Union Budget 2019: Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister in her Budget 2019 speech on Friday announced that petrol and diesel will get costlier, by Rs. 2 a litre due to additional duty and cess.
Union Budget 2019: Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister in her Budget 2019 speech on Friday announced that petrol and diesel will get costlier, by Rs. 2 a litre due to additional duty and cess.
She announced that this will lead to a significant jump in the revenue for the Government which is looking to contain its fiscal deficit to 3.3 percent of GDP this year. "The government would ensure that the hike does not impact the people and will be compensating for it," stated Nirmala Sitharaman.
To highlight the importance of 'Make in India' for fulfilling this goal, the Finance Minister has proposed several initiatives as part of a framework for kick-starting the virtuous cycle of domestic and foreign investments. The Union Budget 2019-20 stressed upon the need for massive investment in infrastructure, digital economy and job creation in small and medium firms to fulfill the aspiration of making India a 5-trillion dollar economy.
Talking about the importance of programmes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, industrial corridors,dedicated freight corridors, Bharatamala, Sagarmala, Jal Marg Vikas and Udan for enhancing the physical connectivity through various modes, the Finance Minister said that these initiatives will improve logistics, reduce the cost of transportation and will increase the competitiveness of domestically-produced goods.
For the Railways sector, the Budget has proposed using Public-Private Partnership to unleash faster development and completion of tracks, rolling stock manufacturing and delivery of passenger freight services.
The Finance Minister informed that the 657 km of Metro Rail network has become operational across the country. She also said that India's first indigenously developed inter-operable transport card, based on the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) standards that were launched in March this year would make travel across various modes convenient for people.
Talking about the Phase-II FAME Scheme that encourages faster adoption of electric vehicles, the Minister said that only advanced battery and registered e-vehicles would be incentivised under the Scheme, with greater emphasis on providing affordable and environment-friendly public transportation options for the common man.
For the highways sector, the Finance Minister has said that the Government will carry out a complete restructuring of the National Highway Programme to ensure that the National Highway Grid of desirable length and capacity is created using a financeable model. After completing Phase 1 of Bhartamala, States will be helped to develop State road networks in the second phase.
Talking about the Government's vision for using rivers for cargo transportation, the Finance Minister said that the movement of cargo volume on Ganga is estimated to increase by nearly four times in the next four years. This will make the movement of freight and passenger cheaper and reduce our import bill. In this regard, she mentioned the Jal Marg Vikas Project for enhancing the navigational capacity of Ganga and said that the two multi-modal terminals at Sahibganj and Haldia and a navigational lock at Farrakka would be completed this year.
The Finance Minister also said that to take connectivity infrastructure to the next level, the Government will make available a blueprint this year for developing gas grids, water grids, i-ways and regional airports. This is based on the prosperous, One Nation, One Grid model that has ensured power connectivity to States at affordable rates.
The Finance Minister further announced that the recommendations of the High-Level Empowered Committee (HLEC) on the retirement of old and inefficient plants, and addressing low utilization of Gas plant capacity due to lack of Natural Gas, will also be taken up for implementation now.
In the housing sector, the Finance Minister announced that several reforms measures would be taken up to promote rental housing and a Model Tenancy Law will soon be finalized and circulated to the States. She further said that public infrastructure and affordable housing would be taken up through innovative instruments such as joint development and concession on land parcels held by the Central Public Sector Enterprises.
The Finance Minister announced that the Government of India has decided to extend the pension benefit to about 3 crore retail traders and small shopkeepers, whose annual turnover is less than Rs.1.5 crores under a new scheme called 'Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Maandhan Scheme.' Enrollment into the scheme will be kept simple, requiring only Aadhaar and a bank account, and the rest will be on self-declaration.