Budget 2019 Updates: Sitharaman calls for structural reforms, relaxing FDI norms

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the first budget of Modi 2.0 government in today. In February's interim budget, the then acting finance minister Piyush Goyal had provided several income tax sops to the middle-class and introduced zero tax liability for those in the ₹5 lakh income bracket. The interim budget had also increased standard deduction to ₹50,000 from ₹40,000 for the salaried class.

Nirmala Sitharaman is the second finance minister after Indira Gandhi, to present the budget today.

Live Updates on Nirmala Sitharaman's Union Budget speech:

2:05 pm: Markets slip nearly 1% , investors snub few Union Budget announcements

1:57 pm: Pratik Jain, Partner & Leader, Indirect Tax, PwC India: “Indirect tax proposals are based on promoting the key themes around make in India, environmental concern, technology led tax administration and ease of doing business. Implementation of E invoicing from Jan 2020 will give time to the Government as well as industry to prepare. Customs duty rates have been reduced on many inputs to incentivize manufacturing and increased on finished products to garner additional revenues as well as to reduce non-essential imports. Proposal to introduce legacy dispute resolution scheme for pending litigation is also a great idea and should help the industry to move on with GST in place. Interest subvention for GST registered MSMEs should help in expansion of tax base while reducing the cost of doing business.”

1:51 pm: PM Narendra Modi: The budget for a New India has a roadmap to transform the agriculture sector of the country, this budget is one of hope.

1:51 pm: Homi Mistry, Partner, Deloitte India: "Currently the rate of tax is 35.88% for somebody earning over ₹1 crore. The FM stated that the effective rate will go up by up 3% for somebody in the category now a new category between ₹2-5 crores and there is another category over ₹5 crores the effective rate may go up by another 7%. So that could be substantial which was not expected."

1:50 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the middle class will progress with this budget, development work will expedite even more. The tax structure will simplify and infrastructure will modernize, he said.

1:35 pm: UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Union Budget 2019: "It is for the first time since independence that a full-time woman finance minister has presented the Union Budget. I want to congratulate her. The budget fulfills the expectations of the people of the country".

1:33 pm: Dinanath Dubhashi, Managing Director & CEO, L&T Finance Holdings Ltd on the announcements relating to NBFCs made today: "Union Budget has taken several measures to reduce risk aversion and increase lending to NBFCs. Measures like one time partial 6 month guarantee to PSBs to buy sound NBFCs' loans and higher recapitalisation of PSBs require a special mention. Higher regulatory powers to RBI over NBFCs and return of regulation of HFCs back to RBI will definitely restore the confidence for well governed NBFCs.’’

1:28 pm: Sensex at 39,573.45, down by 334.61 points.

1:23 pm: Amit Nayyar, Director, Deloitte India: "Angel tax issue resolved. – Investors to provide declaration in tax return would not be subject to scrutiny. Funds raised by starts ups would not be required scrutiny by tax department. Special arrangement to be made by tax department for pending scrutiny of Startups".

1:10 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech ends.

1:10 pm: FY20 Fiscal deficit target 3.3%

1:09 pm: Govt proposes legal dispute resolution scheme for traders to quickly resolve disputes.

1:09 pm: "Nil duty on import of defence equipment. Nil customs duty on certain capital goods used in electronics": Sitharaman

1:07 pm: Additional excise duty of Re 1 on petrol and diesel to be imposed.

1:06 pm: Customs duty on gold and precious metals hiked to 12.5% from 10%

1:04 pm: Income tax surcharge: Those earning more than Rs2 crore annually to pay higher surcharge.

1:04 pm: No announcement so far on any change in income tax rates.

1:03 pm: A new series of coins of denominations 1 rupee, 2 rupee, 5 rupee, 10 rupee &

20 rupee, will be made available for public shortly: Sitharaman in Budget speech.

1:01 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says propose to enhance tax surcharge on HNIs with income over 20 million rupees a year.

1:01 pm: Further simplifying GST process

12:59 pm: Banks, RBI to absorb charges on digital transaction: Budget speech

12:57 am: More than 120 crore Indians now have Aadhar card, therefore for ease of tax payers I propose to make PAN card and Aadhar card interchangeable and allow those who don't have PAN to file returns by simply quoting Aadhar number and use it wherever they require to use PAN: Sitharaman.

12:57 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says to introduce faceless scrutiny of tax assessment.

12:56 pm: To discourage cash payments, the finance minister has proposed a TDS of 2% on cash withdrawals exceeding ₹1 crore in a year from a bank account.

12:54 pm: Investment option in Exchange Traded Funds on the lines of equity-linked trading Scheme to be offered to encourage long-term investment in CPSEs : FM

12:54 pm: Taxpayers to get online pre-filled documents after govt secures data from banks, MFs, insurance companies.

