As Parliament gears up for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s budget speech on the floor of the House, what is the outlook for some of India’s key sectors? News18 brings you the sectoral outlook for five key sectors, explained in five videos:
INCOME TAX
With experts harping on the need to raise the tax exemption limit to Rs 3,00,000 per annum from the current limit of 2,50,000 per annum, it will be interesting to see how Budget 2018 unfolds. Meanwhile, RSS-inspired Vitta Salahkar Samiti head Anil Gupta told News18 that the Finance Ministry might just bring the tax rates down instead of raising the limit.
RAILWAYS
After a year filled with accidents, the Railway Budget will focus largely on passenger safety. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has set ambitious targets for 2018, such as the elimination of all unmanned level crossings over the next 3-4 years. But can he meet them?
DEFENCE
While the overall Defence Budget has grown, the ‘modernization budget’ of the Armed Forces has actually come down. In 2016-17, the modernization budget of the Armed Forces was Rs 70,414 crore, which shrunk by 0.9% to Rs 69,783 crore. Of this amount, only 12% is for ‘New Schemes’. The Air Force relies on Soviet-era MiGs which will retire by 2020. The Indian Air Force Chief plans to have a 42-Squadron Air Force by 2032 but according to recent data put forward by the government, the IAF’s squadron strength will actually shrink. While the Indian Navy received some relief with the commissioning of INS Kalvari, it still has to make do with a fleet of 13, mostly ageing, submarines. Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba had said earlier that India planned to have a fleet of 22 submarines by 2020-21. The Army, too, needs new equipment and fast. The Army is in urgent need of reconnaissance helicopters, new bullet-proof jackets and modern assault rifles. So for India’s Armed Forces, a lot is riding on this budget.
ROADS AND HIGHWAYS
While India has gone the whole hog in constructing roads and highways throughout last year, maintenance complaints have been propping up time and again. Budget 2018 is expected to usher in more clarity on issues of road safety, post-construction maintenance as well as harp on some key projects.
ENERGY SECTOR
India has a daunting task of achieving its renewable energy target of 175 GW along with cutting down on its oil import bill. Clubbed with the former, crude oil prices have been rising and the country has a limited supply of natural gas. No brownie points for guessing the importance of a Union Budget at this juncture.
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