Indian Initiatives » Union Budget 2011-12

Budget Highlights | Union Budget 2011 – 2012

Indian Initiatives — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:04:41 +0000

Key Features of Budget 2011-2012 :-

OPPORTUNITIES

*Fiscal consolidation targets at Centre and States have shown positive effect on
macro economic management of the economy.
*Amendment to Centre’s FRBM Act, 2003 laying down the fiscal road map for
the next five years to be introduced in the course of the year.
*Proposal to introduce the Public Debt Management Agency of India Bill in the
next financial year.

Tax Reforms
*Direct Taxes Code (DTC) to be finalised for enactment during 2011-12. DTC
proposed to be effective from April 1, 2012.
*Areas of divergence with States on proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST)
have been narrowed. As a step towards roll out of GST, Constitution Amendment

Bill proposed to be introduced in this session of Parliament.
*Significant progress in establishing GST Network (GSTN), which will serve as
IT infrastructure for introduction of GST.
Expenditure Reforms
*A Committee already set up by Planning Commission to look into the extant
classification of public expenditure between plan, non-plan, revenue and capital.
Subsidies
*Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) has improved the availability of fertiliser;
Government actively considering extension of the NBS regime to cover urea.
*Government to move towards direct transfer of cash subsidy to people living
below poverty line in a phased manner for better delivery of kerosene, LPG and
fertilisers. Task force set up to work out the modalities for the proposed system.

People’s ownership of PSUs
*Overwhelming response to public issues of Central Public Sector Undertakings
during current year.
*Higher than anticipated non-tax revenue has led to reschedulement of some
disinvestment issues planned for current year.
*` 40,000 crore to be raised through disinvestment in 2011-12.
*Government committed to retain at least 51 per cent ownership and management
control of the Central Public Sector Undertakings.

INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT
Foreign Direct Investment
*Discussions underway to further liberalise the FDI policy.
Foreign Institutional Investors
*SEBI registered mutual funds permitted to accept subscription from foreign
investors who meet KYC requirements for equity schemes.
*To enhance flow of funds to infrastructure sector, the FII limit for investment in
corporate bonds issued in infrastructure sector being raised.
Financial Sector Legislative Initiatives
*To take the process of financial sector reforms further, various legislations
proposed in 2011-12.
*Amendments proposed to the Banking Regulation Act in the context of additional
banking licences to private sector players.
Public Sector Bank Capitalisation
*` 6,000 crore to be provided during 2011-12 to enable public sector banks to
maintain a minimum of Tier I CRAR of 8 per cent.
Recapitalisation of Regional Rural Banks
*` 500 crore to be provided to enable Regional Rural Banks to maintain a CRAR
of at least 9 per cent as on March 31, 2012.

Micro Finance Institutions
*“India Microfinance Equity Fund” of ` 100 crore to be created with SIDBI.
Government considering putting in place appropriate regulatory framework to
protect the interest of small borrowers.
*“Women’s SHG’s Development Fund” to be created with a corpus of ` 500 crore.
Rural Infrastructure Development Fund
*Corpus of RIDF XVII to be raised from ` 16,000 crore to ` 18,000 crore.
Micro Small and Medium Enterprises
*` 5,000 crore to be provided to SIDBI for refinancing incremental lending by
banks to these enterprises.
*` 3,000 crore to be provided to NABARD to provide support to handloom weaver
co-operative societies which have become financially unviable due to
non-repayment of debt by handloom weavers facing economic stress.
*Public sector banks to achieve a target of 15 per cent as outstanding loans to
minority communities under priority sector lending at the earliest.
Housing Sector Finance
*Existing scheme of interest subvention of 1 per cent on housing loan further
liberalised.
*Existing housing loan limit enhanced to ` 25 lakh for dwelling units under priority
sector lending.
*Provision under Rural Housing Fund enhanced to ` 3,000 crore.
*To enhance credit worthiness of economically weaker sections and LIG
households, a Mortgage Risk Guarantee Fund to be created under
Rajiv Awas Yojana.
*Central Electronic Registry to prevent frauds involving multiple lending on the
same immovable property to become operational by March 31, 2011.
Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission
*Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission set up to rewrite and streamline
the financial sector laws, rules and regulations.
*Companies Bill to be introduced in the Lok Sabha during current session.

