Union Budget 2014-15
The Union
Budget is encouraging on building consumers’ confidence, investors’ confidence
and general confidence. The announcements made in the various socio-economic
segments of the economy indicate promises of progress in the coming times. The
focus on rural infrastructure, agriculture infrastructure, urban
infrastructure, manufacturing revival, tourism, education, banking and finance
and foreign direct investments are inspiring and would go a long way to
rejuvenate the economic growth, going forward.
The much
expected enhancement of the income tax limit from Rs. 2 lacs to Rs. 2.5 lacs,
enhancement of investment limit under Section 80C from Rs. 1 lac to Rs. 1.5
lacs and enhancement of rebate on investments in self owned house from Rs. 1.5
lac to Rs. 2 lac would restore consumers’ and investors’ confidence and propel
growth. The 10 years tax holiday for undertakings that generate and transmit
power is appreciable. Investment allowance of 15% to manufacturing
companies investing Rs 25 crore in plant and machinery would accelerate capital
investments and propel manufacturing growth.
Focus on
increasing irrigation facilities, farm markets, financial help to landless
farmers and Kisan TV to provide real time information to farmers would help to
increase productivity of the farm sector. Steps undertaken to revive SEZs
would help to rejuvenate the investment cycle and facilitation to manufacturing
units to sell their products through retail and e-commerce would reduce the
selling cost and benefit both manufacturers and
consumers.
Focus on GST
implementation and discussions with state governments in this regard are
encouraging. We believe, GST will streamline the tax administration, avoid
harassment of the business and result in higher revenue collection both for the
Centre and the States. Focus on industrial infrastructure such as plan to
establish 7 industrial cities in India would enhance industrialization and
create employment opportunities in the economy.
The allocation
for urban infrastructure earmarked at Rs. 50,000 crore are really appreciable
and these announcements would speed up the pace and urbanization in the country
and help economic growth to move fast. The Roadmap made for fiscal
consolidation in the next 3 years is inspiring on reduced fiscal deficit at
4.1% of GDP in 2014-15, 3.6% in 2015-16 and 3% in 2016-17. Enhancement of FDI
limit in insurance and defence sector will increase the capital inflows in the
coming times.
Highlights
of Union Budget 2014-15
Deficit
and Inflation
· Decline in fiscal deficit from 5.7% in
2011-12 to 4.5% in 2013-14 mainly achieved by reduction in expenditure rather
than by way of realization of higher revenue.
· Improvement in current account deficit
from 4.7 % in 2012-13 to year end level of 1.7% mainly achieved through
restriction on non-essential import and slow-down in overall aggregate demand.
Need to keep watch on CAD.
· 4.1 per cent fiscal deficit a daunting
task in the backdrop of two years of low GDP growth, static industrial growth,
moderate increase in indirect taxes, subsidy burden and not so encouraging tax
buoyancy
· The government is committed to achieve
this target. Road map for fiscal consolidation outlines fiscal deficit of 3.6 %
for 2015-16 and 3 % for 2016-17.
· Inflation has remain at elevated level
with gradual moderation in WPI recently.
· The problem of black money must be
fully addressed.
· Bold steps required to enhance economic
activities and spur growth in the economy.
Administrative
Initiatives
· Sovereign right of the Government to
undertake retrospective legislation to be exercised with extreme caution and
judiciousness keeping in mind the impact of each such measure on the economy
and the overall investment climate.
· A stable and predictable taxation
regime which will be investor friendly and spur growth.
· Legislative and administrative changes
to sort out pending tax demands of more than Rs. 4 lakh crore under dispute and
litigation.
· Resident tax payers enabled to obtain
on advance ruling in respect of their income-tax liability above a defined
threshold.
· Measures for strengthening the
Authority for Advance Rulings.
· Income-tax Settlement Commission scope
to be enlarged.
· National Academy for Customs
& Excise at Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh.
· The subsidy regime to be made more
targeted for full protection to the marginalized, poor and SC/ST.
· New Urea Policy would be formulated.
· Introduction of GST to be given thrust.
· High level committee to interact with
trade and industry on regular basis to ascertain areas requiring clarity in tax
laws is required to be set up.
· Convergance with International
Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) by Adoption of the new Indian Accounting
Standards (2nd AS) by Indian Companies.
· Setting up of Expenditure Management
Commission to look into expenditure reforms.
· Employment exchanges to be transformed
into career centres. A sum of Rs.100 crore provided .
ECONOMIC
INITIATIVES
Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI)
- Government to promote FDI selectively in sectors.
