Union Budget 2015: Key expectations from Finance Minister

New Delhi, Feb 28: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present on Saturday the first full year Budget of the National Democratic Alliance government, which is termed as a 'make or break' fiscal exercise widely expected to unveil pro-common man measures and push forward 'Make In India' campaign.

A "whole set of second generation reforms" will be unveiled in the next Union Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said recently, promising "a lot of exciting time ahead".

The country needs "a larger opening out in more sectors," it requires stability of policy and tax regime besides a "reasonable" cost of capital, he had said.

Union Budget 2015-16 is scheduled to be presented in Lok Sabha at 11 am, and everyone, from the industry honchos, service class, middle class, business class, students, housewives to the common man have immense expectations from this budget.

Following are some of the expectations from the Union Budget:

The Budget is expected to cut down fiscal deficit from 4.1 per cent of GDP to 3.6 per cent of GDP in the fiscal starting April 1.

Besides doling out sops to the individual tax payers, he is also expected to unveil initiatives to boost investments by corporates and promote manufacturing as part of the 'Make In India' campaign that aims to make the country a global manufacturing hub and create jobs.

Jaitley's first Budget led to savings of up to Rs. 40,000 for those in the highest tax bracket. Income tax exemptions are expected to go up in Saturday's Budget.

The Budget is expected to come up with a roadmap on the key legislation.

Reduction in service and excise tax rate is also on the wish-list of people. At present, the rate of service tax and excise duty is 12 percent each.

The Budget is expected to streamline flagship welfare schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the largest public works programme in the world.

OneIndia News