11.43 am: FM turns his attention to health.
11.39 am: We will set up an innovation fund for secondary education. "We propose to establish a national testing agency to create world-class testing standards. This will free boards such as CBSE to focus on education skills."
11.38 am: The FM now starts about talking education.
11.37 am: "Affordable housing will be given infra status." This means the real estate sector will get cheaper funding for affordable housing.
11.37 am: In all, allocation for rural, agriculture and allied industry is at Rs 1.87 lakh crore, up 24 percent year-on-year.
11.36 am: We are on track to achieve rural electrification for all homes under the Deen Dayal Scheme.
WATCH LIVE BUDGET SPEECH BY FINANCE MINISTER ARUN JAITLEY here.
11.33 am: The FM now turns his attention to MGNREGS, the flagship scheme of the UPA.
"We had allotted Rs 38,500 crore last year but spent Rs 47,000 crore. Next year, we are targetting spends of Rs 48,000 crore. This is the highest ever."
The opposition isn't bemused.
11.31 am: National agriculture markets to be expanded to 585 markets. Dairy processing infra fund will be created with corpus Of Rs 8,000 crore in three years
11.28 am: "Fasal Bima Yojana coverage will be increased to 40 percent," he says. "Issuance of soil health cards has gathered momentum. We will up crop insurance coverage to 50 percent in FY19."
"A long term irrigation fund at NABARD will be created with a Rs 40,000 crore corpus."
11.26 am: The government is targetting agriculture credit offtake of Rs 10 lakh crore in the Budget.
"Farmers will benefit from 60-day interest waiver announced by PM," says the FM.
11.25 am: In this Budget, we have done away with the distinction between plan and non-plan expenditure. There goes the Soviet-era relic. Better late than never.
The Railway and the Union Budget too have been merged in a historic step.
11.23 am: The focus of the Budget is to spend on rural areas, alleviate poverty and boost infrastructure.
11.20 am: The impact of demonetisation is not expected to spill over to the next year.
11.19 am: Demonetisation, GST and Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) will be epoch-making events in India's economic history.
11.17 am:Demonetisation was a continuation of series of measures taken by the government [to fight black money]. "The GDP will be bigger, cleaner and real," the Finance Minister says.
11.16 am: India has become the sixth largest manufacturing country in the world, up from the ninth position earlier.
11.14 am: "Our CPI inflation has fallen, current account deficit has reduced, FDI flows have increased while forex reserves have increased. The government is continuing on path of fiscal consolidation."
11.12 am:The world economy faces a challenging time, protectionism is building up and growth is slowing down. Amid this, India stands out as a shining spot, says the FM.
11.10 am: The FM starts by giving an outlook for the economy. Says India's macros have stabilised, governance has improved, corruption has been eliminated while the poor are being given due focus.
"We have transformed governance over the past 2.5 years," he says.
11.08 am: Amid the din, Finance Minister rises to present the Budget.
11.04 am: The Speaker is explaining why the Budget is being held today despite protocol dictating that the House be adjourned on the passing away of a sitting MP.
The Opposition bench looks set to disturb proceedings. Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge is now speaking.
11.00 am: Budget visuals now coming in. LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan starts by paying condolences to former External Affairs Minister E Ahamed who passed away overnight.
He suffered a cardiac arrest yesterday in Parliament when President Pranab Mukherjee was delivering his speech ahead of the tabling of the Economic Survey.
"No Sitting Of Parliament Tomorrow As A Mark Of Respect To E Ahamed," says the Speaker.
10.59 am: A few minutes to go. The Cabinet meeting has ended.
10.50 am: Hedge fund Samir Arora is speak
11.39 am: We will set up an innovation fund for secondary education. "We propose to establish a national testing agency to create world-class testing standards. This will free boards such as CBSE to focus on education skills."
11.38 am: The FM now starts about talking education.
11.37 am: "Affordable housing will be given infra status." This means the real estate sector will get cheaper funding for affordable housing.
11.37 am: In all, allocation for rural, agriculture and allied industry is at Rs 1.87 lakh crore, up 24 percent year-on-year.
11.36 am: We are on track to achieve rural electrification for all homes under the Deen Dayal Scheme.
WATCH LIVE BUDGET SPEECH BY FINANCE MINISTER ARUN JAITLEY here.
11.33 am: The FM now turns his attention to MGNREGS, the flagship scheme of the UPA.
"We had allotted Rs 38,500 crore last year but spent Rs 47,000 crore. Next year, we are targetting spends of Rs 48,000 crore. This is the highest ever."
The opposition isn't bemused.
11.31 am: National agriculture markets to be expanded to 585 markets. Dairy processing infra fund will be created with corpus Of Rs 8,000 crore in three years
11.28 am: "Fasal Bima Yojana coverage will be increased to 40 percent," he says. "Issuance of soil health cards has gathered momentum. We will up crop insurance coverage to 50 percent in FY19."
"A long term irrigation fund at NABARD will be created with a Rs 40,000 crore corpus."
11.26 am: The government is targetting agriculture credit offtake of Rs 10 lakh crore in the Budget.
"Farmers will benefit from 60-day interest waiver announced by PM," says the FM.
11.25 am: In this Budget, we have done away with the distinction between plan and non-plan expenditure. There goes the Soviet-era relic. Better late than never.
The Railway and the Union Budget too have been merged in a historic step.
11.23 am: The focus of the Budget is to spend on rural areas, alleviate poverty and boost infrastructure.
11.20 am: The impact of demonetisation is not expected to spill over to the next year.
11.19 am: Demonetisation, GST and Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) will be epoch-making events in India's economic history.
11.17 am:Demonetisation was a continuation of series of measures taken by the government [to fight black money]. "The GDP will be bigger, cleaner and real," the Finance Minister says.
11.16 am: India has become the sixth largest manufacturing country in the world, up from the ninth position earlier.
11.14 am: "Our CPI inflation has fallen, current account deficit has reduced, FDI flows have increased while forex reserves have increased. The government is continuing on path of fiscal consolidation."
11.12 am:The world economy faces a challenging time, protectionism is building up and growth is slowing down. Amid this, India stands out as a shining spot, says the FM.
11.10 am: The FM starts by giving an outlook for the economy. Says India's macros have stabilised, governance has improved, corruption has been eliminated while the poor are being given due focus.
"We have transformed governance over the past 2.5 years," he says.
11.08 am: Amid the din, Finance Minister rises to present the Budget.
11.04 am: The Speaker is explaining why the Budget is being held today despite protocol dictating that the House be adjourned on the passing away of a sitting MP.
The Opposition bench looks set to disturb proceedings. Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge is now speaking.
11.00 am: Budget visuals now coming in. LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan starts by paying condolences to former External Affairs Minister E Ahamed who passed away overnight.
He suffered a cardiac arrest yesterday in Parliament when President Pranab Mukherjee was delivering his speech ahead of the tabling of the Economic Survey.
"No Sitting Of Parliament Tomorrow As A Mark Of Respect To E Ahamed," says the Speaker.
10.59 am: A few minutes to go. The Cabinet meeting has ended.
10.50 am: Hedge fund Samir Arora is speak
