Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, 1 February, that the government has announced many measures in the Union Budget to push employment in the country.
“This Budget has vision and action. New reforms announced in the Budget will give a push to the economy,” Modi said.
The Budget 2020 has proposed a new income tax regime with lower tax slabs. However, the new regime, which is an optional one, will come at the cost of a majority of exemptions that taxpayers can now avail.
- Addressing the media after the Budget presentation, FM Sitharaman said that the government intends to remove all I-T exemptions in the long run
- Sensex plummeted 987.96 points to end at 39,735, while Nifty fell over 300 points on Saturday
- The Government missed the fiscal deficit target for FY20
- Insurance cover for bank deposits has been raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh
- 100 new airports will be developed by 2024
- FM proposed laws against taxpayer harassment
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Govt Plans to Ambush Legacy of Public Insitutions: Mamata on Budget
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday slammed the central government's proposal to sell a part of its shares in LIC, describing it as a plan to "ambush" the legacy of public institutions.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the insurance behemoth will be listed as part of the government's disinvestment initiative.
Govt Has Announced Many Measures to Push Employment: PM on Budget
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the government has announced many measures in the Union Budget to push employment in the country.
“This Budget has vision and action. New reforms announced in the Budget will give a push to the economy,” Modi said.
'Laundry List of Old Programmes': Chidambaram Slams Union Budget
Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram slammed the Modi government over the Union Budget saying that “the government has given up on reviving economy or accelerating growth rate or creating jobs.”
“It’s a laundry list of old programmes. Even the most loyal BJP supporter cannot latch on to any idea in Budget speech… The government is in complete denial that the economy faces a grave macro-economic challenge, growth rate has declined in six successive quarters.”P Chidambaram
The Congress leader also termed the claim of 6-6.5 percent growth next year as “astonishing, even irresponsible”.
“The Indian economy is demand-constrained and investment-starved, the finance minister has not acknowledged these two challenges… The government does not believe in reforms, the finance minister has rejected every idea in the Economic Survey,” he added.
“People did not deserve such a Budget, but will have to live with it until the government is forced to revisit it, as in 2019.”P Chidambaram
Govt Intends to Remove All I-T Exemptions in Long Run: FM Sitharaman
Addressing the media after the presentation of the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government intends to remove all Income Tax exemptions in the long run.
On fiscal deficit, she said:
“The improvement in revenue generation gives hopes of lowering fiscal deficit to 3.5 percent of the GDP in the next fiscal from 3.8 percent in the current.”Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
Sitharaman also pointed out that the government will provide additional capital to public sector banks as and when required.
Meanwhile, divisintment secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that big ticket disinvestment can be expected in the next few months and one can be hopeful of achieving the Rs 2.10 lakh crore target in FY21.
“Expression of interest (EoI) for sale of government stake in Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) will be out shortly,” he said.