Union Budget 2019 Speech by Nirmala Sitharaman: Increase In Petrol, Diesel Prices, No Change in Income Tax Slabs Among Highlights of India's First Woman Full Time FM's Maiden Budget

Finance Minister ends her Budget speech by announcing that the fiscal deficit this year is 3.3%, brought down from 3.4%. For more news and updates on Budget 2019, log on to www.latestly.com

FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes to increase special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each one by 1 rupee a litre on petrol and diesel. 

FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes to increase customs duty on gold and other precious metals from 10% to 12.5%.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes TDS of 2% on cash withdrawal from bank exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year, to promote cashless payments.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes to make PAN and Aadhaar Card interchangeable. This means if you do not have a PAN Card, you can file your I-T returns by quoting your Aadhaar and vice versa.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman says that consideration is underway to reduce GST on Electric Vehicles from 12% to 5% GST. Sitharaman also proposes tax rebate of 1.5 Lakh on interest paid for loan on Electric vehicle, to a maximum of Rs 2.5 lah tax rebate.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: Govt proposes to extend lower rate of 25% tax to all companies having annual turnover of Rs 400 crores from the earlier Rs 250 crore limit.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: A new series of coins of Rs 1,2, 5, 10, 20, easily identifiable by those visually-impaired, will be made available for public shortly.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes to return regulation authority over housing finance sector from NHB to RBI

FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes Rs 70,000 crores capital for Public sector banks to improve credit.

Budget 2019 For Women: FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes to extend women Self Help Groups program to all districts. Woman SHG members with Jan Dhan Bank account will be eligible for an overdraft of Rs 5,000. One woman in every SHG will also be made eligible for a loan up to Rs 1 lakh under Mudra scheme.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: I propose to consider issuing Aadhaar to NRIs with Indian passports after their arrival in India without waiting for mandatory 180 days. Read more here.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: Govt proposes to streamline multiple labour laws into 4 labour codes. This will streamline the process of registration and filing returns.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes TV programme, across our slew of DD channels, exclusively for startups.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: National Sports Education Board will be set up under Khelo India scheme to promote all kinds of sports among the youth.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: We propose the National Research Foundation to fund and promote research across the country. NRF will ensure that research eco-system is encouraged with focus on thrust areas.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: It is time to go back to basics - Zero budget farming. We need to replicate this model across the country and in some states farmers are being trained. This will help double farmers' income in time for India's 75th Independence Day.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: We will work to turn our 'anna daata' farmer into 'urja daata'.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase III,  1,85,000 km of roads in rural areas will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 80,250 crore.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019 Speech: I assure that by 2022, all rural families, except those who are unwilling, will have access to electricity and clean cooking.