Budget 2020 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Union Budget 2020

Finance Minister NIRMALA SITHARAMAN Union Budget Of India For 2020-21

The Union Budget of India for 2020–2021 (IAST: 2020 Ke Lie Bhārata Kā Keṃdrīya Bajaṭa) was presented by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February 2020 as her second budget. This is the second budget of Narendra Modi led NDA government's second term.

The Union Budget has been structured on the overall theme of “Ease of Living.” This has been achieved by farmer friendly initiatives such as Agriculture credit target of Rs 15 lakh crore for 2020-21; schemes of “Kisan Rail” and “Krishi Udaan” for a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables; and expansion of PM-KUSUM to provide 20 lakh farmers for setting up stand-alone solar pumps.

In the health sector, the Budget proposes more than 20,000 empanelled hospitals under PM Jan Arogya Yojana for poor people; and expansion of  Jan Aushadhi Kendra Scheme to all districts offering 2000 medicines and 300 surgicals by 2024.

Infrastructure receives a boost, with 100 more airports by 2024 to support Udaan scheme; and operation of 150 passenger trains to be done through PPP mode.

Starting apprenticeship embedded courses through 150 higher educational institutions by March 2021 and a proposal to establish Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation are some of the other major highlights.

PART - A

1.  Farmer / Agricultural (2.83 Lakh Crores)
2. Health (69,000 cr's)
3. Infrastructure (100 lakh Cr's)
4. Education & Skills (99,300 cr's)
5. Economic Development (27,300 cr's)
6. Caring Society (35,600cr, 28,600cr)
7. Welfare (sc/obc 85,000cr & ST 53,700cr)
8. Culture and Tourism
9. Environment and Climate Changes
10. Privatization (LIC)

PART - B

1. Personal Income Tax (Below Chart)
2. Dividend Distribution TAx (No Tax)
3. Concessional Tax Rate For Electricity Generation Companies
4. Tax Concession For  Foreign Investment (100% free)
5. Cooperative (22%)

 Agriculture & Health

The Finance Minister said that more than Rs 2.83 lakh crore would be spent on Agriculture, Rural Development, Irrigation and allied activities as farmers and rural poor continue to remain the key focus of the Government. Reiterating the commitment of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, She said, Government has already provided resilience for 6.11 crore farmers insured under PM Fasal Bima Yojana. Agriculture credit target for the year 2020-21 has be set at Rs 15 lakh crore. All eligible beneficiaries of PM-KISAN will be covered under the KCC scheme. Moreover, comprehensive measures for one hundred water stressed districts, proposal to expand PM-KUSUM to provide 20 lakh farmers for setting up stand-alone solar pumps and for another 15 lakh farmers to solarise their grid-connected pump sets, setting up of efficient warehouses at the block/taluk level and in Horticulture sector with focus on “one product one district” for better marketing and export are some of the steps in that direction. Foot and Mouth disease, brucellosis in cattle and also peste des petits ruminants(PPR) in sheep and goat to be eliminatated by 2025,  Coverage of artificial insemination to be increased from the present 30% to 70%, MNREGS to be dovetailed to develop fodder farms, doubling of milk processing capacity from 53.5 million MT to 108 million MT by 2025 to be facilitated. Similarly on the Blue Economy, raising of fish production to 200 lakh tonnes is proposed by  2022-23.  Youth to be involved in fishery extension through 3477 Sagar Mitras and 500 Fish Farmer Producer Organisations. Fishery exports hoped to be raised to Rs 1 lakh crore by 2024-25. DeenDayalAntyodayaYojana- for alleviation of poverty, half a crore households are mobilized with 58 lakh SHGs and it will be further expanded.

Education and Skills

On Education and Skill front, the Finance Minister said Rs 99,300 crore is being allocated  in 2020-21 and Rs 3000 crores for skill development.  New Education Policy will be announced soon. About 150 higher educational institutions will start apprenticeship embedded degree/diploma courses by March 2021. Degree level full-fledged online education programme to be started.  Under its “Study in India” programme, an Ind-SAT is proposed to be held in Asian and African countries. A National Police University and a National Forensic Science University are being proposed in the domain of policing science, forensic science, cyber-forensics etc. It is proposed that special bridge courses be designed by the Ministries of Health, Skill Development.