AGRICULTURE
*Removal of production and distribution bottlenecks for items like fruits and
vegetables, milk, meat, poultry and fish to be the focus of attention this year.
*Allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) increased from
` 6,755 crore to ` 7,860 crore.
Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern Region
*To improve rice based cropping system in this region, allocation of
` 400 crore has been made.
Integrated Development of 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas
*Allocation of ` 300 crore to promote 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas.
Promotion of Oil Palm
*Allocation of ` 300 crore to bring 60,000 hectares under oil palm plantations.
Initiative to yield about 3 lakh Metric tonnes of palm oil annually in five years.
Initiative on Vegetable Clusters
*Allocation of ` 300 crore for implementation of vegetable initiative to provide
quality vegetable at competitive prices.
Nutri-cereals
*Allocation of ` 300 crore to promote higher production of Bajra, Jowar, Ragi and
other millets, which are highly nutritious and have several medicinal properties.
National Mission for Protein Supplement
*Allocation of ` 300 crore to promote animal based protein production through
livestock development, dairy farming, piggery, goat rearing and fisheries.
Accelerated Fodder Development Programme
*Allocation of ` 300 crore for Accelerated Fodder Development Programme to
benefit farmers in 25,000 villages.
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
*Government to promote organic farming methods, combining modern technology
with traditional farming practices.
Agriculture Credit
*Credit flow for farmers raised from ` 3,75,000 crore to ` 4,75,000 crore in
2011-12.
*Interest subvention proposed to be enhanced from 2 per cent to 3 per cent for
providing short-term crop loans to farmers who repay their crop loan on time.
*In view of enhanced target for flow of agriculture credit, capital base of NABARD
to be strengthened by ` 3,000 crore in phased manner.
*` 10,000 crore to be contributed to NABARD’s Short-term Rural Credit fund for
2011-12.
Mega Food Parks
*Approval being given to set up 15 more Mega Food Parks during 2011-12.
Storage Capacity and Cold Chains
*Augmentation of storage capacity through private entrepreneurs and warehousing
corporations has been fast tracked.
*Capital investment in creation of modern storage capacity will be eligible for
viability gap funding of the Finance Ministry.
Agriculture Produce Marketing Act
*In view of recent episode of inflation, need for State Governments to review and
enforce a reformed Agriculture Produce Marketing Act.
Infrastructure and Industry
*Allocation of ` 2,14,000 crore for infrastructure in 2011-12. This is an increase
of 23.3 per cent over 2010-11. This also amounts to 48.5 per cent of total plan
allocation.
*Government to come up with a comprehensive policy for further developing
PPP projects.
*IIFCL to achieve cummulative disbursement target of ` 20,000 crore by
March 31, 2011 and ` 25,000 crore by March 31, 2012.
*Under take out financing scheme, seven projects sanctioned with debt of
` 1,500 crore. Another ` 5,000 crore will be sanctioned during 2011-12.
*To boost infrastructure development, tax free bonds of ` 30,000 crore proposed
to be issued by Government undertakings during 2011-12.
National Manufacturing Policy
*Share of manufacturing in GDP expected to grow from about 16 per cent to
25 per cent over a period of 10 years. Government will come out with a
manufacturing policy.
*Two Committees set up for greater transparency and accountability in procurement
policy; and for allocation, pricing and utilisation of natural resources.
*Issues relating to reconciliation of environmental concern from various
departmental activities including those related to infrastructure and mining to be
considered by a Group of Ministers.
*National Mission for hybrid and electric vehicle to be launched.
*Financial Assistance to be made available for metro projects in Delhi, Mumbai,
Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai.
*Capital investment in fertiliser production proposed to be included as an
infrastructure sub-sector.
Exports
*Of 23 suggestions made by Task Force on Transaction Cost, constituted by the
Department of Commerce, 21 suggestions already implemented. Action to be
taken on the remaining two suggestions. Transaction Cost of ` 2,100 crore will
thus be mitigated.
*Self assessment to be introduced in Customs to modernize the Customs
administration.
*Proposal to introduce scheme for refund of taxes paid on services used for export
of goods.
*Mega Cluster Scheme to be extended for leather products. Seven mega leather
clusters to be set up during 2011-12.
*Jodhpur to be included for the development of a handicraft mega cluster.
BLACK MONEY
*Five fold strategy to be put into operation to deal with the problem of generation
and circulation of black money.
*Membership of various international fora engaged in anti money laundering,
Financial integrity and Economic development, Exchange of information for tax
purposes and transparency, secured.
*Various Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) and Double Taxation
Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) concluded. Foreign Tax Division of CBDT has
been strengthened to effectively handle increase in tax information exchange
and transfer pricing issues.
*Enforcement Directorate strengthened three fold to handle increased number of
cases registered under amended Money Laundering Legislation.
*Finance Ministry has commissioned study on unaccounted income and wealth
held within and outside the country.
*Comprehensive national policy to be announced in near future to strengthen
controls over prevention of trafficking on narcotic drugs.
STRENGTHENING INCLUSION
*National Food Security Bill (NFSB) to be introduced in the Parliament during
the course of this year.
*Allocation for social sector in 2011-12 (` 1,60,887 crore) increased by 17 per
cent over current year. It amounts to 36.4 per cent of total plan allocation.