- The composite cap of foreign investment to be raised to 49 per cent
with full Indian management and control through the FIPB route.
- The composite cap in the insurance sector to be increased up to 49
per cent from 26 per cent with full Indian management and control through
the FIPB route.
- Requirement of the built up area and capital conditions for FDI to
be reduced from 50,000 square metres to 20,000 square metres and from USD
10 million to USD 5 million respectively for development of smart cities.
- The manufacturing units to be allowed to sell its products through
retail including E-commerce platforms.
Bank
Capitalization
- Requirement
to infuse `.2,40,000 crore as equity by 2018 in our banks to be in line
with Basel-III norms
- Capital of banks to be raised by increasing the shareholding of the
people in a phased manner.
PSU
Capital Expenditure
- PSUs will invest through capital investment a total sum of `
2,47,941 crores in the current financial year.
Smart
Cities
- A sum of ` 7060 crore is provided in the current fiscal for the
project of developing “one hundred Smart Cities’
Real Estate
- Incentives
for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS). Complete pass through for the
purpose of taxation.
- A
modified REITS type structure for infrastructure projects as the
Infrastructure Investment Trusts (INVITS).
- These
two instruments to attract long term finance from foreign and domestic
sources including the NRIs .
Irrigation
- Rs.1000 crore provided for “Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna”
for assured irrigation.
Rural
Development
- Shyama
Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission for integrated project based infrastructure
in the rural areas.
- Rs.500
crore for “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana” for feeder separation
to augment power supply to the rural areas.
- Rs.14,389
crore provided for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna(PMGSY) .
- More
productive, asset creating and with linkages to agriculture and allied
activities wage employment would to be provided under MGNREGA.
- Under
Ajeevika, the provision of bank loan for women SHGs at 4% to be extended
to another 100 districts.
- Initial
sum of Rs.100 crore for “Start Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme” for
encouraging rural youth to take up local entrepreneurship programs .
- Allocation
for National Housing Bank increased to ` 8000 crore to support Rural
housing.
- New
programme “Neeranchal” to give impetus to watershed development in the
country with an initial outlay of Rs.2142 crores.
- Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) to be restructured to address
intra-district inequalities.
Scheduled
Caste/Scheduled Tribe
- An
amount of Rs.50,548 crore is proposed under the SC Plan and Rs.32,387
crore under TSP.
- For the welfare of the tribals “Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojna” launched
with an initial allocation of Rs.100 crore.
Senior
Citizen & Differently Abled Persons
- Varishtha
Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) to be revived for a limited period from 15
August, 2014 to 14 August, 2015 for the benefit of citizens aged 60 years
and above.
- A committee will to examine and recommend how unclaimed amounts
with PPF, Post Office, saving schemes etc. can be used to protect and
further financial interests of the senior citizens?
- Government
notified a minimum pension of Rs.1000 per month to all subscriber members
of EP Scheme. Initial provision of ` 250 crore.
- Increase
in mandatory wage ceiling of subscription to Rs.15000. A provision of
Rs.250 crore in the current budget.
- EPFO
to launch the “Uniform Account Number” Service for contributing members
- Scheme
for Assistance to Disabled Persons for purchase/fitting of Aids and
Appliances (ADIP) extended to include contemporary aids and assistive
devices.
- National
level institutes for Universal Inclusive Design , Mental Health
Rehabilitation and a Centre for Disability Sports to be established.
- Assistance
to State Governments to establish fifteen new Braille Presses and
modernize ten existing Braille Presses.
- Government to print currency notes with Braille like signs for
visibly challenged persons.
Women
& Child Development
- Outlay
of Rs.50 crores for pilot testing a scheme on “Safety for Women on Public
Road Transport”.
- Sum
of Rs.150 crores on a scheme to increase the safety of women in large
cities.
- “Crisis
Management Centres” in all the districts of NCT of Delhi this year
government and private hospitals.
- A
sum of Rs.100 crore is provided for “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana”, a
focused scheme to generate awareness and help in improving the efficiency
of delivery of welfare services meant for women.
- School curriculum to have a
separate chapter on gender mainstreaming.
Drinking
Water & Sanitation
- 20,000
habitations affected with arsenic, fluoride, heavy/ toxic elements,
pesticides/ fertilizers to be provided safe drinking water through
community water purification plants in next 3 years
- “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” to cover every household with sanitation
facility by the year 2019.
Health
and Family Welfare
- Free
Drug Service and Free Diagnosis Service to achieve “ Health For All”
- Two
National Institutes of Ageing to be set up at AIIMS, New Delhi and Madras
Medical College, Chennai.
