2017 Union budget of India explained

Union Budget of India
Year:	2017
Country:	India
Previous Budget:	2016 Union budget of India
Previous Year:	2016
Next Budget:	2018 Union budget of India
Next Year:	2018
Presented:	1 February 2017
Passed:	1 February 2017
Party:	Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Minister:	Arun Jaitley
Total Revenue:	^[1]
Total Expenditures:	^[2]
Spending:	^[3]
Deficit:	^[4] (3.2%) (1.9%)
Url:	http://www.indiabudget.nic.in Official Site

The 2017 Union Budget of India is the^[5] ^[6] ^[7]

Annual Financial Statement (AFS) mandated by Article 112 of Constitution of India
Demands for Grants mandated by Article113 of Constitution of India
Appropriation Bill mandated by Article 114(3) of Constitution of India
Finance Bill mandated by Article110(a) of Constitution of India
and other documents presented as per the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. for the financial year 2017 – 2018.

It was presented before the parliament on 1 February 2017 by the Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley with 21.47 lakh crore rupees (US$336.39 billion) budget size.^[8] ^[9] ^[10] ^[11] ^[12]

The Finance Minister of India started speech by quoting "Madam Speaker, On this auspicious day of Vasant Panchami, I rise to present the Budget for 2017-18. Spring is a season of optimism. I extend my warm greetings to everyone on this occasion."

In his speech the Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley has quoted that the Agenda for 2017-18 is "Transform, Energise and Clean India" – TEC India.^[13] He further went to explain that TEC India means to

Transform the quality of governance and quality of life of our people
Energise various sections of society, especially the youth and the vulnerable, and enable them to unleash their true potential
Clean the country from the evils of corruption, black money and non-transparent political funding.

The printing of the budget documents began with a traditional Halwa ceremony in January 2017.32

It's the first budget after major changes in the economy like Goods and Services Tax (India) and 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation.

Railway budget

Railway budget will be merged with the Union budget and classification of plan and non-plan expenditure has been done away with starting from the year 2017 by Narendra Modi led Government of India.

Key points

Existing rate of taxation for individual assesses between income of 2.5 lakhs to 5 lakhs reduced to 5%.
After rebates, zero tax liability for people with income of 3 lakhs.
All other categories will also get uniform benefit of Rs 12,500.
Surcharge of 10% of tax payable on categories of individuals whose annual taxable income is between 50 lakhs and 1 crore
More than 1 crore: 15 percent surcharge^[14]
One page Income tax return to be filed for persons having Taxable income up to 5 lakhs other than income from Profits and Gains from Business or profession(PGBP).
Maximum limit for audit of specified assesses who opt for presumptive income (Section 44AD of Income Tax Act) scheme increased from 1 crore to 2 crores.
No transaction above 3 lakhs through cash is permitted subject to certain exceptions^[15]
To promote transparency in electoral funding, maximum donation of 2000 rupees in cash is restricted from one person.
Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) will be abolished
Allocation of Rs 23,000 crore to the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana
The Finance Minister of India has stated that "Consumer price index inflation is expected to remain within RBI’s mandated range of 2% to 6%".
The Foreign direct investment increased from 1,07,000 crores in the first half of last year to 1,45,000 crores in the first half of 2016–17.
As stated by finance minister Foreign-exchange reserves have reached 361 billion US Dollars as on 20 January 2017.
Rs 48,000 crore allocated towards the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

Finance Bill

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Finance Bill on 21 March 2017. He has suggested major overhaul in the bill. 40 changes have been suggested by him in the existing legislations. Some of the major changes are

The cash transaction limit will be brought down to Rs. 2 lakh from the erstwhile Rs. 3 lakh limit.
Aadhaar card should become mandatory for filing IT returns.
PAN Card would only be issued upon producing the Aadhar card.
The disclosure of political donations made by companies will be made mandatory.

Notes and References

Web site: Receipts. Ministry of Finance, Government of India. 29 January 2018.
Web site: SUMMARY OF EXPENDITURE. Ministry of Finance, Government of India. 29 January 2018.
Web site: Expenditure of Government of India. Ministry of Finance, Government of India. 29 January 2018.
Web site: Debt and Deficit Statistics. Ministry of Finance, Government of India. 29 January 2018.
Web site: THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA. lawmin.nic.in. 2017-02-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20120402064301/http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coi-english/coi-indexenglish.htm. 2 April 2012. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: BUDGET IN PARLIAMENT. www.parliamentofindia.nic.in. 2017-02-01.
Web site: KEY TO BUDGET DOCUMENTS. https://web.archive.org/web/20170215040013/http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2017-18/keybud/keybud2017.pdf#page=2. 15 February 2017. dead.
Web site: Union Budget 2017: Rs 2.74 lakh crore allocated towards defence spending. Indian Express. February 2017 . 2017-02-01.
Web site: Total expenditure of Rs. 21.47 lakh crore in Budget 2017-18, fiscal deficit pegged at 3.2%. NetIndian. February 2017 . 2017-02-01.
Web site: Live: Budget 2017: Union Budget 2017 Updates, Analysis Budget 2017 highlights. The Economic Times. 2017-02-01.
News: Highlights of Union Budget 2017-18. Desk. Internet. The Hindu. en. 2017-02-01.
News: Budget: Rs 55,000 Cr for Railways; Focus on Safety, Infrastructure. Quint. The. en. 2017-02-01.
News: Union Budget 2017: Highlights. The Times of India. 2017-02-01.
http://english.manoramaonline.com/in-depth/union-budget-2017.html Union Budget 2017 Highlights
News: Union Budget 2017: Highlights. The Times of India. 2017-02-01.