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On February 1, 2018, Arun Jaitley, Honourable Finance Minister of India presented the Union Budget 2018. The government expects growth to continue and foreign investment is increasing further. Due to various reforms, India has improved its ease of doing business ranking significantly and is now amongst the top 100 countries. Like every year, the new annual budget brings important legislative changes. On the regulatory side, the Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines to nudge corporates to access the bond market. At the same time, certain changes have been proposed in the social security regulations to enhance job creation. On the direct tax side, the reduction in the corporate income tax rate to 25 percent will now apply to companies with a turnover up to INR 2.5 billion. Long term capital gains generated from April 1, 2018 and exceeding INR 0.1 million are brought under the tax net. The income distributed by equity oriented mutual funds has also been brought under the dividend distribution tax. On the indirect tax side, no changes were made in the existing GST laws. Under the customs laws, while introduction of social welfare cess would marginally increase the cost of goods imported in India, several amendments for rationalisation of assessment procedures and trade facilitation measures have also been made.
India is developing its road, aviation, railway and shipping infrastructure. Already initiated projects like the smart city projects, start-ups, electrification and Digital India are on track. Download budget report »
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