Union Budget 2018 LIVE: Jaitley says India is now $2.5 trillion economy and firmly on path to achieve 8% plus growth

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will today present the Union Budget 2018-19 – Modi government’s last full-fledged budget ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the first after the implementation of GST.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will today present the Union Budget 2018-19 – Modi government’s last full-fledged budget ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the first after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). 

Jaitley will present the Union Budget 2018-19 at 11 am today during the Budget Session of the Parliament. The Budget speech will be telecasted live across news channels in India. Viewers can watch the LIVE telecast of the Union Budget 2018-19 on Lok Sabha television from 11 am onwards on Thursday. It can also be seen on the YouTube webcast of Rajya Sabha TV.

For the first time since Union Budget started in 1860, nothing is likely to become cheaper or costlier after the budget announcement because there is no custom excise duty to increase or decrease. Ever since the government has introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST), only consumer product left in the purview of custom excise duty are petrol, diesel and other petroleum products. 

Government has decided that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of all crops shall be increased at least 1.5 times that of the production cost

11:13 am: Govt committed to welfare of farmers. Our emphasis is on generating higher income for farmers: Jaitley 

# Indian economy is on course to achieve high growth of 8 %. Economy to grow at 7.2-7.5% in second half of 2018-19: FM Jaitley

# India soon to become fifth largest economy in world, says Arun Jaitley

11:09 am: Indian economy has performed very well since our government took over in May 2014. It is now the seventh largest in the world: FM Jaitley

11:06 am: Post-GST, taxpayers base increased considerably. Flow of cash in economy has come down: FM 

11:04 am: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley begins Budget speech in English

11 am: Business begins at Lok Sabha

# FM Arun Jaitley reaches Lok Sabha. Breaking tradition, the FM is expected to speak mostly in Hindi when he presents the Budget. 

# Cabinet approves Union budget; FM Arun Jaitley's speech to start shortly

# Arun Jaitley has already hinted at a relief for taxpayers while making a case for rationalisation of direct tax structure considering the fact that "the tax base has expanded".

10:10 am: Union Cabinet meet underway at Parliament 

10 am: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrives at Parliament 

# Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s live interview begins at 2pm. The post-Budget press conference to begin at 4pm. A discussion with the Economic Advisory Council is scheduled for 4.30pm. #AskYourFM talkathon begins at 7pm.

# Sensex opens above 36000-mark ahead of Budget presentation. Rupee weakens 9 paise against dollar in opening trade

9:40 am: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley calls on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget

09:35 am: The government is likely to increase the budget allocation for farm education, research and extension by up to 15 per cent to around Rs 8,000 crore

09:30 am: Experts believe that the budget will be an attempt by the government to appease the common man as it comes ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and in a year when eight state assemblies go to polls.

09:27 am: There is also an expectation that common man may get some relief in income tax by way of a rise in the exemption limit.

09:02 am:

While PM Modi has time and again said that the Budget 2018 will not be a ‘populist’ one, experts believe that it will be an attempt by the government to appease the common man.

Ahead of the Budget Session, PM Modi said that the upcoming budget will fulfil everyone’s dreams. “The budget will add new vigour to India’s development and will fulfil aspirations of people,” he said.

The fifth budget, to be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, means a lot for the NDA government as it comes ahead of the 2019 General elections, and in a year when eight state assemblies – Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan – go to polls.