Budget 2019: The schemes and hopes

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2019 on Friday. The speech lasted for 2 hours 15 minutes, and was laced with humours, sanskrit quotes and introduction of new schemes. Let us look at the schemes introduced that can impact the lives of common people.

Increase in custom duty on gold & other precious metals from 10% to 12.5%

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to increase custom duty on gold and other precious metals from 10% to 12.5%.

Increase in special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each one by 1 rupee a litre on petrol and diesel

FM Nirmala Sitharamanproposed to increase special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each one by 1 rupee a litre on petrol and diesel. Photo credit: AFP

'Naari tu Narayaani'

The Union Budget 2019 has stressed on the needto further encourage women entrepreneurship. For that,Women Self Help Group(SHG) Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India. Photo credit: AFP

Aadhaar Card for Non Resident Indians

It has beenproposed in the Union Budget to consider issuing Aadhaar Card for Non Resident Indians (NRIs) with Indian passports after their arrival in India without waiting for the mandatory 180 days. Photo credit: Reuters

Khelo India!

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: To popularise sports at all levels, National Sports Education Board for development of sportspersons to be set up under Khelo India. Photo credit: AFP

A place to live

Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, over 81 Lakh houses with investment of about Rs 4.83 Lakh Cr have been sanctioned of which construction has started in about 47 Lakh houses. Over 26 Lakh houses have been completed of which nearly 24 Lakh houses have been delivered, to beneficiaries.

Facing the water scarcity

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that ensuring India's water security & providing access to safe drinking water to all Indians is a priority. A major step in this direction has been the constitution of Jal Shakti Ministry. Photo credit: AFP

The farmers' problem

According to the Budget, the government willinvest widely in agricultural infrastructure. We'll support pvt entrepreneurship in driving value addition to farmers produce & those from allied activities too, like bamboo, timber & also for generating renewable energy. To quote Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman "Ann daata ko kyun oorja daata bana nahi sakte?" . Photo credit: Reuters

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana phase 3

The Budgetemphasised the need toupgrade roads connecting villages to rural markets. For this Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana phase 3 is envisaged to upgrade 1,25,000 km of road length over the next 5 years. Photo credit: PTI

The FAME II scheme

The FAME II scheme aims to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles by the right incentives and charging infrastructure.Government has already moved GST council to lower the GST rate on electric vehicles(EV) from 12% to 5%. Also to make EVs affordable for consumers our Govt will provide additional income tax deduction of 1.5 lakh rupees on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase EVs Photo credit: Reuters

The Pradhan Mantri Karma Yogi Maan Dhan Scheme

Rs 350 cr has been allocated for 2% interest subvention for all GST-registered MSMEs on fresh or incremental loans. Pension for shopkeepers & retailers with turnover less than Rs. 1.5 crore to be launched under Pradhan Mantri Karma Yogi Maan Dhan Scheme. Photo credit: Reuters

The river, the road, the railways

The Budget focusedoncomprehensive restructuring of National Highways Programme, to ensure the creation of National Highways Grid of desirable capacity.Government envisions using rivers for cargo transport,it will also decongest roads and railways. Photo credit: PTI

An effort to improve transport infrastructure

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that schemes such as 'Bharatmala', 'Sagarmala' and UDAN are bridging the rural and urban divide, thereby improving thetransport infrastructure of the country. Photo credit: PTI