- A
national level research and referral Institute for higher dental studies
to be set up.
- AIIMS
like institutions in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Vidarbha in Maharashtra
and Poorvanchal in UP. A provision of Rs.500 crores made.
- 12
new government medical colleges to be set up.
- States’
Drug Regulatory and Food Regulatory Systems to be strengthened by creating
new drug testing laboratories and strengthening the 31 existing State
laboratories.
- 15
Model Rural Health Research Centres to be set up for research on local
health issues concerning rural population.
- A national programme in Mission Mode to halt the deteriorating
malnutrition situation in India to be put in place within six months.
EDUCATION
School
Education
- Government
would strive to provide toilets and drinking water in all the girls school
in first phase. An amount of Rs.28635 crore is being funded for Sarv
Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) and Rs.4966 crore for Rashtriya madhyamic Shiksha
Abhiyan (RMSA).
- A
School Assessment Programme is being initiated at a cost of Rs.30 crore.
- Rs.500
crore provided for “Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training
Programme” to infuse new training tools and motivate teachers.
- Rs.100
crore provided for setting up virtual classrooms as Communication Linked
- Interface
for Cultivating Knowledge (CLICK) and online courses.
Higher
Education
- Jai
Prakash Narayan National Centre for Excellence in Humanities to be set up
in MP.
- Rs.500
crore provided for setting up 5 more IITs in the Jammu, Chhattisgarh, Goa,
Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
- 5
IIMs in the States of HP, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Rajasthan.
- Simplification of norms to facilitate education loans for higher
studies.
Information
Technology
- Pan
India programme “Digital India” to with an outlay of Rs.500 crore to be
launched.
- Programme for promoting “Good Governance” to be launched .A sum of
Rs.100 crore provided.
Information
and Broadcasting
- Rs.100
crore allocated for 600 new and existing Community Radio Stations.
- Film
& Television Institute, Pune and Satyajit Ray Film & Television
Institute, Kolkata are proposed to be accorded status of Institutes of
national importance and a “National
- Centre
for Excellence in Animation, Gaming and Special Effects to be set up.
- Rs.100 crore is provided for Kisan TV, to disseminate real time
information to the farmers on issues such as new farming techniques, water
conservation, organic farming etc.
Urban
Development
- Vision
of the Government is that 500 urban habitations to be provided support for
renewal of infrastructure and services in next 10 years through PPPs
- Present
corpus of Pooled Municipal Debt Obligation Facility facility to be
enlarged to Rs.50, 000 Crore from Rs.5000 crore.
- Rs.100 crore provided for Metro
Projects in Lucknow and Ahemdabad.
Housing
- Extended
additional tax incentive on home loans shall be provided to encourage
people, especially the young, to own houses.
- Mission on
Low Cost Affordable Housing anchored in the National Housing Bank to be
set up.
- A
sum of ` 4000 crores for NHB from the priority sector lending shortfall
with a view to increase the flow of cheaper credit for affordable housing
to the urban poor/EWS/LIG segment is provided
- Slum development to be included in the list of Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) activities to encourage the private sector to
contribute more.
Minorities
- A
programme for the up gradation of skills and training in ancestral arts
for development for the minorities “Up gradation of Traditional Skills in
Arts, Resources and Goods” to be launched.
- An additional amount of Rs.100
crores for Modernization of Madarsas .
AGRICULTURE
- Government
to establish two more Agricultural Research Institute of excellence in
Assam and Jharkhand with an initial sum of Rs.100 crore.
- An
amount of Rs.100 crores set aside for “Agri-tech Infrastructure Fund”.
- Rs.200
crore provided to open Agriculture Universities in Andhra Pradesh and
Rajasthan and Horticulture Universities in Telangana and Haryana.
- A
scheme to provide every farmer a soil health card in a Mission mode will
be launched.
- Rs.100
crore has been provided for this purpose and additional Rs.56 crores to
set up 100 Mobile Soil Testing Laboratories across the country.
- To
meet the vagaries of climate change a “National Adaptation Fund” with an
initial sum an amount of Rs.100 crore will be set up.
- A
sustainable growth of 4% in Agriculture will be achieved.
- Technology
driven second green revolution with focus on higher productivity and
including “Protein revolution” will be area of major focus.
- To
mitigate the risk of Price volatility in the agriculture produce, a sum of
Rs.500 crore is provided for establishing a “Price Stabilization Fund”.
- Central
Government to work closely with the State Governments to re-orient their
respective APMC Acts.
- Sum
of Rs.50 crores provided for the development of indigenous cattle breeds
and an equal amount for starting a blue revolution in inland fisheries.