12:53 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says propose to give relief in securities transaction tax.

12:52 pm: PAN and Aadhaar cards would soon be interchangeable.

12:51 pm: Additional ₹1.5 lakh income tax deduction on home loan interest paid for buyers of affordable homes till March 2020.

12:50 pm: Start-ups won't be subject to scrutiny on angel tax.

12:50 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says propose to allow an additional tax deduction of 150,000 rupees on interest paid on housing loans for self-occupied house owners.

12:45 pm: Additional income tax deduction of ₹1.5 lakh to buyers of electric vehicles.

12:44 pm: The government will bring a new national educational policy and ₹400 crore has been provided for world class institutions.

12:43 pm: Corporate tax on companies with turnover up to ₹400 crore reduced to 25%: Budget.

12:42 pm: For purchase of high-rated pooled assets of financially sound Non Banking Finance Companies amounting to 1 lakh crore rupees during 2019-20, one-time six-month partial credit guarantee to be given to PSBs: FM

12:39 pm: Budget proposes to hike foreign shareholding cap in PSUs to sectoral limit.

12:39 pm: Budget proposes to borrow abroad in foreign currency to fund govt borrowing.

12:38 pm: Govt to build 17 iconic sites to encourage arrival of tourists in India: FM

12:37 pm: PSU Bank Index rose 1%. Central Bank of India 2.2%, Bank of Baroda 1.8%, Oriental Bank of Commerce 1.4%, Canara Bank 1.3%, State Bank of India 1%, Bank of India 1%, Allahabad Bank 0.8%, Indian Bank 0.7%, Syndicate Bank 0.6%.

12:37 pm: Public sector banks on Friday surged after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will provide PSU Banks banks ₹70,000 crore boost for credit improvement.

12:36 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says new series of coins to be introduced shortly.

12:36 pm: Foreign shareholding in select CPSEs will be increased to the sectoral limits

12:34 pm: To undertake strategic divest of Air India, other PSUs this FY. To consolidate non-finance central PSUs via mergers. To raise foreign shareholding till maximum limit in PSUs: Budget

12:33 pm: Govt sets ₹1.05 lakh crore divestment target for FY20: Budget

12:32 pm: To take steps to separate pension fund regulation by PFRDA

12:31 pm: Govt wants to realign govt stake in central PSUs for higher retail participation.

12:31 pm: Strategic divestment of PSUs a priority for govt

12:31 pm: Govt mulling cutting stake below 51% in non-finance PSUs on case to case basis

12:29 pm: Sitharaman said that to encourage further participation of women entrepreneurs interest subvention scheme will be extended to every district.

12:28 pm: RBI and not NHB to regulate housing finance companies.

12:25 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: To give further impetus to India's growing influence and leadership in the international community, Govt decided to open Indian embassies and high commissions in countries where India doesn't have a resident diplomatic mission as yet.

12:24 pm: Budget proposes to provide PSU banks one-time 6-month credit guarantee of Rs1 lakh crore to buy high-rated pooled assets of "sound" NBFCs.

12:24 pm: NBFCs that are fundamentally sound should continue to funding from banks and mutual funds.

12:24 pm: Recovery of Rs4 trillion loan under IBC in 4 years: FM

12:23 pm: PSU banks to be provided ₹70,000 crore to boost capital.

12:22 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says bank NPAs have reduced by ₹1 lakh crore.

12:21 pm: Financial gains from cleaning up of the banking sector is now visible. Provision coverage ratio is at its highest in seven years: FM

12:20 pm: 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.

12:20 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says approved opening of 18 new embassies in Africa; to open four new embassies in 2019.

12:18 pm: As part of the National Democratic Alliance government’s focus on bringing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) under the formal economy’s fold, a payment platform for the MSMEs will be set up, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her maiden budget speech on Friday.

12:16 pm: NRIs with Indian passports will get Aadhaar cards after arrival without mandatory wait of 180 days.

12:14 pm: The government plans to restructure the national highways programme to create network of highways grid of a desirable capacity for better connectivity, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.

12:12 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she is happy to report that India will be made Open Defecation Free (ODF) on October 2nd, 2019, as per the dream of PM Modi.

12:12 pm: To launch massive Railways modernisation programme this year

12:10 pm: Budget proposes to revise labour codes to minimise disputes. It also proposes tax measures for start-ups.

12:09 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: 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.

12:09 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman on Friday said the Narendra Modi govermment was focussed on “Gaon,Garib,Kisan” as she announced a slew of schemes to boost investment in the rural sector and the uplift of farmers.

