Union Budget 2017 LIVE updates:

12. 55 pm: Arun Jaitley introduces Finance Bill in Lok Sabha. House stands adjourned. Thank you for following our live blog.

12. 55 pm: Arun Jaitley concludes his budget presentation

12. 52 pm: One page tax filing form for taxable income under Rs 5 lakh

12. 51 pm: Those individuals in the tax bracket of Rs 50 lakh will stand to benefit from a tax rebate of Rs 12,500.

12. 50 pm: Jaitley reduces existing rate of taxation for individuals with income between 2.5 lakh to 5 lakh to 5% instead of 10%; Surcharge of 10% for those whose annual income is Rs 50 lakh to 1 crore; Surcharge on Rs 1 crore or more remains unchanged.

12. 47 pm: Govt considering option to amend Negotiable Instruments Act to ensure that holders of dishonoured cheques get payment

12. 44 pm: Political funding reforms:

Max amount political party can receive in cash donation will be Rs 2000 from any one source

Political parties will be entitled to recieve donations by cheque or digital mode

Additional step amendment proposed to RBI act to enable issuance of electoral bonds in accordance to scheme by GOI. Donor could purchase bonds from authorised banks. Redeemable only in registered accounts of party.

12. 42 pm: A proposal to receive all government receipts beyond a certain threshold through e-modes under consideration

12. 41 pm: No cash transcations above Rs 3 lakh, announces Arun Jaitley

12. 40 pm:  We are committed to make our taxation rate reasonable, our tax administration more fair and expand the tax base of the country

12. 39 pm: Basic customs duty on LNG to be reduced from 5% to 2.5%, announces Arun Jaitley

12. 37 pm: Tax rate for companies with an annual turnover up to 50 crores to be reduced to 25%, to strengthen MSME sector

12. 36 pm: The net tax revenue grew by 17% in 2015-16, says Jaitley

12. 34 pm: Deposits between Rs 2-80 lakh made in 1.09 cr accounts post demonetisation, says Jaitley

12. 33 pm: Of 76 lakh individuals who reported income of over Rs 5 lakh, 56 lakh are salaried, says Jaitley

12.30 pm: Due to demonetisation advance tax on personal income tax increased by 34.8%

12. 30 pm: The rate of growth in advance tax in personal income tax domains has increased by 34.81%

12. 29 pm: Coastal roads of 2,000 kms to accelerate development of Coastal Economic Zones

12. 28 pm: 3.7 crore individuals filed tax returns, 99 lakh of them below taxable limit. Number of people with more than 50 lakh income is 1.26 lakh, says Jaitley

12.26 pm: Predominance of cash in our economy makes it easy for people to avoid taxes, we are largely a tax non compliance society, when too many people evade taxes burden falls on those who are honest, says Arun Jaitley.

12. 23 pm: Total resources being transferred to the states & union territories with legislature is Rs 4.11 lakh crore. Budget allocation for highways stepped up to Rs 64,000 crore in FY18 from Rs 57,676 crore. Allocation for national highways stepped up to Rs 64,000 cr from Rs 57,676 cr. Fiscal Deficit target for 2017-18 is 3.2%.

12. 22 pm: Defence expenditure excluding pension at Rs 2.74 lakh crore, says FM Arun Jaitley

12. 21 pm: The total expenditure of budget 2017-18 has been placed at Rs 21.47 lakh crore, says  Arun Jaitley

12. 20 pm: Good news for those who have to travel long distances for obtaining a passport. Arun Jaitley has announced that Head Post Offices will now be used as the front office for passport services.

12. 19 pm: Forex reserves to offer a cover for 12 months of imports, announces Arun Jaitley

12. 18 pm: New law to confiscate properties/assets of economic offenders fleeing country

12. 18 pm: Select airports in tier-II cities to be taken up for operations, development on PPP mode

12. 17 pm:  Chandigarh and eight districts of Haryana have been declared Kerosene free

12. 15 pm: Railway tariffs to be fixed on the basis of cost, social obligation and competition; Railway related state-run companies like Ircon, IRCTC to be listed on stock exchanges, says Arun Jaitley

12. 13 pm: 125 lakh people adopted the BHIM app so far; merchant version of Aadhaar-enabled payment will be launched shortly for those without debit cards, mobile phones. Govt will launch two new schemes to promote the use of BHIM app.

12. 12 pm: Priority will be given to tribal, Dalit, women to setup greenfield enterprises, says Arun Jaitley

12. 11 pm: Action plan to eliminate Kala Azar and Filariasis by 2017, Leprosy by 2018, Measles by 2020 and Tuberculosis by 2025

12. 10 pm: Allocation for SCs increased from Rs 38,833 cr to Rs 52,393 cr, a rise of 35 per cent, Jaitley says.

12. 09 pm: Transport sector allocated Rs 2.41 lakh crore and Bharat Net Project allocated Rs 10,000 crore

12. 06 pm: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has been abolished, Jaitley announced, adding that further liberalisation in the FDI policy would be taken in the next few days.

