Budget of India

What is Budget?

A budget is a systematic planning of income and expenditure during a given period of time. According to Article 112 and Rule 204 of the Indian Constitution, a budget is to be presented in two parts, namely the Railway Budget and the General Budget of India, every year in the Parliament.

Union Budget

The Union Budget gives a detailed account of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the government for a particular fiscal year excluding the Indian Railways. It is presented by the Minister of Finance in Parliament on the last working day of February every year.

Union Budget for 2019-20

The Union Budget (2019-20) was presented by the Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, 05 July 2019, that set the tone for the Modi government's agenda for next 5 years.

Key Highlights of The Union Budget for 2019-20 are:

• Rs 10,000 crore allocated to FAME II scheme. The scheme aims to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles by right incentives and charging infrastructure.
• Rs.80,250 crore to upgrade 1.25 lakh km of rural roads under PMGSY over the next 5 years.
• Develop inland waterways, use rivers for cargo transport to decongest roads and railways
• Aim to create 10,000 new Farmer Producer Companies (FPOs).
• 400 crore provided under 'World Class Institutions' for financial year 2019-2020.
• Electronic Fundraising Platform, a social stock exchange, to be set up to list social enterprises and voluntary organizations working for social welfare objectives
• Additional tax deduction of Rs 150,000 on interest paid on housing loans for self-occupied house owners.
• Funds raised by Startups will not face any scrutiny by the income tax department.
• New CPSE --New Space India Ltd to explore commercialisation of space programme. New Space India Limited has been incorporated as the new commercial arm of Dept of Space for research and development carried out by ISRO.

Know more Details on the Union Budget 2019-20

Railway Budget

The Ministry of Railways presents the railway budget few days preceding the introduction of the Union Budget of India. It is the 'Annual Financial Statement' of the Indian Railways which manages rail transport in the country.

The Ministry of Railways is all set to present the rail budget in the Parliament on 25 February, ahead of the introduction of the Union Budget of India on the last working day of the month. The Railway Budget is the 'Annual Financial Statement' of the Indian Railways which manages rail transport in the country. When Union Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the 2015 rail budget, he didn't announce any new trains and nor did he announce passenger fare hikes. He had emphasised on investment in technology and services and setting up new tourism initiatives. In 2016 Railway Budget, modernisation will be the deciding factor. The minister is likely to focus on new investments in capacity building and creation of new assets. Apart from the focus on modernisation, the ministry will announce its plans to construct new tracks, level crossings, and also throw some light on the roadmap for increasing the freight business of the railways.

Know more Details on the Railways Budget 2016-17

Railway Budget for 2015-16

The Union Minister for Railways, Suresh Prabhu, presented the Railways Budget for the 2015-16 fiscal in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) on 26 February 2015. The budget looked somewhat people friendly as there was no hike in passenger fare and freight rates, despite the fact that the department has been facing a revenue crisis. Some of the other major points of the Railway Budget (2015-16) are:-

• There will be user-friendly ladders to climb up to upper berths to increasing lower-berth quota for senior citizens.
• Unreserved ticket purchase will be made easier through smart phones, debit cards.
• Building up of 17,000 bio-toilets in trains.
• CCTV cameras will be installed on select mainline and ladies compartments.
• All India 24 X 7 helpline 138 from March 1; Toll free No.182 - for security complaints.
• SMS alerts to be introduced to inform passengers in advance about the updated arrival/ departure time of trains at starting or destination stations.
• Rs.120 crore have been sanctioned for lifts and escalators to ease out the movement of passengers and goods.
• Collaboration with NIFT and NID for better bed rolls, inner coach designs.
• TTEs would be directed to help senior citizens, pregnant women and differently-able people in getting hold of lower berths.
• Middle berth of coaches will be reserved for women and senior citizens for reasons of safety.

Union Budget for 2015-16

Like every other year, the hopes of the 'Common Man' attached to the Union Budget are high. The Union Budget (2015-16) that is going to be presented by the Minister of Finance Arun Jaitely on Saturday, 28 February 2015, will also set the tone for the Modi government's agenda as well.

The taxpaying common man wants a raise in the Income Tax slab this time to somewhere between 4 to 5 lakh Rs what is currently at 2 lakh. This can, to some extent, contain tax fraud that is committed to cover real income by showing false investments.

Railways and Union Budget 2014-15

The two budgets, Railways and Union, were presented by DV Sadanand Gowda (Railways Minister) and Arun Jaitley (Finance Minister). Though the newly formed central government had did not have even 50 days to prepare the two budgets. The Railways Budget mentioned no hike in passenger fare and freight rates, it talked of running bullet trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, planned of building 'Diamond Quadrilateral' for high speed trains and so on. The union budget said that there would be an increase in the Clean Energy cess from 50 Rs./tonne to 100 Rs. /tonne, rebate on Housing Loan was raised to Rs. 2 lakh from Rs. 1.5 laks, tax payers earning less than 2.5 lakh per annum were exempted from paying income taxes, senior citizens earning up to 3 lakh per annum were also exempted.