Heena Sharma Blog

  In a significant change amid digitalisation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman this year unveiled a ' Made in India ' tablet replacing the traditional briefcase before presenting Budget 2021 . With the move aimed at a paperless Budget, now 'bahi khata' (a ledger wrapped in a red cloth) has been completely removed from this year -- a move to reinforce Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Digital India' mission. In 1947, India's first Finance Minister R. K. Shanmukham Chetty carried a leather portfolio to present the first Budget. In January, the Central government also launched 'Union Budget Mobile App' on the occasion of the Halwa ceremony to enable MPs and people to access Budget documents digitally. It was launched as no budget papers will be printed this year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sitharaman, who will present the Budget for the third time, is expected to lift and give an impetus to the Indian economy that has been...

Budget 2020 LIVE updates and Budget highlights: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting her second Union Budget in Parliament today. The Budget speech is being keenly watched on both sides of the aisle in Parliament, and also by investors, both domestic and foreign, besides various interest groups like farmers and the anxious middle class. Budget 2020 comes at a time when India is staring at an estimated 5 per cent annual rate of expansion, the slowest pace since 2009. The economy has lately been impacted by slowing trade, rising protectionism, and concerns over a high level of unemployment. The recent sluggishness in the economy has led to expectations that the Budget would contain further stimulus measures to boost growth through new policy initiatives and continued reforms to achieve accelerated growth and employment generation. On Friday, the government tabled the Economic Survey 2019-20, which projected the country's GDP growth for 2020-21 at 6-6.5 per cen...

The Congress on Saturday expressed hope that the Union Budget would provide relief to the salaried class through tax cuts and invest in rural India besides providing a healing touch to the common man and industry facing "hardship" since demonetisation. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the last budget led to crashing consumption levels, soaring unemployment and falling GDP. "Budget 2019= Consumption crashed, Unemployment soared, Farm distress surged, Incomes declined, Investments slumped, Public spending fell, GDP nose dived!," Surjewala tweeted. "Yet, Modiji gave Corporate Tax Cuts of Rs 1,45,000 crore. Let Budget 2020 give tax cuts to Salaried Class and invest in Rural India," he said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot hoped the budget fulfils expectations of the common people. Read More

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme of the government which gives Rs 6,000 a year to farmers may see a cut in budgetary allocation. It is learnt that the allocation for PM-Kisan may be slashed by 20 per cent to about Rs 60,000 crore in the general Budget from Rs 75,000 crore. The amount allocated to the scheme was Rs 75,000 crore, in the Budget estimate of 2019-20. The reason for this massive cut is the obstacles being faced in its implementation in some of the states. Under the PM-Kisan scheme, farmers are given a total of Rs 6,000 in three instalments annually. However, according to sources, the revised estimate can come to Rs 61,000 crore in the current financial year. The reason for this is not to implement the scheme by some states like West Bengal. Also, many states do not have proper data of farmers. The target of farmers availing this scheme has been reduced from 14.5 crore to 14 crore which will mean lower spending and allocation under the s...

Budget 2020 LIVE updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Union Budget in Parliament at 11 am today. The Budget speech will be keenly watched on both sides of the aisle in Parliament, and also by investors, both domestic and foreign, besides various interest groups like farmers and the anxious middle class. Budget 2020 comes at a time when India is staring at an estimated 5 per cent annual rate of expansion, the slowest pace since 2009. The economy has lately been impacted by slowing trade, rising protectionism, and concerns over a high level of unemployment. The recent sluggishness in the economy has led to expectations that the Budget would contain further stimulus measures to boost growth through new policy initiatives and continued reforms to achieve accelerated growth and employment generation. On Friday, the government tabled the Economic Survey 2019-20, which projected the country's GDP growth for 2020-21 at 6-6.5 per cent. Catch All ...

A cut in personal income tax, sops for rural and agriculture sectors as well as an aggressive push on infrastructure spending are likely to be part of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 's "feel-good" second Budget. Facing the worst economic slowdown in more than a decade, Sitharaman is expected to pull out all stops to spur consumer demand and investment, government sources and economists said. Sitharaman's second Budget, to be presented on February 1, is expected to announce measures to restore economic growth and to set out a clear road map for achieving the ambitious target of USD 5 trillion economy by 2025. Investments have failed to pick up despite corporate tax cuts and other stimulus measures, higher FDI inflows, plans to consolidate state-owned banks and monetary easing. After corporate tax cuts in September last year, speculation is rife about possible reduction in personal income taxes. A combination of an increase in the basic exemption limit...

To spur economic growth and achieve $5 trillion economy, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion on the infrastructure sector during FY2020-2025, the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament said on Friday. Investment in infrastructure is necessary for the economy, as power shortages, inadequate transport and poor connectivity affects overall growth performance, as per the Economic Survey 2019-20, tabled in Parliament by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. "To achieve GDP of $5 trillion by 2024–2025, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion (Rs 100 trillion) over these years on infrastructure so that lack of infrastructure does not become a constraint to the growth of Indian economy. "NIP is expected to enable well prepared infrastructure projects that will create jobs, improve ease of living and provide equitable access for infrastructure for all thereby making growth more inclusive", the Survey said. As per the National Infrastr...

The Budget session was inaugurated today with the President’s address. The Budget would be presented by Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2020. General Election 2019 saw the opposition try to corner the Narendra Modi government on the issues of a slowing economy, unemployment and rural distress. The voters however reposed their faith in the government and gave it an even bigger mandate. The state of the economy however has continued to be the biggest cause of worry for the government. Not only has unemployment reached record high levels, GDP growth has tanked and India may go by a less than 5 per cent in this fiscal year. The state of the economy is what makes Budget 2020 very important. How important is the Budget for the government politically? What can the government do to mitigate the political risk? Is it the best chance for Modi 2.0 to announce major economic reforms? Read More

The Union commerce ministry has sought a reduction in the import duty on gold in the coming Union Budget , with a view to pushing manufacturing and export of the gems and jewellery sector, a source said. In last year’s Budget, the government raised the tariff on gold to 12.5 per cent. Since then, the global price of gold has risen nearly 20 per cent, magnifying the rise in customs duty. These, the gems and jewellery sector has pleaded, are choking the high-jobs generating sector. Jewellery retailers and exporters have urged the tariff be cut and also the goods and services tax (GST) on jewellery certification. “ In the past 12-18 months, at least 20 per cent of a skilled workforce of an estimated million has migrated to other services, including food delivery chains like Swiggy and public car transportation services like Ola and Uber. Migrated skilled workers, according to them, earn around Rs 45,000 a month, which the jewellery industry cannot match due to a slowdown in do...