Acting Finance Minister of India Piyush Goyal announced the interim budget of the fiscal year 2019, after wishing Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley a speedy recovery, stating income support for farmers and a full tax rebate for those with an income of up to Rs 5 lakh.
The government of India announced a scheme- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi- in which farmers will receive a financial support package that includes direct cash transfer of Rs 6,000 per year in three instalments.
This scheme will only apply to farmers with less than two hectares of land holding. This initiative will benefit 12 crore small and marginal farmers, at an estimated cost of Rs. 75,000 crore.
Goyal, in his speech in the Lok Sabha, stated that India has been the brightest spot in the world for the last 5 years as it is the fastest growing major economy. He added that the GDP growth in the last 5 years had been higher than under any previous governments.
For the unorganized sector, a mega pension scheme has been announced under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan. In this, a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 will be given to those who contribute Rs 100 month before retirement.
This move will benefit 10 crore workers in the unorganised sector and may become the world’s biggest pension scheme for the unorganised sector in five years, Goyal said.
Following this, a huge relief for taxpayers were announced wherein those with an annual income of up to Rs 5 lakh will get a full tax rebate. Earlier, Goyal said India is on a solid track towards growth and prosperity. The country’s farmers’ income will double by 2022, he said.
For the second time, fiscal deficit target has been revised up to 3.4% of GDP from the Budget estimate of 3.3% of GDP. The government of India had also exceeded its Budget target of fiscal deficit of 3.2% of GDP. The revised estimate for FY18 had also been revised up to 3.5% of GDP.
Goyal also stated that Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code pressured large borrowers to repay loans and has been effective in improving recovery of the banks.
He said with three banks already coming out of the RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action framework, the government expects the remaining banks to come out of the PCA shackles soon. He further announced a committee under the Niti Aayog to identify the most marginalised Denotified, Nomadic, and Semi-nomadic Tribes not currently classified as ST, ST, OBC, in the Union Budget 2019.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