12:08 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says to start a TV channel exclusively for start-ups

12:05 pm: Electronic Fundraising Platform, a social stock exchange, to be set up to list social enterprises and voluntary organizations working for social welfare objectives: FM

12:04 pm: To expand Khelo India programme: Budget

12:03 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says to start a programme ‘Study in India’ that will focus to bring foreign students to study in India.

12:02 pm: Going forward listed companies may need to maintain 35% of minimum public shareholding (MPS), according to the statement by the finance minister in her maiden union budget.

12:02 pm: Local sourcing norms for FDI to be eased for single-brand retailing sector: FM in Budget.

12:01 pm: Govt proposes Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana to address critical infrastructure gap in fisheries sector.

11:59 am: 80 Livelihood business incubators and 20 technology business incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under ASPIRE to develop 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries: FM

11:56 am: 9.6 crore toilets have been constructed since Oct 2, 2014. More than 5.6 lakh villages have become open defecation free.We have to build on this success. I propose to expand the Swachh Bharat mission to undertake sustainable sold waste management in every village: Budget speech.

11:56 am: 95% Indian cities have become open defecation free

11:56 am: Shares of the roadmakers gained after the government plans to carry out comprehensive restructuring of highways programme. IRB Infra rose 3% to ₹98.70, Dilip Buildcon gained 2.9% to ₹498.95.

11:55 am: Shares of SpiceJet Ltd rose 1.3% while GMR Infra gains 4% after Finance Minister Sitharaman says it is right time for India to enter aircraft financing and leasing activities, during presentation of federal budget for fiscal year 2020.

11:55 am: Railways will be encouraged to expand suburban networks

11:54 am: "We'll invest 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. Ann daata ko kyun oorja daata bana nahi sakte?," Sitharaman in her budget speech.

11:54 am: Blueprint for national gas grid, water grid will be unveiled: FM

11:50 am: Sensex falls over 170 points during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's maiden budget speech.

11:50 am: To ensure 'har ghar jal' by 2024

11:46 am: Need to replicate the innovative model of zero Budget farming

11:46 am: Local sourcing norms will be eased in case of single-brand retail

11:44 am: 125,000 km of road to be upgraded over next 5 years at a cost of 802.5 billion rupee: Budget 2019

11:43 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday praised India Inc, saying that the country's job creators are the nation's wealth creators while presenting the Union Budget for 2019-20.

11:43 am: Government plans structural reforms to kickstart foreign and domestic investment.

11:41 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says aims to achieve housing for all by 2022: Budget 2019

11:40 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says India plans electricity, clean cooking facilities for all Indian families by 2022.

11:40 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: The FAME II scheme aims to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles by the right incentives and charging infrastructure.

11:39 am: Budget proposes to allow FPIs to subscribe to listed debt papers of Reits and also allow FPIs, FIIs to invest in debt papers of NBFCs.

11:39 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: User friendliness of trading platforms for corporate bonds will be reviewed, including issues arising out of capping of International Securities Identification Number.

11:39 am: Pension benefit to be extended to around 3 crore retail traders and shopkeepers with an annual turnover less than 1.5 crores under Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Man Dhan Scheme: Sitharaman

11:37 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says to merge non-resident portfolio schemes with foreign portfolio investment route.

11:36 am: 100% FDI will be permitted for insurance intermediaries: Sitharaman

11:35 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says to further open up foreign direct investment into insurance sector.

11:35 am: To merge NRI portfolio route with FPI route to increase more NRI portfolio flows into India.

11:34am: Govt wants an annual global investors' meet in India with top industrialists, top digital tech, top venture funds.

11:34 am: Finance ministry to examine further opening up of aviation, media and insurance sectors.

11:33 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposes to create electronic fund raising platform for listing social enterprises.

11:33 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says to streamline KYC norms for foreign portfolio investors

11:32 am: The Modi govt will examine steps to hike FDI cap in aviation, media, insurance.

11:32 am: Inter-operability of platforms between RBI, Sebi will be improved: Budget

11:31 am: Local sourcing norms will be eased in case of single-brand retail

11:28 am: The finance ministry has proposed to Sebi to increase public-holding in listed companies to 35% from 25%.

11:28 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: Comprehensive restructuring of National Highways Programme will be done, 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.

11:27 am: Trading in corporate bonds would be made user-friendly: Sitharaman

11:27 am: Railway infra would need an investment of 50 lakh crores between 2018 and 2030; PPP to be used to unleash faster development and delivery of passenger freight services: FM

11:26 am: Sitharaman promises to take steps to deepen corporate bond market.

11:25 am: FM announces new scheme for shopkeepers based on self declaration.

11:25 am: Movement of cargo on Ganga is estimated to rise 4 times in 4 years

11:25 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says will introduce pension programme for 30 million retail traders.

11:23 am: "Current rental laws are archaic. A model tenancy law would be finanlised and forwarded to states," Sitharaman said.

