Budget 2020 based on 3 themes: aspiration, development & compassion, says Finance Minister

February 1: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the financial year 2020-21 on Saturday. FM Sitharaman and her team met Cabinet ministers ahead of Budget presentation. She said that her budget comprises of 3 main themes. FM said that the first theme of budget is aspirational India, second is economic development and third one is caring society.

The 1st theme, that is, aspirational India will encompass skills, education and agriculture. Farm income will be doubled. A total of 6.11 crore farmers insured under Fasal Bima, says finance minister. She says hand-holding of farm-based activities needs to be done. This, she said, can be done in cooperation with states. Presents a 16-point action plan for this purpose.

Total of 20 lakh farmers can set up standalone solar pumps, she says. Further, she said that government can help 15 lakh solarise grid-connected pump. Farmers can also use barren land for solar energy and have a livelihood out of it.

Warehouse building incentives will also be given by the government for the farmers. The thrust, she says, is to offer viability gap funding and Mudra loans will also be provided for such self-help groups. Here, women will be the ‘dhanya Laxmi’ in the villages, she added. The FM declared to set up Kisan rail so that farm goods can be quickly transported across the country. Nirmala Sitharaman says for agri and allied activities an allocation of Rs 2.83 lakh crore has been made for FY21. This includes agriculture, irrigation, rural development, Panchayati Raj.

There are 20,000 empanelled hospitals in Ayushman Bharat and need more in Tier 2 and 3 cities to benefit poor in these areas. PPP mode hospitals will be set up under viability gap funding to look at areas where there are no hospitals. This will be 112 aspirational districts where first priority will be given.

Rs. 12,300 crore allocated for Swachha Bharat Scheme. A total of Rs 69.000 crore has been provided for the healthcare sector of which PM Jan Arogya Yojana will get Rs 6,400 crore. A total of Rs 3000 crore will be given for skill development, she added. A total of Rs 99,300 crore is proposed allocation for education. A total allocation of Rs 22,000 crore will be given to power and renewable sector, says Sitharaman. An allocation of Rs 1.7 lakh crore for trasport infrastructure will be provided in FY21. FM proposes Rs 8,000 crore outlay over 5 years for National Mission of Quantum Technology and Application. She proposed to provide Rs 35,600 crore for nutrition-related programmes in 2020-21. Rs.85 crore for development of SC/ST. Allocation of Rs 9,500 crore for senior citizens for FY21. Rs. 2,500 cr allocated for tourism promotion.

In education sector, degree level online programme was proposed. Such online degree programmes will be offered by the Top 100 NIRF ranked institutes. Medical College to be set up in existing district hospitals. A total of 150 higher education institutes will have apprenticeship programmes by March 2021. Urban local bodies will provide fresh engineers a job opportunity for one year. Police Academy and Forensic Sciences will be set up.

A total of 9,000 km of economic corridor will be set up. Chennai-Bengaluru expressway will also be started, says FM. Delhi-Mumbai Expressway To Be Completed By 2023, she added. A total of 12 lots of highway bundles will be monetised by 2024. More Tejas Express -type trains will be set up for tourist destinations. Two national level science schemes to be set up for getting a comprehensive national-level database.

In the third theme focus will be on women, child and social welfare. ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padao’ has yielded tremendous ratio. Gross enrollment ratio of girls has increased tremendously. Rs. 99,300 cr sanctioned for educational sector. A task force will be formed in this regard to give its report within 6 months time. Rs 28,600 crore will be allocated in FY21 by government for women-linked programmes, said the FM.

Five archaeological sites will be devolved as iconic sites with onsite museums. These are- Rakhigari in Harayana, Hastinapur in UP, Sibsagar in Assam, Dholavira in Gujarat, Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu. A tribal museum will be set up in Ranchi, Jharkhand. . A maritime museum will be set up in Lothal. A numismatic museum will be set up in National Museum, Kolkata.

We would like to reassure taxpayers that we remain committed to taking measures to eliminate tax harassment, said the FM. She added that a  tax-payer charter will be instutitionalised in the budget. This will be building trust, says FM. Government will ensure that citizens need not worry about tax harassment, says FM. SHe propose to set up a national recruitment agency for conduct of computer-based online common eligibility test for recruitment to non-gazetted post.

The FM assured that the depositors money is absolutely safe. She said, “The government is monitoring helath of commercial banks.” She added that deposit insurance cover will be hiked to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh.

‘Government to sell a part of its holdings in LIC for fiscal management.’ GDP growth was projected to be 10% for FY 2021. She said, “We estimate fiscal deficit on 3.8 percent of GDP in FY20 and 3.5 percent for BEFY21.”

To simplify imcome tax, tax will be significantly reduced. While presenting the Union Budget, 2020, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that a new personal income tax regime would be reduced who forego deductions and exemptions.

Tax of only 10 percent will be charged to Rs 5 lakh-7.5 lakh income as against prevailing 20 percent rate. For those with income of Rs 7.5 lakh-10 lakh, a tax rate of 15 percent against 20 percent prevailing rate was announced. For income Rs 10-12.5 lakh, a rate of 20 percent will be charged as against 30 percent earlier.

For income between Rs 12.5 lakh-15 lakh will be taxed at 25 percent as against 30 percent. For those at Rs 15 lakh plus income, tax will be 30 percent. No income tax will be charged for income upto Rs. 5 lakh.