Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is presenting the last full Budget of the NDA government. Reports suggest that primary topic would be deficits and taxes — personal income-tax rates, capital gains tax on stock market investments, tax on dividend income, and corporate tax. However, here’s what FM is presenting at the Parliament.
11:50 am: Increase in the target for Mudra Yojana to Rs 3 crore. A positive step for MSME and job creation.
11:46 am: Increase in Namami Ganga programme outlay, with an all-around expansion plan for villages and cities along the holy river. Another advantage for the rural economy.
11:44 am: National Healthcare Programme also means expanding usage of generic products, insignificantly negative for pharma companies, however, a higher volume can offset the price loss.
11:30 am: Ahead of the election year, targets of Swacch Bharat, rural electricity and LPG connections, are substantially increased. If this is not a populist budget what is?
11:28 am: Increase credit to agri sector to the farm sector. More importantly tenant cultivators will be included. An immense advantage for the rural economy since approximately 60 percent of farming is done by tenant farming.
It’s the first big-budget announcement of making tenant farmers bankable. As tenant farmers suffer atrocious rates at the hands of moneylenders. Offering them the same status as normal farmers would allow them to enjoy all benefits of subsidised inputs and low-cost credit.
11:25 am: Increase in Ujwalla Yojana scope which suggests increased LPG consumption, good for a company like Aegis Logistics — it is one of the largest importers of LPG.
Fisheries farmers will get privileges same as the farmer in terms of Kisan Credit cards. It appears to be good for firms like Avanti Feeds and Waterbase that specialize in fisheries promotion.
11:24 am: Operation Green to be launched to develop logistics of tomatoes and potatoes with a corpus of Rs 500 crore. It serves to be propitious for cold storage companies.
11:21 am: Advancement of organic farming is not remarkably advantageous for fertiliser and pesticide companies but seed companies will gain.
11:20 am: Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana target lessened from 2022 to 2019. It is a good news for road developers since projects announcements likely to see a sharp increase
11:17 am: Mechanisms to be introduced so that farmers can receive the minimum MSP to all farmers. Latest data from Madhya Pradesh revealed that just 40 percent farmers profited in the current Rabi season. The government will increase government-managed market which should provide the farmer access to MSP prices. The move will further enhance the rural economy and overall consumption.
11:15 am: Arun Jaitley claims that farmers must get 1.5 times the cost of input to the farmer. So the MSP has been proposed using this formula. This is good news for all agri inputs like fertilisers, seeds and pesticides companies.
11:10 am: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley implies what has been widely suspected that the budget will focus on Agriculture and rural economy. Does this mean increased subsidies and a populist budget?