Expectations from Modi govt's interim Budget 2019 and how it be different this time

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government is all set to present sixth Union Budget 2019 ahead on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The interim Budget will be presented in a joint Parliament session.

Union Budget 2019: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government is all set to present sixth Union Budget 2019 ahead on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and it is the last time for Modi cabinet to make some popular announcements to lure voters’ confidence. As this one is going to be an interim Budget, not a full Budget, not too much can be expected from the government. However, looking at the past 5 years of the Modi government, surprises can always be expected. Recalling some surprising overnight decisions taken by the Central government including demonetisation and implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), even interim Budget on February 1 can have much in the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s suitcase. Why do we say this? This is because of the fact that PM Modi himself admitted during his recent interview with news agency ANI that his government will continue to alter tax structure as there is much scope of improvement. The interim Budget will be presented in a joint Parliament session and deliberations have so far focused on convention and legislation related to it. Usually, the Budget presented months before a Lok Sabha election does not have a distinct Part B and is only limited to a number of tax-related announcements. However, there are no such provisions that restrain the government from presenting a detailed one or something similar to a full Budget. From 2017 onwards, Modi government preponed the Union Budget to February 1 instead of February 28 and this allows the Central government to get the Finance Bill passed before the new financial year which begins on April 1. As per industry experts, the Budget 2019 might bring some cheer for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Information Technology (IT) companies as job creation has been one of prime focus of the Central government. Though the Opposition, especially Congress, has targeted the BJP government for failing on its poll promises on job creation, PM Modi and his cabinet have always maintained that all possible measures are taken to boost employment in the country. Several industry experts believe that IT services companies are likely to increase their budgets in 2019, after not doing so for the past few years. It is also said that maximum domestic and overseas business deals will be led by new technologies giving maximum potential in their business. After remaining slow for years, IT spending witnessed a significant boom in the second half of 2018. One of the hotbed sectors of 2018, agriculture remained in distress throughout the year as crop prices slumped due to bumper production. Agriculture will be in the spotlight in 2019 as the BJP-ruled central government is set to roll out a big package to assuage the angry farming community ahead of the general elections. As per government sources, the proposals are being considered ranging from waiving off interest for farmers who repay crop loans on time to lowering the insurance premium and providing income support for meeting input costs. Too much focus will be on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's last Budget speech and it will be worth the wait to see what the incumbent government has to lower the agrarian crisis in the country.