The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for FY 2018-19 in the parliament. It was Modi government's last full fledged budget before the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
The budget laid a lot of emphasis on making major strcutural reforms in the agriculture, health care and education sector.
The budget did not bring about much cheers to the salaried class as the non taxable income tax slab remained unchanged. There was some relief for the corporate sector by way of a cut in the corporate taxes for firms with an annual turnover of upto Rs 250 crores.
The budget projected the Indian economy to grow between 7.2 to 7.5 per cent in the second half of the current fiscal and is on way to becoming the 5th largest economy of the world.
The Economic Survey was presented by FM Arun Jaitley on Jan 29. The survey had projected a GDP growth of 7 to 7.5 percent for the economy in FY 2018-19. However fiscal deficit was one of the major challenges which be a major stumbling block for the economy in the near future.
This year's budget hogged a lot of limelight as it was the first one to come out after the Modi government’s two major big financial reforms - Demonetisation and GST.
Watch Live Coverage of Union Budget 2018 with economic experts in Hindi on News Nation
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to present the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament at 11 am. Also, after presenting the Union Budget 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will answer a few questions. Common man can also participate by tweeting their questions.
Here are the Highlights from Arun Jaitley's speech on the Union Budget:
#4:20 PM: We made many positive changes in personal income tax rates in the past years, no change in Income Tax slabs this year
#4:19 PM: No change in personal income tax rates
#4:19 PM: We need resources for the social security net
#4:18 PM: A social security net has to be created
#4:17 PM: The Budget blends fiscal prudence with the requirement and needs of the economy today
#12:52 PM Custom duty on mobile phones increased to 20% from 15%: Arun Jaitley
#12:47 PM Jaitley proposes to cut corporate tax rate to 25 per cent for firms with annual turnover upto Rs 250 cr
#12:42 PM Standard deduction of Rs 40000 for salaried individuals
#12:36 PM Govt has made many positive changes in the personal income tax rates applicable to individuals in the last three years therefore I do not wish to make any changes to this
#12:34 PM Projected fiscal deficit for 2018-19 is 3.3% of GDP, says FM Jaitley
#12:32 PM Divestment target The government has set a divestment target at Rs 80,000 crore, says Jaitley.
#12:30 PM SEBI may consider mandating large corporates to use bond market to finance one-fourth of their fund needs
#12:30 PM Government insurance companies to be merged into a single entity, and subsequently listed in the stock exchange, as part of the disinvestment programme
# 12:29 PM Fiscal deficit: Govt revised fiscal deficit for 2017-18 was Rs 5.95 lakh crore or 3.5% of GDP. Jaitley projects deficit of 3.3% of GDP next fiscal.
#12:18 PM 1 lakh Gram Panchayats connected to optic fibre completed; 5 lakh Wi-Fi spots to be created in rural areas
#12:17 PM Niti Aayog to establish a national programme to direct efforts towards Artificial Intelligence, including research and development of its applications
#12:17 PM UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam naagrik) scheme will connect 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads: Arun Jaitley
#12:16 PM UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam naagrik) scheme will connect 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads: Arun Jaitley
# 12:15 PM Airports Authority of India now has 124 airports, this will be expanded by 5 times. Aim of 1 billion trips a year
#12:12 PM Escalators at railway stations
"All railways stations with more than 25,000 footfall to have escalators. All railways stations and trains to have Wi-Fi and CCTVs progressively," says Jaitley.
#12:08 PM Railway capex at Rs 1.48 lakh cr
#12:05 PM AMRUT program to focus on water supply to all households in 500 cities. Water supply contracts for 494 projects worth 19,428 core awarded
#12:05 PM Govt's budget for health, education and social security increased to Rs 1.38 lakh crore for 2018-19 from Rs 1.22 lakh crore in current fiscal
#12:05 PM 12,000 wagons, 5160 coaches and 700 locomotives being procured. There is significant achievements of physical targets by Railways
#12:02 PM Have proposed construction of tunnel under the Se-La pass in Arunachal Pradesh
#12:02 PM Proposal to develop 10 prominent tourist destinations as Iconic tourism destinations
#12:00 PM Contribution of 8.33% to EPF for new employees by the govt for three years and 12% govt contribution to EPF in sectors employing large number of people
#12:00 PM Govt. to contribute 12% of EPF contribution for new employees in all sectors
#12:00 PM Namami Gange' Programme - Jaitley says 187 projects sanctioned under the 'Namami Gange' programme, 47 projects have been completed.
