Union Budget 2019: New tenancy law to bring relief to those who live on rent

The newly-appointed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has brought some good news for tenants who live in rented accommodations in her Union Budget 2019 speech. Calling them archaic, the minister said, "Several reforms would be undertaken to promote rental housing, current rental laws are archaic as they do not address lessor-lessee relationships fairly." Sitharaman said the new tenancy rules would be shared with the states.

All eyes are on the Finance Minister who presented her first Budget at the Parliament today. One of the first changes she brought about could be a small one but one that is in line with the Modi government. The minister did away with the briefcase that had become akin to the Budget sessions and replaced it with a red folder.

Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said keeping budget documents in the four-fold red cloth instead of a briefcase is an Indian tradition. It symbolises our departure from slavery of the Western thought. It is not a budget but a bahi khata (ledger), he added.

Talking about the economy, the minister said, "From 1.85 trillion dollars in 2014, the economy has reached 2.7 trillion US dollars; we can very well reach 5 trillion dollars in the next few years." She said that it took us over 55 years to reach $1 trillion economy but the people's hearts, filled with Vishwas and Akanksha, have helped us achieve the next couple of trillions within a short span.

"We'll work with state governmentts to remove barriers, cross subsidy, surcharges, undesirable duties on open access sales, or captive generation for industrial & bulk power consumers," said the FM.

Also read: Budget 2019 Speech Live: India will become $3-trillion economy in FY20, says Sitharaman

Also read: Union Budget 2019: Relief for middle class! Tax exemption limit likely to be increased to Rs 3 lakh