middle class are the primary focus of the budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. In a post-budget media briefing, the minister spoke about the government's attempts to simplify the tax regime and spur job creation. Edited excerpts:
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What's in Sitharaman's Budget for you?
Revenue mobilisation
It is not just this budget, India's tax net has to be widened, whether it is direct or indirect taxation. The dividends of PSUs are improving because their valuations have gone up really high, their performance has also now substantially improved.
Revenue mobilisation is not just tax based, non-tax revenue mobilisation is also coming up. For almost three years, we have been talking of asset monetisation-not selling of assets but optimum use of the assets that are lying unutilised. We are also looking at generating resources from newer areas.
Angel tax
It was introduced in 2012, two years after we came in and as a principle of good governance, the