India raises import tariffs, taxes on the super rich

India raised import tariffs on nearly 75 items including gold and automobile parts in its new budget and increased taxes on the rich to help pay for recapitalising banks and supporting small business in a bid to revive sagging growth, reports Reuters.

Aiming to restart investment that's at its weakest level in years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government also proposed giving foreign investors a bigger role in India's giant insurance and aviation sectors, which have been tightly controlled for decades.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the proposals while presenting to parliament the budget for fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, the first since the Hindu nationalist-led government was re-elected in a vote spanning April and May.

Modi, boosted by his election victory, has set a target of growing India into a $5.0 trillion economy by 2024/2025 from $2.7 trillion. A government report last week said this will be done on the back of higher investment, savings and exports in the way China's growth was propelled.

"This budget is setting out a vision, a target, for every sector of our society," Sitharaman said to the thumping of desks in parliament.