Budget 2014: Arun Jaitley Targets Fiscal Consolidation; Announces Income Tax Sops

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wasted no time on preambles or poetry as he presented his first Union Budget, stressing on fiscal prudence and making it clear that "we cannot spend beyond our means". To encourage savings, Mr Jaitley said as he reached his tax proposals, he announced some relief for individual tax payers, though he left tax rates and slabs unchanged. Mr Jaitley has raised the exemption limit by Rs 50,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh a year. This means that anyone who earns less than Rs 2.5 lakh will not be taxed; those earning more than that will save Rs 5,150 a year.