Budget 2019 LIVE UPDATES: Welcome to Zee Business Online's LIVE Budget 2019 coverage. Union Minister Piyush Goyal presents Interim Budget 2019 in the Lok Sabha. Coming just a few weeks before political parties get into full election mode, Union Budget 2019 is expected to bring some cheer to the common man, especially farmers and job seekers. Some relief may also be announced for the government employees. For common taxpaying individuals, the budget is expected to raise the exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh from the current Rs 2.5 lakh.

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Budget 2019 LIVE Streaming on Zee Business:

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10.02 am: Zee Business Exclusive: Surprise good news for investors! Piyush Goyal likely to remove LTCG tax in budget 2019 | Amid huge protest by the mutual fund and the equity investors, the Narendra Modi government may withdraw the LTCG (Long Term Capital Gains) on securities and the mutual fund investments. READ MORE

9.55 am: Budget 2019 expectation for real estate sector: Gagan Randev, National Director, Capital Markets and Investment Services, Colliers International, tells Zee Business Online: 

The Real Estate industry is waiting with baited breath to see some positive steps that the Govt would take to reduce some of the stress that the sector has faced in the last couple of years. While there are a lot of expectations, the industry would be keenly awaiting good news on the following :

1. A reduction in the rate of GST for under construction units from 18% to 12% with Input Tax credit intact. This would be a spur to the industry. A delight item would be eliminating this all together. This would spur sales of under construction units.

2. A possible reduction in GST on Cement. This is taxed at an abnormally high rate of 28%. Cement is a very large component of construction cost and any reduction to say 18% would reduce construction costs significantly.

3. PMAY limit enhancement - PMAY has been a runaway success and has encouraged several first time home buyers to take the plunge. An increase in the income limit to say 25 Lakhs and /or increase in subsidy interest rates would encourage even more people to buy houses.

4. Enhancement of 80 C benefits - an increase in the 80 C benefits for Interest/Principal repayment benefits would again be a big relief to homeowners who have availed Home loans and also an encouragement to possible buyers to own vs rent.

5. Direction to the Banks to start lending to the RE sector - the industry is starved of funding - the NBFC’s have slowed down post the IL&FS crisis and the Banks (specially the PSU ones) have curtailed lending to RE Developers. Funding is critically required for survival of a lot of Developers and any steps towards addressing this would be a big step forward.

9.46 am: We will be joined by Atul Gupta, Senior Director, Deloitte India for Budget 2019. He will be accompanied by his team: Gulzar Didwania, Director; Akshay Goyal, Deputy Manager and Subham Saraf, Assistant Manager. Atul, along with his team will provide expert opinions on budget 2019.

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9.18 am: Sensex opens at 36311.74; Nifty opens at 10851.35.  Check Share Market Live Updates here

9.13 am: PM Narendra Modi to address the nation after Piyush Goyal's Budget speech.

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7.19 am: Ahead of the Budget speech, industries have raised the banner of protest against Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax. What everyone wants are reforms. It would not be wrong to say that LTCG taxes were the most surprising thing about Budget 2018. However, now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government is all set to present interim Budget 2019-20, many industries are expecting some good news in regards to LTCG on equity returns. Debadrata Bhattacharjee, Head of Research, CapitalAim said, "If the news on LTCG and STT changes is confirmed by finance ministry on budget day then we would say that this will help markets get access to liquidity as foreign Institutions will invest more." 

6.54 am: According to Fitch ratings agency, longer-term trends are more important to the sovereign rating profile. "We believe the central government may still be able to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP for FY19, which would help support its fiscal credibility, although this may be achieved by deferring capital expenditure and postponing bill payments until after March," it said.

ALSO READ |  Income Tax Calculator AY 2019-20 Online as per Budget 2019: Calculate your liability here

06.46 am: Fitch Ratings agency said in its report, "The BJP has reportedly lost votes in some recent state elections due to rural distress and public concerns over job creation. Targeted cash programmes appear the most likely form of support, as they would avoid downside risks of alternatives, such as the farm loan waivers that undermined the loan repayment culture in the past," it said. Populist spending, it said, would aggravate fiscal pressures, which are already building due to revenue shortfalls. Higher pre-election spending could risk a second consecutive year of fiscal slippage relative to the government's targets and would further delay plans to reduce the high general government fiscal deficit and debt burden." 

6.37 am: Will your benefits from fixed deposits, savings rise? There has emerged a strong possibility that government may look into providing some tax relief for your deposits in bank. For banks, the pressure arises from government’s small savings schemes, which forced the lenders to aggressively hike deposit rates beyond their ability to keep up with the Centre’s investment tools. Currently, there is a massive gap between interest rates offered by banks on their deposits and government on their small saving schemes. For banks, deposits are seen as an expenditure as they pay interest to customers, on the other hand, lending is their way to earnings as they receive interest from customers. 

6.33 am: Budget 2019 warning - Ahead of BJP-led NDA government presenting the final budget of its tenure, Fitch Ratings Thursday warned of a second consecutive year of fiscal slippage in the event of Finance Minister Piyush Goyal resorting to populist spending to win over lost vote base. The interim budget to be presented Friday could give some indication of the government's commitment to fiscal consolidation, which is one of the main sensitivities in the sovereign ratings, Fitch said. "Pressure for new expenditure to attract votes, particularly among rural and small-business owner voters, has increased as polls have shown the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is becoming less assured of victory in the general elections. (PTI)

6.19 am: Budget time: Budget 2019 will be presented by Piyush Goyal at 11 am in the Lok Sabha. 

6.16 am: Union minister Piyush Goyal will present Interim Budget 2019 today.