Budget 2019 : FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting now her first Union Budget 2019. This is a full Budget for the current fiscal year. The Finance Ministry said that barring an exceptional situation, there will not be any change in the expenditure proposed in the Interim Budget presented on February 1, 2019.

The Budget Speech by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman began at 11 am and continued till 1.07 pm.

Here are the updates of Budget 2019:

11.01 AM: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman begins making the budget speech in Parliament.

11.08 AM: “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,” said the FM.

11.13 AM: Indian economy will become $3-trillion economy in Financial Year 2020 itself.

11.15 AM:  Sitharaman says need to invest heavily in infrastructure, job creation. The average amount spent on food security per year doubled during 2014-19 compared to the preceding five years, she added.

11.18 AM: “Last mile delivery stood out, citizens in every nook and corner of India felt the difference; our objective was and continues to be ‘Mazbooth Desh Ke Liye Mazbooth Nagarik,” says the FM.

11.20 AM: “From 1.85 trillion dollars in 2014, the economy has reached 2.7 trillion US dollars; we can very well reach 5 trillion dollars in the next few years,” says the FM.

11.21 AM: The FM says India to enter into aircraft financing and leasing activities.

11.22 AM: “When we aspire to reach 5 trillion dollars, many wonder whether it is possible; the target is eminently achievable, given our citizens’ desire and the leadership of the Government,” says the FM.

11.23 AM: “India Inc, our job creators, is the nation’s wealth creators; together, we can prosper. I wish to propose no. of reforms to kickstart virtuous cycle of growth,” says the FM.

11.23 AM: Schemes such as BharatMala, Sagarmala and UDAN are bridging the rural urban divide and improving our transport infrastructure, says the FM.

11.25 AM: For providing an enabling ecosystem for maintenance, repair and overhaul, suitable policy interventions will be adopted, says the FM.

11.28 AM: “Comprehensive restructuring of National Highways Programme will be done, to ensure the creation of National Highways Grid of desirable capacity,” says Sitharaman.

11.37 AM: How India to become $5 trillion economy? Heavy investment in infrastructure, Digital Economy and Job Creation.

11.38 AM: Nirmala Sitharaman says the government will merge non-resident portfolio schemes with foreign portfolio investment route.

11.39 AM: Interoperability of RBI depositories and SEBI depositories necessary for seamlesss transfer of treasury bills; govt will take necessary measures in this regard in consultation with RBI and SEBI,” says the FM.

11.40 AM: Several reforms will be taken to promote rental housing, says the FM.

11.44 AM: “It’s right time to consider increasing minimum public shareholding in the listed companies, I have asked SEBI to consider raising the current threshold of 25% to 35%,” says Sitharaman.

11.45 AM: The Finance Minister says 125,000 km of road to be upgraded over next 5 years at a cost of 802.5 billion rupees.

11.46 AM: Government keeps Gaon, Garib and Kisan at the centre of everything we do, of every programme, says the FM.

11.50 AM: “India has emerged as a major space power. It is time to harness our ability commercially. To harness India’s space ability commercially, a public sector enterprise, New Space India Limited (NSIL) has been incorporated to tap benefits of ISRO,” says the FM.

11.51 AM: “In the second phase of PMAY-Gramin, 1.95 crore houses to be provided to eligible beneficiaries, during 2019-20 to 2021-22; they will have amenities such as LPG, electricity and toilets,” says the FM.

11.52 AM: By 2022, every single rural family except those who are unwilling to take the connection, will have electricity and a clean cooking facility, says the FM.

11.53 AM: All-weather road connectivity provided to more than 97% of eligible and feasible habitations, made possible by a high pace of road construction, says the FM.

12.09 PM: “Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana: Phase 3 envisaged to upgrade 1.25 lakh km of road length at an estimated cost of 80,250 crore rupees,” says the FM.

12.10 PM: “100 new clusters to be set up in 2019-20 under #SFURTI, which will enable 50,000 artisans to join the economic value chain,” says the FM.

12.11 PM: Happy and satisfied to report that India will be made open defecation free on October 2, 2019, says the FM.

12.14 PM: “Electronic Fundraising Platform, a social stock exchange, to be set up to list social enterprises and voluntary organizations working for social welfare objectives,” says the FM.

12.15 PM: Sitharaman says the government will start a programme ‘Study in India’ that will focus to bring foreign students to study in India.

12.16 PM: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: “I draw attention to the women of India, ‘Naari tu Narayaani’. This Government believes that we can progress, with greater women participation.”

12.23 PM: The FM says the Centre proposes to issue Aadhar cards to NRIs with Indian passports after arrival without mandatory wait of 180 days.

12.25 PM: To popularise sports at all levels, National Sports Education Board for development of sportspersons to be set up under Khelo India, says the FM.

12.26 PM: Standup India will be continued for the entire period coinciding with the 15th Finance Commission, i.e. 2020 – 2025, says the FM.

12.34 PM: “The government intends to open another 4 embassies, new ones, in the year 2019-20. This will not increase the footprint of India’s overseas presence but also enable us to provide better and more accessible public services especially to the local Indian communities in these countries,” says the FM.

12.40 PM: Public sector banks will use technology, enabling customer of one PSB to access service across all PSBs as well, says the FM.

12.40 PM: Public sector banks to be provided 70,000 crore rupees to boost capital and improve credit: FM.

12.43 PM: “The government has been following a policy of disinvestment in non-financial public sector undertakings, maintaining govt’s stake not to go below 51%. Govt is considering, in the case where the undertaking is still to be retained in govt control, to go below 51% to an apt level on case to case basis,” says the FM.

12.44 PM: Companies with an annual turnover of up to Rs 400 crore to have a corporate tax of 25 per cent, says the FM.

12.47 PM: Regulation authority over housing finance sector to be returned from National Housing Bank to the RBI, says the FM.

12.48 PM: Government will provide additional income tax deduction of Rs 150,000 on interest paid on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles.

12. 51 PM: “A new series of coins of Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20 easily identifiable to the visually impaired were released by the PM on 7th March 2019. These coins will be made available for public use shortly.”

12.52 PM: Strategic disinvestment of selected Central Public Sector Enterprises will continue to be a priority; strategic disinvestment of Air India will re-initiate, says the FM.

12.56 PM: The govt is considering to go below 51 per cent to an appropriate level of ownership stake in non-financial public sector undertakings on case by case basis, says the FM.

12.58 PM: “More than 120 crore Indians now have Aadhar card, therefore for ease of tax payers, I propose to make PAN card and Aadhar card interchangeable and allow those who don’t have PAN to file returns by simply quoting Aadhar number and use it wherever they require to use PAN,” says the PM.

1.06 PM: Special additional duty and road cess on petrol and diesel to be increased by Re.1 each a litre.

1.08 PM: The Finance Minister concluded the Union Budget 2019-20 speech.