Bhubaneswar: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday presented full-year budget for the year ending March 2021. This was the second budget for Sitharaman in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
Here are the KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Budget Speech: Nirmala Sitharaman says customs duty raised on footwear and furniture
- Health cess on import of medical equipment imposed in Budget
- FM raises excise duty by way of national calamity contingent duty on cigarettes, tobacco products
- Anti-dumpting duty on purified terephthalic acid (PTA) abolished
- Customs duty exemption on raw sugar, agro-animal based products, Tuna bait, skimmed milk, certain alcoholic beverages, soya fibre, soya protein withdrawn
- Customs duty on tableware/kitchenware made of porcelain or China ceramic, clay iron, steel, copper doubled to 20%
- Customs duty on catalytic converters, parts of commercial vehicles, other than EVs, hiked
- Rs 12.7 lakh crore rupees to be transferred to states and union territories in 2020-21
- Rs 69,000 crore provided for Health Care in Union Budget 2020-21
- Jan Aushadhi Kendra Scheme to be Expanded to all Districts by 2024
- Income tax rates will be significantly reduced for those who forego reliefs, exemptions
- Those earning upto Rs 5 lakh annually will pay no tax
- For income between Rs 7.5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh per annum , tax rate reduced to 15 pc from 20 pc
- New income tax rates will be optional
- A person earning Rs 15 lakh per anum and not availing any deductions will pay Rs 1.95 lakh tax in place of Rs 2.73 lakh
- The new personal income tax regime entails an estimated revenue foregone amounting to 40,000 crore rupees per year
- Tax rate of 30% on income above Rs 15 lakh will be continued
- 70 of more than 100 income tax deductions and exemptions have been removed to simplify tax system and lower tax rates
- Dividend Distribution Tax shifted to individuals instead of companies
- Concessional tax rate of 15 pc extended to power generation companies
- Concessional withholding rate of 5 pc on interest payment to non-residents extended up to June 30, 2022
- Budget proposes deferment of tax payment by employees on ESOPs from startups by five years
- Tax on Cooperative societies proposed to be reduced to 22 per cent plus surcharge and cess, as against 30 per cent at present
- Date of approval of affordable housing projects for availing tax holiday on profit earned by developers extended by 1 year
- Govt extends additional Rs 1.5 lakh tax benefit on interest paid on affordable housing loans to March 2021
- Scheme proposed to bring down litigation in direct taxation scheme
- 'Vivad se Vishwas' scheme for direct tax payers whose appeals are pending at various forum
- Govt to further ease process of allotment of PAN. System for instant allotment of PAN on basis of Aadhaar to launched
- Aadhaar-based verification of taxpayers to be introduced
- Registration of charity institutions to be made completely electronic, donations made to be pre-filled in IT return form to claim exemptions for donations easily
- Receipts for 2020-21 pegged at Rs 22.46 lakh crore expenditure Rs 30.42 lakh crore
- Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.8 pc in current fiscal and 3.5 pc in next year
- GIFT City to have an International Bullion Exchange
- Net market borrowings would be Rs 4.99 lakh cr in FY 20; Rs 5.36 lakh cr in next fiscal
- Government proposes to sell a part of its holding in LIC by initial public offer
- Mechanism will be made to address liquidity constraints of NBFCs and Hosue finance corporations.
- Govt to offer support by guaranteeing securities floated to provide liquidity for NBFCs
- Nirmala Sitharaman terms GST as historic structural reform and it integrated country economically
- GST resulted in Rs 1 lakh crore gains to consumers, removed inspector raj and helped transport sector: FM
- Simplified return for GST is being introduced from April 2020
- Central government's debt has come down to 48.7% in March 2019 from 52.2% in March 2014
- 7.4 pc growth surpassed in 2014-19 with average inflation of 4.5 pc
- India uplifted 271 million people out of poverty
- 6.11 crore farmers insured under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna
- 16-point action plan proposed to boost agriculture and farmers welfare
- 20 lakh farmers to get funds for setting up standalone solar pumps
- Govt proposes comprehensive measures for 100 water stressed districts
- States asked to adopt 3 central model laws on agri land leasing, marketing & contract farming
- Indian Railways will set up Kisan Rail through PPP model for quick transportation of perishable goods
- Krishi Udaan will be launched by MoCA on international and national routes.
