Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a roadshow in Shimla and address a rally on May 31 to mark the eighth anniversary of his government, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Himachal Pradesh said on Friday.
Corporate leaders said a stable government at the Centre will help boost infrastructure spend, address agricultural distress, and encouraging employment.
A row erupted on Wednesday over Amitabh Bachchan's participation in the second anniversary celebrations of the National Democratic Alliance government in New Delhi on May 28.
Goyal also said the government has been providing cheaper drugs through Jan Aushadhi stores.
Goyal said India has been recognised as the brightest spot in the world in the past 5 years.
So how do you rate the NDA government's election-year budget? Does it meet your expectations? Or do you feel let down?
If an individual invests in the specified tax saving schemes of the government, the effective tax-free income limit will be Rs 650,000 a year.
Under the scheme called Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Rs 6,000 will be transferred into bank accounts of farmers holding up to 2 hectares of land in three equal instalments.
Goyal also said that current account deficit is likely to be 2.5 per cent of GDP this year.
No fare hike was announced in the Railway Budget for 2019.
Highlighting the the government's focus on providing power to all, Finance Minister Goyal said 2.5 crore families were without electricity in 2014 and "we have provided power to almost all families".
The amount allocated for 2019-20 is 11 per cent higher compared to Rs 55,000 crore allocated for the year 2018-19.
The main sectors that receive the maximum foreign inflows include services, computer software and hardware, telecommunications, trading, construction, automobile, and power.
'This solid verdict would further strengthen his resolve to drive forward the economic agenda to ensure that the fruits of the economic momentum continue to reach the poor, so visible during the last five years.'
The moves on basic income for farmers - Rs 6,000 per person in three installments per annum - and subsidised agricultural loans are likely to boost the rural economy through consumption in the near-term, but will have a fiscal cost, it noted.
Goyal said India has been recognised as brightest spot in the world in last five years.
'The move towards fiscal consolidation had to be diluted because of the relief to farmers as the government wants to appease the voters.'
'Rather than abolishing stamp duty as STT is already levied on all transactions, the government has de-facto imposed a state STT in the guise of stamp duty'
The first dimension of this vision will be to build physical as well as social infrastructure for a $10-trillion economy and to provide ease of living: Goyal.
The budget will empower the poor, give a boost to the farmer and an impetus to the economic growth, the PM said.
Goyal is expected to discuss the targets for the banks for 2019-20, as well as priority sector lending, recovery on non-performing assets, and the bankruptcy proceedings of various companies, which owe money to the banks.
A Special Investigation Team has been set up to look into the death of Tabrez Ansari, who was declared brought dead to the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur on June 22, Saturday, police said.
'The Modi government, like the Singh one, has run into what is called a perfect storm, where everything that can go wrong does so at the same time,' points out T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The government further said the gross tax revenue as a per cent of GDP is expected to increase to 12.1 per cent of GDP in 2019-20 and stabilise at that level in 2020-21 before climbing up to a level of 12.2 per cent of GDP.
The Budget allocation for Ministry of Agriculture and allied activities has grown by 114% since 2010-11
According to official statistics, half of India's GDP comes from as many as 420 million workers in the unorganised sector including street vendors, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, rag pickers, agricultural workers, among others. This massive workforce remains outside the purview of the formal banking and insurance industries.
Goyal's move was criticised by the Opposition saying with general election months away, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government had mandate only to present a vote on account and a Budget containing direct tax proposals.
Here are the key highlights of the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Hero MotoCorp, Maruti, M&M, Bajaj Auto, HUL, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, ITC, HDFC and L&T, rising up to 7.51 per cent.
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.
General Budget is a terminology earlier used to differentiate between the Union Budget with the Railway Budget. Full-fledged budgets are titled "Union Budget", while interim Budgets are titled just that.
Government's objective is to bring down the cost of cultivation through efficient use of fertilisers and agro chemicals, and increase in realisation. It is, thus, planning to connect 200 agricultural mandis with electronic National Agricultural Mandis this year and 225 next year, to enable farmers to sell their produce hassle-free online.
'Those who thought they are above law and above courts of the country are now approaching courts praying bail; some people have already gone inside (jail) which is their rightful place.'
Besides LTCG tax relief, permitting taxpayers to declare two houses as self-occupied brings a huge relief.
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 finance minister is likely to announce the government's vision for a tax-friendly regime by raising the I-T exemption limit from the current Rs 250,000 per annum.
'Will Mr Jaitley listen, or is that expecting too much in pre-election season?' asks T N Ninan.
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.
"India's middle class, small traders and farmers are the lifelines of its economic growth. By catering to these ambitions #Budget2019 infuses hopes for millions of dreams."
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