Budget 2020 LIVE updates: FM Nirmala Sitharaman at Finance Ministry

Budget session 2020 LIVE updates: The Economic Survey is a detailed report card on the economic performance in the year

Economic Survey for 2019-20 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, a day ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget for 2019-20. The Survey, which is the government’s report card for the year gone by and presents the health of the economy, comes at a time when the economy is slowing and consumption has staggered. Tomorrow, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget.

The Economic Survey projected India's economic growth at 6 per cent to 6.5 per cent in the next financial year starting April 1, saying growth has bottomed out. The growth in 2020-21 compares to a projected 5 per cent expansion in 2019-20.

ALSO READ: Budget 2020 LIVE updates: FM Sitharaman to present Budget at 11 am

Weak global growth impacting India as well as investment slowdown due to financial sector issues had led to growth dropping to a decade low in current fiscal, it said, adding 5 per cent growth projected for 2019-20 is the lowest it could fall for now.

Growth slipped to 4.5 per cent in the July-September quarter.

Prepared by the Government of India's Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the Economic Survey states that real estate companies lower home prices to clear their unsold inventories.

9:11 AM

Union Budget glossary: What is Economic Survey?

The Economic Survey brings out the economic trends in the country and facilitates a better appreciation of the mobilisation of resources and their allocation in the Union Budget. The Survey analyses the trends in agricultural and industrial production, infrastructure, employment, money supply, prices, imports, exports, foreign exchange reserves and other relevant economic factors that have a bearing on the Budget. It is presented in Parliament ahead of the Budget for the ensuing year.

9:07 AM

TARP-like government fund likely in Budget for NBFC relief

The government is likely to unveil, in the Union Budget 2020, a Troubled Assets Relief Programme (TARP) similar to what the US initiated during the financial crisis in 2008.

 

Under the proposed scheme, the troubled or stressed assets of the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) will be bought by a government fund to revive the sector.

 

A high-level review meeting on this was held on Monday, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for a final decision on the matter.

 

The US government had initiated the TARP at the height of the Wall Street financial crisis of 2008.

9:01 AM

Tax slabs tweak, higher basic exemption on Budget agenda

As clamour grows for more money into the pockets of consumers and households to boost consumption in the economy, the government is discussing multiple options on cuts in personal income tax (PIT) in the forthcoming Union Budget.

 

A final decision was to be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi .

 

The options being considered by the Finance Ministry include acting on suggestions of task force on direct tax simplification.

 

A tweaking of tax slabs is on also on the agenda and as part of the restructuring, the government may raise the minimum exemption limit from the current Rs 250,000.

7:01 AM

Apr-Dec fiscal deficit hits 132.4% of budgetary target, at Rs 9.31 trillion

India's budgetary fiscal deficit for the April-December period was Rs 9.31 trillion, or 132.4 per cent of the budget estimates (BE). The government has targeted fiscal deficit to be at Rs 7.03 trillion for 2019-20. Read More

6:45 AM

FM Nirmala Sitharaman to present Budget 2020 in Parliament today

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will on Saturday present the budget of the second term of the Narendra Modi government. This will also be the second budget for Sitharaman, who became the second woman finance minister after Indira Gandhi to do so in the history of independent India. 

 

Sitharaman will present the full-year budget for the year ending March 2021.

11:05 PM

Experts see economic growth revival in FY21

Economist at Deloitte India Rumki Majumdar said the Survey projects growth revival in FY 2021 but suggests that the government may have to incur expansionary policy to support growth.

11:04 PM

Push on infra spending likely to be a part of Budget 2020

A cut in personal income tax, sops for rural and agriculture sectors as well as an aggressive push on infrastructure spending are likely to be part of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's "feel-good" second Budget.

 

Facing the worst economic slowdown in more than a decade, Sitharaman is expected to pull out all stops to spur consumer demand and investment, government sources and economists said.

10:24 PM

Better to focus on growth than on fiscal deficit in current situation: CEA

Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian on Friday suggested the government should focus on growth rather than being rigid on fiscal deficit in times of slowing economy. "So, we've delineated the overall stance that needs to be taken in times like this. India has been in such situations earlier as well. There's always a delicate balance between spurring growth and keeping the fiscal (situation) in order," Subramanian told PTI in an interaction.

8:59 PM

Economy during PM Modi's first tenure was actually worse than what we believed: Chidambaram

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday said the state of the economy during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first tenure was worse than what was believed as growth rates for 2017-18 and 2018-19 have been revised downwards.

 

He asked if the ministers will explain it.

 

"GDP growth rates for 2017-18 and 2018-19 have been revised DOWNWARDS. The state of the economy under MODI-1 was actually worse than what we believed so far.

