Budget 2018: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Union Budget 2018 speech announced a capital expenditure of Rs 1.48 lakh crore for Indian railways. According to Jaitley most of this money will be spent on capacity expansion.
According to Jaitley most of this money will be spent on capacity expansion, since that is the most important priority for railways right now. There is a target of doubling 18,000 km of lines and gauge conversion is underway to eliminate capacity constraints, FM Jaitley said for Railway Budget 2018. Jaitley highlighted that new world-class train sets are being manufactured, dedicated freight corridors are coming up and electrification is being taken up as a priority task.
Important updates of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s speech:
MP salaries to be revised with effect from 1 April, 2018. It will increase every 5 years indexed to inflation.
For Year 2018 fiscal deficit at 5.95 lakh crore (3.5% of GDP) as against expected 3.2%.For Year 2019 fiscal deficit pegged at 3.3 of GDP.Govt committed to revised fiscal glide path.
Salary of President raised to Rs 5 lakh.Vice-President salary raised to Rs 4 lakh, Guvs salary raised to Rs 3.5 lakh.
Government sets Rs 80,000 crore disinvestment target for 2018-19.
Govt does not consider cryptocurrency as legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate its use in financing illegitimate activities.
Niti Aayog will establish a national programme to direct efforts towards Artificial Intelligence, including research and development of its applications.
The govt proposes to expand India’s airport capacity from what it is now to more than 5 times.
56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads will be covered for usage by civilians. People wearing Hawai Chappal will also be able to use Hawai Jahaj.
National Highways exceeding 9,000-km will be completed in 2018-19.
