Union Budget 2019-20: Major takeaways, announcements

July 5, 2019

New Delhi: The Union Budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, had major announcements across various sectors. Here are a few major takeaways from the Union Budget.
– Tax rate reduced to 25 per cent for companies with an annual turnover up to Rs 400 crore – Surcharge increased on individuals having taxable income from Rs 2 crores to Rs 5 crore and Rs 5 crore and above.
– Interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar. Those who don’t have PAN can file tax returns using Aadhaar, which can be used wherever PAN is required.
– The target of Rs 1, 05,000 crore of disinvestment receipts set for the Financial Year 2019-20.
– Government to reinitiate the process of strategic disinvestment of Air India, and to offer more Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) for strategic participation by the private sector.
– Additional deduction up to Rs 1.5 lakh for interest paid on loans borrowed up to March 31, 2020, for purchase of house valued up to
Rs 45 lakh.
– Rs 70,000 crore proposed to be provided to Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to boost credit.
– The government to raise a part of its gross borrowing programme in external markets in external currencies.
– Additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on interest paid on electric vehicle loans.
– Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) of two per cent on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from a bank account.
– New series of coins of one rupee, two rupees, five rupees, ten rupees and twenty rupees, easily identifiable to the visually impaired to be made available for public use shortly.
– Business establishments with an annual turnover of more than Rs 50 crore shall offer low-cost digital modes of payment to their customers and no charges or Merchant Discount Rate shall be imposed on customers as well as merchants.
– Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in sectors like aviation, media (animation, AVGC) and insurance sectors can be opened further after a multi-stakeholder examination.
– Insurance intermediaries to get 100 per cent FDI.
– Local sourcing norms to be eased for FDI in Single Brand Retail sector.
– Pension benefits to about three crore retail traders and small shopkeepers with an annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore.
– Public-Private-Partnership proposed for development and completion of tracks, rolling stock manufacturing and delivery of passenger freight services.
– Customs duty exempted on certain parts of electric vehicles.
– Simplification of tax laws to reduce genuine hardships of taxpayers.
– A Higher tax threshold for launching prosecution for non-filing of returns.
– Appropriate class of persons exempted from the anti-abuse provisions of Section 50CA and Section 56 of the Income Tax Act.
– Basic Customs Duty increased on cashew kernels, PVC, tiles, auto parts, marble slabs, optical fibre cable, CCTV camera etc.
– Exemptions from Customs Duty on certain electronic items now manufactured in India withdrawn.
– End use-based exemptions on palm stearin, fatty oils withdrawn.
– Exemptions to various kinds of papers withdrawn.
– 5 per cent basic customs duty imposed on imported books.
– Customs duty reduced on certain raw materials.
– Defence equipment not manufactured in India exempted from basic customs duty.
– Export duty rationalised on raw and semi-finished leather.
– Increase in Special Additional Excise Duty and Road and Infrastructure Cess each by Rs 1 per litre on petrol and diesel.
– Customs duty on gold and other precious metals increased
– Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme for quick closure of pending litigations in Central Excise and Service tax from the pre-GST regime.
– Capital gains exemptions from the sale of residential house for investment in start-ups extended till FY21.
– Angel tax issue – start-ups and investors filing requisite declarations and providing information in their returns not to be subjected to any kind of scrutiny in respect of valuations of share premiums.
– Funds raised by start-ups to not require scrutiny from Income Tax Department
– E-verification mechanism for establishing the identity of the investor and source of funds.
– No scrutiny of valuation of shares issued to Category-II Alternative Investment Funds.
– Relaxation of conditions for carrying forward and set off of losses.
– 100 per cent profit-linked deduction in any ten-year block within a fifteen-year period to NBFCs.
– Exemption from dividend distribution tax from current and accumulated income to companies and mutual funds.
– Exemptions on capital gain to Category-III Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).
– Exemption to interest payment on the loan is taken from non-residents.
– Securities transaction tax (STT) restricted only to the difference between settlement and strike price in case of exercise of options.
– Electricity and clean cooking facility to all willing rural families by 2022.
– Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY): target of connecting the eligible and feasible habitations advanced from 2022 to 2019.
– 1,25,000-km of road length to be upgraded over the next five years under
– Common Facility Centres (CFCs) to be set up to facilitate cluster-based development for making traditional industries more productive, profitable and capable of generating sustained employment opportunities.
– 100 new clusters to be set up during 2019-20 with special focus on Bamboo, Honey and Khadi, enabling 50,000 artisans to join the economic value chain.
– 80 Livelihood Business Incubators (LBIs) and 20 Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) to be set up in 2019-20.
– 75,000 entrepreneurs to be skilled in agro-rural industry sectors.
– 10,000 new Farmer Producer Organizations to be formed, to ensure economies of scale for farmers.
– Zero Budget Farming to be replicated.
– Gandhipedia being developed by the National Council for Science Museums.
– Jal Jeevan Mission to achieve Har Ghar Jal (piped water supply) to all rural households by 2024.
– 1,592 critical and overexploited Blocks spread across 256 District being identified for the Jal Shakti Abhiyan.
– Swachh Bharat Mission to be expanded to undertake sustainable solid waste management in every village.
– Target to make India open defecation free by October 2, 2019. Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra to be inaugurated at Gandhi Darshan, Rajghat.
– Railways to be encouraged to invest more in suburban railways through SPV structures.
– New National Education Policy to be brought which proposes a greater focus on research and innovation.
– National Research Foundation (NRF) proposed.
