"Farmers are our biggest focus," said Prime Minister Modi shortly after the budget was presented.
New Delhi:
With its focus on the welfare of farmers and the poor, the Narendra Modi government says it has presented a budget in which the rich will pay more taxes and the poor will get a greater share of tax payers' money.
"Persons with relatively higher income can bear a higher tax cost," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech in Parliament. He later said, "In India you have many poor people, limited resources and poor are entitled to that resource...The rich should not benefit from that resource."
Monday's budget taxes the rich and the super-rich. It proposes a 15 per cent cess, up 3 three per cent on incomes over Rs 1 crore and an additional 10 per cent tax on dividend above 10 lakhs a year.
Cars will be more expensive and luxury cars will invite an extra one percent as surcharge. Gold jewellery will also be more expensive as will cash transactions of Rs 2 lakh or more.
A "krishi kalyan" cess at 0.5 per cent takes service tax to 15 per cent and uses the money for farmers. It means a bigger burden on services.
"Farmers are our biggest focus," said Prime Minister Modi shortly after the budget was presented. He has held a series of farmers' welfare rallies, the most recent one just yesterday in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where he said his government will aim at doubling farm incomes in five years.
That was a major headline of today's budget as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget made announcements to give relief to distressed farmers facing back to back droughts.
The budget nearly doubles the central allocation for agriculture and irrigation to nearly Rs 48,000 crore, up from Rs 26,000 crore last year. Mr Modi's announcement yesterday that his government will aim at doubling farm incomes in five years, is one of the major goals of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget.
"We have a shared responsibility to spend prudently and wisely for the people, especially for the poor and downtrodden," Mr Jaitley said in his speech. The budget promises cooking gas connections to every family below the poverty line and electricity in every village in a little over two years.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, however, attacked the government over an amnesty scheme it announced in the budget for declaring undisclosed black money after paying 45 per cent tax.
"The BJP vowed to bring back black money thro enforcement, not thro amnesty schemes. This is wat Chidambaram also did. What is the difference? (sic)," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
"The message (in the budget is) if we don't address the poor, we will get booted out," Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on NDTV. "It is out an out a political budget."
The Left's Sitaram Yechuy said, "The FM has cut down direct taxes by Rs 1060 crores but imposed Rs 20,000 crore in indirect taxes. This will hurt the poor more than the rich. The rich are getting richer and poor becoming poorer."
"Persons with relatively higher income can bear a higher tax cost," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech in Parliament. He later said, "In India you have many poor people, limited resources and poor are entitled to that resource...The rich should not benefit from that resource."
Monday's budget taxes the rich and the super-rich. It proposes a 15 per cent cess, up 3 three per cent on incomes over Rs 1 crore and an additional 10 per cent tax on dividend above 10 lakhs a year.
Cars will be more expensive and luxury cars will invite an extra one percent as surcharge. Gold jewellery will also be more expensive as will cash transactions of Rs 2 lakh or more.
A "krishi kalyan" cess at 0.5 per cent takes service tax to 15 per cent and uses the money for farmers. It means a bigger burden on services.
"Farmers are our biggest focus," said Prime Minister Modi shortly after the budget was presented. He has held a series of farmers' welfare rallies, the most recent one just yesterday in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where he said his government will aim at doubling farm incomes in five years.
That was a major headline of today's budget as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget made announcements to give relief to distressed farmers facing back to back droughts.
The budget nearly doubles the central allocation for agriculture and irrigation to nearly Rs 48,000 crore, up from Rs 26,000 crore last year. Mr Modi's announcement yesterday that his government will aim at doubling farm incomes in five years, is one of the major goals of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget.
"We have a shared responsibility to spend prudently and wisely for the people, especially for the poor and downtrodden," Mr Jaitley said in his speech. The budget promises cooking gas connections to every family below the poverty line and electricity in every village in a little over two years.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, however, attacked the government over an amnesty scheme it announced in the budget for declaring undisclosed black money after paying 45 per cent tax.
"The BJP vowed to bring back black money thro enforcement, not thro amnesty schemes. This is wat Chidambaram also did. What is the difference? (sic)," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
"The message (in the budget is) if we don't address the poor, we will get booted out," Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on NDTV. "It is out an out a political budget."
The Left's Sitaram Yechuy said, "The FM has cut down direct taxes by Rs 1060 crores but imposed Rs 20,000 crore in indirect taxes. This will hurt the poor more than the rich. The rich are getting richer and poor becoming poorer."
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