- NABARD will map and geo-tab 162 mn tonne capacity agri warehouses across country
- FCI and Warehousing Corporation of India to build warehousing facility on their land
- NABARD refinance scheme to be expanded, Fish production to be raised to 200 lakh tonnes by 2022
- Rs 1.23 lakh allocated for rural development and panchayati raj, Rs 1.6 lakh crore for agriculture and allied activities
- Proceeds from taxes on medical devices would be used to support setting up of hospitals
- Allocation of Rs 12,300 crores for Swachh Bharat Mission for year 2020-21
- Govt proposes Rs 3.6 lakh crore towards piped water supply to households
- Centre to announce new education policy soon, over 2 lakh suggestions received
- Steps to be taken to attract external commercial borrowing, FDI in education sector
- National Police University and National Forensic University proposed
- Rs 99,300 crore allocated for education sector, Rs 3,000 crore for skill development
- Youth and fishery extension work to be enabled by rural youth as Sagar Mitras, forming 500 fish farmer producing organizations
- India needs to boost domestic manufacturing and attract investment in electronic manufacturing
- Milk processing capacity to be doubled by 2025
- Scheme proposed for manufacturing of cell phones, semi conductors and other electronic devices
- National Technical Textile mission with an outlay of Rs 1,480 crore over 4 years to cut down imports
- Rs 27,300 crore provided for development and promotion of industry and commerce
- Digital refund of duties and taxes of Centre, states and local bodies to exporters from this year
- 1,150 trains to run in PPP mode, 4 stations to be redeveloped with help of private sector, more Tejas type trains to connect tourist destinations
- 100 more airports to be developed by 2024 to support Udaan scheme
- Rs 1.7 lakh cr provided for transport infrastructure in 2020-21
- Conventional electricity meters will be replaced with prepaid smart meters in 3 years
- Rs 22,000 crore to Power and Renewable Energy sector in 2020-21
- Rs 8,000 cr outlay provided for National Mission on Quantum Technology and Application over 5 years
- Rs 35,600 crores for nutrition related programmes for 2020-21
- Rs 3.6 lakh crore approved for Jal Jeevan Mission
- Policy to enable private sector to build Data Centre Parks in the country
- National Gas Grid to be expanded from 16,200 km to 27,000 km
- Task force to recommend marriageable age for women
- Rs 9,500 crore provided for senior citizens and Divyangs
- Rs 85,000 crore allocated for SCs and OBCs, Rs 53,700 crore for Scheduled Tribes in Budget for FY 2020-21
- 28,600 crore rupees provided for programmes which are specific to women
- Rs 2500 crores for promotion of tourism, Rs 3,150 crore for ministry of culture in the year 2020-21
- Tribal museum proposed in Ranchi, Jharkhand
- 5 archaeological sites to be developed as iconic sites with on-site museums -Rakhigarhi, Hastinapur, Shivsagar, Dholavira and Adichanallur
- Indian Institute of Heritage and Culture to be established under Ministry of Culture
- India's commitment for tackling climate change made in Paris conference kick starts from January 1, 2021
- Rs 4,400 crore allocated for States that work towards clean air
- Power plants with emissions above prescribed limits to be shut
- Govt proposes amendments in Companies Act to decriminalise civil offences
- Taxpayer charter to be instituted in the charter, a part of our statutes. Committed to take measures to ensure citizens are free of tax harassment
- Major reform in recruitment of non-gazetted staff proposed. National Recruitment Agency to be set up for conducting common online eligibility tests for recruitment to these posts
- National Policy on statistics to be brought in
- Allocation of Rs 30,757 crores for 2020-21 for Jammu and Kashmir, Rs 5,958 crores for Ladakh
- Rs 100 crore allocated for hosting G-20 Summit
- Rs 3.50 lakh cr infused as capital in public sector banks in past years
- Deposit insurance for depositors increased to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh
- Balance govt holding in IDBI banks to be sold to pvt retail investors
- Amendments to facilitate separation of govt pension trust from PFRDA proposed
- RBI to extend Debt restructuring window for MSME by a year to March 31, 2021
- Investment limit of FPIs in corporate bonds raised from 9 pc to 15 pc
- Rs 2.83 lakh crore for agri and allied activities
- Special bridge courses to be designed for teachers, nurses, para medical staff, caregivers
- Fundamentals of economy strong, inflation well contained, banks cleaned up accumulated loans: FM
- FM says Budget is for boosting income, purchasing power of people
- Union Cabinet approves Budget 2020
- The printed copies of the Union Budget were checked by a sniffer dog as part of a security check ahead of the presentation of Budget at 11 am.
Before presenting the Union Budget 2020-21, Sitharaman called on the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind and later proceeded to Parliament House for a crucial Cabinet meeting which began at 10:15 AM.
The pre-Budget Economic Survey for 2019-20, which projected the state of the economy and outlined its challenges was released yesterday.
Sitharaman had presented her maiden budget in July last year after the BJP-led government returned to power in the crucial 2019 elections.
(With Agency Inputs)