Farmers, rural India and healthcare were the main focus of Budget 2018 — the last pre-poll budget — presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier today, but the middle class hopes for Income Tax relief were dashed.
While the farmers were assured an MSP 1.5 times the cost of production, the poorest of the poor will be covered by universal healthcare to the tune of~ USD 10000 per year.
As consolation prize, the middle class got ~USD 800 standard deduction against travel and medical expenses.
The Budget also gave a boost to Make in India by increasing custom duty on mobile phones, which means handsets made by foreign companies will cost more.
In the Budget speech, Jaitley vowed to keep fiscal deficit at 3.3%.
Jaitley also announced hike in President’s salary to USD 10000 a month, the Vice-President’s salary will rise to USD 7500 per month and the Governor’s pay will rise to USD 6000 a month.
Jaitley announced a USD 2.3 MILLION fund to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
As per Budget 2018, Bengaluru Metro will get USD 6 BILLION and USD 5 BILLION will be allocated to Mumbai rail network.
TO PUT IT IN USD PERSPECTIVE, ELECTRONICS AND CARS COST THE SAME IN INDIA, ONLY FRUITS AND VEGGIES ARE CHEAPER. FUEL IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN USA AND IT HAS 1 BILLION PEOPLE. SHEEPLES LOOSE AGAIN