Cong's Abhishek Singhvi taken aback by Centre's 10% nominal GDP growth forecast

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi slammed Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2020 by saying that it was "disappointing" again as it was during the previous five years of the BJP government.

Taking a jibe at the government, he said, "The search for 'Vikas' (development) which has been on for the past 6 years is still drawing a blank." In a series of Tweets, he attacked the government over the various reforms it proposed during the Budget.

'Great at announcements and shoddy at execution'

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed the setting up five new Smart Cities, responding to which Singhvi said, "Proposal for new smart cities is good news but what happened to the 100 smart cities promised in the earlier budget. How many of them have been completed? Great at announcements and shoddy at execution."

He also said that, "There is a limit of lying" after the Finance Minister projected the nominal growth rate for the year 20-21 at 10%. Countering the claims made by the Centre, Singhvi said, "Current nominal growth rate at best with BJP calculations is about 5% and with authentic calculation is about 3-4%. Phenkne ki bhi Seema hoti hai."

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FM proposes new income tax slabs

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday proposed new income tax slabs and lower rates. These income tax rates are optional and are available to those who are willing to forego some exemptions and some deductions. The new income tax rates will be significantly reduced for those who forego reliefs, exemptions, the Finance Minister said.

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Under the income tax rates, tax of only 10% will be charged for an income of ₹5 lakh-7.5 lakh as against the prevailing 20% rate. From ₹7.5 lakh-10 lakh income, a tax rate of 15% against 20% prevailing rate. For income ₹10-12.5 lakh, a rate of 20% will be charged as against 30% earlier. For income between ₹12.5 lakh and ₹15 lakh will be taxed at 25% as against current levels of 30%. For those at ₹15 lakh plus income, the tax rate will remain at 30%.

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