– Rs 400 crore provided for “World Class Institutions” for FY 2019-20.
-`Study in India’ proposed to bring foreign students to study in Indian higher educational institutions.
– Draft legislation to set up a Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), to be presented.
– Policy interventions to be made for the development of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), to achieve self- reliance in the aviation segment.
– Khelo India Scheme to be expanded.
– National Sports Education Board for development of sportspersons to be set up under Khelo India.
– To prepare youth for overseas jobs with more focus on globally valued skill-sets.
– A television program proposed exclusively for and by start-ups, within the DD bouquet of channels.
– A massive program of railway station modernization to be launched.
– Women SHG interest subvention program to be expanded to all districts.
– Overdraft of Rs 5,000 to be allowed for every verified woman SHG member having a Jan Dhan Bank Account.
– One woman per SHG to be eligible for a loan up to Rs 1 lakh under MUDRA scheme.
– Proposal to consider issuing Aadhaar Card for NRIs with Indian Passports on their arrival without waiting for 180 days.
– Mission to integrate traditional artisans with global markets proposed with necessary patents and geographical indicators.
– PSBs to leverage technology, offering online personal loans and doorstep banking, and enabling customers of one PSBs to access services across all PSBs.
– Steps to be initiated to empower accountholders to have control over the deposit of cash by others in their accounts.
– Proposals for strengthening the regulatory authority of RBI over NBFCs to be placed in the Finance Bill.
– A requirement of creating a Debenture Redemption Reserve will be done away to allow Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to raise funds in public issues.
– Steps to allow all NBFCs to directly participate in the trends (Trade Receivable Discounting System) platform.
– Return of regulatory authority from NHB to RBI proposed, over the housing finance sector.
– Rs 100 lakh crore investment in infrastructure intended over the next five years.
– Committee proposed to recommend the structure and required a flow of funds through development finance institutions.
– Steps to be taken to separate the NPS Trust from PFRDA.
– Reduction in Net Owned Fund requirement from Rs 5,000 crore to
Rs 1,000 crore proposed.
– On-shoring of international insurance transactions, enabling the opening of branches by foreign reinsurers in the International Financial
– Government to undertake the strategic sale of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and continue to consolidate PSUs in the non-financial space.
– Government to consider going to an appropriate level below 51
per cent in PSUs where the government control is still to be retained, on case to case basis.
– The present policy of retaining 51 per cent government stake to be modified to retaining 51 per cent stake inclusive of the stake of government-controlled institutions.
– Retail participation in CPSEs to be encouraged.
– Government to realign its holding in CPSEs
– Government to offer an investment option in ETFs (Exchange-traded Fund) on the lines of Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS).
– Government to meet public shareholding norms of 25 per cent for all listed PSUs and raise the foreign shareholding limits to maximum permissible sector limits for all PSU companies which are part of Emerging Market Index.
– Scheme to invite global companies to set up mega-manufacturing plants in areas such as semi-conductor Fabrication (FAB), Solar Photo Voltaic cells, Lithium storage batteries, computer servers, laptops etc
– Investment-linked income tax exemptions to be provided along with indirect tax benefits
– Payment platform for MSMEs to be created to enable filing of bills and payment to eliminate delays in government payments.
– The navigational capacity of Ganga to be enhanced
– Regulatory Roadmap for making India a hub for aircraft financing and leasing activities from Indian shores, to be laid by the Government.
– An outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for 3 years approved for Phase-II of FAME Scheme. Only advanced-battery-operated and registered e-vehicles to be incentivized.
– Upfront incentive proposed on purchase and charging infrastructure, to encourage faster adoption of Electric Vehicles.
– National Highway Programme to be restructured to ensure a National Highway Grid.
– Blueprints to be made available for gas grids, water grids, I-ways, and regional airports.
– Package of power sector tariff and structural reforms to be announced soon.
– Reform measures to be taken up to promote rental housing.
– Model Tenancy Law to be finalized and circulated to the states.
– Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation to be set up in 2019-2020.
– Action plan to be put in place to deepen the market for long term bonds with a focus on infrastructure.
– Proposed transfer/sale of investments by FIIs/FPIs (in debt securities issued by IDF-NBFCs to any domestic investor within the specified lock-in period.
– Stock exchanges to be enabled to allow AA rated bonds as collaterals.
– Electronic fundraising platform under the regulatory ambit of SEBI.
– Listing social enterprises and voluntary organizations.
– To raise capital as equity, debt or as units like a mutual fund.
– SEBI to consider raising the threshold for a minimum public shareholding in the listed companies from 25 per cent to 35 per cent.
– Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for Foreign Portfolio Investors to be made more investor-friendly.
– Government to supplement efforts by RBI to get retail investors to invest in government treasury bills and securities, with further institutional development using stock exchanges.
– Government to organize an annual Global Investors Meet.
– The statutory limit for FPI investment in a company is proposed to be increased from 24 per cent to sectoral foreign investment limit. Option for concerned corporate to limit it to a lower threshold.
– FPIs to be permitted to subscribe to listed debt securities issued by ReITs (real estate investment trusts) and InvITs (infrastructure investment trusts).
– NRI-Portfolio Investment Scheme Route is proposed to be merged with the Foreign Portfolio Investment Route.
– New Space India Limited (NSIL), a PSE, incorporated as a new commercial arm of
– Pre-filled tax returns with details of several incomes and deductions to be made available.
– Faceless e-assessment with no human interface to be launched. (ANI)