Bharat Nirman
*Allocation for Bharat Nirman programme proposed to be increased by ` 10,000
crore from the current year to ` 58,000 crore in 2011-12.
*Plan to provide Rural Broadband Connectivity to all 2,50,000 Panchayats in the
country in three years.
MGNREGA
*In pursuance of last years budget announcement to provide a real wage of ` 100
per day, the Government has decided to index the wage rates notified under the
MGNREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour. The enhanced
wage rates have been notified by the Ministry of Rural Development on
January 14, 2011.
*From 1st April, 2011, remuneration of Anganwadi workers increased from ` 1,500
per month to ` 3,000 per month and for Anganwadi helpers from ` 750 per month
to ` 1,500 per month.
Scheduled Castes and Tribal Sub-plan
*Specific allocation earmarked towards Schedule Castes Sub-plan and Tribal
Sub-plan in the Budget.
*Allocation for primitive Tribal groups increased from ` 185 crore in 2010-11 to
` 244 crore in 2011-12.

Education
*Allocation for education increased by 24 per cent over current year.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
*` 21,000 crore allocated, which is 40 per cent higher than Budget for 2010-11.
*Pre-matric scholarship scheme to be introduced for needy SC/ST students studying
in classes IX and X.
National Knowledge Network
*Connectivity to all 1,500 institutions of Higher Learning and Research through
optical fiber backbone to be provided by March, 2012.
Innovations
*National Innovation Council set up to prepare road map for innovations in India.
*Special grant provided to various universities and academic institutions to
recognise excellence.

Skill Development
*Additional ` 500 crore proposed to be provided for National Skill Development
Fund during the next year.
*An international award with prize money of ` 1 crore being instituted for promoting
values of universal brotherhood as part of National celebrations of 150th Birth
Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
Health
*Plan allocations for health stepped-up by 20 per cent.
*Scope of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to be expanded to widen the coverage.
Financial Inclusion
*Target of providing banking facilities to all 73,000 habitations having a population
of over 2,000 to be completed during 2011-2012.
Unorganised sector
*Exit norms under co-contributory pension scheme “Swavalamban” to be relaxed.
Benefit of Government contribution to be extended from three to five years for
all subscribers who enroll during 2010-11 and 2011-12.
*Eligibility for pension under Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme
for BPL beneficiaries reduced from 65 years of age to 60 years. Those above 80
years of age will get pension of ` 500 per month instead of ` 200 at present.

Environment and Climate Change
Forests
*` 200 crore proposed to be allocated for Green India Mission from National
Clean Energy Fund.
Environmental Management
*` 200 crore proposed to be allocated for launching Environmental Remediation
Programmes from National Clean Energy Fund.
Cleaning of Rivers and Lakes
*Special allocation of ` 200 crore proposed to be provided for clean-up of some
more important lakes and rivers other than Ganga.
Some Other Initiatives
*To boost development in North Eastern Region and Special Category States,
allocation for Special Assistance doubled.
*` 8,000 crore provided in current year for development needs of Jammu and
Kashmir.
*Allocation made in 2011-12 to meet the infrastructure needs for Ladakh
(` 100 crore) and Jammu region (` 150 crore).