 

"Will the articulate and voluble Ministers please speak on the state of the economy and explain the downward revision in the last two years and the drastic slide in the current fiscal year," Chidambaram tweeted. 

8:17 PM

Eco Survey completely disconnected with problems faced by common man: Congress

The Congress on Friday hit out at the government on the Economic Survey, saying it is "completely disconnected" with the reality as the country is facing difficult times on the economic front and it is not bothered about the problems faced by the common man.

 

Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda also attacked the government on its "thalinomics" concept given by Finance Ministry's Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy V Subramanian.

 

He also accused the government of "fudging data" and committing a "fraud" as the numbers presented by it are not believable by the world.

 

"Thanks to monumental mismanagement by the Modi government, the Indian economy is going through very difficult times. Yet the Economic Survey (ESI) 2019-20 released today is completely disconnected from this grim reality. But this is not surprising as all of the Modi government's chief economic advisers have ignored the ground realities in all these years," Gowda said.

7:45 PM

Eco Survey's GDP growth forecast for FY20 wide off projection

The GDP growth projection made in Economic Survey 2018-19 was wide off the mark, as the expansion is estimated at only 5 per cent during the current fiscal as against 7 per cent projected earlier.

 

It is for the second consecutive time that NSO's GDP estimate is significantly lower than the projection made in the survey prepared by the finance ministry.

 

As per the National Statistical Office (NSO), economic growth is estimated to touch an 11-year low of 5 per cent during 2019-20, mainly due to slowdown in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

 

The Economic Survey 2018-19, which was tabled in Parliament in July 2019, had projected growth at 7 per cent for the current fiscal ending March 2020.

 

The Economic Survey 2017-18 had estimated growth for 2018-19 at 7-7.5 per cent. The GDP growth, as per the latest NSO data, has been revised downwards to 6.1 per cent from the earlier estimate of 6.8 per cent.

7:28 PM

Economic Survey makes case for correction in inverted duty structure

The Economic Survey on Friday made a case for correction in inverted duty structure as it will help in reducing cost of intermediate inputs imported for making goods for exports purpose.

 

Inverted duty structure impacts the domestic industry adversely as manufacturers have to pay a higher price for raw material in terms of duty, while the finished product lands at lower duty and cost.

 

It said that in recent times, India's tariff regime has come under pressure from trade partners who seek a cut in the country's basic customs duties.

 

India has defended its tariff regime stating that it is necessary for protecting the vulnerable businesses in India.

7:26 PM

Insolvency law reduces resolution time for stressed assets to 340 days: Eco Survey

The average time taken for resolution of stressed assets has come down to 340 days since the insolvency law came into force three years ago compared to around 4.3 years taken earlier, according to the Economic Survey.

 

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which came into force in 2016, provides for market-linked and time-bound resolution of stressed assets.

 

The survey, tabled in the Parliament on Friday, also said resolution under the Code has been much higher as compared to other processes.

 

Citing data provided in the report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2018-19, the survey said the amount recovered as a percentage of amount involved in 2017-18 and 2018-19 has been much higher as compared to Lok Adalat and Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs), among others.

7:25 PM

Eco Survey indicates positive outlook for steel, oil and gas sectors: Pradhan

The Economic Survey 2019-20 points to increasing steel production and consumption and easing of crude prices, indicating positive outlook for steel and oil and gas sectors, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday.

 

The Economic Survey, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said India produced 64.3 million tonnes (MT) of crude steel and 59.73 MT of finished steel during April-October 2019-20.

 

The sector achieved a growth of 5.2 per cent during April-November period of the ongoing financial year as compared to 3.6 per cent in the year-ago period, it added.

 

In a tweet, Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, "#EconomicSurvey also points to increasing steel production and consumption, easing of crude prices all indicating positive outlook for steel and oil and gas sectors." The National Infrastructure Pipeline of Rs 102 lakh crore will facilitate growth, create infra for future and ease lives of common citizens, he said in another tweet.

7:23 PM

Corporate tax cut to mostly benefit less than 1% of companies: Survey

The steep cut in corporate tax rate will benefit large companies the most as smaller ones were already paying lower rates, the Economic Survey 2019-20 said on Friday.

 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in September last year announced the lowering of the base corporate tax rate to 22 per cent from 30 per cent for companies that do not seek exemptions and reduced the rate for some new manufacturing companies to 15 per cent from 25 per cent. Including surcharges and cesses (levies to raise funds for specific purposes), the effective corporate tax rate will drop by nearly 10 percentage points to 25.17 per cent.

 

The pre-Budget Survey, tabled in Parliament, said most of the companies (99.1 per cent) have a gross turnover of below Rs 400 crore (say small and medium companies) and are already taxed at the base corporate tax rate of 25 per cent. With surcharge and cess, their tax rate varies from 26 per cent to 29.12 per cent.