12.00 pm: Total investment for infrastructure in budget 2017 stands at a record Rs 3,96,135 cr, says Arun Jaitley.

11. 59 am: Railways will integrate end to end transport solutions for selected commodities through partnership. By 2019, all coaches of Indian Railways will be fitted with bio-toilets.

11. 57 am: At least 25 stations expected to be awarded during 2017-18; 500 stations will be made differently abled-friendly by providing lifts and escalators

11. 56 am: A new metro rail policy will be announced, this will open up new jobs for our youth: FM Jaitley

11.55 am: Good news for all those who book tickets on IRCTC. You will no longer have to pay service charge, announces Jaitley.

11. 54 am: Rs 1.3 lakh crore has been allotted for solar power, disabled friendly stations. Rail safety fund with a corpus of Rs 100,000 crore to be created over a period of 5 years. Jaitley announces Rs 55000 crore for Railways in Budget 2017. Capital and development expenditure pegged at Rs 1.31 lakh cr for railways in 2017-18 from Budget.

11. 53 am: Focus is on swachch railways, says Jaitley. Steps will be taken to launch dedicated trains for pilgrimage and tourism, he says.

11. 52 am: Jaitley also announced the restructuring of University Grants Commission.

11. 49 am: On health, the government proposes to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025.  Two new AIIMS Hospitals to be set up in Jharkhand and Gujarat

11. 49 am: Budget allocation for welfare of women and children under various ministries increased to Rs 1,84,632 cr.

11.48 am: The government is looking to complete 1,00,00,000 houses by 2019 for houseless and those living in kaccha houses. Open defecation free villages are now being given priority for piped water supply.

11. 47 am: SANKALP – 4000 crores allotted to train for market oriented training. At least 3.5 crore youth will be provided market-relevant training under Sankalp programme

11. 46 am: For youth, proposed to introduce a system of measuring annual learning; Science to be given focus; Quality education will energize our youth. Skill centres will be set up across the country to help youth seeking opportunities outside the country

11. 45 am: 100% village electrification will be achieved by May 1,2018

11. 43 am: Minilabs by qualified local entrepreneurs to be set up for soil testing in all 648 krishivigyan kendras in the country

11. 42 am: Allocation for Pradhan Mantri Awaaz Yojana up from 15,000 cr to 23,000 cr

11. 40 am: Sanitation in rural areas has gone up from 42% in October 2014 (launch of Swachh Bharat) to 60% now.

11.37 am: PMGSY roads work accelerated to 133 km roads/day in 2016-17 as against 73km/day during 2011-14, says Arun Jaitley

11. 35 am: MGNREGA should create productive asets to improve farm productivity, incomes. MNREGA allocation increased. Highest ever allocation for MNREGA at Rs 48,000 crore. Participation of women in MGNREGA up to 55%.

11. 30 am: We will support Nabard for 63,000 functional PACs. Done in 3 years at an estimated cost of Rs 1,900 cr.  Issurance of soil health cards have gathered momentum.  Fasal Bima Yojana – 40% cropped area to be covered in 2017-18, 50% in 2018-19. A dedicated fund worth Rs 5,000 crore to be set up for micro-irrigation under Nabard

11. 26 am: With better monsoon, agriculture is expected to grow at 4.1%. Target for agricultural credit for 2017-18 is set at ten lakh crore, announces Arun Jaitley

11. 24 am: “We are aware we need to do more for our people, our agenda is transform, energise and clean India, that is ‘tech India'”

11. 25 am: Surplus liquidity in banking system created by demonetisation will lower borrowing cost and increase access to credit.

11. 23 am: “My aim while preparing the budget this year has been to spend more in rural areas, infrastructure and poverty alleviation and yet maintain fiscal prudence.” We have done away with planned and non planned allocation of resources to states, Jaitley says.

11. 22 am: “Demonetisation to create a new normal for a bigger, cleaner GDP; slowdown, if any, will be only transient. Effects of demonetisation will not spill over to the next year. Demonetisation is a bold and decisive measure, for many decades tax evasion was a way of life for many. I am reminded of what our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi said ‘a right cause never fails’.”

11. 21 am: India’s Current Account Deficit decreased from about 1% of GDP last yr to 0.3% of GDP in 1st half of 2016-17. Growth in a number of emerging economies is expected to recover in 2017. India remains a bright spot in global economy, we are seen as an engine of global growth.

11. 18 am: “CPI inflation is expected to remain within RBI’s mandated range of 2 to 6 percent. International Monetary Fund estimates that the world GDP will grow by 3.1% in 2016 and 3.4% in 2017.”

11. 15 am: “FII has increased from Rs 1.07 lakh crore to Rs 1.45 lakh crore. India has become the sixth largest manufacturing country in the world. Government has ensured fiscal consolidation without cutting back on public investments.”