11:23 am: Government envisions using rivers for cargo transportation, which will also decongest roads and railways : FM

11:22 am: "We don't look down upon legitimate profit earning. Gone are the days of policy paralysis & license quota control regime. India Inc are India's job creators, nation's wealth creators. Together with mutual trust we can gain, catalyse past & attain sustained growth," Sitharaman said.

11:21 am: Railways infrastructure needs ₹50 trillion till 2030.

11:21 am: The people of India have validated their two goals for our country's future: national security and economic growth: Finance Minister

11:19 am: Movement of cargo on Ganga is estimated to rise 4 times in 4 years: Sitharaman

11:18 am: 657 km of metro rail network has become operational in the country: FM

11:17 am: “Our economy was $1.85 trillion when we assumed power (in 2014) and it reached $2.7 trillion (in five years since),” said Sitharaman while outlining her government’s commitment to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024. The Indian economy grew at 6.8%, a five-year low, in 2018-19 and fourth quarter growth slumped to 5.8% which was a 17-quarter low.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who returned to a second term in office in May, has urged states to work together to tackle socio-economic problems, and make India a $5-trillion economy by 2024, which he said was a "challenging, but achievable" goal.

11:16 am: Indian stock markets are subdued as Finance Minister Nirmal Sitharaman has started to present her maiden budget speech. At 11:10, the Sensex is 39,964.12, up 56.06 points or 0.14% while the Nifty is at 11,951.80 up 5.05 points or 0.04%.

11:16 am: Sensex, Nifty tepid as FM presents Union Budget

11:15 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says India to enter into aircraft financing and leasing activities.

11:15 am: The govt has given a massive push for physical connectivity

11:14 am: We need to invest heavily in infrastructure and for job creation in MSMEs.

11:13 am: Indian companies respect Swadeshi, respect Make in India

11:11 am: Sitharaman says we need to undertake many structural reforms.

11:11 am: We need to invest heavily in infra and for job creation in MSMEs: FM

11:09 am: India is set to become $3 trillion economy this year.

11:09 am: Will simplify procedures, reduce red tape, make best use of tech. Building social infra, Digital India, Pollution-free India, Make in India are govt's vision: Sitharaman.

11:08 am: It is well within our capacity to reach the $5 trillion economy in next few years: FM

11:08 am: Nirmala Sitharaman: The recent election was charged with brimming home and desire for a bright and stable 'New India'. Voter turnout was highest; every section came to stamp their approval for performing government.

11:06 am: Sitharaman says it has set the ball rolling for new India. "Mazboot desh ke liye mazboot nagrik' is govt's objective. People of India validate 2 goals --national security, economic growth," she said.

11:05 am: Have shown that "reform, perform, and transform" can succeed: FM

11:05 am: Confident that we will achieve goals: Sitharaman

11:01 am: Parliament session begins on budget day.

10:55 am: Cabinet approves budget.

10:52 am: While Sitharaman is unlikely to digress from the fiscal consolidation path, policy measures and incentives that the government may announce to boost the economy which is at a five year low of 6.8% in 2018-19 will be keenly watched.

10:44 am: Nirmala Sitharaman's parents are at the Parliament to watch their daughter's maiden budget speech.

10:30 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaches Parliament.

10:24 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reached Parliament and cabinet meeting is now underway.

10:22 am: As per tradition, the Union Cabinet will be shown a gist of the budget 10 minutes before the Parliament meets today.

10:19 am: The Railway Budget will also be a part of the Union Budget.

10:12 am: The tradition of posing with the briefcase before the budget speech started with independent India's first ever budget presented by then Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947.

10:09 am: Sitharaman believes that leather made products are not auspicious for the big occasion, so she avoided the leather bag and took the 'bahi khata' wrapped in the red cloth.

10:02 am: PIB tweeted that Sitharaman is not carrying the traditional leather bag this year from which the word Budget originated.

10:01 am: The Budget documents comprise a set of several bound books. The subjects they cover are an annual financial statement, demand for grants, Appropriation Bill, Finance Bill, a memorandum explaining the provisions in the Finance Bill, macro-economic framework for the relevant financial year, fiscal policy strategy statement for the financial year, medium term fiscal policy statement, expenditure profile, expenditure budget and the receipts budget.

9:59 am: It is being speculated that the Budget 2019 may announce some more income tax sops for the middle class.

9:57 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's post-Budget press conference is at 2 pm.

9:53 am: Nirmala Sitharaman has broken the tradition of carrying budget documents in a briefcase. She was seen coming out of the finance ministry office keeping budget documents in four fold red cloth.

9:45 am: Sensex has breached the 40,000 mark.

9:40 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets President Ram Nath Kovind before going to the Parliament.