Finance minister Arun Jaitley unveiled a pro-poor, pro-farmer budget ahead of the general elections due in 2019. While there were no changes to the personal income tax slabs for salaried individuals, the finance minister allowed a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 for transport and medical claims.
Jaitley delivered a populist budget, which should bring some cheer to farmers, who can now expect to get a minimum support price at 1.5 times their cost of production for the coming year.
In a major sop for small companies, Jaitley said that those with an annual turnover of Rs 250 crore or less will now pay corporate tax at 25% as against the present rate of 30%.
The highlight of this year’s budget, however, was a universal healthcare insurance plan that will benefit 10 crore families. Jaitley said these families will now be able to avail healthcare insurance up to Rs 5 lakh a year.
This will effectively help 50 crore people, or nearly 40% of the poorest in the country, he said. Besides, he said that the government will set up an agricultural market fund of Rs 2,000 crore.
