The much anticipated budget, which was awaited by all sections of society, has been formally presented by the union finance minister, Shri Arun Jaitley. There were concerns over the budget being presented today, after the sitting MP E Ahmed passed away earlier in the morning, however, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan gave it a green signal and announced that the house will be adjourned for 2nd February to pay homage to the deceased politician.
The biggest announcements of the budget are listed below
- Income Tax rate cut down to 5% from 10% for individuals in the lowest tax slab of INR 2.5 Lakh to INR 5 Lakh.
- 10% surcharge for the individuals having an income between INR 50 lakhs and INR 1 Crore. Surcharge on income above 1 Crore to remain as before at 15%
- Allocation to MNREGA increased to INR 48,000 Crores from INR 38,500 Crores.
- Agriculture credit to farmers increased to INR 10 Lakh Crores. Sugarcane arrears payment increased by INR 9000 crores.
- Dairy processing fund to be set up with INR 8,000 crores over 3 years. Initial corpus of 2000 crores to be allotted immediately.
- Antodya Scheme will help over 1 crore houses to come out of poverty.
- Dedicated fund for micro-irrigation to be set up with initial corpus of INR 5000 crores.
- Allotment of INR 23,000 crores for PM Awas Yojna to build 1 crore houses for homeless by 2019, up from INR 15,000 crores.
- 100 percent electrification of villages to be completed by May 2018.
- PM Kushal Kendra to be extended to 600 districts in the country. 100 International skill centers to be inaugurated to help people get jobs abroad.
- A record INR 1,81,223 crore allocated for rural agriculture and allied sectors.
- AIIMS will be set up in Jharkhand and Gujarat.
- 1,50,000 health sub centers to be converted into health wellness centers.
- Mahila Shakti Kendra (Improved Anganwadis) to be set up with a separate fund of INR 500 crores. Women & Child Welfare fund allocated increased to INR 1.84 Lakh crores from INR 1.56 lakh crores.
- INR 52,393 crores allocated for Scheduled casts, up from INR 38,833 Crores, increased by 35 percent.
- No Service charge for tickets booked through IRCTC
- Railway Safety fund to be set up with a corpus of INR 1 lakh crore over next 5 years.
- Senior citizens to get assured 8% returns on fixed deposits.
- INR 10,000 crores to be allocated for Bharat Net project to provide faster internet in rural areas.
- Allocation for construction of national highways up from INR 57,767 Crores to INR 64,000 crores.
- INR 2,74,114 Crores allocated for defence expenditure, excludes pensions.