Highlights of Union Budget 2019-20

New Delhi: Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made her maiden Budget Speech on Friday and presented the Union Budget 2019-20 before Parliament.

The key highlights of Union Budget 2019 are as follows:

1. 10-point Vision for the decade
2. Building Team India with Jan Bhagidari: Minimum Government Maximum Governance.
3. Achieving green Mother Earth and Blue Skies through a pollution-free India.
4. Making Digital India reach every sector of the economy.
5. Launching Gaganyan, Chandrayan, other Space and Satellite programmes.
6. Building physical and social infrastructure.
7. Water, water management, clean rivers.
8. Blue Economy.
9. Self-sufficiency and export of food-grains, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables.
10. Achieving a healthy society via Ayushman Bharat, well-nourished women & children, safety of citizens.
11. Emphasis on MSMEs, Start-ups, defence manufacturing, automobiles, electronics, fabs and batteries, and medical devices under Make in India.
12. India's first indigenously developed payment ecosystem for transport, based on National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) standards, launched in March 2019.
13. Inter-operable transport card runs on RuPay card and would allow the holders to pay for bus travel, toll taxes, parking charges, retail shopping.
14. Navigational capacity of Ganga to be enhanced via multi modal terminals at Sahibganj and Haldia and a navigational lock at Farakka by 2019-20, under the Jal Marg Vikas Project.
15.  Four times increase in next four years estimated in the cargo volume on Ganga, leading to cheaper freight and passenger movement and reducing the import bill.
16. Massive push to all forms of physical connectivity through:
17. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
18. Industrial Corridors, Dedicated Freight Corridors.
19. Bhartamala and Sagarmala projects, Jal Marg Vikas and UDAN Schemes.
20. State road networks to be developed in second phase of Bharatmala project.
21.  Rs 50 lakh crore investment needed in Railway Infrastructure during 2018-2030.
22. Public-Private-Partnership proposed for development and completion of tracks, rolling
23. stock manufacturing and delivery of passenger freight services.
24. 657 kilometres of Metro Rail network has become operational across the country.

Measures related to MSMEs:

* Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Maandhan Scheme

* Pension benefits to about three crore retail traders & small shopkeepers with annual turnover less than Rs. 1.5 crore.

* Enrolment to be kept simple, requiring only Aadhaar, bank account and a self declaration.

* Rs 350 crore allocated for FY 2019-20 for 2 per cent interest subvention (on fresh or incremental loans) to all GST-registered MSMEs, under the Interest Subvention Scheme for MSMEs.

* Payment platform for MSMEs to be created to enable filing of bills and payment thereof, to eliminate delays in government payments.