chetty, First Finance Minister, on 26 November, 1947. Chetty's expenditure outlook, earmarked a total of Rs 197.39 crore to be spent over the next year in the nascent secular nation, that grew on to become world's sixth largest economy.

Nearly half of this (46 percent) or Rs 92.74 crore was allocated for just one department: Defence Services

(Shanmukham Chetty broadcasting the Budget Speech in the Indian Parliament in November 1947: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Sithraman's speech to be a fact-checker for state of economy: What to expect from Union Budget

Every budget statement, every budget speech is a fact-checker to assess how far the economy has progressed over the last year and what exactly needs to be done at that point. Nirmala Sitharaman's first budget is set in the backdrop of an economic slowdown, a debate on what is the actual health of the economy post structural reforms and a grim global scenario. These themes will be watched closely in today's budget:

Economic Survey suggests giving private sector access to 'select' databases for commercial use amid row over data privacy

Is Economic Survey of India a pre-cursor to Union Budget 2019?

Experts say no. Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings opines, "the Economic Survey is a good overview of the state of the economy and the issues that have been/to be addressed. It may not be read as a precursor to the Budget and does not even talk of what it should be as it would be the prerogative of the finance minister based on how the priorities are placed on 5 July."

Budget expected to tackle elements that are slowing the economy

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her maiden Union Budget as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term on Friday, and is expected to announce measures to boost the economy, of which several factors are at all-time lows.

The economy has also been impacted by slowing trade, rising protectionism, trade conflict between the United States and China, Brexit, US sanctions on Russia, Iran and Venezuela impacted the domestic economy.

Road, railway infrastructure likely to get boost in Union Budget 2019

There is likely to be a push for infrastructure-spending, including on roads and railways to drive the growth which had slowed to a five-year low of 5.8 percent in the first three months of 2019 — well below China's 6.4 percent. 

Narendra Modi 2.0 to outline plan for economy

The Budget to be presented on Friday is expected to boost spending at the cost of short-term slippage in fiscal deficit targets as Nirmala Sitharaman lays down the Narendra Modi 2.0 government's road map for the economy and the nation in the next five years.

Union Budget to be announced by Nirmala Sitharaman today

A mini-stimulus to take the economy out of a five-year low along with giving some tax relief to citizens may be on the cards as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman walks a tightrope to balance the needs of the economy and fiscal constraints, in her maiden Budget.