- Transformation plan to invigorate the warehousing sector and
significantly improve post-harvest lending to farmers.
Agriculture
Credit
- To
provide institutional finance to landless farmers, it is proposed to
provide finance to 5 lakh joint farming groups of “Bhoomi Heen Kisan”
through NABARD.
- A
target of Rs.8 lakh crore has been set for agriculture credit during
2014-15.
- Corpus
of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) raised by an additional
Rs. 5000 crores from the target given in the Interim Budget to Rs.25000
crores.
- Allocation
of Rs.5, 000 crore provided for the Warehouse Infrastructure Fund.
- “Long Term Rural Credit Fund” to set up for the purpose of
providing refinance support to Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks
with an initial corpus of Rs5,000 crore.
- Amount
of Rs.50,000 crore allocated for Short Term Cooperative Rural Credit .
- Sum of Rs.200 crore for NABARD’s Producers Development and
Upliftment Corpus (PRODUCE) for building 2,000 producers organizations
over the next two years.
Food
Security
- Restructuring
FCI, reducing transportation and distribution losses and efficacy of PDS
to be taken up on priority.
- Government
committed to provide wheat and rice at reasonable prices to the weaker
sections of the society.
- Government when required will undertake open market sales to keep
prices under control.
INDUSTRY
- Central
Government Departments and Ministries to integrate their services with the
e- Biz -a single window IT platform- for services on priority by 31
December this year.
- Rs.100
crore provided for setting up a National Industrial Corridor Authority.
- Amritsar
Kolkata Industrial master planning to be completed expeditiously.
- Master
planning of 3 new smart cities in the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial
Corridor region, viz., Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, Krishnapatnam in Andhra
Pradesh and Tumkur in Karnataka to be completed.
- Perspective
plan for the Bengaluru Mumbai Economic corridor (BMEC) and Vizag-Chennai
corridor to be completed with the provision for 20 new industrial
clusters.
- Development
of industrial corridors with emphasis on Smart Cities linked to transport
connectivity to spur growth in manufacturing and urbanization will be
accelerated.
- Proposed
to establish an Export promotion Mission to bring all stakeholders under
one umbrella.
- Apprenticeship Act to be suitably amended to make it more
responsive to industry and youth.
Micro Small and
Medium Enterprises (MSME) Sector
· Skill India to
be launched to skill the youth with an emphasis on employability and
entrepreneur skills.
· Committee to
examine the financial architecture for MSME Sector, remove bottlenecks and
create new rules.
· Corpus of ` 200
crore to be set up to establish Technology Centre Network.
· Definition of
MSME to be reviewed to provide for a higher capital ceiling.
· Programme to
facilitate forward and backward linkages with multiple value chain of
manufacturing and service delivery to be put in place.
· Entrepreneur
friendly legal bankruptcy framework will be developed for SMEs to enable easy
exit.
· A nationwide
“District level Incubation and Accelerator Programme” to be taken up for
incubation of new ideas and necessary support for accelerating
entrepreneurship.
Textiles
· Rs.50 crore is
provided to set up a Trade Facilitation Centre and a Crafts Museum to develop
and promote handloom products and carry forward the rich tradition of handlooms
of Varanasi.
· Sum of Rs. 500
crore for developing a Textile mega-cluster at Varanasi and six more at
Bareilly, Lucknow, Surat, Kutch, Bhagalpur and Mysore.
· Rs. 20 crore to
set up a Hastkala Academy for the preservation, revival, and documentation of
the handloom/handicraft sector in PPP mode in Delhi.
· Rs.50 crore is
provided to start a Pashmina Promotion Programme (P-3) and development of other
crafts of Jammu & Kashmir.
INFRASTRUCTURE
· An institution
to provide support to mainstreaming PPPPs called 4PIndia to be set up with a
corpus of ` 500 crores.
Shipping
· Rs. 11635
crore will be allocated for the development of Outer Harbour Project in
Tuticorin for phase I.
· SEZs will be
developed in Kandla and JNPT.
· Comprehensive
policy to be announced to promote Indian ship building industry.
Inland
Navigation
· Project on
Ganges called “ Jal Marg Vikas’ to be developed between Allahabad and Haldia.
New Airports
· Scheme for development
of new airports in Tier I and Tier II Cities to be launched.
Roads sector
· Sector needs
huge amount of investment along with debottlenecking from maze of clearances.
· An investment
of an amount of ` 37,880 crores in NHAI and State Roads is proposed which
includes Rs. 3000 crores for the North East.
· Target of NH
construction of 8500 km will be achieved in current financial year.