*Allocation under Backward Regions Grant Fund increased by over 35 per cent.
*Funds allocated under Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for addressing problems
related to Left Wing extremism affected districts. 60 selected Tribal and backward
districts provided with 100 per cent block grant of ` 25 crore and ` 30 crore per
district during 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively.
*A lump-sum ex-gratia compensation of ` 9 lakh for 100 per cent disability to be
granted for personnel of Defence and Para Military forces discharged from service
on medical ground on account of disability attributable to government service.
*Provision of ` 1,64,415 crore, including ` 69,199 crore for capital expenditure to
be made for Defence Services in 2011-12.
*To build judicial infrastructure, plan provision for Department of Justice increased
by three fold to ` 1,000 crore.
Census 2011
*To enumerate castes other than Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes in Census
2011, ‘caste’ to be canvassed as a separate time bound exercise.

IMPROVING GOVERNANCE
UID Mission
*From 1st October, 2011 ten lakh Aadhaar numbers will be generated per day.
IT Initiatives
*Various IT initiatives taken for efficient tax administration. These include
e-filing and e-payment of taxes, adoption of ‘Sevottam’ concept by CBEC and
CBDT, web based facility for tax payers to track the resolution of refunds and
credit for pre-paid taxes and augmentation of processing capacity.
*Under Mission mode projects, funds released to 31 projects received from States/
UTs for computerisation of Commercial taxes. This will allow States to align
with roll out of GST.
*Bill to amend the Indian Stamp Act proposed to be introduced shortly.
*A new scheme with an outlay of ` 300 crore to be launched to provide assistance
to States to modernise their stamp and registration administration and roll out
e-stamping in all the districts in the next three years.
*A new simplified form ‘Sugam’ to be introduced to reduce the compliance burden
of small tax payers falling within presumptive taxation.
*Three more benches of Settlement Commission to be set up to fast track the
disposal of cases.
*Steps initiated to reduce litigation and focus attention on high revenue cases.

Corruption
*Group of Ministers constituted to consider measures for tackling corruption.
Recommendations to be made in a time bound manner.
Performance Monitoring and Evaluation System
*In pursuance of recommendations of Second Administrative Reforms
Commission, 62 departments covered under Performance Monitoring and
Evaluation System (PMES) to assess their effectiveness.
TAGUP
*Recommendations of Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP)
submitted and accepted in principle.
BUDGET ESTIMATES 2011-12
*Gross Tax receipts are estimated at ` 9,32,440 crore.
*Non-tax revenue receipts estimated at ` 1,25,435 crore.
*Total expenditure proposed at ` 12,57,729 crore.
*Increase of 18.3 per cent in total Plan allocation.
*Increase of 10.9 per cent in the Non-plan expenditure.
*XI Plan expenditure more than 100 per cent in nominal terms than envisaged for
the Plan period.
*Increase of 23 per cent in Plan and Non-plan transfer to States and UTs.
*Fiscal Deficit brought down from 5.5 per cent in BE 2010-11 to 5.1 per cent of
GDP in RE 2010-11.
*Fiscal Deficit kept at 4.6 per cent of GDP for 2011-12.
*Fiscal Deficit to be progressively reduced to 3.5 per cent by 2013-14.
*“Effective Revenue Deficit” estimated at 2.3 per cent of GDP in the Revised
Estimates for 2010-11 and 1.8 per cent for 2011-12.
*All subsidy related liabilities brought into fiscal accounting.
*Net market borrowing of the Government through dated securities in 2011-12
would be ` 3.43 lakh crore.
*Central Government debt estimated at 44.2 per cent of GDP for 2011-12 as against
52.5 per cent recommened by the 13th Finance Commission.

PART B TAX PROPOSALS
Direct Taxes
*Exemption limit for the general category of individual taxpayers enhanced from
` 1,60,000 to ` 1,80,000 giving uniform tax relief of ` 2,000.
*Exemption limit enhanced and qualifying age reduced for senior citizens.
*Higher exemption limit for Very Senior Citizens, who are 80 years or above.
*Current surcharge of 7.5 per cent on domestic companies proposed to be reduced
to 5 per cent.
*Rate of Minimum Alternative Tax proposed to be increased from 18 per cent to
18.5 per cent of book profits.
*Tax incentives extended to attract foreign funds for financing of infrastructure.
*Additional deduction of ` 20,000 for investment in long-term infrastructure bonds
proposed to be extended for one more year.
*Lower rate of 15 per cent tax on dividends received by an Indian company from
its foreign subsidiary.
*Benefit of investment linked deduction extended to businesses engaged in the
production of fertilisers.
*Investment linked deduction to businesses developing affordable housing.
*Weighted deduction on payments made to National Laboratories, Universities
and Institutes of Technology to be enhanced to 200 per cent.
*System of collection of information from foreign tax jurisdictions to be
strengthened.
*A net revenue loss of ` 11,500 crore estimated as a result of proposals.
Indirect Taxes
*To stay on course for transition to GST.
*Central Excise Duty to be maintained at standard rate of 10 per cent.
*Reduction in number of exemptions in Central Excise rate structure.
*Nominal Central Excise Duty of 1 per cent imposed on 130 items entering in the
tax net.
*Lower rate of Central Excise Duty enhanced from 4 per cent to 5 per cent.
*Optional levy on branded garments or made up proposed to be converted into a
mandatory levy at unified rate of 10 per cent.
*Peak rate of Custom Duty held at its current level.