#11:56 AM Allocation of Rs. 56,619 crore for SC welfare and Rs. 39,135 crore for ST welfare - FM Jaitley
#11:53 AM Technology will be the biggest driver in improving quality of education. We propose to increase the digital intensity in education and move gradually from blackboard to digital board
11:53 AM Aspiration districts identified taking various indices of development into consideration, quality of life to be improved in these districts
Also Read: Union Budget 2018: Full list of what's cheaper, what's dearer
#11:48 AM Architecture schools to be set up in IITs
#11:46 AM Under Health Protection Scheme, 10 cr poor & vulnerable families, with 50 cr beneficiaries will benefit through up to Rs. 5 lakh/family/year.
#11:44 AM Under Health Protection Scheme, 10 cr poor & vulnerable families, with 50 cr beneficiaries will benefit through up to Rs. 5 lakh/family/year.
#11:43 AM 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
#11:43 AM 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 approx. 50 crore
#11:42 AM FM announces two major schemes for health, one being health and wellness centre
#11:41 AM Govt. to initiate integration of B.Ed programme for teachers; Centre to start Eklavya schools for ST population
#11:40 AM Govt to provide nutritional support to TB patients
#11:39 AM Govt to increase digital intensity in education. Technology to be the biggest driver in improving quality of education: FM Jaitley
#11:38 AM Targets revised for Ujjwala and Saubhagya yojana : 8 crore free gas connections to be provided to women under Ujjwala Yojana and 4 crore electricity connections to the poor under Saubhagya Yojana
#1136 AM Govt to construct 2 crore more toilets under Swacch Bharat scheme
#11:34 AM 'India is today a USD 2.5 trillion economy and will become fifth largest economy in the world from the present seventh largest
#11:33 AM Govt proposes to increase the target of providing free LPG connections to 8 crore to poor women
#11:30 AM Proposed to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 Lakh Crore for 2018-19
#11:29 AM Proposed to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 Lakh Crore for 2018-19
#11:26 AM Government proposes to launch 'Operation Greens' on the lines of Operation Flood': FM Arun Jaitley
#11:25 AM India's Direct Benefit Transfer scheme is a global success story
#11:25 PM NITI Aayog to develop system of optimal farm price realisation: Jaitley
#11:22 AM Setting up Agriculture Market Fund with a corpus of Rs 2,000 crore, says Jaitley.
#11:19 AM PM Modi gave a clarion call to double farmers' income by 2022 when India celebrates 75th independence day - Finance Minister
#11:18 AMIntroduction of GST has made indirect tax system simpler; demonetisation has reduced cash in economy, promoted digital transactions, says FM.
#11:15 AM Indian GDP on course to grow at 8 per cent - FM Jaitley
#11:13 AM Modi government has decisively reversed the perception of India as being part of ‘the fragile five’ since it assumed office
#11:12 AM We are not only focussing on 'Ease of Doing Business' but also 'Ease of Living'
#11:11 AM We hope to grow at 7.2% - 7.5% in the second half of 2017-18.
#11:10 AM: We are allocating natural resources in a more transparent manner': FM
#11:09 AM Indian economy has performed very well since our Govt took over in may 2014, It is now the seventh largest in the world: FM Jaitley
#11:07 AM When we took over, India was considered one of the fragile five. We have successfully reversed this, India now among the fastest growing economies in the world: Finance Minister
#11:02 AM FM Arun Jaitley begins his speech to present Union Budget
#10:49 AM PM Narendra Modi and Union Ministers Sushma Swaraj and Ram Vilas Paswan arrived at the Parliament
#10:30 AM: Copies of Union Budget 2018 being checked by security inside Parliament premises
#10:20 AM Cabinet meeting begins inside Parliament ahead of Union Budget 2018
#9:55 AM Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrives at the Parliament to present the budget
#9:53 AM Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget 2018-19 in the Parliament.
#9:45 AM Union Budget papers arrive in Parliament
#9:32 AM Sensex and Nifty open higher ahead of FM Jaitley's Budget speech
# 9:00 AM Finance minister Arun Jaitley and his team ahead of the Union Budget presentation
#8.50 AM: Finance minister Arun Jaitley arrives at the ministry. He will later present the Union Budget 2018 in Parliament.
#8.47 AM: Finance minister Arun Jaitley leaves his residence for the finance ministry.
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