Budget is by the people, for the people: Nirmala

 

 

PARAPHRASING Abraham Lincoln, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday described the Union Budget as “by the people, for the people, of the people”, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was fully behind the idea to cut taxes for the middle class but it took time to convince the bureaucrats. “We have heard the voice of the middle class” who had been complaining about their aspirations not being met despite being honest taxpayers, she told PTI in an interview. With the honest and proud taxpayers wanting the Government to do more to limit the impact of factors like inflation, the PM was quick to task Sitharaman to look at ways to give relief. While Modi was quick to agree to tax relief, it took a bit of convincing to get on board the officials in the Finance Ministry and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) - who are tasked to ensure revenue collection to meet welfare and other schemes, she said. Presenting her eighth straight budget, Sitharaman on Saturday announced an increase in the personal Income Tax threshold below which taxpayers owe no tax to Rs 12 lakh.

 

 

THE Centre has introduced customs duty rationalisation to ensure that the Indian economy becomes aatmanirbhar (self-reliant), FM Nirmala Sitharaman said in a post-Budget interview with NDTV. Sitharaman was responding to NDTV Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia’s question on whether the budgetary announcement of reducing customs duty on many automobiles, which will benefit companies like Tesla and Harley Davidson, is a signal amid US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements. “We are looking at our own economy. We are looking to strengthen the foundation of the Indian economy, to make it a manufacturing hub,” she said, and added that the announcement in the Union Budget of reducing customs duties aims at making cheap raw materials available for MSMEs, getting critical minerals and allowing Indian companies to import materials and export a finished product of high value.