Agriculture and Related Sectors
*Scope of exemptions from Excise Duty enlarged to include equipments needed
for storage and warehouse facilities on agricultural produce.
*Basic Custom Duty reduced for specified agricultural machinery from 5 per cent
to 2.5 per cent.
*Basic Custom Duty reduced on micro-irrigation equipment from 7.5 per cent
to 5 per cent.
*De-oiled rice bran cake to be fully exempted from basic Custom Duty. Export
Duty of 10 per cent to be levied on its export.
Manufacturing Sector
*Basic Custom Duty reduced for various items to encourage domestic value
addition vis-à-vis imports, to remove duty inversion and anomalies and to provide
a level playing field to the domestic industry.
*Rate of Export Duty for all types of iron ore enhanced and unified at 20 per cent
ad valorem. Full exemption from Export Duty to iron ore pellets.
*Basic Custom Duty on two critical raw materials of cement industry viz. petcoke
and gypsum is proposed to be reduced to 2.5 per cent.
*Cash dispensers fully exempt from basic Customs Duty.
Environment
*Full exemption from basic Customs Duty and a concessional rate of Central
Excise Duty extended to batteries imported by manufacturers of electrical vehicles.
*Concessional Excise Duty of 10 per cent to vehicles based on Fuel cell technology.
*Exemption granted from basic custom duty and special CVD to critical
parts/assemblies needed for Hybrid vehicles.
*Reduction in Excise Duty on kits used for conversion of fossil fuel vehicles into
Hybrid vehicles.
*Excise Duty on LEDs reduced to 5 per cent and special CVD being fully exempted.
*Basic Customs Duty on solar lantern reduced from 10 to 5 per cent.
*Full exemption from basic Customs Duty to Crude Palm Stearin used in
manufacture of laundry soap.
*Full exemption from basic Excise Duty granted to enzyme based preparation for
pre-tanning.
Infrastructure
*Parallel Excise Duty exemption for domestic suppliers producing capital goods
needed for expansion of existing mega or ultra mega power projects.
*Full exemption from basic Customs Duty to bio-asphalt and specified machinery
for application in the construction of national highways.

Other Proposals
*Scope of exemptions from basic Customs Duty for work of art and antiquities
extended to apply for exhibition or display in private art galleries open to the
general public.
*Exemption from Import Duty for spares and capital goods required for ship repair
units extended to import by ship owners.
*Concessional basic Custom Duty of 5 per cent and CVD of 5 per cent available
to newspaper establishments for high speed printing presses extended to mailroom
equipment.
*Jumbo rolls of cinematographic film fully exempted from CVD by providing
full exemption from Excise Duty.
*Out right concession to factory-built ambulances from Excise Duty.
*Relief measures proposed for raw pistachio, bamboo for agarbatti, lactose for
the manufacture of homoeopathic medicines, sanitary napkins, baby and adult
diapers.
*Proposals relating to Customs and Central Excise estimated to result in a net
revenue gain of ` 7,300 crore.
Service Tax
*Standard rate of Service Tax retained at 10 per cent, while seeking a closer fit
between present regime and its GST successor.
*Hotel accommodation in excess of ` 1,000 per day and service provided by air
conditioned restaurants that have license to serve liquor added as new services
for levying Service Tax.
*Tax on all services provided by hospitals with 25 or more beds with facility of
central air conditioning.
*Service Tax on air travel both domestic and international raised.
*Services provided by life insurance companies in the area of investment and
some more legal services proposed to be brought into tax net.
*All individual and sole proprietor tax payers with a turn over upto ` 60 lakh freed
from the formalities of audit.
*To encourage voluntary compliance the penal provision for Service Tax are being
rationalised. Similar changes being carried out in Central Excise and
Custom laws.
*Proposals relating to Service Tax estimated to result in net revenue gain of
` 4,000 crore.
*Proposals relating to Direct Taxes estimated to result in a revenue loss of
` 11,500 crore and those related to Indirect Taxes estimated to result in net revenue
gain of ` 11,300 crore.

