Here are the key highlights of the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
To give impetus to the real estate sector, Goyal proposed to extend the period of exemption from levy of tax on notional rent on unsold inventories from one year to two years.
Finance Ministry is considering to sell 5 per cent stake in ONGC in the current fiscal, which could garner about Rs 17,000 crore to the exchequer.
'The target for next year is unlikely to be more than that of this year. The more you divest in any cycle, the less your potential pipeline for the next,' said an official. 'The first two issues we want to tackle and complete in FY20 are Air India and Hotel Ashok.'
Jaitley, 66, has become 'very weak' as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks, sources said, adding that he has developed some throat condition as well that prevents him from speaking for long.
The new government, which will be required to boost investments and promote growth, will be presenting a regular Budget after completion of the electoral process.
As per the budget document presented in Parliament, public sector enterprises, including banks, are expected to contribute Rs 88,188 crore in the form of dividend and profit to the government in the current financial year.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday made a veiled attack on Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal, telling them "neither populism nor individualism" is an alternative way of governance and expressed confidence that people will entrust responsibility to a "hand" that works for equity.
Two premium new long-distance trains and plan to convert a strategically important metre gauge line into broad gauge were announced on Wednesday for the Northeastern region in the Railway Budget, but opposition BJP and AGP dubbed the sops as "frustrating".
Passenger fares and freight rates were left untouched
The direct tax collections are likely to fall short of the revised Budget target by Rs 650 billion and, in fact, were Rs 150 billion lower than the original estimate for the fiscal
In this year's budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hiked tax on petrol and diesel, raised import duty on gold, levied additional surcharge on super rich and brought a tax on high value cash withdrawals as she sought to spur growth with reduction in corporate tax and sops to housing sector, startups and electric vehicles.
Chidambaram also hit out at senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, saying his performance as finance minister.
The 13th Finance Commission had last year set a capital expenditure-to-GDP target of 4.5 per cent by FY15.
Post office savings deposit, recurring deposit accounts and the senior citizen savings scheme account have shown the highest growth in the current financial year.
The interim dividend will help Narendra Modi-led government partly bridge the deficit its budget had developed after the announcement of a Rs 75,000 crore a year cash dole scheme for small farmers.
GST rates on under-construction houses maybe reduced from 12 pc with input tax credit to 5 pc without ITC. Similarly, the rate for under-construction affordable houses could come down to 3 per cent without input tax credit, from the current 8 per cent.
In the four-paragraph letter, Jaitley said he had orally informed Modi about his desire not to be a part of the new BJP government to enable him to concentrate on treatment and health.
'Reports in a section of media regarding Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley's health condition are false and baseless. Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering,' Government Spokesman Sitanshu Kar tweeted.
He accused the Congress of putting up obstacles to the temple's construction through 'its lawyers' in the Supreme Court.
The point to note is that since the new rebate is up to a taxable income of Rs 5 lakh, if anyone earns even little more (say, even Rs 100 more) than this amount, he would have to pay all the taxes, according to the existing slabs.
Goyal also announced hiking of tax free gratuity to Rs 30 lakh from existing Rs 20 lakh for employees having service of more than five years.
The government planned to borrow 10-15 per cent of the total borrowing offshore. That works out to at least Rs 71,000 crore, or about $10.4 billion at Friday's exchange rate.
According to FADA, automobile retail trade and service industry comprises a network of 9,500 automobile dealers and their service stations engaged in sale, service/repair and spares of vehicles across segments, is an essential link in automotive business and a significant stakeholder.
Excise exemptions may be whittled in Budget to offset higher govt salaries, pensions
The scheme, which would give Rs 6,000 to small farmers in a year or Rs 500 a month, will add more money to the account of these cultivators than the money he/she saves every month on an average.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is set to present the Budget next month.
The Railway Budget has impressed industry watchers.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday remained non-committal on the issue of granting Leader of the Opposition status to Congress which does not have requisite numbers.
There is talk of a fresh approach to a new labour code as well as reforming land acquisition laws in such a way as to be politically.
'The Modi regime is not willing to use its huge political capital for taking any economic policy measure that it fears might undermine that political strength, says A K Bhattacharya.
Ayushman Bharat aims at providing a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually and is aimed at benefitting more than 10 crore poor families across the country.
Terming infrastructure as the "backbone" of any nation's development, Goyal while presenting the interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha said India aspires to be a USD 10 trillion economy in the next eight years, and on the anvil is next generation infrastructure of roads, railways, seaports, airports, urban transport, gas and electric transmission and inland waterways.
The government is likely to overshoot its FY14 fiscal deficit estimate by 0.2-0.3 per cent to 4.8- 4.9 per cent as tax revenues have not been up to expectations, DBS said.
With Jaitley preferring continuity over change, good days might take a little longer to arrive, says Shankar Acharya.
The Rajasthan Congress led by its state president Sachin Pilot on Thursday held a Chetna Rally against "anti-people" policies of the Vasundhara Raje led Bharatiya Janata Party Rajasthan government.
The apex court observed that the government could not deny benefits to those who did not have not Aadhaar numbers.
.jpg)
After gaining Rs 235 in last three sessions, gold further spurted by Rs 465 to Rs 31,450 per ten grams, a level last seen on December 12.
Enunciating slew of measures initiated by the UPA to augment the sector, the finance minister said 19 oil and gas blocks were given out for exploration and 7 new airports are under construction.
Rumours in the bureaucracy on his successor include the names of Sajjid Chinoy of JP Morgan, Rathin Roy of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse and the principal economic advisor, Sanjeev Sanyal.
