Union Budget 2019 highlights

Interim finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the union budget for the year 2019 in the parliment on Friday. Goyal has been appointed as an interim finance minister on January 23 with the Arun Jaitley undergoing treatment in the US. However, the full-fledged budget will be presented after the General elections.

Here are some key points listed out from the budget...

• No Income Tax to be paid for annual income up to Rs 5 lakh.
• Income of up to Rs 6.5 lakh will not need to pay any tax if they make investments in provident funds and prescribed equities.
• Standard tax deduction for salaried persons raised from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.
• TDS threshold on interest on bank and post office deposits raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000.
• TDS threshold on rental income increased from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 2.4 lakh.
• I-T processing of returns to be done in 24 hours.
• All verification of tax returns will be done electronically without any interface with the tax payer within the next 2 years.
• Farmers having less than 2 hectares of land will get Rs 6000 per annum under the scheme Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi.
• A semi high-speed train Vande Bharat Express will be launched.
• One lakh digital villages planned in the next five years
• Fund allocation to Northeast region increased to Rs 58,166 crore in this year, a 21% rise over last year for infrastructure development
• Anti-camcord regulations to be introduced in the Indian Cinematograph Act to prevent piracy and contact theft of Bollywood films.
• Single window clearance for Indian filmmakers will be introduced.
• 25 per cent of sourcing for government projects will be from MSME, of which three per cent will be from women entrepreneurs.
• National Artificial Intelligence portal to be developed soon.
• The ESI cover limit has been increased to Rs 21,000. The minimum pension was also increased to Rs 1000.
• Mega pension scheme for workers from the organised sector with income of less than Rs 15,000. They will be able to earn Rs 3000 after the age of 60 years. The scheme will be called PM Shramyogi Maan Dhan Yojana.
• 2% interest subversion for farmers pursuing animal husbandry.
• All farmers affected by severe natural calamities will be given interest subversion for the entire period of three per cent of loans.
• Haryana will have 22nd AIIMS in the country.