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Union Budget for 2011-12: Increase in IT exemption Limit, lowering of qualifying age for tax relief

Indian Initiatives — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:47:10 +0000

The Union Budget for 2011-12 has proposed increase in the Income Tax Exemption Limit by 20,000 rupees and lowering of qualifying age for tax relief for senior citizens from 65 to 60.

Presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha today, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed to increase the Income Tax Exemption Limit for individual tax payers from 1 lakh 60 thousand rupees to 1 lakh 80 thousand. Each individual tax payer will get a tax relief of 2 thousand rupees. Amidst cheers from Members, he announced reduction of qualifying age for senior citizens, and said the exemption limit to them is also proposed to be increased from 2 lakh 40 thousand rupees to 2 lakh 50 thousand. Announcing a new category of very senior citizens of 80 years and above, Mukherjee said that they will be eligible for a higher exemption limit of 5 lakh rupees.
The budget proposes lower five per cent surcharge for corporate sector, 2.5 per cent less than before. But , minimum Alternative Tax is to go up from 18 per cent to 18.5 per cent of book profits. To attract Foreign Funds for Infrastructure Projects, special vehicles to be created in the form of Infrastructure Debt Funds. Interest payments on borrowing from these funds to attract a lower 5 per cent tax from 20 per cent. To promote savings, the additional deduction of 20 thousand rupees for investment in long-term infrastructure bonds extended for one more year. A lower rate of 15 per cent of tax proposed on dividends received by an Indian company from its foreign subsidiary. Announcing liberalisaion of Housing finance, Mukherjee said the interest subvention of one per cent on housing loans extended upto 15 lakh rupees for houses that does not cost more than 25 lakhs. Existing Housing Loam limit will be enhanced to 25 lakh rupees for dwelling units under priority sector lending. Besides, investment-linked deduction will cover housing sector also and extended for agriculture sector.
Turning to Indirect Taxes, the budget proposes no change in the standard 10 per Central Excise Duty or in the Peak Customs Duty but some rationalizations made. The lower rate of duty, however, raised from 4 to 5 per cent.
Announcing the Government’s decision to stay on course towards Goods and Services Tax, Mukherjee proposed 130 more items to be brought in in the tax net with the nominal Excise Duty of one per cent. Basic food and fuel would continue to be exempt from the one per cent duty and in the case of jewellery and articles of gold, silver and precious metals, the levy will apply only to goods sold under a brand name. The optional levy of 10 per cent on readymade garments will be mandatory for branded garments.
To boost agriculture, credit flow to farmers proposed to be raised to 4 lakhs 75 thousand crore rupees, one lakh crore rupees more than this year. Interest subvention has been increased to 2 to 3 per cent on short term crop loans to farmers who pay their crop loan on time. Equipment for storage, and warehousing facilities exempted from duty.
Customs Duty for specified agricultural machinery reduced from 5 to 2.5 per cent and on micro-irrigation equipment and 7.5 per to 5 per cent. De-oiled rice brawn cake fully exempted from Basic Customs Duty. Expressing high food prices as a principle concern, Mukherjee said, despite improvement in the availability of most food items, consumers were denied the benefit of seasonal fall in prices during winter. But he said, the government has succeeded in core inflation under check. The budget says, NABARD’s capital will be strengthened by 3 thousand crore rupees. Fifteen more mega food parks proposed to be set up for next year.
Announcing concessions for the manufacturing sector, the budget proposes reduction of basic customs duty on raw silk from 30 to 5 per cent. The duty on textile intermediates and chemical inputs will be 2.5 per cent from five. Stainless steel scrap has been fully exempted. Manufacture of syringes and needles to attract 4 per cent countervailing duty instead of five.
Concessions available to mobile handset parts will be extended for one year adding more items in the list. Iron ore will attract 20 per cent export duty, 5 per cent more than the present rate.
Clean environment gaining more attention now. The budget proposes a slew of concessions. Four per cent Excise Duty provided for specific parts of electrical vehicle to be extended to batteries imported by manufacturers. Concessional 10 per cent Excise Duty proposed for fuel cell or Hydrogen cell-technology-based vehicles. Full exemption from Customs Duty provided to specific parts of such vehicles. The kits for conversion of fossil fuel vehicles will attract a lesser duty of 10 per cent and their parts only 5 per cent. The duty on LED lights reduced to 5 per cent with full exemption of countervailing duty. The solar lantern used in far-flung villages to attract a 5 per cent duty from 10 per cent.
