Budget 2020 Top Announcements

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2020 in the parliament today. The Finance Minister highlighted three prominent themes of the Budget 2020-aspirational India, economic development and caring society.

Key schemes- Budget 2020

1. Kisan Rail: The Indian Railways will set up Kisan Rail through PPP arrangement for the transportation of perishable goods. The trains will have a refrigerator to keep goods fresh. 

2. Krishi UDAN: The initiative will be launched by the Civil Aviation Ministry on international and national routes, improving value realization, especially in the north-east and tribal districts.

3. National Technical Textiles Mission: The mission will be introduced with a four-year implementation period. The mission will have an outlay of Rs 1,480 crore. 

4. Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme: The scheme will enable a taxpayer, who will pay only amount of disputed tax, to get a complete waiver on interest and penalty, if the scheme is availed by March 31, 2020. 

Budget 2020 top announcements

PAN-Aadhaar- Government will launch a system under which, PAN will be allotted instantly on the basis of Aadhaar. 

New Education Policy: A degree-level online education programme will be offered by institutes falling in the top 100 of National Institutional Ranking Framework. 

IND-SAT exam: The IND-SAT exam will be conducted in African and Asian countries for foreign candidates who wish to study in India. 

Indian Institute of Heritage and Culture: A new Indian Institute of Heritage and Culture to be set up under  Ministry of Culture.

G-20 presidency: India will host G-20 presidency in 2022. The government has allocated Rs 100 crores for the preparation. 

Tourism: Five archaeological sites will be transformed into iconic sites with on-site museums- 

1. Rakhigarhi in Haryana

2. Hastinapur in UP

3. Shivsagar in Assam

4. Dholavira in Gujarat

5. Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu. 

Sagar Mitras: The rural youth as ‘Sagar Mitras’ will enable youth and fishery extension work by forming over 500 fish farmer producing organisations. 

VGF: A viability gap funding window will be set up to cover hospitals, with priority to aspirational districts that do not have empannelled hospitals under Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Road and Highways: The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway has been proposed to be completed by 2023.

Railways: More Tejas-type trains will be introduced to connect iconic destinations. The Government has also proposed setting up of large solar panel capacity alongside the railway tracks on the land owned by the Indian Railways.  

Income Tax: Personal income tax regime proposed for individual tax payers, where the income tax rates will be reduced. 

Expansion of Existing Schemes

1. PM Kusum Scheme: The scheme reduced dependence on diesel and kerosene and enable reliance on solar energy. The scheme will now be expanded to help 20 lakh farmers set up standalone solar pumps. The government will also help set up solarised grid-connected pump sets. The government will help farmers with barren land to set up solar power generation units so that they can sell solar power and raise money.

2. TB Harega, Desh Jeetega campaign: The campaign will be strengthened to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025 in the country. The Finance Minister has proposed Rs 69.000 crore allocation for healthcare sector.  PM Jan Arogya Yojana to get Rs 6,400 crore. 

3.  Jal Jeevan Mission: The scheme will aim to boost local water resources, water harvesting, desalination and renewing older sources of water in the next fiscal year. 

4. Village Storage Scheme: The scheme run by Self Help Groups will provide holding capacity for farmers. The women in villages will regain their status as ‘Dhaanya Lakshmi’.

5. Swachh Bharat Mission: Rs 12,300 crores allocated for the mission for the year 2020-21.

6. Beti bachao, beti padhao: With the implementation of ‘Beti bachao, beti padhao’, the gross enrollment ratio of girls surpassed that of the boys in elementary education. 

Leave a Reply