· Work on select
expressways in parallel to the development of the Industrial Corridors will be
initiated. For project preparation NHAI shall set aside a sum of Rs. 500
crore.
Energy
· Rs. 100 crore
is allocated for a new scheme “Ultra-Modern Super Critical Coal Based Thermal
Power Technology.”
· Comprehensive
measures for enhancing domestic coal production are being put in place.
· Adequate
quantity of coal will be provided to power plants which are already
commissioned or would be commissioned by March 2015.
· An exercise to
rationalize coal linkages to optimize transport of coal and reduce cost of
power is underway.
New &
Renewable Energy
· Rs. 500 crores
provided for Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh and Laddakh.
· Rs. 400 crores
provided for a scheme for solar power driven agricultural pump sets and water
pumping stations.
· Rs. 100 crore
provided for the development of 1 MW Solar Parks on the banks of canals.
· A Green Energy
Corridor Project is being implemented to facilitate evacuation of renewable
energy across the country.
Petroleum &
Natural Gas
· Production and
exploitation of Coal Bed Methane reserves will be accelerated.
· Possibility of
using modern technology to revive old or closed wells to be explored.
· Usage of PNG to
be rapidly scaled up in a Mission mode.
· Proposal to
develop pipelines using appropriate PPP models.
Mining
Changes, if necessary, in the MMDR Act, 1957 to be
introduced to encourage investment in mining sector and promote sustainable
mining practices.
FINANCIAL
SECTOR
Capital Market
· Ongoing process
of consultations with all the stakeholders on the enactment of the Indian
Financial Code and reports of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms
Commission (FSLRC) to be completed.
· Government in
close consultation with the RBI to put in place a modern monetary policy
framework.
· Following
measures will be taken to energize Capital markets:
· Introduction of
uniform KYC norms and inter-usability of the KYC records across the entire
financial sector.
· Introduce one
single operating demat account
· Uniform tax
treatment for pension fund and mutual fund linked retirement plan
BANKING AND
INSURANCE SECTOR
Banking
· Time bound
programme as Financial Inclusion Mission to be launched on 15 August this year
with focus on the weaker sections of the society.
· Banks to be
encouraged to extend long term loans to infrastructure sector with flexible
structuring.
· Banks to be
permitted to raise long term funds for lending to infrastructure sector with
minimum regulatory pre-emption such as CRR, SLR and Priority Sector Lending
(PSL).
· RBI to create a
framework for licensing small banks and other differentiated banks.
· Differentiated
banks serving niche interests, local area banks, payment banks etc.
arecontemplated to meet credit and remittance needs of small businesses,
unorganized sector, low income households, farmers and migrant work force.
· Six new Debt
Recovery Tribunals to be set up.
· For venture
capital in the MSME sector, a 10,000 crore fund to act as a catalyst to attract
private Capital by way of providing equity , quasi equity, soft loans and other
risk capital for start-up companies with suitable tax incentives to
participating private funds to be established.
Insurance
Sector
· The pending
insurance laws (amendment) Bill to be immediately brought for consideration of
the Parliament.
· The regulatory
gap under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banking) Act, 1978 will
be bridged.
Small Savings
· Kissan Vikas
Patra (KVP) to be reintroduced.
· A special small
savings instrument to cater to the requirements of educating and marriage of
the Girl Child to be introduced.
· A National
Savings Certificate with insurance cover to provide additional benefits for the
small saver.
· In the PPF
Scheme, annual ceiling will be enhanced to 1.5 lakh p.a. from 1 lakh at
present.
DEFENCE &
INTERNAL SECURITY
· A further sum
of 1000 crore to meet requirement for “One Rank One Pension”.
·
Capital outlay
for Defence increased by 5000 crore including a sum of 1000 crore for
accelerating the development of the Railway system in the border areas.
·
Urgent steps
would also be taken to streamline the procurement process to make it speedy and
more efficient.
·
Rs. 100 crore
is provided for construction of a war memorial in the Princes Park, which will
be supplemented by a War Museum. I am allocating a sum of 100 crore for this purpose.
·
Rs. 100 crore
is provided to set up a Technology Development Fund for Defence.
Internal Security
·
Rs. 3000 crore
is provided in the current financial year for modernization of state police
forces.
·
Adequate allocation for Additional Central
Assistance for Left Wing Extremist Affected districts.
·
Rs. 2250
crore provided to strengthen and modernize border infrastructure.
·
Rs. 990 crore
allocated for the socio economic development of the villages along the borders.
·
A sum of Rs.
