India is considering a plan to transfer cash to farmers to ease their financial burden instead of offering subsidies, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News.
The finance minister has pegged FY19 railway capex at Rs 1.48 lakh crore. The government has kept an aim to electrify 4,000 Kms of railway lines in FY19.
Good news for Mumbaikars. The government will spend around Rs 40,000 crore on upgrading the city’s train systems.
Key Railway Budget highlights
Plan 160 Km Suburban Rail Line In Bengaluru At Rs 17,000 Crore
Rail Stations With More Than 25,000 Footfalls To Have Escalators
The government also laid its emphasis on improving the quality of education in the country. From training teachers to increasing the digital foundation in education, a whole host of announcements were made by FM Arun Jaitley.
Here are some of the key announcements:
To Initiate Integrated B-Ed Programme For Aspiring Teachers
Digital Intensity In Education To Be Increased
Amended RTE Act To Train 13 Lakh Teachers
Govt Committed To Ensure Education To Tribal Children
To Invest Rs 1 Lakh Crore On Education Infra Over 4 Years
He said the agriculture policy had remained production-centric for decades, emphasizing the need for generating higher income for farmers. "Our emphasis is on generating higher income for farmers. India's agricultural output is at record levels due to the effort of our farmers," he said.
The FM also said that the government wants to ensure that the farmer receives at least 50 percent or 1.5 times
India’s fiscal deficit—the difference between all its earnings and expenditure—is going to be one of the key numbers to watch out for.
India’s fiscal deficit is forecast to widen to 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product in the year to March, and reach 3.3 percent in the next financial year, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
While SBI and HSBC expect the country to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.3 percent of the gross domestic product, Axis Bank and Kotak say that the metric is likely to slip by 20 basis points to 3.5 percent.
Rathin Roy, Director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy said that a fiscal slippage for a second year would be unconscionable.
Total expenditure—which includes revenue and capital expenditure by the government—is expected to be lower than last year’s estimates.
“We expect a cut in capital expenditure by Rs 50,000 crore and postponing Rs 30,000 crore of revenue expenditure to the next year,” SBI said, adding that total expenses are likely to come in at Rs 26.6 lakh crore for the current financial year. Axis expects a Rs 45,000 crore cut in total expenditure, mostly through capital expenditure.
The government's revenue, or what it earns over a financial year through direct and indirect taxes along with other investments, is expected to fall short of estimates for financial year 2018-19.
Total revenue receipts for FY19 will come around Rs 16.66 lakh crore against the budget estimates of Rs 17.26 lakh crore, State Bank of India said in a report ahead of the budget. This is largely because tax collections from the two-year old goods and services tax system have been lower than expected, according to reports by Axis Bank and Kotak Economic Research.
Axis Bank's economists expects Rs 17.31 lakh crore revenue for this financial year and Rs 19.65 lakh crore for financial year 2019-2020.
The Narendra Modi government will present its last budget—a vote on account—tomorrow, highlighting at least its income and expense plan until a new government is formed, or at most some steps to relieve India’s farm distress.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a last-ditch attempt to win voters with possible populist spending measures in today’s budget, risking his debt targets in the process.
Piyush Goyal, who is standing in as finance minister while Arun Jaitley takes medical leave, is due to the deliver the budget speech from 11 a.m. on Feb. 1 in New Delhi.
A pre-election budget usually covers the period until a new government takes office, and isn’t typically used to make major announcements, such as tax changes that would carry over into the next administration. But there’s no law that prevents Modi from making significant announcements this week.
While an interim budget usually highlights the basic expenses and revenues of the government until a new one is formed, there’s no law that prevents Modi from making significant announcements this week.
