Budget 2019 Highlights – petrol and diesel costlier, digital payments cheaper
Still amidst a global pandemic and faced with a shrinking GDP growth rate, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the year 2021-2022. This year’s budget is guided by 6 main pillars:
a) Health and well-being, b) Physical and financial capital and infrastructure, c) Inclusive development of aspirational India, d) Reinvigorating human capital, e) Innovation and R&D, f) Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.
Here we summarize the key points included in this budget:

Budget 2021 Key Takeaways
- No change in personal income tax slabs
- Health budget increased by 137%
- ₹35K Crores allocated for Covid-19 Vaccination
- Custom duty on imports of Gold and Silver to be reduced
- Custom duty on mobile phone parts increased – duty on some parts increased from 0% to 2.5%
- Capital gains from listed securities, bank interest and dividend income will now be pre-populated at the time of filing taxes
- Voluntary vehicle scrapping policy announced – vehicles will have to undergo fitness tests at automated testing facilities every 15 years (for commercial vehicles) and every 20 years (for personal vehicles)
- ₹1.5L tax benefit for affordable home loans extended till March 2022
- ₹1500 Crore scheme announced to promote digital payments
- Two public sector banks, one general insurance company, Bharat Petroleum and some other PSUs to be privatised in the upcoming financial year
- 100 new Sainik schools to be setup, 750 Eklavya schools slated to open in tribal areas
- For businesses doing more than 95% of transactions through digital payments, the need for getting an audit done is waived off – provided the overall turnover does not exceed ₹10 crore in a financial year
- To reduce uncertainty, the time limit for reopening of income tax proceedings against tax evaders has been reduced from 6 years to 3 years
- Tax holiday for startups has been extended up to 31st March 2022
- Residents over 75 years of age, earning interest income or receiving pensions will be exempted from the need to file income tax returns
- FDI in Insurance sector increased from 49% to 74%
The entire text of the Budget 2021 speech is available here.
Still undecided on what should be your monthly budget? Install Walnut to track your expenses automatically and know how much you spend. Get started now.
Related posts