150 crore ear-marked for the construction of Marine Police Station, Jetties and
for the purchase of boats etc.
Rs. 50 crores provided for construction of National Police Memorial.
Rs. 50 crores provided for construction of National Police Memorial.
CULTURE &
TOURISM
·
Rs. 200 crore
provided to build the Statue of unity(National project).
·
Facility of
Electronic Travel Authorization (e-Visa) to be introduced in phased manner at
nine airports in India.
·
Countries to
which the Electronic Travel authorisation facility would be extended would be
identified in a phased manner.
·
Rs. 500 crore
provided for developing 5 tourist circuits around specific themes.
·
Rs. 100 crore
provided for National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual
Augmentation Drive (PRASAD).
·
Rs. 200 crore
provided for National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana
(HRIDAY).
·
Rs. 100 crore
provided for Archaeological sites preservation.
·
Sarnath-Gaya-Varanasi
Buddhist circuit to be developed with world class tourist amenities to attract
tourists from all over the world.
Water Resources
and cleaning of Ganga
·
Rs. 100 crore
provided for Detailed Project Reports for linking of rivers.
·
Rs. 2037 crores
provided for Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission “NAMAMI GANGE”.
·
Rs. 100 crore
provided for Ghat development and beautification at Kedarnath, Haridwar,
Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi.
·
NRI Fund for
Ganga will be set up.
Science and
Technology
·
Government to
strengthen at least five institutions as Technical Research Centres.
·
Development of
Biotech clusters in Faridabad and Bengaluru.
·
Nascent
agri-biotech cluster in Mohali to be scaled up. In addition, two new clusters,
in Pune and Kolkata to be established.
·
Global
partnerships will be developed under India’s leadership to transform the Delhi
component of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
(ICGEB) into a world-leader in life sciences and biotechnology.
·
Several major
space missions planned for 2014-15.
Sports and
Youth Affairs
·
Rs. 200 crore
provided for upgrading the indoor and outdoor sports stadiums in Jammu and
Kashmir Valley to international standards.
·
Rs. 100 crore
provided for sports university in Manipur.
·
India to start
an annual event to promote Unique sports traditions in the Himalayan region
games.
·
Rs. 100 crore
provided for the training of sports women and men for forthcoming Asian games.
·
A “Young
Leaders Programme” with an initial allocation of ` 100 crore to be set up.
North Eastern
States
·
Rs.100 crore
provided for development of organic farming in North Eastern States.
·
Rs.1000 crore
provided for development of rail connectivity in the North Eastern Region.
·
To provide a
strong platform to rich cultural and linguistic identity of the North-East, a
new 24x7 channel called “Arun Prabha” will be launched.
Andhra Pradesh
and Telangana
·
Government
committed to addressing the issues relating to development of Andhra Pradesh
and Telangana in the AP Re-organization Act, 2014. Provision made by various
Ministries/Departments to fulfill the obligation of Union Government.
NCT of Delhi
·
Rs. 200 crore
for power reforms and ` 500 crore for water reforms to make Delhi a truly World
Class City.
·
Rs. 50 crore
provided to solve the long term water supply issues to the capital region.
Construction of long pending Renuka Dam to be taken up on priority.
Andaman and
Nicobar Island and Puducherry
·
Rs.150 crore
provided to tide over communication related problems of the Island.
·
Rs. 188 crore
to Puducherry for meeting commitments for Disaster preparedness
Displaced
Kashmiri Migrants
·
Rs.500 crore
provided to support displaced Kashmiri migrants for rebuilding their lives.
Himalayan
Studies
·
Rs.100 crore
provided to set up a National Centre for Himalayan Studies in Uttarakhand
BUDGET
ESTIMATES
·
Mandate to be
fulfilled without compromising fiscal consolidation
·
Non-plan
Expenditure of Rs 12,19,892 crore with additional provision for ertilizer
subsidy and Capital expenditure for Armed forces.
·
Rs. 5,75,000
crore Plan expenditure – increase of 26.9 per cent over actuals of 2013-14.
·
Plan increase
targeted towards Agriculture, capacity creation in Health and Education, Rural
Roads and National Highways Infrastructure, Railways network expansion, clean
energy initiatives, development of water resources and river conservation
plans.
·
Total
expenditure of Rs. 17,94,892 crore estimated.
·
Gross Tax
receipts of Rs. 13,64,524 crore estimated.
·
Net to centre
of Rs. 9,77,258 crore estimated.
·
Fiscal deficit
of 4.1% of GDP and Revenue deficit of 2.9% estimated.
·
New Statement
to separately show plan allocation made for North Eastern Region.
