Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2015 in Lok Sabha today,
Focusing on Prime Minister’s ambitious Digital India Programme, Arun Jaitley said that the trinity JAM- Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile & GST, are game changing reforms.
“Jan Dhan, Aadhaar & Mobile & GST, will help the government to implement direct transfer of benefits in leakage proof manner,” he said.
The ambitious Digital India programme, an integral plank of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, was “making good progress”, he added.
An overall sum of Rs 2,510 crore has been set aside in the budget for 2015-16 under the head “Digital India Programme and Telecommunications and Electronic Industries”.
Jaitely also announced Rs 1,000 crore for promotion of start ups and entrepreneurs particularly in the technology sector.
“The IT-ITeS sector has raked in revenues of USD 119 billion in 2014-15 and directly employs about 40 lakh people,” he said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also said the Postal Department will utilise the services of its vast network for the proposed Payment Bank, so that it can contribute in Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
“Government proposes to utilise vast postal network with nearly 1.55 lakh points of presence across villages of the country.” USD 20.9 billion in 2014-15, with a growth of 10 per cent
Talking about the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) plan, Arun Jaitley said that Fibre network of 7.5 lakh kilometres in 2.5 lakh villages is being further speeded up by allowing willing states to undertake its execution on reimbursement of cost determined by the Department of Telecommunications.
With a special emphasis on Make In India Programme, Jaitley said the government aims to make India a manufacturing hub.
“To boost Make In India, government is providing protection to the domestic firms from foreign competition through tariffs and mandatory local sourcing besides making regulations and taxes less onerous,” he said.
In a bid to improve the ease of doing business environment in the country, Jaitley said the government will unveil a comprehensive Bankruptcy Code in the current fiscal.
“Bankruptcy law reform, that brings about legal certainty and speed, has been identified as a key priority for improving the ease of doing business,” he said in the Budget 2015-16 presented to Parliament.