The first budget of Modi government is present today by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman following are the top 100 highlights of the budget speech for the Financial Year 2019-20 or Assessment Year 2020-21

1. No income tax for less than 5 lakh per annum income

2. 3% Increase in a surcharge for individuals with incomes between 2 to 5 cr. 7% increase in a surcharge for incomes above 5 cr

3. Propose to make PAN and Aadhaar interchangeable. ITR can be filed without PAN by quoting Aadhaar

4. Direct tax revenue has grown 78 percent from 2014 to 2019. The tax collection has increased to 11.37 lakh crore to 2018-19 from 6.37 lakh crore from 2013-14.

5. To discourage the practice of making business payments in cash, I propose to levy TDS of 2% on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore a year from a bank account

6. Propose to increase special additional duty and road and infrastructure cess on diesel and petrol by Re 1

7. Currently, the lower rate of 25% is applicable to firms with an annual turnover of Rs 250 crore. I propose to widen this to all companies with an annual turnover of up to Rs 400 crore. This will cover 99.3% of all companies

8. Additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on loans for EVs

9. 350 crore rupees allocated for 2% interest subvention for all GST-registered MSMEs on fresh or incremental loans (estartindia.com)

10. Propose to extend the period of exemption of capital gains arising from the sale of residential house for investment in startups to 31-3-2021

11. GST rates have been eased with a relief of Rs 92,000 crore provided during the year. Further measures are being worked out to ease filing returns and tax compliance. A simplified single monthly return is now being ruled out. Taxpayers with an annual turnover of less than Rs 5 crore will have to file only quarterly returns

12. Additional deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for interest on loans borrowed up to March 31, 2020, for purchase of house up to Rs 45 lakh

13. Business establishments with an annual turnover of Rs 50 crore will offer a low-cost digital mode of payments to customers and no charges or merchant discount rates shall be imposed on customers as well as merchants

14. Every verified woman SHG member having a Jan Dhan account, an overdraft of 5000 rupees will be allowed

15. The Securities Transaction Tax or STT is proposed to be restricted to the difference between settlement and strike price of options (estartindia.com)

16. To resolve the issue of Angel Tax the startups and investors who file requisite declarations will not be subjected to any kind of scrutiny in respect of valuation of share premium.

17. A mechanism of e-verification will be put in place and with this, the funds raised by startups will not require any tax scrutiny.

18. One woman in every SHG shall be made eligible for a loan of Rs 1 lakh under MUDRA scheme

19. NRI investment in the Indian capital market is less. I propose to merge the NRI portfolio investment scheme route with FPI route

20. 95 crore houses proposed to be provided under PMAY Grameen by 2021

21. 25 lakh kilometers of roads will be upgraded:

22. The government proposes to streamline multiple labor laws into a set of 'four labour codes'

23. Aim to simplify tax admin and bring greater transparency. My tax proposals will aim to stimulate growth.

24. TV program for the start-ups Stands up India scheme for entrepreneurs. A new channel is proposed to be started under Doordarshan bouquet to provide a platform for startups to disseminate information in the industry

25. Rs 100 lakh crore for infrastructure development for the next 5 years

26. By 2022, power and LPG will be provided to all households. Assures that every single rural family will have electricity and clean cooking facility by 2022

27. Propose setting up a Social Stock Exchange for listing Social enterprises, voluntary organizations. Social Stock Exchange under SEBI proposed

28. The government is setting an enhanced target of Rs 1,05,000 crore for disinvestment during FY20 and will continue with disinvestment of PSUs in the non-financial space as well

29. More than 45,000 public toilets have been uploaded on Google maps and nearly 1 crore citizens have downloaded the Swachhta app

30. Several reforms would be undertaken to promote rental housing, current rental laws are archaic as they do not address lessor-lessee relationships fairly

31. Have suggested to SEBI to increase the threshold of public shareholding in listed companies from 25% to 35%,

32. 100% FDI will be permitted for insurance intermediary. FDI inflows have remained robust despite global headwinds. India's FDI inflows remained strong despite global slippages. We saw a 6% y-o-y growth in foreign investment Government is mulling organizing an annual global investors' meet in India

33. Govt will create a payment platform for MSMEs to enable filing of bills and payment on the platform itself

34. As a key source of capital to the Indian economy, it is important to ensure a hassle-free experience to foreign portfolio investors. We plan to streamline KYC to make it more investor-friendly