·
Allocation of
Rs. 53,706 crore for North East Regions.
·
Allocation of
Rs. 50,548 crore under SCSP and Rs.32,387 under TSP.
·
Allocation for
women at Rs. 98,030 crore and for children at Rs. 81,075 crore.
TAX PROPOSALS
·
Ambitious
Revenue Collection Targets in Interim Budget. Proposed tax changes factored in
the Budget Estimates 2014-15
·
Measures to
revive the economy, promote investment in manufacturing, rationalize tax
provisions to reduce litigation, address the problem of inverted duty structure
in certain areas. Tax reliefs to individual tax payers
DIRECT TAXES
PROPOSALS
·
Personal
Income-tax exemption limit raised by Rs. 50,000/- that is, from Rs 2 lakh to
Rs2.5 lakh in the case of individual taxpayers, below the age of 60 years.
Exemption limit raised from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh in the case of senior
citizens. No change in the rate of surcharge either for the corporates or the
individuals, HUFs, firms etc.
·
Deduction limit
on account of interest on loan in respect of self occupied house property
raised from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs.2 lakh.
·
Conducive tax
regime to Infrastructure Investment Trusts and Real Estate Investment. Trusts
to be set up in accordance with regulations of the Securities and Exchange
Board of India.
·
Investment
allowance at the rate of 15 percent to a manufacturing company that invests
more than Rs 25 crore in any year in new plant and machinery. The benefit to be
available for three years i.e. for investments upto 31.03.2017.
·
Investment
linked deduction extended to two new sectors, namely, slurry pipelines for the
transportation of iron ore, and semi-conductor wafer fabrication
·
10 year tax
holiday extended to the undertakings which begin generation, distribution and
transmission of power by 31.03.2017.
·
Income arising
to foreign portfolio investors from transaction in securities to be treated as
capital gains. Concessional rate of 15 percent on foreign dividends without any
sunset date to be continued.
·
The eligible
date of borrowing in foreign currency extended from 30.06.2015 to 30.06.2017
for a concessional tax rate of 5 percent on interest payments. Tax incentive
extended to all types of bonds instead of only infrastructure bonds.
·
Introduction of
a “Roll Back” provision in the Advanced Pricing Agreement (APA) scheme so that
an APA entered into for future transactions is also applicable to international
transactions undertaken in previous four years in specified circumstances.
·
Introduction of
range concept for determination of arm’s length price in transfer pricing
regulations.
·
To allow use of
multiple year data for comparability analysis under transfer pricing
regulations.
·
To remove tax
arbitrage, rate of tax on long term capital gains increased from 10 percent to
20 percent on transfer of units of Mutual Funds, other than equity oriented funds
·
Income and
dividend distribution tax to be levied on gross amount instead of amount paid
net of taxes.
·
In case of non
deduction of tax on payments, 30% of such payments will be disallowed instead
of 100 percent.
·
Government to
review the DTC in its present shape and take a view in the whole matter.
·
60 more Ayakar
Seva Kendras to be opened during the current financial year to promote
excellence in service delivery.
·
Net Effect of
the direct tax proposals to result in revenue loss of Rs. 22,200 crore.
INDIRECT TAXES
PROPOSALS
·
To boost
domestic manufacture and to address the issue of inverted duties, basic
customs duty (BCD) reduced on certain items.
·
To encourage
new investment and capacity addition in the chemicals and petrochemicals
sector, basic customs duty reduced on certain items.
·
Steps taken to
boost domestic production of electronic items and reduce our dependence on
imports. These include imposition of basic customs duty on certain items
falling outside the purview of IT Agreement, exemption from SAD on
inputs/components for PC manufacturing, imposition of education cess
on imported electronic products for parity etc.
·
Colour picture
tubes exempted from basic customs duty to make cathode ray TVs cheaper and
more affordable to weaker sections.
·
To encourage
production of LCD and LED TVs below 19 inches in India, basic customs duty
on LCD and LED TV panels of below 19 inches reduced from 10 percent
to Nil.
·
To give an
impetus to the stainless steel industry, increase in basic customs duty on
imported flat-rolled products of stainless steel from 5 percent to 7.5
percent.
·
Concessional
basic customs duty of 5 percent extended to machinery and equipment
required for setting up of a project for solar energy production.
·
Specified
inputs for use in the manufacture of EVA sheets and back sheets and flat copper
wire for the manufacture of PV ribbons exempted from basic customs
duty.
·
Reduction in
basic customs duty from 10 percent to 5 percent on forged steel rings used
in the manufacture of bearings of wind operated electricity generators.