Giving boost to infrastructure, the budget proposed full exemption for domestic suppliers producing capital goods for mega or ultra mega power projects.
Full exemption from Basic Customs Duty is also proposed for bio-asphalt and specified machinery used for construction of National Highways. Cinematographic film, factory-built ambulances are exempted from Excise Duty and spares and capital goods required for ship repairing from Import Duty. The Basic Customs Duty exemption extended to work of art and antiquities for exhibition or display in private art galleries open to the public. Relief measures proposed for lactose for the manufacture of homeopathic medicines, sanitary napkins, baby and adult diapers and bamboo for agarbathies. Basic Customs Duty on two critical raw materials of cement industry – petcoke and gypsum is proposed to be reduced to 2.5 per cent.
On Service Taxes, the budget proposes to retain the Standard Rate of 10 per cent. Hotel accommodation with licence to serve liquor and in excess of one thousand rupees charges per day has been brought under the tax net. Air-conditioned hospitals with 25 or more beds will also attract Service Tax.
The tax on air travel both on domestic and international raised. Services provided by Life Insurance companies in investment and some more legal services to be brought into tax net. All individual and sole proprietor tax payers with turn over of over 60 lakh rupees freed from formalities of audit.
Remuneration for Anganwadi workers has been increased from 1,500 to 3,000 per month. Anganwadi helpers will get 1,500 per month in place of 750 rupees at present. Specific allocation has been earmarked towards scheduled castes sub plan and tribals sub plan. Allocations for primitive tribal groups has been increased from 185 crore rupees to 244 crore rupees.
To promote inclusive growth, allocation for social sector has been increased by 17 percent to 1,60,887 crore rupees which works out to 36.4 percent of total plan allocation. The national food security bill will be introduced in Parliament this year.
Allocation for Bharat Nirman programme is proposed to be increased by 10,000 crore rupees to 58,000 crore rupess. All the 2,50,000 Panchayats in the country will be provided with rural broadband connectivity in three years. The wage rate under mahatama Gandhi NREGA will be linked to consumer price index for agricultural labour.
Education sector will get 25 percent increased allocation to 52,067 crore rupees. Sarva Siksha Abhiyan gets 40 percent higher allocation to 21,000 crore rupees. For the needy scheduled castes ad scheduled tribe candidates studying in class-IX and Xth pre-matric scholarship scheme will also be introduced. All 1500 institutions of higher learning will be connected through optical fibers by March next year. Special grants have been provided to various universities and academic institutions to recognized their excellence. Additional 500 crore rupees will be provided for national skill development fund. An international award with a prize of one crore rupees will also be instituted for promoting values of universal brotherhood as part of 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Dev Rabindra Nath Tagore.
Allocation for health sector has been stepped up by 20 percent to 26760 crore. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana is now being extended to Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries, Bidi workers and others to provide basic health cover to poor and marginal workers. The scheme will further be extended to cover unorganized sector in hazardous mining an associated industries. Benefit of government contribution under the Swavlamban pension scheme to be extended from 3 to 5 years for subscribers who enroll during the current and next financial year. Eligibility for pension under Indira Gandhi National old Age Pension scheme for BPL beneficiaries has been reduced from 65 to 60 years. Those above 80 years of age will be get pension of 500 rupees per month in stead of 200 at present.
Nutrient based subsidy is proposed to be extended to cover Urea.
For Jammu and Kashmir, 8,000 crore rupees have been provided in the current year to meet its development needs. One hundred crore rupees have been allocated for Ladakh and 150 crore for Jammu region to meet their infrastructural needs.
To address the problems related to Left Wing extremism, 60 selected tribal and backward districts will be provided 100 percent block grant of 25 crore rupees and 30 crore rupees per district during this year and next financial year respectively.
Personnel of Defence and para-military forces discharged from service on medical ground on account of 100 percent disability attributable to government service will get a lump sum ex-gratia compensation of nine lakh rupees. The total allocation for defence services has been put at 1,64,415 crore rupees.

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