35. Pension benefits will be offered to 3 crore shopowners with an annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore under a new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Man dhan Scheme

36. A modern tenancy law will be finalized and given to the states

37. The upfront incentive to be offered on purchase of EVs

38. Railway infra would need an investment of Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018 and 2030

39. It is proposed that several reform measures will be taken up to promote rental housing

40. India has become the fifth largest economy in the world. 5 years ago we stood at 11th position. In Purchasing Power Parity we are at number 3 only next to US and China

41. Indian Economy well within the capacity to reach $5 tn target in a few years. Our economy was $1.85 trillion when we assumed power and it reached $2.7 trillion. We have the capacity to reach 5 million US in five years. It took us over 55 years to Indian economy to reach $1 trillion but the people's hearts filled with Vishwas and Akansha (hopes of the people of the country) has helped us achieve the next couple of trillions within a short span

42. Last mile delivery stood out, citizens in every nook and corner of the country felt the difference; our objective was and continues to be Mazbooth Desh Ke Liye Mazbooth Nagarik

43. If before India Inc understood Swadeshi they now look at Make in India. Gone are the days of policy paralysis and Licence Raj regimes. India is now a wealth creator, says Sitharaman, adding she wishes to announce a number of reforms to further the country's growth prospects.

44. The ambitious project of Bharatmala will enhance road connectivity and Sagarmala will help port and waterways connectivity, she says. These along with other such initiatives such as Udaan scheme will improve India's infrastructure and enable connectivity and bridge the rural and urban divide

45. The department of fisheries will address critical gaps in the value chain, including production, quality control, post-harvest management, etc

46. Confident of achieving our goals, says FM, quotes Chanakaya, 'With determined humans efforts, the task shall surely be completed' estartindia

47. Mega programs that we initiated in the first five years will now be further accelerated

48. Between 2014 and 2019, we provided rejuvenated Centre-state dynamic, cooperative federalism, GST Council and a strident commitment to fiscal discipline; set the ball rolling for a New India

49. New metro rail projects have been approved during 2018-19. Also, during 2019, 210km of metro lines have been operationalized

50. The time is right for India to enter into aviation finance. The Udan scheme is providing air connectivity to the common man. All these programmes are also helping bridge the rural and urban divide. The ambitious programme of Bharatmala will help develop roads and highways, while Sagarmala will enhance port connectivity

51. National Common Mobility Card was launched by PM Modi in March this year. This will enable people to pay multiple transport charges across India. This card runs on RuPay card and allows users to pay bus charges, parking charges, etc

52. One Nation, One Grid" for power availability to states at affordable rates. It is therefore proposed to use Public-Private partnership to unleash faster development

53. India's FDI flows in 2018-19 remained strong compared to global at $54.2 billion, 6 percent higher than last year. The government will examine options of opening up FDI in media, animation and some other sectors to improve these flows further

54. The government is contemplating organizing an annual global meet to get all three sets of global players: Industrialists, corporate leaders, corporate sovereign and venture funds

55. India has emerged as a major space power. Time has come to harness this ability commercially. New Space India Limited, a public sector enterprise, has been incorporated to tap the benefits of R&D carried out by Isro. The company will spearhead commercialization of various space products

56. The Gaon (village), Garib (poor) and Kisan (farmers) are at the Centre of all our efforts:

57. By 2022 Every rural Indian family will have Electricity and clean cooking facility

58. Lauds efforts of farmers in production of pulses

59. 75000 entrepreneurs targeted in Agri sector

60. Ease of doing business to extend to farmers and they should not face state level arbitrages Back to Basics - zero budget farming farmers are being trained on this - extend to others

61. Jal ministry to focus on providing adequate drinking water, which is a primary area of concern. We seek to provide water to all rural households under 'har Ghar Jal. Steps such as these will help double farmers' income by 2022

62. Time for completion of houses under PMAY reduced from 314 days in 2015-16 to 114 days in 2017-18, enabling the scale of achievement in PMAY

63. 1592 critical blocks over 256 districts identified for Jal Shakti Abhiyan www.estartindia.com

64. 6 crores toilets have been constructed under Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan

65. 5 lakh villages are now open-defecation free

66. More than 95% of our cities have declared themselves open-defecation free

67. We aim to make India open-defecation free by October 2, on 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

68. A Gandhipedia is being developed to sensitize youth and society at large on positive Gandhian values:

69. Local sourcing norms for FDI to be eased for single-brand retailing sector.

70. Propose to establish a National Research Foundation to fund and coordinate research in India

71. 80 Livelihood business incubators and 20 technology business incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under ASPIRE to develop 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries

