Union Budget 2019 highlights live updates: Special additional excise duty of Re 1 per litre to be levied on petrol and diesel, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Budget 2019 is the maiden budget for Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who becomes the second woman finance minister to do so. She called on President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting her first Union Budget.

The Union Budget 2019-20 was presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday in the Lok Sabha where she proposed to increase the special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each one by Re 1 per litre on petrol and diesel. Sitharaman also proposed that to discourage the practice of making business payments in cash a TDS of two per cent on should be levied on cash withdrawal exceeding Re one crore in a year from a bank account. 

To ease the burden on small and medium earners, she also proposed a slew of measures. "Those having an annual income up to Rs 5 lakhs are not required to pay any income tax. We are thankful to taxpayers who play an important role in nation building," she said,

Here are the highlights from the Union Budget 2019: 

* Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman concluded her Budget speech saying, "In the first 50 years after independence we emphasized on rights; marking 75 years we should place emphasis on our duty towards India without undermining our rights."

* Income tax increases by three per cent for those earning between Rs 2-5 crore and 7% for those with income above Rs 5 crore: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* TDS of two per cent on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from a bank account to discourage cash transactions for business deals: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* PAN and Aadhaar cards are interchangeable now for tax returns: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Additional Rs 1.5 lakh deduction on interest paid for affordable housing loans till March 2020: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Government has already moved GST council to lower the GST rate on electric vehicles (EV) from 12% to 5%. Also to make EVs affordable for consumers our Govt will provide additional income tax deduction of 1.5 lakh rupees on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase EVs: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* 100 lakh crore rupees to be invested in infrastructure sector over next five years, Expert Committee to be set up to recommend structure and flow of funds through development finance institutions: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* For purchase of high-rated pooled assets of financially sound Non Banking Finance Companies amounting to 1 lakh crore rupees during 2019-20, one-time six-month partial credit guarantee to be given to PSBs: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Direct tax revenue has grown from 6.38 lakh crore to 11.37 lakh crore in last 5 year: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Every verified woman SHG (Self Help Group) member having a Jan Dhan account, an overdraft of 5000 rupees will be allowed: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* NPAs of banks down by Rs 1 lakh crore in last one year. Rs 70000 crore for recapitalisation of PSU banks: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* One woman in every SHG will be made eligible for loan upto 1 lakh under the Mudra scheme: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Issuance of Aadhaar card to NRI with Indian passport after the arrival in India without waiting for the mandatory 180 days: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana - Phase 3 envisaged to upgrade 1.25 lakh km of road length at an estimated cost of Rs 80,250 crore: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Happy and satisfied to report that India will be made Open Defecation Free on October 2nd, 2019, as per the dream of PM Modi. To mark this occasion, Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra to be inaugurated at Raj Ghat, on 2nd October, 2019: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Railways to be encouraged to invest more in suburban railways through SPV structures such as Rapid Regional Transport System; more PPP initiatives to be encouraged in rail sector: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* New National Educational Policy to be brought in to transform Indian educational system; major changes in higher as well as school system to be brought in: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Budget 2019 proposes to establish a National Research Foundation to fund, to coordinate and to promote research in the country. NRF to be set up to strengthen overall research ecosystem in the country; funds available under all Ministries to be integrated with NRF: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Swachh Bharat Mission has touched the very conscious of the nation. FM Sitharaman proposes to expand Swachh Bharat to undertake solid waste management in every village, harnessing latest tech: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Need to replicate Zero Budget Farming, to go back to basics, which will help doubling farmers income: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Jal Shakti Mantralaya will work with states to ensure Har Ghar Jal for all rural houses by 2024, under Jal Jeevan Mission: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Government will bring a New Education Policy to bring education to the international level, focus on research and innovation. National Research Foundation will be formed to ensure the strengthening of the research ecosystem in the country, funds of all ministries will be merged for the foundation. Five years ago no Indian institution was in top 200 international educational institutions. Now there are three higher educational institutions in top 200: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* 80 Livelihood business incubators and 20 technology business incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under ASPIRE to develop 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Gandhipedia being developed by National Science Museum to sensitise the youth about Gandhian thoughts and philosophy: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana - Phase 3 envisaged to upgrade 1.25 lakh km of road length at an estimated cost of 80,250 crore rupees: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Robust fisheries management framework to be set up under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sambada Yojana to address critical gaps in value chain: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* In the second phase of PMAY-Gramin, 1.95 crore houses to be provided to eligible beneficiaries, during 2019-20 to 2021-22; they will have amenities such as LPG, electricity and toilets. Time for completion of houses under PMAY reduced from 314 days in 2015-16 to 114 days in 2017-18, enabling the scale of achievement in PMAY: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Annual Global Investors' Meet to be organized in India, using NIIF as the anchor to get key sets of global players to come and invest in India: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Government keeps Gaon, Garib and Kisan at the centre of everything we do, of every programme: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* To provide NRIs seamless to Indian equities, NRI portfolio investment route to be merged with foreign portfolio investment route: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* A new public company New Space India Limited incorporated as a new arm of Department of Space to tap commercial potential of India's space strength and products: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Electronic Fundraising Platform, a social stock exchange,   to be set up to list social enterprises and voluntary organizations working for social welfare objectives: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Interoperability of RBI depositories and SEBI depositories necessary for seamlesss transfer of treasury bills; govt. will take necessary measures in this regard in consultation with RBI and SEBI: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Pension benefit to be extended to around 3 crore retail traders and shopkeepers with an annual turnover less than 1.5 crores under Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Man Dhan Scheme: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* FAME II scheme aims to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles by right incentives and charging infra: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Comprehensive restructuring of National Highways Programme to be done, to ensure creation of National Highways Grid of desirable capacity: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Plans to reach 5 trillion USD economy--Heavy investment in infrastructure, Digital Economy, Job creation. "Hearts of citizen filled with hope,trust and aspirations": FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Railway infra would need an investment of 50 lakh crores between 2018 and 2030; PPP to be used to unleash faster development and delivery of passenger freight services: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* 657 km of metro rail network has become operational in the country: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* Schemes such as BharatMala, Sagarmala and UDAN are bridging rural urban divide and improving our transport infrastructure: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* India's first indigenous payment ecosystem for transport based on National Common Mobility Card was launched PM in March 2019, enabling people to pay multiple types of transport charges: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* From 1.85 trillion dollars in 2014, the economy has reached 2.7 trillion US dollars; we can very well reach 5 trillion dollars in the next few years: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* The people of India have validated their two goals for our country's future - national security and economic growth, says Nirmala Sitharaman during her Union Budget 2019-20 speech

* The first term of PM Narendra Modi led NDA govt stood out as a performing govt. Between 2014-2019 he provided a rejuvenated centre-state dynamics, cooperative federalism, GST council and strident commitment to fiscal discipline: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* India will become a $3 trillion economy this year: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

* The recent election was charged with brimming home and desire for a bright and stable New India. Majboot desh ke liye majboot nagrik (Strong citizen for a strong country): FM Nirmala Sitharaman

This is Sitharaman's first budget in the second term of the Narendra Modi government. It will also be the maiden budget for Sitharaman, who becomes the second woman finance minister after Indira Gandhi to do so. Whenever a new government is elected, the Parliament convenes for the Budget Session and the newly sworn-in Finance Minister presents the Budget outlook for the first year till February 1. The 17th Lok Sabha`s first session started on June 17.

She called on President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting her first Union Budget. "As per tradition, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman calls on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget," read a tweet posted from the official handle of President. She was joined by Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Anurag Thakur, Finance Secretary S C Garg, and Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian, among other officials.