Infrastructure

On Infrastructure sector as highlighted by the Prime Minister that Rs 100 lakh crore would be invested  over the next 5 years, National Infrastructure Pipeline was launched on 31st December 2019 of Rs 103 lakh crore. It consists of more than 6500 projects across sectors and are classified as per their size and stage of development. She said that about Rs 22,000 crore has already been provided as support to Infrastructure Pipeline. Accelerated development of highways will be undertaken. This will include development of 2500 Km access control highways, 9000 Km of economic corridors, 2000 Km of coastal and land port roads and 2000 Km of strategic highways. Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and two other packages to be completed by 2023. Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway also be started. It is proposed to monetise at least 12 lots of highway bundles of over 6000 Km before 2024. Indian Railways aims to achieve electrification of 27000 Km of tracks. She said that within 100 days of assumption of this government, it has commissioned 550 wi-fi facilities in as many stations. Four station re-development projects and operation of 150 passenger trains would be done through PPP mode. The process of inviting private participation is underway. More Tejas type trains will connect iconic tourist destinations. High speed train between Mumbai to Ahmedabad would be actively pursued. Similarly, 100 more airports would be developed by 2024 to support Udaan scheme. Air fleet number expected to go up from the present 600 to 1200 during this time. Allocation of Rs 1.70 lakh crore proposed for transport Infrastructure in 2020-21. Similarly, allocation of Rs 22,000 crore proposed for power and renewable energy sector in 2020-21.  Expansion of the national gas grid from the present 16,200 km to 27,000 km proposed.

Environment and Climate Change

On Environment, States that are formulating and implementing plans for ensuring cleaner air in cities above one million to be encouraged. Parameters for the incentives to be notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate change and the allocation for this purpose is Rs 4,400 crore for 2020-21.

Personal Income Tax and Simplification of Taxation

In order to provide significant relief to the individual taxpayers and to simplify the Income-Tax law, the Finance Minister has proposed to bring a new and simplified personal income tax regime, wherein income tax rates will be significantly reduced for the individual taxpayers who forego certain deductions and exemptions.

The proposed changes in tax slabs are listed in the following table:

Taxable Income Slab (Rs.)	Existing Tax Rates	New Tax Rates
0-2.5 Lakh	Exempt	Exempt
2.5-5 Lakh	5%	5%
5-7.5 Lakh	20%	10%
7.5-10 Lakh	20%	15%
10-12.5 Lakh	30%	20%
12.5-15 Lakh	30%	25%
Above 15 Lakh	30%	30%

Surcharge and cess shall be continued to be levied at the existing rates.

Dividend Distribution Tax

Currently, companies are required to pay Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) on the dividend paid to its shareholders at the rate of 15% plus applicable surcharge and cess, in addition to the tax payable by the company on its profits. In order to increase the attractiveness of the Indian Equity Market and to provide relief to a large class of investors, the Finance Minister has proposed to remove DDT, and adopt the classical system of dividend taxation, under which the companies would not be required to pay DDT. The dividend shall be taxed only in the hands of the recipients at their applicable rate.

In order to remove the cascading effect, the Finance Minister has proposed to allow deduction for the dividend received by holding company from its subsidiary. The removal of DDT will lead to estimated annual revenue foregone of Rs. 25,000 crore. This will further make India an attractive destination for investment.

Concessional Tax Rate for Electricity Generation Companies

New provisions were introduced in September 2019, offering a concessional corporate tax rate of 15% to the newly incorporated domestic companies in the manufacturing sector which start manufacturing by 31^st March, 2023.

In order to attract investment in the power sector, it has been proposed to extend the concessional corporate tax rate of 15% to new domestic companies engaged in the generation of electricity.

Union Budget Timings 2020: India Budget 2020 date and time have been announced by the Modi government. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Budget 2020 speech in the Parliament on February 1. With barely two days to go for India Budget 2020, the preparations for Budget Speech are in full swing at the Ministry of Finance and Government of India. In the run-up to Budget 2020 presentation, FM Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have held a series of meetings with ministry officials, industry bodies to ponder over issues that may be addressed in Budget 2020 for India. The Finance Ministry had also sought ideas, recommendations, and suggestions for Budget 2020-21 from all stakeholders, including the general public. With two days to go, people still have queries surrounding ‘When is budget’, ‘Budget 2020 India Date’, ‘Budget timings’, ‘Budget Session 2020’, and ‘Budget Speech’. Financial Express Digital is providing you all the details below: