Interim Budget 2019: Rs 6,000 a year for small farmers, no tax up to Rs 5 lakh

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the Interim Budget 2019 in Parliament on 1 February, weeks before the Lok Sabha election, with major announcements for farmers, unorganised-sector workers and middle-class taxpayers. Ahead of the speech, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the government’s “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” approach would be reflected in it.

Farmers

• A new scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, would pay Rs 6,000 a year, paid as three instalments of Rs 2,000 each, directly into the bank accounts of farmers holding less than 2 hectares of land.
• The scheme, fully funded by the Centre and applicable from December 2018, was projected to cost Rs 75,000 crore and reach 12 crore small and marginal farmers.
• Goyal cited the earlier decision to set minimum support prices at 1.5 times the cost of production for all 22 crops.
• Farmers hit by natural calamities would get 2% interest subvention, with a further 3% for timely repayment; the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog was announced for cow welfare and the Rashtriya Gokul Mission allocation raised to Rs 750 crore.

Workers and taxpayers

• Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan would give unorganised-sector workers a pension of Rs 3,000 a month after the age of 60, for a contribution of Rs 100 a month.
• Individuals with taxable income up to Rs 5 lakh would get a full tax rebate; the standard deduction for salaried people rose from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.
• No TDS would apply on rent up to Rs 2.4 lakh a year, and the TDS threshold on bank and post office interest went up to Rs 40,000, compared with Rs 10,000 earlier.
• The gratuity limit was raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

Other highlights

• The fiscal deficit target for 2018-19 was revised to 3.4%.
• Defence spending crossed Rs 3 trillion for the first time.
• Railway capital expenditure was set at Rs 1.59 trillion, against Rs 1.48 trillion in Budget 2018-19.
• The government said the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections had been ensured without disturbing existing quotas.
• Goyal claimed rural sanitation coverage had passed 98% and that 34 crore Jan Dhan accounts had been opened.

What happened next

The Lok Sabha election was held between 11 April and 19 May 2019. The BJP won 303 of 543 seats and Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term on 30 May 2019.

See also: election news

Originally published on 1 February 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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