Union Minister of Finance Shri. Arun Jaitley today had introduced the Budget 2017-2018 in the Parliament.
Speaking at the first budget session after demonetisation, the finance minister quoted that ” Merger of Railway Budget with General Budget is a great step.”
Mr. Jaitley said that the Inflation rate which was in double digits had controlled
Also Read: Union Budget 2017: What is SWAYAM?
Budget 2017-2018 Highlights
- Funds to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA increased from Rs 38,500 crore to 48,000 crores. This is the all-time highest allocation.
- Rs. 2.41 lakh crore for 2017-18 allotted for transport sector. It will boost infra sector, says Arun Jaitley
- Long-term irrigation fund has been set up under NABARD; corpus now stands at Rs. 40,000 crore
- Rs. 1.31 lakh crore sanctioned for Railways for developmental work, which includes Rs. 55,000 crore from Budget
- The FM stated that they are going to abolish the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), while FDI is getting a big makeover
- For safety of Railway Passengers, Arun Jaitley announces safety fund of Rs. 1 lakh crore
- Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana(PMMY) allocation lending amount increased to Rs 2.44 lakh crore
- Jaitley says that India is now the 6th largest Manufacturing country in the world, improved from 9th place
- 10 Lakh Crore rupees have been allotted as Agricultural credit to farmers
- For the year 2017-2018,Funding of Rs. 1,87,223 Crores is Sanctioned for Rural Agricultural and Allied areas
- 5% reduction in tax from 30% to 25% for companies who have less than 50 crore revenue.
Also Read: Railway budget: Jaitley Gives Priority to the Safety of Passengers
- Jaitley sanctioned Rs. 10,000 crore for BharatNet project to expand broadband coverage
- The customs duty on LNG to be reduced to 2.5% from the existing 5%
- No transaction in cash over Rs 3 lakh will now be permitted henceforth.
- Finance Minister proposes to Indian tech giants Infosys, TCS to provide core-banking support to co-operative banks
- No political party can accept a donation of more than Rs. 2000 from any single individual or organization.
- Personal Income Tax reduced from 10% to 5% for income of 2.5 Lakh to 5 Lakhs
- A 10% surcharge on people having annual income of Rs 50 lakh-Rs one crore
- No Changes made to 15% surcharge on incomes above Rs. 1 crore
- 5% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) On Insurance Agents have been Removed.
- A single one-page form for filing IT returns for taxable income up to 5 lakh rupees
- Swayam Platform Announced for Free Virtual Education
- The total expenditure of 2017-2018 budget is RS. 21 lakh 47 thousand crores
The Union Budget 2017-2018 may not satisfy all the sections of people but definitely it would make some people happy. Slashes in Taxes would favour the middle class people a lot. It can be termed as the tax reduction budget, since many reductions in the taxes were made. Political Parties may get hurt due to the limitations imposed on the donations.
Union Budget 2017-2018 Pdf
