Parliament gives approval to Modi govt’s FY20 Budget

New Delhi: Parliament gave its nod to Narendra Modi 2.0 government’s maiden budget, with the Rajya Sabha returning it to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after voice vote.

The lower house of Parliament had approved it last week. Finance minister Nirmla Sitharaman, who replied to a four-hour debate on the two bills — The Appropriation (No 2) Bill, 2019 and the Finance (No 2) Bill, 2019 — said tax proposals aim at redistribution of funds to bring more equitable development and justified raising tax on petrol and diesel by `2 per litre each saying inflation was at rock bottom and the move would not add any significant burden.

The minister also justified slapping 10 per cent import duty on new-sprint, which the newspaper industry has criticized as backbreaking, sa-ying the move would give domestic paper producers a level playing field.

Almost the entire Opposition boycotted the debate, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make a statement on US President Donlad Trump’s claim of him seeking mediation on Kashmir issue. “This government, now that we have come with the larger mandate and for the second time, is aiming to bring in such changes for building a ‘New India’ wherein there is greater transparency, less of government, more of governance and making sure that re-distribution of resource happen with great equity principle in mind,” said the minister adding that the Budget 2019-20 proposals including raising tax on super-rich and levy of a tax on high value cash withdrawals were aimed at creating the new India and curbing tax evasion as well as blackmoney.

“So, if you were to raise more taxes, more collection is only going to result in more re-distribution of funds thereby bringing far more equitable development,” she said.