72. Greater focus on R&D through a National Research Foundation. This will fund, promote research. Funds will be assimilated from schemes running across various ministries

73. Focus on Global Education Model and R&D will arm the Youth of today to fight the unknown future we see ahead full of disruption and new age entry and exits

74. None of our technological institutions were in the top 200 in 2014. But now, there are five in the list

75. To upgrade the level of teaching, Gian initiative was started. It was a roadmap to 0counter challenges, To upgrade the level of teaching, Gian initiative was started. It was a roadmap to counter challenges. To upgrade the quality of teaching, the GYAN was started aimed to bring in the global pool of scientists and researchers, she says, adding such initiatives have paid off. From no single Indian institute in top 200 universities ranking until 5 years ago, we now have 3 institutions in the top 200 global institutions bracket. To make India a hub of higher education the government proposes 'Study in India' to bring in foreign students to pursue education here

76. India will be soon a hub of higher education. 'Study in India' initiative will be started for the exchange of foreign student

77. We will increase our efforts to improve the skills of our youth in newer areas such as Artifical Intelligence, Big Data, Robotics, etc valued highly within and outside the country to ensure they can secure high paying jobs both in India and abroad

78. Under Pradhan Mantri Grameen Digital Saksharata Abhiyan, Bharat Net is targeting internet connectivity in local bodies in every panchayat in the country; this will be speeded under Universal Service Obligation Fund

79. 100 new clusters to be set up in 2019-20 under SFURTI, which will enable 50,000 artisans to join the economic value chain

80. The Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan Yojana of providing Rs 3,000 - nearly 30 lakh workers have joined the scheme

81. Approximately 35 crores LED bulbs have been distributed under the Ujala scheme, saving Rs 18,341 crore annually

82. For the women of India - Naari to Narayani has been the tradition of the country., she says quoting Swami Vivekananda, "There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly with one wing

83. Contribution of women is significant in every sector. The recent election saw a record turnout of women voters, at par with men. We also have a record 78 women MPs in the House

84. Propose a committee to evaluate and suggest measure to improve women's welfare, she says, pointing out how India's women have stood out distinctly in every field. This reinforces our approach of going beyond just women-centric policies to building women-led movements

85. Under PMAY (Urban), over 81 Lakh houses with an investment of about Rs 4.83 Lakh Cr have been sanctioned of which construction has started in about 47 Lakh houses. Over 26 Lakh houses have been completed of which nearly 24 Lakh houses have been delivered, to beneficiaries.

86. 400 crore rupees under the head, World Class Institutions in 2019-20, more than 3 times the revised estimates of the previous year.

87. The government proposes to consider issuing Aadhaar cards to NRIs with Indian passports in India without having to wait for the necessary 180 days

88. To popularize sports at all levels, National Sports Education Board for development of sportspersons to be set up under Khelo India

89. The government is developing 17 iconic tourism sites as world-class tourist centers to improve the flow of domestic and foreign tourists to these destinations. Documentaries with anthropological details will be stored for tourists

90. PSBs are now proposed to be further provided Rs 17,000 crore of capital to boost credit.

91. Government has smoothly carried out consolidation, reducing the number of PSBs by 8

92. Record recovery of over Rs 4 lakh crore due to IBC (Insolvency code) have been affected in the last four years

93. NPAs of commercial banks have reduced by over Rs 1 lakh crore over the last year

94. The government has proposed to allocate Rs 70,000 crore for PSU Bank recapitalization

95. For purchase of high-rated pooled assets of financially sound NBFCs amounting to a total of Rs 1 lakh crore, govt will provide a one-time six-month partial credit guarantee to PSBs for the first loss up to 10%

96. Broad-based committee to evaluate and suggest actions for moving forward on gender analysis of budget to be formed

97. Govt proposes to return the regulation authority over housing finance sector from the National Housing Board to the RBI www.estartindia.com

98. To further encourage women entrepreneurship, Women SHG Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India

99.  4 new embassies to be opened in 2019-20, to improve the footprint of India's overseas presence and to provide better public services to local Indian communities

100. India's sovereign external debt to GDP is among the lowest globally at less than 5%, she points out.

Author:

eStartIndia Team