Exemption from SAD of 4 percent on parts and raw materials required for
the manufacture of wind operated generators.
·
Concessional
basic customs duty of 5 percent on machinery and equipment required for
setting up of compressed biogas plants (Bio-CNG).
·
Anthracite
coal, bituminous coal, coking coal, steam coal and other coal to attract
2.5 per cent basic customs duty and 2 per cent CVD to eliminate all
assessment disputes and transaction costs associated with testing of
various parameters of coal.
·
Basic customs
duty on metallurgical coke increased from Nil to 2.5 percent in line with
the duty on coking coal.
·
Duty on ship
breaking scrap and melting scrap of iron or steel rationalized by reducing
the basic customs duty on ships imported for breaking up from 5 percent to
2.5 percent.
·
To prevent
mis-use and avoid assessment disputes, basic customs duty on
semiprocessed, half cut or broken diamonds, cut and polished diamonds and
coloured gemstones rationalized at 2.5 percent.
·
To encourage
exports, pre-forms of precious and semi-precious stones exempted from
basic customs duty.
·
Duty free
entitlement for import of trimmings, embellishments and other specified
items increased from 3 percent to 5 percent of the value of their
export, for readymade garments. Export duty on bauxite
increased from 10 percent to 20 percent.
·
For passenger
facilitation, free baggage allowance increased from Rs. 35,000 to Rs.
45,000.
·
To incentivize
expansion of processing capacity, reduction in excise duty on specified
food processing and packaging machinery from 10 percent to 6 percent.
·
Reduction in
the excise duty from 12 percent to 6 percent on footwear of retail price
exceeding Rs. 500 per pair but not exceeding Rs. 1,000 per pair.
·
Withdraw
concessional excise duty (2 percent without Cenvat benefit and 6 percent
with Cenvat benefit) on smart cards and a uniform excise duty at 12
percent
·
To develop
renewable energy, various items exempted from excise duty.
·
Exemption to
PSF and PFY manufactured from plastic waste and scrap including PET
bottles from excise duty with effect from 29th June, 2010 to 7th May,
2012.
·
Prospective
levy of a nominal duty of 2 percent without Cenvat benefit and 6 percent
with Cenvat benefit on such PSF and PFY.
·
Specific rates
of excise duty increased on cigrettes in the range of 11 per cent to 72 per
cent.
·
Excise duty
increased from 12 percent to 16 percent on pan masala, from 50 percent to
55 percent on unmanufactured tobacco and from 60 percent to 70
percent on gutkha and chewing tobacco. Levy of an additional duty of
excise at 5 percent on aerated waters containing added sugar. To
finance Clean Environment initiatives, Clean Energy Cess increased from
Rs. 50 per tonne to Rs. 100 per tonne
Service tax
·
To broaden the
tax base in Service Tax, sale of space or time for advertisements in
broadcast media, extended to cover such sales on other segments like
online and mobile advertising. Sale of space for advertisements in print
media however would remain excluded from service tax. Service provided by
radio-taxis brought under service tax.
·
Services by
air-conditioned contract carriages and technical testing of newly
developed drugs on human participants brought under service tax.
·
Provision of
services rules to be amended and tax incidence to be reduced on transport
of goods through coastal vessels to promote Indian Shipping
industry.
·
Services
provided by Indian tour operators to foreign tourists in relation to a
tour wholly conducted outside India to be taken out of the tax net and
Cenvat credit for services of rent-a-cab and tour operators to be
allowed to promote tourism.
·
Service tax
exempted on loading, unloading, storage, warehousing and transportation of
cotton, whether ginned or baled
·
Services
provided by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation for the period
prior to 1st July 2012 exempted, from service tax.
·
Exemption
available for specified micro insurance schemes expanded to cover all life
micro-insurance schemes where the sum assured does not exceed Rs. 50, 000
per life insured.
·
For safe
disposal of medical and clinical wastes, services provided by common
biomedical waste treatment facilities exempted.
·
Tax proposals
on the indirect taxes side are estimated to yield Rs.7525 crore.
·
24X7 customs
clearance facility extended to 13 more airports in respect of all export
goods and to 14 more sea ports in respect of specified import and export
goods to facilitate cargo clearance.
·
Indian Customs
Single Window Project’ to facilitate trade, to be implemented.
·
The scheme of
Advance Ruling in indirect taxes to be expanded to cover resident private
limited companies. The scope of Settlement Commission to be enlarged
to facilitate quick dispute resolution.
·
Customs and
Central Excise Acts to be amended to expedite the process of disposal of
appeals
