Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced big tax cuts for individual taxpayers
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech today hovered broadly on a handful of themes, some of which include ease of living, structural reforms, digital revolution and inclusive growth. Her Budget speech - the second in less than a year - was also the longest in India's history at two hours and 41 minutes, beating her own record of last year at two hours and 17 minutes. Some of the announcements that Ms Sitharaman made have a direct bearing on individuals - one of them is the big income tax cut across a majority of the slabs.
Here are the top 5 points from Budget 2020:
The income tax rate has been revised as follows: 5 per cent tax for income between Rs 2.5-5 lakh, 10 per cent tax for income between Rs 5-7.5 lakh as against 20 per cent, 15 per cent tax for income between Rs 7.5-10 lakh as against 20 per cent, 20 per cent tax for income between Rs 10-12.5 lakh as against 30 per cent, 25 per cent tax for income between Rs 12.5-15 lakh as against 30 per cent, and 30 per cent tax for income above Rs 15 lakh. According to calculations by analysts, people may save Rs 78,000 a year if they are earning up to Rs 15 lakh a month.
The insurance limit of deposits in banks has been raised to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh. This will ease worries among depositors, especially after the recent crisis in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank and a similar financial body in Bengaluru. The customers of these banks cannot withdraw beyond a limit imposed by the Reserve Bank of India.
The announcement to set up a "Kisan Rail" is likely to help farmers and consumers as perishable goods can be transported faster and cheaper. "To build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk, meat and fish, the Indian Railways will set up a Kisan Rail - through PPP (public-private partnership) arrangements. There shall be refrigerated coaches in Express and Freight trains as well," Ms Sitharaman said.
More airports will come up, the Finance Minister said. "Air traffic has been growing rapidly in the country as compared to global average. One hundred more airports would be developed by 2024 to support Udaan scheme. It is expected that the air fleet number shall go up from the present 600 to 1,200 during this time," she said.
The government plans to start a programme where urban local bodies across the country would provide internship opportunities to fresh engineers for up to a year. This is likely to help young engineers land jobs. A degree level full-fledged online education programme is another top announcement. "This shall be offered only by institutions ranked within top 100 in the National Institutional Ranking framework. Initially, only a few such institutions would be asked to offer such programmes," Ms Sitharaman said.
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