The much awaited Union Budget 2018 has been announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and here are the key takeaways from the Union Budget 2018.
What’s become costlier?
Mobile phones and television are those commodities which have become expensive. The rise is owing to an increase in custom duty by 20 percent. Health and education cess has been increased to 4 per cent.
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For senior citizens
Exemption of upto Rs 50,000 on the interest income on bank deposits. Moreover, introduction of Rs 40,000 standard deduction for salaried employees covering transport and medical expenses
Expansion of Health cover scheme to cover 10 crore poor families. Health became the highlight of FM’s budget speech. FM noted that the government will tread towards bettering health. In addition, a sum of Rs 600 crore has been allocated to the Tuberculosis patients undergoing treatment in the Union Budget 2018.
Education is a necessity
Government also plans to launch two new schools of Planning and Architecture. The government will build Eklavya schools to ensure that Scheduled Tribe populations get access to education.
Other key points of Union Budget 2018
- 5 lakh WiFi hotspots to be established in rural areas to ensure easy internet access
- Elimination of the use of cryptocurrencies via government policies
- Amrut program for water supply: Supply of water to all households in 500 cities.
- World’s largest Government-funded health protection scheme: Cover 10 crore poor families
- Proposal of a long term capital gain exceeding Rs 1 lakh at 10 per cent without indexation
- 4,000 km of new railway track to be laid down by 2019
- Redevelopment activity of 600 major railway stations across the country. Capital expenditure of Rs 1,48,528 crore for Indian Railways in 2018-19
- Escalate bank account numbers to 60 crore accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana
- The government also reiterated their mission to provide homes to all Indians by 2022
- Income tax will be assessed electronically
- No changes in Income tax slabs. Also, the FM proposed a fiscal deficit of 3.3% of GDP for 2018-19
This was the first Union budget after the rollout of Goods and Services tax Act, which happened in June.
